MosesArk Reborn2000
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Chapter 22: Clean-up and Recovery
🕑 Added 2024-04-23 15:09:28 +0000 UTCA funny thing happened in this chapter. Because I used some bits that I planned for this chapter in the last chapter, stuff that was meant to be here was moved up, such as the scene with the League's retreat, which had to be changed because the fight between Midoriya and the Nomu was altered to suit the needs of the story.
For the first time ever, I've found myself with less-than-normal material to work with. I didn't wish to dip into the material planned for the next chapter, so depending on how things go in the writing and editing process, this chapter might be a bit slim compared to the rest.
Chapter 22: Clean-up and Recovery
With the fighting done, students evacuated, and most villains were found and detained. Nezu had a moment to look over the destruction that had ironically befallen a site designed to train and test students for disaster situations. For the most part, the many zones were largely undamaged, no more than what could be expected during a regular class. However, that was different between the two of them and the plaza.
All had the exact reason for that massive spike in damage, one that could be seen from the many scorch marks and melted paths across the central plaza that could be observed from the top of the stairs. "Serious improvements to security are needed," Nezu noted, as the two teachers and heroes with him. Midnight and Snipe agreed.
“Yes.” The western cowboy-styled hero nodded as Midnight pursed her lips in concern.
“Warp quirks are already rare, but the idea of one falling into the hands of villains…” She stated, but didn't finish as they all knew that such a thing was perilous, as warp class quirks, like many other quirks, defied physics but in ways that could undermine any security system out there as what was stopping someone from creating portals in banks, inside your home, or as was proven earlier, in the heart of Japan's top hero school? Nothing, that's what.
“That is not the only issue we need to discuss, principal Nezu.” They turned to see a trench-coat-wearing policeman approaching with Nezu pepping up.
“Ah, detective Tsukauchi, I believe this is about our student?” He asked, to which the detective nodded with a frown.
He didn't like it, but they needed to file a report. That need was even more critical when the student involved already had…issues like Midoriya's on record. "Unfortunately, so. I understand that it was a defensive action. However, from what we can tell, he still went on a rampage and well," He thought back to the states of the many villains that had been on the receiving end of flames or doused in boiling water. “This was the result.”
Nezu kept the smile up, but they could tell he was taking this seriously as he'd defend his students, even if that meant from themselves. If the press got a hold of this, it wouldn't be suitable for the boy who had already run off once. "Unfortunate indeed, it's only in hindsight that I expected something like this as the boy's file noted that when he transforms, he experiences heightened urges around his quirk, which has already irreversible altered his mindset around the fire."
Turning back to the destruction, he continued. "If what I suspect happened is true, then this latest incident was more his body falling to instincts than reason due to his injuries overriding his consciousness.” He understood that very well, not necessarily in himself. Still, he had studied humans enough to know that while they didn't like to think about it when pushed, they could revert to beasts, hairless chimps. Midoriya was merely closer to that boundary than most, yet also further. Quite a peculiar case, that boy.
"We'll learn more later when he wakes up, but we are obligated to contact his hero guardian about this, as well as his mother, as while there were no signs of lasting damage, she deserves to know what happened," Tsukauchi noted. However, he dreaded that, having spent time with the boy's mother in the past when he ran away and fell off the radar, he knew she worried and worried deeply. So he'll need to prepare tissues and water for when he informs her that her son was torn in two.
“I was already going to do just that. Will you be meeting with them at the school's med bay?" Nezu asked him, getting a relieved smile from the man, as Nezu was one of the few people who didn't just tolerate but openly engage with police. Too many pros saw themselves above them, or cops were just back-ups and paper pushers.
“That seems like a suitable place, provided we’ll have privacy.” He asked since he had a feeling that what was going to be said wasn't stuff they wanted to be leaked. When Nezu nodded, Midnight asked another question.
“What of the Nomu creature? Where are you able to recover it?" Midnight hadn't seen it, but she had heard the students talking about it, including the fact that the leader of the villains claimed it was 'bioengineered,' which was both disgusting and disturbing. Who in the underworld had that level of connections or expertise?
“Cementoss already helped with that, but the thing is in bad shape from all those burns.” The detective replied, recalling how 15 officers escorted the thing out, but when he saw it, he just got this sense of unease in his gut, a feeling that Snipe picked up on.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
"Yes, despite its wounds healing, it didn't offer any sort of resistance. Letting itself be restrained and led out like a dog. It didn't even respond to questions or just being talked to." He explained to them that despite the fight and the many grievous injuries that the students claimed it suffered, not only was it healed mainly by then, but its eyes didn't have any life in them. He had seen fish that looked more present than whatever the hell that monster was.
“Silent type?” Midnight asked.
"It's more like it can't comprehend them, as even the criminals who remain silent react in some way, but with this one." He answered, shuddering as he recalled that blank face. He wondered if his quirk could work on someone who had a soul of its own, as what it intended, if it was capable of such, didn't matter as it was merely a tool.
And tools merely did as they were used. Putting a pin in that morbid thought, he returned to the conversation. “Anyway, it’s been loaded up in an armoured transport and should be at the detention facility shortly."
"Either way, just to be safe, I'd like to have my officers search the entire school grounds for possible villains and clues." He bowed to the principal, who welcomed the response with open arms.
"Of course, others might chaff at that, but law enforcement like yourselves are crucial to maintaining peace and order. If there is anything to be found, I'm sure you'll find it." Nezu praised them, making him smile as he directed his people to do just that, knowing they'd be hanging around the school for the rest of the day.
Line Break
Hours later, as the afternoon sun cast its retreating light into U.A.'s med bay, the room's sole patient started to stir. Returning from the world of blissful flames and infernos, Midoriya felt his head was still fuzzy as he struggled to remember what had happened or where he was. Blinking to clear his blurred vision, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He let out a confused groan as he turned from that to the window to see that the sun was setting.
That couldn't be right. He didn't recall it being anywhere close to sunset. They had left for the USJ right after lunch for…like a speeding truck, it hit him all at once, their arrival, the villains appearing, being split apart, fighting their way through them, confronting the boss to help Vlad, fighting the Nomu and…and losing. He rose as fast he could, fearful that his legs were gone, but that thought was cancelled by Hado crashing into his chest, followed by his teary-eyed mother.
“He’s awake!”
“My baby!”
Now fully awake, he found himself trapped between his mother's crying embrace and Hado trying to squeeze the life out of him. Hearing a chuckle, he looked and saw Ryukyu seated at the bedside, the woman smiling but with a hint of relief to her. “Welcome back, Midoriya. You had us worried.” With her sat Recovery Girl, who remained silent for the moment.
"Worried is an understatement! We got an alert that there was a break-in, then the teachers had us all under lockdown, and then we heard that class 1B was attacked by villains, and then I was told you were hurt real bad!" Hado yelled, holding even tighter as he let out half the air in his lungs.
"I nearly had a heart attack when the police explained it!" His mother forced out the other half, with him nearly passing out again if not for Ryukyu stepping in and saving him, but not before giving him a firm hug of her own, which he returned, feeling warm that he had people to care for him, but also…cold, because he made them all worry.
Koharu wasn't one for hugs in the mood, so she merely left his mother's shoulders and bit him. "Ouch!" He let out. She didn't stop, biting him several more times before she eventually stopped, telling him that if he ever made her worry like that again, she'd eat him.
"She's right to be angry. You were so exhausted that she had to help them bring you a source of fire to eat, and then she had to fuse with you and make you eat it." Hado explained, having heard the story right from the snake herself. Midoriya turned to her with a perplexed look. As he didn't remember that, he recalled nearly dying and then returning to the dream, meeting his quirk again.
"I…I blacked out there after I lost to the Nomu." He stated that it was all a blank when he tried to recall anything past then. Recovery Girl hummed, even as his mother hugged him closer at his admittance to nearly dying.
“Do you recall the events leading up to it?” Recovery Girl asked him, holding up a clipboard to write down notes.
"Yes, we were there for training and then got ambushed by villains. We were separated, and I ended up in the flame zone with Shiozaki and Tsuburaba. We fought them, won, and split up to help the others. I went to the plaza to help Vlad." Midoriya stopped his recollection when he realized that Vlad had been hurt. He nearly escaped the hold his mother had on him as he asked, "Vlad-sensei, is he alright?! Wait, what about everyone else?"
“Calm yourself, sonny. Worry about yourself first,” Recovery Girl told him. Still, he saw that despite looking exhausted and afraid, he had a look at him, one she was used to seeing in another self-sacrificing spirit.
Sighing, she told him what he wanted to hear: "Just like All Might. They're fine. You were the only student who was seriously hurt. A few of the rest who needed to see me were in and out. Vlad and Thirteen are at the hospital being treated for their injuries. Vlad is still in surgery, but he'll live."
“Oh, thank Kagutsuchi.” Midoriya relaxed into his mother’s arms, near boneless Koharu wrapping herself around the three as Hado was still in that mess of bodies near as Recovery Girl gave Ryukyu a look, one she saw and merely shrugged her shoulders at.
“Midoriya, was there a reason you engaged this…Nomu?” Ryukyu asked him, having been given information about the attack thanks to her position as his hero guardian and the primary report of his rampage. However, that could be handled later when the boy was in a better spot.
“Koharu and I got a bad feeling about…it?” He stopped, wondering what he should call Nomu, but Recovery Girl said it was OK to use it, so he continued with that. "It seemed like it was real bad news, so we wanted to watch at first, just in case Vlad got things under control so we didn't get in the way."
"Then…well, he got involved to help. Targeted the Nomu so Vlad could focus on the other villains. It was strong, but I managed a good hit, and it went down…." He muttered as he recalled how the villain laughed when he turned to him and turned his back on the real threat. He reached for his gut; his flesh was healed entirely, not a scratch on him, but he could still fit: the shock, the loss of internal heat, and the void where his tail was. "I thought I won; that was stupid."
"I…I heard it behind me, but it was too fast, and then it hit, and I saw its fist coming out my front," Inko stopped him with a kiss to the forehead, bringing his head close to her chest as she soothed him.
“You can skip that part, Izuku.” She told him, as she could see how recalling such a horrible thing was affecting him, him nodding as Recovery Girl added to her report; though she had expected that as such trauma was natural, frankly, she would have been concerned if such a grievous injury and near death hadn’t affected him.
"Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, and everyone was foggy. I couldn't feel my…" He paused, then skipped that. "I was in a dream, I think, and I saw what could have been my quirk, but that's it. Next thing I know, I'm here." He finished as Recovery Girl finished writing up what he told her.
"We expected that, as your mind was running on the most basic mood of ensuring survival. Frankly, it's a miracle that you didn't identify the rest of your classmates and teacher as a threat in your diminished state." She explained, and Midoriya was just as relieved to hear that he had made many friends and that no one in the class was mean; they were good people. He wasn't sure what he would have done if he had hurt them.
"Midoriya, when you blacked out, you transformed into a large volcanic snake. You then battled the Nomu to a standstill before what we believe to be quirk exhaustion kicked in, and you fainted." The veteran medical professional and hero informed him, which confused him as he had never been able to do that, and he voiced as much.
She hummed as she flipped through some of her files on his quirk. "Well, we'll need to carry out tests once you've had time to rest, but the most likely theory is that in your state, your body pushed itself to create a new form of defence.” When he still looked perplexed, she had to approach this another route. “When you transform, you change completely, right? Becoming rock, fire and lava, including being able to swap your legs for a tail?” She asked, to which he nodded.
“That’s right, I burn away every last piece of flesh.” Inko had to pretend that she was okay with hearing that her son regularly burned himself to ash.
"Then your transformed state was merely your quirk being taken further, as there is no reason why you can't manipulate the characteristics and size, though such a thing no doubt factored into your exhaustion." Recovery Girl explained, which he seemed to understand and was no doubt already thinking of ways to train with.
She'll leave out the part where his limbs returned to normal when enough time had passed, as was the case for his legs, which made a few of the cops throw up. Stepping in, Ryukyu needed to be sure about something. "Midoriya, are you sure you don't recall anything of your black-out? No voices, smells, images?" She asked, stern, not unfair, almost like an aunt. Because of that, he felt comfortable with just a shake of his head as the pro sighed.
“Am I in trouble?” Midoriya asked, worried that he had done something wrong. Ryukyu smiled and rubbed his fluffy hair, making him close his eyes and lean into the gentle touch.
"Nothing to worry about, just some paperwork that'll be filed." She told him. She would remain with him for a little while, hearing more about the day's less traumatic events, like how he healed Shiozaki, had a fun talk with his classmates before the attack and his plan to ask his friends to hang out over a weekend, a big step for him as Hado couldn't help gushing how they could plan to make it as fun as they could, even if she'll step back and let him have his time with them.
As he and his mother talked about possible snacks if his friends did come over, she took her cue to step out with Recovery Girl so they could get started on those reports. Midoriya was still a bit worried, but he wished them well all the same as they closed the door. "I hope that I don't get in trouble. I must have done something pretty bad if they called Ryukyu," Izuku said as he leaned into his mother’s hug.
"It was a really stressful day. No one thought villains would attack you guys like that," Hado told him, as even if someone tried to raise a fuss, she'd be right there to shut them down.
"You just worry about getting better, all right? When we get home, I'll have a big meal. We might need to swing by the repair store and buy some propane to make a fire or two for you; you're freezing." Inko joked, though he did look sickly and pale, with his body feeling like anyone else, which for him was a notable downgrade.
"I spoke with your classmates, and they all vouched for you; your American friend even said you were a real hero," Inko stated, as she had had the chance to run with them when she arrived. They immediately picked her out as their classmate's mother and asked all sorts of questions or answered hers. Still, no one had said anything wrong about him, merely expressing worry and praise for him contending against such a monster.
Line Break
Outside, the two pros could discuss the situation with the detective, who had given the courtesy to remain out while they talked to keep the boy’s stress down. “I spoke with the public prosecutor. They won’t be pressing charges against him to the circumstances.” He relieved them both of that fear, as even if they didn’t see it, they had heard that many villains were in the hospital because of Midoriya.
"That being said, I still need a clearer picture of the events," Tsukauchi stated as Recovery Girl and Ryukyu relayed what they had learned about it, with the man rubbing at his eyes near the end as it was never an easy sell when the people involved in an incident claimed they didn't recall it, even if true, that just meant that there was a gap in the story that someone could exploit.
"I'll speak with him before he leaves, but this doesn't bode well for us. Survival instinct or not, he still went berserk." He stated that he doubted he'd be any more successful than the two pros.
"I can assure you that we'll work to understand that and keep a repeat of as low a chance as we can get it," Ryukyu told him, as she was already thinking of ways to clear her schedule for that.
“That might not be enough.” He replied, with the top hero frowning.
"I'm aware that the commission is interested in him and that that interest might grow after this." She told him, which worried her as the commission. At the same time, a government agency always seemed like more was happening under the surface with them. In her meetings with the president, getting a proper read on the woman whose gaze was as cold as ice and unyielding as stone was impossible.
That wasn't the type of people she felt could handle a case like Midoriya's, nor did she want them to, so when they offered to take the case off her hands, she refused.
"Just be careful, you too; I've been around longer than both of you, and my gut's telling me things will only get more dangerous and complicated from here. Especially since the hero commission has their eye on the lad." Recovery Girl warned them, as she felt that feeling towards the current president, as she had with the last 3. There was a rot in the commission, one that Nezu could also see, but with how opaque they were, and the fact they were their supervisors, there was little they could dig into.
She left the two younger adults alone, needing to head to her office and write her report so Midoriya could be discharged. When she turned the corner, the detective looked back at Ryukyu. “But other than that, how is he holding up?”
She was silent for a moment, worried even before she answered. “He’ll probably crash in the morning. He knows he nearly died, but I doubt it sunk all the way yet." She stated that she had seen this plenty of times with sidekicks, even when through it herself back in her 3rd year of high school. Most thought that people just walked it off, but in their line of work, you typically met people that were the opposite, that freaked out in the moment or a little while after but then appeared to be okay.
But there was always a calm before the second, more significant wave hit. Thankfully, Hado will be there for him as she requested time off tomorrow. She'll explain things to his mother later, so come morning, they'll be a phone call away.
Tsukauchi hummed in response. "It's weird, that response, but it makes sense. Every second counts in our line of work, so we suppress memories. Suppresses but never forgets. But once he's had time to calm down and his body can see he's safe, he'll have the time to process it properly."
The officer of the law thought to his youth when he was involved in what seemed to be a simple arrest of a petty thief, only for the crook to escape his bonds and nearly behead him if not for his superior shooting him, the criminal's blood flying from the hole in his chest onto his shirt and face, the man's shocked dying eyes seeing his terrified, frozen face before the light had faded and he dropped dead.
He was asked if he was okay, and he thought himself stronger, admitting that he was a little shaken and could carry on with his duties for the day, which, to his credit, he did. But come morning, he was a blubbering mess. He had been lucky that the senior cops didn't buy his story and prepared for it, taking him off rotation for a week so he could decompress and even getting him in touch with the police therapist.
But there was a difference between cops and pros, and whether they liked it or not, forces beyond his knowledge had taken notice of the situation, of the little pyro-lover in the other room, and they'd be coming for him, as to why, he would learn when the time was right.
Shorter than average, but it’ll do.
