An Off Day

If one were to put it lightly, then one could say that right now Aurdel was unhappy. However, if one were to be more accurate with their reading the correct word would be ‘furious.’ After having completed his teaching duties and getting some rest he’d contacted the Hero Commission, hoping to elicit a proper response using the information he’d gathered in his cross country romp. That being that of all the hospitals that he personally went to and examined, only three had what he thought were the facilities necessary for producing a Nomu. And among those three only one came off as particularly likely, Jaku General Hospital. However the response he received was… Less than adequate. “You’re refusing to do anything with the information that I’ve given you?”

“Yes, we are.”

Aurdel took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose as he momentarily moved the phone away. “May I have an explanation as to why?”

“There are a number of reasons. First, we do not see the possible risk associated with immediate action as less significant than the value of taking down the League now.”

“Then reduce the risk. Evacuate the hospital and the surrounding area, that way when the Nomu-“

“We don’t have enough Heroes.”

“Excuse me, not enough Heroes?” He was caught off guard by the comment. “Japan has one of the highest Heroes per capita in the world, second only to the United States due to the much more lax quirk legislation. Hundreds of students graduate from Hero schools every year and join the force full time. How can there NOT be enough Heroes?”

“Due to the way Hero jurisdictions work, we cannot just pull an army of Heroes out of thin air. We need-“

“That’s a lie,” he immediately fired back, “All the Heroes that showed up for Kamino serve different jurisdictions, a number of top level Heroes at that. Yet the commission organized a response to the League within less than a day. GIve me the real answer to my question.”

The commission’s president on the other end was silent for a moment, then spoke. “...You’ll find that the feeling of mistrust between you and the Hero Public Safety Commission is one that is mutual. Ever since you officially became a Hero you have been vastly overstepping the boundaries that are given to normal Heroes, something that you have only been allowed to get away with due to the unique nature of your situation and agreement with the government. In your time as a Hero, you alone have caused as many Villain and criminal fatalities as the previous fifty years of Hero work.”

“My methods are brutal because brutality works. After All Might’s retirement there was a sharp spike in violent crimes, but as soon as my work started becoming public knowledge that spike flattened and then dropped dramatically. There have been a number of times where I don’t even need to fight the Villains involved, because they opt to surrender the moment they see me appear on the scene.”

“And that has had an even worse effect on the public!” The commission president raised her voice, “The brutality you’ve been showing, and it’s at the very least visible effectiveness, has only served to radicalize the public on how they view Hero work should be done. Other Heroes who thrive on their more professional and kind image have been dragged down by your ruthlessness, as their fans demand that they begin acting in a similar manner to you.”

“Then perhaps you should consider what the public wants, and not a select group of individuals who seek to preserve a certain level of public image and influence.” He narrowed his eyes, a gesture that was lost over the phone. “I will continue my actions in service of the public, regardless of how the commission may view them.”

“And the commission will continue to take action as it sees fit. No matter what you may believe, we are dedicated to arresting and imprisoning the members of the League of Villains and any other associates who give them support in one way or another. We do not need the help of a renegade Hero to bring them in.”

“You may say that, but Hawks is the one that got my furthered involved with this case. I wouldn’t be calling your organization had he not brought me in and asked for help.”

“Hawks alone does not speak for the commission, especially not on matters such as this. Now, unless you have anything else important that you feel the need to discuss then I’m going to end this call now. We’re a busy organization and cannot afford to waste the time we’re given, especially not by talking to a Hero that suffers from a serious case of a messianic complex.”

He left a moment of silence for the words to hang in the air. “Fine, I’ll let you lie in the bed you’ve chosen. But for everyone’s sake I sure as hell hope that you can reap what you sow.” He disconnected from the phone call, then put down the phone with a sigh. Aurdel had an inherent distrust for shady organizations, government organizations specifically. The reasons for that distrust should be fairly obvious. However situations like this, where he had to actively fight another battle on the side just so he could more effectively protect people, did nothing to assuage his beliefs. If anything it only served to further his deep mistrust. But there was nothing he could do if they were unwilling to change, or at the least nothing they could cooperate on. He would just have to- He turned his head as his phone rang, and he looked over at the caller ID. He picked up. “Principal Nezu, do you need something?”

“The staff is having a meeting in the main building, I’m just calling to let you know that we’re having it.”

“Is it a mandatory meeting? I’m still trying to get some rest.”

“Unfortunately, it’s something related to the school budget. In such cases it is required that all staff be present.”

Well that was just… “I’ll be there in just a second then. Is there anything else that I need to know before I get there?”

“Nothing necessary for the meeting, but I would like to ask you to find Midnight and inform her of the meeting. It appears that she either does not have her phone or isn’t picking up anyone’s calls.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Alright, I’ll make sure to find her. We’ll see you there.” He disconnected the call, something else entirely on his mind now. Okay, a school budget meeting. Not exactly something he would have expected to do as a teacher. Then again, his knowledge of the legitimate education system had ended at the ripe old age of six so that wasn’t exactly a rock solid pool of knowledge. So he slipped back into his helmet and walked over to the door, leaving his room and locking it behind him as he left to search for Midnight.

The first place that he was going to look would have been the classrooms, as he was informed earlier that she would be helping to partially take over his classes for the day. And since all classes on campus were just about ending for the day, he would have expected that she would still be there giving closing remarks. However by the time he reached the front door of the dorms, it seemed like he wouldn’t have to search for long. “Come on, let me go! Eraserhead said that after we were done then I could go and bother him!”

“That’s not what he said, if you were paying attention you would have actually heard that he didn’t want you to bother him!” His hand hovered over the door knob, but he was tempted to not intervene and just see how far this would go.

“Oh and how would YOU know what a man really means?”

“What hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Well obviously there’s a reason that you haven’t been able to find a man. And honestly, I can’t blame them. You just don’t have a lot to offer.”

“As if there’s anything you have to offer that I don’t!” As he hesitated to pull the door open, the one next to it opened.

“Oh, hey Mr. Aurdel. You feeling better?” Kirishima stepped through.

“Yeah, I got some sleep. Not as much as I would have liked, but I can't complain.” He looked through the open door, Midnight and Mt. Lady were trying to strangle each other. “How long have they been like this?”

“It started a few minutes before class wrapped up. The moment Mr. Aizawa said that they could go Mt. Lady ran off to try and find you, then Midnight went after her.”

“Was there… any reason why?”

“Obviously, but they’re the kind of women that don’t want to hear it,” Mineta suddenly walked in, “They’re-”

“Who’re you calling a christmas cake?!” The two women suddenly turned their rage towards Mineta, who went to cower behind his leg.

“You know, I think the fact that you were able to guess what snide comment he was about to make, before he even gave a descriptor, says more about you than the comment itself.” He pushed the door he was standing behind open, revealing himself.

“S-Spartan!” Midnight and Mt. Lady suddenly released each other, dusting off their costumes and pretending like nothing had happened between them.

“Can I ask what this is all about?”

“Well I was just trying to-“ Mt. Lady pushed Midnight aside as she began to explain.

“Well, I never properly thank you for healing me and restoring my quirk. So I wanted to thank you by-“

“She kept talking about how she wanted to ask you on a date.” Ashido walked in, saying it before Mt. Lady could finish.

“Can’t you kids just let me have this?!”

“And I was trying to stop her from acting so unprofessional,” Midnight said, shaking her fist.

“Is it really so unprofessional to try and act like a woman for a change?”

“As if you’d know anything about acting like one!” Just like that, the two of them were already back at each other's throats.

He raised his hands, “Easy, there’s no reason to kill each other over something like this. Now look, we have a staff meeting we need to get to so why don’t we just cool our heads and-“

“Want to talk about what happened?”

“No.” Aurdel raised his arms, then dropped Midnight and Mt. Lady into two seats some distance away from each other. Then, to make sure they didn’t try anything, he ended up sitting in the very middle.

“Now that we’re all here, we can begin this staff meeting.” Nezu stepped up to the podium, climbing up the rungs that were set up to allow him to climb up to the top. “Good afternoon everyone. As I’m sure you’re all well aware, tomorrow is one of UA’s staff recreational days.” Staff recreational days? “Because this one is the mandatory recreational day, I ask that, aside from any special invites given to other Heroes, you plan your day only with the other staff members of your assigned course and year. As fun as cross-team events are, we do not want a repeat of last year’s incident.” …Last year’s incident? “Now, please take this time to speak with your teams about what each of you will be doing tomorrow. That way the school can set aside the requisite funds.” The many staff members in the auditorium then turned as Nezu left the podium, then began to discuss amongst each other.

Aurdel himself went over to the other teachers of the first year Hero course. “Can someone explain all this to me? I thought this was supposed to be a budgetary meeting.”

“It is,” Aizawa said, inside of his sleeping bag while also resting on his chair. “A few years back the government made it mandatory for Hero schools to host recreational events for staff members, as a way to destress and relax. They also allotted a certain amount of money to each school to throw these events.”

“That doesn’t sound like the-”

“Despite the large amount of money allotted to recreational events, the mandate only forces schools to have one event per year minimum. So most schools only throw one event total, then find a way to siphon the rest of the budget for extra school supplies.”

“...Nevermind, that sounds about right.” He shook his head, some things never changed. “Okay, then can I ask what happened last year?”

“Last year we organized a large school-wide staff event,” Midnight said, “Alcohol, construction equipment and a get quick rich scheme were all involved, and by the next day the school had to make a public apology for the destruction and incident we’d caused.”

“I… Right, is there anything else that I should know about this?”

“Normally we decide events just by voting and seeing what people want to do most, but it’s sort of tradition to let the newest staff members. All Might picked a few events for us before you joined the team. The last event he picked for us was doing stand-up at a comedy club.”

“I stand by that decision,” All Might said, “I for one had a great time.”

“Yeah, I thought it was pretty good too,” Present Mic said.

“You two kept laughing at your jokes before you even told them. And even when you did, most of us didn’t get the joke since a lot of the punchlines were in English!”

Mic folded his arms, “Everyone’s a critic.”

“So, do you have any ideas on what you want to do?”

Aurdel thought for a moment. “Can I take suggestions? I never really went to these kinds of events.”

“Really?”

“Spartans don’t really get days off. Or anything at all, really. Not even a 401(k).”

“You should have unionized.”

“I don’t think the irony would have been lost on anyone. But again, any suggestions?”

“How about-“

“Quiet, you’re not even supposed to be here,” Midnight hissed at Mt. Lady.

“Why not consider something you’ve never done before?” All Might suggested.

“Never done before…?”

“Sports perhaps. Baseball, basketball, football?”

“How about something more exciting?” Mic asked, “Like rock-climbing, or laser tag!”

“I’ve done all those. As for laser tag specifically… I’d rather not.”

“How about we go swim-“

“I’m not that easy to fool.”

“Perhaps something like bowling? Or karaoke?”

“Ecto,” Mic started, “Every time you ask-“

“Actually, I’ve never been bowling before,” Aurdel said, leaning back slightly.

“Seriously? Of all things you’ve never done, bowling is one of the only things?”

“Well, during my training we played a lot of sports as a way to supplement some of our skills. And we actually did bowling, I just wasn’t allowed to participate.”

“Why not?”

“I…” He thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to word his answer without it coming out the wrong way. “Well, let’s just say that after a bowling ball ending up caving in one of our trainer’s skulls they decided that I had enough practice.”

“You killed someone with a bowling ball?!”

“It was an accident… mostly. But we can do bowling, maybe some karaoke too. Though I can’t say just how much I’ll participate in the latter.”

“Just hold on!” Mic shouted, “You can’t just say that you killed someone with a bowling ball, and then say we should go bowling!”

“Again, the incident was an accident. I don’t have any intention to kill anyone with a bowling ball.”

“Now your wording is making it even weirder!”

“Hey, you dragged me here. Are you going to answer my question?” Mt. Lady said, poking him.

“Dragged you here? You-“

“You jumped on him and forced him to carry you here!” Midnight shouted.

“But you also did-“

“Well I actually deserve that sort of treatment, hag!”

“Why you!” After that, Aurdel shut off the exterior microphones on his suit, soundproofing it so he wouldn’t hear the commotion as Midnight and Mt. Lady dove into a full on brawl. Then he sat still for a minute, taking the moment of silence to just take a deep breath and rationalize things. Once he was done he turned the microphones back on.

“Alright, I don’t know what it is between you two and I don’t really care,” he pulled the two of them apart, stopping the cat fight. “I’ll make a deal with you, so long as you make a promise to start playing and stop fighting.”

“What kind of deal?” The two suddenly gained an interest.

“A game, you two will play on the same team. If you manage to beat me then you can make any one request, no questions asked. If I win… Well I won’t make any requests, I’’d just ask that you don’t immediately start going for each other’s throats again. Deal?” He stretched out his hand.

They stared at it for a second, before violently grabbing it and shaking it. Afterwards they sprinted out of the auditorium, likely looking for a way to ensure their victory. Mic leaned back in his chair, “Man, I think you just made a deal with the devil. Couldn’t you just let them down hard? I feel like it would have been much easier.”

Aurdel folded his arms, “I considered that, but even if I do something like that I still have to work with them afterwards. That’s a lot easier if I don’t deny them outright. Besides, the best outcome for this means they’ll stop fighting. …At least openly.”

“And the worst outcome?”

“Angry women.”

“Isn’t that kind of answer a little blunt considering what you just said…?”

Rolling for Keeps

The next day, once all of the classes were finished, Aurdel steeled himself for the events that he was about to put himself through. All the others that were going had left together as a group, meeting up with the others that they’d invited before heading to the bowling alley. He himself had to stick around his room for a short period of time before leaving, needing to sort through some important design files that he was working on. But once that was done he sprinted his way across the city, finally arriving at the place that this event was being held at. Mic was standing out front, waiting for him to arrive. “Don’t you think it’s a little on the nose?”

“Ah, I think the name of the place gives it some charm. You just don’t get the same experience if you just stumble out of a bowling alley and into a bar, then stagger your way home once you're done. Trust me, this place is good.”

“If you insist…” Aurdel followed him in. The bowling alley was called ‘The Gutter,’ a rather obvious play on words for an alley that also served as a bar. And the moment he stepped inside that latter function became evidently clear, as even with the scrubbers in his helmet the smell of alcohol was incredibly strong. Compared to anything else he’d seen or been through, this place was a complete dive. He also saw everyone that was there to play, along with anyone they’d brought along. Eraserhead was busy talking with some woman that kept laughing, Ectoplasm was busy fiddling with a karaoke machine, All Might and Sir Nighteye seemed to be reminiscing over something Midnight- “Don’t tell me, they already started drinking?”

“Already drunk, actually. They came in talking about some plan they had to win.”

“Already? It’s only been about an hour since classes ended and they left the campus.”

“Ah, what can I say?” Mic shrugged, “They’re lightweights.”

“I’ll be honest, that’s not the idea I’m more concerned with…”

“Oh good, you’re here. We can get started.” Aizawa said, walking over. “Frankly I was afraid you might not show up. Otherwise, I would have had to listen to this all night,” he jerked a thumb back towards the woman he’d been with.

“So how exactly does this get started?” He looked around, “Again, I haven’t exactly gone bowling before.”

“Well, everyone thought that since you were the newest teacher then you would go first. You just need to roll the first ball and then everyone can get started.”

“Well, in that case.” Aurdel looked around, then walked over to one of the lanes. After that he looked at the rows of bowling balls next to the lanes, picking each of them up to carefully weigh them. The one that he settled with was the heaviest one, a twenty pound ball. Then he stood at the edge of the lane.

“You do know how to play, right…?”

“Of course, I just need to knock down all the pins.” He lined up his arm

“Yes, but-“

“Then there’s no reason for you to worry.” After he was lined up, he moved his arm back with the back. Then he raised it, chucking it down the lane. In the blink of an eye the front pin was annihilated, taking the rest of the set with it. There was a solid thud as the ball hit the back wall, shattering into pieces. “Can’t say much for the quality of this gear though…”

“You aren’t supposed to throw it…” All Might said, slightly exasperated.

“Oh I know, I’m just testing the durability of the balls. My rolls can come out to a similar level of strength, I just didn’t want to spend all night pounding holes into the wall.”

“Heh, pounding…” A drunken Mt. Lady said, leaning on Midnight.

He turned around. “Well, no reason to stand on occasion. Get bowling.” And with that, the event formally started. Almost everyone picked a lane, then began pelting balls towards the other end.

“It has been some time since I went bowling,” All Might said, picking up one of the lighter balls. “The last time I did it was for a charity event, though that was when I still had my powers.”

“You shouldn’t have too much of an issue. Most of it comes down to technique, not strength.”

“Oh I know that, it’s just that I myself don’t actually have much technique to pull from.” All Might approached the line, taking a few steps back. Then, after lining up his ball with the pins, he took a few steps forward before dropping the ball onto the lane. Aurdel watched as the ball veered slightly towards the right, knocking down four pins before dropping into the gutter.

“Well for someone who doesn’t practice, you could be doing far worse.”

“Ha! Watch me!” Mt. Lady said, picking up a bowling ball. “I’ll get a strike on my first roll!”

“Someone should make sure she doesn’t hurt herself…” He muttered, watching her stumble up to the lane. After taking a few steps forward she nearly fell, then rolled the ball down the lane. And considering the state she was in, she managed to roll it surprisingly straight. The ball managed to hit the front pin at an angle, knocking down nine of the ten pins.

“Are you kidding me?!” She threw up her arms, “That should have been a ten!”

“I think you should be grateful you managed to hit even one.”

“It’s rigged!” She threw her hands up.

“No it’s not,” Midnight said, slurring her words. “You’re just not that good.”

“I’ll prove it! This next roll is going to miss, you just watch!” Mt. Lady picked up the ball as soon as it was spat back up by the machine, taking no care as she wildly threw it onto the lane. The ball bounced from side to side several times before dropping into the gutter, not even reaching the pin before doing so. “See?!”

“You fudged that throw just so you’d be right!”

“Why you little…!” The two charged each other, and looked ready to fight.

He took a deep breath and raised his hands. “Stop!” The two of them stopped charging, and turned towards him. “You promised that you would play nice, so do what you promised.”

“Okay~” He was caught off guard by just how quickly they were willing to change their tune, the sudden obedience sending an unnerving chill down his spine.

“This… is going to be a long night.”

Four hours later, Aurdel felt exhausted. Not so tired that he couldn’t move a muscle, but just going through such repetitive motions and having to force himself to stay here was tiring in its own way. He and All Might were sitting next to each at one of the lanes as the others crowded around the karaoke machine, relative silence as they watched them sing and have fun. “It’s nice to have these moments of reprieve every once in a while, especially with constant stress that this line work tends to subject you to.”

“I can see the merit of taking the time to relax and recuperate, it’s just that this isn’t my preferred way of doing it.” Aurdel slumped forward in the chair, moving out of his constantly upright pose. “Though, I can’t say that teaching or Hero work induces the same level of stress that I’m used to.”

“Did you ever do anything like this?”

“Exactly like this?” Aurdel looked over at the small crowd of partygoers, “No, not really. Most of the events I went to were essentially just medal ceremonies, and the only reason I stuck around was because they wanted me to do so. Look stoic in front of that camera, have an important presence. All that propaganda spinwork.”

“I didn’t mean it in the sense of public events or parties. Just… moments where you were able to properly relax.”

“Properly relax?” He sat up straight again. “No, not really. Us Spartans never really had any time to turn, things were just too desperate for us to be sitting around. Aside from those minimal public appearances, the only downtime we got was the time we had in between missions. Depending on how desperate the situation was, it meant that we either had barely enough time to recuperate or none at all. As time went on it was more of the latter.”

All Might gave a sigh, “It’s hard for me to imagine being involved in something of that scale.”

Aurdel stood up, stretching his arms. “The worst missions were last minute colony evacuation deployments. Planets that were on the verge of falling but still had large numbers of civilians on the ground, command would throw whatever they could at the problem. And it was much easier to justify the allocation of a single Spartan over a whole team.”

“And you weren’t part of a team?”

“Yeah, my situation was slightly different than the others. I keep saying ‘we,’ but… Well, for the longest time they thought I was dead. So I was either sent on lone assignments, ground pounding it with troopers, or I was sent on parallel ops, mandated to help them but stay out of view.”

“That sounds-”

“Depressing? Sure, but I got over it pretty quickly. I figured that it made more tactical sense. A distraction that sounds like three guns is more effective than just having one extra gun against a more concentrated force.”

“I find it amazing that you’re able to rationalize it like that.”

“Everyone finds a way to cope. Not that it matters anymore, not Reach,” he said with a sigh, biting his lip for bringing it up. “But, I can tell that there’s something bugging you. We never really do sit down and talk openly like this. Is it what I think it is?”

“I… Yes, it is.” All Might lowered his head, “Have you found out anything about where Dave might be? Or who took him?”

“I’ve been looking into it whenever I can. Unfortunately, my investigation is at somewhat of a dead end.”

“That’s hard to hear.”

“It’s the truth,” Aurdel turned around, walking over to one of the bowling balls and picking it up and starting to fidget with it in his hands. “The problem is that it’s hard to work with nothing, and that’s effectively what I have. I can breach all the databases in the world, but if they don’t have what I need to narrow my search then it’s pointless.”

“Do you at least have any idea of who took him?”

“Due to how organized the attack and kidnapping was, I’m sticking with my theory that it was done by some country’s black ops unit. And for that it’s the usual suspects: the USA, Russia and China with India tagged on.”

“Could it really be that simple?”

“It’s never really simple with cloak and dagger organizations, but yes. Each of them has more than enough reason to try and get their hands on his tech and knowledge, even if the application that I expect them to put it towards would violate international law.”

“And there’s nothing we can do?”

“No, not yet. At least not without burning a ludicrous amount of bridges. Though, I won’t consider those options entirely off the table.”

“I certainly wish that I had your same willingness to act.”

“Well, it comes with the-“ He was cut off as the front doors were thrown open.

Three men with guns, covered with blood and bruises, burst through the front doors of the bowling alley with bags on their backs. “Holy shit, that rabbit bitch is crazy!”

“Look, we just need to wait for the heat to die down a little. After that we’ll steal a car and get the hell out of this city.” Aurdel turned towards the men, who hadn’t noticed him yet

“What about the guys in this place? They could rat on us!” Aurdel started walking towards the group, muttering the lyrics of a song as he came closer.

“Go and take their phones, we don’t want them calling-“ The three men suddenly turned towards him, raising their guns and pointing them towards him

“Oh shit…! It’s him!” One of the crooks immediately tossed down his gun, putting his hands up before lying on the floor on his stomach.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Another shouted.

“THAT'S the Hero that capped Harade!” He kept walking forward, the second man lost his cool.

“You’re kidding?!” The first guy shook his head, he was serious. “Screw this, I’m giving up!” He also tossed down his weapon and dropped to the floor

“You two are a pair of pussies, he isn’t going to do anything!” The obvious leader of the group didn’t seem intimidated, opening fire against him with his handgun. All seventeen rounds plinked against his shield, barely causing it to flare before it regenerated. The criminal looked him in the visor without hesitation, keeping his hand tight around his gun. “Do your worst.”

Aurdel raised the bowling bowl and racked back his arm, before chucking it full force into the man’s head. “Reach out, touch faith.” The criminal was sent flying back as the bowling ball crushed the front of his skull, slamming him into the wall before dropping to the floor “Yeah, no way I’m going to be singing tonight…” He cleared his throat, “You two, stay here and wait for the police. Don’t give them any trouble.”

“Yes sir!” The two criminals were scared stiff, staring at the floor with their hands behind their head.

He turned back towards All Might, “Sorry, but we’ll have to finish this conversation later. I’m going to head out.”

“Of course…”

Aurdel stepped out the door, he could hear the approaching sound of sirens and police cars pounded their way down the road. Moments later Mirko dropped down from above, leaving an imprint in the sidewalk. “Funny seeing you here.” She looked towards the bowling alley, “Are they…?”

“Waiting for the police to arrest them? Yes.”

“Ha, looks like it’s on to the next case then. You tagging along?”

“Sure, I can do a few hours.”

“Then let’s hop to it!”