I hope so too but take whatever amount of time you need.
Dragonspawn (My Hero Academia SI)
- Thread starter Blackout
- Start date
- Location
- Leeds
The Tatsuma guide to getting out of awkward conversations:
Hope a hostage situation starts.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
MHA doesn't really have those, to be fair, just legally distinct persona for heroing work. Like wrestling stage names.
I feel like that rule applies to most fiction, not just anime.Oh noes! Tatsuma has broken the Anime Character Rules and noticed a blatantly obvious connection that is supposed to be a secret!
Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
Thank you, fixed.
Patented and trademarked.
- Location
- Somewhere
The timing of her outburst and the gunshots might convince the others that Tatsuma could hear what was going to happen.
This might help her cover up the fact that she figured out all for one, or might get the others to start overestimating her sense of hearing
This might help her cover up the fact that she figured out all for one, or might get the others to start overestimating her sense of hearing
- Location
- Leeds
It works 100% of the time, 0.01% of the time.
Chapter 39 - Yui Kodai
Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to warmly welcome each and every one of you to I-Expo's Preopening Reception Party!"
The Reception Hall was packed with people in formal attire mingling, eating, drinking, spending the evening. The buffet tables were laden with food and the wine was beginning to flow, but all eyes turned towards the stage as the representative of the I-Island administration, an old, balding man in a black suit began speaking, his voice amplified by the speaker system.
"Before we start things off, we'd like to ask the current Number One Hero of Japan and former Number One of the USA, All-Might, to give us a speech and lead us on a toast."
Suddenly, all attention shifted to the towering figure in blue, red and white costume visible over the heads of the crowd.
"Dave, I didn't know about this." All-Might. said as he glanced towards Shield.
"It was bound to happen once they found out you were here." His old friend shook his head, before raising his glass. "Go on, give us one of your famous speeches."
A few moments later All-Might found himself on the stage, accepting the mic from the representative.
"Thank you for inviting me. As you may have been told, I am All-Might." He said as he reached the stage, eliciting a few chuckles. "I don't like formal talk, so-"
That was when a loud alarm blared from behind him, and as All-Might whipped around the display screen had been replaced by a massive blinking red icon, "Emergency" spelled out in towering white letters.
In that very same second, every door to the Reception Hall was thrown open violently, and several gunshots rang out. All-Might spun around at lightning speed, already half a step forward with a raised fist until he saw the squads of armoured, masked gunmen standing in each entranceway, assault rifles at the ready.
Not one of the guns was trained on him.
"Careful, All-Might." One of the masked terrorists chided him, holding a smoking gun in his hand, pointed up towards the ceiling. "Not everyone is as bulletproof as you are."
He was a tall, bulky man, wearing a large white coat over his body armour, red hair poking out from beneath his metal facemask, looking like someone had simply bent a bunch of steel strips into shape.
"You-!"
"Or should you believe yourself capable of taking us all out, consider this." The man snapped his fingers casually, and the screen behind All-Might made a whirring noise. As he stepped to the side and inclined his head to glance at it, the Emergency message was gone. Instead, it had been replaced by security camera footage from across the island, and All-Might's heart sunk even further.
"Emergency notification to all occupants on I-Island. Return indoors to your accommodations. A curfew will come into effect in fifteen minutes. Anyone caught outside may be arrested immediately."
Hundreds of the three-legged, bucket-shaped security bots were moving through the streets in wedge formations at high speeds, forcing everyone into the sidewalks where more drones were corralling people into groups.
On the floor of the Reception Hall, hundreds of tiny apertures clicked open at once, causing robotic tendrils to emerge and wrap around people, binding everyone but the masked terrorists in place. It wasn't as if he couldn't break out; if he wanted to, he would only need a twitch.
But-!
"We have seized control over the island's security system. Even should you manage to subdue us, the state of the art defences so diligently built by our hosts will be turned on the populace. In effect, everyone on this island is now a hostage."
"What do you want?!" All-Might growled from his position on the floor.
"I'm sure that's what you'd like to know." The leader of the gunmen stated coldly as he stepped up to All-Might, kicking him over with his foot. "But you are in no position to make demands. Now, be a good little hero and stay down."
All-Might grit his teeth, but he caught Shield's eye from across the room, who shook his head slightly.
There's nothing we can do.
The terrorist leader gestured towards his men, who split off into groups. Several took up guard positions on the doors while others kept their guns trained on the hostages and another group began traversing the room, taking out datapads and beginning to inspect people, comparing faces to what they had on the screen. After a few moments of rifling through the hostages, they came to a stop in front of Shield.
"Wolfram." One of them called out to the leader. "It's him."
He nodded, pressing a hand to his ear and muttering something inaudible. Shield's restraints became undone, and the gunmen hauled him to his feet towards Wolfram.
"So this is the famed David Shield?" He asked, stepping down from the stage. "Very good. You'll be coming with us. The rest of you, stay here. You will be released when the time comes, if you behave yourselves."
-----
"And now they're walking towards the elevators."
Yui Kodai listened as Tatsuma finished her transcript of what had happened on the floor above. All around her the faces of her fellow students looked ashen, while Shield was pale as a ghost.
"What is All-Might doing?" Midoriya asked with a haunted expression.
"He's… staying still, as far as I can tell." Tatsuma replied, swallowing heavily.
"He's just going to do nothing?!" Kaminari asked.
"With the whole island as hostages… there's thousands upon thousands of security drones on this island." Shield said. "There's nothing he can do."
"But he's… All-Might." Uraraka said, almost pleadingly.
"He's not infallible." Todoroki replied quietly. "I used to believe he was, too, but at USJ… when Bakugo, Kirishima and I came in to help, the villains had him dead to rights." He shook his head. "He's the world's greatest Hero for a reason, but… he has limits. He can bleed and lose like the rest of us."
Yui saw Midoriya and Tatsuma flinch in unison, ever so slightly.
"Hold on, I thought All-Might beat the Nomu?" She asked.
"He did. What the newspapers won't tell you is how close it was." Todoroki explained. "It is as this "Wolfram" person said. It doesn't matter if All-Might knocks out every terrorist in the room, with the security system compromised everyone on the island is a hostage."
"I just don't understand how the system could be compromised like that." Shield shook her head in disbelief. "This entire island is built to the highest standards of security, above even the greatest supervillain prisons. There should have been no possible way for the terrorists to take over so completely so unnoticed. No villain has ever managed to breach I-Island's security, let alone to this degree."
"Perhaps the staff simply became complacent, over time." Todoroki speculated.
A dark, heavy silence descended over the group, everyone looking at their feet.
Then, Midoriya spoke up.
"Where is the security system controlled from?"
"F-from the top floor of this building." Shield stammered, looking at him. "What are you-"
"Absolutely not, Midoriya." Iida stated calmly yet firmly.
"What are you talking about?" Yui asked.
"He wants to restore the security system." Uraraka said quietly.
"The only thing keeping All-Might down is the threat of hostages." Kaminari breathed in. "Take that off the table…"
"...Then All-Might and every Pro-Hero on the Reception Hall would be free to act." Tatsuma finished for him. "The tables would be turned in an instant."
"I… want to save everyone." Midoriya stated. "Is that wrong?"
"We're not Licensed yet." Yui pointed out. "To act on our own would be illegal."
"Does that mean it's right for us to do nothing?" Todoroki countered.
"We're not in Japan." Tatsuma added, drawing everyone's eyes to her and causing her to recoil slightly. "We're on I-Island. The Japanese legal system has no jurisdiction here."
"I-Island has a more relaxed view on using your Quirks." Shield stated quietly. "Each case is reviewed on a case to case basis. It is… possible to reset the security system from the control room on the 200th floor."
"How would you even get there?" Iida said disbelievingly. "The villains have control over every door, elevator and defence system on the island."
"I could fly up there." Tatsuma shrugged her shoulders, her wings rolling with the motion. "We could bypass every floor between this and the 200th."
"Alright." Yui said. "But before you commit to this scheme, the question has to be asked. Do we even need to do anything?" All eyes snapped to her. "The villains said they're going to release the hostages."
"They're kidnapping my father!" Shield yelled out, stepping forward and grabbing Yui by the arm before seeming to realize what she was doing and stepping back, tears in her eyes. "I am… sorry. I am not looking at this objectively. I cannot ask any of you to do this. But even so.."
"Dr. Shield is one of the leading experts on Quirks in the world, and he's being kidnapped by international terrorists." Tatsuma said. "If they take him off the island, the chances that anyone will ever see him again…"
"Alright." Iida said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But if we are going to do this, we need to be sure we can do it safely. We need a plan."
"How many people can you carry?" Kaminari asked Tatsuma.
"I don't have my harness or vest, so safely? Two, one in each hand. Three if Uraraka uses her Quirk on me. I'll still need one leg to kick off."
"I'll go, then." Shield said.
"Out of the question." Iida shook his head. "You have no training, and you're-"
"I'm Quirkless, yes. Believe me, I know. But do any of you know how to reset the security system?"
Iida paused for a moment, before shaking his head.
"...Very well. You're certain that you want to head into danger's way?"
"It is my father's life we're talking about." She said with a determined expression. "I'll do whatever is needed."
"If that's the case," Tatsuma spoke up, "then Midoriya should come with too. We'll try to avoid fighting, but if it comes to it we need to be able to protect Shield, and Midoriya's Quirk compliments mine best."
"I'll go too." Yui said. "I can open any door no matter how secure, and unlike you two I can do it quietly."
"So the four of you head up." Todoroki said. "Shield, are there any outer defences you will need to worry about?"
"Some, but..." She glanced around the room, including the cameras near the ceiling. "The fact that we've been left alone suggests they're unfamiliar with controlling the security system, or else they would have caught us by now."
"In that case, the rest of us will make it even harder for them and cause a distraction." Todoroki stated. "Kaminari, do you think that you could cause a localized blackout?"
"If you find me an electrical outlet, sure." Kaminari said, scratching his chin.
"With Uraraka's help, I can carry all three of you." Iida said. "If Kaminari cuts the lights and cameras, while Todoroki blasts the way open while freezing it shut behind us, we should be able to keep the villains' attention on us while you fly up."
"Then let's not waste any time!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"Right!" Shield said, running off towards the doors. "I know just the place!"
-----
"Right below the top level is the wind power generators. There's loads of turbines, you can't miss it." Shield explained. "Above that will be some maintenance platforms with doors to the inside. You should aim for those. Alternatively the helipad, but the terrorists are probably watching it closely."
They were on one of the balconies, only a few floors up from ground level. Out in the distance amidst the lights of the night time city, Yui could see squadrons of robots moving across the streets, corralling the last of the stragglers.
"We need to hurry. It won't be long until we're noticed." She said over her shoulder.
"Right, that's everything." Shield said. "Let's go."
Tatsuma reached down to grab her and Yui in each hand, before awkwardly clutching Midoriya with the claws of one of her legs, balancing on her tail and remaining leg. Waiting next to her, Uraraka pressed a hand to her side, and immediately Yui could feel the shift.
"You can undo it once we're in the air, I just need it to lift off." Yui could hear her taking a deep breath. "Alright, we're about ready to go. Kaminari?"
"We're ready when you are!" The yellow-haired boy yelled out from where he was hovering his hand over a bundle of exposed wires from an electrical panel Iida had kicked open.
"Okay. One, two, three, go!"
Yui could feel Tatsuma tense and then kick off, rocketing into the air before unfurling her wings and beginning to beat them rapidly, ascending upwards at a rapid pace.
"1.3 Million Volts!"
Below them, many of the lights around the lower floors flickered and died. Yui could see Iida scoop up the other three and dash back inside, while Todoroki brushed a hand over the door frame to create a barrier of ice to cover the doorway.
It was a surreal experience, flying while held in the talons of a dragon. And a terrifying one as well, to know that if Tatsuma's grip slipped she would face a few seconds of utter panic followed by certain death.
Idly, she wondered if she could make a parachute out of enlarging her jacket.
Probably not.
Yui pushed the thought out of her mind. She trusted Tatsuma.
They were ascending rapidly, already a third of the way up the tower. The cold evening wind whipped around them, rustling Yui's hair and clothing, watering her eyes. She tried to keep watch, but it was hard to see or hear.
Just when she thought they'd make it to the top untouched she could just barely make out a buzzing sound followed by Tatsuma roaring a warning.
"Hold on!"
She banked to the left, and Yui could see an electrified net fly overhead, smacking against the side of the tower before inflatable balloons filled up, causing it to gently float downwards. The buzzing sound returned and as Yui turned her head, she saw a pair of quadrotor drones flying towards them, red optics glowing against the night sky.
"Aerial drones!" Shield yelled, forcing Yui to strain to hear her over the wind. "They were probably set on autopilot!"
"We need to take them out, but if I breathe fire it'll be visible to the whole damn island!" Tatsuma yelled.
"Keep me steady!" Yui yelled out as she reached down to slip off her shoe, bringing it up over her shoulder as the drones closed in for another pass. "Wait for, wait for it, wait for it, now-"
She went to throw the shoe, which began to grow in size in her hand, but right at the last moment Tatsuma dived, another net flying right above them. Her aim was thrown off, and the gigantified shoe flew wildly off course.
"I said steady!" She yelled as she undid her Quirk.
"Destroying the drones doesn't matter if I get electrified and lose my grip on you!"
"There's not much time!" Shield yelled. "Their attention is likely on the others but we can't afford a delay!"
"I'm going to try again!" Yui struggled to carry her voice over the howling wind as she slipped off her other shoe. "Hold it! Steady!"
"We don't have all day!"
She waited until the last moment before throwing it. The shoe sailed through the air, hitting the incoming nets, but at that point it had already reached the size of an average minivan whilst having lost none of it's speed. It and the nets slammed into the drones, smashing them out of the sky in a crunch of metal, trailing smoke as their wrecks fell towards the ground.
"We're on borrowed time! Quickly!"
Within a matter of moments Tatsuma had reached the turbine farm, the top of the tower poking towards the sky just beyond it. She tossed off her passengers onto the maintenance platform before landing heavily, unable to fully fit onto it she was forced to sink her talons into the side of the building to avoid falling.
Yui pressed her palm on the door, and it began to shift and groan. It shrunk rapidly, the locks and hinges twisting off with metallic twangs until it was small enough to fit in her palm. She bent down to pick it up and put it into the pocket of her jacket as she stepped inside to see if anyone had noticed them, but the hallway was empty.
"It's clear."
"I'm not going to be able to get through there without making a lot of unnecessary noise and letting them know where we are." Tatsuma hissed as she shifted her weight around, the metal beneath her claws groaning as she clung to the side of the tower. "I'll stay outside and give you a chance to sneak in."
"Alright." Midoriya said. "Good luck!"
"I should be saying that to you." She shook her head. "I'll be listening in. Go."
The three of them ran inside, Midoriya taking up the lead while Yui brought up the rear.
"Where's the control room?" She asked.
"Near the center, next to the elevator shaft." Shield said, breathing a little heavily. "This way."
Yui had to shrink five more blast doors before they were nearing the center of the tower. By her estimation they were less than a minute from the control room, when Shield suddenly stopped, so abrupt that she almost ran into her back.
"What is it?" She snapped at her, stepping past her to see that she was looking through an open blast door.
"It's… my father."
Yui stepped up the doorway and, indeed, there he was, or at least so Yui assumed. An aging man perhaps in his fifties, with wide-rimmed square glasses and short-cut honey brown hair. And besides him was who Yui guessed to be Wolfram, judging by the deferential manner of the trio of armed terrorists standing with them. The room resembled a reinforced bank vault, a large circular space dominated by a wall of safes, each box sunk into the structure of the vault.
As the three of them watched, David Shield typed something onto a computer console in the middle of the room, while the terrorist leader watched.
"We're running out of time." Wolfram growled. "There's a group of Pro-Heroes loose on the lower floors and my men are trying to track them down. We need to hurry."
"It's in safe 1147." Dr. Shield stated. "I can't unlock it any faster."
"This one?" The masked terrorist indicated. "You're certain?"
"Positive."
Wolfram pressed a hand to the wall and the metal began to warp and bend under the influence of what had to be his Quirk. The safe box popped out of the wall and he pried it open, taking out a small briefcase and presenting it to Shield.
"Is this it?"
"Yes!" Dr. Shield exclaimed, running up to him and taking the briefcase, popping it open and examining its contents." Yes, it's all here! Thank you for your services. Your reward will be a handsome one."
"Papa?" Yui's heart skipped a beat as she realized Shield was no longer by her side and was instead striding up to her father. "What is the meaning of this? What have you done?"
Yui and Midoriya glanced at each other and scrambled after her, just as Dr. Shield whipped around in shock, and Yui could see what looked like a metallic headset of some sort in the briefcase as he turned towards them.
"Melissa?! Midoriya?! What are you- You're supposed to be down in-"
"No. Explain. Right now." Shield brushed his words aside. "What do you mean by reward? What did you do?"
"What I had to."
"Don't tell me… you're behind this incident? To get that device?" She spoke, her voice choking up. "Is that true, Papa?"
Dr. Shield closed her eyes for an instant, visibly steeling himself, before speaking up.
"It is."
Midoriya gasped beside Yui, as Shield took another step forward.
"What… why?!"
"I'm only taking back what's mine." Shield said. "What was stolen from me. This device that mechanically boosts Quirks…"
"It… boosts Quirks?" Yui said. "Like Trigger?"
"Yes." Dr. Shield replied, giving Yui an odd look. "But unlike drugs, with this device Quirks can be amplified without wracking the body with side effects. However, the investors confiscated this invention and research data. If this technology became public knowledge… it could have unpredictable societal effects in our superpowered world. Fearing that, different governments of the world put on pressure to freeze my research."
"Tell me this is a lie!" Shield yelled out.
"My assistant and I hired fake villains to carry the task out in my stead. Nobody would be harmed. I smuggled them to I-Island and gave them the codes to subvert the security system. It would happen on the evening of the Reception Party, when everyone's gathered in one place. That way, the plan would go off without a hitch, and there's no need for anyone to be hurt. Everything would be done cleanly."
"Why?" Shield was sobbing now. "The Papa I know would never do anything like this."
"...It is for All-Might." He finally admitted.
"What?"
"He is growing old. He is growing slower." Yui thought back to Todoroki's words of what happened at USJ. "One day, the Symbol of Peace will be no more. With this device, I could restore him to his prime. Or beyond. He would have his light back. I could… I could make a difference."
"You put everyone through hell!" Shield screamed at her father. "You made everyone think they were in mortal danger, that they could die at any moment! We thought- I thought-"
"Nobody was ever in any danger." Dr. Shield said, raising his arms in a placating gesture. "The guns were armed with blanks."
"Oh?" Wolfram finally spoke up, examining his handgun. "They were?"
He pointed it towards the floor and fired once, leaving behind a very real-looking bullet hole. Yui's heart sank as she caught on.
"Huh." Wolfram said with mock theatricality. "That's weird."
"Wolfram, what is the meaning of this? It was all supposed to be an act!" Dr. Shield said with a look of dawning horror, only to find himself staring down the barrel of Wolfram's handgun. All at once, the other three mercenaries leveled their rifles at Yui, Midoriya and Shield.
"Of course it was an act." Wolfram stated with a grin. "An act of pretending to be a fake villain. You didn't think that we'd be satisfied with a simple monetary reward? That we'd risk so much for just a bit of cash? No, we have a much better prize in mind."
He snatched the briefcase from Dr. Shield's hands, before whipping him in the jaw with the grip of his handgun.
"Papa!"
"Now, as for you brats…" Wolfram said as he raised his weapon towards Shield. "No loose ends."
There was another bang, and the splatter of blood on the floor, but it belonged to Dr. Shield, who'd thrown himself in front of his daughter and taken the shot in the shoulder.
"You fancy yourself a Hero, huh? After all this?" Wolfram said, putting a boot on Dr. Shield's side. "Your hands are as stained as mine. Real or fake, your crimes won't just go away. But I suppose that hardly matters now. You'll be coming with us, and making a great many more of these marvelous devices of yours. Now…"
He turned back towards the others, only to be met face-first by a rapidly enlarging blast door. The three gunmen opened fire, but Yui threw a second door on the floor in front of her, and the three of them dove for cover, bullets pinging off of the metal.
"You think you can hurt me with metal?"
The blast door sailed backwards, carried by some unseen force, and Midoriya leapt into the air, smashing it away. Wolfram put his hand on the floor and a huge tendril of metal several meters thick emerged from it, snaking towards Shield. Midoriya threw himself in front of it, struggling to halt it, but that meant he was out of cover. Wolfram brought up his handgun, and fired.
Shield began to yell something, but Yui wasn't listening. She was already on the move, her body moving on it's own.
She tackled Midoriya, and an instant later felt a burning sting in her upper thigh, followed by a worse pain than anything she had ever felt and the sensation of something warm running down her leg.
"Kodai!" Midoriya yelled as they landed in a heap, sounding panicked.
"I shrank the bullet." Yui breathed out.
"What?"
"Before he fired, I activated my Quirk. When the bullet touched me, it began to shrink. It's a shallow wound."
But no less painful for it.
Another metal tendril whipped towards them, but Midoriya punched it aside, embedding it into the wall.
"You!" He yelled out, holding a trembling fist. "You think you're going to get away with this?"
Wolfram simply grinned and snapped his fingers. Seconds later, security drones began pouring into the vault, first in their dozens, then hundreds. Soon enough the room was nearly filled with them, all of their angry, glaring red lenses focused on the three of them.
"And who's going to stop me, you?" He asked theatrically, gesturing with his gun. "You and what army?"
"Not an army." Yui forced out from between gritted teeth. There was a deep, booming clang in the distance that echoed through the chamber, followed by the tortured shriek of metal being torn apart. Yui forced a smile through the pain as she saw Wolfram's confident smirk waver. "A dragon."
There was another boom, this one much closer, followed a second later by a third, as a huge indent appeared on the wall of the vault. Then another, and another, caving in the reinforced metal until it looked as if it was about to burst. Then there was the roar of flames and the wall lit up with a bright orange glow before rupturing inwards, spilling smoke and tongues of fire as a very large and very angry dragon emerged.
Ryuuzaki Tatsuma seemed to almost glow with inner light, her form shimmering with heat and sparks of flame flickering in and out of existence around her as she stepped inside the vault, wisps of smoke trailing from between her teeth, and leveled her burning gaze at Yui, then the gun on Wolfram's hand and then straight at the terrorist leader.
"You."
For a moment, her words hung in the air.
Then Wolfram slapped his hand to the wall and a huge sheet of wall extended from it, wrapping around him and Dr. Shield before carrying them away, disappearing through the ceiling in a matter of seconds. Tatsuma charged after him but the security drones piled on her, extending electrified tendrils from their chassis.
"Dad!" Shield yelled and moved as if to run after them, but Yui grabbed onto her ankle.
"The security system." She bit out. "All-Might. Go."
Shield's eyes widened in realization, and she nodded.
"Go with her. Mercenaries. At the control room." Yui turned to Midoriya as she struggled to a sitting position. He hesitated, glancing over her shoulder, but Yui simply shook her head as a titanic roar shook the vault. "Go. She'll be fine."
He nodded, and the two of them disappeared in a trail of green lightning. Yui grimaced and began ripping off a piece of her dress, wrapping it around her leg like a makeshift gauze. With that done she dared to poke her head out again, to witness the battle.
If it could be called that.
"RRrrraaaa!"
A dozen robots were hanging off her, but she hardly seemed to notice as she rampaged through the swarm, every swipe of her claws cleaving through several of them at once as if their metal shells were made of tissue paper. She had three of them impaled on her horn, and as Yui watched, simply shook her head and literally shook them apart.
She wasn't fighting the drones, any more than a tiger fights mice.
She spun in place, swinging her tail, and a semicircular section of the robot horde simply disappeared, shockwaves rippling through the mass of metallic bodies as shrapnel and debris cut through them at high speed. Tatsuma grabbed one of the robots off her shoulder and shattered it against the floor before slamming herself against the nearest wall, spreading spiderweb cracks all along its surface and flattening the remaining drones hanging on to her.
She spread her wings and beat them once, the gale winds blasting the nearest robots off their feet and sending them flying. Before they could recover she slammed into them, head lowered like a rhinoceros, sending ripples across their ranks from the sheer impact of her charge.
More and more piled on but she didn't even slow down. All it did was allow her to destroy them faster. She was a whirlwind of claws, teeth, horns and bludgeoning tail. And for every drone torn apart or impaled, two more were trampled underfoot or simply thrown aside by sheer bulk and momentum.
The carnage was incredible to behold.
Their machine programming did not allow for retreat, and so the drones fought to the last, no matter how futile. Tatsuma caught the last of them between her jaws and shook her head like a dog with a chew toy, tearing it in two. As the lower half clanged against the floor she spat out the other, and turned her attention to the slack-jawed mercenaries who had just watched their army be decimated.
One turned to run. Two opened fire.
Neither helped.
Tatsuma was on them far faster than her size would imply, bullets ricocheting off of her scales like hailstones. She bit one of the rifles in half while smacking it's owner with her paw, sending him stumbling into the floor. A backhand blow sent the second one into the far wall, where he bounced off and slumped to the floor amidst a tangle of shattered robot parts. The last one hadn't made more than a third of the way towards the door when she pounced on him like a cat, slamming him against the floor.
Yui could tell that she was holding back, compared to the robots, but even then she guessed there were more than a few bones being broken.
The mercenary who'd been thrown across the room made a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl, and Yui could see his skin turning a purplish colour. At first she was worried, but then he began to grow in size, shredding his mask and body armour in the process.
"Watch out!"
He rapidly transformed into a large, purple gorilla-like creature, taking a huffing breath before throwing himself forward. Tatsuma turned around just as a large fist slammed into the side of her face and drove it into the floor. She yanked herself out of the dent she'd made, working her jaw, and spat out a single tooth the size of Yui's forearm before training her eyes, glowing like searchlights, on the transformed mercenary.
He took a hurried step backwards, his eyes widening, but Tatsuma surged upwards, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving him aside, his back slamming against the wall of the vault with enough force to dent the metal.
Then she reared back and headbutted him so hard the entire wall buckled and split apart, dust seeping from the cracks as Tatsuma slammed the mercenary through it, into the corridor and the opposite wall beyond, which collapsed on him.
She fell back onto four legs, breathing huffs of smoke and closing her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them she glanced up at the spot of warped metal Wolfram and Dr. Shield had disappeared through, before turning to look at Yui, tilting her head and raising her ears in worry.
"Yui, you're-!"
"Go. I stopped the bleeding, I'll be fine." Yui said, fighting through the pain to give her oldest friend a smile. "Go and be a Hero, Ryuuzaki."
She hesitated for a moment before nodding, spreading her wings and leaping out through the hole she had arrived through.
The Reception Hall was packed with people in formal attire mingling, eating, drinking, spending the evening. The buffet tables were laden with food and the wine was beginning to flow, but all eyes turned towards the stage as the representative of the I-Island administration, an old, balding man in a black suit began speaking, his voice amplified by the speaker system.
"Before we start things off, we'd like to ask the current Number One Hero of Japan and former Number One of the USA, All-Might, to give us a speech and lead us on a toast."
Suddenly, all attention shifted to the towering figure in blue, red and white costume visible over the heads of the crowd.
"Dave, I didn't know about this." All-Might. said as he glanced towards Shield.
"It was bound to happen once they found out you were here." His old friend shook his head, before raising his glass. "Go on, give us one of your famous speeches."
A few moments later All-Might found himself on the stage, accepting the mic from the representative.
"Thank you for inviting me. As you may have been told, I am All-Might." He said as he reached the stage, eliciting a few chuckles. "I don't like formal talk, so-"
That was when a loud alarm blared from behind him, and as All-Might whipped around the display screen had been replaced by a massive blinking red icon, "Emergency" spelled out in towering white letters.
In that very same second, every door to the Reception Hall was thrown open violently, and several gunshots rang out. All-Might spun around at lightning speed, already half a step forward with a raised fist until he saw the squads of armoured, masked gunmen standing in each entranceway, assault rifles at the ready.
Not one of the guns was trained on him.
"Careful, All-Might." One of the masked terrorists chided him, holding a smoking gun in his hand, pointed up towards the ceiling. "Not everyone is as bulletproof as you are."
He was a tall, bulky man, wearing a large white coat over his body armour, red hair poking out from beneath his metal facemask, looking like someone had simply bent a bunch of steel strips into shape.
"You-!"
"Or should you believe yourself capable of taking us all out, consider this." The man snapped his fingers casually, and the screen behind All-Might made a whirring noise. As he stepped to the side and inclined his head to glance at it, the Emergency message was gone. Instead, it had been replaced by security camera footage from across the island, and All-Might's heart sunk even further.
"Emergency notification to all occupants on I-Island. Return indoors to your accommodations. A curfew will come into effect in fifteen minutes. Anyone caught outside may be arrested immediately."
Hundreds of the three-legged, bucket-shaped security bots were moving through the streets in wedge formations at high speeds, forcing everyone into the sidewalks where more drones were corralling people into groups.
On the floor of the Reception Hall, hundreds of tiny apertures clicked open at once, causing robotic tendrils to emerge and wrap around people, binding everyone but the masked terrorists in place. It wasn't as if he couldn't break out; if he wanted to, he would only need a twitch.
But-!
"We have seized control over the island's security system. Even should you manage to subdue us, the state of the art defences so diligently built by our hosts will be turned on the populace. In effect, everyone on this island is now a hostage."
"What do you want?!" All-Might growled from his position on the floor.
"I'm sure that's what you'd like to know." The leader of the gunmen stated coldly as he stepped up to All-Might, kicking him over with his foot. "But you are in no position to make demands. Now, be a good little hero and stay down."
All-Might grit his teeth, but he caught Shield's eye from across the room, who shook his head slightly.
There's nothing we can do.
The terrorist leader gestured towards his men, who split off into groups. Several took up guard positions on the doors while others kept their guns trained on the hostages and another group began traversing the room, taking out datapads and beginning to inspect people, comparing faces to what they had on the screen. After a few moments of rifling through the hostages, they came to a stop in front of Shield.
"Wolfram." One of them called out to the leader. "It's him."
He nodded, pressing a hand to his ear and muttering something inaudible. Shield's restraints became undone, and the gunmen hauled him to his feet towards Wolfram.
"So this is the famed David Shield?" He asked, stepping down from the stage. "Very good. You'll be coming with us. The rest of you, stay here. You will be released when the time comes, if you behave yourselves."
-----
"And now they're walking towards the elevators."
Yui Kodai listened as Tatsuma finished her transcript of what had happened on the floor above. All around her the faces of her fellow students looked ashen, while Shield was pale as a ghost.
"What is All-Might doing?" Midoriya asked with a haunted expression.
"He's… staying still, as far as I can tell." Tatsuma replied, swallowing heavily.
"He's just going to do nothing?!" Kaminari asked.
"With the whole island as hostages… there's thousands upon thousands of security drones on this island." Shield said. "There's nothing he can do."
"But he's… All-Might." Uraraka said, almost pleadingly.
"He's not infallible." Todoroki replied quietly. "I used to believe he was, too, but at USJ… when Bakugo, Kirishima and I came in to help, the villains had him dead to rights." He shook his head. "He's the world's greatest Hero for a reason, but… he has limits. He can bleed and lose like the rest of us."
Yui saw Midoriya and Tatsuma flinch in unison, ever so slightly.
"Hold on, I thought All-Might beat the Nomu?" She asked.
"He did. What the newspapers won't tell you is how close it was." Todoroki explained. "It is as this "Wolfram" person said. It doesn't matter if All-Might knocks out every terrorist in the room, with the security system compromised everyone on the island is a hostage."
"I just don't understand how the system could be compromised like that." Shield shook her head in disbelief. "This entire island is built to the highest standards of security, above even the greatest supervillain prisons. There should have been no possible way for the terrorists to take over so completely so unnoticed. No villain has ever managed to breach I-Island's security, let alone to this degree."
"Perhaps the staff simply became complacent, over time." Todoroki speculated.
A dark, heavy silence descended over the group, everyone looking at their feet.
Then, Midoriya spoke up.
"Where is the security system controlled from?"
"F-from the top floor of this building." Shield stammered, looking at him. "What are you-"
"Absolutely not, Midoriya." Iida stated calmly yet firmly.
"What are you talking about?" Yui asked.
"He wants to restore the security system." Uraraka said quietly.
"The only thing keeping All-Might down is the threat of hostages." Kaminari breathed in. "Take that off the table…"
"...Then All-Might and every Pro-Hero on the Reception Hall would be free to act." Tatsuma finished for him. "The tables would be turned in an instant."
"I… want to save everyone." Midoriya stated. "Is that wrong?"
"We're not Licensed yet." Yui pointed out. "To act on our own would be illegal."
"Does that mean it's right for us to do nothing?" Todoroki countered.
"We're not in Japan." Tatsuma added, drawing everyone's eyes to her and causing her to recoil slightly. "We're on I-Island. The Japanese legal system has no jurisdiction here."
"I-Island has a more relaxed view on using your Quirks." Shield stated quietly. "Each case is reviewed on a case to case basis. It is… possible to reset the security system from the control room on the 200th floor."
"How would you even get there?" Iida said disbelievingly. "The villains have control over every door, elevator and defence system on the island."
"I could fly up there." Tatsuma shrugged her shoulders, her wings rolling with the motion. "We could bypass every floor between this and the 200th."
"Alright." Yui said. "But before you commit to this scheme, the question has to be asked. Do we even need to do anything?" All eyes snapped to her. "The villains said they're going to release the hostages."
"They're kidnapping my father!" Shield yelled out, stepping forward and grabbing Yui by the arm before seeming to realize what she was doing and stepping back, tears in her eyes. "I am… sorry. I am not looking at this objectively. I cannot ask any of you to do this. But even so.."
"Dr. Shield is one of the leading experts on Quirks in the world, and he's being kidnapped by international terrorists." Tatsuma said. "If they take him off the island, the chances that anyone will ever see him again…"
"Alright." Iida said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But if we are going to do this, we need to be sure we can do it safely. We need a plan."
"How many people can you carry?" Kaminari asked Tatsuma.
"I don't have my harness or vest, so safely? Two, one in each hand. Three if Uraraka uses her Quirk on me. I'll still need one leg to kick off."
"I'll go, then." Shield said.
"Out of the question." Iida shook his head. "You have no training, and you're-"
"I'm Quirkless, yes. Believe me, I know. But do any of you know how to reset the security system?"
Iida paused for a moment, before shaking his head.
"...Very well. You're certain that you want to head into danger's way?"
"It is my father's life we're talking about." She said with a determined expression. "I'll do whatever is needed."
"If that's the case," Tatsuma spoke up, "then Midoriya should come with too. We'll try to avoid fighting, but if it comes to it we need to be able to protect Shield, and Midoriya's Quirk compliments mine best."
"I'll go too." Yui said. "I can open any door no matter how secure, and unlike you two I can do it quietly."
"So the four of you head up." Todoroki said. "Shield, are there any outer defences you will need to worry about?"
"Some, but..." She glanced around the room, including the cameras near the ceiling. "The fact that we've been left alone suggests they're unfamiliar with controlling the security system, or else they would have caught us by now."
"In that case, the rest of us will make it even harder for them and cause a distraction." Todoroki stated. "Kaminari, do you think that you could cause a localized blackout?"
"If you find me an electrical outlet, sure." Kaminari said, scratching his chin.
"With Uraraka's help, I can carry all three of you." Iida said. "If Kaminari cuts the lights and cameras, while Todoroki blasts the way open while freezing it shut behind us, we should be able to keep the villains' attention on us while you fly up."
"Then let's not waste any time!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"Right!" Shield said, running off towards the doors. "I know just the place!"
-----
"Right below the top level is the wind power generators. There's loads of turbines, you can't miss it." Shield explained. "Above that will be some maintenance platforms with doors to the inside. You should aim for those. Alternatively the helipad, but the terrorists are probably watching it closely."
They were on one of the balconies, only a few floors up from ground level. Out in the distance amidst the lights of the night time city, Yui could see squadrons of robots moving across the streets, corralling the last of the stragglers.
"We need to hurry. It won't be long until we're noticed." She said over her shoulder.
"Right, that's everything." Shield said. "Let's go."
Tatsuma reached down to grab her and Yui in each hand, before awkwardly clutching Midoriya with the claws of one of her legs, balancing on her tail and remaining leg. Waiting next to her, Uraraka pressed a hand to her side, and immediately Yui could feel the shift.
"You can undo it once we're in the air, I just need it to lift off." Yui could hear her taking a deep breath. "Alright, we're about ready to go. Kaminari?"
"We're ready when you are!" The yellow-haired boy yelled out from where he was hovering his hand over a bundle of exposed wires from an electrical panel Iida had kicked open.
"Okay. One, two, three, go!"
Yui could feel Tatsuma tense and then kick off, rocketing into the air before unfurling her wings and beginning to beat them rapidly, ascending upwards at a rapid pace.
"1.3 Million Volts!"
Below them, many of the lights around the lower floors flickered and died. Yui could see Iida scoop up the other three and dash back inside, while Todoroki brushed a hand over the door frame to create a barrier of ice to cover the doorway.
It was a surreal experience, flying while held in the talons of a dragon. And a terrifying one as well, to know that if Tatsuma's grip slipped she would face a few seconds of utter panic followed by certain death.
Idly, she wondered if she could make a parachute out of enlarging her jacket.
Probably not.
Yui pushed the thought out of her mind. She trusted Tatsuma.
They were ascending rapidly, already a third of the way up the tower. The cold evening wind whipped around them, rustling Yui's hair and clothing, watering her eyes. She tried to keep watch, but it was hard to see or hear.
Just when she thought they'd make it to the top untouched she could just barely make out a buzzing sound followed by Tatsuma roaring a warning.
"Hold on!"
She banked to the left, and Yui could see an electrified net fly overhead, smacking against the side of the tower before inflatable balloons filled up, causing it to gently float downwards. The buzzing sound returned and as Yui turned her head, she saw a pair of quadrotor drones flying towards them, red optics glowing against the night sky.
"Aerial drones!" Shield yelled, forcing Yui to strain to hear her over the wind. "They were probably set on autopilot!"
"We need to take them out, but if I breathe fire it'll be visible to the whole damn island!" Tatsuma yelled.
"Keep me steady!" Yui yelled out as she reached down to slip off her shoe, bringing it up over her shoulder as the drones closed in for another pass. "Wait for, wait for it, wait for it, now-"
She went to throw the shoe, which began to grow in size in her hand, but right at the last moment Tatsuma dived, another net flying right above them. Her aim was thrown off, and the gigantified shoe flew wildly off course.
"I said steady!" She yelled as she undid her Quirk.
"Destroying the drones doesn't matter if I get electrified and lose my grip on you!"
"There's not much time!" Shield yelled. "Their attention is likely on the others but we can't afford a delay!"
"I'm going to try again!" Yui struggled to carry her voice over the howling wind as she slipped off her other shoe. "Hold it! Steady!"
"We don't have all day!"
She waited until the last moment before throwing it. The shoe sailed through the air, hitting the incoming nets, but at that point it had already reached the size of an average minivan whilst having lost none of it's speed. It and the nets slammed into the drones, smashing them out of the sky in a crunch of metal, trailing smoke as their wrecks fell towards the ground.
"We're on borrowed time! Quickly!"
Within a matter of moments Tatsuma had reached the turbine farm, the top of the tower poking towards the sky just beyond it. She tossed off her passengers onto the maintenance platform before landing heavily, unable to fully fit onto it she was forced to sink her talons into the side of the building to avoid falling.
Yui pressed her palm on the door, and it began to shift and groan. It shrunk rapidly, the locks and hinges twisting off with metallic twangs until it was small enough to fit in her palm. She bent down to pick it up and put it into the pocket of her jacket as she stepped inside to see if anyone had noticed them, but the hallway was empty.
"It's clear."
"I'm not going to be able to get through there without making a lot of unnecessary noise and letting them know where we are." Tatsuma hissed as she shifted her weight around, the metal beneath her claws groaning as she clung to the side of the tower. "I'll stay outside and give you a chance to sneak in."
"Alright." Midoriya said. "Good luck!"
"I should be saying that to you." She shook her head. "I'll be listening in. Go."
The three of them ran inside, Midoriya taking up the lead while Yui brought up the rear.
"Where's the control room?" She asked.
"Near the center, next to the elevator shaft." Shield said, breathing a little heavily. "This way."
Yui had to shrink five more blast doors before they were nearing the center of the tower. By her estimation they were less than a minute from the control room, when Shield suddenly stopped, so abrupt that she almost ran into her back.
"What is it?" She snapped at her, stepping past her to see that she was looking through an open blast door.
"It's… my father."
Yui stepped up the doorway and, indeed, there he was, or at least so Yui assumed. An aging man perhaps in his fifties, with wide-rimmed square glasses and short-cut honey brown hair. And besides him was who Yui guessed to be Wolfram, judging by the deferential manner of the trio of armed terrorists standing with them. The room resembled a reinforced bank vault, a large circular space dominated by a wall of safes, each box sunk into the structure of the vault.
As the three of them watched, David Shield typed something onto a computer console in the middle of the room, while the terrorist leader watched.
"We're running out of time." Wolfram growled. "There's a group of Pro-Heroes loose on the lower floors and my men are trying to track them down. We need to hurry."
"It's in safe 1147." Dr. Shield stated. "I can't unlock it any faster."
"This one?" The masked terrorist indicated. "You're certain?"
"Positive."
Wolfram pressed a hand to the wall and the metal began to warp and bend under the influence of what had to be his Quirk. The safe box popped out of the wall and he pried it open, taking out a small briefcase and presenting it to Shield.
"Is this it?"
"Yes!" Dr. Shield exclaimed, running up to him and taking the briefcase, popping it open and examining its contents." Yes, it's all here! Thank you for your services. Your reward will be a handsome one."
"Papa?" Yui's heart skipped a beat as she realized Shield was no longer by her side and was instead striding up to her father. "What is the meaning of this? What have you done?"
Yui and Midoriya glanced at each other and scrambled after her, just as Dr. Shield whipped around in shock, and Yui could see what looked like a metallic headset of some sort in the briefcase as he turned towards them.
"Melissa?! Midoriya?! What are you- You're supposed to be down in-"
"No. Explain. Right now." Shield brushed his words aside. "What do you mean by reward? What did you do?"
"What I had to."
"Don't tell me… you're behind this incident? To get that device?" She spoke, her voice choking up. "Is that true, Papa?"
Dr. Shield closed her eyes for an instant, visibly steeling himself, before speaking up.
"It is."
Midoriya gasped beside Yui, as Shield took another step forward.
"What… why?!"
"I'm only taking back what's mine." Shield said. "What was stolen from me. This device that mechanically boosts Quirks…"
"It… boosts Quirks?" Yui said. "Like Trigger?"
"Yes." Dr. Shield replied, giving Yui an odd look. "But unlike drugs, with this device Quirks can be amplified without wracking the body with side effects. However, the investors confiscated this invention and research data. If this technology became public knowledge… it could have unpredictable societal effects in our superpowered world. Fearing that, different governments of the world put on pressure to freeze my research."
"Tell me this is a lie!" Shield yelled out.
"My assistant and I hired fake villains to carry the task out in my stead. Nobody would be harmed. I smuggled them to I-Island and gave them the codes to subvert the security system. It would happen on the evening of the Reception Party, when everyone's gathered in one place. That way, the plan would go off without a hitch, and there's no need for anyone to be hurt. Everything would be done cleanly."
"Why?" Shield was sobbing now. "The Papa I know would never do anything like this."
"...It is for All-Might." He finally admitted.
"What?"
"He is growing old. He is growing slower." Yui thought back to Todoroki's words of what happened at USJ. "One day, the Symbol of Peace will be no more. With this device, I could restore him to his prime. Or beyond. He would have his light back. I could… I could make a difference."
"You put everyone through hell!" Shield screamed at her father. "You made everyone think they were in mortal danger, that they could die at any moment! We thought- I thought-"
"Nobody was ever in any danger." Dr. Shield said, raising his arms in a placating gesture. "The guns were armed with blanks."
"Oh?" Wolfram finally spoke up, examining his handgun. "They were?"
He pointed it towards the floor and fired once, leaving behind a very real-looking bullet hole. Yui's heart sank as she caught on.
"Huh." Wolfram said with mock theatricality. "That's weird."
"Wolfram, what is the meaning of this? It was all supposed to be an act!" Dr. Shield said with a look of dawning horror, only to find himself staring down the barrel of Wolfram's handgun. All at once, the other three mercenaries leveled their rifles at Yui, Midoriya and Shield.
"Of course it was an act." Wolfram stated with a grin. "An act of pretending to be a fake villain. You didn't think that we'd be satisfied with a simple monetary reward? That we'd risk so much for just a bit of cash? No, we have a much better prize in mind."
He snatched the briefcase from Dr. Shield's hands, before whipping him in the jaw with the grip of his handgun.
"Papa!"
"Now, as for you brats…" Wolfram said as he raised his weapon towards Shield. "No loose ends."
There was another bang, and the splatter of blood on the floor, but it belonged to Dr. Shield, who'd thrown himself in front of his daughter and taken the shot in the shoulder.
"You fancy yourself a Hero, huh? After all this?" Wolfram said, putting a boot on Dr. Shield's side. "Your hands are as stained as mine. Real or fake, your crimes won't just go away. But I suppose that hardly matters now. You'll be coming with us, and making a great many more of these marvelous devices of yours. Now…"
He turned back towards the others, only to be met face-first by a rapidly enlarging blast door. The three gunmen opened fire, but Yui threw a second door on the floor in front of her, and the three of them dove for cover, bullets pinging off of the metal.
"You think you can hurt me with metal?"
The blast door sailed backwards, carried by some unseen force, and Midoriya leapt into the air, smashing it away. Wolfram put his hand on the floor and a huge tendril of metal several meters thick emerged from it, snaking towards Shield. Midoriya threw himself in front of it, struggling to halt it, but that meant he was out of cover. Wolfram brought up his handgun, and fired.
Shield began to yell something, but Yui wasn't listening. She was already on the move, her body moving on it's own.
She tackled Midoriya, and an instant later felt a burning sting in her upper thigh, followed by a worse pain than anything she had ever felt and the sensation of something warm running down her leg.
"Kodai!" Midoriya yelled as they landed in a heap, sounding panicked.
"I shrank the bullet." Yui breathed out.
"What?"
"Before he fired, I activated my Quirk. When the bullet touched me, it began to shrink. It's a shallow wound."
But no less painful for it.
Another metal tendril whipped towards them, but Midoriya punched it aside, embedding it into the wall.
"You!" He yelled out, holding a trembling fist. "You think you're going to get away with this?"
Wolfram simply grinned and snapped his fingers. Seconds later, security drones began pouring into the vault, first in their dozens, then hundreds. Soon enough the room was nearly filled with them, all of their angry, glaring red lenses focused on the three of them.
"And who's going to stop me, you?" He asked theatrically, gesturing with his gun. "You and what army?"
"Not an army." Yui forced out from between gritted teeth. There was a deep, booming clang in the distance that echoed through the chamber, followed by the tortured shriek of metal being torn apart. Yui forced a smile through the pain as she saw Wolfram's confident smirk waver. "A dragon."
There was another boom, this one much closer, followed a second later by a third, as a huge indent appeared on the wall of the vault. Then another, and another, caving in the reinforced metal until it looked as if it was about to burst. Then there was the roar of flames and the wall lit up with a bright orange glow before rupturing inwards, spilling smoke and tongues of fire as a very large and very angry dragon emerged.
Ryuuzaki Tatsuma seemed to almost glow with inner light, her form shimmering with heat and sparks of flame flickering in and out of existence around her as she stepped inside the vault, wisps of smoke trailing from between her teeth, and leveled her burning gaze at Yui, then the gun on Wolfram's hand and then straight at the terrorist leader.
"You."
For a moment, her words hung in the air.
Then Wolfram slapped his hand to the wall and a huge sheet of wall extended from it, wrapping around him and Dr. Shield before carrying them away, disappearing through the ceiling in a matter of seconds. Tatsuma charged after him but the security drones piled on her, extending electrified tendrils from their chassis.
"Dad!" Shield yelled and moved as if to run after them, but Yui grabbed onto her ankle.
"The security system." She bit out. "All-Might. Go."
Shield's eyes widened in realization, and she nodded.
"Go with her. Mercenaries. At the control room." Yui turned to Midoriya as she struggled to a sitting position. He hesitated, glancing over her shoulder, but Yui simply shook her head as a titanic roar shook the vault. "Go. She'll be fine."
He nodded, and the two of them disappeared in a trail of green lightning. Yui grimaced and began ripping off a piece of her dress, wrapping it around her leg like a makeshift gauze. With that done she dared to poke her head out again, to witness the battle.
If it could be called that.
"RRrrraaaa!"
A dozen robots were hanging off her, but she hardly seemed to notice as she rampaged through the swarm, every swipe of her claws cleaving through several of them at once as if their metal shells were made of tissue paper. She had three of them impaled on her horn, and as Yui watched, simply shook her head and literally shook them apart.
She wasn't fighting the drones, any more than a tiger fights mice.
She spun in place, swinging her tail, and a semicircular section of the robot horde simply disappeared, shockwaves rippling through the mass of metallic bodies as shrapnel and debris cut through them at high speed. Tatsuma grabbed one of the robots off her shoulder and shattered it against the floor before slamming herself against the nearest wall, spreading spiderweb cracks all along its surface and flattening the remaining drones hanging on to her.
She spread her wings and beat them once, the gale winds blasting the nearest robots off their feet and sending them flying. Before they could recover she slammed into them, head lowered like a rhinoceros, sending ripples across their ranks from the sheer impact of her charge.
More and more piled on but she didn't even slow down. All it did was allow her to destroy them faster. She was a whirlwind of claws, teeth, horns and bludgeoning tail. And for every drone torn apart or impaled, two more were trampled underfoot or simply thrown aside by sheer bulk and momentum.
The carnage was incredible to behold.
Their machine programming did not allow for retreat, and so the drones fought to the last, no matter how futile. Tatsuma caught the last of them between her jaws and shook her head like a dog with a chew toy, tearing it in two. As the lower half clanged against the floor she spat out the other, and turned her attention to the slack-jawed mercenaries who had just watched their army be decimated.
One turned to run. Two opened fire.
Neither helped.
Tatsuma was on them far faster than her size would imply, bullets ricocheting off of her scales like hailstones. She bit one of the rifles in half while smacking it's owner with her paw, sending him stumbling into the floor. A backhand blow sent the second one into the far wall, where he bounced off and slumped to the floor amidst a tangle of shattered robot parts. The last one hadn't made more than a third of the way towards the door when she pounced on him like a cat, slamming him against the floor.
Yui could tell that she was holding back, compared to the robots, but even then she guessed there were more than a few bones being broken.
The mercenary who'd been thrown across the room made a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl, and Yui could see his skin turning a purplish colour. At first she was worried, but then he began to grow in size, shredding his mask and body armour in the process.
"Watch out!"
He rapidly transformed into a large, purple gorilla-like creature, taking a huffing breath before throwing himself forward. Tatsuma turned around just as a large fist slammed into the side of her face and drove it into the floor. She yanked herself out of the dent she'd made, working her jaw, and spat out a single tooth the size of Yui's forearm before training her eyes, glowing like searchlights, on the transformed mercenary.
He took a hurried step backwards, his eyes widening, but Tatsuma surged upwards, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving him aside, his back slamming against the wall of the vault with enough force to dent the metal.
Then she reared back and headbutted him so hard the entire wall buckled and split apart, dust seeping from the cracks as Tatsuma slammed the mercenary through it, into the corridor and the opposite wall beyond, which collapsed on him.
She fell back onto four legs, breathing huffs of smoke and closing her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them she glanced up at the spot of warped metal Wolfram and Dr. Shield had disappeared through, before turning to look at Yui, tilting her head and raising her ears in worry.
"Yui, you're-!"
"Go. I stopped the bleeding, I'll be fine." Yui said, fighting through the pain to give her oldest friend a smile. "Go and be a Hero, Ryuuzaki."
She hesitated for a moment before nodding, spreading her wings and leaping out through the hole she had arrived through.
And so we're halfway through the Arc.
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- Location
- Here there everywhere and nowhere I am
You know depending on how AU this is going to be they might actually be able to save the device and help out All-Might.
Even if you do not want All-Might to be able to deus-ex fortitudinis (God of Might) everything you could say, "oh the device helps him with his wound but he has already given the power to the next generation so he is not that powerful as he was anymore originally" but have him still able to help out more.
There are more than enough villains and more than enough chances for the new generation to prove themselves so I don't see why keeping All-might around might not be possible in case of this going AU, but in the end it is all de decision of the Author.
Even if you do not want All-Might to be able to deus-ex fortitudinis (God of Might) everything you could say, "oh the device helps him with his wound but he has already given the power to the next generation so he is not that powerful as he was anymore originally" but have him still able to help out more.
There are more than enough villains and more than enough chances for the new generation to prove themselves so I don't see why keeping All-might around might not be possible in case of this going AU, but in the end it is all de decision of the Author.
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DBDrake
Totaly A Dragon
Yo; I love that you aren't afraid to make the MC legit, obviously simply POWERFUL.
Like, she doesn't have to be tricky or jojo shit or surprise people with her HIDDEN STRENGTH.
She's just a fuckhuge dragon who can tear you up, and you can't do anything about it, and is it fair? NO. Oh well.
That said, this story never comes off as wanky. Even when MC is doing cool ass wish fulfilment shit, there is an air of 'oh damn thats kinda scary', and from her perspective the downsides and effort she puts in to control herself and leverage her strength make the baddass living the chuni dream sections feel earned.
I've noticed lots of stories (in general and post worm) where people take a character who is not obviously strong from a watsonian way, but show them as strong from a doyalist perspective; and that's nice and all BUT!
It's hard. If your gonna have your character win a bunch of fights, at some point you have to show that punching them really hard won't work. Not evert MC has to be 100% Skitter; a little bit of Goku won't hurt here and there.
In summary, Dragons are fucking sick, and shut up I'm not biased at all.
Like, she doesn't have to be tricky or jojo shit or surprise people with her HIDDEN STRENGTH.
She's just a fuckhuge dragon who can tear you up, and you can't do anything about it, and is it fair? NO. Oh well.
That said, this story never comes off as wanky. Even when MC is doing cool ass wish fulfilment shit, there is an air of 'oh damn thats kinda scary', and from her perspective the downsides and effort she puts in to control herself and leverage her strength make the baddass living the chuni dream sections feel earned.
I've noticed lots of stories (in general and post worm) where people take a character who is not obviously strong from a watsonian way, but show them as strong from a doyalist perspective; and that's nice and all BUT!
It's hard. If your gonna have your character win a bunch of fights, at some point you have to show that punching them really hard won't work. Not evert MC has to be 100% Skitter; a little bit of Goku won't hurt here and there.
In summary, Dragons are fucking sick, and shut up I'm not biased at all.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
Nah, her quirk is physically fine. That's why the two prevailing theories are her original body is dead, so there is nothing for her to return to, or she is mentally traumatized so subconciously refuses to return to being human.
My bet is Ryuuzaki's quirk will only be "fixed" at the end of the story, if at all. I don't know how long Blackout plans for it to be but it feels like we're not close to the end.
Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
I mean, yeah, you're right on the money.
This story is, at it's core, about me wanting to write about a big stompy dragon doing big stompy dragon things. And in order to accomplish that the titular dragon needs to be both big and stompy.
So yes, Ryuuzaki has a lot of raw power. But that doesn't mean the fights have to be boring: I like to think that I include enough nuance, tricks and tactics to keep them interesting.
And while sometimes I present curbstomps like this Chapter, I hope that, as you say, in general it feels earned and doesn't come off as wanky.
Just because the fights are spectacular in scale and high-powered is not at all the same as Ryuuzaki never struggling. Because she does that. A lot. With herself, social situations and her opponents. To the point that some readers complain that it's too much, even. She has clearly defined weaknesses. She's strong, but so are many others, and I pick her opponents carefully. Sure I could've matched her with, like, Kirishima in the Tournament where she completely hard counters him and could've just picked him up, walked to the side of the arena while he flailed ineffectually in her grip and dropped him off. But what purpose would that have served for the story? Nothing.
This fight served it's purpose and conveyed what I wanted it to convey. But if every fight was like this then the story would be worse for it. Or if there were never fights like this, for that matter. A bit of power fantasy isn't inherently bad. Only when you take it too far and take the piss, as with most things.
Or at least that's my thoughts on it, people are free to disagree.
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- Location
- Elsewhere
In a way, it comes down to the setup.
In the right circumstances, she can smash through opposition and win.
In the wrong circumstances, she's hemmed in by everything and unable to bring that power to bear.
So she tries to set up stomping grounds, the opponents try to prevent it, and there's that one horrifying moment when someone moves out of position and they realize there's an opening.
- Location
- Leeds
Isn't this when Midoriya and Melissa arrived in canon or am I misremembering?
Neruz
Rogue Spiderbanana
- Location
- The Land of Fire and Poison
The biggest issue she seems to have most of the time is that she's too powerful, even by Anime Physics standards, so she has to hold back a ton to avoid accidentally killing people due to the nature of the setting, which creates weaknesses because Ryuuzaki isn't experienced enough to instinctively know exactly how much to hold back and instead tends to hold back too much due to erring on the side of caution.
Because even when you are running on Anime Physics, if a ten ton dragon steps on you, you go squish.
I think they arrived a little bit later? But yeah, it's around about the same time.
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Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
breathed out.
Wouldn't shrinking the bullet wound make it worse, actually? Bullets deal the majority of their damage due to being a high-speed chunk of metal impacting a small area - being even smaller might end up making the wound far more severe.
I think when Yui uses her quirk on a moving object it doesn't reduce velocity, but it does reduce momentum. Hence it would just be like using a vastly lower caliber gun.
edit: Forgot to specify. Making something big raises momentum, making small lowers.
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Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
Also, significantly less chance of nicking a major artery, which as I understand is the biggest danger with a leg shot.
- Location
- Leeds
Flying didn't really save a lot of time.
More on Varmish's point but that would run counter to the previously established logic that making a shoe bigger when you throw it causes it to deal more damage.
Neruz
Rogue Spiderbanana
- Location
- The Land of Fire and Poison
Yui's Quirk appears to increase or decrease the mass of an object without affecting its velocity, yes this means her Quirk creates and destroys energy from nothing, it's far from the only one.
So shrinking the bullet lowered its mass, reducing the energy in it as well as reducing the physical size of the bullet itself, under the circumstances it was probably not dissimilar from being shot by birdshot; painful and messy but simply lacking the penetrative power to reach any vital organs.
So shrinking the bullet lowered its mass, reducing the energy in it as well as reducing the physical size of the bullet itself, under the circumstances it was probably not dissimilar from being shot by birdshot; painful and messy but simply lacking the penetrative power to reach any vital organs.
Radical Sway
Space Cowboy
- Location
- The Bebop
They Dick Cheney'd her huh?
I like the earlier comment about keeping All Might in play a bit longer by saving the device which would be partially effective on him. Seems like a pretty interesting idea to me.
Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
I've made an edit to be more clear as to what's happening but the TLDR is that due to the changed circumstances Wolfram busted the safe with his Quirk rather than waiting for Shield to unlock it as happened in canon.
Thank you, fixed.
As was said already, Yui's Quirk, Size, violates the conservation of momentum (and of mass, obviously) because the velocity of the affected object remains unchanged.
So when she grows an object in motion, it doesn't slow down even though its mass increases, resulting in a massive increase in momentum. Vice versa when she shrinks an object it doesn't speed up so it loses momentum. This allows her to turn a baseball into a wrecking ball and a wrecking ball into a baseball. A bullet shrunken to the size of a grain of sand, even at the same speed, would have so little kinetic energy it might not even penetrate the skin.
However, Size has two major weaknesses (Aside from not being able to affect living matter) in that it's touch-activated and not quite instantaneous. Thus, the impacting object only begins shrinking when it makes contact with her, so she cannot totally negate the damage. This is what happened with the bullet, it made a shallow wound, very painful but nothing lifethreatening as long as she gets medical attention in a reasonable timeframe.
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Chapter 40
Blackout
Fed By Comments
- Location
- Who knows?
The hallway shook under my feet as I thundered through at full gallop, the debris from smashed walls clattering against the metal floor as I went.
Faster.
The hallways were too narrow, and my wings were scraping against the walls, but I pushed the pain out of my mind as I scrambled around a corner at a dead run, leaving deep gouges on the floor and walls with my claws.
Faster.
How long had I spent fighting the drones and the mercenaries? I was embarrassed to admit that I didn't know. I had gotten carried away. All I knew that I had to get to the helipad.
Faster.
I heard the noise of movement coming from ahead, the rustle of clothing and impact of feet on metal, except it seemed to be ricocheting around off the walls and the ceiling like a bouncing ball.
Midoriya.
"Tatsuma?!" Sure enough, the green-haired boy rounded the next corner wreathed in green lightning, coming to a halt. "The robots?"
"Taken out." I said as I barrelled past him without slowing down, and he scrambled to keep up, catching up in a few seconds. "Shield?"
"Rebooting the security system. I knocked out the mercenaries and jammed the doors so nobody can interrupt her." He explained rapidly "I'm going after Dr. Shield. Did you-"
"I was listening." I replied, glancing upwards. "Don't let me slow you down. Go."
Midoriya looked up at me, but nodded with a look of determination and bounded down the hallway, leaving me in the dust.
...I need to be faster.
After several moments of more frantic running I could hear muffled gunshots and the scream of twisting metal from the level above, accompanied by the sounds of yelling and a helicopter rotor picking up.
Screw this.
Bracing myself against the floor I slammed my horn into the ceiling, shaking the structure and driving a huge rent into it, but there was simply too much material to penetrate on one go.
Not fast enough, not strong enough.
Heat bloomed from my throat, a blossom of white-hot flames slamming into the ceiling, turning the metal into bright shades of orange. Without pause I slammed into the ceiling, clawing and stabbing at the partially molten metal even as fire continued to spew from my mouth. With a final grunt of effort I punched my way through, the night sky opening above me as I scrambled my way up out of the hole I'd made and onto the rooftop. Due to the sheer scale of the tower it stretched hundreds of meters across, much of which taken up by a massive helipad, built around the top entrance of the elevator.
And there, no more than a stone's throw away, I saw a medium-sized helicopter all but ready to take off, the blades spinning and Dr. Shield unceremoniously lying face-down in the passenger department, one of the mercenaries in the pilot's seat looking nervous.
Wolfram stood in front of the helicopter in a crouched position, one hand firing his pistol while the other was touching the helipad floor, sending out tendrils of metal after Midoriya. The 1-A student was bouncing around like a supercharged bunny, never standing still long enough for Wolfram to draw a bead on him, always staying ahead of his aim.
Wordlessly, I charged. All I needed to do was take the helicopter out of commission and grab Dr. Shield.
Unfortunately, the manner of my entrance and, well, my entire being was not conducive towards going undetected. Wolfram snarled as he heard my approach, throwing a meter-thick tendril of metal my way, only to have to immediately turn his attention the other way as Midoriya capitalized on the distraction.
"And they just keep coming!"
I ducked under the attack, stabbing at the metallic tentacle with my horn and twisting, tearing off a considerable length of it. I grabbed it with my claws and flung it towards the helicopter's rotor, while out of the corner of my eye I could see Wolfram unloading his pistol at Midoriya, a bullet ricocheting off of what looked like an arm brace of some sort. The mercenary turned around, sending a thin spike of metal to stab into the severed piece I'd thrown.
The moment it sunk in the two pieces melded together and came to a halt. It seemed like his Quirk required constant connection to work. That also explained why he was still here: the instant the helicopter lifted off he'd lose control over the metal, leaving them defenseless. The metal warped and twisted, molding into a spiked mace that swung at me with incredible speed. Using my tail to spring myself into motion I barely managed to avoid it, only for the spikes to suddenly extend and wrap around me, grabbing on to me and snatching me out of the air.
The makeshift flail flung me towards Midoriya, who was still on the back foot trying to avoid Wolfram's fire, and we collided mid-air. In that instant, I had no idea what to do. In a fraction of a second, Midoriya would be squished into a pancake between my weight and the helipad. Even with Full Cowling there was no way he could survive such an impact. The moment seemed to stretch on forever, but I was drawing a blank.
Then-
"Smash!"
Suddenly an enormous force pushed against us, counteracting our momentum while a huge gust of wind blew in the opposite direction, casting debris off the side of the tower. Abruptly brought to a standstill, I reacted quickly and lashed out with my tail, severing the shaft of the mace. We fell to the floor and I flexed my body, breaking off the curved spikes.
I turned my attention to Midoriya, looking down at the arm brace I'd seen, resembling a small fingerless gauntlet made of some kind of red material.
"What is that thing?"
"It's a support item Melissa gave to me. It's meant to protect my arm when using my full force, but it'll only last for three attacks." He shook his head. "We need to take out his escape route." He said, and I nodded. We'd been thinking along the same lines. "Can you take out the rotors with your fire?"
"The downdraft would carry the flames into the helicopter and probably ignite the fuel tanks." I shook my head. "Never use an attack if you aren't sure it won't hit anything you can't afford to."
"Okay. Yeah." Midoriya conceded with a nod, before looking up at me. "Endeavour, right? No, it doesn't matter. It's the same thing with my Smashes. Not enough fine control, too risky. We need to-"
Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the audible wind-up noise as the tower lights flickered for a moment before coming back on, a humming noise filling the air as a robotic voice spoke out over the intercom.
"Security system has been restored to normal functioning. Please remain calm and await further instructions."
"Shield." I muttered, before turning my eyes to Wolfram, his jaw tightening into a frustrated scowl beneath his mask. His time was running out, and he had to know it.
"Go!" He barked an order at the pilot over his shoulder before crouching down again, sending out whipping tendrils of metal at us. I dodged ponderously as Midoriya leapt up to meet the attack, passing between two and kicking off a third, making his way towards Wolfram, who raised his gun.
Then he turned his aim at me.
I stared down the rifled barrel, saw his finger tighten on the trigger, smelled the gunpowder and smoke, heard the boom-
I flinched.
...
The bullet bounced harmlessly off my cheek like someone had flicked a tennis ball at me.
Right. Bulletproof.
Need to work on internalizing that part.
"Tatsuma!"
Midoriya looked back over his shoulder in worry, probably thinking that I'd actually been hurt. Which meant that he didn't see the metal pole suddenly jutting out of the helipad and slamming into his gut, causing a fleck of blood to fly from his mouth and splatter against the metal. The pole reformed around him and slammed him against the helipad with an impact that rang across the floor, leaving him slumped in a curled position, knocked out cold.
"Midoriya!" I yelled out, only for the flail that I'd broken before, now reformed, smashed against the side of my skull and sent me stumbling, my head ringing.
"Ah, heroes." Wolfram laughed as a pillar of metal emerged under his feet and boosted him up to the helicopter, which dipped slightly at the sudden addition of his weight before continuing it's ascent, picking up speed. "Such predictable creatures."
"No!" I growled as I scrambled forward, but I knew I'd never make it in time. The helicopter would rapidly accelerate to speeds beyond what I could match, and leave me in the dust. I needed to be faster.
But how?
I could use my flames like I'd done against Midoriya in the training match, but I wouldn't be able to see where I was going so I would just smash against the helicopter and kill everyone onboard. There had to be a better way-
"But maybe something smaller could be viable? Once you've mastered that fire cloak move, you might be able to expend portions of it as smaller, more controlled fire jets, functioning as sort of maneuvering thrusters to help you with your agility?"
Midoriya's words rang through my head. I was still far off from mastering the technique, but the principle of what he'd suggested, just the basic principle...
Well.
It was all I had.
As I ran I craned my neck around and breathed fire over myself, feeling the warmth wash over me. I focused, and the stream bent, spiralling over me rather than dispersing, clinging to my scales. The cloak was fraying at the edges as I struggled to keep it together, bleeding off energy here and there. But with a titanic effort of will it held, pooling mostly around my wings.
"What the hell?" I heard Wolfram exclaim over the noise of the helicopter as I reached the edge of the helipad at a dead sprint, wreathed in white-orange flames and leaving behind a trail of glowing claw-prints in the metal.
Then I leapt off the tower and beat my wings, pushing with everything I had.
The fire was violently expelled backwards, and I in turn was propelled forward as if the hand of some invisible giant had given me a boost. Behind me the expanding cone of exhaust flame scorched the helipad and blew out over the edge of the tower in a billowing cloud over a hundred meters long.
I was sent flying forward at speeds far greater than I had ever achieved, trailing flame as I rocketed towards the helicopter. I could see Wolfram turn to yell something at the pilot, but it was already too late.
I curled my claws around the helicopter's tail, careful not to simply shear it off. And then I simply… pulled it down.
The helicopter might be faster than me, but it was also lighter, and I had the power of gravity on my side. I let my weight do the work for me as I pulled it back down to the ruined helipad, the engine whining and straining against the inevitable pull of the planet below. I could see the pilot frantically working the controls as I held the helicopter down with one hand, using the other to peel off the side door like a sardine can.
"You."
"Me." Wolfram nodded as he leaned against the wall of the helicopter, radiating confidence even though he was currently being held in the air by an angry dragon. "But let's talk about you instead. We could help each other out."
"What?" I said, taken aback.
"I've heard about you. The one who took down Stain. The girl stuck as a dragon. Well, I have a deal for you." He smiled as he clicked open the briefcase he'd been holding, revealing the Quirk Amplification Device. My heart skipped a beat, and my surprise must have shown in my body language because Wolfram's smile only broadened. "You know what this is, don't you? Technology like this will spread fast in the black market, once it gets out there. It could help a lot of people… people like you."
...
I could do it, a voice at the back of my head said. All I would need to do was let go, and the helicopter would outpace me in seconds. I could tell everyone I was too late, or my grip slipped. Nobody would ever know. Replicas of the Quirk Amplification Device would begin appearing on the black market soon enough, and Ryuko wouldn't turn up her nose at a possible solution to my condition.
All I needed to do was… let go.
…
"Fuck off." I growled as I snapped the helicopter's tail like a twig and slammed it against the helipad hard enough to rattle it.
"Shame." Wolfram shook his head, but seemed strangely unconcerned. What was he- no.
Time seemed to slow down. I threw myself forward, but not fast enough. Never fast enough.
"Oh well, hard way it is then."
Before I could stop him, he had placed the headset on his own brow.
An instant later, my open paw slammed into him with enough force to break every single bone in his body. Or it should have. Instead the helicopter ran like what could only be described as liquid, wrapping around me like a net, whips of metal coiling around my individual claws, holding them in place right in front of Wolfram's face.
"Ah, much better."
He snapped his fingers, and he and Dr. Shield began floating into the air on a platform of metal.
"No!"
Muscles strained against my bonds as I tried to break free like before, but all around us the helipad and indeed the entire top of the tower was creaking and shifting, cables and metal plates ripping free and rising into the air, levitating under their own power to join in restraining me. Yet more metal surrounded Wolfram as he rose higher into the air, purple light streaming from his eyes while the nodes of the Quirk Amplification Device glowed bright blue.
"Ah! Aah! I can feel my Quirk being vitalized!" He announced, revelling in his power. His voice gained a strange echoing quality, seeming reverberate from the metal itself. "As expected of David Shield's ultimate creation! Such power!"
I watched in horror as the same purple light snaked across the upper floors of the tower, stripping off more and more metal into a swirling cloud of debris that surrounded the elevated throne Wolfram had built for himself, in many places leaving behind only bare concrete and rubble.
I breathed out a burst of flame that bent around my body, melting through the bindings, and I shook myself like a dog, scattering glowing droplets before dashing towards Midoriya, snatching his prone form off the ground before he could be injured by the shifting debris.
"Uhhh…. Tatsuma?" He groaned, slowly blinking before suddenly shaking awake, his eyes wide open, frantically looking around himself. "Oh no."
"Yeah."
"He has the Quirk Amplification Device."
"Yep."
"And Dr. Shield."
"Yep."
"...I see."
"Yep."
"Ah, you're awake." Wolfram's voice made the tower shake beneath us as he turned his attention back towards us again, his eyes glowing with baleful energy. "Good. I want you two to realize the magnitude of your mistakes before you die."
I grit my teeth as I lowered Midoriya to the floor, the two of us standing side by side.
"I could have simply fled the island by air and everyone could have walked away with their lives. But now you went and took out my getaway route. So I guess I'll just have to kill everyone on this island instead." He shook his head in mock disappointment, cracking his neck. "Know that their deaths will be on your heads, Heroes."
Pillars of twisted metal shot out towards us, Midoriya leaping away in a trail of green lightning, but I was not as quick. One clipped me as I tried to take off, sending me spinning, and before I could recover several more pinned me down with overwhelming force, feeling as if an entire mountain was pressing down on me.
"Ah, it's so good to let out steam every once in a while, don't you think?" Wolfram laughed. "I know you do, I saw the look in your eyes back down there."
There was another clang as a new pillar of steel added onto the weight.
"You could've just sat this all out like the good little students you're supposed to be."
Clang.
"But then you had to go and interfere."
Clang.
"And now everybody is going to have to pay the price."
Clang.
"I think I'll start with that girl I shot earlier. Bad for business to leave a job unfinished. Then, everyone else."
…
I could hear the pause in his voice as the clang he'd been expecting never came. Instead there was a squelching sound, as if it had hit something… liquid.
"The hell you will."
Heat unlike anything I had ever felt radiated from my chest, light like a night-time sun filling my vision. The cone of blue-white flame pierced through the metal as if it wasn't even there, just the sheer shockwave of it blew aside the molten metal in a circular pattern around it, while the rooftop around me glowed orange simply from the excess heat. The blue flame punched through meters upon meters of steel, penetrating all the way through his metal throne before petering out in the night skies far beyond.
"You-!"
Wolfram's voice echoed through the metal, and I caught a glimpse of his form nestled deep inside the structure near the edge of the destruction, having shifted his position just in time, though the edge of his clothes had been charred black and I could see the grimace of pain on his face. . I threw my head to the side, turning the stream of flames on him, but huge plates of compressed scrap metal flew between us, shielding him. Molten steel cascaded down onto the rooftop like a waterfall, but the entire tower shook and rattled as he pulled out more and more metal to protect him. I couldn't get through, at least not until I would run out.
I didn't need to.
"ONE HUNDRED PERCENT: TEXAS SMAAAASH!"
The pressure wave hit me like a literal wall as Wolfram's throne-structure, it's structural integrity already compromised, snapped back like a giant being decked in the face by another, scattering bits and pieces in all directions. Midoriya's tiny form was visible above it, diving down towards the exposed mercenary leader.
I couldn't see what happened next, but the familiar scream of pain told me more than enough. I smashed through the shield plates with a devastating headbutt, my horn cleaving through the softened metal. I'd started running as soon as Wolfram obscured his vision of me, and I burst through in an explosion of molten steel. I saw the glowing red whip of metal wrapped around Midoriya's gauntlet as I charged, my claws swiping at the headset on Wolfram's brow.
All I needed was to do was destroy it.
Or did I?
"It could help a lot of people… people like you."
Did I need to destroy it? Could I seize it without destroying it? If it could really- if it was a chance for a cure- if I used too much force-
I hesitated.
Just for a moment, but that moment was all that I had. Wolfram turned, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw me burst through the partially-molten shield plate, and threw his head to the side, avoiding my claws. Then, right in front of my eyes, his skin began to glow red, his muscles contracting for a moment before swelling outwards, straining his clothing and ripping through his sleeves.
He drove his fist into my jaw with immense force, slamming me against the floating debris. Before I could recover the metal wrapped around me, lowering me to right in front of him. Wolfram reached out with one huge hand to seize me by the neck, his fingers crushing my throat with such strength that I could feel the scales cracking beneath his grip.
"You clever little bastards…" He said, leaning forward with a self-assured smirk. "You thought you had me there, didn't you?"
"Muscle… Augmentation?" I choked out, struggling for air. "How-?"
"But when we were planning this job, a certain man approached me." Wolfram smirked, a bit of steam escaping from his mouth. "He told me that if All-Might's friend wants to have a hand in something evil, he definitely wants to help out."
"Who.... was…?"
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. You'll be dead in a few moments." He shook his head. "That man's name was A-"
"SMAAAAASH!" Midoriya roared, having struggled free while Wolfram was distracted with me.
It was like a bomb had gone off in front of my face. I was thrown about like a leaf in a summer storm, sent flying through the floating debris field before hitting the rooftop, bouncing up once before rolling to a halt on my back, groaning in pain. There was another dull thump as Midoriya landed perhaps fifty meters to my left, falling down in a slump.
I dared to glance upwards at the metal contraption, the upper half of which was gone, and dared to hope.
Then-
"You insolent little brats..." Wolfram's voice thundered as scrap and debris began levitating upwards again in spiralling streams, reforming around him.
I struggled to my feet, but I could tell that I was spent. A bone-deep weariness permeated my whole body, an entire new level of tiredness. More than that I felt cold, my legs shivering underneath me as I rose to a standing position. Midoriya looked little better, beaten and bruised, clutching his burnt hand with a pained expression as he stood shakily. The gauntlet was ruined, charred and broken while the exposed skin on his hand was angry, blistering red.
"...I've got nothing." I admitted quietly.
"I mean, maybe- we have to- we could try-" He stammered. "There has to be a…"
He trailed off, looking up at Wolfram, titanic clouds of debris orbiting him.
"Hey, Midoriya?" I asked in a subdued voice. "Can I talk to you about something?"
"Don't tell me you-" Midoriya began, looking like a deer in the headlights.
"Your Quirk…" I breathed out heavily. "It's All-Might's Quirk, isn't it?"
"Oh. How did you know?" He replied quietly, before catching himself. "I mean, no, of course not! I don't- I mean- it's…"
He fell quiet again, his objections fading as he realized what he'd already admitted.
"I thought so." I said softly, shaking my head before falling into a combat stance, focusing my eyes on Wolfram. "You ready?"
"...Yeah." Midoriya responded after a moment, with a slight smile.
I took a step forward, sucking in a breath as a lance of pain went up my leg, and then another. To my left, Midoriya followed suit.
"Oh?" Wolfram asked quizzically. "Even now, at the end of the line, you're still going to keep coming towards me?"
"Every second here..." Midoriya began.
"...The people below get to live." I finished.
"Well then. Let us do something about that." Wolfram threw his hands upwards, scrap metal gathering together, bits and pieces compressing against each other until they formed into a huge cube
He cast his hands forward, and the cube launched at us, easily the better part of a hundred meters across. It could not be stopped. It could not be avoided. It would crush us to paste.
I took in a deep breath.
...
Then-
"Isn't there someone you've been forgetting about, villain?!"
A familiar, booming tone announced just as a blue-red-white streak rocketed past us, the shockwaves sending debris flying as it smashed against the cube with tremendous force. The scrap metal heaved and buckled under the impact, stopped in its tracks by the titanic blow. In the blink of an eye, a dozen more strikes rained down on the cube, shattering it like glass before a sledgehammer and sending each individual piece careening back towards the sender like cannonballs.
"It is alright now." The tall, muscular figure said as he turned around, a confident yet kind smile in his chiselled features. "I am here."
I couldn't quite stay on my feet as a wave of relief physically wracked me, so strong that I all but wanted to puke. Beside me Midoriya slumped to his knees, tears welling in his eyes.
"All-Might." I choked up. "I… I had the opportunity- I made a mistake."
"It is alright, Young Tatsuma." He said, his blue eyes seeming to bore into my soul. "That is why I am here. So that you youngsters can make mistakes, and try again. So that you have room to learn and grow into who I know you can be. The responsibility should never have been on you in the first place." He shook his head.
"He has two Quirks." Midoriya said. "Muscle Augmentation and Metal Control. Both are boosted by the Quirk Amplification Device. He's… a monster."
"He said… someone had given him a Quirk." I added, and All-Might's expression instantly hardened. "Someone who knew yo-"
"We will speak of this later." He cut me off curtly, before turning away. "But now, villain! I'll have you return my dear friend!"
"Is that so?" Wolfram growled, huge tendrils of metal coiling behind him. "You think this man is your friend? You have no idea what he's done. But if you insist I will indulge you, Hero." He brought his splayed fingers into a fist and they launched forwards like striking serpents. "What better demonstration of the power of this device, than pounding All-Might himself flat?"
All-Might glared up at him, and then disappeared from sight, the rubble cracking where he'd just stood. I could not see the punches thrown, only their aftereffects. Each tendril shattered under a tremendous impact, seemingly simultaneously, debris raining onto the rooftop with a deafening clatter.
"You have tormented my young students long enough!" He announced as he came to a halt, raising an accusatory finger towards Wolfram. "Prepare yourself, villain!"
And then he was gone again, faster than the eye could track. More and more steel pillars came down, slamming into the rooftop but none of them came anywhere near All-Might. It went beyond mere speed, he was untouchable.
Wolfram lashed out at his general area with electrical cabling frayed into multi-headed whips crackling with energy, but All-Might just cocked back his fist in response.
"Texas Smash!"
The air pressure of the punch alone tore through the cables, blowing them away like leaves before a storm gale. Where Midoriya's strikes were expressions of raw power in its purest, uncontrolled form, this was that same strength carefully marshalled to a purpose.
So this was the real power of the Number One Hero. This was the level that existed beyond even the highest echelons of Pro-Heroes. This was the Symbol of Peace, crystallized in one singular man.
It was awe-inspiring to behold.
All-Might swung his arms backwards, launching himself forward solely through the air pressure he generated, smashing through the debris towards Wolfram. At the last moment, a stream of liquid metal, still orange-red from where my flames had melted it, burst out from underneath the villain and towards All-Might.
"Carolina Smash!"
He brought his hands cross position, swiping them outwards with such force that it cut the metal stream apart, each quarter veering into a different direction while he continued on his path through the middle.
More metal was flying upwards, trying to get between them, but All-Might's speed was impossible to match. At the last, Wolfram roared in challenge and charged himself, raising one of his huge fists to strike at All-Might. But, faster than the eye could track, the Number One Hero punched the air, the shockwave sending Wolfram stumbling, and I could see pieces of the Quirk Amplification Device falling towards the rooftop below.
"You-" Wolfram choked out as he stumbled towards All-Might, his form shuddering and contracting, his skin losing its red glow.
"Enough."
All-Might's voice boomed across the rooftop, as he reached forward and chopped a hand into his neck, sending him flying several meters before coming to a rest, knocked out cold.
All at once the floating metal became inanimate, falling from the air as if thousands of invisible strings had suddenly been cut, Wolfram's entire metal throne toppling to the side before coming to a rest against the rooftop.
It was over.
-----
"Dave!"
All-Might's concerned voice shook David Shield awake, suddenly snapping to a sitting position and blinking his eyes trying to clear his swimming vision.
"Dave, your shoulder..."
"I'll live." He said, but grunting in pain even as he said so. "Toshi, I… I just want you to know… I only wanted to help. Your Quirk… if it was restored to your prime…"
"I know, Dave. I know you had the best of intentions. But this… it should have never come to this." All-Might said, before holding up a piece of the broken Quirk Amplification Device. "I know you wanted to help. But the Symbol of Peace cannot be built on something as fragile as this." He shook his head sadly. "My time is coming to an end. If it wasn't for Young Midoriya and Tatsuma, with this body of mine... I couldn't have done it. There were too many mercenaries, too many drones for me to protect everyone. If it had taken longer, if I'd had to hold muscle form for much longer… I fear I wouldn't have even had the power left to fight Wolfram. If they'd succeeded, if this technology became available to every villain and terrorist in the world… if they'd taken you, Dave. I don't know what I would've done."
There was nothing Shield could say.
"I will fight until I cannot. But prolonging the inevitable end by a year or two isn't the solution." All-Might said, pushing himself to a standing position and gazing across the rooftop. "For that, we must look to the next generation. We must teach and nurture them, and hope that they will be better than us."
"I… the kids… they didn't need to. They shouldn't have. And yet they did. For- for me." Shield bowed his head in shame. "I don't know how to even begin to thank them." He admitted.
All-Might said nothing for a moment, merely watching as Melissa and the other students arrived from the elevator, running over to Midoriya and Tatsuma. Uraraka was fussing over the former whilst Iida was carrying Kodai, bandaged and conscious, who was speaking softly with Tatsuma.
Faster.
The hallways were too narrow, and my wings were scraping against the walls, but I pushed the pain out of my mind as I scrambled around a corner at a dead run, leaving deep gouges on the floor and walls with my claws.
Faster.
How long had I spent fighting the drones and the mercenaries? I was embarrassed to admit that I didn't know. I had gotten carried away. All I knew that I had to get to the helipad.
Faster.
I heard the noise of movement coming from ahead, the rustle of clothing and impact of feet on metal, except it seemed to be ricocheting around off the walls and the ceiling like a bouncing ball.
Midoriya.
"Tatsuma?!" Sure enough, the green-haired boy rounded the next corner wreathed in green lightning, coming to a halt. "The robots?"
"Taken out." I said as I barrelled past him without slowing down, and he scrambled to keep up, catching up in a few seconds. "Shield?"
"Rebooting the security system. I knocked out the mercenaries and jammed the doors so nobody can interrupt her." He explained rapidly "I'm going after Dr. Shield. Did you-"
"I was listening." I replied, glancing upwards. "Don't let me slow you down. Go."
Midoriya looked up at me, but nodded with a look of determination and bounded down the hallway, leaving me in the dust.
...I need to be faster.
After several moments of more frantic running I could hear muffled gunshots and the scream of twisting metal from the level above, accompanied by the sounds of yelling and a helicopter rotor picking up.
Screw this.
Bracing myself against the floor I slammed my horn into the ceiling, shaking the structure and driving a huge rent into it, but there was simply too much material to penetrate on one go.
Not fast enough, not strong enough.
Heat bloomed from my throat, a blossom of white-hot flames slamming into the ceiling, turning the metal into bright shades of orange. Without pause I slammed into the ceiling, clawing and stabbing at the partially molten metal even as fire continued to spew from my mouth. With a final grunt of effort I punched my way through, the night sky opening above me as I scrambled my way up out of the hole I'd made and onto the rooftop. Due to the sheer scale of the tower it stretched hundreds of meters across, much of which taken up by a massive helipad, built around the top entrance of the elevator.
And there, no more than a stone's throw away, I saw a medium-sized helicopter all but ready to take off, the blades spinning and Dr. Shield unceremoniously lying face-down in the passenger department, one of the mercenaries in the pilot's seat looking nervous.
Wolfram stood in front of the helicopter in a crouched position, one hand firing his pistol while the other was touching the helipad floor, sending out tendrils of metal after Midoriya. The 1-A student was bouncing around like a supercharged bunny, never standing still long enough for Wolfram to draw a bead on him, always staying ahead of his aim.
Wordlessly, I charged. All I needed to do was take the helicopter out of commission and grab Dr. Shield.
Unfortunately, the manner of my entrance and, well, my entire being was not conducive towards going undetected. Wolfram snarled as he heard my approach, throwing a meter-thick tendril of metal my way, only to have to immediately turn his attention the other way as Midoriya capitalized on the distraction.
"And they just keep coming!"
I ducked under the attack, stabbing at the metallic tentacle with my horn and twisting, tearing off a considerable length of it. I grabbed it with my claws and flung it towards the helicopter's rotor, while out of the corner of my eye I could see Wolfram unloading his pistol at Midoriya, a bullet ricocheting off of what looked like an arm brace of some sort. The mercenary turned around, sending a thin spike of metal to stab into the severed piece I'd thrown.
The moment it sunk in the two pieces melded together and came to a halt. It seemed like his Quirk required constant connection to work. That also explained why he was still here: the instant the helicopter lifted off he'd lose control over the metal, leaving them defenseless. The metal warped and twisted, molding into a spiked mace that swung at me with incredible speed. Using my tail to spring myself into motion I barely managed to avoid it, only for the spikes to suddenly extend and wrap around me, grabbing on to me and snatching me out of the air.
The makeshift flail flung me towards Midoriya, who was still on the back foot trying to avoid Wolfram's fire, and we collided mid-air. In that instant, I had no idea what to do. In a fraction of a second, Midoriya would be squished into a pancake between my weight and the helipad. Even with Full Cowling there was no way he could survive such an impact. The moment seemed to stretch on forever, but I was drawing a blank.
Then-
"Smash!"
Suddenly an enormous force pushed against us, counteracting our momentum while a huge gust of wind blew in the opposite direction, casting debris off the side of the tower. Abruptly brought to a standstill, I reacted quickly and lashed out with my tail, severing the shaft of the mace. We fell to the floor and I flexed my body, breaking off the curved spikes.
I turned my attention to Midoriya, looking down at the arm brace I'd seen, resembling a small fingerless gauntlet made of some kind of red material.
"What is that thing?"
"It's a support item Melissa gave to me. It's meant to protect my arm when using my full force, but it'll only last for three attacks." He shook his head. "We need to take out his escape route." He said, and I nodded. We'd been thinking along the same lines. "Can you take out the rotors with your fire?"
"The downdraft would carry the flames into the helicopter and probably ignite the fuel tanks." I shook my head. "Never use an attack if you aren't sure it won't hit anything you can't afford to."
"Okay. Yeah." Midoriya conceded with a nod, before looking up at me. "Endeavour, right? No, it doesn't matter. It's the same thing with my Smashes. Not enough fine control, too risky. We need to-"
Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the audible wind-up noise as the tower lights flickered for a moment before coming back on, a humming noise filling the air as a robotic voice spoke out over the intercom.
"Security system has been restored to normal functioning. Please remain calm and await further instructions."
"Shield." I muttered, before turning my eyes to Wolfram, his jaw tightening into a frustrated scowl beneath his mask. His time was running out, and he had to know it.
"Go!" He barked an order at the pilot over his shoulder before crouching down again, sending out whipping tendrils of metal at us. I dodged ponderously as Midoriya leapt up to meet the attack, passing between two and kicking off a third, making his way towards Wolfram, who raised his gun.
Then he turned his aim at me.
I stared down the rifled barrel, saw his finger tighten on the trigger, smelled the gunpowder and smoke, heard the boom-
I flinched.
...
The bullet bounced harmlessly off my cheek like someone had flicked a tennis ball at me.
Right. Bulletproof.
Need to work on internalizing that part.
"Tatsuma!"
Midoriya looked back over his shoulder in worry, probably thinking that I'd actually been hurt. Which meant that he didn't see the metal pole suddenly jutting out of the helipad and slamming into his gut, causing a fleck of blood to fly from his mouth and splatter against the metal. The pole reformed around him and slammed him against the helipad with an impact that rang across the floor, leaving him slumped in a curled position, knocked out cold.
"Midoriya!" I yelled out, only for the flail that I'd broken before, now reformed, smashed against the side of my skull and sent me stumbling, my head ringing.
"Ah, heroes." Wolfram laughed as a pillar of metal emerged under his feet and boosted him up to the helicopter, which dipped slightly at the sudden addition of his weight before continuing it's ascent, picking up speed. "Such predictable creatures."
"No!" I growled as I scrambled forward, but I knew I'd never make it in time. The helicopter would rapidly accelerate to speeds beyond what I could match, and leave me in the dust. I needed to be faster.
But how?
I could use my flames like I'd done against Midoriya in the training match, but I wouldn't be able to see where I was going so I would just smash against the helicopter and kill everyone onboard. There had to be a better way-
"But maybe something smaller could be viable? Once you've mastered that fire cloak move, you might be able to expend portions of it as smaller, more controlled fire jets, functioning as sort of maneuvering thrusters to help you with your agility?"
Midoriya's words rang through my head. I was still far off from mastering the technique, but the principle of what he'd suggested, just the basic principle...
Well.
It was all I had.
As I ran I craned my neck around and breathed fire over myself, feeling the warmth wash over me. I focused, and the stream bent, spiralling over me rather than dispersing, clinging to my scales. The cloak was fraying at the edges as I struggled to keep it together, bleeding off energy here and there. But with a titanic effort of will it held, pooling mostly around my wings.
"What the hell?" I heard Wolfram exclaim over the noise of the helicopter as I reached the edge of the helipad at a dead sprint, wreathed in white-orange flames and leaving behind a trail of glowing claw-prints in the metal.
Then I leapt off the tower and beat my wings, pushing with everything I had.
The fire was violently expelled backwards, and I in turn was propelled forward as if the hand of some invisible giant had given me a boost. Behind me the expanding cone of exhaust flame scorched the helipad and blew out over the edge of the tower in a billowing cloud over a hundred meters long.
I was sent flying forward at speeds far greater than I had ever achieved, trailing flame as I rocketed towards the helicopter. I could see Wolfram turn to yell something at the pilot, but it was already too late.
I curled my claws around the helicopter's tail, careful not to simply shear it off. And then I simply… pulled it down.
The helicopter might be faster than me, but it was also lighter, and I had the power of gravity on my side. I let my weight do the work for me as I pulled it back down to the ruined helipad, the engine whining and straining against the inevitable pull of the planet below. I could see the pilot frantically working the controls as I held the helicopter down with one hand, using the other to peel off the side door like a sardine can.
"You."
"Me." Wolfram nodded as he leaned against the wall of the helicopter, radiating confidence even though he was currently being held in the air by an angry dragon. "But let's talk about you instead. We could help each other out."
"What?" I said, taken aback.
"I've heard about you. The one who took down Stain. The girl stuck as a dragon. Well, I have a deal for you." He smiled as he clicked open the briefcase he'd been holding, revealing the Quirk Amplification Device. My heart skipped a beat, and my surprise must have shown in my body language because Wolfram's smile only broadened. "You know what this is, don't you? Technology like this will spread fast in the black market, once it gets out there. It could help a lot of people… people like you."
...
I could do it, a voice at the back of my head said. All I would need to do was let go, and the helicopter would outpace me in seconds. I could tell everyone I was too late, or my grip slipped. Nobody would ever know. Replicas of the Quirk Amplification Device would begin appearing on the black market soon enough, and Ryuko wouldn't turn up her nose at a possible solution to my condition.
All I needed to do was… let go.
…
"Fuck off." I growled as I snapped the helicopter's tail like a twig and slammed it against the helipad hard enough to rattle it.
"Shame." Wolfram shook his head, but seemed strangely unconcerned. What was he- no.
Time seemed to slow down. I threw myself forward, but not fast enough. Never fast enough.
"Oh well, hard way it is then."
Before I could stop him, he had placed the headset on his own brow.
An instant later, my open paw slammed into him with enough force to break every single bone in his body. Or it should have. Instead the helicopter ran like what could only be described as liquid, wrapping around me like a net, whips of metal coiling around my individual claws, holding them in place right in front of Wolfram's face.
"Ah, much better."
He snapped his fingers, and he and Dr. Shield began floating into the air on a platform of metal.
"No!"
Muscles strained against my bonds as I tried to break free like before, but all around us the helipad and indeed the entire top of the tower was creaking and shifting, cables and metal plates ripping free and rising into the air, levitating under their own power to join in restraining me. Yet more metal surrounded Wolfram as he rose higher into the air, purple light streaming from his eyes while the nodes of the Quirk Amplification Device glowed bright blue.
"Ah! Aah! I can feel my Quirk being vitalized!" He announced, revelling in his power. His voice gained a strange echoing quality, seeming reverberate from the metal itself. "As expected of David Shield's ultimate creation! Such power!"
I watched in horror as the same purple light snaked across the upper floors of the tower, stripping off more and more metal into a swirling cloud of debris that surrounded the elevated throne Wolfram had built for himself, in many places leaving behind only bare concrete and rubble.
I breathed out a burst of flame that bent around my body, melting through the bindings, and I shook myself like a dog, scattering glowing droplets before dashing towards Midoriya, snatching his prone form off the ground before he could be injured by the shifting debris.
"Uhhh…. Tatsuma?" He groaned, slowly blinking before suddenly shaking awake, his eyes wide open, frantically looking around himself. "Oh no."
"Yeah."
"He has the Quirk Amplification Device."
"Yep."
"And Dr. Shield."
"Yep."
"...I see."
"Yep."
"Ah, you're awake." Wolfram's voice made the tower shake beneath us as he turned his attention back towards us again, his eyes glowing with baleful energy. "Good. I want you two to realize the magnitude of your mistakes before you die."
I grit my teeth as I lowered Midoriya to the floor, the two of us standing side by side.
"I could have simply fled the island by air and everyone could have walked away with their lives. But now you went and took out my getaway route. So I guess I'll just have to kill everyone on this island instead." He shook his head in mock disappointment, cracking his neck. "Know that their deaths will be on your heads, Heroes."
Pillars of twisted metal shot out towards us, Midoriya leaping away in a trail of green lightning, but I was not as quick. One clipped me as I tried to take off, sending me spinning, and before I could recover several more pinned me down with overwhelming force, feeling as if an entire mountain was pressing down on me.
"Ah, it's so good to let out steam every once in a while, don't you think?" Wolfram laughed. "I know you do, I saw the look in your eyes back down there."
There was another clang as a new pillar of steel added onto the weight.
"You could've just sat this all out like the good little students you're supposed to be."
Clang.
"But then you had to go and interfere."
Clang.
"And now everybody is going to have to pay the price."
Clang.
"I think I'll start with that girl I shot earlier. Bad for business to leave a job unfinished. Then, everyone else."
…
I could hear the pause in his voice as the clang he'd been expecting never came. Instead there was a squelching sound, as if it had hit something… liquid.
"The hell you will."
Heat unlike anything I had ever felt radiated from my chest, light like a night-time sun filling my vision. The cone of blue-white flame pierced through the metal as if it wasn't even there, just the sheer shockwave of it blew aside the molten metal in a circular pattern around it, while the rooftop around me glowed orange simply from the excess heat. The blue flame punched through meters upon meters of steel, penetrating all the way through his metal throne before petering out in the night skies far beyond.
"You-!"
Wolfram's voice echoed through the metal, and I caught a glimpse of his form nestled deep inside the structure near the edge of the destruction, having shifted his position just in time, though the edge of his clothes had been charred black and I could see the grimace of pain on his face. . I threw my head to the side, turning the stream of flames on him, but huge plates of compressed scrap metal flew between us, shielding him. Molten steel cascaded down onto the rooftop like a waterfall, but the entire tower shook and rattled as he pulled out more and more metal to protect him. I couldn't get through, at least not until I would run out.
I didn't need to.
"ONE HUNDRED PERCENT: TEXAS SMAAAASH!"
The pressure wave hit me like a literal wall as Wolfram's throne-structure, it's structural integrity already compromised, snapped back like a giant being decked in the face by another, scattering bits and pieces in all directions. Midoriya's tiny form was visible above it, diving down towards the exposed mercenary leader.
I couldn't see what happened next, but the familiar scream of pain told me more than enough. I smashed through the shield plates with a devastating headbutt, my horn cleaving through the softened metal. I'd started running as soon as Wolfram obscured his vision of me, and I burst through in an explosion of molten steel. I saw the glowing red whip of metal wrapped around Midoriya's gauntlet as I charged, my claws swiping at the headset on Wolfram's brow.
All I needed was to do was destroy it.
Or did I?
"It could help a lot of people… people like you."
Did I need to destroy it? Could I seize it without destroying it? If it could really- if it was a chance for a cure- if I used too much force-
I hesitated.
Just for a moment, but that moment was all that I had. Wolfram turned, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw me burst through the partially-molten shield plate, and threw his head to the side, avoiding my claws. Then, right in front of my eyes, his skin began to glow red, his muscles contracting for a moment before swelling outwards, straining his clothing and ripping through his sleeves.
He drove his fist into my jaw with immense force, slamming me against the floating debris. Before I could recover the metal wrapped around me, lowering me to right in front of him. Wolfram reached out with one huge hand to seize me by the neck, his fingers crushing my throat with such strength that I could feel the scales cracking beneath his grip.
"You clever little bastards…" He said, leaning forward with a self-assured smirk. "You thought you had me there, didn't you?"
"Muscle… Augmentation?" I choked out, struggling for air. "How-?"
"But when we were planning this job, a certain man approached me." Wolfram smirked, a bit of steam escaping from his mouth. "He told me that if All-Might's friend wants to have a hand in something evil, he definitely wants to help out."
"Who.... was…?"
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. You'll be dead in a few moments." He shook his head. "That man's name was A-"
"SMAAAAASH!" Midoriya roared, having struggled free while Wolfram was distracted with me.
It was like a bomb had gone off in front of my face. I was thrown about like a leaf in a summer storm, sent flying through the floating debris field before hitting the rooftop, bouncing up once before rolling to a halt on my back, groaning in pain. There was another dull thump as Midoriya landed perhaps fifty meters to my left, falling down in a slump.
I dared to glance upwards at the metal contraption, the upper half of which was gone, and dared to hope.
Then-
"You insolent little brats..." Wolfram's voice thundered as scrap and debris began levitating upwards again in spiralling streams, reforming around him.
I struggled to my feet, but I could tell that I was spent. A bone-deep weariness permeated my whole body, an entire new level of tiredness. More than that I felt cold, my legs shivering underneath me as I rose to a standing position. Midoriya looked little better, beaten and bruised, clutching his burnt hand with a pained expression as he stood shakily. The gauntlet was ruined, charred and broken while the exposed skin on his hand was angry, blistering red.
"...I've got nothing." I admitted quietly.
"I mean, maybe- we have to- we could try-" He stammered. "There has to be a…"
He trailed off, looking up at Wolfram, titanic clouds of debris orbiting him.
"Hey, Midoriya?" I asked in a subdued voice. "Can I talk to you about something?"
"Don't tell me you-" Midoriya began, looking like a deer in the headlights.
"Your Quirk…" I breathed out heavily. "It's All-Might's Quirk, isn't it?"
"Oh. How did you know?" He replied quietly, before catching himself. "I mean, no, of course not! I don't- I mean- it's…"
He fell quiet again, his objections fading as he realized what he'd already admitted.
"I thought so." I said softly, shaking my head before falling into a combat stance, focusing my eyes on Wolfram. "You ready?"
"...Yeah." Midoriya responded after a moment, with a slight smile.
I took a step forward, sucking in a breath as a lance of pain went up my leg, and then another. To my left, Midoriya followed suit.
"Oh?" Wolfram asked quizzically. "Even now, at the end of the line, you're still going to keep coming towards me?"
"Every second here..." Midoriya began.
"...The people below get to live." I finished.
"Well then. Let us do something about that." Wolfram threw his hands upwards, scrap metal gathering together, bits and pieces compressing against each other until they formed into a huge cube
He cast his hands forward, and the cube launched at us, easily the better part of a hundred meters across. It could not be stopped. It could not be avoided. It would crush us to paste.
I took in a deep breath.
...
Then-
"Isn't there someone you've been forgetting about, villain?!"
A familiar, booming tone announced just as a blue-red-white streak rocketed past us, the shockwaves sending debris flying as it smashed against the cube with tremendous force. The scrap metal heaved and buckled under the impact, stopped in its tracks by the titanic blow. In the blink of an eye, a dozen more strikes rained down on the cube, shattering it like glass before a sledgehammer and sending each individual piece careening back towards the sender like cannonballs.
"It is alright now." The tall, muscular figure said as he turned around, a confident yet kind smile in his chiselled features. "I am here."
I couldn't quite stay on my feet as a wave of relief physically wracked me, so strong that I all but wanted to puke. Beside me Midoriya slumped to his knees, tears welling in his eyes.
"All-Might." I choked up. "I… I had the opportunity- I made a mistake."
"It is alright, Young Tatsuma." He said, his blue eyes seeming to bore into my soul. "That is why I am here. So that you youngsters can make mistakes, and try again. So that you have room to learn and grow into who I know you can be. The responsibility should never have been on you in the first place." He shook his head.
"He has two Quirks." Midoriya said. "Muscle Augmentation and Metal Control. Both are boosted by the Quirk Amplification Device. He's… a monster."
"He said… someone had given him a Quirk." I added, and All-Might's expression instantly hardened. "Someone who knew yo-"
"We will speak of this later." He cut me off curtly, before turning away. "But now, villain! I'll have you return my dear friend!"
"Is that so?" Wolfram growled, huge tendrils of metal coiling behind him. "You think this man is your friend? You have no idea what he's done. But if you insist I will indulge you, Hero." He brought his splayed fingers into a fist and they launched forwards like striking serpents. "What better demonstration of the power of this device, than pounding All-Might himself flat?"
All-Might glared up at him, and then disappeared from sight, the rubble cracking where he'd just stood. I could not see the punches thrown, only their aftereffects. Each tendril shattered under a tremendous impact, seemingly simultaneously, debris raining onto the rooftop with a deafening clatter.
"You have tormented my young students long enough!" He announced as he came to a halt, raising an accusatory finger towards Wolfram. "Prepare yourself, villain!"
And then he was gone again, faster than the eye could track. More and more steel pillars came down, slamming into the rooftop but none of them came anywhere near All-Might. It went beyond mere speed, he was untouchable.
Wolfram lashed out at his general area with electrical cabling frayed into multi-headed whips crackling with energy, but All-Might just cocked back his fist in response.
"Texas Smash!"
The air pressure of the punch alone tore through the cables, blowing them away like leaves before a storm gale. Where Midoriya's strikes were expressions of raw power in its purest, uncontrolled form, this was that same strength carefully marshalled to a purpose.
So this was the real power of the Number One Hero. This was the level that existed beyond even the highest echelons of Pro-Heroes. This was the Symbol of Peace, crystallized in one singular man.
It was awe-inspiring to behold.
All-Might swung his arms backwards, launching himself forward solely through the air pressure he generated, smashing through the debris towards Wolfram. At the last moment, a stream of liquid metal, still orange-red from where my flames had melted it, burst out from underneath the villain and towards All-Might.
"Carolina Smash!"
He brought his hands cross position, swiping them outwards with such force that it cut the metal stream apart, each quarter veering into a different direction while he continued on his path through the middle.
More metal was flying upwards, trying to get between them, but All-Might's speed was impossible to match. At the last, Wolfram roared in challenge and charged himself, raising one of his huge fists to strike at All-Might. But, faster than the eye could track, the Number One Hero punched the air, the shockwave sending Wolfram stumbling, and I could see pieces of the Quirk Amplification Device falling towards the rooftop below.
"You-" Wolfram choked out as he stumbled towards All-Might, his form shuddering and contracting, his skin losing its red glow.
"Enough."
All-Might's voice boomed across the rooftop, as he reached forward and chopped a hand into his neck, sending him flying several meters before coming to a rest, knocked out cold.
All at once the floating metal became inanimate, falling from the air as if thousands of invisible strings had suddenly been cut, Wolfram's entire metal throne toppling to the side before coming to a rest against the rooftop.
It was over.
-----
"Dave!"
All-Might's concerned voice shook David Shield awake, suddenly snapping to a sitting position and blinking his eyes trying to clear his swimming vision.
"Dave, your shoulder..."
"I'll live." He said, but grunting in pain even as he said so. "Toshi, I… I just want you to know… I only wanted to help. Your Quirk… if it was restored to your prime…"
"I know, Dave. I know you had the best of intentions. But this… it should have never come to this." All-Might said, before holding up a piece of the broken Quirk Amplification Device. "I know you wanted to help. But the Symbol of Peace cannot be built on something as fragile as this." He shook his head sadly. "My time is coming to an end. If it wasn't for Young Midoriya and Tatsuma, with this body of mine... I couldn't have done it. There were too many mercenaries, too many drones for me to protect everyone. If it had taken longer, if I'd had to hold muscle form for much longer… I fear I wouldn't have even had the power left to fight Wolfram. If they'd succeeded, if this technology became available to every villain and terrorist in the world… if they'd taken you, Dave. I don't know what I would've done."
There was nothing Shield could say.
"I will fight until I cannot. But prolonging the inevitable end by a year or two isn't the solution." All-Might said, pushing himself to a standing position and gazing across the rooftop. "For that, we must look to the next generation. We must teach and nurture them, and hope that they will be better than us."
"I… the kids… they didn't need to. They shouldn't have. And yet they did. For- for me." Shield bowed his head in shame. "I don't know how to even begin to thank them." He admitted.
All-Might said nothing for a moment, merely watching as Melissa and the other students arrived from the elevator, running over to Midoriya and Tatsuma. Uraraka was fussing over the former whilst Iida was carrying Kodai, bandaged and conscious, who was speaking softly with Tatsuma.
My apologies for taking so long. We've only got one more Chapter left in the I-Island Arc but it's probably going to be the most important one by far.
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