Chapter 124: A Regime
It could be commonly said that to live under the rule of Luan Igwe was to live under one of the cruelest regimes imaginable. However, those inside the regime didn't know that. And why would they? Compared to the rest of warlord-controlled Africa, they had ample food on the table. Unlike the minor powers on the continent, they had electricity, running water, medical care, and even schools.
They had a ripe militarized industrial base, modernized transportation systems, and stable banking institutions. They even had television services. A person living in Luan's territory could sit back and watch TV, have a fresh dinner, and take a hot shower. It was more than any other warlord on the continent had done for their subjects. Of course, not all of that was actually true. They could get a TV, but that was assuming they were part of the middle class. Of which, only one percent of the population was.
The TV they got, meanwhile, was an old 1980s box, mass-produced in the thousands. Not because they couldn't build anything new, but because the government didn't believe it was worthwhile. It was cheaper and easier to make than a flat screen, and all they really needed the TVs for was propaganda. Every show was created by the state, broadcast by the state, and directed by the state.
There was no outside media they could watch, only what the government provided. Citizens were also watched by cameras twenty-four seven. They were assigned jobs that they could not quit and would work until they died. Working conditions were beyond abysmal, with some meat-packing plants often selling human meat mixed with beef or pork by pure accident. Often, the country's criminals would use the plants' machines to dispose of bodies. Other times, people just fell into them. Any attempt to unionize or strike for better rights was met with military retribution.
Factories would constantly dump their waste material wherever they pleased, leading to large cases of cancer and genetic mutations. Secret police roamed the streets at every hour of the day, military parades celebrating the regime's authority were constant, and do you want to know what the singular saying that dominated the nation was? "Death to Disorder, Glory to Luan."
The government told the people where they worked, where they lived, how big or how small their family could be, what they ate, what they bought, and what they believed. Those who even thought of rebelling were dragged from their homes to camps, where what few luxuries they had were taken away, and they were worked to death. For the middle and lower classes, their sole purpose was to live and die for the state. And they were content with that, because as far as they knew, they had it better than the rest of Africa. There were, however, some profiting off the regime's power.
Johan Turok being one of them. Because while the rest of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Namibia lived in destitute squalor, he sat in a five-star restaurant, surrounded by his good friends. He poked and prodded at the tablecloth before him, his finger tracing over the thin gold colored threads.
"I thought you had better taste than this," Johan muttered as he looked up at his friends. Across from him, his brother Chris nodded in agreement, while Jodi sipped on her wine, and Schalk looked around with his brow raised.
"What? You don't like it?" Schalk asked, carefully gesturing to the rest of the room. It was fine dining, plain and simple, if one could call this level of extravagance plain. A fountain the size of a swimming pool sat across from them, displayed with sculptures of ancient myths and warriors. Marble covered every nook and cranny of the place, bar the restaurant's windows. Which circled the entire open space, giving Johan a perfect view of the sunset.
Statues and artwork decorated the entire restaurant, along with added gold and jewels for a more pompous flair. It was egotistical. It was arrogant. And it was aristocratic. But none of that was why Johan had a problem with the restaurant.
"Hell no, I don't," Johan replied, slowly crossing his arms together, "The restaurant Lucas took us to had an orchestra playing live music."
"The decorum was better, too. Had plenty of tasteful Greco-Roman architecture and sculptures," Chris added in agreement, "This place has… what, a few worthless Spanish paintings?"
"I think I saw something Chinese," Jodi muttered with a gag, causing Schulk to scoff.
"Oh, please, that fountain is made with real Aztec gold," Schulk countered, his arm pointing toward the fountain, "It cost a fortune to smuggle in."
"Aztec, huh… now we're getting somewhere," Chris commented, while Johan simply rolled his eyes. Amazing. Some stolen Aztec gold for a worthless fountain. This restaurant was simply terrible. Everyone with even a shred of taste knew that the best restaurants had Fontaine artwork. That wasn't even getting to the worst issue.
"The view could be better, though," Johan then grumbled. Because while Johan did think the sunset outside was nice, the rest of the view was… lackluster. The Ivory Flame, as the restaurant was known, sat at the top of an utterly massive skyscraper. The building itself was seventy floors tall, with a grand hotel situated on the lower levels. All while located in the Capital of Luan's territory, Port Elizabeth.
Now the city was originally known as Gqeberha; however, the regime believed that to be too barbaric a name. In their eyes, it lacked elegance and discipline, something needed for their form of order. Being the Capital, most of Port Elizabeth was populated with the regime's wealthy and middle class. Filled with luxury homes and mansions near the coastline, the place looked like a gem. This was the crux of the issue. Johan couldn't see the million, billion, or even trillion-dollar mega mansions.
"I don't want to see slums when trying to eat dinner," Johan stated, his gaze floating over the cramped concrete sardine cans littering Port Elizabeth's outskirts. The housing complexes were crammed together so close that one would think they were one building. What's more, a thick cloud of smog, from Port Elizabeth's factory districts, covered the area. Instead of solving the issue and removing the smog, the elites just built taller towers, industrial fans to blow the smog the other direction, or a giant wall that kept both the smog and the lower classes out.
For once, Chris looked back at his brother and shook his head.
"Kinda have to disagree with you there," Chris told him, his gaze moving over the cramped apartments, "Looking down on them from up here… makes a man feel powerful."
"Still. I'd prefer to see the beach," Jodi muttered across from them, with Johan nodding. The sight really sapped the mood out of dinner for him, seeing all those disgusting slums.
"I doubt it'll be an issue for long," Schulk commented quickly, the man's gaze moving back around the room, "Some of my boets are discussing the possibility of bulldozing the neighborhood."
That was the first time Johan had heard of it, but it would be some good news. They could kick the undesirables from Port Elizabeth and free up some desperately needed land. Now, Johan wondered just what would be done with the property. It was all going to the regime, obviously, but Luan often let the lower-ranking aristocrats manage how it was used. And Johan could go for another house. His current mansion was becoming a bit too droll. Yet as he was about to ask, he heard a new voice pipe up behind him.
"Sounds like it'll be a fun time," a new man commented, the entire table soon turning toward the source. Behind them stood a man in a thick brown flight jacket, with a wool frill lacing the collar, and a pair of aviators clinging to his shirt.
"Henrik!" Schulk said with a laugh, standing up to offer the man a chair, "Sit down, you crazy bastard."
"What took you so long?" Jodi asked curiously, the woman leaning onto the table. Henrik shrugged and plopped into the chair Schulk had offered.
"Crashed. Ran into somebody on my way here. Took forever to clean my car's bumper," Henrik replied, earning a murmur of agreement from the others.
"Which one?" Chris inquired quickly.
"The BMW," Henrik replied calmly.
"Z4 or Series 8?" Johan asked.
"Z4," Henrik explained, the table of people again murmuring. Johan could only imagine how annoying that must have been. He didn't dare think of what would have happened if he were in Henrik's situation. His own white Lexus LFR's bumper was stained red. It would have been a nightmare to replace. Leaning back into his chair, Johan watched Henrik fiddle with the tablecloth just like he did before.
"So, what have you been up to recently?" Johan asked curiously, and again, Henrik shrugged.
"Nothing much. Just a couple of training exercises for a few days," Henrik calmly replied, while clicking his tongue, "After that… kinda just chilled at my house for a week."
A boring week, all things considered, but Johan wasn't surprised. In Luan's regime, there were many living in lavish luxury. Chris was the supervisor of the regime's arms industry, ensuring the troops got their needed guns. Schulk owned the majority of the regime's non-government farms, though they were heavily controlled and monitored by said government. Jodi was a high-ranking official in Luan's Internal Intelligence Bureau. And Johan was the head of a government-sponsored real estate corporation, which managed a large chunk of the regime's housing.
They all held vast wealth and influence in their own right. But then there was Henrik. Now, Henrik was not a General or an Admiral. He wasn't the head of a shipping conglomerate or the owner of an emerald mine. Henrik was a pilot. A fighter pilot, to be exact, for the Luiperid Sekuriteit. And while it didn't seem like it to anyone else, Henrik had more prestige behind his name than everyone else at the table.
One of the biggest issues the warlords had with their never-ending conflicts was a lack of pilots. The HPSC, Russia, China, and whoever else could ship in as many fighter jets as they wanted, but they were all worthless without pilots. What's more, only the most powerful warlords could afford to train new pilots, Luan's regime being one of them. They had flight schools, training aircraft, and training instructors, but it still took months to train up the necessary pilots.
Pilots also had the added benefit of being able to escape the regime. You're shoving a man into a machine that can fly, and trusting them not to take off into the sunset and disappear. So with their rarity and the need to keep them from running away, pilots were, in effect, treated like kings. They were full members of the aristocracy. They held vast swaths of property and influence, and could practically do whatever they pleased.
Add in the rarity of air-to-air missiles, along with a general lack of air combat, and this, in turn, affected pilot culture. A dogfight was viewed as a grand aerial duel between distinguished aristocrats. Pilot culture had an odd mix of World War One romanticization, World War II-style dogfights, and Samurai-like political standing. Soon, Henrik had clapped his hands together, the pilot looking around for a waiter.
"Anyway, what's to eat? I'm starving," Henrik asked, causing Johan to look at his watch. It was a good question. They sat down thirty minutes ago, and a waiter had yet to stop by their table.
"So long as it's better than the decor," Johan began to mutter, still displeased with the restaurant's aesthetics. Truly, this establishment was an embarrassment to its five-star brethren.
"Come on, you can tell me! It's not like Akatani's here," Ashido said, gesturing to the dorm's common area. Across from her on the room's couches, Yaoyorozu simply shook her head. All while carefully wrapping a small box in green wrapping paper. Her movements were calm and methodical… perhaps too much so, Jiro quietly thought. After being informed by All Might that Akatani's birthday was coming up, most of the class had found themselves flat-footed.
His birthday was just around the corner, and the teen hadn't told them about it. That just wouldn't do, so for the past few days, the majority of 1A had started gathering up presents. From what Jiro had heard, Kirishima had bought him a new pair of fingerless gloves, which had added armor on the knuckles for better punching capabilities. Asui bought a cookbook detailing how to prepare some… let's say exotic animals, much to the frog girl's chagrin.
Iida had bought up a military history novel, Kaminari and Ojiro got him a new video game, Todoroki bought earplugs, Hagakure got a beret, Aoyoma bought a camouflaged cape, Shoji went with the safe option and bought a pair of surplus combat boots, Tokoyami found a novel detailing military horror stories, Sero chose a Spider-Man comic for his gift, and Koda got him a new collar for DD.
Sato, meanwhile, was baking the party's cake… well, he was originally. That soldier Yaoyorozu knew got word something big was going down. Now there was an apparent bake-off going on between him and Sato. Uraraka was out on an internship program. And Bakugo wasn't getting him a gift. However, the pomeranian froze the moment they explained what day Akatani's birthday was being held. Which Jiro found strange.
The only three people still getting gifts were Jiro, Ashido, and… Mineta. And you know, considering she could hear the midget right now, Jiro had… very disgusted thoughts on what his gift for Akatani was.
"Clearly has a thing for brunettes with big asses," was the line Jiro had heard Mineta say the most. Considering how often Akatani hung out with Uraraka, she couldn't say Mineta was wrong. But at the same time… the midget was getting him a porn magazine. Of brunettes with quote "big asses". It's uh… It's a choice. One Jiro isn't surprised by. And the idea was honestly disgusting to think about. But at the same time, the idea of Akatani just unwrapping a porn mag and turning beet red sounded hilarious.
"I'd rather keep it a surprise," Yaoyorozu eventually replied, the heiress struggling to fully wrap the box she held. She'd cut the wrapping paper too short, and now half the box just wasn't covered.
"And to be fair, you tend to gossip a bit much," Jiro then added, as Yaoyorozu sighed and reached for more wrapping paper.
"That doesn't mean I can't keep a secret," Ashido countered, before grabbing the wrapping paper on the table and passing it to Yaoyorozu. Jiro quietly disagreed with that notion. What possible secret could Ashido of all people keep quiet? She didn't want to be rude, but the pink teen was a bit of a blabbermouth.
"It's gotta be something good though, right?" Ashido asked, still determined to learn what Yaoyorozu had gotten him.
"I would hope so," Yaoyorozu replied, before accidentally tearing up the wrapping paper. A large gash now covered her box, forcing Yaoyorozu to toss away more wrapping paper. She didn't reach for more this time, instead setting the box aside. Clearly, she didn't wrap presents herself all too often. Not like Jiro could blame her. If she had servants at her beck and call, she'd probably have them wrap her parents' gifts for her.
Quietly, Jiro saw Ashido quietly nudge Yaoyorozu on. The heiress looked back at the punk, who rapidly shook her head no. There was no good reason to give away her surprise, whatever it may be. But Yaoyorozu relented with a sigh when she looked back at Ashido again.
"...Kaminari said Akatani was a fan of… something called Halo," Yaoyorozu began to explain, slowly pulling the lid off her box, "And knowing his fascination with firearms, I thought I'd get him a gun I believed he didn't have in his possession."
Opening the box fully, Yaoyorozu held it out for both girls to see. And at first, Jiro expected to see some fancy rich-person item. Something like a silver watch with a price tag somewhere in the thousands, or a set of new dinnerware. Just something fancy. Instead, Jiro found herself staring at a gun. A very sci-fi looking gun, in fact. What's more, Jiro could have sworn she'd recognised this gun.
"With the help of the girls in the Support Course, we made this… the MA5C, I believe its name was. It's entirely custom-made and fully functional. Though some small changes had to be made for it to work properly," Yaoyorozu explained, taking great care not to accidentally drop the box. All the while, Jiro and Ashido looked at the weapon with wide eyes. There was no doubt in either of their minds that Akatani would love the gift. But she went out of her way to get him an assault rifle.
Jiro never expected Yaoyorozu to be the one to give Akatani a gun. She expected it from say Snake, or maybe Kirishima if the teen ever got his hands on one. But… Yaoyorozu!?
"How do you know he doesn't have it?" Ashido asked, ignoring the thoughts Jiro had. Yaoyorozu simply shrugged and closed the box's lid.
"Guess work mostly," Yaoyorozu replied, and soon set the box aside. Looking back at Ashido, Yaoyorozu crossed her arms.
"Since I've given up my gift idea, what's yours?" Yaoyorozu asked, only for Ashido to smugly grin.
"Mine? Oh, I can't say," Ashido replied, while waving both girls off, "It's a bit of a work in progress."
"Seriously?" Jiro inquired deadpan. Wordlessly, Ashido zipped her mouth shut and threw away an invisible key. Hypocrite, Jiro mentally thought, before slouching back onto the couch.
"Fine, keep your secrets," Jiro commented, watching as Ashido snickered. She probably just got him some shoes or something. I mean, what else could she have gotten him? Shaking her head, Jiro found Yaoyorozu slowly turning toward her.
"What about you, Jiro? What are you getting him?" Yaoyozoru asked, causing Jiro to pause for a second.
"Haven't decided yet," Jiro quietly replied, "I got him interested in Deep Dope a few weeks ago. So… maybe concert tickets. I don't know."
Jiro doubted there was much else she could get him. He could afford whatever items he might ever desire. It was a classic problem: what do you get the teen who has everything? So the tickets were just the best idea she had so far. They just came out, so there was little doubt in her mind that Akatani had bought them. That was, however, assuming he wanted to go to the concert to begin with.
Who knows. She was out of ideas, and concert tickets were the best bet she had. The other girls appeared to agree, as Ashido got an oddly mischievous glint in her eye. Yet before Jiro could question her sudden look, they all heard Kaminari shout from across the room.
"I know what I saw, Kirishima! I am not crazy!" Kaminari proclaimed as both teens walked down the hall connecting the common area to the elevator.
"Dude, where is this paranoia coming from!?" Kirishima asked, holding out his arms exasperatedly. All while Kaminari held up a piece of paper in front of Kirishima's face.
"Look at her drawings! Look at them!" Kaminari exclaimed, with a look of… fear? Kaminari was afraid? No, he was terrified, Jiro realized. Kaminari's face was pale, practically white as snow. Cautiously, the girls looked at each other, unsure, before Ashido decided to call out to them.
"What's up with you two?" Ashido asked, with Kirishima turning to face her. With a tired expression, Kirishima facepalmed.
"It's… complicated," Kirishima replied, before he started looking around the room. Jiro was unsure as to why until she saw that he was walking toward Asui. The frog girl was busy working on some homework at the large dinner table.
"Tsu… you have younger siblings, right?" Kirishima asked, causing Asui to look up from her work.
"Yeah. Why?" Asui replied and tilted her head to the side.
"Did… any of them ever have imaginary friends?" Kirishima cautiously questioned and moved his hands in a cylindrical motion. The question was… odd. And for a moment, Jiro didn't know why Kirishima was asking it. But then, she remembered something. With Akatani leaving to go do… something, Eri was left alone in the dorms. Snake came in to check on her often, but he was a busy guy with important work to do. So, a chunk of 1A, mainly Asui, Iida, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro herself, volunteered to help keep an eye on her.
They did so in shifts, with Jiro's having been the day before Kaminari's. It was a rather uneventful day, all things considered. They hung out in Eri's room for a few hours, Jiro made her some lunch, and they played some games. It was nothing crazy… so what the hell happened? Eventually, Asui nodded, to Kirishima's relief.
"Satsuki did. She grew out of it fast, though, kero," Asui explained, while Kirishima soon gestured toward the girl and looked at Kaminari. His face relayed an unspoken "see?". Rapidly, Kaminari walked forward and placed the paper he'd been carrying onto the table, and slid it toward Asui. Curious, Jiro, Yaoyorozu, and Ashido had all stood up from the couches and walked toward the dinner table. With all of them forming a semi-circle around Asui.
"Were any of these imaginary friends a blond woman with scars, two creepy old guys, a man set on fire, a man covered in bugs, or whatever this guy is?" Kaminari asked, the question making the room go quiet. Jiro didn't fully believe everything she'd just heard. It even took a few seconds before she decided to look down at the paper. And… oh… oh… that… Jiro had a difficult time voicing her full thought, as she looked down at the paper.
It seemed wholesome at first, the paper being a crude drawing Eri had made. A family picture of sorts. Akatani was standing right next to her, and Snake was next to him. Jiro spotted herself and felt a tad bit touched that she was included. The rest of 1A was also there, and a few MSF and UA staff members. But… then there were six unknown people. One was a blond woman in a white outfit of some sort. Two were old men, both were bald, but one had glasses, and the other was in some green outfit.
The one with glasses also stood close to the blond woman, their hands… held together? Accidentally taking up the same space? It was a crude drawing, so it was hard to tell. The next guy Jiro assumed looked like an astronaut of some sort, one covered in worryingly detailed fire. The next man was in some orange outfit and surrounded by scribbles, which were likely the bugs Kaminari was talking about. The final man… Jiro didn't even know how to describe the final guy.
And she couldn't tell if that was due to the drawing's quality or the gremlin-esque way this man was drawn. Jiro half expected this guy to start crawling along the paper like a spider. What's more, each unknown person had a name scribbled with them. There was Joy, Sorrow, End, Fury, Pain, and Fear. And by now, Jiro was beginning to get concerned.
"Nope," Asui bluntly replied, the girl looking over the drawing with a worried look.
"I don't get it. What's this about?" Ashido then asked, looking between the drawing and Kaminari.
"I went to check up on Eri an hour ago, and I found her drawing. More specifically, I found her drawing this!" Kaminari explained, gesturing back to the drawing.
"That's… worrying," Jiro muttered, causing Kaminari to rapidly start nodding his head. He then looked around, somewhat panicked, and grabbed the drawing.
"This place is haunted, and she's talking with ghosts," Kaminari stated, with Kirishima grumbling next to him.
"Ghosts aren't real," Kirishima muttered, with Jiro quietly agreeing. This was something else, something possibly worse. Because Jiro had never seen these people anywhere on UA. Akatani hadn't mentioned anything about them, and neither had Snake. So they weren't anywhere on campus, and that meant Eri could only have met them before being rescued. Kaminari sputtered back, again holding the drawing up to Kirishima's face.
"Explain this then!" Kaminari exclaimed, with Kirishima opening his mouth to speak. Only for Yaoyorozu to pipe up first.
"Eri's been surrounded by bad men for a long time. In all likelihood, this is a sign of trauma, not ghosts," Yaoyorozu noted, everyone's eyes soon moving toward her. That… that was plausible, Jiro thought to herself. These odd figments of her imagination were likely linked to her trauma. Yet Kaminari looked back at her in disbelief.
"I found her floating in the air in her room!" Kaminari countered loudly, earning a look of shock from everyone. But then Yaoyorozu paused and raised her brow, confused.
"When was this?" Yaoyorozu asked, watching as Kaminari opened his mouth, ready to answer. Only for the electric teen to pause. Jiro watched Kaminari mentally think the question over, and his posture drooped slightly.
"I… don't remember," Kaminari replied bashfully. In other words, it could have been a dream. Or a figment of his imagination. Or maybe it had been someone in 1A using their quirk to fly Eri around. There were other answers than ghosts. With the matter seemingly settled, the group broke up. Yaoyorozu and Ashido went back to the couches, Asui got back to her homework, and Kirishima walked out of the dorms.
All that remained was Jiro and Kaminari. The electric teen, for his part, slouched forward and sighed.
"I know there are ghosts here, I just can't prove it," Kaminari grumbled to himself, his words instantly giving Jiro a memory. The second he went quiet, Jiro whipped out her phone and began playing the "Blood Theme" from Dexter. Hearing the music, Kaminari slowly turned his head toward her. And Jiro looked back with the smugest smile imaginable, while the music just played.
"Oh, ha ha, Jiro," Kaminari grumbled, just as Jiro playfully elbowed him.
"Not a fan? Could switch it to the Ghostbusters theme," Jiro joked, Kaminari now beginning to walk away, "Oh come on, I'm just messing with you."
"I know what I saw," Kaminari muttered, annoyed, giving Jiro some pause. The other teen grumbled something under his breath while still walking away. He… he was serious though. He genuinely believed ghosts were surrounding Eri. It was funny at first, but Jiro could hear his heart pounding rapidly, fast enough that it could have jumped out of his chest. Kaminari was honestly afraid, not for himself, but for Eri… Damn it, Jiro thought to herself, I'm being a total dick right now.
Reluctantly, Jiro sighed and started following Kaminari. With her jacks, she soon grabbed Kaminari by the arm.
"...If you genuinely believe something is wrong, then how about you and I do some investigating?" Jiro asked, watching as Kaminari looked back at her, shocked.
"Wha- seriously? You believe me?" Kaminari asked in return, with Jiro shaking her head with a groan.
"I don't believe Eri's being followed by ghosts," Jiro explained carefully, "But if she is, then I'd likely hear them with these bad boys."
As she said this, Jiro pointed toward her jacks while twirling one around her finger. With her jacks, she should be able to show him there was nothing wrong.
"R-right!" Kaminari exclaimed, an excited smile forming on his face. And Jiro could have sworn he was using his quirk, because where the hell was that light coming from? She found herself being forced to squint as Kaminari smiled. Rather rapidly, the electric teen began to pace around.
"Ok, ok uh… so you and I will stay up late to see if anything happens-oh! I think Tokoyami may have an EMS thing we can use!" Kaminari exclaimed before rushing forward, pulling Jiro along with him.
"Kinda rushing into this Jammingwhey!" Jiro said, though the electric teen didn't seem to hear her. Instead, he rambled on about forming a plan, all with an excited smile on his face. Seeing this, Jiro rolled her eyes, but with a fond smile. This was going to be a long night.
How in the world had this happened? This was the single question going through Nagant's mind for the past few hours—no, the past day. After the bombers had finished their run and the cave had become a crater, Nagant had sent in all the personnel she had at her disposal. Hell, she called in the cops, too. And for the last twenty-four hours, she, FOXHOUND, the MSF Army, and the ZPD had begun to comb over the collapsed caverns.
Looking over the flattened hill, Nagant could only sigh. It had been exhaustive work, and yet the job still wasn't done.
"Found another one over here!" she heard one soldier call out, as two other soldiers dug into the earth next to him. Moments later, they pulled out the body of a mercenary and carefully placed it aside. Across from them, Nagant heard shouting as rock crumbled backwards.
"ZPD! Hands in the air!" a police officer yelled, just as Nagant saw a head pop up from the earth. A dozen officers and soldiers circled the hole in the ground, all shouting orders. One gunshot went out, but none followed afterwards. Instead, a soldier grabbed one of the mercenaries in the hole and yanked him out. Another two mercenaries were pulled out and then led in a line to nearby prison buses.
One by one, the punks were searched, stripped of their weapons, and loaded onto a bus. All the while, a squad car had its radio loudly broadcasting the news.
"-My administration was operating with the info of the time. And at the time, I believed our nation would be safe. Clearly, I was wrong. And for that, I must apologize," Nagant heard President Klazen say, "To the families affected by these vile PMCs, I am sorry. I know it is of little consolation, but compensation will be given to you soon. No matter what, though, rest assured knowing that this terrorist plot has been dealt with. And any stragglers found hiding out in our borders will be found and apprehended immediately."
Nagant could only sigh after hearing the last part. With how chaotic things were, no one in the MSF was sure if this was the only terrorist cell in the country. She hoped it was, but the Intel Team's reputation hadn't been the best for the last few days. As a result, the surrounding counties had all issued stay-at-home orders. And troops stationed around the globe were being prepped for redeployment.
Nagant hoped it wouldn't come to that, but if it did, they could bring at least a thousand soldiers back to Outer Heaven in fourteen hours max. It would take longer to bring over armored vehicles, but standard infantry could be transported over somewhat quickly. Shaking her head at the thought, Nagant soon paused. The familiar chopping of a helicopter was coming in close. Looking up, she spotted a blackhawk helicopter slowly flying toward her.
Within moments, it was practically above her, and began landing just a few feet away. When it touched the ground, its door shot open. And out stepped Snake, the man angrily marching forward.
"Snake," Nagant greeted with a nod, as the man got close. Snake gave her a nod back, but his gaze soon moved from Nagant to the flattened hill. His eye scoured over the area, searching for one thing.
"Where. Is. He?" Snake demanded, with Nagant quietly wincing. She had been expecting this.
"A few miles from here," Nagant replied calmly, while Snake crossed his arms, "I've got drones still following him."
"Not like they helped this time," Snake grumbled, before groaning and reaching into his pockets. His hand pulled out a cigar, finicking with the small object. Without a word, Nagant held out a lighter and lit the cigar. There, Snake took a few puffs, trying to calm himself back down.
"Twice, it happened twice," Snake muttered tiredly, his foot tapping the ground quickly. He took another puff from his cigar, and Nagant slowly shook her head.
"It's unacceptable," Nagant commented, sighing as she looked back at the hill. Snake's gaze soon shifted toward the buses behind them and the line of mercenaries surrounding them.
"Who are they?" Snake questioned, causing Nagant to start pointing out the groups. She was thankful they all had differing uniforms, which made it much easier to tell who was who.
"Well, the Asians amongst them are our good buddies from the Gold Coast Mercs," Nagant explained, her arm moving from one merc to the next, "The Russians are from a group named Vityaz, and the South Africans are Luiperd."
"Luan's private army," Snake grumbled, the last few words sticking out to him. Nagant nodded in response, and Snake then grumbled again. He took a puff on his cigar, his eye looking over the long line of people they'd grabbed. Almost every merc was covered in dirt, dust, and grime. Most had to be dug out, while others had escaped the cave and tried hiding in the foliage.
"Do we know how many were here?" Snake then asked, with Nagant pulling out her Idroid.
"We do," Nagant replied, and turned the device on. Instantly, the files Midoriya had copied and sent her way were up on display. Quietly, a faint smile began to grace her lips.
"Should thank Midoriya for this. Gotta say that kid was thorough. Gave us personnel numbers, equipment numbers, battle plans, the works," Nagant noted, with Snake nodding next to her. He looked like he wanted to smile, especially when he saw everything Midoriya had acquired. But if anything, Snake looked conflicted. And Nagant could understand why. The kid was her nephew of sorts. She helped train him alongside Snake.
This whole stunt Midoriya pulled? Nagant didn't know whether to be proud of him or furious with his actions.
"Counting the company of men they beat a week ago, this cave had at least one thousand, two hundred and eighty-six personnel," Nagant soon explained, as Snake's eye looked over the files.
"And how many are here still?" Snake inquired, with Nagant quietly grimacing.
"Still working on that front," Nagant warily replied, "There were a few bunkers dug into the caves, so we're still finding small pockets of resistance underground. That or secondary tunnels they could have escaped from."
What's more, there was another problem on hand. Before Nagant and her group had arrived at the hill, some of the satellites the MSF were using began encountering interference. It was suspected that it was one of the PMCs doing it. The stragglers had likely gotten the word out that they were in danger, and now Vityaz or GCM were engaging in electronic warfare. The MSF had managed to beat them back and brought satellite imaging back onto their side. But it was unknown if some mercenaries had fled the scene at that time.
"Meaning some could have disappeared into the countryside," Snake noted with a grumble, and Nagant nodded.
"Some," Nagant confirmed. Hopefully, few, but with these three groups, one couldn't know for sure. Turning away, he began walking back to his helicopter. Inside, Morpho began switching everything back on.
"We cannot divert troops from Japan," Snake told her, while the blackhawks' propellers began to spin, "Find them. All of them. I'd rather Izuku not have a third shootout."
Chapter 125: A Wolf-Dog
To Kross: Could you specify what you mean by return to the MHA plot?
People have always said that raising a kid is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. And for years, Snake never understood why that was. Midoriya had always been an easy kid to deal with growing up. He was kind, compassionate, he followed the rules given to him, he always completed whatever job was given to him, and he was, overall, just a good kid. But that may have been the issue. He was too good. Too heroic for Snake's current liking.
"No, no. There will be no arguing, the mission is over, I'm calling it off," Snake told him gruffly through the radio, while Midoriya tried to protest on the other end.
"What!? Dad, we're almost done here! I know we've had a few incidents, but we're just-" Midoriya began to say, as Snake walked through Mgbaba's presidential residence. Winding through the large structure's halls, he heard Nagant keeping pace behind him. The woman watched him with a curious expression as Snake grumbled.
"It's already decided," Snake stated, taking another right, "It was never supposed to be this dangerous. Now I've got a helicopter heading to pick you up. It should be arriving in a few minutes. You are going to get on that helicopter, do you hear me?"
For a moment, the other end went quiet. Occasionally, Snake heard Uraraka or Midoriya saying something to the other. It was almost entirely unclear what was being said, but Snake didn't exactly like their tone.
"...N-no, c-could you r-repeat that?" Midoriya asked, his voice cutting out between bits, "W-we-e're e-encountering i-interf-ference c-could-d y-you re-epeat, ov-"
Midoriya suddenly went quiet again, leaving Snake to slowly turn toward his phone. He stared at it in disbelief with a wide, angry eye. The nerve of this boy.
"Izuku?" Snake grumbled into the radio, "Izuku, this isn't funny. You're getting on that helicopter. That's final. Run and you're grounded for the next two weeks."
The other end stayed silent. For a solid minute, Snake walked through the halls waiting for a response. None ever came. That was fine… well, "fine". But this was why they gave the teens trackers and full drone surveillance. Switching to his map, he spotted both teens' dots and the drones accompanying them. Snake would like to see Midoriya just try and keep this rebellion going. Within the hour, they'd be dragging Midoriya back here in no time- And Victoria's jamming their signal…
"Damn it," Snake muttered tiredly, as every dot then disappeared from his map. The trackers were shut off, the drones were taken over, and even satellite imaging was being messed with. Next to him, Nagant simply shook her head.
"On the off chance that Pequod doesn't find them, how close were they to finishing the job?" Nagant asked, the two continuing down the hall. Occasionally, the building's security would stop and salute out of habit, and Snake would always salute back.
"With their last report, they're down to one rhino left," Snake replied. After they'd left the still collapsing cave, the teens didn't stop to rest or relax. They instead picked themselves back up, drove to the next spot, and extracted two more rhinos. Now they just have the one left. However, the sun was beginning to set by now, so in all likelihood they were setting up camp… somewhere.
"So… they'll be done by tomorrow," Nagant commented, with Snake sighing.
"If everything goes well," Snake grumbled, while carefully rubbing his brow.
"I'm sure it will," Nagant told him, Snake quietly hoping she was right. Just… one day. Midoriya would be back home safe in one day. So long as they ensured nothing went wrong for a third time.
"Progress on locating the stragglers?" Snake decided to ask, causing Nagant to cross her arms.
"Still unknown," Nagant replied calmly, "Some men spotted tracks leaving the hillside. Their shape suggests an armored vehicle."
"What kind? How many?" Snake inquired. Were they tanks? IFVs? Artillery of some sort?
"Unknown on both accounts. The bare minimum estimate is more than one," Nagant explained, right as they both arrived at their destination. The office of the President of Outer Heaven. Seeing that this was where they had to part ways, Nagant gave Snake a quiet nod.
"I'll keep you posted," Nagant told him, before quickly walking away. Looking back at the door, Snake took a moment to collect himself. Opening it, he found the large office rather plainly decorated and designed. It was rather bland, a basic square layout with a large desk. Yet to the man sitting at the desk, the room's appearance didn't really matter. Looking up from a document he was signing, President Klazen carefully stood up.
"Mr. President," Snake greeted as he walked into the room. Rapidly, Klazen's face seemingly lit up, and the man soon walked around the desk.
"Big Boss," Klazen greeted somewhat excitedly, "A pleasure to finally meet you. A shame it had to happen during this incident."
They both shook hands before Klazen stepped back. Wordlessly, they sat down on a pair of burgundy colored couches that were across from Klazen's desk. Now this meeting had been a long time coming. It was supposed to happen weeks ago, and was originally to discuss the MSF's funding. But Snake continually ran into new problems he had to deal with. So it had been delayed up to now.
And with the current crisis, the MSF needed solutions ASAP. Which meant this meeting needed to be held now, and not after a third shootout. With that mindset, the room now held a quiet sense of urgency, as Klazen shifted on his couch.
"So, shall we begin?" Klazen asked, with Snake slowly nodding.
"Let's," Snake replied, before carefully pulling out a cigar. He then drew a lighter from his pocket and was about to light it. Up until Klazen spoke up.
"T-there's uh… no smoking in here," Klazen told him, causing Snake to raise a brow. Looking back at the President, Snake removed the cigar from his mouth. Klazen gave a friendly smile, yet seemed nervous. Putting the cigar away, Snake watched as Klazen took a deep breath.
"Nervous?" Snake inquired, finding it strange. Cautiously, Klazen chuckled and nodded.
"Sorry, I'm just… something of a fan," Klazen replied, earning a smirk from Snake. Not all that surprising. Again, Klazen shifted on the couch, carefully sitting up straight.
"You… you helped create this nation, you're the man who formed diplomatic ties and alliances with a dozen different countries, you even established military agreements with the US," Klazen went on, slowly making Snake surprised as he spoke, "You're… you're possibly one of the most active diplomats in history."
One of the most active diplomats in history…
"Heh…" Snake chuckled to himself, with Klazen then looking back, confused.
"Was something I said funny?" Klazen asked, causing Snake to hold up his hand and pinch his fingers together.
"A little," Snake replied with another chuckle, "Never really paid any attention to my… political victories, I guess. Always heard more praise from my military endeavors."
First time he's actually thought about his political victories, too. Which… you know, looking back on it, there were a lot. He established relations with Colombia, helped fund and support the creation of a new Venezuelan state, became allies with much of Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, led the creation of Outer Heaven, and formed a partnership with the US. All in the span of ten years.
Then again, those feats were almost always overshadowed by the battles he fought.
"They are impressive too," Klazen soon agreed, "But I tend to admire the feats that don't involve a gun. It's much harder to negotiate than it is to blow something up."
Guess that much is true, Snake thought to himself, before leaning forward on the couch.
"Speaking of blowing something up, I'd like to get back on track," Snake stated, with Klazen nodding back.
"Right," Klazen commented, his posture relaxing slightly as he sat back onto the couch.
"Now, when it comes to Operation Hammerhead, I believe we can both agree that this was a major intelligence failure on all levels," Snake began to say, while clasping his hands together, "We've come up with a few solutions to ensure this doesn't happen again."
"That being?" Klazen inquired.
"Our first idea was the establishment of a National Guard of sorts," Snake replied, "A military force under the control of the civilian government rather than the MSF. They'd be permanently stationed in Outer Heaven."
Klazen thought the proposal over for a moment. The creation of the guard would establish a permanent force that the MSF couldn't take away from the frontlines. That way, there was at least someone keeping the warlords at bay. With the number of reservists Outer Heaven had, finding willing applicants shouldn't be an issue. Klazen did see one issue.
"However, that would necessitate funding that was already taken from the MSF," Klazen pointed out warily, "Which would take an emergency session in Congress to repeal the spending bill we already passed."
"The MSF still has old equipment in storage. Most of the cost would just be from calling up reservists," Snake explained, though Klazen remained unsure.
"It's still a tough order. I'd have to convince my entire party, and our coalition, to stand against a bill we'd all previously agreed on," Klazen told him, causing Snake to ponder it over. That… shouldn't be too difficult… maybe. The Congress of Outer Heaven had around six prominent parties, with dozens of smaller groups. Assuming his coalition held, then he'd still need to convince… fifty senators… and a handful of others… Yeah, no, Snake hated politics.
"My reputation could pull some strings your way. I say I support your goal, and public opinion swings toward you," Snake offered, with Klazen looking back warily.
"Maybe…" Klazen cautiously replied, "Your other ideas?"
"A few diplomatic trips overseas. Some of our allies were already in talks about sending over troops to help out. We might be able to convince them to send over combat troops instead of just support personnel," Snake told him, as Klazen slowly nodded along, "At the same time, with the situation in Japan, we could likely lean on the US for greater support. Or possibly pressure them to call in extra help. Australia, New Zealand, and possibly Korea could get involved with a bit of help."
"So you'd both free up troops in Japan, and get us extra support from abroad," Klazen noted, "That seems more doable at the moment. I could send some representatives out in a few days."
Good, Snake thought to himself, the sooner they were sent out, the better. Klazen would deal with the MSF's allies, and Snake would deal with the rest of the world.
"Was that all the ideas you had?" Klazen then asked, with Snake cautiously shrugging.
"Mostly," Snake replied, as few other ideas came to mind. But most fell to the same issue of needing money, so they'd have to wait. In all likelihood, diplomatic efforts would be their best option. And that… that was everything. Snake had no other ideas to propose, and this meeting didn't have any other topics to go over. So that should have been everything. It was a relatively short meeting, all things considered. But Snake had things he needed to do. Like, find that son of his.
And Snake expected Klazen to be in a similar mindset to him. The man would likely have business he needed to attend to. So, assuming everything was done for the day, Snake shifted on the couch, getting ready to stand up. Of course, his assumption was wrong.
"There was… one thing I wanted to discuss, though," Klazen commented, causing Snake to stop moving.
"That being?" Snake asked as he discreetly plopped back onto the couch. The second he asked, though, he found Klazen looking back somewhat nervously. The man had a silent conversation with himself before he finally spoke again.
"...I believe it would be better if the civilian government's role in the military was expanded," Klazen told him. And for a second, Snake's mind went blank. Klazen's belief… it wasn't unfounded. But there was a reason the government was set up this way.
"I don't believe it should," Snake calmly replied, though his tone did have a hidden gruffness, "The military, and all the men serving in it, fall under my command."
"Yes, and I know why it's set up that way. But it is a system that is doomed to fail," Klazen protested, earning a grumble from Snake.
"The independence of the armed forces ensures the troops aren't going to be used as a political cudgel for a politician. That they're not going to be thrown away like pawns," Snake retorted, the memory of his reasoning coming back to him. The Boss was used to kill her own lover, and then Snake was made to kill her. All for the long-gone Philosophers. The lives of his soldiers would not be thrown away for some politician's aims. Yet across from him, Klazen shook his head.
"And I get that. But this independence also runs the risk of the military going rogue," Klazen warned him, "Outside matters of funding or conscription, they don't listen to the civilian government. They are, in fact, entirely separate. Without oversight, they could overthrow this entire government."
"That would never happen under me," Snake confidently told him. Only for his words to backfire, as Klazen pointed at him.
"Exactly, under you. But who comes after you?" Klazen asked. The question gave Snake pause. His gut instinct was to say his son, but that was… that was a complicated matter. Midoriya wanted to be a soldier; that much was true. Yet neither of them had actually discussed whether he would take Snake's place, or if he even wanted to. And unfortunately, Klazen stuck to this main issue.
"You have the utmost loyalty of the entire military. If you ordered them to do so, they would tear apart every democratic institution we have. And I know you never would, but as I said, what about the man who replaces you? Last I checked, the title of Big Boss doesn't have a succession policy in place. Are they appointed by Congress? Is the role inherited? Do you appoint the next leader? Once a new leader is appointed, what stops them from just steamrolling Congress?" Klazen pointed out, leaving Snake quiet. Because at the same time… what exactly were the powers associated with Big Boss?
He was the military chief, the head of state, the lead diplomatic figure, along with a few other roles. When he went away, would the role of Big Boss become a ceremonial one? Would he pass the torch to his son, or just hand over power to the civilian government?
"Japan in the 1930s had a military that simply didn't listen to the government. And they continually dragged the nation into conflicts. Next thing they knew, their invasion of China had evolved to bombing the US," Klazen stated, with Snake mentally swearing. That… that was a good point.
"An independent military that is allowed to do whatever it pleases always ends with conflict," Klazen finally proclaimed. Again, Snake stayed quiet as he pondered over the President's words.
"...Giving up our independence risks creating another Snake Eater," Snake told him again, "It risks another Boss being thrown away to cover someone else's misdeeds."
Rapidly, Klazen looked back at Snake with a look of shock. He opened his mouth to protest again, only for Snake to sigh and hold his hand up.
"However, I see your point," Snake relented. Time and time again, he was reminded just how much work Outer Heaven still needed. They were not a utopia, even if they appeared to be. They were a young country, still establishing itself in the world. For a moment, Snake knew this issue would have to be addressed. But for right now, he needed to get out of this meeting.
"We'll have to discuss this more at a later time," Snake reluctantly told Klazen. With a somewhat disappointed look, Klazen simply nodded and stuck out his hand.
"Again, it was a pleasure to meet you," Klazen said in return, as Snake shook his hand. Then, without a word, Snake quietly left, determined to find his son.
To the outside world, the MSF always appeared to be this super serious paramilitary group. These ultra-disciplined soldiers displayed nothing but power and confidence. And yet, the more Uraraka learned about the PMC, the… honestly, the weirder things got. Because she didn't know if Midoriya was pulling her leg, or if half the things he told her were true. Why? Well, from his own testimony, their boss was a man who loved to hide in cardboard boxes, eat whatever animal he came across, and still believed in Santa Claus.
Their codenames were determined by a random raffle machine that's been around since the 1970s, half of their tech was made because someone got drunk, they'd invented their sapient AIs by complete accident, soldiers who continually failed training exercises were given chicken hats, they'd written an actual J-Pop song, there was a "civil war" between commanders because Miller supposedly bought bad wine, and… the list just went on.
The more Uraraka learned, the harder it was to take them seriously. Of course, then Midoriya had to reveal the latest weird factoid.
"You're joking," Uraraka muttered, the girl desperately trying to stop herself from laughing. With a pair of pliers, she'd been carefully trying to untangle the jam in Midoriya's grappling hook. One wrong move, and it could accidentally snap or fall into a worse jam. Yet Midoriya didn't seem to worry about this at all.
"N-no, heh, unfortunately, I'm not. The MSF has its own official standard-issue swimwear," Midoriya replied, breaking Uraraka's composure. Not wanting to ruin her work, she pulled the pliers away from Midoriya's exo. A millisecond later, the girl was clutching her sides, laughing.
"W-why!?" Uraraka questioned loudly, as Midoriya smiled and rubbed the back of his head.
"Uncle Kaz had it made," Midoriya replied with a chuckle, "I don't know the full story. But a lot of units that are called from the front aren't officially off duty. They're more put into sort of rear line reserves and are allowed some R . And this one time, a small company of people was situated next to a large lake."
Calming herself back down, Uraraka began working on the grappling hook again. Though she still chuckled while Midoriya continued to talk.
"One thing led to another, and a high-ranking officer found a hundred people… skinny dipping in the lake. That company is transferred away, and a new unit is brought in. Two days later, they were also caught skinny dipping," Midoriya cautiously told her, with Uraraka looking at him, surprised.
"This happened three more times," Midoriya then added, with Uraraka sputtering in shock.
"No!" Uraraka exclaimed, laughing, only for Midoriya to laugh and nod with her.
"Now the soldiers kept doing this because things like spare clothes were rare, and they didn't want to march into battle with their underwear being soaking wet," Midoriya explained. Uraraka then slowly nodded along as Midoriya kept saying, "But they also wanted to relax and cool off since… well, we are in Africa."
Made sense, this place got hot during the day. Who wouldn't want to cool off from the sun? And… well, she doubted the MSF could actually stop people from going swimming. No one was going to follow Captain Hardass into the field.
"By then, Uncle Kaz had gotten word, and he decided that if they couldn't stop people from going swimming, then they'd at least ensure they were clothed," Midoriya calmly stated, before slowly pulling out his Idroid. He chuckled as he did so, as Uraraka watched him closely.
"Which gave us, MSF brand tactical swimwear," Midoriya finished, and held out his Idroid for Uraraka to see. And again, the girl laughed. On display were the various options the MSF had for swimwear. Of which there was… There was a lot. The most basic was a black and yellow bikini for girls, and a black and yellow Speedo or trunks for boys. And yet somehow that wasn't enough!
There were thirty-six other options for just women! The men weren't left out either, because they had another thirty-six choices as well! There were camouflage bikinis, all green one-pieces, or golden Speedos with gun holsters! And what was funnier still, they all had codenames! There was Megaladon Red Rust M and W, Goblin Olive Drab M and W, Megaladon Tiger Stripe M and W, Goblin Gold Tiger M and W, and so many others! It was absurdly funny… some of them did look good, though.
They were oddly stylized for military clothing. The Old Rose colored ones specifically stuck out to her. They did seem nice, and pink was her color… shopping ideas for later, Uraraka thought to herself. Getting back to work, Uraraka continued to untangle the wire. It was a long process, but she was doing decently well. A fact Midoriya took notice of.
"...You're pretty good at this," Midoriya commented, with Uraraka waving him off.
"I'm not that good. All I'm doing is untangling the cable caught in the motor," Uraraka replied, finally untying the last knot in the cable. It wasn't a difficult job; it was just long. With the cable untangled, she'd now need to examine the motor and see if any of it was still caught. Then she'd just need to have the motor run for a moment to ensure it was working properly. Once that was done, that would be it.
"It's still more technical knowledge than I have," Midoriya told her, with Uraraka beginning to blush. She didn't think it was a big deal. Her knowledge was more surface-level than anything. Acquired through years of repairing stuff her family couldn't afford to fix normally. So Uraraka knew enough to keep it working, but she couldn't just invent an entirely new machine. And… and yet he still found it impressive… quietly, Uraraka smiled, just as she finished the last of her work.
"Done, see if it works now," Uraraka told him, before scouching backwards. With the new space given to him, Midoriya aimed his arm toward the open air and fired. The grappling hook then shot forward, not yet snagging or jamming. And once it was far enough away, Midoriya switched on the motor and began pulling the cable back. Swiftly, the grappling hook was back in its chamber.
"Good as new," Midoriya commented, while Uraraka sat back down.
"I'd still get it looked at by Melissa," Uraraka said. Better she look at it and ensure it was working properly. Midoriya did notice how she said Melissa, though, and not Melissa or Hatsume. But he said nothing of it. A silence formed between the two, both teens now slowly looking up at the sky above. They saw the same stars they saw every night, but Uraraka still found it amazing.
After everything that had happened in recent days, it felt nice to just relax and stargaze. Especially with all the… the blood… and death… Subconsiously, Uraraka reached for her Beretta. They… they were fine now. The mercenaries had been… annihilated… There were no more of them out there. Looking back at the ground, Uraraka began to take a few deep breaths. They were both fine… they were fine, they are fine… the bushes were moving. The trees were moving. Through the crackle of their small fire and the surrounding darkness, Uraraka could see something moving around them.
There… there was something out there, there was. There had to be. There was a sniper on the hill behind them- no, three snipers- a full team! A branch snapped behind them, and Uraraka's eyes darted to the spot where the noise came. And her gaze fell on… nothing… There was nothing. Uraraka shuddered, and it was an action that didn't go unnoticed.
"Hey… are you ok?" Midoriya asked, the boy looking at Uraraka, concerned. She looked back at him warily, her eyes never leaving the surrounding treeline.
"We… we almost died… again…" Uraraka muttered. Again, she shuddered, and Midoriya slowly got closer to her.
"A-and we killed s-so many people and w-we ran into them t-twice. W-we could r-run into them again o-or they're a-already here and they have s-snipers on the hills watching us. And they're j-just w-waiting- waiting to take a shot. They're going to shoot, because you know they will-" Uraraka began to ramble, her right hand now grabbing onto her Beretta while her left hand grabbed her hammer. She couldn't see them, but they were in the bushes. They had to be! It was like the massacre all over again!
Someone was watching them! Someone was there-
"Uraraka," Midoriya said, rapidly snapping her out of her thoughts. The girl's breath was ragged, her eyes swiftly scouring the countryside. Yet when she heard his voice, Uraraka's gaze turned toward him. He, meanwhile, had scooched up closer to her, the two now sitting shoulder to shoulder. Without a word, Midoriya grabbed her right hand and pulled it away from her hammer. Instead, Midoriya's hand wrapped around hers. His face was red the entire time, but he didn't stop.
"Those mercs are gone. Even if they weren't, I'm right here next to you," Midoriya told her, a somber look on his face, "Through thick and thin, no matter what they throw at us. Remember?"
Slowly, Uraraka began to nod, the teen trying to calm herself down. She'd survived the USJ, she'd survived the massacre, she'd survived this. She would be fine… This was all just… hard to deal with. And… besides, focus on the positives. Uraraka got to be a hero. As terrifying and traumatizing as it had been, she… she'd saved people. She'd rescued dozens of people in a single day. With that realization, Uraraka found her grip on her Beretta lessen slightly.
"T-thanks," Uraraka replied, while Midoriya gave her a comforting smile. It was strange how easily he was dealing with everything. Then again… Midoriya would always reach for his gun whenever he remembered the mad scientist who experimented on him. In fact, upon taking a closer look, Uraraka saw Midoriya keeping watch of the area as well. He was just hiding it better than she was… they both needed a distraction, Uraraka decided.
Something simple to take their minds off the horrors they kept running into. Fortunately, a distraction quickly made itself known. DD, having been nearby, noticed a general shift in the teen's tone. And mere seconds later, Uraraka found the dog walking up to her and starting to lick her face. She was caught off guard, but laughed as she felt DD's "attacks".
"And thank you too, DD," Uraraka commented, struggling to protect her face from the dog's tongue. After a minute, DD slowly stopped licking her and instead carefully lay down. His head nestled onto her legs, as the rest of him curled up next to her. Quietly, Uraraka began to scratch DD's head, much to the dog's satisfaction.
"Such a good boy, aren't you?" Uraraka told him, slowly rubbing DD's head. At the same time, his tail began to wag, causing Uraraka to giggle.
"He's a real cute fella. Where'd you find him?" Uraraka decided to ask, as she turned toward Midoriya. Bringing a hand to his chin, Midoriya hummed to himself.
"I… can't really remember," Midoriya replied with an embarrassed smile, "We found him somewhere in Afghanistan, when he was just a pup. Likely only a few months old."
Afghanistan… a little bit surprising to Uraraka. However, it was also kinda fair. Looking DD over, she didn't believe Midoriya just bought him from a store. Not to mention DD's added training meant the MSF had to instruct the dog personally.
"How long ago was that?" Uraraka asked, causing Midoriya to quietly pause.
"About… ten years ago," Midoriya replied, the teen slowly going silent as he began to realize something. It was something Uraraka realized as well, her face swiftly shifting to a confused expression.
"Ten?" Uraraka questioned surprised, "Don't most dogs only live for like a decade?"
"...Yeah…" Midoriya cautiously replied, the teen beginning to look DD over. Worry covered his face for just a moment, while Uraraka continued to scratch DD's head.
"Isn't it strange how active he is?" Uraraka asked, carefully rubbing behind DD's ears. The dog seemed to like it a lot, as he then stuck out his tongue to try and lick Uraraka's hand. It was also strange how healthy DD seemed. The dog was in almost every class exercise Midoriya took part in. He was with Midoriya on every mission. DD was a dog that would not stay down. And for Midoriya, this seemed to be the first time he realized that fact.
"I never really thought about it before," Midoriya muttered, before reaching out to rub DD's back.
"DD was kinda just… always there. Always active. I… again, I never really thought about how old he is," Midoriya told her, concern covering his face. It caused Uraraka to feel a tinge of regret strike her. This was not how she expected this conversation to go; the two of them now pondering how close Midoriya's dog was to death… well… wait a minute.
"Could he have a quirk?" Uraraka reasoned, the idea slowly coming to her mind. DD was shockingly active with no visible slowdown. And now that Uraraka thought about it, DD was oddly smart. Not Nezu smart obviously, but the dog knew how to use a taser. The possibility made Midoriya's face light up with curiosity.
"Maybe. He is quite smart," Midoriya noted hesitantly, while still rubbing the dog's back, "Not to mention his eye."
That confused Uraraka for a moment. DD's eye? What about his eye? Looking down at DD's face, it took only a second for Uraraka to spot the eye patch the dog wore. The eye-patch, she'd entirely forgotten about.
"His missing one? What about it?" Uraraka asked, while quietly noting the striking similarity between DD and Snake.
"Well… I don't really know how he lost it," Midoriya revealed to Uraraka's shock, "It was before we took him in."
Before they took him in… but then that meant…
"He was missing an eye as a puppy?" Uraraka questioned incredulously, while looking over the dog quietly. She could see scaring near and underneath the dog's eye-patch. So he wasn't born without an eye. No, however it had happened, DD had his eye scratched up badly. That or worse, because Uraraka didn't dare look under his eye-patch. But he'd been like this since a puppy.
"And he was surviving without it," Midoriya commented, the dog in question then yawning next to them, "He must have been a tough little pupper even before we met."
Of that, Uraraka was certain. And considering Midoriya had found DD, then that likely meant the wolf dog was an orphan. Otherwise, they'd have run into its very angry mother. So… DD was a one-eyed orphan puppy, surviving in Afghanistan for possibly months on his own. A tough pupper indeed, Uraraka thought to herself. For that, he would get more head scratches. The conversation, however, had gotten Midoriya curious. He'd grabbed a notebook from his backpack and quickly flipped to a new page.
"What could his quirk be, though? There's no visible sign of a mutation quirk. So something involving intelligence? It could explain how he lost his eye, as he would be lacking some sort of physical enhancement, but he would be smart enough to avoid new threats. But that doesn't explain how he's so active at this age. A kind of slow regeneration? Immortality maybe? No, maybe he just lives slightly longer than other wolf dogs…" Midoriya began to mutter, while Uraraka quietly watched him work.
The longer he went on, the more Uraraka smiled. She could have snapped him out of it, but it was cute seeing him delve into this. Not to mention, she considered it "revenge" for when he called her dorky. Now they were both dorks. Eventually, Midoriya came out of his mutter storm, with a nervous and embarrassed smile on his face. He put his notebook away, and the two looked back up at the stars. Yet for whatever reason, he still seemed tense.
Cautiously, Uraraka wondered why. It might have been over DD's well-being… that or Uraraka's paranoia had rubbed off on him. If that were the case, though, he'd be reaching for his gun. Or his gaze would be more focused on their surroundings. Instead, Midoriya kept looking up at the stars, and his hands fiddled with his shirt. So… this wasn't worry born of fear… what then, Uraraka mentally questioned. Yet before she could ask him what was wrong, Midoriya took a deep breath.
"Hey, uh… Uraraka? I wanted to ask you something," Midoriya told her, earning a curious look from Uraraka.
"What is it?" she asked, watching as Midoriya's hands continued to fiddle, only now with each other rather than his shirt.
"Well… you know how this mission was supposed to be for two weeks?" Midoriya inquired, with Uraraka calmly nodding.
"And how we are kinda ahead of schedule?" Midoriya added, and Uraraka nodded again, "I… I was thinking that since we have four days left, before we go back to Japan, you and I could… go on a date… the one we were talking about before."
Midoriya blushed as he spoke, with each word making him redder. And of course, Uraraka joined him in that regard, the girl swiftly blushing as well. But the prospect… it had Uraraka excited. She hadn't been expecting this at all. At the same time, Midoriya had elected to pull out his Idroid. Placing the device on the floor, he pushed it forward for Uraraka to see.
"I've been doing some research, and there's this mall in the city of Mgbaba, called the Four Seasons Mall. It's this really large closed ecological system, with four zones set to mimic the different seasons. Like it's got this winter wonderland area, a-and this sort of temperate fall zone. And it's all mixed together with the stores," Midoriya explained, and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "I thought it would be cool to go to."
For a moment, Midoriya had piqued Uraraka's interest. However, there was just one small problem. This was not a mall. It was called the Four Seasons Mall, but that was not what it was. It was a resort, the kind Uraraka hadn't seen before. The entire resort was comprised of five massive domes, comparable to those at the USJ. And like Midoriya was saying, four of the domes matched a season, with the fifth dome being a more general mall area.
As for the other four, they were quite simply mind-boggling. To start off simple, there was the Spring Zone. It mimicked the weather of Spring. Only it wasn't a Nigerian Spring, it was a Mediterranean Spring, complete with accurate small forests. Not only that, it had an indoor artificial lake large enough for small boats to sail around in. There were Italian-style villas people could actively stay at, cute little flower shops, boutiques, dozens of restaurants, fishing spots, picnic areas, baseball fields, soccer fields, golf courses, tennis courts, and a dozen other areas for activities. There was even a restaurant floating in the middle of the lake.
And the entire thing was situated with the lake in the middle. All the facilities circled the lake like a giant donut. The other zones were just as ludicrous. The Summer Zone was a giant indoor beach resort with tropical jungles stylized after Polynesia, Hawaii, and the Bahamas. Polynesian villas were littering the beaches and rested over the water, with Jet Ski rental facilities, volleyball courts, beach bars, paragliding boats, beach stores, a water park, an aquarium, underwater diving spots, and much more accompanying them. There was even an artificial coral reef!
The Fall Zone was a giant forested area that resembled the Eastern US and Southeastern Canada. There were dozens of forests and streams surrounding old rustic cottages that they could rent. And the dome's settings were put in such a way that the entire forest was eternally red, yellow, and orange, ensuring the fall feeling never left. And like the previous two domes, there were mountains of activities they could do. There was ziplining, annual baking competitions, farmers' markets, craft fairs, open-air auditoriums, and cafe treehouses!
But the true king of them all had to be the Winter Zone. It was designed so that the interior was situated along these large artificial mountains. In a sense, it was kinda like a giant bowl of sorts. And these mountains were covered in forests. Better yet, they were covered in snow. Real snow, and real snowy weather. And as such, the dome's facilities reflected this. There were ski slopes, skating rinks, hockey rinks, snowmobile tracks, and areas for mountain climbing.
The hotels were all Swiss chalets that were either on or built into the mountainside. It just looked amazing.
"The mall's kind of a big tourist spot, so it might be kinda expensive. If that's a deal breaker, then I'm sure I can find something else," Midoriya nervously told her, causing Uraraka to mentally scream. Forget kinda expensive, it was definitely expensive! And yet it looked so cool! It was just so cool, and yet so expensive! Uraraka wanted to go so badly, but… but the price tag!
She… she didn't like spending money on herself… but a vacation seemed nice. After everything they went through, a little reward was a given. It was still so expensive… and yet it was something Midoriya had picked out. And with this mission's money, she'd have the funds to pay for the trip… maybe… maybe just this once.
"That… that sounds incredible! I would love to go with you," Uraraka told him, an excited smile taking hold of her. They'd finish up this mission, she'd get paid, and then the two of them could spend the next three days vacationing in a Swiss chalet! They could walk through the Fall Zone's river walk, dine by the Spring Zone's lake, and chill at the Summer Zone's beach. The idea only made Uraraka giddy.
Truly, with a vacation like this on the horizon, nothing would ruin her mood.