"Son, the greatest trick the Devil pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him."
- David Wong
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It had been two weeks since Izuku had left, and things had gone from bad to worse. With the police and remaining heroes stretched to the limit, the prime minister had made an executive decision to declare martial law and bring in the JSDF. Now to most people this might have seemed like the reasonable thing to do, but Rumi knew better. Bringing in the JSDF meant that the country's priorities had shifted from saving lives to taking lives. There were also reports of unmarked black helicopters flying through the skies and leaving death and destruction wherever they landed. At this point, the remaining pro-heroes had either been forced to stand down or had been arrested for interfering with military operations. Technically, pro-heroes were still considered civilians in the eyes of the government, and the hero commission had no choice but to follow any orders given by the JSDF.
For all intents and purposes, Japan was now undergoing a civil war.
On one side, you had the PLF. The terrorist organization that had rebranded itself as fighting for freedom and independence from things such as laws and rules. On the other side, you had the Japanese government that was fighting to restore order and a sense of normalcy. The population was essentially split in half, for there was no such thing as not taking a side. You were either with one side, or against it.
If you were against the JSDF, it meant swift imprisonment and harsh punishments. If you were against the PLF, it meant that you were prey for anyone stronger than you.
The city Rumi lived in, once a beacon of prosperity and hope, had become cruel and twisted. While everyone tried to go about their daily lives as normal, it was not the same. Normal people lived in constant fear, Faced with either the heavy-handed JSDF enforcement squads, or the roaming gangs of bloodthirsty criminals.
As one of the last remaining active heroes, Rumi knew what she had to do. She wanted no part in the war, all she wanted was to save lives and put smiles on faces.
Landing on her apartment deck, a dirty and sweaty Rumi shuffled into her dimly lit home and sighed heavily. Even though she spent almost every waking moment out on patrol, it was impossible to forget what she used to have with Izuku. Every time she walked into her apartment, part of her expected to be greeted by Izuku's healing smile and heavenly voice.
But now, all that met her was silence.
Turning on the lights, Rumi trudged to her room and took off her hero outfit. Stepping into the shower,Rumi turned on the water and set the temperature to just below boiling. She then closed her eyes and leaned her head against the tile wall and let the water pour over her. The first few days after Izuku had left had been rough. At first, Rumi had simply believed that Izuku would eventually return to her. But after twelve hours of no contact the rabbit hero knew that Izuku was not coming back. She had gone to her now ex-boyfriend's small apartment with the hope that he would be there, but the landlord had said he had not seen Izuku in months. Trying to contact Izuku was another exercise in futility, as his phone number had been deactivated and his email had not shown any signs of life either.
Needless to say, Rumi was heartbroken.
Unlike physical pain, Rumi could not simply ignore the pain in her heart every time she thought of Izuku. With no idea what to do, Rumi had called her closest friend and confided in her. Miyu had been supportive, but as Rumi had talked to her it became obvious that the shark-toothed woman was on Izuku's side. Frankly, Rumi should have expected that. Miyu had been working with Izuku for years, and it was obvious the two shared many of the same opinions and beliefs. Cassandra had taken Rumi's side though, but after hours of talking the only advice the American woman could give was for Rumi to have a heart-to-heart with Izuku and figure things out.
The problem was, Izuku was nowhere to be found.
So now here she was, alone once more. Cassandra's manager had forced her to fly back to America until things calmed down, and Miyu had been re-assigned to some obscure government unit that was buried in work. Miss Sasaki had been more than willing to stay in the city with Rumi, but Rumi knew she would never forgive herself if something happened to her. So after a brief but loud argument, Rumi had sent her agent to go stay with her family outside of the country until the city was safe again. In a stroke of luck, Uraraka had returned to the now fully healed Rykyu the day after Izuku had left, so Rumi did what she felt was right and spared the teen from learning of what had occurred between her and Izuku.
After spending a few minutes soaking in the shower, Rumi dried herself off and went to bed. Now, the comforting sounds of the city had been replaced by faint gunshots, sirens, and the occasional military jet flying by overhead.
Staring up at the ceiling, Rumi wondered if she would ever see Izuku again.
And even if she did, would it be as friends, or enemies?
Izuku carefully walked through the abandoned warehouse, his assault rifle at the ready and his eyes open for any threats. Next to him, Oscar constantly sniffed the air as he gripped a semi-automatic combat shotgun complete with a serrated bayonet. Outside, the cold night air was filled with cold rain as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed through the sky.
The two agents were dressed in menacing black body armor, and their heads were encased in metal helmets complete with bullet-proof tactical masks. Izuku's black mask featured a painted design that looked eerily like a snarling skull, while Oscar's featured a blood red handprint that covered most of the mask. Unlike Oscar's gear that looked well-used and battle-scarred, Izuku's armor looked brand new and practically untouched by damage.
"Zulu One and Two proceeding through the main warehouse floor." Izuku said quietly. "Confirm target location."
There was a crackle of static over the radio before one of Izuku's (previously Oscar's) subordinates responded.
"Confirmed visual on target." The agent replied. "Target is with five other tangos, all armed. They do not appear to be aware of your presence."
There was a pause and the sound of something rustling before the agent continued. "Intel was correct, the target seems to be the leader of a child-trafficking ring. Multiple children are in cages stacked against the west wall of the loading dock. All appear to be alive, but several have injuries."
Feeling a flare of anger run through his veins, Izuku continued to stealthily creep through the dark warehouse as he replied. "Understood, maintain overwatch. Do not engage unless the children's lives are in danger."
Izuku then switched radio channels and spoke again. "Command this is Zulu One, we have a positive ID on the target and multiple hostages. Over"
There was a brief pause before a stern female voice replied. "Understood Zulu One, proceed as planned. You have execute authority. How copy?"
"Copy." Izuku responded as he spotted the door that led to the target's room. "Breach in one mike. Zulu One out."
Coming up to the thick metal door, Izuku and Oscar stacked up on either side as Izuku pulled a breaching charge out of one of his pouches.
"Leave the target alive." Izuku said coldly as he placed the plastic explosive against the door. "He has red hair, tattoos on his neck, and nose piercing. All the rest are expendable."
Izuku could hear the hungry grin in Oscar's voice as he responded.
"Sounds good boss, lead the way."
Nodding, Izuku pulled out two stun grenades and primed the breaching charge. "On three. One...two...Three!"
With a boom the breaching charge exploded and sent the door flying inwards. At the same time, Izuku tossed the stun grenades into the room then promptly charged in as soon as they detonated. His adrenaline pumping, Izuku quickly took in the scene before him and sprung into action. The criminals were all in a state of disarray, several of them having fallen over while the others frantically tried to figure out what was going on. Not giving the criminals time to activate their quirks, Izuku sent the nearest criminal's brains splattering all over the floor with a quick burst of bullets through the skull. Like a runaway freight train Oscar charged in and collided with the biggest and most menacing of the criminals, stabbing the thug in the gut with the business end of his bayonet. Not content with simply running the man through with cold steel, Oscar lifted the impaled man up and brutally slammed him back down on the concrete floor before blasting the thug's throat into paste with a single shotgun blast.
As the leader of the criminals tried to flee, the booming report of a gunshot from far away broke the air. A moment later, a high-caliber sniper rifle round broke through one of the warehouse windows and turned the child-trafficker's legs into red mist.
Satisfied that the leader would not be going anywhere, Izuku turned to deal with the remaining three thugs. Surprisingly, one of the thugs seemed to have quickly recovered from the surprise attack and had pulled out a shiny switchblade. Just as Izuku was about to fill the knife-wielding thug with bullets, the man waved his hand and somehow magnetized Izuku's assault rifle to the metal ceiling. Oscar on the other hand, was busy dealing with the other two criminals, and appeared to have ditched his shotgun so he could rip his opponents apart with his bare hands.
Grinning at the challenge, Izuku pulled out his own combat knife, held it in a reverse grip, and beckoned his opponent forward with a taunting finger. No sooner had Izuku issued the challenge, the armed thug leaped forward with a feral howl and began slashing. For once, it seemed Izuku had come across someone that knew what they were doing. From the way the man attacked, to his posture, it was clear he had lots of experience with knife fighting.
But unfortunately for him, Izuku loved a challenge.
To the untrained eye, the knife fight would look like a wild series of slashes and stabs with no meaning.
But in reality it was a dance.
Thrust, stab, counter-thrust, stab, evade, slash. Each move had its corresponding series of steps that needed to be followed. One wrong move, one misstep, and it would all come to a bloody end. Dancing around each other in the shadows, the two combatants knew that there would be no surrender, only one of them would leave the fight alive.
Parrying a vicious stab, Izuku went low and stabbed the criminal in the ankle, slowing his movement. A second later, Izuku received a deep slice across the arm after misjudging a particularly gutsy slash. Circling his wounded opponent like a blood-crazed shark, Izuku struck once more. Stepping close, Izuku barreled into his opponent and jammed a thumb into the man's eye while he was distracted. As the criminal cried out in pain, Izuku drove his knife into the man's armpit and dragged it down until the blade bounced off a hardened rib. In the process, the criminal managed to get a lucky stab in Izuku's shoulder as well as a thin slice across the ribs. Not content to simply step back and let his opponent bleed out slowly, Izuku pressed forward and continued the attack. As the criminal's movements became slower and more uncoordinated, Izuku ducked and weaved past the wild slashes and stabbed the man in the gut. Leaving his knife embedded in the man's stomach, Izuku dodged behind him and put the man into a vicious chokehold. As the bloodied criminal spluttered and futilely tried to reach behind him, Izuku reached down, pulled his knife out of his opponent's gut, and began repeatedly stabbing over and over and over. After what must have been more than thirty individual stabs, Izuku realized his prey had stopped moving. With a satisfied sigh, Izuku dropped the blood soaked body to the ground and put his knife back in its sheath.
Turning around, Izuku was met with the sight of a gore-covered Oscar clapping politely. Giving the cannibal a theatrical bow, Izuku chuckled under his breath and walked over to the incapacitated criminal leader.
Laying in a pool of his own blood, the legless man cried out in terror as the two blood covered agents approached him.
"Please stop! I-I-I will tell you a-anything you want! Oh god I d-d-dont wanna die!"
Reaching into one of his tactical pouches, Izuku pulled out a glue gun and began sealing his own wounds. "Good, tell us what you know about the PLF and their plans."
As Izuku interrogated the terrified criminal, the rest of his team arrived and began escorting the terrified and shell-shocked children out to a waiting transport helicopter.
Done with getting all the useful information out of the target, Izuku was disgusted to hear the man plead for mercy.
"Y-y-you will take me in r-right?" The tattooed man said hopefully. "I dont think im g-gonna last much longer w-w-with all this missing blood. C'mon man have mercy!"
Turning to Oscar, Izuku gave the cannibal an apathetic look. "How full are you?"
Oscar shrugged. "I am pretty full from that last raid, but I could always top off the tanks."
Nodding in understanding, Izuku gave one last command before walking away. "Good, make sure he suffers."
Lifting up his mask to expose his drooling mouth, Oscar gave Izuku a grin as he stalked towards the incapicated criminal. "Wilco boss, give me a minute then we can get outta here."
Leaving the room, Izuku felt a twisted sense of satisfaction as the criminal leader began to scream in pain and terror.
Good, one less monster to worry about.
Exiting the dilapidated warehouse, Izuku let the freezing pouring rain wash the blood out of his clothes as he approached the waiting transport helicopter.
Suddenly there was the sound of beating wings, and a dragon appeared in the night sky. Landing next to the helicopter full of children, the dragon looked around warily as it inspected the terrified children.
"What is going on here?" The dragon spoke with a feminine voice. "Nobody said the JSDF was operating in this area, and you certainly don't look like normal soldiers."
Not intimidated in the slightest, Izuku walked forward and tilted his masked face up to look at the tenth-ranked pro-hero named Ryukyu. "This does not concern you Ryukyu. This is a Ministry of Defense operation you are walking in on, leave the area before you get yourself hurt."
The dragon was silent for a moment before laughing in disbelief. "Get myself hurt? Really? What are you going to do, bleed on me?"
Izuku shrugged as the sound of helicopter rotors began to get closer. "Not me, them." He said as he pointed to the two gunships that had just arrived.
The two heavily armed and armored helicopters turned on their spotlights and painted Ryukyu in harsh white light as their many heavy weapons audibly locked onto her.
"Like I said, leave the area." Izuku said coldly. "Unless you want to test how effective our armor-piercing anti-tank missiles are."
Seeming to finally realize the position she was in, Ryukyu glared at the masked Izuku and hissed angrily. "How can I be certain those children are going to be safe with you when you pull something like this?"
Izuku scoffed at Ryukyu loudly. "They will be safer with us than they will be with you. We have the resources and manpower necessary to ensure their safe return to their families. After all, these kids were taken when their families were abandoned by the pro-heroes that had promised to protect them."
Ryukyu was silent, the only sound being the pouring rain and rumble of thunder.
"Who are you?" The dragoness finally asked. "I need to make a report to the hero commission about what I have seen."
"I am nobody." Izuku replied apathetically. "Unlike you self-righteous pricks called heroes, I don't need fame and recognition to do my job. So kindly fuck off before I have my men blow you to pieces."
Ryukyu huffed indignantly as she spread her wings. "You better hope we don't meet again. You won't be so confident when you don't have all that firepower behind you."
Not giving Izuku time to respond, Ryukyu left in a rush of air and flew off into the night sky.
"I wonder what it is like to fly around with a stick up your ass all the time?" Oscar mused jokingly as he approached while using one of his fingernails to pick something out from between his teeth.
"Not my problem." Izuku said coldly as one of the gunships touched down and opened its cargo ramp. "Get a UAV to follow her. I don't want any more surprise visits from her the next time we are out on a mission."
"You got it boss." Oscar said as he climbed into the gunship's cargo bay. "Worst case scenario, we can just park a bunker-buster on her head the next time she shows up."
Following Oscar into the gunship, Izuku slammed his palm against the pilot's door and sat down on a bench as the gunship began to climb back into the sky. It felt good to be back in the field, it helped keep him distracted from thinking about Rumi. The day he left it felt like the world lost its color, like his joy had been replaced by cold apathy. He honestly didn't know what he would do if he ever ran into Rumi while out on a mission. He definitely wouldn't seriously injure her, at most he would just give her a few bruises and scare her off.
Hawks was a different story.
Every time Izuku pictured Hawks' cold glare, it made him want to punch the nearest solid object as hard as he could. Would he kill the winged man? Probably not. Even though Izuku was a soldier perfectly fine with using lethal force, he wasn't the bloodthirsty maniac Hawks had made him out to be.
Though if Izuku got the opportunity, he certainly wouldn't be opposed to snapping Hawks' wings in half just to teach him a lesson.
The comforting burn of the medical glue in his wounds kept Izuku focused, and as the gunship flew back towards their home base, Izuku could not help but grin slightly at the prospect of putting more criminals and terrorists in the dirt.
"Penny for your thoughts boss?" Oscar said with a knowing grin.
Oddly enough, once Izuku had started working with Oscar he quickly found that the American cannibal was actually quite the outstanding soldier and right-hand man. It felt like Izuku had been fighting by Oscar's side for years, and secretly he was glad to have such a competent partner and squadmate. Sure, the caucasian man was a little odd, but if anything it only made the former CIA agent even more effective in combat.
Plus, it was nice to finally be able to talk to someone who had the same dark humour that most career soldiers developed.
"Just thinking about a certain Kentucky Fried Chicken." Izuku said with a dark chuckle.
Oscar laughed and nodded understandingly. "Wilco. You need any help wrangling that turkey just give me a shout. I always wondered what his wings tasted like, would probably go well with some hot sauce."
As the two soldiers continued to banter lightheartedly, a certain winged individual felt a chill run down his spine.
Sitting in an empty café along with Best Jeanist and Endeavor, Hawks put a map out on the table for inspection.
"We have a problem." Hawks said with obvious concern. "Our leads are getting killed faster than we can track them down. I still have some contacts in the ministry, and all signs point to this black ops squad called Zulu team." Marking spots down on the map, Hawks continued to explain his findings. "If I didn't know any better, I would say it is almost like this Zulu team is purposefully hunting down people that have information about All-for-One."
Leaning over to look at the map, Best Jeanist idly tapped his fingers against the tabletop as he spoke. "It almost sounds like you are saying All-for-One has control over the Ministry of Defense. Is that even possible? As much as I like to talk badly about government goons, the ministry is too large for that level of infiltration. If we go along with your theory, that would mean that All-for-One has an agent in the highest levels of the ministry's command structure. That would take years, maybe even decades of prep and planning."
His facial flames burning brightly, Endeavor crossed his arms and shrugged. "We underestimated All-for-One before, and now look at what is happening. Even if Hawks is only partially correct, it means we can't even trust the JSDF. All-Might and the kid need as much time as we can give them, so finding this traitor should be our top priority."
Best Jeanist sighed heavily and nodded as he looked at Hawks. "Alright, I can see the importance now. Knowing you Hawks, you already have a plan in mind. What is it?"
For once Hawks looked less than confident, his wings drooping slightly as he took a deep breath. "For the fastest results we need to...capture the leader of Zulu team..."
Even Endeavor appeared to be surprised at the sheer risk involved in such an operation. "Hawks, that will turn all three of us into enemies of the state. If anyone finds out about what we are doing I doubt we will even get a fair trial, they will probably just shoot us on sight."
Hawks rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache forming in his brain. "Trust me, I completely understand the risk, but this is the only way I can see us getting quick and reliable results. We don't have the time or resources to take this slow, we need solid intel yesterday, and the leader of Zulu team is surely connected to all this in some way."
Best Jeanist was silent for a moment before nodding. "You have a point, the longer we wait the stronger All-for-One gets. We need to go all in, or we risk losing everything."
The top three heroes then began to plan their next move as thunder rumbled outside.
It seemed that the storm was only getting worse.