Chaos

Star Skyline pushed the debris off of her, eyes stinging. She wasn't sure if it was from the drywall and smoke in the air, or from the sight of the dead man next to her.

Pulling the debris off of the man, she dragged him a few feet over where the wall had fallen to reveal the street outside.

It was chaos.

She could feel the heat of the fire, everyone's panicked thoughts pounding at her head as the screams pounded against her ears. Smoke filled her lungs as she crossed the man's arms over his chest, closing his eyes gently. There was nothing she could do though, and a tear leaked over as she clenched her teeth, leaving a streak in the grime on her face. She didn't bother wiping it off, looking around desperately for anyone she knew.

Todoroki and his father crossed her mind, and she quickly pulled out her phone, only to see that the screen had been shattered by the fall and debris. With a start, she also realized her hero costume headphones had cracked from the impact as well. Melissa wasn't going to be thrilled...

She was really starting to regret that Todoroki took her sake, too. She didn't even have her costume hydration pack, because they knew she'd just drink from it when they weren't looking before her quirk appointment.

As she looked into the streets, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She may not be able to locate anyone in the group, but she remembered the location Native had sent her since it was her favorite smoothie shop when she lived here. It was a long shot that he was still there, but she needed to find a Pro Hero and stay near them for protection. This didn't look like the work of the Hero Killer, but she wasn't taking any chances.

Stepping into the street, the crowd's thoughts and yells became unbearable. As the volume grew, she-

=Even if she could think, she wouldn't be able to hear it over the thousands of voices in her head. The sound was debilitating, and it felt like she wasn't there anymore. Like she was buried underground and breathing in dirt except instead of dirt it was sound and she felt claustrophobic as the voices closed in and=

Someone knocked into her, breaking her out of her mind as she hit the ground, hard. She narrowly moved her hand before it was stepped on as more people started running. She couldn't do this, she needed to drink, she couldn't be here without drinking. Was there a different way to get to Native?

Looking behind her, past the rubble, she saw a path between the buildings. She had taken the back ways a lot when she lived here, avoiding the press or any negative attention she might earn. After the incident, it became the easiest way to avoid the most voices.

Frowning into the chaotic street one last time, she ran the opposite way, and into the darkness of the alley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shoto Todoroki couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at the demolished building in front of him.

He could hear Momo's voice on the other end of the line, but her words weren't registering with him. He ignored the stab of guilt that went through him when he hung up the call in the middle of her sentence. It was an emergency and she would understand, but that didn't mean he liked it.

He had left the building to find his father when it had happened. By the time they had turned around, the entire thing was rubble. This didn't surprise Shoto, though. Not when the thing in front of him was what caused it.

Emerging from the ruins of the building was something Shoto had only seen in the projections a day prior. It stood tall and lanky, white skin a sickening leather texture, and four eyes sitting unblinking on the exposed brain that made up half its head. The pants and belt it wore implied that it might be human, but Shoto knew better. It might've been a human once, but not anymore.

"Numo…" He breathed. What was a Nomu doing here?

He recalled Olivia's memory, the villain's thoughts about the warehouse, the amount of times her quirk was used…

How many did they have? Would killing this thing even put a dent in their numbers? How many were here? What quirks did this one have? Would Olivia know? Had she even survived? He just had to hold it off until his father made it. Was he allowed to use his quirk for this?

He found his answer rather quickly when the Nomu lunged for a couple who had crawled out of the front of the building. Letting his ice travel from his foot to the couple as he put up a wall in front of them, he decided. If following the rules meant letting people die, then he didn't mind becoming a rule breaker for the night.

The Numo turned to him, and Shoto prepared himself.

Before anything happened though, a small older man came flying out of nowhere, landing foot first into the Nomu's face.

"I picked a fine time to patrol, I haven't fought this earnestly in years!" The old man said excitedly.

The Numo went to punch where the man had landed, and Shoto's hand started to ice over in response, but the man easily jumped away, yelling, "That's right ugly! Bring it on!"

Shoto was distracted though as the couple tried to get away. The old man noticed at the same time, and the Nomu lunged for the couple. Shoto shot his ice, the old man blasted forward-

Suddenly, fire engulfed the creature. The screech it let out as it burned alive was terrible. It was like the USJ but worse. The couple scrambled away, eager to get to safety.

"I was looking for the elusive Hero Killer, but this thing will have to do. I know from the mind woman that it has more than one quirk... Let's find out what they are."

Shoto could recognize his old man's voice anywhere, for better or for worse. The words cut through him as he recalled what he had been distracted from. "Olivia!"

Pulling out his phone, Shoto called her number. It rang and rang, barely audible over the noise and screaming around him. Finally, his hopes were dashed as the cheery voice that answered wasn't her, but her voicemail. Was her phone on silent? Or was she unable to answer because…

Shoto didn't want to think about the possibility that his fiancee's childhood friend could be dead. That the woman he had begun to consider a friend could be lying mangled in the rubble. That it could've happened on his watch. If only his father hadn't been restless. If only they had just waited outside the door when her quirk was being read.

"Thanks old timer. I'm afraid I don't know you, but I can handle this from here on out."

Shoto didn't even look to his father as he furiously typed a message on his phone. Pressing send, he saw what he had been hoping for.

Her dot in the map was moving.