Ochaco watched in a bit of confusion as she saw the two boys who she believed to be total strangers to one another hug. She had suspected that they knew each other from their small interaction at the quirk assessment test but that suspicion was squashed when they never interacted with each past that point at least until now.
She pondered what Bakugo meant by losing someone. If the two of them were so emotional about it, did that mean they lost a shared friend? Tired of trying to guess the meanings behind their words, she decided to just ask after this whole situation was done, she didn't want to interrupt what was an emotional moment for them. For now, she would deal with the blue screen that had popped up.
[𝗗𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿?]
(𝗬𝗲𝘀/𝗡𝗼)
The offer was suspicious, like a giant red button cliche. The first few minutes it had appeared she had wondered whether or not it was a villain trap, but also wondered why a villain trap would depend on a hero being dumb enough to activate it. 'Or maybe it's like a time bomb that will go off regardless if I touch it,' Ochaco pondered while staring contemplatively at the screen.
"Hey Ochaco," Izuku called out to her which drew her attention to the screen. "...you ok? You looked like you were staring off into space."
Ochaco jumped a bit at suddenly being addressed and almost tried to grab the screen to hide it or something before remembering that no one but her could see or touch it. The near-transparent blue screen had been floating right in front of her this entire time and yet none of her classmates had so much as asked her about it or even acknowledged it was there and when it came in contact with the bodies of her classmates it simply phased through them.
This was one of the reasons Ochaco hadn't told anyone about the screen because she couldn't prove it existed. The other reason was that if this was a trap or something she didn't want anyone to freak out and do something rash. This is why, she had decided to maintain a healthy distance from the class by waiting by the caved-in entrance of USJ.
However, now that Izuku was here, someone who would at the very least give her the benefit of the doubt if she talked about the potential trap and possibly protect her and her classmates from it, things were different. So instead of lying as she had planned, she spoke the truth. But not out loud in case Bakugo who was a few steps behind Izuku overheard.
Ochaco tip-toed to whisper into Izuku so that Bakugo wouldn't hear her. "Izuku, don't freak out but I think I've been booby-trapped."
Izuku immediately grabbed her by the shoulders and held her at arm's length, and for a second, Ochaco thought he would push her away but contrary to her momentary belief he held her shoulders firmly while giving her a once over before muttering something she vaguely recognized as "Identify" and "Trap".
After just a few seconds of checking her over, Izuku whispered back to her with concern in his voice. "Are you sure? I don't see anything on you."
Ochaco fidgeted a bit while trying to figure out how to explain the trap before realizing there was no good or easier way to explain it and decided to be as straightforward as possible while hoping for the best. "It's a blue screen that only I can see and touch and it's asking me if I want more power." The shock on Izuku's face made Ochaco regret her quick decision but she pushed on regardless, regardless of how crazy what she said sounded she pushed on. "I know it sounds ridiculous but..."
"I believe you," Midoriya cut her off with a look and a tone that betrayed no doubt. Shocking Ochaco despite this being the result she wanted.
"A-are you sure, it sounds ridiculous even to me," Ocahco stuttered out as a wave of relief washed over her now that someone reliable to help her.
Izuku nodded before speaking in a normal volume instead of a whisper having decided that whispering was no longer necessary. "Yeah, I actually think I know what's going on as well, and it's definitely not a trap if it's what I think it is, so don't worry about it." Izuku gave her a smile which helped reassure her that she truly wasn't in danger. "After all this is over, I'll explain what's going on. Just don't touch it for now in case I'm wrong."
Ochaco breathed a sigh of relief as Izuku wrapped her in a hug and mumbled into his armored chest "Oh thank god".
"You guys done with your whispering session over there, or should I wait for you to finish making out next?" Bakugo asked jovially from a few feet away from the two. He had stepped back to give them privacy when they first started whispering.
Ochaco removed herself from Izuku as she blushed heavily at Bakugo's words. "S-shut up! We weren't gonna do that!"
Ochaco had reacted so strongly because she had secretly considered doing just that. In her mind, Izuku and her had been unofficially dating since the day of their impromptu sky-diving trip. So there was a certain if a bit unrealistic, expectation that Izuku would be the one to advance their relationship since their first date.
However, the young Uraraka recently realized that Izuku was a lot more cowardly when it came to their relationship than he was when it came to jumping into danger. So her daydreams of Izuku's propos-, ahem, asking her to be his wif-, AHEM, girlfriend would not happen. At least, not without the right push.
While Ochaco was thinking all of this, Izuku looked sheepishly at Bakugo and started beginning an apology when someone else addressed him.
"Excuse me Midoriya," Bakugo, and Izuku turned around to see Momo had approached them. The second-class rep had a few scratches and dust on her hero costume but otherwise looked okay. "I'm sorry for interrupting but I was doing a head count and noticed three of our classmates are missing. I was hoping that since you were inside the longest you would have spotted."
Izuku's face went from sheepish to serious in almost an instant when he started answering. "Yeah, I got them right here and Mr. Aizawa too." Izuku swiped his hand in front of him and as if following the motion, the constructs that tailed behind Izuku since he left USJ moved to the front. The orbs that had Sato, Mineta, and Asui were transparent and showed the students within had been conscious and recovered for quite a bit and were waiting patiently to be let out while the casket-like box Aizawa was in could not be seen through.
Seeing that they were fine Izuku released the orb causing Sato and Mineta to fall on their stomach and Asui to land on all fours like a cat. Izuku opened his mouth to apologize for dropping them but he was stopped before he could even begin by Mineta who was crying tears of joy while thanking him.
"Thank you Midoriya! I thought we were dead! We were alive but I thought we were deeeeead!" During Mineta's emotional outburst, he grabbed the hem of Izuku's trench coat and started crying into it. Sato and Asui also came to thank him but not in nearly as dramatic a fashion.
"Thank you Midoriya, ribbit. Without you, I don't think we would have made it," Asui bowed her head in thanks causing Midoriya's serious face to drop a little as he smiled.
Sato spoke up next and pat Midoriya on the back as he thanked him. Normally someone as big as Sato hitting Izuku would cause them to stumble but Izuku remained as rigid as a wall which did not go unnoticed by Sato. "Thanks as well Midoriya, I was running on fumes when you got us so you saved our bacon. I can see why you're our class rep now."
Izuku was just happy that they were safe and said as much. "I'm just glad you guys are okay but I'm sure you would have made it without me."
It was at this time Momo reinserted herself back into the conversation. "I'm glad that you three are safe and sound. I know you probably want to thank Midoriya more but please gather by the bus next to the rest of the class. There is something I need to talk with Midoriya about privately." With a nod of their heads, the trio Aknwoledged Momo's request and began walking back to the van where the rest of the class gathered.
Ocahco, who had snapped out of her daydreaming at the release of her classmates, called out to them with a warning. She knew that Izuku's healing didn't give someone their stamina back and would let them know as much before they tried to do something strenuous and exhausted themselves. "Don't push yourself, guys! You feel fine now but your bodies are still tired." They stopped to acknowledge her warning before continuing to the rest of the class.
After the trio was gone Momo gave Bakugo and Uraraka a look of intent and both knew that she was asking them to leave as well. Neither wanted to but Momo was the class rep and therefore -during emergencies- one of their leaders. Ignoring her would be the same as disobeying a teacher. So with reluctance, they both left for the bus as well.
Izuku wanted them both to stay but Momo was not only a fellow class rep but a girl with a respectable level of intelligence. So he respected her desire to send the others away, figuring she had a reason why she sent them away. A reason justified when Bakugo and Ochaco were out of earshot.
"Midoriya...Is Mr. Aizawa..." Yaoyorozu hesitated to say the word.
Izuku did not. "Dead? No."
Yaoyorozu breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how she would feel knowing their lazy and scruffy but good teacher was gone but she knew she would not be happy about it. She glanced at the construct Aizawa was held in before asking Izuku another question, "If he's fine then why do you have him in that casket?"
"Casket?" Izuku questioned as he finally took time to look at his construct and saw the similarities between the two mentioned things. "Yeah, it does kind of look like that," Izuku muttered before answering Momo's question. "The casket thing was kinda by accident but if you're wondering why you can't see inside it like the others, it's because even if he's alive he's still not okay. Mr. Aizawa was previously critically wounded during the fight with the invading villains." At his words, Izuku could see the panic in Momo's eyes, most likely because she believed Aizawa was still in critical condition he surmised. "Don't worry about it though, he may still be in bad shape but I've been healing him for a while now. He should be fine soon."
Momo once again breathed a sigh of relief before looking at Izuku in confusion. "Healing, I thought your quirk was..."
A loud, creepy metallic noise that sounded like a weird mix between a machine being assembled and an evil spirit sighing came out of USJ making Momo, Izuku, and the rest of the class stop everything they were doing and turn to the broken-down doors. What followed the sound was a dark and ominous-looking wave of energy.
Izuku's immediate response was to start creating a wide barrier to block the wave, believing it to be some sort of attack but before the wave could even get close to Izuku and Momo it disappeared into nothing like it was never there. Nevertheless, Izuku continued to make the barrier bigger and stronger until it encompassed the entire class, having a gut feeling that these things were just the precursors to something even more horrific.
His gut feeling was proven right when his system screen appeared in front of him.
______________________________________
[Alert!!!]
Quest difficulty increasing beyond expected parameters and user capabilities. Updating Objectives of Main Quest.
______________________________________
When Izuku read what was on the system window his anxiety grew even more and when he read an updated version of the quest he received at the start of the attack his face grew pale.
______________________________________
[Main Quest]
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...oh no, a villain attack! The League of Villains has invaded UA. Their purpose is unknown but it's clear their intent is evil and it's up to you to stop them.
(Objectives)
-Defeat Kurogiri [1/1]
-Defeat Shigaraki Tomura [0/1]
-Defeat Nomu [1/2]
-Defeat 10 Mook Villain [10/10]
-Make Sure Everyone In Class 1-A Make It Out USJ Alive [20/20]
(New Objectives)
-Survive The Explosions
(Reward)
- Power Gatcha Ticket x3
-100,000 Shop Point
-10,000 EXP
(Aditional Reward)
-Help
______________________________________
"Yaoyorozu," Izuku spoke with a faint quiver in his voice as he faced USJ. Expecting the system-predicted explosion to come from there. "Tell everyone to brace themself. If they have a quirk that can protect themself or others use it now."
Momo was confused by Izuku's words and tone, from her point of view he was worried about nothing. The energy wave had been ominous and concerning but it hadn't even reached them and Izuku had already erected a massive and no doubt powerful barrier around the class with his quirk. But when Izuku turned around and looked into her eyes she saw a fear in them that was indescribable, and that had spurred Momo into doing as she was told without question.
She ran full tilt into the center of her class not sure how to explain what was going on and why on such short notice but speaking nonetheless. "Everyone, if you have a quirk that can be used to shield yourself or others, please use it now. I believe there's going to be an attack."
Just like her, the rest of the class was confused, and for the same reasons she was.
"Class rep, how do you know there is an attack coming," Todaroki asked the question on nearly everyone's mind.
Right now, everyone was thinking, 'All Might is already taking care of the villain inside and he is their objective so I doubt they're going to come after us.'
"I don't know," Yaoyorozu admitted to the class, confusing them even more. "However, Izuku believes there going to be one, and from the look on his face, it seems more like he knows than just suspects."
Once Bakugo had heard it was from Izuku he Immediately spurred into action. With a small explosion from his palm, Bakugo launched himself from the ground and onto the roof of the bus so he could get the attention of all the students. "What the hell are you waiting for," He shouted at the class. "There's an attack coming so we need to get ready for it! We'll start by flipping the bus on its side. If an attack is strong enough to get through that..." He gestured to the massive golden barrier Izuku was constructing as he spoke. "...Then chances are this thing going to fall over and I don't want to be the one who has to scrape you off the floor when this is all over. So round face," He points at Ochaco who frowns at the nickname. "Use your quirk on this thing so that big lips and mask face can set it in position, I want the roof facing USJ. After that, the runt and flat face..." He points at Mineta and Sero. "...Anchor this thing down while everyone who has ranged options prepares for whatever attack is coming.. Is that clear?"
The class was silent after the speech and while they thought it was a good plan to follow, they still turned to Yaoyorozu for guidance. In USJ, Bakugo had stepped up in leading the class to safety and was the main reason most of the class was gathered before All Might had even arrived at USJ and a contributing reason why all of them were outside after he had gotten in. But he still wasn't a class rep or a teacher, and while Izuku, the head of the class, had given them the command of preparing for the attack, he had left Yaoyorozu to decide how to carry it out.
Yaoyorozu was a bit miffed at being upstaged by Bakugo but put her feelings aside for the betterment of the class. "I approve of the plan but I'm adding one thing to it." Momo turned to face the dual-haired boy of the class, Todoroki. "How much ice can you make."
Back with Izuku, worry and fear plagued him, they nipped and ate at his power like a parasite. He thought he had gotten over these feelings, this doubt, but with the system itself informing him of the possible death of himself and his classmates, even his newfound confidence and power couldn't reassure him that he could save them all.
Izuku believed, no, knew that people would die in the blasts to come. The villains inside USJ were going to be obvious casualties. Quite a few of them were either knocked out or captured. All Might... was unlikely to die but the possibility still existed. Izuku felt that at least a few of his classmates were going to be casualties. Unlike him, most were pretty squishy and didn't have defensive powers like him
The system, which gave him its powers, quantified his physical capabilities and calculated the difficulty of his quests, had made it an objective for him to survive. Not stop the blasts, not even defend against them but simply survive against them.
'I could warp them,' Izuku considered using Shadow Projection to warp the entire class away. He quite frankly hated the ability but if he needed to use it to save everyone he would. However, had never used the ability after the incident in his apartment so long ago and thus was unaware of its limits.
He didn't know whether he could warp only himself way, half the class, or just warp half of the bodies of his classmates. It was too risky to use, especially since it would be way more powerful than the time he lost control. He had used the new power amplification ability he got for completing a quest during the ball-throwing part of the quirk assessment test on [Shadow Projection]. So Izuku made using [Shadow Projection] to warp the class a last resort.
Izuku was so lost in his thoughts of what was to come he hadn't noticed Ochaco stepping up right beside him until she put her hands on his shoulder. "Izuku, we're almost done. You should come near the bus with the rest of the class. It'll be safer."
Startled by the sudden contact, Izuku jumped a little, which in turn startled Ochaco from surprise. "Ahh sorry, Ochaco, I was just lost in thought," Izuku apologized for startling her while trying to muster up a reassuring smile so he could stop the girl he liked from worrying but judging from the worried look on her face he definitely failed.
However, instead of her face staying worried it hardened into determination. "Don't worry Izuku, everything will be fine. We've made it this far with everyone, haven't we? We just need to go a little more before we're all safe, so hang in there alright."
Izuku lips curved into a smile that was a little more genuine than his previous one at Ochaco's words. He admired her determination but he felt it was born out of ignorance of their situation. She didn't know what he did, the danger they were all in, and oddly enough he wanted her to stay that way. Izuku wanted to protect that ignorance, no, that innocence in her to the point that -to his shame- he considered just forsaking everyone else's lives and focusing everything on protecting her. But Izuku knew that not only would she not want that but he probably wouldn't be able to live with himself if he willingly abandoned his classmates to die.
"HEY!" Ochaco shouted at Izuku to once again snap him out of his thoughts. She put both hands on his cheeks and dragged his face near hers to make direct eye contact with him. "Don't doubt start doubting yourself now Izuku. If the attack coming is big enough to scare even you then you'll need all the power you can get, right?"
Izuku nodded before changing nearly everything about his body language, from his posture to his facial expression, from one of mute worry into one of absolute confidence. Izuku stood straighter, his smile stretching to match one similar to All Might's as he mustered enough mental fortitude to banish any signs of doubt in his body language.
He didn't actually feel any better but for Ochaco's, no, everyone's sake, he would put up as confident a facade as he needed to in order to reassure her. "Thank you, but you really don't need to worry about me," He grabbed her hands from his face and squeezed them reassuringly while using one of his base [Light Projection] abilities to increase the brightness around his body to feign a power up. "I got everything under control."
Ocahaco, seeing his new confidence and brighter aura, bought Izuku's act completely. "I know...," she said with a smile. "... but I want to give you something for good luck." Ochaco tip-toed a little, leaned forward, and gave Izuku a chaste kiss on the cheek.
For a small second that felt like hours, Izuku's world froze. As if the universe itself had stopped time just so he could enjoy, contemplate, and comprehend Ochaco's actions multiple times over. Izuku knew Ochaco liked him, she had agreed to go on a date with him after all, but what he didn't know, at least until now, was that she liked him enough to kiss him. Even if it was only one of those friendly cheek kisses he read about when studying foreign countries, he was still unsure when exactly their relationship had developed soo much that she was comfortable kissing him.
'Was it that day at the beach or maybe it was the entrance exam? No, it couldn't be the entrance exam, we barely knew each other then.' Izuku tried to rack his brain at speeds he only ever used in combat to find the answer but no matter how hard he tried all he came up with was guesswork and nothing concrete.
Little did Izuku know, Ochaco Uraraka had been waiting to do something like this since their first date.
When Izuku finally decided to slow his mental processes to real-time, his face flushed red in embarrassment but on the inside, all he felt was happiness. Seeing the demure and happy look on Ochaco's face made Izuku realize that she had enjoyed the kiss as much as he had.
Ochaco, happy with the results of her actions, stepped away from the almost speechless Izuku and began walking back to the class, who were almost finished setting up Todoroki's ice wall around the van. However, to make sure the somewhat thick-headed Izuku knew she didn't want their kiss to be a one-time thing or have him interpret her actions as something "friendly", she left him some parting words. "W-when we get out of this mess, make sure to give me a real one," she stammered a bit on the delivery due to her embarrassment but managed to finish strong.
If Izuku's blush was like fire before, it was now volcanic. He had no idea how to respond to that so he just sputtered wordlessly on the spot trying to articulate his agreement, confusion, and happiness all at once with weird hand motions like Lida. Izuku was so baffled by her words he didn't even notice his power increase again to the levels they were at when he healed Thirteen.
When Izuku finally got a hold of himself again, he smiled a genuine smile and got back to work on making barriers, Ochaco's words and kiss were a focus of his mind right not distracting from his self-imposed duty, if anything it was fuel for the fire of his power.
Izuku decided to go with the barrier method he used to block the zero-pointer's attack during the entrance exam. That is to say, layering many weaker shields over the main strong one. After making another 20 barriers, Izuku finally stopped, he could have continued making more barriers since he only used about half of his power but decided to save the other half in case it was needed after the blasts or to better weather it.
It is worth mentioning, that while Izuku felt more optimistic about the coming crisis he didn't believe for a moment that he suddenly became more capable of stopping it or saving all his classmates. However, right now Izuku didn't focus on that.
Right now, all he was focused on was saving everyone....and trying to fulfill Ochaco's request as soon as possible. To that end, Izuku considered anything to delay the fulfillment of her request an obstacle he absolutely had to overcome. That included failing to protect everyone from the explosion, anyone getting injured in the explosion and/or dying, plus the explosion itself.
The beating of feet on the pavement caught Izuku's attention. He could hear everyone in camp talking and moving but what made him take notice of these particular steps was that they were coming towards him so he turned around to meet the person, Yaoyorozu, halfway.
Momo looked at him as if she was seeing a completely different person than she expected before shaking herself out of her confusion address him. "Midoriya, I assume that preparations on your end are complete?"
Izuku nodded at her, "Yeah, I'm as prepared for this as I'll ever be."
"Good, we're done as well and Todoroki is about to seal up the barrier. Let's retreat inside the barrier with the rest of the class." Yaoyorozu nearly began turning around to go back to the rest of the student body before Izuku started speaking again.
"I should remain out here, at least for now, some parts of my power require line of sight to work properly," Izuku demonstrated what he meant immediately by making a small shield in his hand, then moving it around a bit before he had it settle in his hands to be crushed into motes of light that regathered to make into a thin sword.
"I see," Yaoyorozu said as she looked at his demonstration, then up at his massive construct and took a moment to marvel at its sheer scale and radiance. "I knew your powers were potent, but this is beyond what I imagined, and it's so beautiful. Like you made the world itself a canvas for your art."
Izuku was flattered by her words and would probably have said a whole slew of things ranging from "Really?" to "It's not that big a deal" if not for a new system alert popping up in his face.
______________________________________
[Alert!!!]
BIG FUCKING EXPLOSIONS ARE IMMINENT! STOP TALKING SO FUCKING MUCH AND GET READY!
T-15 Seconds
______________________________________
Izuku's palms became clammy from the sudden onset of nervousness but managed to maintain his cool when speaking to Yaoyorozu. "It's time," He said to her as he began rising into the air on his signature light disk. "Please get in the barricade as quickly as possible and take care of Mr. Aizawa." Izuku moves the construct holding his teacher here. He sees Yaoyorozu trying to lift the construct carrying their teacher before Izuku speaks again. "Don't worry, it'll follow you in."
With a nod and a "Good luck." Yaoyorozu runs back into the class and the casket-like construct that holds and heals Aizawa follows her in. When both are in with the class, the ice barrier around them seals up almost completely with only the top of the ice and a small section of the sides open.
Izuku looks at the system window once again to check the countdown and see a different message.
______________________________________
[Alert!!!]
Remember all you have to do is survive and help will arrive. good luck.
T-5 Seconds
______________________________________
Izuku took a deep breath to calm his nerve. The fact that the system was wishing him luck when it literally gave him it was as funny as it was concerning. With no more preparations to be made, Izuku simply waited.
5
4
3
2
1
*BOOM*
Even as Izuku's mind speeds up to help react to everything going on, the force of the explosion tore through not only USJ but his shields too fast for him to comprehend much less react. All Izuku could see in this enhanced state of mind was the ground tearing up before everything outside the barrier went dark. Darkness would have been cast on him and everyone inside it, if not for his ability's natural glow.
When Izuku could finally react to what was happening the explosion had all already ended and of the twenty shields he had originally made to protect the main barrier, 18 of them were gone and the 19th was barely together. The barriers that had broken, except for the main barrier, were the strongest Izuku had ever made. Stronger than what he used to block the zero pointer attacks by a large order of magnitudes. Yet 18 had still been destroyed, even with USJ being a direct buffer between the explosion and the barrier.
The horror this realization brought Izuku could not even be properly felt by him as he scrambled to make new and powerful barriers before another explosion would come. He could only make 3 barriers of negligible strength before the second explosion came.
*Boom*
Once again, the explosion is too fast for Izuku to react, Its power smashes through all barriers except the main one but even that was nearly shattered. Izuku would have used the energy from previous barriers to reinforce the main one but all of it was blown away by the barriers.
Fearing that the third explosion would blow him and everyone else to bits before he could create more barriers, Izuku gathers all his power, to make just one smaller but stronger barrier with the rest of his energy. Izuku knew that this would not be enough to survive the next blast without critical damage to the shield, so he place his hand on the barrier and used another of his system abilities, [Reinforcment], on it. He felt the drain of his stamina from the ability but it was negligible considering he had barely done any sort of physically exerting task during this whole attack.
*Boom*
The barrier splintered but held, Izuku figured it would hold for another three...
*Boom* *Boom*
...one other attack before it would be scattered to the wind.
Without hesitating, despite fearing that the second the barrier went down he and everyone would be blown away, Izuku destroyed the barrier and remade it smaller but whole with what was left of the barrier. The enhancement effect was still present on the fragments so the new barrier did not lose much strength.
Not that it helped much when the next explosion put all the other ones to shame.
*𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙤𝙢*
The barrier Izuku tried to carefully maintain was blown away like dust in the wind and him with it. The rest of the class down at the bus were saved from the same fate as Izuku due to not only having Izuku's barrier blunting the explosion but their ice barrier as well.
"T-that one actually hit us," Toru whimpered in fear.
"Shit, I can't see! What the hell happened to the Midoriya barrier?" Denki cried out hoping for an answer. Everything was pitched back without Izuku barriers since the sun was blotted out by dust.
"C-c-cmon guys, d-don't freak out, Midoriya's gonna put it back up any time now," Mineta tried to reassure himself as much as anyone else who heard him.
But as the seconds passed and the barrier hadn't come back up, so Momo made a light source with her quirk to hopefully calm everyone down. However, fear began to spread through the class like wildfire. While the class hadn't seen the devastation of USJ or Izuku barriers, they had certainly felt the ground quake like a titan of myth was walking nearby. So it was very obvious very quickly that if another blast were to happen without Izuku there to protect them, they would become stains on the ground before they would become heroes.
Momo was the first to try and take action, "Tododroki can you..."
"Fuck," Bakugo slammed his fist against the roof of the bus in anger and frustration. His actions silence Yaoyorozu and made a few members of the class jump. "Out of the way, I'm going to find Izuku," from the look on his face it was obvious his words weren't a request. Bakugo looked legitimately ready to murder anybody who got in his way.
Without another word, he started walking toward the dust cloud, not even sure in which direction Izuku may have fallen or if he was still alive, and almost everyone got out of his way. Most of the class was too scared or did not see a reason to stop him.
Kirishima was not "most". "Hey, hold on the Bakugo," Kirishima grabbed Bakugo's arm to stop him from stepping away from the class. "We shouldn't be splitting up at a time like this, we should be putting our heads together to figure out how to get out of this mess."
Momo started speaking up again right after Kirishima, "He right Bakugo, there has been a lapse in the explosions. We should be using this time to come together not split apart."
"Pfff, Hahaha," Of all the responses everyone expected from Bakugo, ranging from ignoring them to attacks, this was not one of them. "You guys can't be serious right now." Bakugo turned around to look at the faces of his classmates to see if any of them bought into the crap Kirishima and Momo were spouting. When he found a few believers in their drivel his face turned into a disgusted sneer. "You can't be stupid enough to think we'll survive another blast without Izuku right? Whatever happened to have caused this," his free hand motioned around to the dust all covering dust around them, "was strong enough to level USJ." The surprised faces he got from the information that Bakugo figured was obvious caused his sneer to grow but he continued talking anyways. "But not Izuku barriers, he managed to block the attacks that leveled USJ at least five times from tremors I counted. So unless anyone here can do the same, quit trying to do something as useless as having half and half here make another ice wall, and help me find him." Bakugo, finally having enough of talking yanked his arm out of Kirishima's grip and kept moving toward the encroaching dust fog.
"Now hold..." Momo tried to speak up again only to be interrupted by Ochaco.
"Yeah Bakugo's right," Ochaco walked to the center of the class to talk to everyone face-to-face in hopes to convince them to join the search. "We gotta find Izuku, he's the reason we're even alive right now and the only way to get out of this, so we can't just leave him out there. That's why I'm going to find him." Ochacho started moving toward Bakugo to search for Izuku.
While others in the class suspected that Ochaco was likely motivated by reasons that had nothing to do with the safety of the class, -and they would be right- what she and Bakugo said was still true. No one had a quirk that could protect them all as Izuku had and no one knew how far the explosions reached because of the smoke. So even if they made a break for it they would have no idea where to go or how far to go to be safe. So almost everyone in the class made an unspoken but united decision to look for Izuku and began walking toward the dust like Bakugo.
"Everyone wait, we don't even have a plan!" Yaoyorozu shouted in frustration as she gripped her hair with such strength that some strands broke loose. Momo was already cracking from the stress of the situation and the class going rouge was the straw that broke the camel's back. "UGH, DAMMIT!" she screamed to the heavens before making her way to the edge of the dust with the rest of the class but not before making a rope to drag the floating construct containing Aizawa with her.
Ochaco breathed a sigh of relief hearing the rest of the class following in her and Bakugo's footsteps. 'Hang on Izuku, I don't know where you are but we'll find you!'
"Oi, round fa...no, Uraraka, thanks." Bakugo said without breaking stride. He and her was close to the edge of the dust veil and with just a few more steps they would be inside it.
Ochaco glanced up at him to see that the murderous look he was sporting was now replaced by a relieved one. "No problem, but how do you plan to find Izuku? Pretty soon we won't be able to breathe properly, much less see."
Bakugo grunted in a bit of frustration at that. "Truth be told, I was planning to just bla-s-t t-h-e."
Ochaco froze in shock not only hearing Bakugos words slow to a stop but his body as well. "Bakugo are you ok?" she tried to push and shake him but it was like she was interacting with a wall instead of a person. She turned her head to look at the other members of her class and saw that they were all frozen too but what she saw past them made her legs feel like jelly. "Oh my god."
Past the bus the dust had parted, letting in light for her to see past it, and what it revealed was...Nothing. Nothing as far as her eyes could see. Just a massive gaping hole in the ground where USJ was.
"Times up kiddo," an almost ethereal female voice said behind Ochaco, causing her to turn around to look for who she guessed caused the time phenomenon. Only she didn't find anyone. Just the screen.
Not seeing anyone else around she, despite what sanity would dictate, questioned it. "Who are you, did you do this?"
The voice that came from the screen chuckled. "Who I am is...not important right now but I am responsible for the temporal-esk effect going on." The screen floated all on its own and bobbed side to side in front of Bakugo's eyes like it was testing to see if he would react. "But that's not important right now. This is" The screen returned to floating right in her face with the same question it had on it before.
[𝗗𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿?]
(𝗬𝗲𝘀/𝗡𝗼)
"In case you haven't put it together, the reason you can see the crater that used to be USJ is because another "explosion" cleared the air." Ochaco's eyes widened in terror. She knew what this meant for her and the class. "Yeah without me you would be a smear before you even knew what hit you. But with me? You'll be able to save them," The blue screen moved from Ochaco and faced the rest of the class before turning back to her. "All of them." The question on the screen glitched out to show a bloody and unconscious Izuku somewhere she couldn't recognize because there was dust everywhere around him.
"Izuku!" Ochaco, having lost the last of her patience for this situation tried to grab at the screen but unlike before, her hands slipped right through them causing her even greater frustration. "Why are you doing this, why don't you just save everyone yourself if you have all this power!?"
"I can't do anything if you don't want it," Ochaco figured that the screen, no, the person behind it was referring to the power she could offer. "You have to accept the offer. Only then can I save your class. Oh, I know, let's say we shake on it!" In an instant, the screen was replaced by a naked but featureless, blue-skinned girl about as tall as Ochaco if not a little taller.
The surprise transformation was, well, surprising but Ochaco shook it off to focus on what really mattered at the moment. The deal. The girl held out a brightly glowing right hand out as if expecting Ochaco to take it. She was even wiggling it in a taunting manner. Under normal circumstances, Ochaco would never agree to it, even knowing Izuku had said the screen was not a trap, this girl was just not trustworthy.
But one look at the incoming explosion and another at her classmates forced her hand. "Dammit, I better not regret this," Ochaco muttered while she offered her hand, hesitating only for a moment before the image of an injured Izuku came to her mind and steeled her resolve. She grabbed the hand of the blue girl, and while she could not see the girl's smile -because they had no mouth- she could hear it in their next words.
"Atta girl."
Then everything went blue.
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A/N: Yesss Ochco, take the deal! Better the devil you don't know than the explosion you do.
Once again, thank to all the people who dropped stones. Genskot and real777.
I think ill have the next chapter out faster...Hopefully. Criticism appreciated. Author out!