Chapter 59: A Trip to the USJ Part One
When Ocelot arrived at the army depot, he looked around in concern. Most of the guards were leisurely sitting about doing nothing. They didn't even bat an eye as he walked past them, and committed what would legally be classified as trespassing. There were no patrols keeping watch of the area, the building itself was partly crumbling in some areas, and its gate and fence were rusted over. Honestly, Ocelot could name a dozen more problems this place had, but that would take too long.
With his posse in tow though, Ocelot found himself coming face-to-face with the depot's commander. The man was old and pudgy, though fat may be a better descriptor. His uniform was unkempt, its camo pattern fading away and dotted with unknown stains. Not to mention the desperate need to be ironed. How was this man a soldier?
"What's your business?" the commander asked hesitantly. A few of his soldiers nearby looked over at Ocelot and his group but didn't do anything.
"Oh, I'm just in the market," Ocelot replied. His answer made the hesitant commander give him a look that said he was thinking, before leading them over to the depot's interior. Stepping inside, Ocelot's opinion of the place only worsened. The commander led them past a series of tanks. Some were Cold War era Type-74s that were retired centuries ago. Others were more modern Type-10s with slightly older Type-90s.
However, there were gaps between them. Instead of a solid wall of armor lined up neatly to maximize storage efficiency, they were spaced out. It confused Ocelot for a second before he noticed the scuff marks on the floor. Scuff marks showed that the depot used to have more tanks. Combined there had to be thirty tanks in the depot. By the number of scuff marks, there used to be a hundred.
The more he looked around the worse it got. Howitzers were missing or stripped for parts, Type-89 IFVs were missing treads and turrets, a Type-16 had its main gun removed from its turret, Type-73 medium trucks had no tires and their doors were torn off. Then the base commander led them to their destination, a series of crates with a clipboard resting on top. The commander carefully picked the clipboard up and looked it over for a few seconds.
"So, what are you looking for?" the man asked, unaware of Ocelot's stewing annoyance. This much military hardware and they treat it like how a three-year-old treats their toys. He kept up a fake small grin to hide his thoughts, however.
"Just a couple of basics," Ocelot replied, "I'd say twenty-four Type-20 assault rifles to start."
The commander gave him a small grin in return while snapping his fingers. A couple of nearby soldiers who heard the request got to work opening a crate. The moment they did, Ocelot gave the commander an annoyed look. It was missing a rifle. The commander laughed it off nervously before the soldiers brought in a new crate. This one with a rifle.
"A good choice. Anything else?" the commander asked, with Ocelot looking around the depot.
"There is," Ocelot answered, before turning to face his unit.
"Make sure these things work," Ocelot ordered, "I'd rather they not fail on us in a firefight."
His men nodded and stepped forward, grabbing the guns and walking to a nearby wall. The commander watched on nervously, running his hand through his hair.
"That really isn't necessary. I can assure you everything is in working order."
"I'd rather be sure," Ocelot countered. And he was glad he did. Fourteen of the rifles acquired wouldn't fire, their internal mechanisms rusted over the years. Same with the fourteen's replacements. After the third round of guns, Ocelot found they all worked.
"That's going to cost extra you know," the commander muttered, watching as his men threw out the broken guns.
"Sure it will," Ocelot answered sarcastically. The commander didn't notice this, however.
"Is that everything?" the commander asked, somewhat hopeful Ocelot would start to leave. That wasn't the case as Ocelot looked at the room again.
"No," Ocelot replied, this time pulling out a list. He passed it to the commander who read it thoroughly and began to see dollar signs. It was a rather long list. Aside from the Type-20s, Ocelot needed Sumitomo MINIMIs, VP9s, Nissan LAMs, M32s, M203s, Type-01s, M24s, M67s, Type-89s, Type-62s, Sumitomo J2s, Type-96 automatic grenade launchers, C4, tear gas grenades, thousands of bullets from differing calibers, Komatsu LAVs, and one Type-74 heavy truck to carry everything. Along with several weapon attachments they may need. All of which were readily in stock.
"This will fetch you a heavy price," the commander stated, a little unsure of Ocelot's motive as his greed temporarily wore off. Ocelot simply chuckled as he fished out his HPSC badge. He held it out for the commander who slowly paled, with Ocelot soon putting it away.
"No, it won't. Not unless you want Madam President hearing you sold off a couple million dollar missiles," Ocelot threatened. The commander rapidly nodded before having his men acquire all the requested items.
When Uraraka stepped off the bus, her eyes slowly widened as she registered two new factors. One was the massive dome in front of her, and I mean massive. It had to be the size of a small town, with a roof going up for hundreds of feet. The entire thing must have cost a fortune, just for the possible thousands of tons of concrete. Uraraka was a bit overwhelmed at the sight, wondering what was inside.
Mr. Aizawa did say they were doing rescue training, so what did this place have in store? But that was beside the point, as Uraraka gazed upon factor two.
"Hello everyone, I've been waiting for you!" Thirteen greeted them somewhat enthusiastically. Uraraka's face turned to a look of shock. Unaware she had started smiling widely and had begun shaking a nearby Tsu. Uraraka could hardly believe this was happening. She was getting rescue training, from Thirteen no less! The hero she had always wanted to be growing up! It was just so cool!
"I can't wait to show you what's inside!" the hero proclaimed, stepping off to the side to lead the class inside. Uraraka giddily followed, still too amazed that Thirteen was going to be teaching them. Her amazement only increased as she stepped inside, and looked around the place. The inside of the building somehow seemed larger than the outside. Uraraka thought her eyes were messing with her, but looked down and saw they weren't.
Not only was the building hundreds of feet tall, but it was also hundreds of feet in the ground. A mountain of stairs waited in front of them, heading out to a large main plaza with a fountain in the middle. Broken off into different zones at the back were artificial mountains, a city stuck in a landslide, a lake, and two domes, one with flames painted on and another with different shades of blue.
It was all incredible as Thirteen explained to the class what they would be learning. What Uraraka didn't notice was Thirteen holding up three fingers for Aizawa, with the man soon grumbling annoyed. What she did notice, however, was a lack of All Might. She was about to ask where he was, but Aizawa didn't notice. Well, that or he didn't care. His teaching method was along the lines of figuring it out yourself, the same could be said for how he answered most questions.
Thirteen meanwhile went on a talk about how dangerous quirks could be, which Uraraka attempted to pay attention to, but couldn't. Every word she wanted to latch onto, but it all dragged her back to her quirk. It was weak, worthless. She couldn't see it, but she was sure Fudaki's eyes were boring into the back of her head. Your quirk is useless. To think you could ever hurt a villain with it, you couldn't hurt a fly.
It's weak, worthless, nothing. Just like you. All you do is make things float away, gravity does all the work for you. Your quirk is so worthless, that you need an outside force to hurt someone. It is nothing- No! Uraraka shook herself out of those spiraling thoughts, not noticing the concerned look she was getting from Tsu and Iida. Quickly though she brought her focus back to Thirteen.
"Thanks to Aizawa's fitness test, you have a solid idea of your quirk's potential," Thirteen said, "And because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be,"
Uraraka was expecting someone to loudly cough and mutter the word bullshit, but it didn't happen. Then she remembered Ocelot wasn't there. It was odd. She knew very little of the HPSC rep, yet he was always involved with her class's lessons in some way. Why, Uraraka didn't have a clue, maybe he just liked messing with Aizawa.
He always did have what could only be described as a sadistic look every time Aizawa was annoyed. Though, it wasn't actual sadism, right? Thirteen then bowed bringing her small talk to a close. With it over Aizawa stepped forward in front of the stairs and pointed out at the rest of the now-named Unforeseen Simulation Joint.
"Right. Now with that over-" Aizawa was interrupted, as the lights began to flicker overhead. They soon turned off completely. Uraraka looked up at them confused. She was confident UA had spent millions on the best equipment they could find, so why was this happening? Was there a power outage? Wait no! This must be part of the exercise! Yeah, nothing was wrong… Somehow Uraraka didn't feel like that was the case.
The feeling that something was off surged back when Aizawa shouted at the class.
"Stay together and don't move!" he commanded, the hero quickly reaching for his scarf as he looked down at the fountain. Looking down, Uraraka slowly turned pale, finding a vortex of something taking shape at the bottom. Her mind jumped to conclusions on what it was, silently hoping this was part of the exercise. Yes, that is what this was, all part of the exercise. But the dozens of people walking out of the vortex, and Aizawa moving to block off the stairs told her otherwise.
More people kept walking out of the dark vortex, the tide not letting up until they were all through. There had to be almost seventy maybe eighty of them all with varying quirks that Uraraka couldn't decipher from this distance. But that hardly mattered to her, as something large stepped out of the portal. It had to be the size of All Might, if not bigger. Its skin was a dark blackish blue and built like a wall. Its mouth was nothing more than a beak lined with razor-sharp teeth, while its head displayed an exposed brain pulsating in thought.
All remaining hope Uraraka had that this was part of the exercise was dashed as she looked at the thing. Because that was the closest way to describe it, a thing. It looked around in an animalistic manner and was far too unnatural looking, even for quirks. Call it common sense, but nothing with an exposed brain lives for long. Either something physical is going to kill it, or a disease is. Calling it human was nowhere near accurate in Uraraka's mind.
Nearby Aizawa's scarf began to float, while Thirteen moved to put herself in front of the students.
"Real villains? No way," Kirishima muttered, his disbelief being an attempt to hide his newfound worry, "How could so many of 'em get into a UA facility this secure?"
"Don't you remember the break-in?" Asui bluntly pointed out, with every student's mind going back to the sounds of screams and gunfire.
"But the security should have alerted someone," Yaoyorozu countered, "Thirteen, why aren't the alarms going off?"
"Good question, I'm not sure," was the only response Thirteen gave. Uraraka couldn't stifle her gasp, stepping back slightly away from the stairs. This couldn't be happening. This could not be happening!
"Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target?" Todoroki asked, the air getting chillier around him with small bits of ice forming on his.
"Who cares?" Fudaki interrupted, his hands moving to pluck a strand of hair, "They think I'll lose to some nobodies, like a common punk."
Uraraka gave Fudaki a flabbergasted look. He was being arrogant now of all times!? Their lives were possibly on the line and he was treating this as if he was a pro already! This wasn't happening, it wasn't. It was all a dream. She had some bad mochi the other night and was dreaming.
"Kaminari," Aizawa ordered, moving forward to the stairs, "Use your quirk to try and contact the school."
"Yes sir," Kaminari quickly replied, his hand moving to his costume's earpiece. Uraraka begged for it to work, knowing it was still a long shot. Aizawa meanwhile, looked down the stairs, watching as the crowd of villains crowded around.
"I'll leave it to you Thirteen,"
Then with a swift motion, Aizawa had jumped, now falling past and down the stairs. Uraraka didn't stop to watch the fight as Thirteen quickly led the students back to the entrance. It seemed so far away, so very far away as the class ran. It was there though, in clear sight. All they needed to do was leave. Then the vortex from before began to form in front of them, cutting off their only route of escape.
The moment the void took shape Uraraka came to a stop, looking up at the void with fearful eyes. When the void spoke, she realized it was a villain.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, we are the League of Villains," the void introduced, the class warily taking steps back from the villain, "I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello."
Thirteen had moved to shield the students then, with everyone backing up cautiously.
"And besides, isn't this a fitting place for the Symbol of Peace to take his last breath?" the void rhetorically asked. The words shocked Uraraka for a second. They were here for All Might, scratch that they thought they could somehow kill All Might. It would be laughable if they weren't trying to kill them as well. But her mind flashed back to the thing at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed unnatural, but that didn't mean it could-
Her thought was interrupted as the void began to stretch out, the golden slits it had for eyes supposedly glaring at them. To her surprise, Bakugo and Kirishima leaped at the void, with the blond firing off a massive explosion. Smoke instantly covered the area, with the blast pushing Uraraka back.
"Did ya think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds?" Kirishima stated with part of his arms hardened to protect himself. Uraraka thought they managed to harm the villain, but the smoke dissipated and proved her wrong.
"You live up to your school's reputation," the villain noted, his ever-present void beginning to reform, "But you should be more careful children."
He wasn't affected at all. If he was Uraraka couldn't see it, the darkness surrounding him masking everything. She wasn't even sure if the villain had a body. The golden light she assumed was his eyes glowed almost menacingly. Yet Uraraka saw something else in the void. It was hard to make out amongst the darkness, but it was metal. A brace of some kind, maybe a piece of armor, she wasn't sure. But before she could get a better look, she was pushed back slightly.
"You two, get out of the way!" Thirteen ordered Bakugo and Kirishima while pointing a finger at the villain. Yet they couldn't move in time. The void surrounding the villain expanded outward, wrapping around the class as Uraraka struggled to see. She was caught off guard as someone grabbed her. In seconds light returned to her eyes, quickly finding Iida had pulled her and Sato to safety. He couldn't save everyone though.
When everything went dark, Asui struggled to resist the force of something. Whatever the villain was doing, she wasn't sure. The darkness of the void ripped past her like a gust of wind, yet also flew through her like it wasn't there. But there was one thing she noticed immediately, the feeling of weightlessness. Her eyes shot open, and the frog girl realized she was falling.
Around her was still the USJ but in a different area. Rapidly approaching from below was a large pool of water, with a ship resting in the middle. Within seconds she crashed into the pool, flinching at the force of her landing. She felt something crack in her chest, a new searing pain taking hold. It stung horribly, becoming slightly harder to breathe. She didn't linger on it long, hearing something else crash into the water next to her.
Submerged under the water she looked above her, finding the small form of Mineta trying to swim back up. Asui quickly moved to follow before feeling something else move in the water. Her quirk provided an enhanced awareness in water, and all of her senses were screaming at her. Her eyes could see it, faint shadows of something in the darker part of the waters.
Then she saw it, a villain with an odd fish mutation. His jaws were wide open, swimming straight towards her. She barely had time to react, kicking the villain in the head. The power was more than she intended, forcing the villain back a few meters as blood from a broken nose floated in the water. Asui didn't linger on it for long, as more villains came into view. She shot out her tongue, wrapping it around Mineta, before swimming up as fast as possible.
All the while villains attacked however they could. Mutants attempted to tear her apart with sharp claws or teeth. Others manipulated the water creating strong riptides. Some had a trident or harpoon gun used to try and stab her. It made swimming difficult as Asui ducked and dodged. A mutant came to bite her head off, forcing her to kick him in the chest. At the same time, another villain threw a trident at her, narrowly missing her leg.
There had to be something of use, with Asui finding the boat she saw during her fall. With a powerful kick of her legs, she shot out of the water like a missile. The added height of her jump allowed Asui to land on the nearby boat. Her landing caused her to stumble slightly before she got her footing. Very carefully she moved her tongue to set down Mineta.
"It's like real-life hentai," Mineta muttered, and Asui changed her mind. She dropped the boy onto the ship, retracting her tongue back quickly. He hit the ground hard, letting out a loud cry of pain.
"Ow! Why was that necessary!?" Mineta exclaimed, rubbing his back as he sat up. Asui answered by giving him a deadpan look, before hearing something splash around in the water. She looked over the boat's ledge and found the villains reaching the surface. They surrounded the boat quickly, glaring up at the ship menacingly.
"Why!? Why is this happening!?" Mineta panicked once he saw the villains below. A few of the villains laughed at his fear.
"Oh don't worry! We'll make it quick!" one shouted before a trident zipped over Asui's head. She ducked down with Mineta quickly doing the same.
"All you little kiddies need to do is jump down! Then we won't have to make this difficult! If it's difficult, then we kill you slower!" Another villain shouted, followed by more laughter.
"This… this can't be happening," Mineta again muttered, looking over at Asui, "What do we do?"
"I don't know," Asui replied, slowly peeking over the ship again. She didn't get far, as a large wave came from somewhere and crashed into the ship. It threw her back slightly as water washed up onboard, and tossed Mineta like a ball. When Asui regained her footing, she stopped to think. They were outnumbered, and she was the only one with a quirk good in the water. She could maybe swim them to safety back on shore, but there were more villains there as well.
"We stay put," Asui decided, though she hated the decision. Mineta did too.
"Stay here!? We're surrounded by villains!" Mineta tried to reason.
"There are villains everywhere," Asui pointed out, "And this group hasn't tried to board yet. Either group is going to try to torture us to death, but this one is taking its time."
"Can you hurry up!? I'm getting hungry down here!" one of the villains shouted again, the group getting tired of waiting. But then a different villain gave him a shocked look.
"Wait, you're gonna eat them? Dude that's messed up," the villain muttered, with the first villain slowly turning to face the second.
"Mother fucker we're here to kill them!" the first villain countered.
"Yeah, but to just eat them?" the second villain replied.
"Bitch you raped a four-year-old! Cannibalism is where you draw the line!?" the first villain pointed out. The second villain went quiet for a second in thought.
"Yes!" the villain argued, leaving Asui shocked by the whole display. Who knew what fate any of these villains had planned for them. But staying on the ship was still the best plan they had, no matter how much Mineta opposed it.
"We need to run!" he tried to reason, only for Asui to shake her head.
"If we run, we'll end up closer to the fountain-" Asui pointed out, only for Mineta to quickly interrupt.
"And we'll be closer to Mr. Aizawa, and on our way out of here!" Mineta countered, with there being some genuine good points. If they could make it to Mr. Aizawa they would have someone to help protect them. However, there was one glaring problem Asui noticed.
"We'll also be closer to that thing, kero" Asui countered, pointing out at the fountain. Her finger was aimed straight at the behemoth of a villain, giving a currently fighting Aizawa an animalistic glare. That seemed to make Mineta change his mind as he closed his mouth and instead looked back over the ship. The moment he did so, he noticed something in the air. His eyes widened as he jumped back to hide behind something.
"It's the portal villain!" he hastily called out, hoping to warn Asui. Hearing him she looked up to find a new portal forming above the water. The rest of the villain didn't appear luckily, instead, it dropped a body into the water.
"Seems we've got fresh meat then!" one of the villains called out seeing the body near the waters.
"Wonder how he tastes- argh!"
The second the body hit the water, electricity shot out across the pool. The villains writhed in pain, as hundreds of volts shocked through them at once. It was a cacophony of pained yells and screams before they fell unconscious. The villain's bodies floated around in the water, as the person that fell in swam to the top. Asui instantly recognized the hair of pure electricity as Fudaki emerged.
"Woah," Mineta muttered, looking out at the sea of unconscious bodies. He soon saw Fudaki in the water as well and jumped up to get the other's attention.
"Fudaki! Over here!" he shouted, with Asui reluctantly doing the same. She still held a small frown on her face. Fudaki soon saw them but didn't swim up to them. Asui could barely see his face, but he seemed displeased. The other teen instead continued swimming straight toward shore, leaving both Asui and Mineta to watch in surprise.
"Is he insane!?" Mineta quietly asked before again trying to get Fudaki's attention.
"Dude, come over here! It's not safe there!" Mineta yelled out. But Fudaki either didn't hear or didn't care.
"Should we stop him?" Mineta asked, turning toward Asui.
"I don't think we can," Asui answered, looking down at the water. She couldn't see it, but she was sure electricity was still coursing through the water. If they got in to follow Fudaki, they would be fried. So she watched as the teen continued to swim, straight towards the main plaza.
When the void surrounding the villain finally dissipated, Iida was glad to see he and the people he saved weren't the only ones still there. Aside from Uraraka and Sato, remained Shoji, Ashido, Sero, Fudaki, and Thirteen. Well, Fudaki was originally with them, but he then charged at the villain and got teleported away rather quickly. The villain now just stood in front of them, a large cloud of darkness.
What was he up to? Was he waiting for them to try something? The villain must have realized he wouldn't be able to teleport every student so easily, this must be a change in tactics then. Thirteen meanwhile readied her quirk, turning slightly to face Iida.
"Class rep," she said, getting his attention, "I have a job for you. Run to the school and tell the faculty what's going on here."
"What? I can't just leave everyone here," Iida attempted to protest. What kind of hero would he be if he left? Abandoning his classmates while he reached safety, was unthinkable. They needed help, yes, but that ran the risk of trading someone else's life for his. Someone else could take the fall because he wasn't there.
"The alarms aren't ringing and communications aren't working, which means no one on the outside knows what's going on. The only way help is arriving is if someone can alert those outside," Thirteen countered, with Iida seeing her point. He hated it, for how logical the argument was. But he was the only one who could do it. It still felt wrong to leave everyone behind.
"But to leave everyone behind?"
"It would be worse if we all died," Sato commented, stepping forward with his fists drawn.
"If no one learns what's happening, we're doomed," Sero added, doing the same as Sato, "If you can make it through, then the villains are done for. They can't stop every hero at UA, especially not with All Might."
Reluctantly, Iida agreed. They needed help and they needed it now. He still didn't like leaving everyone, but it's what needed to happen if they wanted to survive.
"I can float you if that will help?" Uraraka asked, with Iida thinking the prospect over.
"It should help increase speed quicker," Iida noted, "Let's do it then."
"I realize you're desperate, but are you truly foolish enough to discuss your plan in front of your enemy?" the void mocked, stretching out and launching forward.
"It won't matter, not when I'm done with you!" Thirteen countered activating her quirk. The black hole from her fingers sucked away the villain's mist into a boundless abyss, crushed away by the force of gravity. The villain resisted as best he could standing as far from the hero as possible. Thirteen hoping to press the advantage, stepped forward, forcing the villain to step back.
"Black hole, a quirk that sucks up matter and turns it to dust. An astounding power," the villain monologues stepping back again, "However, you're no combat hero Thirteen. This means your fighting experience is best described as…"
A portal opened right behind Thirteen, and the force of a black hole began to tear away at the hero.
"Limited," the villain mocked, watching as bits of Thirteen's costume tore away. Iida wanted to rush forward and do something, but if he did he'd get torn apart in an instant. Thirteen attempted to stop her quirk, but it was too late. The back half of her costume was torn away, with bits of flesh following suit. She slumped forward as pain took hold, muscle burning from being exposed to open air.
Her once pure whitish gray costume slowly turned red as blood seeped into the material.
"Shit! Iida, go now!" Sato yelled out, with Shoji rushing to grab Thirteen. He carried the hero away carefully, while Iida looked over at the entrance. It was right there, he had to do this. There was no other option.
"Uraraka!" he called out and she quickly removed his gravity. Iida then got his engines running and found himself flying over to the entrance. It was hard to control, constantly shifting his legs and body so he didn't spin out of control. But he was almost there, the exit was almost within reach. He flew closer to it, very close. Behind him, Uraraka returned gravity to him, with Iida losing his feeling of weightlessness.
He neared the ground quickly, legs out ready to land. The moment he did he booked it as fast as he could. Behind him, he heard the villain yell out in anger.
"You think you can escape, child? Your remains will dust this facility!" the villain taunted, with Iida seeing the villain's void chasing after him. The darkness began to wrap around him, with Iida panicking that he had failed. He pushed himself further, hoping an increased speed would bring him out of the void. Instead, it dispersed quickly, with Uraraka grabbing the metal armor she had seen before.
"Go run Iida!" she called out, tossing the villain's armor away. The villain again yelled out in anger, the void again trying to surge forward as Iida reached the door. Iida slowly began to force it open, knowing his classmates would hold the villain back. Said villain almost reached him, when Sero caught his metal armor with his tape, allowing Sato to yank the villain back. With the relief his classmates gave him, Iida forced the doors open and felt sunlight touch his face. Not lingering any longer, he sprinted out the door heading out for the campus.
"Are you ready go! Hashurudasou! Toriisogi saa sutaato!-"
"For the love of all that is holy, turn that shit off!" one of the Ocelots exclaimed over the radio. It caused a few other Ocelots to bust out laughing, before turning the volume up.
"Fuck!"
"Ah come on, live a little! Ashita wa zettai motto Shiny!"
The song was currently blaring through one of the men's radios as Ocelot and his unit drove through campus. It had taken hours to pack everything onto the truck they "bought", but they were here now. Two Komatsu LAVs and one Type-74 truck. Ocelot would have gotten a helicopter, but no one in his unit knew how to fly.
At the moment the unit was separated into three groups. Two groups of five were in the LAVs, with Ocelot riding in the passenger seat of the front LAV. The fifth person on both LAVs was in the gunner position, having a final team of three in the truck. It had two men in the cab, and a third sitting in the back looking over the equipment.
"I always forget how big this place is," the driver muttered, with Ocelot silently agreeing. It was a bit strange comparing UA to the rest of Japan. In the rest of the country, you could practically walk anywhere in a few minutes. Here it would take you half an hour to go from the main gate to the USJ. That was unless you had a car, which Ocelot luckily had.
"How much do you think it's gonna cost to refuel this thing?" another asked, to which Ocelot chuckled.
"So long as I flash the badge, it won't cost us a dime. Or I guess a ten yen coin in this case," Ocelot answered, to which the driver murmured in agreement. The cowboy looked out the window then, looking out at the wide empty school grounds. There were a lot of trees in some spots, but the entire place was just wide open land. It was odd now that Ocelot thought about it. Then again knowing the rat he might be keeping it open for ideas he might have. His thoughts drifted over to the army depot then.
It was far too empty. Ocelot knew that for a fact, entire pallets of rifles were missing from that warehouse for crying out loud. Landmines were missing, C4 was missing, pistols, machine guns, armored vehicles, and helicopters were missing. That equipment doesn't just grow legs and walk away. Ocelot knew someone had bought it, but was that over the course of a century? Of everything filtering out bit by bit over the years? Or was someone buying it all in bulk recently?
If the latter was the case, he felt a sneaking suspicion on who the buyer was. Just as Ocelot lingered on these thoughts, a loud boisterous laugh echoed around them, causing Ocelot to look up at the sky.
"All vehicles stop," Ocelot ordered looking out the window. Seconds later All Might landed next to his LAV, causing the ground to shake slightly. Ocelot then popped the hatch on his door's window, opening it up.
"All Might," Ocelot greeted looking over at the large smiling man, "Thought you had a class?"
"Ah, Ocelot!" All Might loudly greeted, "I was actually going to it now. I was held up by Nezu, though that's mostly my fault."
"Let me guess, show up late?" Ocelot inquired, with All Might keeping up his wide smile. Yet Ocelot saw a small change in the man's face, a slight cringe at Ocelot's question.
"Something like that," All Might replied. He lifted his arm and rested it against the LAV. The vehicle shuddered slightly as if its suspension was struggling to hold up against the added weight. All Might quickly stopped when he heard the noise, standing back up straight.
"So, have you heard anything from Aizawa or Thirteen?" All Might asked. Ocelot shook his head no.
"Afraid not. All of us just got here a few minutes ago," Ocelot answered, though he could see some concern radiating from All Might. He gave the hero an inquisitorial look, spurring All Might to continue.
"They haven't been answering my calls, I've sent over a dozen already. They were just to check in on the students and what progress was being made. But after the fourth call, something seemed off," All Might explained. Ocelot brought a hand to his chin in thought, thinking it over.
"It could be a case of dead batteries," Ocelot reasoned, before immediately shutting that idea down. Thirteen he could chalk it up to maybe, as he's had a bare minimum of one interaction with her over the years. Aizawa "Logical" Shota on the other hand would have charged his phone just for logic's sake. Hell, he probably had extra batteries with him for the logic of never knowing.
But that left an alternative. He didn't like the implication, sure there could be other possibilities. Aizawa had a very vocal dislike of All Might, so he could be ignoring his calls. But that contradicted the logic Aizawa followed. Then again he contradicts his own logic a couple of times before.
"Sir, dust cloud six hundred meters," the driver suddenly called out. That caught Ocelot by surprise as he whipped his head over to look forward. Sure enough, a massive cloud of dust was approaching them, and rather quickly too. It dragged All Might's attention to, the hero soon dashing forward in an instant. The wind from his movement shook the LAV slightly, forcing Ocelot to stabilize himself inside the vehicle.
"Damn it, drive," Ocelot ordered, the driver giving him a quiet nod. When the convoy reached All Might again, Ocelot found him talking to a student. Iida if he remembered correctly. All Might put a comforting hand on his shoulder and turned back to Ocelot's unit. His smile was nowhere to be seen.
"The hell is going on?" Ocelot inquired, noticing the anger brewing in All Might.
"The USJ is under attack. Dozens of villains appeared and scattered the students across the facility," All Might explained, his hands clenched into tight fists. Ocelot mentally swore as he drew one of his revolvers.
"Go, we'll meet you there," Ocelot told the hero. All Might gave him a small nod, before leaping into the air. He soared forward faster than the vehicles at Ocelot's disposal. Ocelot meanwhile looked over the rounds chambered in his gun, before grabbing his Idroid as well. He turned it on but looked over at Iida first.
"Get back to campus," Ocelot told him, with Iida looking back at him unsure.
"But my classmates-" Iida tried to say.
"Now damn it. We've already got one of you safe, we don't need you going back in," Ocelot interrupted.
"But Mr.-"
"That's an order, get to campus. Now."
Iida finally seemed to accept it, though very reluctantly. He then sped off back to campus, leaving Ocelot to call Nezu.
"Nezu put the school on lockdown. The USJ is under attack," Ocelot stated over the radio.
"So it's happening then. I'll scramble who I can, I can assume your unit is heading there?" Nezu asked.
"We are," Ocelot answered, before quickly hanging up. He then looked back at the men in the LAV present and brought up the radio.
"Nakamura, Hamasaki! Get those fifties up! Jihara, drive! Rest of you get your gear ready!" Ocelot quickly ordered. They all did so quickly, checking over the rifles in their possession carefully. Whatever was waiting for them, Ocelot wasn't sure.
All Might was supposed to be here, that's what everything said. It's what the schedule he stole said, it's what sensei's spy said, it's even what the media said. So where was he? Shigiraki scratched his neck in annoyance as he watched Eraserhead beat the pulp out of one villain. The hero wrapped his scarf around the villain's head and swept the man's legs. A group of three villains then ran up to try and attack, only for Eraserhead to use the first villain's body like a club.
He whipped the scarf around, sending the villain's body to crash into his comrades. It was impressive. But as cool as Shigiraki thought Eraserhead was, he was most definitely upset. He could have Nomu crush his skull right now, but what's the fun in that? It was designed to kill All Might, it would swat Eraserhead away like a bug. That and you don't waste your highest-level gear on a basic enemy.
So Shigiraki watched and waited, right until he saw the hero's hair drop. Now. He ran forward charging towards Eraserhead, the hero launching his scarf forward, and muttered "the final boss," to himself. Shigiraki simply caught the scarf and continued to run forward. When he was finally close enough, Eraserhead elbowed him, but not before Shigiraki grabbed his arm.
"It may not seem like it, but you have an obvious tell. It was hard to see at first, but you really should cut your hair," he mocked, feeling the fabric in his hand turn to dust. Then came the skin underneath it, turning gray quickly and decaying away.
"Otherwise you might just fall apart, and wouldn't that be a shame," Shigiraki continued to gloat, smiling under the hand mask he wore. Eraserhead quickly countered, punching him in the jaw. Shigiraki stood back after the punch, watching as another low-level goon attempted to attack Eraserhead. He ducked under the villain's punch and countered with his own. Eraserhead then turned around and dodged a villain with a ball and chain.
He was forced to duck and roll soon after as another villain with gorilla arms attempted to hit him. It was all very impressive to Shigiraki. Even with one of his arms nearly disabled, he still fought on. It didn't matter much though, as more villains moved to surround him. Nut just where was All Might, he was supposed to be here!
"Your quirk isn't suited for this, yet you keep fighting anyway. So out of your element," Shigiraki told him, with Eraserhead quickly dodging one villain's attack and wrapping him with his scarf. He then dodged a second and threw the first villain like a club, hitting the second. A final villain attempted to punch him but was instead kicked away, leaving a loud crunch as his jaw most definitely broke. At the same time, Shigiraki quietly snapped his fingers, dragging over Nomu's attention.
As interesting as this was, and as much as the gamer in him was screaming to save Nomu for later, he was getting impatient. Where was All Might!? What was the point of grinding all this time, if the final boss didn't even show!?
"And yet you're still standing!" Shigiraki said, breaking out into a small laugh, "You really are so cool!"
He looked over the hero's shoulder, watching as the behemoth form of Nomu appeared behind him.
"Oh by the way, I may be the protagonist of this adventure, but I'm not the final boss," Shigiraki told him. At that point, Eraserhead realized where Shigiraki was looking and turned around. The second he did, Nomu reached out and grabbed his head. In seconds Nome slammed Eraser's head into the pavement. He did it again and again, blood beginning to pool beneath the hero. Nomu then grabbed Eraser's arm and snapped the bone in two.
The hero cried out in pain, yet still glared at Shigiraki defiantly. So cool. Shigiraki began to walk forward before he spotted something in the corner of his eye.
"You can erase peoples' quirks, but it's nothing impressive," Shigiraki monologued while keeping an eye on his peripherals.
"When faced with true devastating power, you might as well be a quirkless child," Shigiraki continued. Eraserhead then tried to use his quirk again, looking up at Nomu with a glare. Nomu responded by crushing Eraser's other arm with his foot. It elicited another cry of pain, with Shigiraki looking down at the now broken arm. Any second now though he was expecting the kid he saw in his peripherals to try something. Instead, he heard Kurogiri form up behind him.
"Shigiraki Tomura," Kurogiri stated, his wispy form coalesced almost into the form of a person but remained like a misty cloud.
"Kurogiri, did you manage to kill Thirteen?" Shigiraki asked, still keeping an eye on Eraser and his peripherals.
"The rescue hero is out of commission," Kurogiri answered vaguely, which slightly irritated Shigiraki. Out of commission could mean a lot of things, ranging from being knocked out to dead. But then Kurogiri had to keep talking.
"But there were students I was unable to disperse, and one of them managed to escape," Kurogiri continued. The sudden revelation caught Shigiraki off guard. Slowly and almost unconsciously Shigiraki's hands reached for his neck. They scratch at an inch that never seemed to go away, as Shigiraki slowly got angrier.
"If you weren't our way out of here, I'd tear you apart atom by atom," he finally stopped scratching when Nomu moved. He heard the kid that tried to sneak up on him squirm against Nomu's grasp, the crackling of electricity heard behind him. Shigiraki slowly turned around to face the teen. Nomu was holding the teen by the neck, his other hand holding what looked like a miniature lightning bolt aimed directly at Shigiraki's head.
Though if the teen's hair was anything to go by, it was most likely a strand of his hair. The teen originally held a confident look on his face, but the longer he struggled the more it went away. Shigiraki couldn't help but chuckle at the teen's arrogance.
"We can't win if dozens of pros arrive to stop us. It's game over," Shigiraki muttered, "And here I was hoping to finish this today."
He raised his hand quickly and brought it close to the teen's face. The boy began to try and fight against Nomu's hold, trying desperately to free himself from his grasp.
"Let me go, villain! My father will see you rotting in a cell!" the teen shouted, but Shigiraki ignored his words.
"We might as well have some fun before we leave," Shigiraki muttered to himself, placing his hand on the boy's face. He waited for the familiar feeling of decaying flesh, only for it not to occur.
"Oh, silly me," Shigiraki commented. He removed his hand from the boy's face and turned to face Eraserhead. The hero had his hair raised as his eyes shined a bright red, canceling Shigiraki's quirk.
"A noble effort," Shigiraki mocked, "But completely pointless. Nomu."
That was all that needed to be said, as Eraserhead watched with wide eyes. Shigiraki saw Eraserhead almost try to crawl his way over, but none of his arms worked enough to let him. The teen's body was slammed into the ground repeatedly, a new pool of red forming. Bits of flesh and bone dropped to the floor as Nomu kept going. Small bits of blood flew up into the air every time he did, dripping onto Shigiraki's mask as it fell back down.
Nomu slammed the teen into the ground a final time, a small bit of brain matter falling to the ground next to him. There Nomu dropped the teen's body, his mangled corpse resting on the ground a beaten and bloody mess. Then he heard the loud crash as something busted down the door to the USJ.
He looked up at the entrance and saw a cloud of dust pool up at the front. As it dispersed a small sadistic smile came to his face. Oh, what timing he had. After all of this, now he arrives. Even from this distance, there was no mistaking who had arrived.
"Have no fear, students. Because I am here!"
Chapter 60: A Trip to the USJ Part Two
He failed them. There was no smile on All Might's face, instead holding a glare fueled by righteous fury. He walked by them, ensuring that his students were ok. Their faces all held so much fear, with some tearing up when they saw he arrived. They never should have been in this situation in the first place. All Might lambasted himself, he was supposed to be here. But he just had to stop every crime he came across.
It was part of why his face held no smile as his footsteps echoed around the USJ. Anger not just towards the villains who decided to harm innocent children, but at himself. He would make this right. Reaching the end of the stairs he looked down, eyeing the dozens of villains waiting at the bottom. From this distance, he saw a few of them shrink back once they saw his form. He heard the sounds of engines behind him, as Ocelot's convoy drove through the open door. It was followed by confused and frightened murmurs from the students before they saw Ocelot step out.
The clack of boots followed as his unit disembarked from their vehicles, except for the drivers and gunners. When the passengers had filed out the LAVs drove up and took position next to All Might, the gunners then aiming their weapons at the crowd below. At the same time, All Might heard the click of Ocelot's spurs, the cowboy stepping up to All Might's right.
"That's a lot of guys," Ocelot muttered, looking down at them with a pair of binoculars.
"Can you see the students?" All Might asked, still looking down at the main plaza. He could barely make out Aizawa's broken form and someone else's. All Might dreaded thinking that was a student. It was wrong of him to hope for this, but he begged it to be one of the villain's underlings. Someone who pissed off the leader and was killed for it. Not one of his students. Yet Ocelot quickly crushed that hope.
"Got eyes on a few of them. Got three over at the mountains, I think I spotted two at the ruined city, two by the lake, one- wait two at the landslide, and… one at the plaza," Ocelot replied, "Kid's not moving."
All Might clenched his fist tight. He took a deep breath to control his anger, his fist tightly clenched next to him. Part of him wanted to charge down there immediately, and in other more desperate circumstances, he probably would have. But contrary to what his old teacher always said, he was not an idiot.
"What about the other areas? Anything?" All Might asked, thinking up some kind of plan. Ocelot's men gave him more help to deal with the villains. Where alone he would be forced to blitz through everything as fast as possible, and couldn't take time to gather intel. But that luckily wasn't the case.
"Afraid not. The domes covering them are blocking my view," Ocelot answered, "Gotta say though, that is one ugly monster they got down there. Unless it's bulletproof, I'd reckon one of my boys could kill it."
All Might was about to complain at Ocelot's description, finding it a bit discriminatory, but then Ocelot passed him the binoculars. They were a bit small for the hero's overly large hands, but he could still look through them. And Ocelot's description was spot on. The monster down there seemed unnatural. It was barely moving, but had an animalistic glare All Might could feel just by looking at it.
"That doesn't seem natural," All Might muttered, gazing at the thing's exposed brain. Its musculature was sculpted like a statue, its skin an unearthly dark shade resembling the flesh of the dead. The thing barely moved as well, standing almost perfectly still as if waiting for some order. All Might also noticed who he assumed to be the villain's leader. The man was deathly pale with pale blue hair. He was also covered in hands, which All Might found a tad bit worrying.
All Might soon handed the binoculars back to Ocelot, who put them away in a small bag and drew one of his revolvers.
"I'll deal with the big one," All Might decided, quickly cracking his knuckles and doing a brief stretch. Ocelot however put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Now hold on a second. I know you're tough and all but something doesn't sit right about that thing," Ocelot objected, pointing down at the monster.
"I appreciate the concern," All Might told him, "But I believe I can handle it. Our priority must be the students."
"And I'll send my boys to go do that," Ocelot conceded, "But I'm willing to bet old handyman down there's got some tricks up his sleeve."
All Might thought over Ocelot's words. He was right, the villains could be up to something. They had to be if they thought attacking UA was a good idea. And with his limited time, All Might knew it was best to be cautious.
"It'll be hard to help you know. The wind pressure from some of my fights is hard to stand up against," All Might replied, to which Ocelot snapped his fingers and holstered his drawn revolver. One of his men then tossed him a sniper rifle, with Ocelot carefully catching it.
"Never said I had to be up close," Ocelot told him while racking a round in the M24, "Besides, brought a whole lot of goodies for the occasion."
He pointed behind him then, showing his men offloading the equipment on their truck. All Might's eyes widened briefly once a pair of them unloaded an anti-tank missile launcher.
"...We're going to need to talk about that later," All Might muttered, with Ocelot nodding.
"We really do, because it was shockingly easy to get my hands on this," Ocelot agreed, furthering All Might's worry. But he couldn't delve into that, his students were still in danger. Looking back down the stairs, he took a deep breath and moved. In a split second, he was at the bottom of the stairs, a great gust of wind rushing past him. Only a dozen villains remained standing from Aizawa's fight. They tried to put up some semblance of a fight but were far too slow.
He blitzed through them all one by one, before turning his attention to Aizawa and who he now saw was Fudaki. All Might grimaced at the shape the boy was in, unsure if he was alive. Charging forward he grabbed Aizawa and Fudaki, the wind pressure knocking off the villain's mask. All Might then dashed away back to the stairs, right as Ocelot's men drove down to him, their LAVs again stopping next to him. All Might again grimaced as he looked down at the two people he held.
He should have been here, and he couldn't help but feel anger. His eyes rested on Fudaki, seeing the boy lifeless. His skull was cracked open, with blood and brain matter leaking out heavily. He felt no pulse either, as he stared into Fudaki's lifeless eyes. To think these villains were willing to kill a child. All Might's blood boiled the longer he looked at the boy's corpse. Someone quickly tapped him on the shoulder then, and All Might turned to see one of the Ocelots.
"We'll take it from here big man," he told him, and All Might angrily nodded. He handed Aizawa and Fudaki to him and another man, before turning to face the villains.
"I trust Ocelot's given you your orders?" All Might inquired, staring the villains down, while the leader seemed to be stuck in a moment of shock.
"Yes sir," a couple of the men replied.
"Then go. The students need you, I can handle them," All Might told them. Deep down a few of the Ocelots felt giddy at the notion that All Might was fighting with them. Sure, all of society was based on a lie using his reputation, but they could still admit it was cool. They quickly filed out though, driving down to the other zones. The villain's leader finally seemed to move then, crouching down to pick up his mask.
"It's about time you showed up. The match was almost over, and you kept us waiting," the villain commented, seconds before a gunshot echoed around the USJ. All Might assumed it was Ocelot firing, and he would be correct. However, he was surprised to find the monster had moved in front of the leader. When did it happen? He blinked and the thing had moved.
"Just as I'd expect from a government hero. You go on about saving lives but try to take away mine. Why is it that you are the only ones who get to be violent?" the villain commented, as All Might watched a bullet be pushed out of the monster's exposed brain. A regeneration quirk perhaps? But then how was it so fast? Seems it was tougher than Ocelot thought.
"Our violence serves a purpose. It protects the innocent from someone like you!" All Might loudly proclaimed, seeing a moment of unpreparedness from the villains. He capitalized on it dashing to their right side. Quickly he then charged at the monster fist drawn. It struck the monster's jaw, the wind pressure from the punch whipping forward and flinging bits of rubble back. To All Might's shock, however, the thing didn't react.
It slowly turned to look at him, before opening its mouth. All Might pulled back just as the thing tried to bite his hand off.
"A tough one aren't you," he muttered, before throwing another punch at the monster's gut. It also had no effect, with the monster throwing a punch of its own. All Might caught it with one hand and hit the thing in the throat. Why wasn't it having an effect!? He leaped back, dodging as the thing tried to grab his head.
"Seems it doesn't matter where I punch you, does it?" All Might rhetorically asked, dodging another swipe from the monster. In response he hit the monster in the temple, still finding he wasn't harming it.
"That's because Nomu has shock absorption All Might," the villain taunted with All Might's eyes widening at the realization, "You can punch it as much as you like, or you could gouge out its flesh. Of course, he won't-"
Nomu ran off interrupting the villain. It blocked another shot from Ocelot, the sound of gunfire echoing around again. Nomu stood in front of the leader waiting for any more bullets. The villain's leader, of course, found this annoying.
"Wha- Nomu, crush him!" he ordered, annoyed. The monster complied, charging out to attack All Might, before ducking back again. A third gunshot echoed, the Nomu again blocking it.
"For crying out loud, who's camping!?" the villain shouted out in anger.
Ocelot swore as he racked another round. With every shot he took at the leader, the monster moved to intercept. And each of those shots didn't even scratch the freak. If he had a higher caliber weapon, then that wouldn't be a problem. Ocelot assumed a handheld railgun would punch through both the monster and the man behind him. He wasn't sure if it would kill the thing though. It would probably tear its brain apart, but unless the section managing its regeneration was hit, then it would shrug it off.
Still, every shot became all the more pointless. The monster would charge at All Might, where the two would punch each other for a bit. Then Ocelot would try to shoot the leader again, only for the monster to stop whatever it was doing, and block the bullet. Eventually, he stopped trying, realizing that something was going on. However, he wanted to try one last thing.
"Akiyama! Rocket!" Ocelot yelled out, turning to look behind him. Two squads of four were out securing the USJ, leaving one squad to keep the entrance open and tend the wounded. One of them ran to the back of the truck and pulled out a Nissan LAM. He then ran back and handed it to him while a second brought over extra ammo. Ocelot picked it up carefully and aimed at the villain's leader.
If 7.62 wouldn't work, go bigger. Quickly checking behind him to see he was clear, he pulled the trigger. The rocket soared forward and like all other times, the monster moved to intercept. When the rocket made contact a large cloud of smoke erupted for a few seconds, obscuring Ocelot's view. But when it dissipated he saw the thing slowly healing up minor scratches. It took a rocket to the face and only suffered a few scratches.
"We should have brought howitzers," Ocelot muttered, annoyed, seeing the villain leader still alive as well. Switching back to his M24 he looked through the scope and laid his eyes on the villain's leader. It was hard to notice at first, but Ocelot spotted someone else standing next to him. The entire figure was shrouded in a large dark cloud of something. But then a look of recognition struck Ocelot. It was the same darkness the handyman jumped through during the break-in.
That was how they got in unimpeded, Ocelot realized. But how to deal with him was the issue. Ocelot turned to face the students behind him. The rest were scattered around the facility, which meant they had to have seen something.
"Uraraka," he said, looking over at the brunette. She looked back surprised, wondering why she was being called over.
"Anything you can tell me about tall, dark, and wispy?" Ocelot asked, seeing just a small bit of hesitance from the girl. Her eyes fell to the gun in his hands contemplating their use.
"W-well he has a physical body underneath the fog," Uraraka replied, still looking at the gun, "You'll find it if you look for a metal brace."
Ocelot turned to look back at the main plaza and then took the girl's advice. Sure enough, he found the glint of metal hiding away the only body the man had.
"You're not going to kill them are you?" Uraraka asked, with Ocelot realizing why she'd been hesitant to answer.
"Why wouldn't I kill them?" Ocelot replied, "I mean what did you think the rocket launcher was for?"
He did however switch to tranquilizer rounds. One miss and misty down there could teleport the bullet away, or teleport it behind All Might. Or who knows, the mist surrounding him might just make it fly through him.
"I thought it was for the monster. But why kill them? Heroes aren't supposed to kill people," Uraraka reasoned, with Ocelot finding one massive flaw in her argument.
"Heh, well little lady," Ocelot began racking the round and aiming at the teleporter, "I'm no hero."
He pulled the trigger then, hoping the teleporter was unaware of the coming round. The paintball-esque bullet flew forward at astonishing speed, before disappearing into the smoke surrounding the villain. Quietly Ocelot waited, thinking over if it worked. Then the clouded mass began to wither and fade before a body in a fancy suit appeared. The body fell forward, still covered in the smoky cloud, but appeared unconscious.
All Might didn't have time to figure out if the smoke villain was unconscious, being forced to dodge a punch from Nomu. Its fist was aimed at his weak spot and narrowly missed as he dashed to the side. All Might quickly countered though, putting all his strength into a punch at Nomu's neck. Yet it did nothing, the beast glaring down at him with an almost hunger in its eyes.
"Damn it Kurogiri, get up!" he heard the villain yell out, noticing the villain kick Kurogiri in the chest. It didn't stir his compatriot awake, which All Might was grateful for. He didn't linger on it long though, instead focusing back on Nomu. It was clear beating the thing into submission wouldn't work, so he changed tactics. He dashed around, getting behind Nomu before it could react. All Might then grabbed the freak of nature and suplexed it into the ground behind him.
The concrete floor cracked and shattered as the monster was shoved into it. For a brief few seconds it was restrained, allowing All Might to think for a second. He could see Nomu slowly forcing its way out, but he had time. There had to be some way to hurt it!
"Why aren't you dead yet!" the villain cried out annoyed, now scratching at his neck, "Nomu get up!"
The monster seemed to move faster now, determined to escape its makeshift restraints. All Might not wanting that to happen, rushed to punch the thing back into the ground. It succeeded temporarily, but then the monster disappeared. All Might almost suspected the smoke villain but he was still unconscious. But then the ground behind him flew up into the air, the Nomu having burrowed through the ground. Before he could react the Nomu had grabbed him, its hands clawing into his sides.
All Might struggled against the beast, feeling a bit of blood rise in his throat. Even worse, he felt his strength slowly draining. He was already running out of time, and the stress placed on his injury was running it out faster. All Might coughed out blood, his hands moving to try and remove Nomu's grip. At the same time, the villain's leader began to approach him.
"What's wrong All Might? You seem to be struggling," the villain mocked, "Is the symbol of peace getting weaker in his old age?"
Even behind the mask, All Might could see the wide manic smile the villain bore. His hand was raised, nearing All Might's face. All Might moved to stop the villain, attempting to force him back with a punch to the jaw. But Nomu grabbed his hand, holding him back. It then slowly crushed it, All Might crying out in pain momentarily. The hand drew ever closer to his face, and All Might glared at it.
He thought up a quick plan, hoping it would work. With his body weight, he'd effectively trip the Nomu behind him. In Nomu's brief moment of weightlessness, he'd use it as a shield, and block whatever the villain was about to do. It became unnecessary, however, as All Might remembered one key detail. The Nomu let All Might go, dashing to block the bullet from Ocelot. Now free he moved backward and avoided the villain's hand.
A look of sheer anger crossed the villain's face as he tried to attack All Might.
"That stupid camper! Nomu!" the villain yelled out, the monster accepting the order in seconds. All Might only watched in horror as the monster ran away, heading towards the stairs. He quickly followed hoping to stop the behemoth, but the sound of automatic gunfire told him he was late. The monster had its hands wrapped around one of the Ocelot's torso and was quickly crushing him. Loud cries of man sounded off around them, as he tried his best to fight back.
Three of Ocelot's men meanwhile emptied the magazines from their Type-20s into Nomu's large brain. Ocelot did the opposite. To All Might's shock and confusion, Ocelot focused on the villain at the bottom of the stairs. He couldn't linger on it long, instead rushing over and grabbing Nomu's arms, he attempted to pry the monster's grip open. It was difficult, All Might desperately holding the thing back while the Ocelots shot everything they had.
Then as quickly as it happened, Nomu let the man go and ran. The man's mangled body dropped down, with All Might carefully catching it. He set him down just as carefully, letting one of Ocelot's men move to help him. Tiredly he looked over at Ocelot himself, who kept firing at the villain's leader. It didn't even matter if he hit the man, so long as it was close.
"Ocelot!" All Might called out, trying to get the man's attention.
"Akiyama, Tachibana! Focus fire on handyman!" Ocelot ordered, briefly ignoring All Might for a second. His men gave him a confused look, as did All Might.
"Sir?"
"Do it! That thing won't move if handy is being shot at! We've got him pinned so long as you keep firing!" Ocelot told him, with the men seeing his logic. They ran over to the truck and carried out two Sumitomo Minimis. They then stood at the top of the stairs and fired, taking turns with short increment bursts. At the same time, All Might grabbed Ocelot's shoulder.
"Ocelot, what are you doing?" All Might asked, confused. The cowboy moved around like he saw something All Might didn't. What was it? The Nomu wasn't reacting to his men's bullets, if it was, it was only barely. They weren't even scratching it. But Ocelot turned to him and gave a determined look.
"Look, its entire body is damn near bulletproof, except for the exposed brain," Ocelot began before pointing at the ground nearby. All Might almost gagged when he saw a piece of Nomu's brain resting on the ground.
"It's weaker than the rest of his body, but its regeneration keeps it from dying."
"Then what are you saying? That I'd have to tear its brain apart?" All Might asked, a little disturbed at the notion. Ocelot shook his head no, before moving to point at something else on the ground. It was a large pool of blood, resting right where the Nomu was originally.
"It can bleed," was all Ocelot said. At first, All Might didn't understand. It could bleed, so what? But then he paused on the thought, the realization hitting him. Nomu could bleed. It could bleed! Blood meant a working heart pumping to other organs! It meant the exposed brain was alive! It meant it could be drugged! His mind immediately went to Midnight, but she wasn't here, so he looked at Ocelot.
"Do you have anything anesthetic?" All Might asked hopefully, now seeing what Ocelot was saying. Ocelot only nodded again, before grabbing a MINIMI for himself.
"Gotta a whole lot of tranquilizer rounds. They're designed like paintballs and transmit through the skin, so all we need is to shoot him," Ocelot replied, quickly ensuring the gun was loaded. He then gave All Might another nod, motioning for the hero to move. All Might quickly nodded back and charged down the stairs again. There he saw the Nomu still protecting its leader, who was currently yelling out in anger.
"Nomu, stop standing here and crush them! Where are the damn NPCs when I need them!?" he yelled. All Might loudly laughed at the villain's remark, his signature laugh making the villain quiet for a moment.
"You should stand down villain. Other heroes are already on the way, and your weapon here won't be enough to help you," All Might told him. Call it wrong of him, but a part of All Might didn't want the villain to surrender. That part of him wanted to punt him through the USJ's skylight for everything he did to his students. He put that thought aside though, knowing the action of revenge was still wrong. At the same time, Ocelot started firing at the monster. Dozens of rounds made contact with Nomu's skin in seconds.
Now All Might knew little about guns, but he did know how quickly they could fire. A Minimi had a fire rate of almost a thousand rounds a minute. So it was only a matter of time before the beast fell. But for how long was the question? That perplexed All Might as the seconds passed. How much anesthetic was needed to stop it?
"Surrender? Oh, All Might, this game isn't over yet-"
A massive glacier surrounded the villain in an instant, and All Might felt his heart instantly drop. He could hear Ocelot swear from the top of the stairs, a loud "fucking damn it" echoing around the building. All Might turned to find Todoroki skating over to him, on a path of ice the boy was creating. This… this no… not now. He gave the Nomu cover, no. He gave the leader cover.
It became worse the moment All Might heard explosions getting ever closer. He slowly turned to spot Bakugo blasting over, with Kirishima not far behind him.
"You thought your misty ass was clever didn't you!" Bakugo shouted his eyes searching for the teleporter.
"Pretty sure he's already unconscious," Kirishima pointed out, as Bakugo found the teleporter. Bakugo grumbled to himself while All Might's eyes darted from his students to the quickly shattering ice.
"All of you, get to the stairs!" All Might ordered with the students giving him a confused look. That confusion died the second the ice shattered. However, it shattered in such a way that a wall remained to keep the villain's leader behind cover. It was thick too, as Ocelot's men fired hoping to chip away at the wall. It was a slow tedious process, one that wasn't helped by Nomu leaping over the wall.
Todoroki attempted to freeze the monster again and encapsulated the beast in ice. But it all shattered seconds later, the Nomu unfazed. He tried again only for the same thing to happen. All Might moved to intervene, running into and soon grappling the monster. The moment he did Bakugo rushed over, hitting Nomu with a massive explosion.
"Die, birdbrain!" Bakugo shouted, creating a second explosion. The heat and smoke rushed past All Might, as the loud bang slowly rang in his ears. When the smoke dissipated, All Might found his opportunity. The Nomu healed its wounds like all other times, but it was slower. Much slower. The anesthetic hadn't knocked it out, but it was wrecking its central nervous system.
He shoved Nomu aside, before punching the monster in the chest. For the first time in the fight, the monster stumbled back, slightly fazed by the attack.
"Go!" All Might again ordered, with Bakugo turning to look at him incredulously.
"Go!? We've got the bastard right here!" Bakugo attempted to retort, only for All Might to grab him by the shoulder. The teen blinked and he was suddenly at the stairs, with Kirishima and Todoroki standing in shock. A single gaze from All Might told them all they needed to before they finally turned and ran.
With them gone, All Might stared down the freak of nature before him. A second passed and the two charged each other. Once they were close enough All Might ducked, avoiding the wide jaws of Nomu. Quickly he punched down striking Nomu's leg. The weakened shock absorption held against the hit, but Nomu's bones still broke. The beast slumped forward struggling to stand on one leg.
Before it could heal, All Might struck the monster's jaw, caving its beak in. The thing's sharp teeth jutted out awkwardly, with blood dripping out of Nomu's mouth. A molar fell to the ground, a bloody mess. Yet All Might didn't let up. He struck the monster's temple caving in its right eye socket. He dodged a swipe from the beast, before grabbing its arm and breaking it. After that he broke Nomu's other leg, the first one having already healed. Slowly All Might felt his power start to run out, but he pressed on. He glared at the monster in front of him, despising everything it represented at this moment.
It killed one of his students, brutalized one of his colleagues, and nearly killed one of the Ocelots. With a furious shout, he uppercutted the beast flinging it into the air momentarily. As it began to fall he reared his fist back, waiting for the monster. Then with a single punch, he sent it flying off forward. The Nomu soared through the air, its limbs limp as the air pressure shattered its bones.
At the same time, Ocelot and his men grabbed their Type-01 anti-tank missile launchers. They quickly locked on and fired. The missiles soared up into the air, before dropping down onto Nomu. The explosion echoed around the USJ, as the beast came to a crash landing in the nearby section of trees. Seconds passed as All Might waited with bated breath, his fists still held up. Nothing came.
"No! You cheated! This wasn't how this was supposed to go!" he heard the villain shriek. He turned to find the man ducking behind the ice, scratching away at his neck. He didn't stop when he broke the skin, instead only glaring at All Might.
" Surrender villain. You've lost, " All Might ordered, his voice booming around them. The villain didn't seem to care though, instead clawing away at his neck like a rabid animal.
"You cheated! You and your team of campers up there! This game isn't over-"
All Might dashed over to the villain in seconds and punched him across the face. All it took was that single hit, and the villain was knocked unconscious. With it done, All Might finally took a deep breath before coughing up some blood. Slowly he turned to face the stairs, seeing Ocelot and the now-arriving heroes rush down.
"Whey!"
"...So… what do we do now?" Jiro asked, watching as Kaminari walked around mindlessly. Around them sat a large litter of unconscious villains, at least Yaoyorozu hoped they were unconscious. Looking at them closer she spotted several rather extreme burns, with some possibly being third-degree burns. But she looked away, turning to face Jiro.
"I'm… not sure," Yaoyorozu started creating a pair of binoculars. Once they were finished she turned to look back at the main plaza. There she found Ocelot and two of his men checking over dozens of unconscious villains. At the same time, All Might moved to join them, but Yaoyorozu noticed something off. For whatever reason, All Might had steam wafting off of him. It was odd, but maybe it had something to do with his quirk.
"The plaza seems safe now," she commented, "I think heading there is our best course of action."
"Cool, I'll get Kaminari then," Jiro replied, holding a small thumbs up. While Jiro went to do that Yaoyorzu looked back at the main plaza. It was a surprisingly far walk from this distance now that she looked at it. She could make a scooter, but then again she might not have enough lipids. Lunch had been a rather light meal today and their fight against the villains had taken a decent amount of material. Now that she thought about it, she might need a costume change.
Any prolonged engagement meant she'd run out of lipids quickly. Maybe she could get some small pockets for snacks. That would help a decent bit- A yell from Jiro caught her off guard as Yaoyorozu turned around. There she saw a villain with a skull-like helmet had grabbed Kaminari by his jacket and leisurely held him up. Jiro was currently backing away as the villain held up his hand. It sparked and crackled, electricity dancing against his skin.
"Hands up," the villain calmly threatened, "You try anything, and I kill Sparky here."
Yaoyorozu complied, taking a small step away from the villain while Jiro carefully did the same.
"Damn it," Jiro quietly muttered, "how did we miss one?"
"His hand was sparking earlier, he might have an electric quirk, or something to resist Kaminari's attack," Yaoyorozu quietly replied. She was proven right mere moments later.
"You know I feel a small kinship for other electric types, so believe me, I don't want to kill him," the villain explained. He then brought his hand close to Kaminari's face. While the teen was still mentally out of it, he still flinched back slightly. He then started to walk forward.
"Now, stay still and this won't hurt a bit," the villain told them, coming ever closer. Yaoyorzu's mind ran a mile a minute trying to think up some kind of plan. Yet Jiro quickly beat her to the punch.
"You know, you two dudes are so lucky," Jiro began, slowly inching one of her jacks to the floor, "People with electric-type quirks are destined for mainstream success-"
A loud bang sounded out around them, with Yaoyorzu seeing Jiro flinch back quickly. She cupped her hands over her ears for a second before realizing what she'd done. Both she and Yaoyorzu waited for the villain to strike, only to hear a thump. They both turned slowly back to face where the villain originally was. There they found him lying on the ground, blood pooling at his head.
They both stared at the villain, both out of shock and confusion. What had happened? Was he… was he dead? Both girls didn't want to comprehend the thought. Jiro, forcing herself to look away, ran off to grab Kaminari. The boy was simply standing out in the open, still his almost mindless self. Then a voice called out to them.
"Hey! Coasts clear over here! So, you know, might wanna evac!" the voice shouted. They all turned to see who was talking to them. And found one of the Ocelots walking over to them. The barrel of his rifle was smoking. They quickly registered his words though and started running off back to the USJ's entrance.
"Don't move," Ocelot ordered, holding a thug at gunpoint. The man was slowly trying to stand back up after regaining consciousness from Aizawa's fight. The villain froze in an instant, giving Ocelot enough time to tranquilize him. With that villain down he stopped to look around the rest of the USJ from the main plaza. Surprisingly enough once the Nomu had been dealt with, everything else was going smoothly.
Most of the villains they encountered were either poorly trained or lacked any dangerous enough quirk. That much was obvious as he noticed the crowd of villains being escorted out. There were far fewer than originally, which made sense. Each zone in the USJ had at least a dozen villains. And while the students had done a good job defending themselves, there were still a few pockets of resistance. Said pockets didn't last long once they brought out the M2 Brownings.
That wasn't to say everything was going well. That much was obvious as Ocelot looked down at a spot of blood and flesh. It was where Nomu had killed Fudaki. The pavement was completely shattered, bits of concrete and bone somehow turned into a fine powder. That was mixed with blood and brain matter. Ocelot simply sighed as he looked down on it.
"Media's going to have a field day with this," he muttered, knowing Nezu was standing right next to him.
"They are," Nezu agreed. The rodent stepped forward a bit, before crouching down to closely examine the blood and guts.
"I can't believe we let this happen," Nezu muttered, before going quiet. Ocelot had little idea what was going through Nezu's mind. But experience told him it was regret and anger. He couldn't blame him though. His men had some rather vocal words about the kid, most involving some kind of swear, but that didn't mean he deserved to die. Especially not this way.
"You already contact his family?" Ocelot asked, to which Nezu solemnly shook his head.
"Not yet. I'll do it once we get the story straight," Nezu replied. He stood up then, before turning to glare at the villains being escorted away. A few shrunk away, seeing the sheer rage in the stoat's eyes.
"Might be good to get it straight just for the media," Ocelot commented. He could already see the headlines, all detailing the gruesome death of this student. The details of how he died wouldn't even matter to the public. All they would see is the headline saying a child died, and all of UA would be run through the wringer.
"Agreed, but we'll have to deal with that later," Nezu decided. Ocelot simply nodded, before looking out at the plaza again. The second he did though, he noticed All Might was nowhere to be seen. He double-checked some spots he glanced over, but sure enough, the hero was gone. A dozen different reasons for the hero's disappearance ran through Ocelot's head. Not one seemed to make sense.
The bus ride back to campus was quiet. No one in 1A wanted to talk, still shocked by the events that had taken place. The once loud and boisterous Bakugo now quietly glared out the bus window, with Todoroki seeming unfazed. Hagakure was shivering with a blanket wrapped around her, while Koda and Tokoyami seemed to just stare out at nothing. Neither responded when someone tried to talk to them. Ojiro was looking over his tail, examining every bandage placed. It was burnt and scarred, but he wouldn't tell if it was from the flames of the fire zone or the fight for his life.
Jiro and Yaoyorozu sat next to a sleeping Kaminari, the teen being somewhat lucky. His dazed state meant he didn't remember being held hostage, or that the villain holding him was killed in front of them. Wordlessly though, Jiro moved a hand to her forehead, feeling it carefully with a shudder. Asui and Mineta looked down at their hands, a guilty expression plastered on their faces. For Asui hers was with a small amount of anger, while Mineta's was that of regret.
Iida glared out the window, angry tears forming in his eyes as he caught sight of his reflection. He wanted to slink back, but that meant looking away at what he'd done. Shoji, Sato, and Sero seemed relatively fine, but Ashido was tracing her back with her hand. As if to see every bit of skin and bone was still attached to her. Aoyama was quiet, more so than anyone else. What he saw, he wouldn't share. Kirishima, like Ojiro, examined his arm. Its skin was hardened but still bore a litany of scars from fighting.
Finally, there was Uraraka. Her eyes averted the bus's windows, afraid they might catch a glance of her face. She was useless. The thought echoed around in her mind. Useless. Throughout the entirety of the attack, she stayed in safety for almost all of it. Sure that portal villain had been a threat, but he left the moment Iida escaped. Once he was gone Uraraka did nothing.
Just nothing. While everyone else was fighting for their lives, she was safe. She was useless. It was as Fudaki said, she was nothing. Uraraka cowered away in safety near the entrance, while everyone else fought. How could she be a hero, Uraraka thought, she didn't do anything to help. Could she have even done something? The realization struck her quickly, as Uraraka turned to face the rest of the class. Her eyes landed on Fudaki's empty seat and lingered there for a moment.
Fudaki was… well he was a dick. Someone who did nothing but belittle her. But… Uraraka didn't believe he deserved to die. She didn't like him, though hated might be a better way of putting it. But… What could she have done? Her quirk was useless. If she was sent to one of the zones, what could she have done? Fudaki's words still echoed in her mind, telling her what she was. Uraraka was nothing. She didn't deserve to be a hero, and she found it harder to shake these thoughts away.