Chapter Text
“Well, we spent most of our time together in war,” Kaina said, gratefully accepting a new cup of tea from Igris, who continued to serve them as the night ran later.
“War?” Momo asked.
Kaina nodded. “The worlds in my previous lifetimes were a mess. There were no Awakened Humans, so between the Gates, and humanity’s own struggle for power and resources…” She didn’t need to say anything else on the subject. “I was part of the SDF Special Forces, a sniper.”
“Shocking,” Momo teased.
“Me and Izuku went to the same schools. So we already knew each other before being drafted, and he already had a crush on me… which I was unaware of,” She mentioned that last part with a great deal of embarrassment. “He always wanted to save people, so of course, he ended up as a field medic. And I didn’t see him for several months after that. Wasn’t even sure if he was alive. But during an operation against North Korean forces, something went wrong and my squad was ambushed. We always operated on the assumption that we were on our own after deployment. Forces were spread so thin that no one could spare a rescue operation. So when I got shot, I was pretty certain I was dead.”
“And then Izuku showed up?”
Kaina smiled. “It was actually his bloodthirsty maniac of a friend who I saw first. He mowed down a couple dozen people, allowing Izuku to reach me.”
“Friend…? He wasn’t… blonde was he?”
The sniper gave a lopsided grin. “Katsuki Bakugo persists even through past lives apparently.”
“I think I need a minute to process that information…”
Kaina did her best to suppress the belly laugh that threatened to burst out after seeing Momo’s face. “He was actually a half-way decent person in most of my memories. He was still Bakugo, but he was more of a vulgar arrogant goofball than an arrogant asshole… at least when we weren’t on mission.” Kaina grabbed at her head and made a small groan of pain.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine… it’s just that more memories have been coming back to me in greater detail since meeting Izuku at Jeju. It’s a lot of stuff to handle. The name Bakugo wasn’t in my memories up until just a few moments ago.”
Momo scoffed. “That was probably for the best.”
“Well… anyways, in about three of my past lives, I died right then and there. I don’t know what Izuku was like after that.”
Momo cringed inwardly, remembering Izuku’s own recounting of his dreams. In some of them, he apparently committed suicide. She decided not to bring up that detail, and remained silent as Kaina continued.
“But in the other four lives, we made it back to base and because of my injuries, I was given a leave of absence, as was Izuku. But that was so he could… propose to me…” Her eyes narrowed in happiness. “Our world was a mess, so he decided to bypass a date, and just marry me.”
“I assume you accepted?”
She nodded. “We only got a bit of time as a domestic couple, but it was… incredible.” Kaina couldn’t help the blush that darted across her face. “He routinely woke me up with breakfast in bed, he cooked, he cleaned, he took care of everything while I recovered. We got to have a normal life for a bit after I recovered. We went out to expensive restaurants, we went sightseeing, we went to Disneyland… we just… enjoyed each other’s company.”
“He doesn’t sound all that different from this Izuku,” Momo said with a dreamy smile. “Except for the cooking part.” The girls shared a chuckle.
“He was great… perfect even,” Kaina looked bashful. “I didn’t even really have some deep reason for loving him. He saved my life and took care of me. But I think even without that…” She trailed off, unable to finish her train of thought.
“Don’t worry, I understand,” Momo responded to the silence.
“I suppose you do…” Kaina’s face grew darker. “We spent the rest of our lives in combat. He was my spotter and medic. He seemed so… ill-prepared for war, and yet so perfectly suited for it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Izuku carried a gun with him, but he only ever used it twice. He would’ve rather appealed to our enemies' humanity than try to kill them, even if it got a barrel stuffed in his face.” Kaina shook her head in disbelief. “The fact that he survived for as long as he did was nothing short of a miracle. He put himself in danger so many times, just to give people a chance.”
“He still does that,” Momo assured her. “He’s still just as compassionate.”
But that little tidbit didn’t seem to cheer Kaina up. “In all four of my past lives with him… I watched him die.” She made a sound between a scoff and laugh, almost like she was embarrassed to say the next part. “Bakugo was… well… he and Kei had grown close.”
Momo almost asked if she was serious, but the sniper’s face told her the entire story.
“They were engaged… And during a battle, a grenade was lobbed at Bakugo.”
Momo felt her hands subconsciously raise to cover her mouth. She knew where this was going.
“And everytime, Izuku jumped on the grenade for the man he called his brother. All because he wanted his sister to be able to experience some of the happiness of true love, and because he couldn’t stand to watch people die.” Kaina took a deep breath, trying to remind herself that Izuku was in this very house, asleep, but very much alive. “The rest of my memories past that don’t really matter. They all end the same, with the world on fire, and with humanity being exterminated.”
Momo didn’t know how to respond. She merely sat there in silence, processing.
“If my memories are real… and not some sort of delusion, then it's good news,” She assured, reaching her hand across the table to rest it atop Momo’s. “All of my past lives went extremely similar. But all of this?” She gestured around her. “Humanity is in a much better position than ever. And Izuku…” She was going to say something about him being much harder to kill, but she didn’t want to jinx it. “We’ll be okay.”
For a moment, her few years of maturity kicked in, making Momo feel like she had an older sister of sorts looking out for her. It was an odd feeling considering the circumstances, but she wasn’t opposed to it.
“We should probably get some sleep,” Kaina said. “It’s been an emotional day.”
Momo nodded. “Will you stay here?”
Kaina smiled. “I’d very much like to.”
*******
It was a bright day on the island of Jeju. The sun was bright, but the clouds in the sky and the cool ocean breeze made certain that the heat was not overpowering.
President Kang Daeshik stood proudly in front of the ruined city. Heroes Sung Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In were at his side, ensuring that his trip to the island was safe.
He was here to essentially rechristen the island as part of South Korea, and pay his respects to those lost to the island. It was mostly a political visit, one that The Reaper and The Dancer didn’t mind for once. Normally politics either bored or frustrated them to no end, and often felt like a waste of time.
However, South Korea was doing well in spite of Endeavor’s efforts. And with the other Agencies working at a full sprint, there was no need for concern about the mainland. On top of that, Cha Hae-In’s parents had lived on Jeju before the S-Rank Gate broke and she had grown up there. Thankfully, her parents had escaped just in the nick of time, but the island was still important to them all.
On top of all of that, President Daeshik had been contacted by Japanese officials, and informed of a visit from the Shadow Monarchs, bearing gifts for Korea. And sure enough, in the distant sky, two shapes could be spotted, both made of darkness.
One was a long leviathan-like being undulating his way through the sky. The other resembled a classic European dragon, with four legs and two wings on its back. This was none other than Quasar and Kaisel.
Kaisel was actually moving a great deal slower to keep pace with the much larger Shadow, but no one minded the more relaxed journey to the island. After all, the last time they had been here, the trip was… eventful to say the least.
Izuku could have teleported right in front of the President, but he felt that it was rather undignified. Neither Izuku nor Momo cared much for how they appeared to politicians. Their main concern was helping people. In times of actual duress, dignity and appearance would be tossed out the window in order to save lives. But in this instance, with nothing needing urgent attention, some class could be allowed.
After circling the island once, Quasar and Kaisel lowered themselves to the ground, hovering just a few dozen meters away from the South Koreans.
Izuku and Momo, dressed in their Shadow Monarch attire, individually stepped down from their rides. The King of Death, an imposing figure, and the Queen of Death, an alluring beauty that was hard to approach courageously.
Momo, feeling a little adventurous, took the opportunity to grab Izuku’s arm, walking like a knight escorting his princess. Both of the Monarchs had to suppress giddy smiles underneath their masks.
The army of cameramen, standing a decent distance behind the President and his Heroes, tracked the Monarchs as they made their way.
“President Kang Daeshik,” They greeted in unison, bowing their heads.
“Shadow Monarchs, it is an honor to behold your return to our island,” He slightly bowed his head in return, but Izuku could tell he was not happy, these were just pleasantries, surface level. His Japanese was impeccable, so there was no doubt about a mistranslation.
Despite being responsible for the success of the Raid, the Shadow Monarchs were still regarded as Japanese people, and were believed to originate from said nation. For obvious reasons, most South Koreans had, at best, a lukewarm attitude towards the Monarchs. Something which Izuku and Momo, while upset about, could not blame them for.
The president was not Awakened, so he was easy to read by Izuku and Momo’s senses. He was stifling his true feelings to remain composed and to not bring shame to himself or his country.
“We are even more honored to be allowed to set foot on Jeju,” Momo responded elegantly, her implications clear. “Our battle was for the safety of others, but as you can see, we made quite the mess of your beautiful land.” She gestured to the city, absolutely wrecked by Izuku and Beru’s brawl. “As such, we’ve brought some gifts. Ones that, we hope, will make up for the added trouble.”
Simultaneously, Izuku and Momo extended their hands, opening their palms. In Izuku’s hand was a small mechanical spider, no bigger than a penny. In Momo’s there was a computer chip.
“The S-Rank Gate that appeared on this island was not immediately spotted, due to the technological limitations of the time, of course. Nowadays, that technology has improved, but it is still far from perfect.” Momo handed the chip over to Cha Hae-In. “This computer chip will work in tandem with the monitoring technology on South Korea’s satellites, and will more accurately identify and rank Gates. It can also separate out the noise created by Awakened Humans, and they will no longer read as false alerts.”
The technology was a creation of Loren’s and Deep Blue’s, so Momo felt a little bad presenting it without mentioning them, but insinuating that a “Villain” had made the chip would only make the offerings less desirable and strain relations further.
It still wasn’t perfect, and still tended to identify Mana as blobs of energy rather than sharp readouts, and it needed to be installed in several monitoring satellites for it to work at its full capacity, but it was at least five years ahead of the current technology. Izuku was actually working on further developing the chip, as research into Souls and how to identify them would further the reliability of detection software and hardware. And currently, the Shadow Organization was working to get it into orbit for Japan as well.
The president was actually taken aback for a moment. He had expected the two to come with something simple, like a monetary gift, or some sort of weapon. In the grand scale of the country, he expected that whatever they brought would be meaningless. To be handed such advancements was certainly something that brightened his mood. Perhaps it was because he expected so little that his reaction was so big.
Then it was Izuku’s turn. He didn’t hand the mechanical arachnid to Sung Jin-Woo. Instead, he filled it with Mana and set it on the ground.
“This device functions off of Mana, making it perform remarkably well in situations like this where the ground is soaked with the energy.”
The spider seemingly ate up a pick of nearby debris, and then… it split. Not in the sense that it split in half, but in the sense that it self-replicated, like a cell undergoing mitosis.
“Estimations are that it will have the island’s geography repaired within two hours. Another three hours after that, the city of Jeju will be completely rebuilt from the ground up. All of it will be made of Mana infused material from the island itself.” Izuku watched as the spider continued to multiply exponentially. “It will be the only city on the planet that could endure the attacks of Villains.”
This was Loren’s most complicated construct so far, again aided by Deep Blue’s computer-like analysis and programming. It wouldn’t work anywhere else in the world, as no other place was as deeply infused with Mana as Jeju, but it was a proof of concept for the future of humanity and self-replication.
Even as Izuku spoke, he could see the forest, the ground, the rocks, all of it was being stitched back together by smart repurposing of the materials that were left. As for the city and other resources, the spider had a small Gate inside of its body, connected to the magical metals flowing from Bael’s forge, which would allow it to rebuild just about anything.
Much like the computer chip, the spider, called a Weaver, was incomplete, a mere prototype meant for Jeju. It could only operate within a predefined location, as mentioned. It couldn’t actually convert materials to something else, or process them within its body. That would require imbuing the Weavers with the ability to use Skills or Magic. Something that was still out of reach at the moment. To top it all off, the Weaver’s themselves were not using the Gates. It was actually being done by Tenebris inside the Heaven and Hell Dungeon manually opening Spatial Gateways. So it was a much slower and clunkier process that would hopefully be automated one day.
“As soon as they are finished with their task, they will merely dissolve into nothingness,” Izuku said, feeling a sense of satisfaction as he watched the awe and wonder blossom on the President's face, as well as the two Heroes. “Water and electricity will be set up by them but, we couldn’t manage to get the Weavers to furnish the insides of buildings, so that will have to be done the old fashion way.” Already, they were working on molding the ground, and a little bit of metal from Bael’s forge, into the foundation for a building.
“On top of that, we would like to formally apologize for the actions of Enji Todoroki, or Endeavor,” Momo and Izuku both bowed. “We understand that memories do not fade so quickly, but we hope in the future for Japan and Korea to have more amicable relations.”
Some Japanese people would undoubtedly see the actions of the Monarchs as some sort of undeserved appeasement. Nationalism for both Japan and Korea was strong, so while a great deal would see the actions of the Monarchs in a positive light, some would see it as deference to a “lesser” country. But that was just how things went. Everything Momo and Izuku did would be scrutinized and critiqued by certain individuals merely because they held a great deal of strength and were mysterious about it. They didn’t care about it all that much. They’d rather do the right thing and suffer some public and social backlash than try to pacify everyone’s idle complaints.
“You are correct,” The president responded. “It will be some time before relations are fully mended between the countries. I cannot offer much in that regard at the moment, but relations between Korea and the Shadow Monarchs will be strong, I assure it,” He held out his hands, one for each Hero to take, and they did so.
While his emotions told the duo that he was doing it partly out of a desire to have the Shadows backing his country, they could also sense a genuine gratitude. He was still a politician after all, he had his angles. But he wasn’t completely incorrigible.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must address the folks behind me,” He said, referring to the camera crews, taking his leave.
“How’s the rabbit doing?” Sung Jin-Woo asked, his Japanese slightly rougher than the president’s.
“Every Hero that was recovered alive from the island is doing well,” Izuku responded. He hadn’t checked in on Miruko in a while, but from what he heard, she was up and kicking ass like usual. “How’re your people?”
“They took Eunseok’s death hard… but they’re healthy, physically at least.” Cha Hae-In said something to her fiance in Korean. “She said thanks for saving us, and thanks for not being like Endeavor.”
Izuku shuddered. “I can’t think of a worse fate than being like him.”
Sung Jin-Woo smirked, taking something from his pocket. “I understand you two like to keep your identity under wraps, but… well, if you’d like to attend, we would be more than happy to have you.”
The card he handed Izuku was a wedding invitation. Not to the public ceremony, but to the private one of friends and family.
“Don’t feel bad declining. It’s just a friendly offer.”
The date was soon, very soon, in fact. It took place during the time in which Class 1-A would be on Catalina Island assisting in search and rescue.
“We have prior arrangements unfortunately,” Izuku regrettably informed them. “But we’ll send something nice,” He promised.
“Well you already saved my life, as well as my love’s. I don’t think you can top a gift like that,” He said jokingly, turning around to watch the city of Jeju be reassembled. “Seriously… thanks.”
The Monarchs gave him one final nod before returning to their mounts and reaching back into the sky.
*******
“Whaddya mean you’re not coming?” Izuku asked as he packed his bags for the plane ride to Los Angeles, before they took a short flight to Catalina.
“I told Professor Aizawa that I was close to a breakthrough on my work,” Momo responded.
“ That work?”
“That work,” She clarified. “I’ve isolated an abnormality in the brain associated with Eternal Slumber. Izuku… I am this close.” She held her thumb and index finger so close together that Izuku wasn’t even sure there was a gap.
“That’s… wow… But are you sure you wanna miss this trip? I mean… I’m not trying to dissuade you, but I also don’t want you to miss out on something because you’re working so hard…”
Momo chuckled. “It is so like you to worry about me like that.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. “There are thousands of people all over the world who are deteriorating in their sleep. Being this close, I can’t just take a break, nor do I want to. I’m not just doing this because of your mom. I mean, I was at first, because I wanted to be the one to help you out for once. But now, this is bigger than some school trip.”
Izuku smiled. “I understand completely, though I suppose that goes without saying.”
“When you get back you should spend some time with Kaina,” Momo suggested. “Get to know her. Take her on a date or something.”
“Ya know, I never thought I’d see the day where I had a girlfriend, much less a girlfriend who encourages me to go on dates with other girls.”
Momo giggled. “She’s a kindred spirit. I like her, and I approve.”
“Sounds like you know her better than I do.”
Momo nodded. “Probably true. Do you not feel a connection to her?” She asked cautiously.
“She’s beautiful, she’s tough, she seems nice, and… I’ve had dreams too, just like her. Looking at her is like… nostalgic. It’s hard to put into words. It just feels like… the sorta ‘love at first sight’ thing… Not that you aren’t enough for me,” He quickly clarified.
Momo rolled her eyes. “You know you don’t have to clarify that. I already know how much you care about me.” Their eyes met and they remained silent for a moment, just enjoying each other's company.
“Good luck on your work,” He said with a smile.
“Good luck with class,” She responded, kissing him on the lips before allowing him to finish packing for the trip.
“Oh, and since we won’t even be doing any Raiding, I’m gonna leave most of the Shadow Army with you here in Japan. Probably safer than taking all of them with me,” He said, picking up his backpack and giving one final goodbye.
“Stay safe,” She said, remembering her conversation with Kaina the previous night.
Making his way to the front door, Izuku was prepared to wait for Shoto, so they could leave together, but Fuyumi was the one who intercepted him instead.
“He’s… not going.”
“Him either?” Izuku exclaimed, before explaining Momo’s situation.
“Our father… he’s in America now…”
“Oh… shoot, I’m sorry that was… rude of me.”
Fuyumi patted him on the shoulder. “We all have our demons, and we can’t expect everyone to handle their own and fight the demons of others.”
Izuku nodded. “Have a good week, and thanks for watching the house. It’s uh… it’s been a while since I felt like I’ve had someone to take care of all that…” Momo was a big help, emotionally, physically, etc. But when it came to cooking, cleaning, housework in general, they weren’t… the best. But Fuyumi, well, it reminded Izuku what it was like having an adult take care of you. It had been so long since he’d had a father or mother that such a sensation was almost foreign.
“I’m happy to help. Have a good trip!”
He thanked her before making for the school, where a bus would take them all to their airport, and then to Catalina.
*******
“So uh… does anyone speak American fluently?” Kaminari asked the small prop plane’s passengers. The flight to LA was uneventful and boring, standard of most flights. And now, they were making the journey to the island itself by plane.
“Do you mean English?” Jiro responded.
“Shit… yeah…” Kaminari forlornly admitted.
“Professor Aizawa speaks some,” Izuku answered. He, Jiro, Kaminari, and Setsuna, were the last four to arrive on the island. Because Catalina had such a small landing strip, very few planes got permission to land, so they had to go in sets. But because they all left shortly one after the other, they’d be arriving at roughly the same time. It was just that Izuku’s plane was the last to land.
“But the C-Rank we’re meeting has a Skill that translates languages,” Setsuna said, her hands clenched tightly in her lap.
“You okay?” Izuku asked.
“Just… not a fan of planes…”
“You didn’t seem all that worried on the flight to LA.”
“Small planes,” She clarified. “They always seem less steady.”
Izuku accepted her answer with a nod, but was slightly confused. Her behavior reminded him of the Heaven and Hell Dungeon he and Momo had cleared. He pretended to be afraid of heights, when in actuality, he was feeling anxious about continuing onwards in the Dungeon, afraid of losing what he had already gained. It was little more than a shield to deflect his innermost anxiety.
“Well, if the plane crashes, it’s not like we have anything to worry about,” Kaminari chimed in cheerfully, causing the entire plane, including the non-Awakened pilot, to wince.
“Not helping,” Jiro clarified.
But Kaminari was correct. Even if the plane spontaneously combusted or went into a nosedive, the four of them would survive no problem. Regular humans survived plane crashes all the time, though it was a dice roll. Awakened Humans had virtually no chance of dying in any sort of vehicular related accident, unless they were extremely weak. Even back when Izuku was an E-Rank, he probably could’ve survived some nasty car crashes with some broken bones and cuts, but he likely would’ve made it still.
“Sorry for my friend!” Jiro said to the pilot, who apparently understood some Japanese. He was an older fellow with a gray beard, so he’d probably been all over the world.
He laughed. “I used to fly choppers in warzones, it’s bad luck to talk about surviving a crash, because that implies you’re going to crash in the first place.”
“Your Japanese is really good!” Izuku complimented. “Where’d you learn it?”
“Learned it because of my buddy. His name’s Jon Hudson, he’s got an adopted daughter who’s Japanese, named Maigo. They watch anime when everyone gets together, our old group from the monster fighting days. Old shit like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, but for the life of my crusty eyes I can’t read the subtitles. So I just learned the fuckin’ language.”
“Monster fighting days?” Setsuna asked.
The old man chuckled. “Fusion Center-Paranormal, Miss. We hunted down the Villains that escaped from Gates and made their way into the wilderness. We were like Bigfoot hunters, except we actually found shit. Not like those bad reality shows on television.”
“You hunted down Villains as a non-Awakened?” Izuku asked in disbelief.
“Yes, sir. I was the eyes in the sky for the real ass kickers on the ground. Maigo and Lilly, phew, you shoulda seen those two girls, made my balls shrivel up just watching em’.” The man’s vulgarity drew a laugh from the cockpit.
“What’s your name?” Jiro asked.
“I go by Woodstock, Miss. And this ole hunk of junk is Missues Ex-Betty,” He said patting the control panel.
“You named the plane?”
“There are two types of people in the world, those who name their vehicles, and those who lie about not doing so!”
“I’ve never heard of the Fusion Center-Paranormal,” Izuku said. “And I know a lot about America's Hero programs.”
“Ah, well the FCP was pretty secretive for a long time. It actually existed before the Gates appeared, but was seen as a joke since monsters didn’t really exist back then. Back in those days, it was the sorta people who hunted Bigfoot and never found nothing. And it only operated when the Gates first appeared, so it's talked about more like its folklore than anything else. Nowadays we have the Heroes handling it all under a much larger organization, so we aren’t needed, and most of the files are still classified.”
“Uh… so then should you be telling us?” Kaminari asked.
“Bah, who cares?” Woodstock laughed. “Besides I’ve only told you the stuff that’s lesser known public information. I’ve still got some secrets to keep beneath my mustache.”
Even Setsuna perked up at Woodstock’s quirkiness. He was just a silly old man.
“You live on, Catalina?”
Woodstock nodded. “It’s my home away from home. I was just in Boston visiting Hudson and the rest of the FCP for a get together, but these old bones need a tropical getaway every now and again. I offered to help fly you folks in.”
“Much appreciated,” Izuku said graciously.
“Aw it’s nothing, I’m just happy to give that kid on the ground some help.”
“The C-Rank?”
“Yessir,” Woodstock began adjusting the instruments for landing as they drew closer to the island, circling around to make their approach. “He’s a friend of Hudson’s, his parents helped form the FCP back in the day, and well… he’s given us weirdos back in Massachusetts some help with some Black Ops shit.” He gave the passengers a sly smile. “Now that’s something I can’t tell you about. Not to mention he and Maigo are pretty close, not that sorta close, but they’re good friends, they practically grew up together. She should be getting to the island soon as well.”
“What Rank is she?” Izuku didn’t expect much, but having another Awakened on the island would be helpful.
Woodstock grinned like he wanted to tell them something, but couldn’t. “She’s about a B-Rank.”
“The more the merrier,” Kaminari said, likely wondering how hot Maigo was, and if he had a chance with her.
“Knock it off,” Jiro said, slapping his arm as she read his thoughts perfectly.
“Hey, I’m just saying! If she’s free then it’s worth a shot.”
Woodstock barked out a laugh. “Oh be careful, boy. Maigo is not one to be trifled with. She’ll rip your nuts off and stuff em’ down your throat if you try any funny business.”
Both Kaminari and Izuku winced upon being given such a gruesome mental image.
“I-I think I’ll stay away…” Kaminari muttered.
“Alright folks, we’re coming in for a landing. Ya might wanna hold onto something, Catalina’s landing strip ain’t actually smooth.”
Everyone took hold of whatever they could, with Setsuna tightly holding Izuku’s arm.
“I tell ya what, I’ve had some rough landings in my day but this place is something else!” He shouted as they made their approach, the wheels hitting the asphalt and screeching as Woodstock put on the brakes.
The small plane rocketed from side to side, jostling the passengers and their luggage like they were balls in a pinball machine. Even the National-Rank Izuku let out an “oomph,” as they were thrown up and down, before finally coming to a stop.
“Phew, always a ride huh?!” Woodstock looked invigorated, but his passengers looked sick.
“I think we’ll take a helicopter back to the mainland…” Kaminari groaned as they all squeezed their way out of the prop plane.
While the landing strip itself was rough, it was also beautiful. Situated atop a mountain on Catalina, you could see virtually everything from there, including the single city on Catalina, known as Avalon and its identifiable curved port.
Standing just off to the side was the rest of the class, Aizawa, and a guy that Izuku recognized, the C-Rank who watched over the island. His dark-blue eyes were dull, his hands in his pockets as he talked with Aizawa lackadaisically. His blonde hair was a mess, like he hadn’t brushed it that morning. He wore rather simple armor, more of a jacket than anything.
“How’s it going kid?!” Woodstock called out as the final group made their way over to the class.
“Well things could be better,” He responded, his voice level. “We’ve got people missing, and now I gotta look at your ugly mug.”
“Bahaha!” Woodstock rushed over and gave him a bear hug, the slightest hint of a smile forming on the C-Ranks face.
“Good to see ya, Woodstock. How’s the team?”
“Lilly’s going through… that time of the month.”
“Yeesh… Maybe Maigo shoulda stayed home to handle her horny ass.”
Woodstock chuckled. “She’d never miss the chance to help you out.”
Izuku, Setsuna, Jiro, and Kaminari stood by, slightly off put by the conversation and awkwardly waiting to introduce themselves. They were both still speaking in Japanese, so everyone understood them.
The C-Rank finally turned to them, his hands still in his pockets. “I’m guessing that’s everyone?” He asked Aizawa, who nodded. “Alright, well my name’s Brandon Burnett, I’m the C-Rank who watches over Catalina Island. My Hero name is Infinite, but it’s a little exaggerated, so feel free not to use it.”
A/N: Yes, Brandon Burnett is me, and this is basically what I look like in real life, just with a broader chin maybe, and my hair is a darker shade of blonde. I don’t like social media or pictures so there’s not really many actual images of me on the internet lol. Also this is just cooler, let me have my fun.
“I’ve arranged housing for you all, so we’ll set your stuff down there, then break off into teams to start searching the island. Keep your wits about you. Over a dozen people have gone missing by this point, including two trained rescue teams.”
“Wait what? We didn’t hear that!”
Brandon scowled. “Catalina offers nothing in terms of economic or strategic value to the mainland, and the mainland doesn’t want to divide any of its resources by now, so the government and news agencies are downplaying the incident in order to keep volunteers from arrive en masse, which is why I had to reach for outside help. The situation is worse than anyone realizes.”
“Same shit, different day, huh?” Woodstock asked.
Brandon scoffed. “Fucking government bullshit.” He gestured with his head to start heading towards Avalon. “Let’s go. The sooner we get to work the better the chance we find someone.”
“Why haven’t you found anyone?” Bakugo asked with his usual stamp of self-importance.
“I’m a C-Rank, not an S-Rank,” Brandon snapped back, catching Bakugo’s tone. “And the island is large and has a good deal of difficult terrain to cover. Without proper resources, I’ve been scouring the island single-handedly, because no one else wants to go missing.”
“You haven’t been able to get a helicopter crew?”
Brandon shook his head. “We have the helicopters who go back and forth from the island to the mainland, but none of them want to risk it either. Besides, there’s too many trees for a helicopter team to reasonably search through.”
“Just how bad is this?” Izuku asked.
“Let me put it this way,” Brandon began as they came upon a large group of golf carts, which were the main mode of transportation on the island. Very few people had cars. “One of the residents here was named Noah Adler. He wasn’t Awakened, but before he settled down here, he was a hitman, an actual assassin. Some real John Wick stuff. When I say killing him is impossible without being Awakened, I mean it. The man successfully avoided and even killed Awakened humans at one point using special gaseous traps he devised. He’s survived in just about every terrain under the sun, and he’d stop at nothing to get back to his wife and daughter. You could break both his legs and he’d find a way to make it back to civilization. And he has been missing for six days.”
“So you think there’s a Gate on the island?”
Brandon shook his head as people climbed into the golf carts. “We’ve scanned basically the entire island for Mana signatures. We’ve got nothing, but… we don’t know what else could be doing it.” They all mounted up and began driving the winding dirt road down to the city, where a large ferry was arriving with the day’s tourists.
The small vehicles could only carry a driver and three passengers, so they all had to split up. Thankfully, most of the class had driving licenses or at least experience. So every cart had a competent driver at the wheel.
“Why aren’t you evacuating the island?” Izuku asked.
“This place is all some people know. And the financial average on the island is not comparable to California’s mainland. Everyone would get screwed over because the wages are so low and the cost of living is so high, and it's not like the government would help them.” Brandon sighed. “And tourism accounts for a good deal of our economy. We can’t just cut off the ferries. I recommended it, but the mayor rejected the idea.”
“Aren’t you a Top Ten? Too greedy to help your own people?” Bakugo was happily pushing the C-Ranks buttons.
“Top Ten means popularity, not wealth, kid. You’d do well to watch your tone.”
“Tch, who are you calling kid.”
“The guy who’s seven years your senior and who’s taken care of this place single-handedly up until now,” Brandon met the A-Ranks eyes with the deadest look Izuku had ever seen. He wasn’t glaring at him, he was just sending the message. “Your Rank means nothing to me.” Izuku couldn’t tell if he was suicidal or had an arrogance that matched Bakugo’s. The latter was unlikely, given his behavior with less… grating personalities, but they had just met, so Izuku reserved his judgment for later. “When you have an entire population relying on you alone, then I’ll accept your pride.” He took a breath and shook his head. “I only have so much money to support the economy with. And even then, you can’t force an economy. If it breaks down, it breaks down, no matter how much money you shove into it.”
“So uhm… how did you get onto the Top Ten?” Setsuna asked from the back seat.
Brandon chuckled. “I got onto it for two reasons. One, my sister. America has really strong beauty standards, and she fits a lot of them, so when we were younger, she got a lot of news coverage and kinda by association I got mentioned. Two, I’m a jack-of-all-trades.”
“Ah…” Setsuna nodded in understanding. Pretty much every Hero specialized to the nth degree. DPS, Healer, Tank, Ranged, Melee, etc. You rarely had a Hero who could fill multiple roles.
“Not sure why, but I Awakened with a ton of Skills that were all over the place. And uniqueness lends itself well to popularity. Not that I appreciated it. Thankfully, since I moved to Catalina, my Ranking on the polls have been going down.”
“You don’t like being in the Top Ten?” Bakugo asked, again implying quite a lot with such a simple statement, but Brandon ignored his tone.
“I don’t care for it. It’s not the sorta recognition I want.”
“And that is?”
Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “You insulted me like two seconds ago and now you wanna get personal?” He didn’t take his eyes off the dirt road as he scolded Bakugo.
Bakugo’s scowl deepened. It had been a long time since his arrogant and rude personality had come up against someone who wasn’t afraid to bite back out loud. Izuku and Setsuna exchanged an awkward glance. Bakugo just always had to butt heads with whoever they came into contact with.
Brandon glanced back at Setsuna and Izuku, looking somewhat embarrassed, as if apologizing for his outburst.
Setsuna mouthed back, “We get it.”
*******
By the time they reached the city, the sun was beginning to set, but that wasn’t a major concern, as most Awakened people had decent night vision, and they also had night vision gear courtesy of Brandon. And since they weren’t operating inside of a Gate, the night vision gear would actually work as usual instead of just shorting out.
The housing that Brandon had provided for them was five houses on a suburban cul-de-sac in one of the more modern parts of the city.
“I’ve rented four of these for the time you guys will be staying here. They each have four bedrooms and a few bathrooms. One of them is my own house. It’s up to you guys to decide who stays where,” Brandon stepped out of the golf cart parked along the street and made for his house after handing out the keys to the other four.
People along the street had poked out of their houses to get a view of the Japanese students. One lady walked over to Brandon’s house holding a small baby girl in her arms, speaking in English, too fast for most of them to catch.
But the gist of it went like.
“Are these them?”
“Yeah. Are you doing okay Blake?”
“I’m managing.”
“We’re out looking tonight. Don’t lose hope.”
Her eyes softened and Izuku could tell she wanted to start crying. This was likely Noah Adler’s wife and kid. Another woman, coming from the same house, walked over to Blake and took her by the shoulders, sensing she was about to break down. Given their similar appearance, they were likely sisters.
“Get settled!” He yelled to the class. “We’ll head out in twenty minutes!”
Bakugo grumbled something under his breath, heading for a house as far away from Brandon as possible. Setsuna, Yui, and Izuku shrugged at each other, deciding to room with Brandon himself.
The house was big, not nearly as big as Izuku’s of course, but big enough to notice the lack of decoration. It was function over form. Some things were mismatched and there was no real theme for the house.
“Sorry. I’m shit at anything artistic, especially decorating,” Brandon apologized, noticing their attention to his furnishings. Setting down his keys, he reached into a closet, where he withdrew several pre-prepared packs. “These all have food, water, and medical supplies. Since a lot of us aren’t healers, I figured we’d need em’.” He began laying them, as well as the night vision gear, out as he gestured to the stairs. “Pick a room and get dressed.” They nodded and made their way to their rooms.
While the class prepared, none of them could’ve known that across the island, a metal man re-emerged from a portal, weakened from his time on Europa. They didn’t know that he was about to cast a spell that would change the island’s fate. Nor could they have known that across the world, Russia was beginning to mobilize its troops.