Chapter 93: A Changing World
The world had already changed so much in just one week, and it terrified Uraraka. Thousands of heroes were dead, the city was in ruins, and public officials were being arrested or fired left and right. Then the unthinkable happened. On live TV, the Russian government publicly announced they were building a new spacecraft. On any other day, Uraraka would have loved it.
To see humanity reaching for the stars again did nothing but excite her. But now? Now she saw a skyscraper-sized brick loaded to the brim with weapons. A symbol of how violent the world had suddenly become. Or… maybe how that violence was always there, and it was only becoming public now. It was a thought Uraraka didn't want to believe. This was made all the worse when she was allowed off campus.
With an escort of soldiers and bomb-sniffing dogs, she, Asui, Iida, and Akatani were allowed to check up on her apartment and grab whatever she could. Yet when they got close to her building, Uraraka found nothing. The street had been effectively flattened, with every building on the block a pile of rubble. Now as she sat at her desk surrounded by her classmates, Uraraka couldn't help but be downtrodden.
"It's all gone," Uraraka muttered quietly. Every bit of cash she had saved up was in dust. The clothes she brought from home were buried. Practically everything of value she brought to Musutafu was gone.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Jiro commented, her other classmates nodding quietly.
"If you ever need extra money, all you need to do is ask," Yaoyorozu offered, with Uraraka waving her off.
"No no, thank you, but it's fine," Uraraka told her, "I… I'll think of something."
She could get a job, though Uraraka hoped it wasn't necessary. She hadn't been able to reach her parents yet, but she was sure they'd be scrambling to get a new contract in Musutafu.
"Well when you do we'll be going on that shopping spree," Ashido declared, with Asui and Hagakure, though you couldn't see it, nodding next to her.
"That sounds great. Would you mind if I joined? I know a few boutiques in the area," Yaoyorozu added. Uraraka turned toward her.
"Shop where exactly?" Ashido asked curiously, while Asui brought a finger to her lips.
"Well, I heard there's a mall nearby, Kiyashi-" Yaoyorozu began to say, only for Asui to speak up.
"That was bombed, kero," Asui bluntly pointed out, leaving Yaoyorozu in surprise.
"...Ok, but there's also a Gucci-" Ashido began to say, only for Asui to speak up again.
"Robbed," Asui pointed out, "And way out of our price range."
The last comment got another surprised look from Yaoyorozu but she didn't say anything. Instead, they continued to list off stores one after the other. As they went on it became apparent how bad things still were. A store was bombed, a store was robbed, a store had no staff, and a store was cut off from the main city. Even after experiencing everything, it never fully registered to all of them how far-reaching the devastation had been.
To realize almost everything around them was closed down.
"Le Marche?" Ashido asked hopefully, as Jiro and Asui had now pulled out their phones. Both girls scrolled through them for a second before Jiro looked up.
"Owners and staff are dead," Jiro replied, leaving Ashido somewhat downtrodden. There wasn't a store in the city they could go to, assuming they could even go into the city.
"To… to Shizuoka it is then!" Ashido proclaimed trying to stay hopeful, which Uraraka somewhat wanted to agree with. Yet the idea of money just came back to her mind. In this quickly changing world, it terrified Uraraka. What if the Ninth Circle attacked again, except this time they attacked a port city? There was a border skirmish in Ukraine, then the Russian Federation had decried the West for "supporting" villains. It didn't help with the world quickly rearming.
Would that spill out into a war? The idea seemed impossible for Uraraka to believe. There hadn't been a war between nations in decades. To think the possibility of it happening had become real so suddenly. If war broke out… What was she to do? War destabilized trade, it threw entire economies out of balance. If war broke out, what little money her parents had would be gone.
Food, fuel, electricity, the price of everything would skyrocket. There had to be a solution, but Uraraka didn't know what it was. Almost subconsciously turned toward Akatani, the teen busy talking to Kaminari about something Uraraka couldn't hear. Her eyes lingered on the other teen for a moment. She… she could ask him for help. She wanted to, but it felt wrong.
Every time anything went wrong, he was there. He was the solution. When Uraraka didn't have food, he offered her an MRE. When she thought she was lagging behind, Akatani helped her train. Whenever she looked down on herself, he did the opposite. Akatani was always willing to help, and it ate away at Uraraka. It was only ever him solving her problems. So Uraraka quietly decided that this problem couldn't be solved by Akatani. He'd already been burdened with enough of her problems.
Of course, as Uraraka thought this, she didn't realize she'd been staring for a good minute. She only came to when she heard Asui snap her fingers.
"Earth to Uraraka," Asui called out, as Uraraka turned to look back at her.
"Hmm, what?" Uraraka muttered surprised, though she immediately felt that was a mistake. Looking around Uraraka found Ashido with an ear-to-ear smirk, while Jiro looked at her with pity.
"Seems someone's got your attention," Ashido teased lightly, still smirking as she looked down at her friend. It took mere seconds to realize what Ashido was implying, as Uraraka heard the teen laugh. Quickly Uraraka held up her hands in protest, not realizing her face was quickly turning red.
"Wait no! It's not what you're thinking!" Uraraka panickedly told her, though this only made Ashido laugh again.
"Oh? I could have sworn you were looking at Akatani dreamily," Ashido again teased.
"I wasn't! Just got lost in thought!" Uraraka protested, looking around the group for some kind of support. Instead, she found Asui looking at her somewhat skeptical.
"You were staring at him for a while, kero," Asui pointed out, "You hang out with him a lot too."
"Now that you mention it, the both of you are together a lot," Hagakure added, having an unseen cheeky grin.
"That's just cause we're friends," Uraraka countered, only for Ashido to look at her with her brow raised.
"Girl, there is friendship, and then there is never being seen apart," Hagakure commented before Ashido could speak. It caused Uraraka to sputter as she thought it over. Sure they hung out a lot, but that was because they were trapped in the school for a week. And before that, she was trying to get ready for the festival… also she just liked his company. Could you blame her?
It's not her fault Akatani was always willing to help out. Or that he had the same ideas as her. Not to mention he knew how to fight, and Akatani always had food on him. Not to mention it was nice being around DD, or how Akatani constantly tried to help people. Or how he looked cute while he mumbled. Or how he… wait what!? Nope, no, nuh uh. Before the thought could linger, Uraraka mentally shoved it aside.
"We're not together that often," Uraraka argued, before looking around for support, "Jiro, back me up."
"Nope, count me out…" Jiro replied, the girl leaning on her desk, acting like she didn't care. However, she sported a smirk like the rest of the girls, bar Yaoyorozu who gave Uraraka a pitied look. Of course, then Jiro paused for a second.
"Hold it, someone's coming," Jiro commented, the girls looking back at her confused. Quickly Jiro stabbed her jacks into the ground, listening to the apparent noise outside the class.
"Clink of spurs… Ocelot's heading this way," Jiro stated, before adding "With someone else."
It didn't matter to the girls though, as the single utterance of Ocelot had everyone scrambling to their seats. Classes hadn't technically started up yet, but it had become a force of habit for everyone to rush to their chairs. By the time Uraraka could hear the clink of Ocelot's spurs, everyone had gotten in their seats, and Akatani stood in the front corner of the class. Soon the door opened, and Ocelot walked in. And almost reflexively, Uraraka shrunk into her seat, as Aizawa followed the cowboy in.
The teacher looked around the room coldly for a minute, before walking up to the classroom's podium.
"You're all in your seats this time, good," Aizawa commented, "I know classes haven't started up again, but that's no excuse to become disorderly."
No one in the class said a word, instead they all nervously tried to avoid Mr. Aizawa's gaze. Whether the teacher noticed, no one knew.
"That said, I've come to make a few announcements," Mr. Aizawa stated, earning a small gulp from Uraraka. She was waiting for it to happen any moment now. For him to say the class's actions during the attack were illogical. To say they were unfit to be heroes. To expel them for some idiotic reason. Thankfully for Uraraka's paranoia, Mr. Aizawa said none of this.
"First off, with the city in ruins, the principal has decided to implement a temporary dorm policy," Mr. Aizawa told them, earning a small sigh from Uraraka. Of course, it also earned a small amount of surprise.
"Right now a few buildings are being built near the MSF's barracks. They won't be finished for a few more days, but once they are, your class will be staying there for the rest of your academic future," Mr. Aizawa explained, the class slowly nodding along.
"Next up, the staff has elected to allow your families to come and visit," Mr. Aizawa continued, "Should any of you wish to see them, the MSF has volunteered to either fly them here or take you to them."
The offer was immediately enticing to Uraraka, and the rest of 1A as the class began to murmur. She knew her parents had to be worried sick. With all the chaos it had been easy to forget their place in this predicament. And suddenly Uraraka desperately felt she had to see them. Yet as the class kept murmuring, Uraraka slowly noticed something. Shockingly Aizawa didn't use his quirk to quiet the class down like usual, instead, he just stayed silent.
Uraraka expected him to use his quirk any second now, but he just kept waiting. Slowly the rest of the class noticed too, and everyone quieted down confused.
"Final announcement, internships have been canceled," Mr. Aizawa added, leaving the class in a quiet shock. Uraraka knew she should have expected this, the festival had been entirely interrupted after all, ensuring no hero would be interested in sending internship offers. That still didn't mean Uraraka was happy to hear this.
"They're are not enough heroes willing to do internships, and those that are willing, are currently preoccupied," Mr. Aizawa explained. He didn't have to say what the heroes were preoccupied with, it would be impossible for Uraraka not to know why.
"That's everything for now…" Mr. Aizawa stated, getting ready to leave the room. Though Uraraka quickly noticed Ocelot slowly turning to face the teacher. Worlessly Mr. Aizawa stopped and simply looked at Ocelot for a few moments.
"...Any questions?" Mr. Aizawa slowly asked. He… he didn't leave, Uraraka thought shocked. He always left them high and dry before, never answering questions and simply expecting them to figure it out. Slowly Yaoyorozu held her hand up, causing Mr. Aizawa to turn toward her.
"Yaoyorozu," Mr. Aizawa called out, before quietly muttering to himself.
"What will be done in place of internships?" Yaoyorozu asked hesitantly.
"Still being discussed. But, it's likely to be more hero classes," Mr. Aizawa quickly replied, right as Uraraka spotted Kirishima standing up.
"How are Bakugo, Todoroki, and Mineta doing?" Kirishima asked, worry present on his face.
"They're all fine. I don't know when, but all three should be rejoining the class in a few days," Mr. Aizawa answered calmly, before looking around the class. Seeing there were no more questions, he wasted no time leaving the classroom with Ocelot behind him. When he was gone, Uraraka sat at her desk for a few seconds, just waiting. Any second now there would be something they missed. Something to give Mr. Aizawa the excuse to expel them.
She looked around quietly trying to find it. But there was nothing. No logical ruse, no trick, nothing. Uraraka didn't know what to think of it.
It had been days since Bakugo had reawoken. Days since his apparent surgery, since the end of the villain attack. He'd missed so much in such a short time, and when Recovery Girl had caught him up on everything, Bakugo could only feel numb. Now he sat in the infirmary, resting in a bed and looking out the window next to him. Quietly the blond looked down at his reattached arm.
They'd managed to fix it in time but… everything still felt wrong. He focused on making a few small explosions in his palm. His hand struggled to clench and flex, yet nothing happened. Bakugo ordered his arm to lift, but it did so slowly and weakly. No matter how hard he tried his arm just wouldn't listen.
"You should be in good order," Recovery Girl had told him when he woke up, "However, you'll need physical therapy."
The thought was haunting, as Bakugo ordered his arm to move. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. He wasn't some weakling! Yet his arm continued to struggle against him. It moved weakly or not at all. Eventually, Bakugo gave up his struggle and breathed deeply. Why, he wondered angrily. Why was he so damn weak!? Why did he keep losing to someone quirkless!? Why did a bunch of villains get the drop on him!?
His arms disobedience taunted him with these thoughts, displaying his weakness to all. Even his own body thought he was pathetic. Looking at the disloyal limb Bakugo simply grumbled. Memories of his bleeding arm flashed through his mind over and over. Bakugo tried to fight against it but… he could feel the blood gushing out of his arm. Feel the dirt layered on his face.
His breathing sped up with the crescendo of artillery. He looked around tiredly, gasping for air as he felt bigs of shrapnel push into his chest. He couldn't breathe. He tried desperately, clawing at his chest for air. Yet the artillery didn't stop. Dust flew into the air as the explosions grew louder. Bakugo looked around terrified, gasping for air in pain. He had to get out of there! Mentally Bakugo cursed himself for his weakness, yet couldn't help but look around terrified.
"S-someone…" he called out weakly, feeling a piece of shrapnel whiz by his head, "All M-Might…"
He… he didn't want to die. He couldn't die! Someone! Anyone! Why was he so weak!? Heroes weren't weak! They didn't call on others to save them! But Bakugo didn't care anymore! Again Bakugo was about to beg for help, only to hear a knocking sound. It caught Bakugo off guard as he looked for the source. All he saw was the bombed-out track, continually covered in smoke. But then he heard the knocking again.
Bakugo blinked for a moment before his surroundings came back to him. The infirmary… he was in the infirmary. Not there, it was over, Bakugo reminded himself. As he reminded himself this, he realized he'd become drenched in sweat. Cautiously he kept his palms away from himself, not wanting to cause an explosion. The knocking happened again, though this time Bakugo could hear it come from the door.
"Come in," he called out, feeling his voice oddly weak. The moment Bakugo spoke the door shot open, and in walked both his parents.
"Katsuki!" Mitsuki shouted, a mixture of anger and worry present in her tone, "You damn brat! You had us worried sick!"
Though her tone was aggressive, Bakugo knew she cared. Proven when she rushed over to him, both to hit him over the head, and grab him into a tight hug. His father though was a bit more cautious and looked at his wife with a sigh.
"Honey, he's still healing up," Masaru told her while walking toward the other side of Bakugo's bed.
"I know that, but you know him!" Mitsuki replied, bringing Bakugo into an ever tighter hug, "He always was a tough cookie."
But immediately both parents noticed something was off. Hell Bakugo noticed something was off with him. On any other day, he would have struggled against his mother's aggressive hugs. Yelled that he was fine to fight against any of their care. Yet… he did none of this. Instead, Bakugo felt something wet trickle down his face, as Mistuki looked down on him.
Quietly Bakugo remembered what he thought were his last moments. Riding in the back of an armored vehicle, with explosions going off everywhere. In those moments he didn't nothing but call out for her. He didn't fight against her hug, and in fact slowly raised his good arm, wrapping it around her. For what felt like the first time in years, Bakugo felt himself cry and shuddered in his mother's arms.
"Oh… Katsuki," Mitsuki said calmly, bringing Bakugo closer. There Bakugo let his tears fall, berating himself the entire time. He was supposed to be stronger than this. Yet no matter what he did, he lost. He always lost. Why, Bakugo wondered, why couldn't he win?
It was one thing after another, Snake thought coldly. Whenever they put down one problem, another would inevitably take its place. Now Snake sat in the command room looking over the dozens of photos of his latest headache, the Zhukov Class Interplanetary Battleship. The photos had been circulating all over the web the day after the ship's reveal. In an hour the Musutafu Massacre, though still present in the public mind, had taken the backseat to this ship.
It wasn't hard to see why. The three-hundred-and-twenty-meter tall behemoth was built like a NASA-punk skyscraper, standing up tall as it loomed over everything. This was not an exaggeration. The ship was designed like a building, with the top of the vessel being the top floor. This was by design to utilize thrust gravity when the ship was accelerating. Zhukov was also shaped like a giant hexagonal brick, with a box-like protrusion sitting in the middle of the ship. The widest part of the ship was the bottom half, at ninety-five meters wide and high.
Going up the ship would slowly slim down slightly until you reached the top, where it was still massive sixty-five meters wide and tall. Speaking of the top, it was covered in bits of sensory equipment along with two large engines, most likely for deceleration. On the large box protrusion, were the four triple-barreled 18-inch guns. One on the ship's bottom, one on the top, and two on the ship's sides. Placed in front of the box were three of the six dual-barreled 6-inch guns, with the other three placed behind the box.
On both sides, two of the guns were placed on the angled sides of the hexagonal structure, while a final gun was placed on the bottom side. Also placed on the hexagonal structure were dozens of CIWS guns and vertical launch missile systems. Each weapon was spaced neatly to keep every angle of the ship covered, to the point where no matter how one looked, they'd have a flurry of missiles heading straight towards them and at least six 18-inch gun barrels pointing straight at them. But if there was one thing that stuck out to Snake, it was the sheer amount of radiators covering the ship.
Wherever there was empty space, a flat paneled radiator was put in its place. The only area where this wasn't the case, was at the rear of the ship. Instead, the area connected to and holding the engines had been painted over, displaying the emblem of the Russian Space Forces.
"It's impressive, I'll give them that," Soul commented, the doctor looking over the photos carefully. Next to him was a phone put on speaker, with Strangelove on the other end.
"But does it work, doctor?" Snake inquired tiredly, hearing Soul murmur to himself. The scientist thought over the question, before shrugging.
"...I'm not sure," Soul replied, causing Snake to grumble and Miller to sigh.
"Theoretically it should work. But in practice… well we're just not sure," Soul explained, "I mean this is a several thousand-ton warship they're talking about launching into space. If they've done the math then theoretically it could launch."
"Problem is this is basing it off of other, much smaller spacecraft concepts," Strangelove added, "One of the largest spacecraft NASA ever had planned up was called the Sea Dragon, and it was only ever eighteen thousand tons. Zhukov would be… seventy thousand tons at the least, likely more."
It was shocking to Snake how little that answered. This ship's mere existence brought in an entirely new threat on the battlefield. Zhukov could fly about in orbit knocking out satellites whenever it pleased. At the same time if the MSF tried taking it, or some Russian satellite out of commission with ASAT missiles, then the Zhukov's CIWS guns could shoot down whatever they sent. Yet with this threat, all he could get from his top minds was "Maybe it works".
"If it hypothetically works, then when could it be operational?" Snake asked, watching as Soul again shrugged.
"We're even less sure about that," Soul replied, "It could be tomorrow, it could be six months from now."
"How could you not know?" Snake asked, confused, only for Strangelove to quickly pipe up.
"Because they're not just building a ship from scratch. You can't just dig up any old gun and place it on a ship. They're having to build brand new guns for that ship," Strangelove replied, the woman sighing for a moment.
"Look at the 18-inch guns for example, do you see the small hole on the back of the turrets?" Strangelove asked, causing Snake to look at the photo again. Sure enough, he found the hole. Each battleship cannon had three holes on the back. Now that Snake looked closer he found the same holes on the CIWS and 6-inch guns too.
"Those holes are small thrusters. A normal gun's recoil would launch the ship backwards, or forwards. So they've made new custom weapons to ensure they don't get launched all over the place whenever they fire," Strangelove explained, "And it's not just new guns. Its new missiles that work in space, new suits for their cosmonauts, new sensory equipment, new engines, training up a crew to man everything…"
On and on Strangelove continued to list off equipment, slowly causing Snake's eye to widen. It had prototype greenhouses, the suits needed magnetic shoes, a nuclear reactor to keep everything powered, special exo-atmospheric vehicles to keep the ship resupplied, better oxygen filtration systems, autoloaders for the battleship cannons, and so much other stuff.
"Making this ship operational would be a monumental undertaking. And if they've been working on this for years, then they could have almost everything ready," Strangelove finished, allowing Snake to think for a moment. With everything laid out before him Snake could see the scale of such a project, and what would be needed to catch up.
"We need a counter then," Snake muttered, thinking up ideas quietly.
"What? Like our own battleship?" Miller inquired, surprised, while Snake shook his head.
"No, building something that size would take too long. What we need is something in orbit as quickly as possible," Snake replied. They needed something small but well-armed. Something they could train a crew for as quickly as possible. Something they could realistically get to orbit, promptly. Thinking back to naval comparisons, Snake found an idea.
"Have R create plans for a destroyer, something small but still capable," Snake ordered. They couldn't get a battleship into space, but they needed something. Something in the tonnage of a destroyer would at least give them some decent firepower. Yet Soul looked back at Snake, seeming concerned.
"Not sure we have the budget for that kind of project," Soul told him, with Snake grumbling.
"I'll appeal to Congress to get more funding," Snake replied before Miller clicked his tongue.
"About that Boss…" Miller hesitantly began, as Snake turned to look at him, "Congress is having talks of… defunding the MSF."
The statement left Snake in shock for a second, the man blinking quietly before asking, "When the hell did this happen?"
"A few days ago. Happened after the last presidential debate," Miller replied, with Snake remembering the debate in question, "Senator Klazen is up in the polls. Reports believe it's going to be a landslide in his favor."
Snake… Snake didn't know what to think about that. He'd agreed with Klazen's policy at first, but that was before Zhukov had been revealed to the world.
"Even if he doesn't win, his party managed to gain a majority, and are readying bills as we speak," Miller added, causing Snake to again swear.
"Damn it," Snake muttered to himself, slumping back into a chair. Quietly Snake tried to think over his options, yet no good ones came to mind. Klazen's bill was a necessity for Outer Heaven, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. Even if Snake could do anything to stop the bill, it would be a bad move. The country needed a diversified economy if they wanted to survive.
"We could redirect funds from other projects," Snake decided.
"Wouldn't be enough, we're talking about a space program here," Soul countered, causing Snake to again grumble. Again Snake tried to think of an alternative before Strangelove began to speak up.
"There… might be one alternative," Strangelove hesitantly stated, clearing her throat briefly after.
"We… could turn to NASA," Strangelove told them, only for Snake to immediately shut the idea down.
"Not an option," Snake angrily told her.
"Snake the US has the resources to get this project going. Not to mention the motive of rearming," Strangelove protested over the phone, while Snake tapped his fingers on his thigh.
"They're also a global superpower," Snake pointed out, "One who has likely been working with the HPSC for who knows how long. I mean you expect me to believe the United States of all countries has been unaware of the crap going on in South America? Someway somehow the US has got ties to the commission."
"President Morrison seemed willing to help us," Strangelove tried to counter, only for Snake to shake his head, even though he knew Strangelove wasn't there with them.
"And that is one man out of an entire government. The President may not be involved, but that doesn't make the entire country innocent. The CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the DOD, the DOJ, the Senate, the Supreme Court, hell the Department of Agriculture could be in on this for all we know. Their pockets are probably filled with the commission's money," Snake argued, despising that this idea was ever brought up.
Call it personal bias, but Snake couldn't trust the US any less. His world's US government was bad enough, throwing away the Boss to save themselves. He dreaded to think what this world's one was like.
"If it comes down to it, I'll fund everything out of pocket," Snake told her decisively, remembering all the money he had saved up over the years. He never had much use for it, aside from putting money into the MSF.
"You're more likely to drain your bank account dry before we have any success," Soul commented, with Snake crossing his arms angrily.
"Not like I use it for anything else," Snake replied, now swiping through the holotable's files.
"Now, where are we on Night Owl's guns?" Snake inquired, before turning to face Miller. The man looked confident yet that didn't stop Snake from expecting another problem.
"Well, our suspicions were right. From what Victoria's found, Night Owl's hiding his arms in museums," Miller replied while swiping through some files, "That said, they're scattered all over the country."
"Making this more difficult," Snake muttered, watching as security footage of a dozen different museums went by. Tiredly Snake sighed as it went on. So much ordnance rested in these buildings, all out in the open. Any actions taken to remove the weapons would be difficult, Snake realized. But… they had to take a chance. The MSF needed some kind of victory against Night Owl.
"This is going to be risky, but I want FOXHOUND units ready to go within a week," Snake ordered calmly, before mapping out the museums on the table. It would be a difficult plan to implement, but Snake knew it had to be done. For if they wanted to succeed, they'd need to steal and destroy everything, in one night.
The world had changed rapidly and in such little time. Governments were in complete panic, and civilians were in terror of another grand attack. And yet Shigaraki didn't know what to think of it. As he sat in the League's bar, calmly drinking some sake, Shigaraki could only feel divided. Hero society was done. It was the full talk of the underworld. Support companies were losing stock, thousands of heroes were dead, and All Might's true form had been revealed to the world.
But it had been the Ninth Circle, not the LOV who'd achieved all of this. Part of Shigaraki wanted to celebrate, to laugh like a madman as everything crumbled. The other part of him wanted to be furious. The world was crumbling, and he hadn't done a thing. What made it worse, was that it made Shigaraki wonder, if hero society collapsed, what then? Whether he causes it or not, what does he do after?
It was his one defining goal, it was Sensei's defining goal. All his anger and hatred had been solely targeted toward All Might and this wretched society. So when it's all gone, what then? Shigaraki had never truly considered it before, but here he was, watching as it all went down. By this point, he found the last of his drink had run out and grumbled to himself.
"Kurogiri," Shigaraki muttered before another glass of sake was dropped into his hand. He took a small sip from the glass, his eyes looking over the TV in the bar. Nearby the news was playing quite loudly, and it only served to annoy Shigaraki more.
"Though talks are still in motion to discuss the structure of the European army, several prominent government officials have already begun sending out contracts for new weapon systems. This comes just after the Russian Federation's weapons expo yesterday," the anchor went on. Because not only did the Skulls have to one-up them, the Russians had to throw their hat in the ring. Unveiling a damn spaceship of all things.
Now nations were thrown into yet another panic, trying to figure out what Russia was doing. Shigaraki didn't entirely care enough to know the details, but diplomats had been going back and forth for hours. Grumbling again, Shigaraki soon heard footsteps walking toward him. Glancing over he found Volcano carefully sitting next to him on a bar stool. The overly large villain leaned on the bar carefully, while Kurogiri got him a drink.
"So… we have a plan yet?" Volcano asked, causing Shigaraki to grumble again.
"Working on it," Shigaraki replied, before taking another sip from his glass. His stunt during the festival had been somewhat of a success. Though the League was nowhere near its pre-USJ strength, they managed to acquire more members. As littered around the bar were a few small gangs that had sworn loyalty to the LOV. They weren't top-tear villains, but thankfully weren't bottom of the barrel either.
However, compared to the likes of the Ninth Circle, or the seemingly endless ranks the MSF kept pulling in, they were worryingly small. Any other circumstance and the LOV would have been a massive threat. Instead they were being overshadowed by groups numbering in the tens of thousands.
"Of course you are," Volcano muttered, swirling the sake in his glass, "By the time we get a plan hero society will be dead and gone."
"It's still got some life in it," Shigaraki countered, annoyed, "With how stubborn people are, I'd wager it will last a few more months."
Though he could be wrong, Shigaraki thought quietly. With how quickly the world was changing, he just wasn't sure. He always assumed that the world would crumble due to himself and Sensei. But now? Now he was in uncharted territory, exploring an unknown area in this chaotic game.
"What's the big man think of all this?" Volcano inquired, earning a slight pause from Shigaraki.
"He's… pissed off about it," Shigaraki replied. In truth, he hadn't heard a thing from Sensei for a week. But considering how he reacted previously, Shigaraki believed his guess was only logical.
"I don't like to admit it, but Sensei's caught on the back foot," Shigaraki added, before slowly scratching his neck, "As it stands, we're an under-leveled party, in a high-level area. And he's not willing to accept that."
Sensei still believed the LOV were big league villains, a threat the world should fear. That the Ninth Circle should fear them for daring to challenge them. Yet Shigaraki could see the opposite. The League was outgunned, not just by actual guns, but by every conceivable metric. The Ninth Circle had willingly thrown thirty thousand men into a costly battle, of which none returned, and still had possibly hundreds more that they kept throwing into small guerilla attacks.
They had stocked up months worth of food and water to last a siege in Musutafu, had hundreds of modified civilian vehicles, had possibly built up hideouts all across the country, had possibly been training for a long time, had radio communications, had medical equipment or training, and had the funds to afford everything. The League had none of this. Should the LOV even try to challenge the Skulls, they'd be bled dry in mere hours.
The Doctor's nomus somewhat helped even the odds, but there were only so many of them available. And that was assuming that the Ninth Circle, or hell, the MSF didn't have a counter thanks to their overwhelming resources. And if there was one thing RTS games had taught Shigaraki, it was that you can't win without resources. The only question was where would they get more?
With the JSDF being torn apart, he couldn't use the same hack the Ninth Circle used. It likely wouldn't work anywhere else either, not with every governmental body looking directly at their armories. Unsure of what to do, Shigaraki looked down at his drink. Staring at the glass, Shigaraki slowly began to think it over.
"Volcano, being a thief, you know where we can find good loot, right?" Shigaraki inquired, before taking a sip from his drink. Volcano looked back at him curiously, while thinking it over.
"I'd say so," Volcano replied, "Why?"
"If the League wants to make a name for itself, we need resources," Shigaraki replied, "I believe it's about time to start grinding."
"Well, heh, I'm sure I can think of a few places," Volcano told him, taking a sip from his drink. Good, Shigaraki thought. It may take some time, but the League would be back on top. Or, at the very least back in the history books. Again Shigaraki was about to drink from his glass, only to feel something force its way up his throat. At first, he thought he was sick, but then an odd slime began forcing its way out of his mouth.
Gagging Shigaraki recognized the quirk and mentally swore as everything went dark. When the light came back to him, Shigaraki coughed for a moment, gasping for air. He always despised this teleportation quirk. Compared to Kurogiri, this method of teleportation just didn't seem worth suffocating for.
"Apologies for the abrupt call, Tomura," Sensei greeted from somewhere, as Shigaraki began trying to look around. Though partly shrouded in darkness, he could see he was in one of the Doctor's labs.
"Sensei?" Shigaraki called out confusedly, "What's going on?"
He couldn't see the man anywhere, instead all he saw were hundreds of vats filled with dead bodies. Thousands of people the LOV had scooped up after the Ninth Circle's attack, for the Doctor's work.
"I've called you to show you something," Sensei replied, his voice echoing through the lab, "A gift if you will."
A bright light showed up seconds later, illuminating a small part of the lab. There Shigaraki found the Doctor working away nervously on one of his projects. Next to him was a large vat like all the others used to store nomus. Only, its contents were different. Looking it over, Shigaraki's eyes widened in shock, as he recognized what was in the vat.
"It's still a work in progress at the moment," the Doctor stated somewhat nervously, as he looked over the vat, "Since this one's been dead for so long, there have been… complications."
The… thing in the vat didn't resemble the other nomus. It was still far too human-like, only with small patches of decayed purple skin covering some of the body like scars. The thing was also much smaller than a nomu, nowhere near the size of any of the monsters. Yet somehow Shigaraki felt those weren't the complications the Doctor was talking about.
"It still has its memories, and a free will of its own. Like most nomus, it can't attack us… however it won't follow orders either," the Doctor explained, causing Shigaraki to grumble slightly.
"So… a less loyal Kurogiri," Shigaraki muttered, before noticing the thing slowly opening its eyes. The thing looked around somewhat tiredly, yet when its eyes found Shigaraki, he quickly became awake. It thrashed about in the vat, fighting against its restraints as it glared at Shigaraki. Furiously the thing tried to fight back. Shigaraki simply watched curiously. At first, he assumed this "gift" was a waste.
A still sentient disloyal monster. Yet looking into its eyes, Shigaraki could see potential. Oh, he remembered this creature's past actions well, and they painted an interesting picture. It displayed just exactly who this thing was. Its personality, what it believed, what it valued, what it hated, and what it wanted. It may not have the loyalty of a nomu, but it has the loyalty of a villain. And when it came to villains, well…
"I'm sure I can work with this," Shigaraki told the doctor, slowly smiling widely as he watched the creature.
Chapter 94: A Family Day
Quietly Uraraka took a calming breath, as she and the rest of her class waited next to one of UA's airstrips. Surrounding the area was a small chain link fence with barbed wire lining the top, while up above aircraft continued to fly about. Large cargo planes landed farther away, dropping off reinforcements or more supplies. Attack helicopters took off to patrol Musutafu, the bombed-out city quickly becoming a lawless zone.
After a few minutes of waiting, Uraraka saw a large quadrotor helicopter fly towards them. Its large rotors shifted and turned upwards, the aircraft nearing its landing area. There it carefully touched the ground, and the engines wound down. Once it was on the ground the helicopter's ramp slowly dropped down, giving Uraraka a good look inside. There dozens of people sat strapped into their chairs.
Instantly, Uraraka recognized two of the people inside and unknowingly began to bounce on her feet. Quickly soldiers inside the aircraft began to help the others inside unstrap, with Uraraka's parents being the first to stand up and walk off the helicopter. The moment they stepped onto the ground, Uraraka's parents looked around swiftly. Soon they saw her and quickly rushed toward her.
"Ochako! I'm so glad you're ok- you are ok right!?" her father asked, as both he and Uraraka's mother grabbed Uraraka into a tight hug. Of course, they then quickly let go as the man carefully looked Uraraka over, begging not to find any injuries.
"I'm fine," Uraraka told him, pulling them back into a hug.
"When we saw the news we got so worried. With all the dust kicked up in the air we…" her mother stated, before cutting herself off. They all began to tear up at the memory, with none wanting to linger on it any longer.
"It's great to see you're safe," her father again stated, before the man slowly looked around the area, "Even if it is… here."
Uraraka didn't miss the sound of distrust in her dad's voice, and out of the corner of her eye, she could spot the man warily looking at a nearby soldier. This… was to be somewhat expected, Uraraka reasoned. She knew she and her classmates trusted the MSF more, but that didn't mean everyone would. Even with good deeds, someone would always find a reason to distrust them.
Though Uraraka wasn't expecting this kind of distrust from her father, from his nervousness, it seemed like he was open to trusting them, if only because they protected her.
"How have you been?" her mother asked, shaking Uraraka out of her thoughts.
"Good, though… my apartment's… gone," Uraraka hesitantly replied, "So is most of my stuff..."
It earned a quick hesitant look from her parents, who both quickly tried to hide it. They thought they succeeded, but Uraraka saw it. With all the work they could have found in Musutafu, Uraraka hoped their situation would change. Yet it seemed it hadn't. Maybe their company just wasn't big enough, Uraraka reasoned. Maybe the city didn't think they had the resources to pull it off.
In truth, she knew it was the same reason it always was. Bigger richer companies had gotten the contracts first.
"It's fine sweetie. We'll get everything replaced," her father told her, hoping to try and ease her worries. It didn't, but Uraraka didn't want to linger on the thought of money. The last thing she wanted, was for this moment to be spoiled due to their troubles. As she thought this though, she soon heard the sound of someone grunting. It confused her for a second before Uraraka began looking around.
There somewhat nearby she spotted Akatani trying to carry a large cube. It was roughly one foot on all sides and looked metallic in origin. Whatever it was, Uraraka didn't know, but it was clear it was giving Akatani some difficulty. Especially when Uraraka noticed he had his exoskeleton on to help him. It made Uraraka curious, but also gave her an idea.
"Hey, Akatani!" Uraraka called out, causing her parents to turn toward the boy. At the same time, Akatani seemed to panic and almost scrambled to hide the cube he was holding. However, he quickly found it impossible to hide as he turned toward Uraraka.
"H-hey," Akatani replied nervously, causing Uraraka to slowly become suspicious, "What's up?"
"Well, I wanted you to meet my parents," Uraraka replied, motioning to the two older Urarakas. Both calmly waved, as Akatani shifted in place, trying to keep the metal block balanced.
"Oh," Akatani commented while giving them a small friendly smile, "Hello,"
"Nice to meet you, young man," Uraraka's father replied, before pointing at the block in his hands, "Need some help there?"
"Yes, please," Akatani somewhat sputtered out, again shifting in place. Quickly Uraraka's father stepped forward and grabbed the block. Akatani didn't let go, but instantly the older man could feel the cube's weight.
"Woah!" Uraraka's father called out surprised, "Just what are you caring?"
"...tungsten," Akatani hesitantly replied, quickly making Uraraka even more suspicious. A few memories flashed through her head, as Uraraka connected some dots. He wasn't trying to… no.
"Why are you carrying a tungsten block?" Uraraka's mother asked, with Akatani avoiding Uraraka's eyes.
"It's… for a side project," Akatani replied with a nervous chuckle. Oh, he was, Uraraka thought to herself.
"Akatani," Uraraka stated, earning a small glance from the other teen.
"...It was going to be a surprise," Akatani hesitantly answered, earning a gasp from Uraraka.
"I knew it!" she called out, with both her parents looking at them confused.
"What was going to be a surprise?" her mother asked confused, while Uraraka's father took a slow look at Akatani. The man's eyes squinted slightly as he became tempted to let go of the block.
"Well, she wanted a new support weapon, and we thought up a large hammer. I… thought I'd surprise her with it," Akatani replied, earning a smile from Uraraka's mother.
"Oh, that's kind of you," the woman commented, earning a small nervous smile from Akatani. He looked away from the rather displeased, but also smiling Uraraka. It's like he just can't help himself, Uraraka thought. Always has to go out of his way for someone. He most likely had some kind of plan, so Uraraka remained quiet. Not to mention she really wanted that hammer.
Of course, he adjusted his grip on the cube though and quietly thanked Mr. Uraraka. There Uraraka's father let go, and Akatani stepped back.
"It was nice meeting you," Akatani told them, before slowly making his way towards the support department. All while the Uraraka's waved goodbye.
"He seems like a good friend," Uraraka's mother commented, with Uraraka nodding slowly.
"Yeah, maybe too good," Uraraka replied, with her father raising his brow.
"Too helpful?" he inquired, with Uraraka nodding.
"Sometimes," she replied with a slight smile.
When Yaoyorozu spotted her parents, none of them said a word. Instead, they quietly embraced each other calmly, not saying a word for a good few minutes. Unlike the rest of UA's parents, they'd arrived in their private helicopter, which had landed mere moments after everyone else. It partly confused Yaoyorozu, as to why they didn't just fly in with everyone else. But they had to have their reasons, Yaoyorozu quietly thought.
"We're so happy to see you alive Momo," her father stated calmly, smiling down at his daughter. The man was rather basic and unassuming. He had black hair like Yaoyorozu and had a thin mustache on his face. He also wore a rather fancy business suit.
"I'm happy to see you too," Yaoyorozu replied, smiling back up at him. Memories flashed through her mind of the attack—all the chaos and death. The MSF had a trained medical staff on hand to help, but the trauma still lingered.
"I… I thought I would never see you again," Yaoyorozu muttered, a slight sniffle in her tone.
"I know it must have been dreadful," her mother told her "When we get home, we're taking you to the best therapist in the country."
The words earned a bit of surprise from Yaoyorozu, as she turned to look at her mother. The woman was practically the spitting image of her daughter, though she was also taller and wore some fancy glasses. Compared to her husband she wore an overly elegant purple dress, complete with odd frills and poofs on the arms and shoulders.
"We're going home?" Yaoyorozu asked surprised, the idea feeling like a foreign concept after so long.
"If you want. Though the Principal told us class wouldn't start again for another few days, so I see no reason to stay here in that time," her father replied, with Yaoyorozu thinking it over. It's been weeks since she saw her room. And oh how she missed everything. She practically took it all for granted! She missed the comfort of her bed's silk sheets, compared to the cold hard classroom floor.
She missed the comfort of clean socks. She missed having a warm shower. She missed having peace and quiet in the morning. With how strained UA's resources had been, almost all of these had slowly turned into impossible luxuries. Needless to say, Yaoyorozu wanted it, badly. So quietly Yaoyorozu nodded before her parents began leading her to the helicopter. Of course just as she got inside, her father stopped.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," her father told them, "I almost forgot. We can't leave yet."
"Honey?" Yaoyorozu's mother asked confused, watching as the man pulled out his phone.
"I want to reward these soldiers," he stated, "They laid down their lives protecting Momo, it's the least we could do."
Instantly Yaoyorozu looked back at her father surprised, but thought it over. Most heroes got awards of some kind in particularly devastating villain attacks. Just yesterday the HPSC had given a dozen heroes medals for their help fighting in the Massacre. Yet… the MSF had gotten nothing of the sort. They got slightly more trust from the public, a few praises from the media, and a small security contract from the local government, but that was it.
No large public honors, no large gifts or awards, no memorial for the dead. They got nothing. It didn't seem right to her.
"You're right. What to give them though?" her mother asked.
"There was that exquisite painting down in the living room. Think they'll like it?" her father inquired, with her mother shaking her head.
"Well, it wasn't just one man dear. Doubt we could give all of them a single piece of art," her mother replied, "How about some jewelry?"
"Not sure something like a diamond ring is to their taste," her father told her before turning toward Yaoyorozu, "Momo, you've been around some of the soldiers, what do you think they would like?"
Calmly Yaoyorozu thought to herself. What would they want… She thought about Grizzly's squad for a moment, and how they normally were. It wasn't overly frequent, but Yaoyorozu remembered them talking about food. Specifically how their MREs always tasted rather poor. It gave her some small ideas.
When the battle for Musutafu had finally come to an end, it gave Grizzly and his squad some much-needed downtime. While much shorter than their usual conflicts, the death and destruction seen had been particularly draining. But of course, as his unit arrived back at UA for a break, he'd gotten some shocking news. And as wrong as it may have been, Grizzly couldn't have been happier.
"I'm telling you this is a mistake! I'm a hero! I haven't stolen from anyone!" Heart Star shouted over the TV, as a pair of officers dragged her away. After her little incident on the news, rumors quickly began to circulate. To the point, Interpol had started to get involved. There was evidence of Heart Star committing over a dozen different financial crimes that began flooding in as officials began investigating. And as Grizzly now saw, it ended with Heart Star being arrested by Japanese officers and extradited to the US for her trial.
It was all broadcast live in glorious 4k. It was why he and a dozen other soldiers in the barracks laughed and celebrated. Some passed around bottles of beer or whiskey, loudly enjoying the scene.
"Serves you right!" Gecko cheered at the TV laughing, with a few other soldiers joining in. Grizzly almost did the same, before finding his beer bottle empty. Turning around he found Ape lazily sitting next to a cooler.
"Lieutenant, mind passing me another beer?" Grizzly called out, with Ape shrugging for a second.
"Why not, two for me, one for you," Ape replied, opening the cooler and tossing Grizzly a beer. But not before he pulled out two for himself. Popping the bottle open, Grizzly heard the soldiers start laughing again. He found out why seconds later as he spotted Heart Star trying to run from the FBI, only for an agent to tackle her into a pair of bushes. When the agents pulled her out of the bushes she had bits of dirt and twigs littered in her hair.
Still, she continued to resist before one hero finally decided to tase her. That elicited another laugh from Grizzly and the others. With the scene somewhat over Grizzly took a quick swig from his beer, before turning around. Looking at all the celebrating soldiers, Grizzly soon spotted a new sight. Standing outside the barrack's doorway with a pair of insulated boxes was Yaoyorozu. The girl looked around hesitantly for a moment before Grizzly laughed again.
"Well look who it is! The girl of the hour," Grizzly called out, his words earning a look of surprise from Yaoyorozu. At the same time, other soldiers spotted her and quickly cheered again. In response, Yaoyorozu couldn't help but shrink back, while giving everyone a nervous smile.
"Hello, I… hope I'm not intruding," Yaoyorozu commented while looking around somewhat confused.
"Not at all," Grizzly replied while waving her off. His eyes began focusing on the boxes the rich girl carried. He looked at them curiously for a moment, as Yaoyorozu stepped into the barracks.
"What do you have there?" Grizzly inquired, as Yaoyorozu carefully set the boxes down.
"Well… this is… both an apology from me and a thank you from my parents," Yaoyorozu replied, the girl stepping back as other soldiers walked toward the boxes. On top of the first was a note, which Ape calmly tore off the box.
"To the brave men and women who protected our daughter," Ape read aloud, earning another cheer from the group. At the same time, Grizzly carefully opened up the first box, as Eagle looked over his shoulder. Looking in, Grizzly's eyes quickly widened.
"Well I'll be damned," he muttered, surprise present in his tone. The soldier reached into the insulated box, and pulled out the largest slab of steak he'd ever seen. The meat had been carefully packaged and cooled to stay fresh. This slab in particular was labeled as wagyu ribeye. Carefully Grizzly looked back into the box, spotting ever more steak. There were T-bones, sirloins, and filet mignon steaks as well.
"Gotta be… a hundred grand worth of steak," Eagle muttered, shocked, the soldier carefully picking up a packaged T-bone.
"...there is no way you know that off the top of your head," Ape commented dryly while grabbing a sirloin from the box. Once their hands were gone Gecko came over and picked up the box. Setting it aside Gecko opened the second one and found it filled to the brim with alcohol. Whiskey, bourbon, scotch, vodka, sake, tequila, wine, gin, shochu, brandy, champagne, it was all bottled in the box. And it, like all the steak, wasn't cheap either, as Grizzly recognized over a dozen luxury brands present.
Had to be worth another hundred, no two hundred grand. Everything in the box was top-shelf stuff.
"They and I weren't entirely sure what to get you," Yaoyorozu hesitantly replied, looking at the soldiers with a nervous but hopeful smile, "I… hope this is satisfactory."
Grizzly slowly looked back at her wide-eyed, the other soldiers in the barracks doing the same. At first, Yaoyorozu thought she'd been wrong, and almost began to lose her smile. That was until Grizzly began to chuckle.
"Are you kidding? Kid this is perfect!" Grizzly exclaimed an excited grin on his face.
"Haven't had a good meal in weeks!" Eagle added while laughing, "Nothing but cardboard-flavored MREs."
"We're eating good tonight, boys!" a different soldier shouted, earning another flurry of cheers from everyone. It made Yaoyorozu smile again before she stepped off to the side.
"That's good," Yaoyorozu told them, "My parents have more arriving soon if this isn't enough."
Honestly Grizzly thought there was too much stuff already. They'd be feeding the entire company if the Yaoyorozus kept bringing stuff in. And bring more in they did, though with a tad bit more variety. A couple of men in suits would arrive shortly after Yaoyorozu, bringing in even more food. One box was loaded with fresh vegetables fit for a barbeque, and another box brought in more meat, only instead of steak it was lamb, pork, and chicken.
They just kept coming with more and more food.
"We got any grills?" one soldier would ask, almost swimming through the boxes littering the barracks.
"Whale's got a fire quirk, that work?" another soldier inquired, earning a small nod in response. It brought Grizzly some joy as everyone present got everything set up. Especially when some guys carried the first of the steaks outside to grill. He could already taste them. Out of the corner of his eye though, he spotted some soldiers forming a circle in the barracks. It confused him for a moment before he saw two soldiers enter the circle while others started passing money around.
Almost instantly both soldiers began trying to wrestle the other to the ground, the others surrounding them goading them on. Turning around slightly he spotted Yaoyorozu watching on with a slight frown and a confused gaze.
"Something wrong?" Grizzly asked, the girl turning to look up at him.
"Well, it's… should they be doing that?" Yaoyorozu inquired, right as one soldier grabbed the other in a chokehold.
"Ah nothing wrong with it, they're just having a bit of fun," Grizzly replied, having to raise his voice a little as the circle of soldiers cheered loudly.
"Come on! Where are those muscles you keep bragging about!?" one soldier taunted, earning a laugh from another.
"But what if they break something?" Yaoyorozu asked worriedly, right as the two soldiers almost slammed into a nearby wall.
"Heh, well that's for Eagle to deal with," Grizzly said with a chuckle, remembering the last few altercations the sergeant had to break up. Of course, this didn't seem to help Yaoyorozu.
"...It isn't proper etiquette," Yaoyorozu muttered, with Grizzly just shrugging.
"Yeah well sometimes people just have to let go for a moment," Grizzly told her, "Can't be all proper forever kid."
Before watching as the soldiers continue to wrestle.
"You ever have this kind of fun?" Grizzly asked, with Yaoyorozu thinking it over.
"...Do fencing lessons count?" Yaoyorozu inquired, with Grizzly again shrugging.
"Maybe… what do you do for fun though?" Grizzly inquired, just as one of the soldier's wrestling broke out of his choke hold.
"Normally reading, though I have done some shopping on occasion," Yaoyorozu replied, with Grizzly pausing for a second. That was an abnormally shortlist, especially for someone in Yaoyorozu's tax bracket.
"Anything else?" Grizzly asked, earning a confused look from Yaoyorozu.
"What do you mean?" Yaoyorozu replied, with Grizzly raising his brow.
"I mean do you go to the movies? Play any video games? Watch any shows?" Grizzly answered, with Yaoyorozu slowly shrugging.
"Well… not usually," Yaoyorozu replied, "I never have the time for such things."
"Never have the time…" Grizzly stated to himself with Yaoyorozu nodding.
"Most of my days are spent in tutoring," Yaoyorozu told him, before slowly listing off her usual lessons. Grizzly couldn't help but slowly widen his eyes as she went on. She had fencing tutors, English tutors, math lessons, tutors teaching her proper etiquette, swimming tutors, polo tutors, science tutors, ballet instructors, violin, cello, viola, and piano tutors, golf instructors, history tutors, and so many others.
If it was a stereotypical fancy rich person activity, Yaoyorozu had a tutor for it. Now some of these lessons sounded fun, but Grizzly had the feeling they weren't exactly voluntary. Especially considering they took up almost the entire day. When Yaoyorozu finished, she soon noticed Grizzly's wide eyes and looked at him confused.
"What?" Yaoyorozu asked, with Grizzly clicking his tongue.
"That's… a lot of shit to do," Grizzly replied, only making Yaoyorozu more confused.
"Doesn't everyone do this?" Yaoyorozu asked, and mentally Grizzly screamed no. It all sounded so ludicrously batshit to him, that anyone would partake in the number of activities Yaoyorozu did. But he didn't say any of this.
"Kid I haven't even heard of half the activities you're tutored in," is what he said instead, with Yaoyorozu slowly rubbing her shoulder.
"Oh…" Yaoyorozu muttered, unsure of how to feel about the revelation.
"I mean golf!? Fucking golf!?" Grizzly added somewhat exasperated.
"My parents said it would help in making overseas business deals," Yaoyorozu replied, with Grizzly quickly connecting a few dots. It caused him to quietly sigh while bringing a hand to his face. Thinking back this explained quite a few things to him. A couple of rich parents wanting what's best for their child, only they excluded the fun childhood part.
"Alright get in there," Grizzly told her, with Yaoyorozu looking back up surprised.
"What?" she asked confused, while Grizzly motioned her toward the circle of soldiers.
"Get in there," Grizzly replied looking down at Yaoyorozu's unsure face, "Like I said before, sometimes you gotta let go for a moment."
Slowly he began walking up to the circle with Yaoyorozu hesitantly following behind him.
"Besides it'll be fun. Won't be much different from one of your hero lessons," Grizzly added, still seeing Yaoyorozu looking unsure. Yet she complied, taking a deep breath before stepping forward.
It had been roughly half an hour since the Yaoyorozus were supposed to leave. However, something had been keeping their daughter. All she was supposed to do was drop off the first few boxes and then come back to the helicopter. So when that didn't happen it became up to Midnight to go and find her. Simply walking toward the MSF's boxes she could already smell the meats being grilled.
The dominatrix was somewhat jealous as she walked by. The cursedly delicious smell didn't leave when she entered the building proper either. Instead, it lingered, along with the sounds of cheering soldiers. After a bit of searching though, Midnight soon found a quarters area filled with soldiers. Peeking her head in, she found a large circle of men cheering and passing money around.
Everyone was so clumped together she couldn't see what was happening, but she stepped into the room quietly. Looking around she spotted on soldier with the ranking of a lieutenant and stepped forward.
"Excuse me, lieutenant?" Midnight asked, earning the man's attention for a moment.
"Hmm- ah fuck," the lieutenant quickly muttered, causing another soldier, a sergeant, next to him to turn around. The sergeant laughed as the lieutenant passed him a few bucks, grumbling to himself.
"You need something?" the lieutenant asked with Midnight nodding.
"Yes, I was looking for a student. She was dropping off some boxes here," Midnight replied, earning a look of recognition from the lieutenant.
"Oh? Yaoyorozu?" the lieutenant inquired, with Midnight again nodding.
"She's right over here," the lieutenant told her, pointing towards the interior of the circle. It made Midnight somewhat confused before she stood up taller on her toes. There she spotted the student holding a soldier a foot taller than her in a chokehold. An almost feral grin was on Yaoyorozu's face as the soldiers surrounding her either cheered on or taunted their comrade.
"You're a grown-ass man! How are you losing!?" one soldier yelled out confused.
"Come on kid! Show 'em who's boss!" a different soldier cheered, with a flurry of others accompanying him.
"Don't let a kid beat you!" a different soldier shouted.
"I thought you worked out!?" another called out.
"Oh fuck off! She weighs like a ton of bricks!" the soldier caught in the chokehold replied, only to immediately feel he made a mistake.
"Oh, you dumb fuck!" a third soldier yelled laughing, solidifying his ally's mistake. As Yaoyorozu twisted around somewhat, before dropping the soldier into an RKO. It earned another round of cheers, laughs, and a long "ooooh!" from the audience of soldiers.
"That's what I'm talking about kid!" a rather pale soldier cheered, watching as Yaoyorozu kept her opponent pinned to the ground. After a few moments, someone counted down and the match was over. The soldiers broke into loud cheers yet again as Yaoyorozu stood up her arms in the air with the same feral grin she had before. She laughed loudly as soldiers began passing money around.
"Hehe… which one of you is next!" Yaoyorozu demanded, earning another few cheers and a laugh from Midnight. Seemed someone was having fun. The hero couldn't remember ever seeing this side of the student.
Through the laughter and partying around him, Francisco Almeida couldn't help but sit back in a large luxurious chair. For today was his birthday, and being the warlord in control of Sao Tome and Principe, he spared no expense. Thousands of people worked to the bone for party preparations building up a European-style ballroom. Luxurious red velvet lined the walls with gold and silver accents. The old luxury was contrasted with a hundred or so women his men had taken off the street, and forced to strip and dance in front of his guests.
Millions had been spent on food, entertainment, and gifts. And this wasn't even covering guests, as Francisco soon saw a white man in a business suit walk up to him.
"Having fun are we?" the man inquired with a knowing smirk, as Francisco laughed and stood up from his chair, his portly body shaking slightly. The military uniform adorned to his body barely held in his fat, and struggled not to break from the motion.
"William, it's been too long," Francisco greeted shaking William's hand, "Come to say happy birthday?"
William Stromwell had always been a good friend over the years. Though that was by design. Stromwell was head of a large oil company in the US, one Francisco allowed unrestricted drilling rights to. In fact, most of his guests were members of the ruling elite. Billionaires, government officials, some big-name heroes, and even members of the HPSC were all present.
For all of them, Sao Toma and Principe was either a vacation spot or a bountiful business venture. Though for Stromwell specifically, his venture was more in parts of Gabon Francisco had seized control of.
"In a way. Even brought presents," William replied smiling, motioning for two other men in suits to step forward. There they brought forward two young black women, both heavily scarred and bruised. Francisco paid little attention to that though, his eyes instead falling on one girl's large chest.
"Security at the refinery caught these two trying to blow the place up," William stated, watching as his bodyguards shoved the girls to the floor.
"Ah, I do apologize. I'm sure I can make this up to you," Francisco replied, taking a mental note to beef up security in Gabon. Rebels in the area inspired by the MSF had started bombing oil refineries and plants. That, or it was the MSF themselves, reports could never make it clear. Calmly Francisco looked the girls over, his hand quickly cupping one girl's large breast. The girl clearly looked at him terrified, shaking quietly, and Francisco snorted.
Of course, his laugh died quickly, the moment he spotted a tattoo running up her neck. It was nothing overly complicated, just a six-digit number with a picture of a rat.
"A Fang…" Francisco muttered disgustedly, quickly removing his hand from the girl's breast, "Why am I not surprised? Can never seem to kill these rats off."
Such disgusting filth, Francisco thought to himself. For years he'd been trying to stamp the entire group out, sending thousands to camps across his territory. Yet no matter how many of them he killed, like rats they kept popping up. It annoyed him to no end. The continent had gone through hundreds of wars and genocides, managing to depopulate the area. Oh, how he wished for the Fang to join the groups eradicated over the centuries.
"I can take them off your hands if you want. Know a few guys who'd like to have some fun," William commented, while Francisco scoffed.
"You can't have fun with vermin," Francisco replied, wiping his hand on a nearby cloth, "Although I might as well get something useful from them. Guards!"
The moment he called out to his troops, Francisco spotted two of his elite guards walking toward him. While the majority of his forces still used outdated equipment, his elite guard had been kitted out with the best. Every soldier in the room was decked out in the latest Russian exoskeleton. Their standard arms were AK-19s, and their body armor was cutting edge. It was almost futuristic-looking in nature, resembling something out of sci-fi.
The small round light-weight composite plates wrapped around the guards' shoulders, forearms, shins, thighs, and chest. It looked somewhat bulky, but compared to a bomb suit it was slim. Quickly his elite soldiers grabbed the two girls, as Francisco brought a hand to his chin in thought. Coming to a decision he waved the soldiers off.
"Put them in a penal battalion," Francisco ordered, believing it a fitting fate. They wouldn't be armed, or at least not conventionally. A suicide vest could work wonders if not charging a machine gun nest unarmed worked too. Be it through enemy gunfire or friendly gunfire these rats would die, Francisco reasoned. With a quick salute, the guards began dragging the girls away, both of them kicking and screaming as they tried to free themselves.
Of course, this caused the mood of the party to damper slightly, Francisco's guests going quiet from all their celebrating. Well, he couldn't have that now, could he?
"Turn up the music, and bring out the elephants!" Francisco exclaimed, bringing back the loud cheers from his guest. Near a large pair of doors, two large elephants were led in, as the music quickly got louder. One might wonder why elephants and the answer is simple. These elephants were critically endangered African Forest Elephants, brought in straight from the mainland. They were worth a fortune and any billionaire looking for a status symbol would pay billions. Better yet, they had quirks.
One could spew fire like a circus elephant, the other had massive ears like Dumbo and could even glide. And currently, both were lavishly dressed to seem more appealing to buyers.
"Well I'll be damned," William muttered, watching as a pair of handlers led the animals into the room.
"Gets better," Francisco commented, "I said I'd make it up to you, so, ten percent discount on everything. Protection, leases, whatever."
"You know how to party. Sure you can afford this though? Those mercs you were on about weren't dealt with yet," William asked, confused, with Francisco laughing in response.
"Please! I'm the richest man in Africa, I can afford whatever I want!" Francisco replied, "And besides if the MSF were to try anything, they'd end up drowning in blood."
Now in war-torn Africa, this spending might seem rash, especially with Outer Heaven being only six hundred miles away. So to others, Francisco's words seemed arrogant. However, Fransico was confident the MSF wouldn't do anything. They'd need a full invasion force to take his islands, and with the MSF stretched across Africa and now Japan, the likelihood of it happening was little to none. It's why his islands stayed out of MSF's hands for years and why his family had ruled them for centuries.
One needed a navy full of warships to move in, and no one had built that up yet. If the MSF did invade though, well, Fransico had been buying up arms for years. While the other warlords continually threw bodies at their problems, Fransico lounged on the beach, as newly made Russian exo-skeletons rolled onto his shores. His vast wealth in building the islands as a luxury resort for the wealthy had given him deep enough pockets to do whatever he pleased.
Sao Tome and Principe were an unassailable floating fortress. The MSF couldn't do a damn thing if it wanted to. With that satisfied though Francisco looked around his large ballroom yet again before something caught his eye. Walking between tables was a woman he could only describe as beautiful. Her skin was almost chocolate brown and she stood tall like an amazon. Her hair was long and black and draped over her shoulders.
What stuck out most to Francisco, was the woman's body. She was built like a pro hero, reminding Francisco of the Bunny hero Mirko. Her long red dress did nothing but accentuate her already prominent features. Francisco couldn't help but slick back his hair as he began walking toward the woman.
"Now who might you be?" Francisco inquired when he reached the woman, a sly grin on his face. Trying to act chivalrous he grabbed and kissed the top of the woman's hand. She made no move to resist the action but looked down at Francisco nervously. With a closer look, Francisco could now see the woman's face. Crossing her nose was a small scar, with a second scar underneath her right eye.
"Caela," the woman quickly greeted, the nervousness she held before now gone, "Caela Adisa."
"Caela, such a pretty name," Francisco commented, letting go of her hand. He looked over her one last time just in case. The last thing he needed was another Fang showing up at his party. He didn't see the usual rat tattoo he had imprinted on most Fang, but that wasn't a definitive assurance. But of course, looking at Caela again, Francisco shook the thought away. She was too pretty to be a rat.
"A woman as beautiful as yourself deserves the best I believe," Francisco told her, his sly grin still present as he slowly walked around Caela, "How would you care to accompany me tonight?"
It was less a question, and more an order given the circumstance. Yet Francisco would never say this, as Caela looked down at him. The woman seemed to think to herself for a moment, before crouching down slightly. Her face was mere inches from his, and Caela gave Francisco a sultry smile.
"I'd love that," Caela told him, running her hand over Francisco's chin, "I'll see you then."
As soon as she arrived Caela began walking away, leaving Francisco quiet for a moment before the warlord began laughing to himself. The moment he was far enough away though Caela gagged to herself quietly. This job had always been dirty work, but this pig had tested her limits in mere minutes.
"I need a damn shower," Caela muttered, while bringing a hand to her ear, "Please tell me everyone's in position."
At the same time, her other hand moved toward the side arm concealed in her dress, waiting for the other members of FOXHOUND to reply.