A/N: So, it's been a while! Sorry for that, but the escape is FINALLY HERE, and there's so much happening that I need extra time to keep everything organized. But I think I finally have it all figured out, so we're back! So, because it's been a while, here's a recap the most recent events so you don't need to reread the entire fic up to this point: - Izuku is currently in isolation, and when Anjou contacted him he went into a weird white-out fugue state So that's the most urgent stuff! By the way, I've published an OC Compendium in the series over on AO3! It also now lists canon characters. So you can go check there to refresh your memories on everyone! With that out of the way, please enjoy today's chapter~
- Bakugou and Shinsou now stay in the same room. Also stressing over Aizawa being moved to presumably Aiko's apartment
- Toga is aware of the impending escape but no details, and has voiced support for it
- Seiko exists. Shigaraki does not know this. No one knows what she knows.
- A bunch of people went to Nabu to prepare for the escape
- Anjou, Kirishima, La Brava, Rogue and Mongoose Habuko are in Odawara playing command center with Rogue as the initial point of contact. Most runaways have left, with Glitch and Tsuburaba/Mime sticking around due to Mic and Mail (the ghost)
- Related to above: Mic is still trapped after losing to a bird.
- Dabi and Kuroiro went to the bar so Kuroiro could sneakily scout the base and find where everyone is
- Uraraka, Hagakure, Ojiro, and Monoma are skulking in the area by the base to scout escape routes
- Todoroki, Ashido, Jirou, Kaminari, Asui, Gentle Criminal, Tokoyami, Kendo, Spinner, and Haimawari/Crawler (who got dragged into this by Hatsume/Momo (Kaminari still feels guilt for what they've unleashed on this world)) are at a restaurant to stay warm while the others do scouting stuff
- There was a plan. They'd launch the escape tomorrow.
- Last chapter ended with a noumu appearing out of no where. The plan is probably toast.
Chapter 130
.::Noumu::.
"What the hell is that?" someone asked while Denki stood staring paralyzed, eyes bulging with disbelief at the hulking beast on the street below them.
A noumu.
A noumu had appeared in Nabu.
Denki couldn't move as he watched it, the pavement visibly steaming around its feet. He'd only seen the one at USJ in person, but he'd seen enough pictures of the ones from Hosu and Kamino to recognize it. The thing's body looked wrong, the skin a pasty bluish-gray, and its four eyes rested directly on its exposed brain. It didn't look as big as the one at USJ at least, but it still stood taller than most adults and also had a pair of ragged-looking wings.
He had absolutely no doubts it was a noumu, except it made no sense.
"Come on, how can this even be happening?" he asked, a twitchy smile pulling at his mouth as he stared at the thing. "We've gotta be going crazy, right? It can't really be a noumu, right?"
Mina was quick to jump on the denial train and bobbed her head in her agreement, exclaiming, "Y-yeah, it can't be! We all asked Occhan about it back when she was hit by that one Quirk, and she was able to mention noumu just fine! Shouto even asked her about it directly, right?" She turned desperate eyes to Shouto, who blinked placidly before slowly nodding.
"I did," he agreed. "She had no problems saying noumu."
"Um, what are they talking about?" Crawler stage-whispered to the side, and Asui pressed a finger to her chin.
"I don't know about noumu, but Uraraka-chan was hit with a Quirk and couldn't talk about things or people related to the Villain Alliance for a while, kero."
"What she said!" Denki said with a vigorous nod. "And like, noumu are a League of Villain thing from our world, and the League is the Villain Alliance in this world! And she couldn't talk about anything about them, so it can't be a noumu!"
"Except, it is," Shouto said bluntly, and Denki and Mina released low-keening notes full of despair and panic.
"Quit whining," Kyouka bit out. "You knew that was a noumu already."
"Yeah, but can you blame us for hoping it wasn't?" Mina whined. "I thought they didn't exist in this world!"
"Midoriya said in his note he didn't think they existed here!" Denki added frantically. "We were supposed to be safe from at least that!"
"You still haven't told us who that is," Kendo pointed out irritably. "What, is he some villain in your world?" The question had three of the four jumpers grimacing. The fourth, Shouto, simply frowned deeper as he gazed down at the beast as it continued to stand in the street.
"Kind of. I... don't think noumu are actually human?" That statement had everyone startling, even the other jumpers.
"I'm sorry, what?" Crawler blurted, eyes wide.
"When we went to Kamino to try to save Bakugou, the tracker Yaoyorozu made led to a warehouse. And when we peeked through the window, there were giant tanks with noumu inside."
Despite not seeing it himself, Denki felt a shudder as he recalled Kirishima's description of the scene. Something he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but had done so anyway after what should have been a fun movie night. Instead, the cheesy sci-fi movie Sero picked had ended up nearly triggering a panic attack that cut movie night short and led to a more emotional conversation. About seeing giant metal-encased tanks with open lids, with only oversized brains visible as they stuck out above glowing green fluid.
Honestly, Denki didn't fully know what noumu were, as the details were hidden from the public, but Class 1-A had seen too much. Heard first-hand accounts of Aizawa getting his head smashed into the ground from the students present. Encountered and fought them in the woods during the summer camp. And then the story from Kirishima and the others who went to Kamino about that warehouse, and the news footage of All Might fighting that one villain who leveled the ward with ease—
Even without being officially told anything by the teachers, they put together what they had and figured out enough:
The noumu were not human, and were directly connected to the villain who ended All Might's career.
So, yeah. Seeing a noumu here? Absolutely the last thing they expected, and terrifying in the implications for this world.
Denki had no idea where to even begin with explaining this, and didn't have a chance to even fully process it before the noumu's jaw unhinged and it shrieked.
Everyone winced in pain as the sound cut through the air, cries of shock drowned out by the noise. Not even the window was enough to block the sound, piercing through the glass and making it rattle. Denki yelled as he covered his ears and nearly collapsed to his knees, the others by the window mirroring the motion. Kyouka in particular screamed, her sensitive hearing overwhelmed and leaving her face twisted in agony.
The screech echoed for a good five seconds before its jaws clamped shut, but the panicked shouting continued outside. By that point some of the pedestrians had started to scramble and flee, the crowd below quickly falling into chaos. "Crap, Jirou-san, are you okay?" he heard Crawler ask over the ringing in his ears, and turned to see him crouching next to Kyouka who still had her hands clamped over her ears.
"That was almost as bad as Mic-sensei," she hissed, which got a sympathetic wince from the others. The sight of red seeping between her fingers only made his stomach sink nore.
"What the fuck," Spinner whispered as he looked out the window, and Denki automatically looked outside to see the noumu had finally moved. It had dropped to all fours with its feet and hands glowing bright red, leaving molten holes in the pavement as it bounded forward like an animal.
"What madness is this?" Tokoyami asked as he peered out with wide eyes. "A second Quirk?"
"That's another thing about noumu," Denki said weakly, voice just slightly high-pitched. "They tend to have multiple Quirks."
"Shit!" Kendo cursed as the noumu launched towards the nearest civilian, who barely avoided a swipe of red-hot claws. "We can't just wait for heroes to show up and leave it! We need to do something!"
"And we will," Gentle Criminal declared, and they all turned only to do a double-take upon seeing the notorious phantom thief standing suddenly in full costume. Beside him Tokoyami had also donned the cloak of Phantom Shadow, his crow-shaped head hidden behind the anubis mask.
"What the—how?" Denki sputtered. They'd looked away for like, a minute, tops!
"Quick changes are one of the key skills of any good performer and phantom thief," Gentle replied nonchalantly. "You never know when you'll need to change to make a quick getaway, or accidentally spill tea."
"You're seriously willing to fight that—that thing?" Spinner asked, eyes wide. "But, you're like, a thief, aren't you?"
The notorious phantom thief's gaze shifted at that, a distant glint in his eyes as he turned to the side. "My dear boy, we may be thieves now, but long ago, I, too, aspired to be a hero. I turned to this life after my dreams were crushed, but I have never lost that innate desire. And I can assure you that Phantom Shadow is the same." Even as he spoke Tokoyami headed towards the back of the room, Gentleʼs cape flaring as he turned to follow. "There is a more discreet exit this way, so if anyone wishes to join us, I recommend you use that one."
"Count me in!" Mina agreed, already moving to follow. She barely got a single step away before Kendo snagged her arm though.
"Sorry Ashido, but I think you'd draw too much attention," she said. "I mean, you stand out a lot. And you're already kinda on heroes' radars for vigilantism, right? If a hero shows up, there's a good chance they'd recognize you."
The pink girl's face twisted into a frown at the (admittedly reasonable) logic. "So what, I'm supposed to just stay here?" she snapped, but Kendo shook her head.
"No, I'm saying that you, at least, shouldn't fight it directly. But we can still direct people to safety, help get them inside and play defense if it attacks the building." Mina's displeased expression cleared up at that, quickly nodding in firm agreement.
"I'll help with that too," Spinner said, getting up. "We can barricade the front windows downstairs and get people inside. I don't think I'd be much help against that thing anyway," he added with a sheepish glance towards the window.
"They're not easy to fight," Shouto said with a nod. "I don't know your Quirk, but I think ranged attacks would probably be safest if you don't have super strength."
Ranged attacks. Denki's mind instantly locked onto that phrase, his mouth going dry. He was suddenly keenly aware of the pile of backpacks and bags in the corner of the room, two of them containing vigilante costumes and gear. Gear which would only serve to augment two already ranged Quirks.
Not too far away Kyouka staggered to her feet with Crawler's support, still looking a bit shaken but her eyes hard with determination. "We have our gear," she said bluntly, meeting Denki's nervous gaze. "Taser Brain, you up for fighting a noumu?"
No, I'm not, he wanted to say, but the words refused to leave his mouth. Because as terrified as he was at the mere prospect of fighting one of the things that had managed to cripple All Might, as overwhelming as he found the idea of an enemy with multiple Quirks—
At the end of the day, he didn't stick with the hero course after USJ and the summer camp just because he thought being a hero was cool.
"I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if we didn't," he said honestly, letting his own resolve bleed into his words and drown out his anxiety. Kyouka smirked, a faint and slightly weak thing since some pain still showed in her face, but the expression was still full of determination.
Beside her, Crawler looked conflicted as he glanced her over, still holding her arm after helping her up. "I'm glad you have the right spirit, but are you sure you can do this? That sonic attack is going to be really rough on you up close, and you're still kinda shaky on your feet from the last one."
"Yeah, but I'd need to put on the headphones from my costume anyway to help block another one. Might as well put on the rest of it and try to help out, right? And besides, if it goes down, then I won't have to worry about any more attacks."
"She's kinda got a point," Kendo said with an amused huff, and Crawler cracked a small smile of his own.
"Yeah, guess she does."
"Come on, let's hurry up and go downstairs!" Mina exploded before they could say anything else, her patience having hit its limit. "Anyone who wants to help barricade or whatever, come with me!"
"I'll come after I hear back from Rogue-san, kero," Asui said, having pulled out her phone at some point. "They'll want to—kero?" She stopped short as the FacePage notification alert chimed—coming from not her phone, but several other phones, Denki's included. He and the other jumpers quickly whipped them out to check it, finding a new message from Tooru on the group chat.
And when he processed the characters on the screen, his stomach lurched and he nearly dropped the device.
"Oh," Shouto said quietly.
"Oh no," Mina whispered.
"What's going on?" Kendo asked sharply, and Denki could barely bring himself to answer as he stared at the text in growing horror.
"I think our plans are officially busted."
"Oi, Slyce, you got any two's?"
"Tch, you're absolutely cheating."
"You can't prove anything, so hand it over." Slycer scowled even as he held out the card, his fingers sharpening on the outer edges as the other villain took it. The subsequent brushing of fingers got a hiss from the other man, his hand snapping back with a scowl of his own. "Damn, sore loser much?"
"We're villains, of course I'm a sore loser," Slycer drawled, leaning back on his chair with an annoyed huff as he surveyed his remaining cards. His lips curled back with disdain, tossing them on the table with a huff. "Ah, forget it. This game's boring as hell anyway."
"Not like we've got anything else to do," the other guy huffed, dropping his own cards. "Back door duty tends to be dull ever since Shigaraki banned us from playing poker after that one incident. Just surprised a big name like you is back here, usually it's just us grunts."
"Yeah, well, Kurogiri told me to come here, and you know what happened the last time I got on his bad side."
"You mean the big cooking battle with Rappa? Yeah, that was insane. Still can't believe he managed to warp you guys to another island."
Slycer grunted, not bothering to respond as he just stared at the ceiling with an irritated scowl. Kurogiri was still pissed off about the kitchen thing, wasn't he. That was the only reason the mist man would assign him the mind-numbingly boring task of guarding the back entrance used by official members of the Alliance. Not many people bothered using it in the evenings, preferring to enter the bar and just hang out there.
Guarding it and vetting new arrivals might be necessary, but it was still boring. Only low-ranking grunts were ever assigned this job for a reason; anyone high up enough in the ranks to have name recognition would just shirk off the role to subordinates. Which he couldn't do, because again, Kurogiri was still pissed off about the kitchen thing.
So he blew up the kitchen again, big deal. That didn't mean he had to be stuck here listening to this nameless mook just blabbering away!
"...What's your name again?" he asked, which got an offended noise from the mook.
Said mook was spared from answering by the sound of the door opening, both men turning to see a hooded figure enter the back door. "Yo, I'm back," he greeted as it swung shut behind him to close out a second cloaked figure, throwing off his hood to reveal an insectoid head. "Dang, you would not believe how cold it is. Bad night to go out." Neither Slycer nor the other guy responded, just staring at the now-shut door behind him. "What?"
"You saw that, too?" Nameless Mook 1 asked. "Right before the door closed?"
"A giant hooded figure standing in the alley right behind him?" Slycer muttered, eyes narrowing as he slowly got up. "Yeah, I saw it alright." The newcomer's compound eyes blinked in probably confusion.
"What? What're you talking about? I came here alone. See?" He turned and opened the door only to jump back with a startled yelp upon seeing a massive figure looming on the other side. The door swung shut the second he let go of it, blocking it off from view once more. "Jiminy crickets, who the heck is that!?"
"He followed you!" Slycer snapped. "How the fuck do you not notice someone that big following you!?"
"I don't know! I swear I didn't see or hear anything on the way here! Guy must have a stealth Quirk or something!"
"Either way, he's trouble," Slycer growled. This was exactly why they had guards stationed here. He gestured to the first nameless mook to go over to the door, getting a sour frown but the guy silently complied nonetheless. Slycer stalked after him in silence, fingers and the sides of his bare arms invisibly sharpening. His Quirk, Sharpen, didn't really show up visibly, just made areas of his body sharp like a blade and cut anything it touched. Perfect for cutting down enemies and stealth attacks, like now.
He positioned himself behind the first mook and nodded at him. The guy flashed him another disgruntled look before opening the door and jumping out of the way so Slycer could lunge forward. Sure enough, the big hulking figure still loomed outside, but Slycer's lunge faltered upon seeing another figure now between them.
A teenage boy with black hair stuffed under a cap with a pizza logo and a pizza delivery bag slung over his shoulder stood there, one hand raised to knock. He yelped and jumped back as Slycer's hand stopped short of slicing his face, eyes wide with shock. "Wh-wha—Don't hurt me!"
"What the hell?" Nameless Mook 1 mumbled while the teenager held up his hands defensively. "Did someone seriously order pizza here?" Slycer's lips pulled back in a scowl, mentally weighing the pros and cons of just cutting down the kid—actually, never mind. He didn't care about some random stranger. They could take care of the actual details in a minute, for now his priority was to eliminate the two potential threats.
With that in mind he swiped his arm again, delivering a blow to the side of the kid's head to cut it clean in half.
A blow which got intercepted by a giant blue-gray hand.
Slycer jolted as his entire forearm was wrapped in the fingers, trying to yank it free with no luck. Even with the giant figure's hulking height, its hands felt almost comically big. Blood dripped down his arm from where his Quirk-sharpened skin cut into its palm, no doubt shredding the skin, but the figure showed no reaction nor did its grip loosen in the slightest. "Shit, let go!" he hissed, instantly aware of how bad this was.
"Hmm," the teenager said, his earlier expression of fear now completely wiped and face placid as he gazed at Slycer. "You didn't even hesitate to attack me, did you?" He then smiled almost pleasantly as he shrugged. "Oh well, I guess there's no point in playing confused delivery boy. The door's open anyway." He glanced back at the figure behind him. "Noumu, get him out of the way for me."
And then Slycer was yanked through the door as the teenager strolled inside past him.
The four scouts had barely reached the ground when a scream cut through the air.
For a split-second Ochako and Ojiro became visible as the group stumbled and released their grips on each other in surprise. Tooru and Monoma quickly snaked out their hands to snatch both of them to reassert the invisibility's effect. They went from two separate pairs to a disorganized blob of four teenagers huddled together, pressing as close to the building as they could in their bunched-up state.
"What the hell was that?" Ojiro hissed.
"That sounded like it came from the direction of the base," Ochako said, voice tinged with uncertainty. "Maybe they're just having an argument that got out of hand or something?" Tooru frowned as she glanced in the direction of the building, unease immediately curling up in her stomach. And it only solidified as another shout rang out, her grip reflexively tightening on Ochako and Ojiro's arms.
Then they heard a loud bang.
The group turned towards the base in shock, briefly frozen in place as more shouts echoed followed by yet another bang. It sounded like metal being struck, punctuated by a shrill screech of metal grating on metal that had Tooru wincing in pain.
At that moment, they all reached a silent consensus and began rushing towards the base. Ochako wrenched her arm free of Tooru's grip to run alone with Monoma rather than as part of a disorderly cluster, and Tooru unthinkingly slid her hand down Ojiro's arm to grip his hand instead. The bangs and shouts continued as they circled the building's corner where they saw people go earlier, and the sight they found had them skidding to a halt.
There was a man with a half-shaved head sprawled on the ground beside a toppled trash can, clutching one arm with a vicious glower as he stared at the base. A metal side door had been torn off and then apparently cut in two, the halves strewn on either side of the man and close enough to make it clear he'd done it. The scooter used by the pizza delivery guy they saw earlier lay on its side not far away, having been knocked over by one of the door's pieces.
Even as they took in the scene another person was suddenly flung through the open doorway. The first man barely scrambled out of the way so the newcomer crashed into the trash can. It was jerkily knocked to the side, and Tooru's breath caught as the new position revealed a hole in its side, the edges twisted and glowing red. That explained where at least one bang came from.
Then her gaze moved to the doorway and caught on a towering figure in a cloak and her mind went blank. Part of Tooru recognized it as one of the figures they'd seen heading for the base earlier, but her attention was more focused on the clearly exposed brain.
"Shit," Ochako breathed next to her, her quiet curse thankfully unheard over the standing man's loud cursing.
That was enough to snap Tooru out of her shock, and she tugged on Ojiro's arm. "We need to go," she whispered, hoping the others would hear her. Ojiro at least didn't resist as she pulled him away and began running. Soon they reached the building they'd started at and she released her Quirk's effect as she ducked into the alley next to it, letting them become visible. A second later Ochako and Monoma also became visible as they stopped beside them, having thankfully followed.
"It looks like there's a big fight," Monoma said, expression sharp and calculating. "It's either a brawl or—"
"Was that a noumu?" Tooru hissed to Ochako. "Because that looked like a noumu!"
"I-I think it was!" Ochako hissed back, looking pale and just as panicked as Tooru felt.
"Didn't you guys say they don't exist here?"
"They're not supposed to! I could talk about them and everything, and I couldn't talk about anything else related to the Alliance or League—" She jolted then, face somehow becoming even paler. "Oh my gosh. They're not connected to the Alliance."
That just left Tooru even colder. "Can anyone else even make noumu?"
"I don't know, but apparently maybe?"
"Hold on," Ojiro cut in before they could continue spiraling. "You lost me. What the heck are you two talking about?"
The girls exchanged twin grimaces, neither really knowing where to even start. In part because neither of them really knew much about noumu beyond what their class had managed to piece together, but also because the little bit they did was so much to deal with. "It's complicated," Ochako said tightly. "But all that matters is that the guy with the exposed brain? That's a noumu, and that's bad."
"Really bad," Tooru piped up. "Like, humongously awfully Plus Ultra-mega-bad. Like 'we should get the heck away right now' bad."
"...We'll take your word for it," Ojiro said after a moment, even as more shouts and bangs sounded in the distance. Monoma, however, had a contemplative look on his face that Tooru didn't like.
"Just a moment. Uraraka, you said they're not connected to the Alliance?"
Uraraka bit her lip. "I, I don't think they are? I mean, I could mention them when I was under the effects of that censoring Quirk. But they're definitely connected to the League of Villains in our world, so..." She shook her head, frustration visible in her tense shoulders. "I don't know."
"But there's still a large chance that they're not in this world," Monoma said. "Which means someone else is attacking the base."
In that moment, Tooru realized exactly what he was thinking, as did Ojiro judging by how he straightened. Ochako snapped to attention a moment later, eyes going wide before shaking her head. "No. No way, I get you guys are worried about Shinsou-kun, but he's super close to Deku! Even if there's an attack, he'll be—"
"They're not thinking about him getting hurt," Tooru interrupted gravely. "They're thinking about it as an opportunity."
Ochako jolted in surprise, but the stony looks Monoma and Ojiro sported only confirmed her words. As she took in their expressions her own face hardened. "Guys, no. Don't you dare go off now—"
"Something's going on, and they'll be busy dealing with it," Ojiro countered sharply. "This might be our chance!"
"Our chance—we can't just run in right now!" Ochako hissed. "We don't even have a getaway vehicle or anything! Tooru, help me out!" She shot Tooru a pleading look, but the blue-haired girl found herself hesitating, lips curling back into an uncertain grimace. Part of her agreed with Ochako, these two seemed to lose reason when it came to Shinsou and become so much more reckless, and more than that she didnʼt want to get close and potentially fight a noumu. But at the same time...
She agreed with them.
Her instincts were screaming that this was an opportunity, an opening that might not come up again. She knew that instinct came from her counterpart's experiences with surveilling targets, her mind conjuring flashes of many such opportunities during previous heists. An attack by an outside party would have everyone on edge and extra-vigilant, but it could also create the perfect distraction. They could take advantage of the chaos to get through the base, find everyone and sneak out while the villains fought the noumu.
More than that though—
"Ochako, this might be our only chance," she said tightly, which made even the boys shoot her surprised looks. "If this is an outside attack, do you think they'll stay there once it's over?"
"They won't," Monoma said, eyes widening as he picked up her trail of thought. "The Alliance is highly secretive. If the base's location was compromised, the best course of action would be to abandon it. Nettmegg could track them through Midoriya, but..."
"But there's no guarantee they'd take Aizawa, Bakugou or Shinsou with them," Ochako whispered in horror, now catching on. Monoma nodded grimly while Ojiro actually growled at the thought, visibly gnashing his teeth. Tooru reflexively gripped his arm and squeezed it, silently imploring him to stay put and calm down.
"Even if they did take them, they'd increase security for who knows how long," she said tightly. "That's why we always prepared so much before pulling a heist. If you fail once, then the next attempt will be even harder."
"But we don't have time to prepare now if we run in now!" Ochako protested, but her voice was weak, and she grimaced as she added, "But that doesn't matter much, does it?"
"No, it doesn't," Monoma agreed, just before the world was rocked by an explosion. The group staggered at the abruptness of it, the blast not strong enough to knock them off their feet but still enough to make them stumble. They immediately darted to the end of the alley and looked out to see smoke rising from the Alliance's base, half the windows facing them on the first floor shattered with a handful of bodies now strewn on the street.
"Outside attack or not, they definitely can't stay after that," Ojiro said grimly. "We need to go." Tooru could barely hear him though, her mind suddenly focused on one thing:
Shikkun was still in there too.
That last thought, that subconscious scream of panic and concern, cemented her resolve. "Ochako, I'm sorry," she said, pulling out her phone to open FacePage and type out a message. "But it's now or never."
'There's a fight at the base. Get the van here, we're launching the escape NOW.'