Chapter Text
Chapter 35
Government Announcement and Emergency Alert:
To any surviving members of Hana City: The city has been infected with a mysterious phenomenon - people are slowly losing themselves and transforming into something resembling mindless zombies, cannibalistic in nature. You are being quarantined until the ongoing crisis is under control. If you have yet to encounter a zombie, lock your doors and stay inside. It is unknown what causes the zombie phenomenon, or how it is spread, thus the entire city is quarantined until the outbreak is resolved.
The city section you are in is completely enclosed, barriers put in place to contain the ugly zombie outbreak, and they are impenetrable to you. If you disregard the barriers and leave the city before the quarantine is lifted, you will be arrested and executed to ensure you are not a danger to the healthy population beyond Hana City. Remain until Heroes come for you.
Survive the apocalypse, ensuring the survival of those in need. You are alone.
Lesson note:
All zombies present are made through the use of a Quirk; use as much or as little force deemed necessary to complete the exercise
“This is dumb,” Izuku muttered. “Survive? That's it? Talk about boring.” He really thought Eraser would make it more interesting than that.
“We can't leave until the quarantine is lifted, but, presumably, in this exercise our real job is to clear the city,” Uraraka whispered, eyes bright with stars. “Thrown into chaos with zombies everywhere, all hope seemingly lost, we, plain civilians, all alone, are the people's last hope!” Izuku rolled his eyes.
“You sound like Iida.” Izuku told her. Uraraka flushed to the tips of her ears.
“Does this here mean there's hostages?” Ojirou asked, frowning and tapping the paper. “It says, ‘ensuring the survival of those in need.’ That implies there's people in need of saving, doesn't it?”
“You're right,” Yaoyorozu said with a nod. “There's more to this exercise than just the zombies. We're not allowed to escape, as Uraraka said, meaning the goal is within the city limits.”
“But the city's huge,” Ojirou said, glancing towards the vast space they were forced into. “It's gonna take awhile to get our bearings…” Izuku understood the sentiment, looking around at where they stood.
All Might, after handing them their horribly vague instructions, shoved them inside the arena and slammed thick doors behind him. A large wall surrounded the city from all sides, disappearing from view as it curved widely, locking them soundly inside. The walls weren't terribly high - Yaoyorozu could easily produce a ladder that'd do the trick - but knowing they'd fail the lesson if they left, Izuku couldn't risk it. Though it did seem tempting to throw the test and see what Eraser did…
The city before them was nothing short of massive. From just what Izuku could see, there were twisting neighborhoods of small houses lining the streets, a city beyond with restaurants and fancy billboards, skyscrapers with high points, glowing arcades and wide open parks filled with trees and grass. It had all kinds of terrain, probably to force their improv skills to the limits of what they could manage while being swarmed. And they would be, no doubt, swarmed. With obstacles as mindless and boring as zombies, the only way to challenge them was with sheer numbers.
“There are so many maps, but why?” Yaoyorozu asked in a murmur. “Yes, the city is huge, but one map would've offered the bare minimum to get us started. So why give us so many…?” Aside from the one page sham of a ‘debrief’, they were given over a dozen maps of the city. Tunnels under the city, a bird's eye view of the city, maps of individual buildings, and so on. It gave them intimate knowledge into the city, helping them get their bearings, and showing off certain landmarks with surprising thoroughness.
“If we're supposed to be locals here, and I suspect we are, since we're civilians,” Izuku said. “We'd naturally have prior knowledge of the city's layout. I live in Musutafu, and no matter where I am I know how to get back to my apartment. They're giving us these maps so we can pretend we know our way around.”
“A good theory,” Yaoyorozu nodded. “But no matter the reason they'll for sure come in handy.”
Together they made their way from the wall towards the heart of the city, jogging as the time until the exercise was to begin slowly ticked down. They had barely reached the city, passing through many rich suburban neighborhoods, before Yaoyorozu stopped them, pink sparkling from her wrists.
“Here,” Yaoyorozu quickly handed them each a small earpiece. “These will keep us connected if we're within a mile of each other.” She then pulled out a small tablet from her forearm. “This will give me a rough coordinate for each one, so if they stop working for some reason I'll be able to find you all.”
“Are we splitting up?” Ojirou asked. He looked surprised.
“Of course,” Yaoyorozu frowned. “If we're to discover the true purpose of the exercise, it's best if we split up to search independently.”
“He also said it was an exercise in teamwork,” Izuku flashed a grin. “I say we work in teams. You and Ojirou can go search for the ‘true purpose’ or whatever, and I'll stick with Uraraka to beat the hell outta some zombies. You can use that fancy tablet to track us down when you're done.”
“Good idea,” Uraraka nodded vigorously. “I've been wanting to test my Gunhead Martial Arts!”
“See?” Izuku pointed a thumb at the bouncing brunette. “We're good here.” Yaoyorozu surveyed them for a moment, then nodded.
“Keep in contact,” was all she said, slipping in her earpiece. Izuku took that as permission and turned away.
“Come on.” Izuku beckoned Uraraka. “Let's get out of the open - no need to stand at the center of it all when we can control the flow of battle.”
“Right!” Uraraka exclaimed. “Where to?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Izuku pulled out a handful of maps, of which he'd split randomly with Yaoyorozu, and chose an overhead view of the rough area they were standing. “Here - there's a recreational park two blocks down. It's an open space to work with, no clusters of buildings or cars, and the sparsely planted trees are flimsy enough to take out, if need be.”
“I like it,” Uraraka said. There was a fire in her eyes that made Izuku's chest ache - it was so beautiful to see such steadfast determination in a vividly doomed individual. She had the potential to be great, amazing, even, a true beacon of hope and resilience in this new age of Heroes. Perhaps she'd usher in a new era of Rescue Heroes, encouraging others to learn combative skills to prevent sitting ducks on the battlefield, leading the charge towards change. It was doomed, however, as Izuku took her in and knew she wouldn't survive.
Izuku wanted to see her lose that spark that kept her alive - to see the pink in her cheeks fade and color in her Quirk fade to nothing - to smell the scent of her blood on his clothes, the twang each person carried utterly unique - to tear her apart in front of the class to show how badly they'd failed to teach her the truth of it all: Quirks dominated the world, and those with the better Quirks won every time. Izuku happened to have the best Quirk of them all, and an even better cover. They were all doomed, in a way. Izuku couldn't wait for the year to end and his revenge to begin.
“How many zombies d'you think are out there?” Uraraka, the sweet little thing, was scanning their surroundings intensely. “Can we beat them all?”
“No,” Izuku said. “They'll keep on coming. I imagine the Quirk they're using has a limit, but we won't see that limit any time soon.”
“So we're to distract until Yaoyorozu and Ojirou can find the hostages?” Uraraka asked. Izuku shrugged.
“Or until they give up.” He paused, thinking. “Or perhaps we'll run out of time. Aizawa-sensei didn't mention a time limit, but it also simply said ‘survive’ and to wait for the Heroes to arrive.”
“Good point.” Uraraka frowned, clenching her hands into fists with determination. “We'll have to do our best to clear out the zombies, then.” Izuku nodded.
A fog horn blew - Izuku and Uraraka paused, halting as they neared the open park, and watched every building around them. Mostly restaurants and bars, each had skyscraper high apartment and office buildings climbing above them. Izuku readied his hand and Uraraka slid into a defensive stance. They watched - they waited.
Doors blew open suddenly, making them jump as waves of bodies poured from the restaurants, shoving through each other and climbing over the ones that fell, stumbling into the park and barreling for Izuku and Uraraka. The zombies weren't scary, nor did they resemble the comical zombies in movies and TV, but rather they looked… wrong. They looked like humans, but the way they moved was completely off kilter. They shuffled as if drunk and disabled, their ankles and knees protesting with every twisted step, their spines bent and crooked, and their hands thrust out blindly as if their eyes were dim and sightless. They sniffed the air and turned their heads side to side, listening and smelling. Izuku narrowed his eyes. They were surrounded in moments.
Uraraka didn't miss a step as she charged, grabbing a nearing zombie by the arm and whipping it to the ground, legs spinning and hair whipping her face. It was a beautiful move, one so practiced to perfection that Izuku wondered if it was the only move she was taught through the entire internship. Izuku focused, turning to the charging zombies. He smiled.
Izuku and Uraraka worked in tandem. He spun on his heels and Pushed them back, knocking them on their asses and snapping their limbs as they tumbled and cracked against buildings. Izuku worked crowd control, Uraraka worked the stragglers slipping by. She battled hand to hand with the zombies, slamming them to ground and panting as she spun and dodged and weaved. If she became overwhelmed, more than four zombies snapping and scratching at her, Izuku waved a hand and cleared them. Uraraka never looked particularly pleased by that, but she didn't protest before charging for another zombie slipping closer.
For some reason, the zombies seemed to spawn in only the restaurants. The many bars surrounding them were unused, the doors still shut tight. Likewise the apartments were empty, and Izuku saw no movement in the high windows above them. Perhaps it was a random choice, one that was easy to maintain for the user of the zombie Quirk, but Izuku couldn't help the twinge of curiosity that struck him the longer they poured from the broken doors of the restaurants. Some were exotic, Italian and Mexican and Puerto Rican, others were simple local spots serving nothing out of the ordinary. Interesting to note, but he didn't deem it particularly useful.
Uraraka yelped - Izuku whipped around to see her panting, one hand clutched to her chest and the other thrown out defensively as five zombies circled her. Her eyes burned with rage, bodies littered around her, and Izuku deduced that zombies she'd previously incapacitated had jumped back up with little to no warnings. She was caught by surprise.
Throwing out a hand, Izuku Pulled half the zombies towards him and Pushed the others, sending some spinning into his waiting fists with the others slamming into far off buildings. One sailed through a window, shattering it.
“Uraraka are you okay?” Izuku rushed over, mowing the next wave of zombies down with a wave of his hand. Uraraka was biting her lip, examining the wound.
“She bit me,” Uraraka said, indignant. “It's not deep, but I really wasn't expecting that.”
“She bit you?” Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you're gonna become a zombie?” Uraraka paused. Her eyes widened.
“Is that how it's spread?” Her face went red with a flush and she jumped backwards, putting distance between them. “No no, I can't risk infecting you! Stay back!”
“We don't know for sure,” Izuku drawled. He was enjoying her panic a little too much. “How about we calm down and monitor your hand for any symptoms while we continue to repel the zombies?”
“We can't keep it up forever.” Uraraka was sweating, her pale clothes sticking to her chest and back, her collar and forehead damp. Her breaths were deep and controlled, but they were labored. Izuku nodded.
“Let's head further into the city,” Izuku said. “I have a theory, but I wanna test it out a little more before we tell the others.” Izuku was fairly sure the restaurants were important, though he didn't know how.
He and Uraraka ran, Izuku tossing zombies away and allowing Uraraka to clear away the zombies grabbing at their backs. Izuku had to admit, she had spirit. Her endurance could use work, but her grit and unyielding made up for it quite well. Determination often won out against exhaustion, Izuku found, especially in the face of obstacles and danger. Their pace was swift despite the skirmishes.
As they moved through the city, no particular destination in mind, Izuku watched the doors of every building and gaps in alleys. Nothing appeared from any of them. Even though it would've been so easy to send them through every door, every window, sending them crawling demonically towards them from every direction, the zombies seemed to only occupy restaurants before spilling out onto the street. They seemed to gather there, to linger there, and the further they ran the more obvious it became. In the distance, zombies only waited and meandered on the porches or doorsteps of the various restaurants. It was more than a coincidence. It was a pattern.
Izuku pressed a hand to his earpiece, fumbling for the small button along the bottom edge. Yaoyorozu had made them so small, so perfectly sized so they wouldn't fall out in a brawl, that Izuku's fingers slipped. He gritted his teeth and paused his running, holding out a hand for Uraraka to stop too. She panted, skidding to a stop, and readied her hands.
“Yaoyorozu,” Izuku said when he'd finally located the tiny button. “Are you within range?” Static. Only static. He swore colorfully. All Might hadn't been exaggerating - it was chaos in the streets and they seriously needed to get out of the open. His arms were beginning to burn with fatigue with every flourish and gesture, his muscles tensing against the harsh motions. His Quirk was fine, delighted to be used at such a capacity, but his muscles were far from in agreement.
"Are you trying to reach the others?" Uraraka panted. "Why?"
"Because we can't hold out forever, and I want to know if Yaoyorozu noticed what I did, and what her theories are." Izuku didn't doubt she'd noticed the restaurant pattern, but did the theorize what Izuku did? Did she suspect?
“Then let's get inside,” Uraraka said, wiping sweat from her brow. She shoved a zombie to the ground, stomping on its head with a battered sneaker. It bounced off the concrete and went completely still. “I–” She panted, exhausted. “I have a plan.”
“This is the stupidest plan I've ever agreed to.”
“But you did agree.” Uraraka was busy knelt before the door to the roof, ignoring Izuku's mumbled protests and glares. “I think this will work…”
“Can't you do it?” Izuku demanded. “I know you can use your Quirk on yourself, why does it gotta be me?”
“Because when I'm weightless I have no way to control myself or where I float off to,” Uraraka glanced over her shoulder, eyes sharp. “And, believe it or not, the sky does have a limit and I'm not interested in meeting God today considering I can't safely drop eight stories like you can.”
Izuku eyed her suspiciously as she went back to fiddling with the lock, tapping random points she could reach in the hopes of unlocking it.
“And this isn't some weird plan you've come up with to sacrifice yourself? Because if that bite turns you into a zombie and I'm not here to get you, we might lose.” Izuku crossed his arms. “I'm many things, but a loser isn't one of them.”
“What?” Uraraka replied sweetly. “Strange. I could've sworn you lose quite regularly. Mostly to Todoroki.” Izuku laughed.
“Only to highly skilled opponents that I bow to,” Izuku said. His expression was all teeth, but she was too focused on the door, now inspecting the hinges. “Shouto being one of them.”
Uraraka sat back with a scowl, pouting at the door as though her round face and pretty eyes would spring the lock. Izuku ushered her out of the way and kicked it hard right above the handle, shattering the lock and blowing it out. She gaped at him, flushing as he smirked at her. She shook her head vigorously.
“Thanks - anyway, remember what I said?” She beckoned him onto the roof, glancing down at the shuffling zombies they'd left in the street. They didn't appear smart enough to look up.
“Yes,” Izuku groaned. “Catapult myself around the city and hope to death I won't splatter myself on anything while trying to reach Yaoyorozu and Ojirou. Then, once I've found them, send up a flare for you to come find us.”
“Right,” Uraraka confirmed, clenching and unclenching her hands. “There's only that one door up and down from this roof, so I should be relatively safe up here. I'll wait for the signal.”
“Just don't drop me,” Izuku said warily. She just smiled at him, cheeks pink and face set. She looked more ready than Izuku was.
“I wouldn't dare,” Uraraka said. “Though, Kirishima did suggest you could fly if you tried. Remember? You could Push off the ground and–”
“I know,” Izuku snapped. “And thanks to you I'll be forced to do that in reverse. Landing is gonna be the real bitch, more so than navigating.” He had the maps, and, being weightless, gently Pulling himself around the city from above would be extremely easy. It was the drop down he was struggling to comprehend. But, to her credit, Uraraka's plan was a good one.
She looked at him, a silent question, and he nodded tightly. Uraraka took a deep breath and pressed her hand to his chest - Izuku gasped.
Uraraka's Quirk was a ghost beneath her skin - a waiting monster. Pink and lovely it swept against his, her palms so firm against the thin material of his shirt, Zero Gravity didn't just touch and release, it held. Pink swirls of pure cloud clung to his skin, his face, his hair, his soul; Steal fell to its knees and begged, weeping and gasping as Zero Gravity enveloped it like two lovers in bed. Izuku couldn't draw breath as his feet left the floor and his clothes sagged, weightless against his body as fabric rustled, wishing to float right off him and only stopped by zippers and buttons. It was an embrace, a wave of heat, a gentle slumber. Zero Gravity was a boring Quirk, yes, but having it clung to his skin with Uraraka's grit and focus pinned right on him… It was enough to send heat rushing to his hands and head.
“Focus!” Uraraka snapped at him, eyes wide and slightly scared as he let himself rise - higher and higher - up until he could've touched the nearest skyscraper. He could see her hands trembling, those pads on his fingers glowing a vivid hue of the brightest rose. The color clinging to his skin like algae to rock.
Izuku closed his eyes and breathed in the feeling. It was like soaking in a hot bath on a frigid snowy day, the feeling of overwhelming suffocation with air and relief but a breadth away. He reveled in it, let himself absorb the lingering heat, and wondered if Uraraka felt it too. Did she know how her Quirk encircled its victims? Did she know the hold it kept them in, hands cupping phantom faces and grasping phantom clothes, pulling and yanking and lifting, a liberating oppression. It was marvelous. Izuku was drunk of it as he laughed, throwing back his head and tossing out a hand, Pulling himself towards a building. It was so easy to move, the air was his playground.
The window glass beneath his skin was flawless, never before having been touched by bare hands, hundreds of stories above the ground, perfect and presented just for him. Uraraka's gift was boring, yes, but oh how sweet it was when wrapped so softly around Izuku's own… It reminded him of the sweet pull of Shinsou's Quirk, of being smothered by it, encapsulated. But Izuku couldn't let himself get too distracted, they did have an exercise to complete, after all.
He took a deep breath, then again, then again. When he blew them out, allowing his body to embrace the soft caress while pushing down that marvelous tingling against his skin, he pulled out a map and held loosely onto a seam along the window. He stayed right there, not falling or rising, remaining perfectly in the air where he wanted. It was useful, he decided, but still boring.
Izuku, referencing the maps, spent the next several minutes gasping for breath with delighted moans as he whipped through the city, riding the winds while Pushing and Pulling his weightless body to and fro, exploring as he scanned the buildings and streets. He probably should've been paying more attention to the ground, but he found it very difficult to focus with the pure ecstasy of flying. Because that's what it was - Izuku was flying.
“Midoriya!?” His earpiece sang, Yaoyorozu's lovely voice filling his ear. “Is that you?” Izuku guided himself to the wall of a building, slowing his swinging pace. He felt a little like Sero, swinging off invisible tape from place to place.
“If you're talking about the flying boy in the sky, yes,” Izuku said, grinding wildly. “It was Uraraka's idea. We've figured some stuff out and wanted to touch base - this was the quickest way we could think of to find you.”
“Come down!” That screeching was Ojirou, his earpiece echoing as he and Yaoyorozu tried to speak over each other. “What if you go out of Uraraka's range and fall?!”
“Then I'll catch myself,” Izuku said. “Like this.” He looked down, spotting his prey two streets down, and rocketed towards them with a flick of his finger.
Izuku plummeted, the ground approaching fact, his lack of weight only accelerating his fall. There was nothing like it - perhaps the closest Izuku had ever felt was throwing himself off buildings, falling, and Blinking away to safety before he hit the ground. It was similar, but the thrill of knowing he couldn't utilize Blink made it doubly intoxicating. He laughed into the wind, throwing out a hand to Push, to repel, to stop him in his tracks a handful of yards from the ground. Then, as gently as he could, Izuku Pulled towards the concrete until his feet made contact. He had no way of telling Uraraka to cut her Quirk, so he was forced to stay very still, lest he float away again.
Yaoyorozu and Ojirou were on him in seconds.
“Where's Uraraka?” Ojirou demanded.
“One of the rooftops,” Izuku told him. “She said to have Yaoyorozu create some sort of flare, a signal for her to follow. I'm guessing she'll then make her way over as best she can.”
Izuku then jumped as the snap of a cord sounded, and whipped around in time to see a zombie picked up by its feet and strung up by its ankle from a nearby roof. A trap - one set and created by Yaoyorozu. He grinned at her.
“Nice,” he said. Yaoyorozu was busy making a flare though, and merely offered a small smile.
The flare went up above their heads, a brilliant blue that shimmered in the air to form a big arrow pointed right for them. Couldn't miss it, even from the other end of the city. Overkill, but understandable.
“How far away is she?” Ojirou asked.
“Dunno,” Izuku shrugged. “But I was swinging around for a good while, so probably pretty far.” And he'd enjoyed every second of it.
“I've got a faint signal.” They turned to Yaoyorozu, squinting at her tablet. The locator she'd made. “Uraraka is that way!”
“How can you tell?” Ojirou looked over her shoulder.
“Because it's the only dot on the map all by itself,” Izuku answered in a drawl. “The rest of them are all piled up in one spot, see? That's us, obviously.” Ojirou shot him a tired look, sighed, and nodded.
“Let's go then.” Ojirou turned, pointing at a distressed barricade Izuku hadn't bothered to notice before. It was a glass wall, thin and spindly, separating the zombies attempting to bust out the door of a nearby restaurant. There were similar doors on all the restaurants he could see. “We don't need them getting out while we're just standing here.”
“You figured out the restaurants,” Izuku said with a wide grin. “You saw it too, right? They only run out of the restaurants.”
“I did notice that,” Yaoyorozu nodded. “Come on, let's go get Uraraka. It seems divide and conquer wasn't the best strategy.” Izuku hated to agree, but he did.
There was more to it than zombies and hostages, and Izuku wanted to know what. That meant careful observation, collaboration, and not letting his classmates get too off track. They did have to win, in the end.
Izuku suddenly stumbled, hair falling and clothes going limp as his feet fell the remaining few inches to the ground and sent shocks of pain through him. Izuku hissed, nearly crashing to his knees. It seemed Uraraka saw the signal, and deemed her Quirk no longer needed - true, but damn did it catch Izuku off guard. Ojirou hovered nearby, tail swaying anxiously, but he said nothing as Izuku straightened himself and nodded, ready whenever they were.
So they set off at a run, heading to intercept Uraraka's dot on the map running full tilt in their direction.