Chapter Text
(Kaminari’s POV)
“Damn, these things always got to travel in groups?” I ask no one as I stand on top of a hill, looking out to a group of large, grey metal robots.
They’re pretty similar to the ones we had to fight in the UA entrance exam, but way more dangerous. They were designed and mass produced by the League of Villains after they joined up with some fancy organization. However, they lost control of them and the robots started doing whatever they wanted. This led to a horrible amount of destruction and an overwhelming number of casualties.
We call these robots ‘VilMechs’, a combination of ‘villain’ and ‘meccha’. Simple and gets the point across. We thought these robots were just here in Japan, and we were fully prepared to call in help from foreign heroes. However, somehow that fancy organization managed to mass produce so many of these hunks of metal that the whole world is now in utter chaos. Humankind is struggling, and the population rate is terrifyingly low.
So, the age of heroes has become the age of ‘Destroyers’, that’s what we call those who are able to fight the VilMechs. They aren’t just any ordinary robots; they were created by someone’s horrid quirk and are way tougher than they look. In fact, the only way to beat them is to fight them with a ‘Quirk Weapon’. These are specialized weapons that feed off the energy of its user’s quirk. They were created by Mei Hatsume, who is unfortunately missing at this time. She made ten of them in total; when they aren’t being used to fight, they reduce in size and look like normal accessories. It took a ton of training for us to learn how to use them and change our fighting styles, but we eventually got the hang of it. We each decided on a partner to fight with and are now working on trying to get rid of these robots and create a safe haven for survivors.
The Destroyers have six rules:
1. Never travel alone. Always bring your partner.
2. Do not attempt to fight VilMechs on your own unless necessary.
3. If you find an electrical plant, either try to restore it or mark it on the map and report it to someone else.
4. If bandits can not be reasoned with, kill them.
5. Always secure an escape route before entering abandoned buildings to search for supplies.
6. If you can’t win the fight, run.
Unfortunately, my partner seems to have already forgotten about rule one; since he took off on his own while I was scavenging through an old pharmacy. All I found were a few bottles of that gross pink liquid you drink for upset stomachs. I confirmed with the map that we’ve never searched that store before, which means there must be bandits nearby. Considering our current mission, that’s quite worrying.
“Well, ain’t got time to worry about that right now,” I say and reach my hand up to my hair. I untangle the yellow and black hairclip from my blonde locks, hold it out in front of me, and spin it around in my hand. My electricity crackles down my arm and when it hits the hair clip, it grows and becomes a double-ended scythe almost as tall as me. This is my Quirk Weapon.
The crescent moon shaped blades are bright yellow and black with a silver handle between them. My electricity dances around it and feeds its strength. I narrow my eyes at the group of VilMechs at the bottom of the hill. If my partner wants to break rule one, I’ll break rule two.
I race down the hill, charging at my enemies. When they see me, their lights glow red and they immediately begin to attack. I throw my weapon and let it slice through a couple of robots, then it spins its way back to me like a boomerang and I catch it easily. One of them tries to pound their giant metal fist into me, but I dodge out of the way and strike them down with one end of the scythe.
“Come on, that all you got?!” I shout with a crazed grin on my face.
I shoot a bolt of electricity at another VilMech and cut through it while it’s paralyzed. It’s not that we can’t fight these robots alone, it’s just not recommended. And that becomes more apparent when one of them knocks me down into the ground, causing the earth to crack underneath me. I groan and quickly use my scythe to cut off the arm that’s pinning me down, but that ended up being a bad idea since the metal is so heavy that I can’t move.
Shit. Dude, where the hell are you?
The two remaining Vilmechs crowd around me. My heart is racing anxiously in my chest as the fear begins to set in. Fuck. Fuck. I fucked up so bad. My body is getting increasingly colder, like I’ve just been buried in seven feet of snow. My brain is in a haze, trying to think of what to do, but coming up with nothing.
This is it. I’m going to die. This was supposed to just be a simple mission. All we had to do was search the pharmacy for supplies and restore a nearby electrical plant that Mina had found and reported. But my petty ass got upset about my partner going off on his own, and I decided to fight a group of these fucking robots on my own. Great job, you idiot. You’ve really fucked up—
“DENKI!” My thoughts are cut off by the call of my name and the sight of two arrows piercing through the remaining Vilmechs. Two more arrows strike them, and they collapse to the ground, unmoving.
I let out a slow, steady breath as a face comes into view. But it’s not just any face. It’s moonlight pale skin, deep violet orbs with intense white pupils and heavy dark circles underneath, and wild purple hair like a field of lilacs.
“Hitoshi, oh man, am I so happy to see you,” I say with a relieved smile.
“Did you forget rule two?” he’s glaring at me, but I can still see the hint of worry in his expression. “You aren’t supposed to be fighting these things alone. You could have died.”
I avert my gaze from him and stick out my bottom lip slightly. “Well, you apparently forgot rule one and left me all alone.”
“Are you seriously pouting?” He asks, but it’s not really a question, he knows I am. He holds his Quirk Weapon in his hand, a black bow with a purple glow spiraling around it. It minimizes in his hand and he pins it to his shirt like a brooch. Though his quirk isn’t physical, his weapon is still able to convert its energy into strength. Any arrow he shoots with his bow is immensely powerful and can even take down big evil robots.
He and I work together to get the metal arm off me. He grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. I spin my double-ended scythe until it minimizes and becomes a hairclip again. I push back the smaller part of my bangs and slide the clip back in its place.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Hitoshi asks, scanning over me for injuries.
I give him a warm and reassuring smile. “I’m alright. Thank you for saving my dumb ass.”
He huffs a short laugh and flicks my forehead. “You’re a real damsel in distress, aren’t you?” He places a hand to his hip and points his gaze to the sky. “We’ve got to get moving if we want to make it back before it gets too dark. Do you have enough electricity in you for Rai?”
‘Rai’ is the name of my electric motorcycle. Mei built it for me right before she disappeared. Much like my weapon, it feeds off the electricity my quirk produces, but it won’t move at all if I don’t have any electricity in me. “I have enough to get to the plant, but I’m going to have to recharge before we head back to base.”
“Let’s hope we can restore it without too much trouble then,” he replies and begins walking up the hill; I follow him. “I’ll do some hunting while you’re charging, we’re getting low on meat.”
We approach Rai, in all her shiny black and glowing neon yellow glory, and I hop onto the front of it. Hitshoi gets on behind me and hangs onto my shoulders. Electricity sparks in my hands and the motorcycle begins to roar with power. Then, we drive off down the street.
“Hey, so what were you doing anyway?” I ask, raising my voice over the sound of the motorcycle and the wind.
The insomniac behind me is quiet for a minute, but answers in an even voice. “I was looking for something.”