Chapter 10: Carpe Diem
Tenya's legs felt like they were being roughshod over hot coals, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to get his breathing back in order.
"Yo, little listener, you feelin' alright?" Beside Tenya, Present Mic gazed at him with a slight frown. You can stay in the truck while we go rescue your other classmates."
"Thank you, Mic-sensei, but I have to help…" Tenya felt like he was going to collapse at any moment, the exhaustion he felt from running non-stop for the better half of an hour taking its toll on him. "My classmates…"
"Iida, leave it to the pros." Another hero voiced her concern, the tight spandex costume showing off her curves. "You can take a rest. Even pros have to leave the work to others when they're completely spent."
"But still…" Tenya really struggled to keep his eyes open, the corners of his vision swimming from black to dark the longer he continued to stay awake.
"It's fine, Iida." A high-pitched voice squeaked, the tone light and jovial but there was no hiding the palpable rage radiating underneath the facade. "Rest your head. As principal of U.A. High School, I promise you to safely deliver your classmates from harm."
The reassurance coming from the mouse-bear-rat hybrid was the last straw and Tenya felt himself give away, eyes closing as he embraced the darkness.
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Nezu eyed the sleeping teen, his eyes furrowed as he felt the desire to mutilate those who had dared to invade HIS school.
"Poor kid." Snipe muttered from underneath his mask, hands fiddling with the twin revolvers to prepare for the inevitable shootout. "How long until we get there?"
"Not long now." Vlad King, the man who was driving the truck carrying them along growled with a fury in his eyes.
"Can't this thing go any faster? Who knows what might happen to the students while we aren't there!?" Midnight, the ever-loving mother hen of the group bit her lip. She may dress like a stripper, as far as his intellect goes, but she was no doubt the most caring of the bunch.
"Relax, Kayama. All Might is there." Present Mic tried to reassure the woman, but no doubt he was feeling just as antsy as Midnight was. "He should be kicking the asses of the villains right about now."
Now that statement right there was unacceptable. To heap on the hopes and expectations on a single man wasn't a feasible solution to their detrimental society. He was sure to cut it out of the bud when the teachers here started their job, but humans will be humans, emotional creatures that they are.
"Even if All Might is currently holding back the villain menace, never forget to provide aid to those affected." Nezu grin knew it brought chills down their spines. Oh, how he loved tormenting them so. Sadly, his hobby of messing with his employees must be put to the wayside now in favor of reminding them of the harrowing truth. "All Might is just a man. You've all seen his injury. Do not prop him on a pedestal like the others in our society do."
His piece said, the heroes within the truck went silent. Good thing their student was asleep, otherwise there would be a chance of an information leak. Something Nezu wasn't too keen on, what with the HPSC nibbling at his coattails for any kind of vulnerability.
The rest of the drive was bathed in silence as the heroes prepared themselves for the worst-case scenario. Nezu, meanwhile, was simulating scenarios upon scenarios on the possible outcomes this villain invasion may come to bring.
Did one his students die? Did multiple of them die? What about the other side? Did a villain die? How about injuries? Grievous or minimal?
So many scenarios, not enough time to think. Even with his quirk that made him into the intellectual powerhouse that he was, time was an ever-present constant that always hindered his calculations.
Nezu sighed, the others picking up on his action but none of them daring to speak up against him. As they should. He was already furious at the fact that mere villains decided to attack the one place he had his hands on, but if the HPSC managed to catch wind of it, it would mean lesser influence amongst the masses.
From his calculations alone, if the society continues as the HPSC deems it acceptable, it will cripple the human race entirely, what with their influence slowly spreading all over the globe.
It was already a hassle with villains mucking about and making a mess of things everywhere, but an enemy that was disguised as your ally was just as dangerous, if not more so, than villains scheming in the background.
After all, villains can be targeted, but those on his side require a certain finesse to make sure that he cannot be condemned by the general public. It was one thing to imprison a villain who had killed innocents, it was another to imprison a person who in the eyes of society seemed to do a lot of good, even if it was detrimental in the long run.
At least the problem was still contained within Japan, but if the ideals of the HPSC managed to intensify across the globe, it would mean the worst-case scenario for every human being on the planet.
Case in point, the prohibition of quirk usage by the masses. It was necessary, do not get him wrong, but when a person is unable to defend himself with his quirk because if he does so, he may be implicated by the law, that was just too much.
It was why he respected Destro, even if how he went through with his plans were… Machiavellian and produced too much bloodshed. Quirks must be regulated, but that does not mean a quirk must be banned entirely if a person doesn't have a card that says he can't use it.
It was a part of them. A biological evolution from the now rare Homo Sapiens. Should he stop being smart because his quirk was always on? Should those with mutation quirks sit down and beg for mercy because using their enhanced strength or extra limbs was illegal?
Even now, those with mutation quirks were being discriminated against because of how different they look, or how different they function. There was this one time where a person was jailed because he defended himself against a thief with his extra hand.
It got him fined and a permanent black mark in his portfolio for "Vigilantism." It was ridiculous!
Of course, the quirk users, or metahumans in the case of the Metahuman Liberation Front heralded by the deceased Destro, were and are still considered Homo Sapiens, but a variant subgroup.
One paper he'd read about a suggestion that they name quirk users Homo Sapien Potentia, but didn't get much traction because one; he proposed it when the population size of the metahumans were still smaller than normal human beings, and two; it was during a very, very dark time for humanity.
Scientifically, the term metahuman is the most used term in papers and research. Quirk user is just the catch all term used by everyday people.
Nezu blinked. Okay, he got too deep into his head again. Such is the life of an animal with a quirk that allowed him to surpass the intelligence of humans.
The truck stopped and Nezu looked out the window. The giant dome that roofed the entirety of the USJ stood looming over them, its large doors hung open. He could spot some of the students through the gaps and fortunately, they looked mostly ok.
"We're here! Get out!" Vlad King roared and unbuckled his seatbelt before rushing out of the truck. The other heroes followed suit, with Present Mic toting along Nezu like a stuffed toy since he was tiny.
Time was of the essence and a second they spent running towards the doors meant another second for the possibility for a student to be killed.
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Izuku couldn't help but grin at the gaping mouth of Katsuki. The other students looked at him in confusion and a bit of dread, probably because of the blond blurting out that he was supposed to be dead.
Also might be because of the split in half part. Definitely because of the split in half part.
"I can show you the scar of when I got bisected, but you'd have to remove my cuffs and I'd have to get naked." His suggestion was met with silence and the still gaping maw of Katsuki. It was kind of surreal.
Never in his life had he expected Katsuki to be on the back foot when the two of them interacted. It was always him on the ground, and the blond towering over him with a menacing smile.
Now, it was the reverse… Somewhat. Replace fear with shock and menacing with teasing. Also, now that he thought of it, he was taller than Katsuki. Like, taller, taller.
He was sure that Katsuki had inches over him, but now, it felt like he had foot over him. No, it didn't feel like it, he was a foot taller than him.
Something to get used to but ultimately not that important. Still, it was funny that he towered over Katsuki rather than the blond doing so to him. He could get used to this.
Sadly, as much as he wanted to mess with Katsuki some more, or as much as he wanted to skewer him with All Strike that was still being held by that half-colored teen, he saw no point in it.
No need to paint himself as the villain here. All secrets were bound to be revealed, and when the past of Katsuki bullying and suicide baiting him surfaced, well, he would want to see the fireworks.
He raised an eyebrow when Katsuki was about to speak but was interrupted when a shout came from the entrance/exit of the USJ.
"Have no fear students! We are here!" A colorful cast of heroes with a tiny animal dressed in a suit perched on the shoulders of one that had speakers around his neck arrived. "Where are the other students!?"
The one who yelled was said hero with the speakers on his neck. The students all looked at each other with relief before they all said some things that got drowned out when they all spoke in unison.
"One by one! We don't have enough time!" The hero yelled once more and Izuku finally remembered who the hero was. Present Mic, the DJ hero whose music he listened to everyday.
"They were scattered all over the USJ! We don't know where they are!" One of the students who had a bunch of arms was the one who responded.
"Thank you! Now you heard the teen! Get moving!" With another shout, Present Mic as well as the rest of the heroes went on the move, not wasting even a single second with pointless banter.
They glanced over Izuku with a frown, noting the handcuffs that was restricting his wrists, but paid him no mind as they went on their way to save the other students still fighting for their lives.
At least they have their priorities straight.
A loud yell that nearly ruptured his eardrums caught him flatfooted as Izuku nearly stumbled at the sudden noise. Looking over to the stairs where the sound originated, a bunch of villains that were trying to scale the steps were all rolling to the ground once they got a taste of Present Mic's quirk.
Yeah, no. He'd rather fight Godrick again than submit himself to that… Oh, he could win easily, no doubt about it. It would just be annoying and a pain in his ass if it ever came to it.
As the heroes scattered to go help the other students, Izuku looked back at Katsuki who didn't turn his gaze away from him.
"Any more questions you have tucked in that egotistical head of yours?" Izuku's tone dropped a bit, and he relished the way Katsuki squirmed in place. "Also, could you tell redhead here to stop? He looks like he wants to throttle me into next week."
Damn, when did he get so snarky? Maybe it was because of Patches… Yeah, definitely Patches.
The redhead looked like he wanted to throttle me even more and I saw his legs tense, as if prepared to pounce. Luckily, it didn't happen when Katsuki placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Shi… Kirishima, let me handle this." The way Kirishima's eyes bulged was kind of funny, but he didn't dare laugh now.
Katsuki looked like he was heading to his execution.
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A/N: So, people wanted longer chapters... Okay then. Message heard. That said, I already have advance chaps done, so everything upwards chapter 20 will be the longer ones (if we're looking at statistics, about a 40-50% increase). And yes, this applies to every single fiction I am writing, so Souls Hero Academia and Off To Worlds Unending are not exempt from this. Anyway, see ya next time, any other things you wanna let me know, just comment on it. And yes, that includes flames or otherwise derogatory remarks... I think SEA Dota ruined how I perceive insults :/
Shameless Plugs:
patreon.com/IAmGuavaFruitFictionHub (If you want to read 10 chaps ahead, head on over.)
discord.gg/v9f5kjsfVv (Left For Dead 2 Chernobyl map is fun. It gave me gray hairs :D)
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