Chapter 9 - Chapter 8: Plans and Threats

Even as Izuku lay on the floor, paralyzed, he managed to map the area and count the people present. The area he scanned was too large and vast; he registered too many mana signatures to differentiate. Everyone has a unique signature; even those who can't use magic have one. Izuku tried to get a grasp on the situation as best he could. Figuring out the mana flow of dead bodies tossed around, he managed to visualize some of the events that had happened down there.Although he was able to move freely, he needed to do a few things before he could do anything inside the burning building below him.The first thing on the list was an alibi. He needed to prove he was down on the streets with the rest of the civilians while he roamed. He came up with many different ideas, but in the end, he decided to use a puppet. The best way to achieve this would be to use a dead body as a base, but that is far too immoral for Izuku. Even if he wanted to go that route, he didn't have access to one currently.So, using one made from rocks as a base was the best solution. He couldn't create a puppet from thin air; creation was a concept that belonged to sorcery, so he was limited to manipulation only. After he completed the puppet, Izuku concealed it, because it wasn't ready to be revealed yet.He also hid himself. Invisibility was a mana-draining spell, but it was nowhere near as taxing as using illusions, so hopefully he wouldn't run out of mana before he could refill it.Once he could move again, he created another flash, and the heroes who were watching from the sky came to check. They found nothing, as Izuku was already walking on the street, one block away.The puppet, now invisible, floated behind Izuku as he walked towards the closest medical station. While he couldn't know who it was when he detected people with wide area spells, he still could find similarities with those he knew well enough.After 50 meters or so, one mana signature started to stick out to him. The only thing he could figure out from it was that this person was related to him. With a little logical thinking, he concluded that it was either his mother or sister.The street he walked through was abandoned; it had been left in ruins because of a fight. The fight had since moved a few blocks away, leaving only civilians crying over their dead loved ones who were being carried out of the rubble."Kid!" The hero was dressed in an eye-catching light blue skin-tight jacket with a white, vertical stripe in the middle between his square face and his ridiculously oversized pants. It was Masaki Mizushima, better known as the hero Manual. His quirk allowed him to manipulate small amounts of water, making it far more useful for cleaning wounds than fighting."Are you hurt? Any open wounds? Head injuries?" The moment Manual spotted Izuku, the hero overwhelmed him with questions as he prepared his quirk, mixing floating water with antiseptics."No, I am fine, perfect even, but my family... Please help them!""You don't seem fine at all! Your knees, elbows...are all covered with blood." He pointed to the holes in Izuku's clothes, showing the fake wounds that Izuku inflicted on himself."It doesn't hurt at all; I will be fine. You have worse injuries to deal with.""The medical tent is behind the corner; at least get the checkup.""Yes, sir."Around sixty people were at the medical tent; based on the movement, there were twenty nurses and doctors, forty patients, and still counting. The small yellow tent couldn't house half of the patients, so only people with severe wounds were inside, while others with lesser wounds were left to gather around on all sides. Even the deceased had no designated place; bodies littered around, leaving just small pathways for the medical staff to walk between.The lifeless bodies with little distance surrounded the tent. Some were missing eyes, ears, or parts of their hair; others missed whole heads or limbs, leaving blood to flow from them, like from the faucet. Some bodies were twisted in manners that would make your stomach turn upon seeing them. Some had see-through holes in their bodies, and others were burned so that you could not identify them by their face or body features. It was a massacre.Some people stuck close to some of the dead. 'Probably in mourning,' Izuku thought as he observed the closest family members trying to get closer to the bodies.He sat down next to a man with a broken arm, a woman with an amputated leg, and two dead bodies. When the awful smell filled his nose, he started questioning the decision of placing dead people next to survivors; however, he didn't have time to think about it in detail.The first chance he could, he honed in on the mana signature he felt earlier, finding it a few meters away. Being closer and tuning out others, he could finally recognize it. "Izuna," he muttered upon realization.Even though every second counted, he didn't move until the nurses stopped their check-up, when they had brought the medicine they could spare for him. Though it made Izuku anxious, he didn't lose his cool.As heroes continued bringing in bodies, the doctors hurried towards them to give immediate medical attention, no longer paying attention to the already treated ones. While doctors were spread out thin everywhere, Izuku disregarded procedures, and he started making his way toward Izuna.She was on the north side of the tent; in other words, she was on the other side. To get to her, he walked through already-made pathways. Even with the pre-made pathways, it was still crowded to move through."Izuna.""Izuna."He whispered a few times under his breath to get her attention. He knew he got it when she screamed back."Izuku!""Could you scream any louder?" Izuku asked as Izuna hugged him tightly."Be quiet, appreciate the moment," Izuna answered as she tightened the grip of her hug. A few tears started to build up in her eyes. "Since when do you cry about your brother? That's new to me," he teased as he returned the hug."Where's mom? Did you see her?" Her voice was weak, but it didn't break just yet."I don't know; she is probably yet to be saved." He lied; it wasn't easy, but he needed to. "What's up with dead people thrown around?""I don't kn–""For later recognition of victims." The familiar voice that should not be here answered. "The DNA of those whose faces aren't recognizable can be run through a database instead.""Yao-momo!" Izuna squealed as quietly as she could; however, it was still pretty loud. "You're fine." She said that as she threw herself on Momo to give her what was supposed to be a hug, but it looked like Izuna was hanging from Momo's neck."How?" was the only question Izuku had."I'll explain it later, but for now, where is Inko?" Momo responded as she crouched next to the twins when Izuna decided to let go of her."They didn't find her yet." Izuna was quick to answer, but the look Momo shared with Izuku said a lot more."What about you, Yao-momo, anyone from your family?" Izuna dully questioned."No, I was alone when the attack started.""Then shouldn't you have been with Izuku?" Izuna let her curiosity run wild while she was hitting nerves in both Izuku and Momo unintentionally."Izuku and I are going to take some medicine for headaches. Do you need anything?" Momo was getting slightly agonized with Izuna's questions, so she decided to think of something to move away from her."Just water will be fine." Izuna spat as she took a seat on the ground.Step by step, Izuku and Momo distanced themselves from Izuna as they took the wrong turn toward the tent, ending up in the narrow alleyways between two old buildings. "What are you doing here?" Izuku whispered-yelled as he took Momo by the wrist."Your teleportation spell failed." Momo replied; her eyes seemed shallow every time Izuku managed to establish eye contact. "You teleported me to the apartment of the old woman. I almost ended her life early with a heart attack.""How? I solved the problem with random locations.""You didn't perfect it; you only learned how 'not to miss' without interference. So that means-""This isn't a normal attack." Izuku muttered, "It is an organized magical attack.""There is probably a dense mana barrier around Musutafu to stop any spell effects going in or out," Momo explained the realization she came up."The barrier allows movement through, and it is well concealed, so it was set at least days ago," Izuku said as he finally let go of Momo's hand. "They have a target, a person they're after, or they want to send a message.""Or both!""It is organized, but not that much. They were probably rushed, and given how they are roaming around and destroying, they probably don't know the location of the target, or they don't have it.""Or the target is protected," Momo wondered."Unlikely," Izuku answered. "Musutafu is an empty city, with a low population and almost no magic users. There aren't many heroes in this city. There's a weak police office and low political influence in the Shizuoka prefecture.""If what you say is the truth, then they are after you.""What makes you say that?""Think, Izuku," Momo replied. "Your talent is seen only once in a century; you mastered some spells and magic functions that some people don't learn in a lifetime.""Nobody knows about me, mom and Agatha hid-""Yes, they might've hidden you, but you are the only person they can be looking for. The only person left is Agatha, but I doubt they are strong enough to take on Agatha.""It is just speculation; you can't be sure," Izuku said as he revealed his puppet. His mana might be low; however, there was excess mana around in the air for Izuku to use. "I am going to find my mother.""That decision is far from wise." Momo warned him. "Inko-san may be weaker in power than you, but she is a more skilled one.""Still, she can use help.""Izuku, listen to yourself; you sound delusional," Momo exclaimed. "You are going to kill yourself.""You can't stop me. Just go and protect Izuna for me," Izuku said, as he made the puppet look like himself. "Please." He lowered his voice and tried to sound as sincere as possible."You'll need my help more. So I am going with you." She said as she threw her jacket off and started taking off her shirt. "No, you aren't going; it is–" Izuku said before he was interrupted. "Dangerous? If it is dangerous for me, then it is for you as well. Don't you think?"Izuku was too stunned to answer; he just followed the instructions that Momo gave with her hands to turn away as she took off her shirt completely. "What are you creating?" Izuku questioned as a faint pink glow started coming from Momo's back."A human doll, for you to create a double.""Did you eat enough to casually create something like that?""I think five smoothies have enough calories.""Six," Izuku corrected her, playfully managing to draw out a smile on her face."You can look," Momo said after a few minutes as she placed her doll next to Izuku's puppet with her red shirt on. The doll resembled Momo quite a bit. It wasn't anything special; it was just body outlines, which made Izuku's job of making the two look completely alike much easier.She picked up the doll and placed it upright next to the fake Izuku. She gestured with her hand as she said, "Do your job."With a wave of his hand and a few words, the dolls gained a picture of both Momo and Izuku, both a little tidier than the two of them currently. With another hand gesture, he led the mana pathways into the dolls, bringing them to life."They will act like us; they will know everything we know. The only 'but' on this spell is the time limit until they become self-conscious and their own being, so I instructed them to crumble when the time runs out.""What's the time limit?""Two hours.""Not much.""Then we better get going," he exclaimed, picking her by the wrist and muttering the incantation. The blue light blinded them as they moved through space. In a single moment, when the flash faded, they were met with orange dancing flames. The rubble fell from the ceiling, and the floor crumbled under their feet as they stood in the hallway of someone's apartment."Safe, you said," she mocked, lifting her shirt, revealing her stomach to make two masks that came from it. She also created two filters from her palms, of which she gave Izuku one. "The mask for the smoke, two filters each lasting an hour.""You created quite a lot today. Are you sure you haven't consumed too many lipids?" he asked, putting the mask on."I think I have enough for five more." She had a strong grip on her next creation. It was a black metal item that had a handle on one end and a muzzle and barrel on the other."A gun?" Izuku asked, baffled."I would create you one, but you wouldn't know how to use it.""And how do you know?" he said, worried about his safety."It's a secret!"He didn't know what to say to that, so he remained quiet and focused on the reason they were here right now. "Vivum animum revelis." The walls and flames lost their color; everything lost its color and became transparent, everything except the mana around. It might be difficult to differentiate mana signatures as they were all blue. However, that wasn't the case; Izuku could feel mismatched sensations whenever he looked at one. Each had a specific sensation, including that of his mother."Mom's on the floor above; let's go." He pointed to the ceiling once he found her."You are leaving others behind?""Even with all of those dead bodies, I wouldn't have enough mana to teleport them one by one." He waved his hand in front of the wall as he talked about people trying to escape the fire. "And I don't want to play God today.""So you are letting all the people die and still using the mana of the dead.""They might need it for the afterlife, but I need to save a living person." He spat as he blew the wall next to him, creating the pathway to the stairs."At least try to save the others!" Momo shouted."If not gathered in the same spot, impossible! And if we try to gather them all in the same spot, we'll die with them!"BOOMA loud explosion from the floor above carried torrents of flames through all the openings, while the shock wave shook the whole building."Go, find Inko; I will gather the others," Momo grunted as she toured the sleeves of the shirt for quicker use of her quirk."It will take you ages to find them all.""I can create biometric, ultra-red, infrared, mana, or whatever detection goggles! Don't worry about me! Just go!""It will be late by the time you set up the correct frequencies.""Just go!""Volits, reformatum figura." The cement stones rose from the ground before they shook violently. They were losing their shape while the cement was turning into glass, and the irregular shapes of the stones turned into hollowed glass cylinders.As Izuku ran next to the seven jars he created, he marked each with runes that were instructed to absorb all the mana around them and teleport back to him when they were full. When he marked the seventh one, he teleported all of them away. "Pre spatium permoves," one on each floor, except the one he was on. He himself absorbed all of whatt was available on the sixth floor.There wasn't a lot of it, but it was more than he currently possessed, so he couldn't complain. He shot another look at Momo before they parted ways. She headed to the floors below while creating the goggles she spoke of. With no words exchanged, she left.He climbed the half-broken stairs. His movements were similar to those of a slithering snake, as he avoided the holes on every other stair. The doorway at the top of the stairs that led to the floor above was blocked with rubble from numerous minor explosions.After determining his options, Izuku decided to phase through the rubble; it wasn't the most effective and safest option, he was low on mana and time, so he didn't have the leisure of choosing.A mutter was all Izuku needed as he ran through large cement piles. There was a sudden change in the environment when Izuku walked on the other side of the fallen rubble. There were way more flames and smoke, limiting his vision to just a few feet ahead. The walls that separated the apartments were gone, making the whole floor look more spacious.The gas mask that Momo made for him came in handy while he roamed the floor. He knew where Inko was, but he didn't know how to approach her, with the wild flames hiding the lethal holes that he could fall into.Explosions that appeared every so often didn't help either. They weren't as strong as the one before; however, they were strong enough to shake Izuku off his feet a few times."Where are you, woman?" a raspy voice called, surprising Izuku. "There isn't anybody except mom on the floor." To reassure himself, he once again ran a detection spell, again finding no one. "Come and fight me." The voice contradicted his skills at finding people once again.Scared, he rose up stones from the floor, transforming them into thick smoke and channeling mana into it so he could feel what and who was in it. The smoke spread in all directions, through all the hallways and holes it could, but in all that time, Izuku didn't feel anyone. The only new information, except for a mental map of the whole floor, was a pile of rubble on the other side of the building and someone hiding under it. Not stuck; they were hiding; most likely they would move if they wanted to."Mom?" He said to himself as he recognized her mana. 'What is she doing there?' Izuku thought as he took a step to his right. It is tricky to move when you know where to step but can't see the floor. He headed towards the rubble, cautiously, making sure he was trying to be as quiet as possible."I am coming, Mom," he said with a heavy voice, scared and hesitant to go into the flames. However, the determination to save his mother made him proceed, braving the fire cautiously.