Breaking Rank

“…Resulting in major destruction across the region. All civilian travel to the Middle East has been suspended, and efforts are currently underway to evacuate any remaining foreign citizens back to their countries of origin. More updates to come soon.”

Aurdel lay on his bed with his helmet off, staring up at the ceiling. The skin on his face felt like it was burning. When he’d been coming back from the celebration with Mirko, he’d gotten a notification on his phone. A news notification. That night he didn't bother to check what the notification was since he didn’t want to ruin his mood, so he’d decided to wait until the morning. Ultimately, it would ruin his mood either way. Because it was one of the very few things he absolutely did not want to see. For months there had been an uneasy tension in the Middle East, with US and Iraqi forces taking up positions at the border with Iran in case a conflict broke out. After some time it eventually seemed like peace would be maintained and that war would be avoided, as slowly forces began to pull back from both sides of the border. With this sign of goodwill the United States had allowed much of its garrison force in Iraq to return home to visit their families for the holidays, severely understaffing the various bases and checkpoints inside the country. So when an absolutely massive earthquake struck on Christmas Eve, there was absolutely no way for the local forces to provide proper disaster response services. The very next day Iran began its invasion. Entering Iraq and Kuwait under the false pretenses of rendering aid to the civilian populace, their true intentions became clear within a matter of hours as rocket barrages from mobile launch platforms began hitting almost every single US controlled facility across the country. Even the carrier strike group stationed in the Persian Gulf was hit by these attacks. The death tolls were staggering. Even though he had tried to prevent this, killing the men who were behind the political and economic manipulation behind this war, it still happened. He had failed. The puppets that they had put in power were still obeying orders that were, by now, long defunct and carving their own path. The international response was immediate. Most countries condemned the invasion, and a number of NATO countries were now preparing a relief force to enter through Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Rather surprisingly, China was really the only nation that refused to give their opinion on the conflict. Even Russia, another country which found itself in a tense geopolitical situation with the west, condemned the invasion by Iran. But all the international posturing didn’t mean squat to him.

With this conflict in front of him, his mind had become split between two choices. The first choice was that he had to leave Japan, travel to the Middle East and personally intervene in the war before it could escalate any further and hopefully put an end to it. But the number of flaws that this option had was innumerable. If he were to travel into the middle of an area of conflict, one in which the authority he held was essentially non-existent, then he would without a doubt be making more than a few enemies. Both sides would treat him as an enemy combatant due to his wish to put an end to the war, meaning that before he could force any one side to stop their efforts there would need to be an absolutely massive level of bloodshed. Speaking more practically, he would be completely outgunned. The only equipment and weapons he would have available to him would be the ones he could carry on his back and stow into the bay of his pelican. Theoretically he could try and retrieve the frigate that he’d rode in on, but with the time it would take to fish a frigate out of the middle of the ocean and give it the necessary repairs the war will likely have escalated dramatically. But the largest issue with that option by far was that he would effectively have to abandon Japan, something that would have incredibly dire consequences. There were already enough domestic problems as there were, with his squabbling with the government, the League of Villains committing attack after attack and the Meta Liberation Army seemingly preparing to start a revolution. But there would also likely foreign threats too, as he had seen with posturing done by China both in the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea. And with attention and resources internationally being shifted to the Middle East, it meant that Asia was effectively on its own if something happened. Personally he didn’t want to abandon his students to fend for themselves in a country that would end up worse off than the one he was going to, especially since they were still unprepared.

His second option was to stay in Japan. In staying he would need to force his way into geopolitics, trying to find a solution that would end the current war in the Middle East and put an end to future wars. But he knew that wouldn’t work. Certain people were set in their ways, and him saying a few words wasn’t going to change that. At the very least he could keep an eye on things in this part of the world, and make sure that whatever would happen here in Japan could be dealt with quickly and effectively. Not to mention he would still be able to be with his class, with further education and training being something that his students desperately needed. Especially now.

He stood up from the bed, the choice he had to make was one that couldn’t be taken lightly. Whichever choice he made was bound to affect the lives of millions of people, probably of even as time went on. He was about to make his choice when he looked back towards his helmet, picking up the photo that he kept on the back of the inside of the helmet. Looking at the photo, he stared in silence. There was a boy in that photo, and even now he couldn’t shake the thoughts of the similarities between him and Midoriyaz. There was no way he could abandon him, not now. Aurdel needed to see this thing through.

A little over a week had passed since Christmas, the New Year having come and gone. In that time only a few classes had been held, with homeroom and Hero education all being run by Mr. Aizawa instead of Mr. Aurdell. With how often he’d tried to involve himself with their education in the past, it seemed irregular for him to be completely absent for so long. With a quick look around the room he could see that the others felt that uneasiness too. The news was full of footage and headlines about that war across the globe, and he couldn’t help but wonder if that was at all related. Suddenly they heard footsteps, and a pair of voices traveling down the hallway. “…You don’t need to do this session if you don’t want to, it’s not-“

“All we’re doing is giving them one last talk before they leave for their work study assignments, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Mr. Aizawa sighed, “Look, all I’m trying to say is that if you need some time then you can have it. I can understand that you’re in a difficult situation, but there’s no reason to push yourself so far just because you think it’s your duty.”

“Calling the situation ‘difficult’ is a severe understatement.” The conversation stopped as they got closer, before eventually walking through the door. “Good morning everyone.”

“Mr. Aurdel, everyone is seated and ready for homeroom,” Ida said, trying to muster his usual energy. But even he found it hard to do so under the circumstances.

“Good. That’s good.” He sat back down as Mr. Aurdel walked to the front of the room, standing behind the desk. “Well everyone, you know how big of a day this is. After this homeroom you will be leaving for your work studies. And so, I wanted to say a few things to you all before you go.” He paused, then continued. “First: in the time that I have known and taught this class, you have all grown tremendously. Both as people, and as Heroes. And so I want you to keep that growth going, whether that be physically, through your quirk and body, or through the compassion that you show to those around you. Second: I want you all to understand the gravity and importance of these work studies.” He began to pace around the desk, “At this school, no matter how tough training may have been, and no matter how brutal the beatdowns I put you through were, you were always taught in a relatively safe and controlled environment where your life was never in any true danger. You and your classmates were always kept out of harm's way, but in the field that isn’t a luxury that you can count on. Any Villain that you encounter will be trying to bring legitimate harm to you or any person you are trying to protect, so it is of great importance that you become adjusted to danger you will soon be put through on a daily basis. And third…” He stopped around the desk. “It will be solely up to you to make the most of the experience that you gain from these work studies, and as your teacher I expect you to put in the greatest amount of effort that you can achieve. The world around you is complex, and many things are always at play. Gain the knowledge you need to survive now and you will be met with great success. If you don’t do that… Well, you can think of the possibilities yourself.” He stood up straight, facing them. “I will now read out the list of agencies that everyone will be going to. You all know where you’re going, but this will let your classmates know where you’re going in case they need to meet with you. Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki, you three are working with Endeavor. Kaminari, Mineta and Sero, you’re working with the Lurkers team. Aoyama, Ashido and Hagakure, you’re with Yoroi Musha. Sato and Ojiro, you two will be working with Shishido. Jiro and Shoji, you’ll be with Gang Orca. Uraraka and Asui, you are with Ryukyu. Kirishima, you’re with Fat Gum. Ida, you’re with Manual. Tokoyami, you’re with Hawks. Koda, you’re with Wash. And lastly Yaoyorozu, you’re with Majestic. Are there any questions?”

At first no one raised their hands, but Midoriya raised his after a moment. “Mr. Aurdel, are you okay?” Initially it seemed like a relatively innocuous thing to ask, but what followed showed that it had more impact than he ever could have thought.

Mr. Aurdel stood there, looking forward and not moving in a long and uncomfortable silence. With his helmet it was often hard to tell what he was thinking, or if something had registered at all. But there were moments where you could tell that something had clearly gotten through to him, and they were absolutely unnerving. “All I can tell you right now is that I have a lot to think about, and a lot on my plate. Are there any other questions?” He looked around the room, no other hands went up. “In that case, there’s one more thing I want to tell you about before you leave.” He walked back behind the front desk, recomposed. “You already have each other's contact information, you even have the class group chat already set up. But there’s something else I’m going to give you. Inside all of the suitcases with your costumes I have given you a device, here is what it looks like.” He held out a small box shaped object in his hand, making sure that everyone could see what it was. “This is an emergency transponder. I know that since you’ll be with pro-Heroes you’ll be relatively safe, and have access to the Hero network, but this is a precaution. If you ever get into a situation where you think you’re unable to handle the issue at hand, you will press this,” he mimicked the motion onto a small button on the device, “When activated it will begin actively transmitting your location to me, from there I will be able to follow the transmission back and help you with whatever is happening.”

Ojiro raised his hand, “Is it necessary for us to have these? With us being around pro-Heroes, I don’t think we’ll have any encounters that actually necessitate using it.”

Their teacher again stopped to think for a moment. “Let me give you my thoughts in the form of a parable. There once was a world named Curacao, and it was under attack by the alien empire called the Covenant. In response high command decided to send in a group of soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, some of the best ground soldiers humanity had to offer who would literally drop from orbit in pods to rapidly advance, defend or do whatever the mission needed. But because they viewed this specific invasion as only a middling threat, they thought that the only additional battalion would be enough to help defend the planet and evacuate the civilians. That sending in anything else would be a waste of resources. Then…” He leaned on the desk, “Then they lost contact with all forces on the planet, and I was sent in a day later. Of the thousand men and women that they sent onto that planet six hundred and seventy three were dead, two hundred and twenty six were grievously wounded and needed immediate evacuation and the remaining one hundred and one others had all manner of injuries but still had to fight. Because people who had the chance to correct mistakes before they happened did nothing, because they didn’t take the threat in front of them one hundred percent seriously, hundreds of thousands had died. Men and women who had families to go back to, who had all of their lives ahead of them, were all gone in only a day just because a few people decided their choices would be ‘enough.’” He looked back up, “I don’t think that I need to tell you all how young you are, and how much unnecessary danger you’re going to be putting yourself through. But what I do want to make absolutely sure is that you know your job is not a glorified suicide run. Being a Hero does not mean taking on hundreds of Villains at the same time and dying while trying to stop them all by yourself”

“I don’t want to be rude Mr. Aurdel, but isn’t that hypocritical of you?” Kirishima said, “We don’t exactly see how you work, but from what we have heard you throw caution into the wind on almost a daily basis. And, honestly, even though you work with Mirko you still end up doing a lot by yourself.”

“It’s different.”

Kaminari agreed, “Nah, I think Kirishima is right. Like back when the League attacked Tartarus, isn’t that exactly it? You charged full speed into a prison filled with poison gas and the country’s most dangerous criminals all alone!”

“That’s-“

Uraraka said something next, “Yeah! I remember when we were fighting those Yakuza guys, you went in almost completely alone! Even when their boss got giant and was crushing entire building you still-“

“It’s completely different!” Mr. Aurdel had suddenly raised his voice, startling everyone else in the room and shutting down anyone from making any other interruptions. “You have the duty to come back alive to your families, to live because you have great potential and that’s something that shouldn’t be snuffed!. My comrades and I were made to reduce the ever increasing cost of life in war, to take the place of hundreds if not thousands of men and women on a vicious battlefield. We lived to honor the sacrifices of the dead, and we died to preserve the lives of others. My duty is to make sure that in the future there will not need to be anyone else like me!” He quickly turned away from them, trying to recompose himself. “We were the products of a concerted effort to take away and give up our lives, you still have the freedom to live yours. Don’t waste it.” Without another word he walked out of the classroom, Mr. Aizawa didn’t try to stop him. No one tried to stop him.

For a while, they sat in completely stunned silence. “I’ve… never seen him like that.”

“I only know as much as he was willing to tell me, but it’s safe to say that he has a lot on his mind,” Mr. Aizawa said with a sigh. “Something that you need to remember is that he isn’t from here, he’s from an entirely different time and place. One where he had to lead an entirely different life, experiencing things that most of us would consider to be worst possible scenarios.” He stepped over towards the desk, “However his points still stand. You should stay safe, make the most of the experience and reach out in case you need help.”

And with that, homeroom was over. They were free to leave for their work studies. But it didn’t feel satisfying in the slightest. Each of them went up and grabbed their cases with their costumes and gear off of the wall, eventually leaving the classroom. But they all had a moment of pause before they stopped out the door. Midoriya did too, wondering what could possibly be going on…

Fear No Evil

There was a laugh, “All Might my friend, what took you so long to come and visit me? Have we really grown that distant?”

“I’m not here to humor you All For One,” All Might remained stoic in his tone and form, staring down the man restrained behind the glass. “I am only here because I was told that there was something that I needed to hear.”

“Ah, so then he told you.” There was a grin behind the oxygen mask.

“He mentioned that you asked him to tell me.”

“Oh, I did.” He gave an almost giddy laugh, “I can tell that you saw some of yourself in him, in the rigidity of his beliefs. But do you really think that he might provide your successor Midoriya the chance to truly succeed as the new symbol of peace?“

“Don’t speak his name.”

“But I have foreseen and planned for what is to come. The man that you see each time you go into that school is only an image he puts up, a hollow shell. One which he uses to hide his true beliefs.”

“That man has done more good than whatever evil you could have ever imagined.”

“Has he now?” There was an incredibly wide grin on his face now. “Even if you discount all of the violent acts he’s partaken in, you should know that there’s plenty you can’t account for. After all, you can’t follow him around. You have no way to get into his head, to know what he thinks and what he plans to do. But I know what he’s after, I could feel the aura he gave off when I first saw him. That is why I chose him as my successor, and why I nudged him in that direction.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I now? I want you to think back to every conversation that we have had. In any of those conversations, have I lied to you?” He turned his head, “Even in a situation like this, what would I have to gain from lying to you?”

“You want me to lose my nerve, to do something irrational. That won’t happen.”

“But I don’t need to lie to make you do something irrational, everything that you have done ever since I crushed that pathetic master of yours has been irrational. You fled overseas to ‘train,’ sacrificing your youth and personal life to stop something that you could have easily ignored.”

“Everything that I did was for the sake of a better world, to stop you and bring peace to Japan.”

“And did that work?” All For One wheezed, “After our first fight both of us were gravely injured, but you still continued your work. Now look at you. Disheveled, weak, powerless. Even now you continue to work yourself to the bone for a country that never really did care about you, all on the basis of platitudes.”

“I did it because it was the right thing to do, and I continue my efforts now still because it is the right thing to do. But that’s something you could never understand.”

“The right thing, you say? Is that really what you believe?” All Might clenched his fists. “Then in that case allow me to tell you a story.”

“I have no interest in whatever inflammatory remark you have to say.”

“Some time ago there was a family that lived in the city, by all means it was a relatively normal family. However there was one rule in the household that the father forced onto his children. There was to be no talk of Heroes.” All Might remained silent, “However the son idolized his grandmother, A Hero. Each time the son tried to learn more about Heroes, or even simply brought up Heroes in a conversation, he would be beaten. Eventually wild emotions boiled over, and one day the boy’s quirk awakened. With no control over his quirk, he destroyed his home and slaughtered his own family all by accident in a matter of minutes. Because of that he left it all behind, forced to wander the streets.”

“Why do you-“

All For One interrupted, “I haven’t nearly gotten to the best part. For days and weeks he walked on the streets. Everyone saw him, the poor boy in an awfully disheveled state, but no one ever stopped to help him. Anyone that passed by said that a Hero would come to help him, but no Hero ever did..”

“But you were the one to approach him?”

“Indeed I was, and I took him in. I raised him as my own.”

“Why are you telling me this? So that I will despair over this boy who should have been saved? That I should have been the one to save him?”

“All I was doing was telling a simple story, All Might, I just wanted to ask you a question about it after I finished. What do you think the boy's name was?”

He grit his teeth, “Tomura Shigaraki, he was the one that you intended to groom as your own successor. To be a new face of evil.”

“Tenko Shimura,” All Might’s heart dropped at the surname. The feelings he felt were visible on his face. “Oh, what’s wrong All Might? Have I said something to make you feel uncomfortable?”

“You… You’re lying…!”

“I have never lied to you, All Might. Tenko Shimura was his name, he was the grandson of your master. I whisked him away from the streets that day. I spent years grooming him, corrupting him. Making him into the vessel that I wanted him to become. And while I was initially disappointed to see my effort nearly wasted with his death, I saw a new opportunity.”

“Shut up…”

“When I fought that man I could just feel possibilities that I had with him, that there would be something to pull him towards your school. Towards your protege. That’s why I gave him my power to accomplish all that he has done, and all that he will continue to do.”

“Shut up…!”

“Yes, it worked perfectly. In fact you and the others met him with open arms, allowing him to teach and corrupt your very own students. You thought that despite the fact that he had killed, something that is taboo for any Hero, that he could be forgiven. Shigaraki was simply a Villain that needed to be stopped by any means. But now, look at what he has become.”

“Shut up!”

“He has done all that I could have ever dreamed of out in the open, and he has the full attention of your successor. I put the man who severed your only ties to the past next to your only ties to the future!”

“SHUT UP” All Might lost his cool, standing up and knocking over the chair.

“Step away from the glass!” A voice spoke over the intercom in the room, the guns that were positioned in All For One’s room were aimed at him and looked poised to fire.

“Of course, you should have already known this. After all young Midoriya can speak to the previous holders, and even as pathetic a person such as your master should have found her way inside of One For All. Of course, perhaps something told him not to tell you. Or…Someone?”

He balled his fist before turning around. “Your influence will not reach any of us. Not myself, not Midoriya and not Spartan.”

“Are you willing to lose your life to ensure that?”

“How long is it going to take you before you realize that he’s not going to come over to your side?” Nine said, a fist balled up on the conference room table. “As far as we know, he might not even truly know if we exist. Much less is the chance that he would even approach us if he did.”

“Ye of little faith,” Re-Destro stood up. “If you don’t think that he’s going to approach us now then you don’t have a good understanding of who we’re dealing with.”

“Enough of this roundabout diabolical plan bullshit. I want you tell me exactly what you’re thinking.”

“Very well. Spartan is very pragmatically minded, anyone who has seen any of his few public appearances will know that. However it has to be said that the man knows what he is doing, and that he also has his own agenda.” He splayed his fingers, “I can’t say exactly what that agenda is, as I am not him. However I do know that he plans to make radical changes, structurally, politically and economically.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because I’ve paid attention to every thing that he has done.” He stood up and began to walk around, carefully keeping an eye on the phone on the table. “A number of the gangs that he has targeted have connections to law enforcement or local government, either directly in their membership or through bribes to local officials and precincts. He solved literal thousands of medical cold cases, helping those that were labeled to be lost causes by the medical care industry and shoved into homes where minimal effort would be put towards proper care. He shot the president of the Hero commission, putting down another corrupt official who was trying to hide their part in the previous administration.”

“You think that he killed the Hero Public Safety Commission president?”

“There are very few alternative answers to the question of who could have managed such a kill. Few have the motivation, fewer still have the necessary skills and correct timing to do so. But the largest reason that allows me to say that he will make changes is because of his impact on international industry, trade and business. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something has changed when entire boards of directors are shuffled overnight, CEO positions overseas changing hands out of nowhere with the former bosses quietly taking a vacation to the middle of the pacific. Not many other people are capable of committing such an act. Of course, you can consider all of this to be a simple thought experiment. None of this can be proven in a court of law, nor could you even take him to trial,” Re-Destro paused.

“No, you can’t.” The phone spoke, and Nine was taken by surprise.

“You were listening this entire time?” Nine carefully prodded.

“I managed to locate this phone and bug it two minutes before this meeting began. So, yes. I have.”

“Then can we have your thoughts?”

“You’re a strong force, but I don’t need your plans or your beliefs. I have my own. And I’m not inclined to share what mine are.”

“That’s fair enough. Every man is entitled to hold their own beliefs that they hold close to their chest.”

“What I do need is your immediate resources. Primarily, your manpower.” His voice was stern, “I already know your plans. The moment that the country is pushed to the breaking point by a crisis, your army will rise up and overthrow the government. In this time you’ll try and pull every Hero you can to your side, because you know that there are a number of them that genuinely hold similar beliefs. But if you want to be anything more than king of the ashes when the country is on the verge of collapse, then you’re going to help me.”

“When?”

“Don’t play dumb. The war in the Middle East between the United States and Iran isn’t going to remain isolated forever. The rest of the west, Russia, China. Even Japan. Everyone is going to be pulled into the disaster that’s coming.”

“You sound certain of this…”

“I am. It’s a few years earlier than when it happened on my Earth, but the situation is similar.”

“Your Earth had a global war?”

Silence. “By the year twenty eighty, years of overpopulation and overuse of the limited resources had taken its toll on the planet. Nations were sending out dozens of colonization efforts to other parts of the solar system. Luna, Mars, some moons of Jupiter. But as time went on countries began to squabble over these interplanetary territories, fights broke out between opposing colonies. The first bullet was fired on Mars in twenty eighty nine, the last missile was launched on Earth in twenty ninety. Three billion people were dead and overpopulation was no longer an issue, and most of the colonies were destroyed. But it was only the first in a series of wars before humanity came together and mostly found peace with itself.”

“This… is a revelation.”

“Why don’t you tell the world about it?” Nine asked. “Surely you must think that you have a duty to save as many lives as possible to tell the world your knowledge.”

“The world almost fell into a panic when I showed them that aliens were real and that they tried to wipe out humanity. How do you think they would react to being told that humanity would nearly wipe itself out in the next twenty years in two additional world wars, followed by another set of interplanetary conflicts that would kill millions more?” It was almost hard to believe a word he said, but with the absolute confidence in which he said all of this… “I was trying to prevent anything like this from ever happening, but I failed. The only option I have now is to do what I can to minimize the casualties.”

There wasn’t much for them to say, Re-Destro gave a sigh. “This isn’t the way that I thought the conversation would go, not by a long shot. But if things are really as you say, then I suppose that we have no other choice. A society cannot exist only in the ashes.”

“Then you’ll give me what I need?”

“I will, with just one provision.”

“And what’s that?”

“I want you to be interviewed, one in which you tell the people who you are and what you really believe.”

There was a period of silence. “You’ll have your interview.”

“Uravity, Froppy, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s nice to be back.”

“Hey, hey, what’s with the costume changes?” Nejire immediately pounced on the opportunity to ask questions, almost as soon as they walked in. “Was someone wrong with your old one? Was the equipment in it not good enough? Was there not enough protection?”

“Well, actually…” She thought back to the battles between classes, where she’s had to- “A-ah, let’s just say that I needed to have a quicker way to close the gap.”

“Sounds useful!”

“You girls actually came at a very opportune time,” Ryukyu said.

“Why’s that?”

“Just yesterday we received a request for a team up from Selkie.”

“Selkie? Tsu, you went to his agency for internships right?”

“Right, when I was there we tracked and had to fight a group of smugglers. Ribbit.”

“You might have to do the same thing again,” Ryukyu spoke with a sigh, “Selkie and his crew tried to contact a ship since it wasn’t carrying the ensign of any country. After getting no response, he tried to get it to stop. But the ship managed to deploy a smokescreen using one of the crew’s quirks and got away.”

“Do we know the cargo they’re carrying?”

“No, we’re not. But the most likely guess is that they’re carrying large quantities of trigger.”

“Trigger… the drug that causes so many problems.”

“That’s right. Trigger distribution in Japan has been a problem for a long time now, and especially large shipments such as this cause an untold amount of destruction. If we can stop it before it manages to get ashore, the amount of evil that we will be able to prevent from reaching fruition will be tremendous.”

“Do you think that the crew will fight back?”

“More likely than not, they will. But judging by the usual breed of smugglers that find themselves in Japan’s waters, they won’t be too tough to take down. The biggest problem we’ll have with these smugglers is trying to track them down, since this group seems to be craftier than most.”

“I’m not too sure about that,” Tsu put a finger to her lip, “The last time we encountered smugglers they threatened to kill Sirius. Ribbit.”

“Evil individuals will say or try to do anything once they’ve been backed into a corner, but in truth they don’t have strength to do what they say. They’ll fight back, but they’ll go down just like any other smuggler.” Just like any other smuggler… Uraraka and Tsu looked at each other, and couldn’t help but worry.