Chapter 202

(A/N: No new Patrons, but I figured I could let everyone know we'll be up to Chapter 30 in Beta Testing the Apocalypse before the end of today. The first twenty chapters have been made public on my Patreon, so feel free to check it out at eins_left_foot.)

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Though he had collapsed within a ruined building located on the small island attached to the ancient-looking lighthouse, Izuku awoke inside a medical tent, his face and body covered in bandages that made him look like a mummy. All of his limbs were in casts, but he had no trouble feeling his fingers and toes, prompting him to sit up despite a woman with hair resembling a blue and purple jellyfish exclaiming, "You're in no condition to move...!"

Cracking open the casts on his arms using Blackwhip, Izuku met the jellyfish woman's gaze, taking note of the fact she was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit, rank, and insignia and of a Navy Corpsman. Checking her status revealed her name to be Tristana Johnston, but since she had her first initial and last name sewn into a velcro patch on the right side of her jumpsuit, he didn't need Digitalization to ask, "What's the situation, Petty Officer Johnston?"

Taken aback by Izuku's actions and sudden question, Tristana hesitated long enough for someone else to respond, "Things are under control. We weren't able to locate the doubling Nomu's main body, but the swarm you encountered was dispersed by All Might and Star and Stripe. Gran Torino suffered some pretty serious injuries, but he should make a full recovery after returning to Japan..."

Looking in the direction of the voice as it started speaking, Izuku found Aizawa wearing his usual deadpan expression. He was a little creeped out when the man's transparent second set of eyelids briefly retracted, but he managed a faint smile, muttering, "That's a relief..." before exhaling a tired sigh and visibly deflating.

"What happened here...?" asked Aizawa, sitting atop the folding stool next to the cot.

"If you're referring to those Villains, I didn't have the time or opportunity to be 'gentle' with them..." replied Izuku. "And I don't know what occurred before I got here, only that those three recognized and wanted to kill me."

Reaching up to pull the bandages away from his face and eye, Izuku was relieved to be able to see. Eri would have been able to fix him up, but the thought of walking around with one eye wasn't pleasant, even if he could probably pull off an eyepatch.

Shaking his head, Izuku met Aizawa's gaze and asked, "You've told me about Gran Torino, but how is everyone else doing? Sorry about tossing you into the sea, by the way."

"It's fine. You did what you thought was necessary," asserted Aizawa. "As for the others, don't worry. Togata, Hado, Amajiki, and their kitsunes had no problem evacuating with the crew. And I wouldn't be here if something happened to the Samehada twins."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Izuku laid back on his cot with his eyes closed. He was certain at least a few people had died, but since he wasn't there to witness their deaths, he didn't feel responsible for them. He wasn't like Toshinori, not yet, at least, so he knew it was impossible to save everyone when their enemies simply didn't give a fuck.

Catching Izuku a little off guard, Aizawa observed him for a while before asking, "You mentioned there were three villains?"

Opening his eyes, Izuku met the raven-haired man's gaze and answered, "Yeah. I broke their arms and legs and left them tied up near the breach's entrance. Were they not there? I know one of them had regeneration, but it should have taken him at least an hour or two to recover."

"Unfortunately, it took us a while to enter the breach," explained Aizawa. "All Might and I came over ahead of everyone, but there were no villains tied up when I entered the breach."

"How long have I been out?" asked Izuku.

"Not too long," replied Aizawa. "Initial estimates were that you'd be out at least 2-3 days, but it's only been around seven hours since I found you in the ruins."

"And this is inside the breach...?" asked Izuku.

Nodding in affirmation, Aizawa explained, "We were initially planning to withdraw and return to Japan, but Sir Nighteye foresaw that we would be having this conversation. When all was said and done, we decided to wait and see what you wanted to do."

"That's good..." muttered Izuku, running his fingers through his hair and staring up at the tent's canopy as he explained, "That female Nomu uses Toshinori's Master, Nana Shimura, as its base. And with the Double Quirk, she could theoretically sweep across the entire world. My instinct tells me we need the power of the Founders more than ever..."

As they had already heard from Gran Torino that Nana was likely used as the Nomu's base, Aizawa wasn't surprised by Izuku's words. Instead, he asked, "How soon can you be ready to move?"

Rising to a seated position, Izuku replied, "If I weren't nearly naked and wrapped up like a mummy, I'd be good to go now. Is there any chance Toshi hopped over to Japan to pick up Melissa? If not, I'll make do with a flight suit or some combat fatigues."

"You're in luck," replied Aizawa, drawing Izuku's attention to an armored briefcase at the side of the cot by picking it up. Toshinori had ferried Gran Torino back to UA for treatment and to converse with Nezu about locating the female Nomu as quickly as possible, so it was only natural they picked up Izuku's spare costume and a substitute Regalia.

Rising to a seated position and grinning, Izuku accepted the briefcase and said, "Then give me five minutes to change while you assemble the others. I don't know what time it is, but we need to kick things into high gear if we want to avoid a complete disaster."

"I'll need to wake them, but we should be ready within the hour at the latest," replied Aizawa. "Until then, you should get something to eat. With how much damage you had to regenerate from, I imagine you're starving."

*The sound of an ancient, insatiable creature stirring*

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With even the Corpsman looking over to stare at Izuku with slack-jawed amazement, the person in question felt a bit of heat flow into his cheeks and ears. Fortunately, while the FOB was still being reconstructed, one of the very first things they did was set up the medical and mess tents. Food was important to preserving morale, so once Izuku changed into his spare costume, he spent a solid half hour doing nothing but shoveling food into his mouth until the others, starting with Nejire, arrived to join him...

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Though the nearly 500m tall, gold-capped lighthouse seemed like the key feature of the breach's temple complex, the most eye-catching sight lay a few hundred meters away, connected to it across a wide but short bridge. There, a circular complex roughly 500m in diameter, filled with vegetation and beautiful frescos depicting countless animals, formed a well-like void more than 1500m deep in the surrounding body of water. It was a genuine marvel of engineering, even more so when you considered that everything was scaled up as if to accommodate giants.

Staring into the massive well, which seemed to lead to a 'void' beneath the sea, complete with a large waterfall flowing into it from the opposite side of the structure, Izuku remarked, "It looks pretty dark down there..."

"Isn't that part of the reason my brother and me were brought along...?" asked Ginka, booting Izuku from behind and nearly knocking him off the ledge. There were at least 200m to the subsequent level, but even if he had fallen, Izuku wouldn't have sustained any serious injuries.

Recovering quickly, Izuku turned to face the group, smiling as he noticed Nejire staring at Ginka with puffy cheeks. Fortunately, she didn't make a scene, allowing him to meet Aizawa's gaze and remark, "It would be real nice to have someone with Foresight right now..."

"We've gotta make do with what we've got," replied Aizawa, shrugging as he flatly reiterated, "We can't rely on Sir Nighteye to make every decision, and his Quirk is vital to locating the League of Villains and tracking down the female Nomu as quickly as possible."

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." sighed Izuku, extending Blackwhip to grab and lift everyone but Nejire by the waist before leaping down to the circular stone platform at the base of the well. Ginka issued a surprisingly girly scream and called him an idiot on the way down, but that was what she deserved for kicking him.

Reaching the stone platform, Izuku casually and instinctively caught the punch Ginka threw at him while looking around. There was a gap of nearly 200m between the platform and the ceiling. Beyond that, there was pitch-black darkness, seemingly stretching beneath the entirety of the body of water more than a kilometer above. Izuku also thought he could hear the distant sound of rushing water, but it was impossible to be certain due to the nearby waterfall.

"Stay still, and let me hit you! It's not like my attacks can actually hurt you...!" exclaimed Ginka, still attempting to punch Izuku. But, even though he wasn't paying attention to her, he had no trouble blocking and evading all of her attacks.

"Tsunami. Do what you came here to do," said Aizawa, causing Ginka to give up her assault and mutter something under her breath before she and her brother dropped down into the icy water surrounding the stone platform. Doing so caused her height to increase from 165cm to at least 180, but the most notable change, at least from Izuku's perspective, was that her usually large breasts seemed to retract into her body, making her more hydrodynamic. Had he been under the water, he would have noticed her ass, thighs, and tail had become much more prominent, but that was a discovery for another time.

Before swimming off to scout the area with her brother, Ginka cupped her hands and shot a thin stream of water at Izuku's face. His now-awakened Danger Sense activated in response, but instead of evading, Izuku shook his head, allowing it to hit him directly before meeting Ginka's gaze with a smile and saying, "Stay safe."

Grinning broader than usual, Ginka promptly turned around and dove into the water, providing Izuku a sneak peek of her near-Rumi-tier ass before swimming off at a speed of more than 50km/h. With her Quirk, she could easily travel ten times that, but since it didn't enhance her perception, she mainly followed after her brother to provide support. Genji's senses in the water were several times more potent than an actual Great White's, so not only did he have incredible vision in even murky water, but he could sense movement within 500m, and his nose could detect a single odor molecule within hundred of millions of molecules of H2O. The only downside was that if he smelled blood, he could enter a frenzied state where he couldn't distinguish friend from foe. The exception was that he would never attack family or someone he recognized as stronger than him.

"Should I scout as well?" asked Nejire. "The energy produced by my Wave Motion is pretty bright, so I can inspect the roof while the twins search for Wamdus below the water's surface."

Though Nejire's question was directed at him, Izuku looked to Aizawa for confirmation before giving her permission to scout ahead. Before leaving, however, Nejire threw her arms around him, leading to a lengthy exchange of saliva that caused Tamaki to pale and avert his eyes. The spiky-haired youth had learned about their relationship the day after Izuku and Nejire entered into one, but since the latter was his first major crush, he couldn't stomach watching her kiss another man. Mirio wasn't much different, but he just laughed it off, just as he had done when Izuku grabbed his waist with Blackwhip and brought them all into the mouth of 'The Fathomless Abyss' that served as Wamdus's sub-surface abode...

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(A/N: RIP Tamaki...)