I don't own anything except any original characters (including the Reader's concept) and/or any original plot

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Chapter Twenty - Immediate Adaptation

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A month and a half of trying to get Gigantomachia to submit and the LOV hadn't gotten any closer to their goal. Two weeks since seeing Katsuki at the Culture Festival and you hadn't had the chance to see him in person. Texts were full of a tension that wouldn't be resolved until you could actually talk through what happened.

"I get that it can be hard to eat when he's constantly kicking the crap out of you and making you throw it back up, but at the very least have a protein bar once in a while. And drink more water, too. You should be drinking as much as possible in between rounds." Keeping a hand on Tomura's shoulder, you passed energy to him whilst simultaneously scolding him.

"You're getting mother henned," Jin snorted, "I want motherly attention! No, I don't, ignore that."

"You alive over there?" Himiko questioned.

"Barely," you murmured, unheard by anyone.

"Yeah! And that thing's slowed down a lot. I'm getting way closer each time compared to the beginning! I'm definitely gonna trip that gorilla up sooner or later." Tomura was strangely chipper for someone who'd been getting the crap beat out of him for a month and a half.

Twice's phone chimed from his pocket. He pulled it out and chirped, "I'm getting a call from Giran."

"The man hasn't been answering any of my calls," Atsuhiro complained, "Ask if my hand is insured."

"That old broker's been looking out for me since I joined the league. He's a real nice guy," Twice answered, "You there man? Why dontcha pick up the phone when Mr. Compress calls, you jerk?"

Whatever answer Twice got wasn't what he wanted, because he lowered his phone from his ear and put it on speaker.

"Who is this? And where's Giran?"

"Say... why don't you check the news? Right now if you can!"

Pulling out your phone, you scrolled over to the breaking news section, clicking on the live video option and turning your volume up.

"Breaking news! Following yesterday's events, another finger has been found."

"A finger?" Shuichi exclaimed.

"Three days ago, outside the residence of the leader of the Shie Hassakai group, a registered villain organization, a severed middle finger was discovered. Then, in front of the Hosu City Terminal was an index finger. Yesterday a ring finger appeared on the central highway where a prisoner transport vehicle was attacked several months ago. Yesterday a pinky was found at the train station in Musutafu as well."

Oh god. You were going to be sick. All of those places were obviously significant. Hosu, the Shie Hassakai headquarters, the highway where you attacked Overhaul. Only the train station stuck out. But it didn't, because you always took the train to visit Katsuki. They were watching all of you closely.

"The fingers seem to all belong to the same individual. In addition, a scarf, sunglasses, and other items of clothing have been found at the scenes as well - presumed to belong to the victim. Police are treating this as a crime meant to be a statement from one organization to another. This morning a thumb was found at ground zero of Kamino Ward."

"Greetings League of Villains! You are speaking to the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army - Redestro."

"First the Yakuza, now the Liberation Army. All these retro freaks are trying to make a comeback. Is this cuz of that book that came out a little while back? Are you trying to ride that wave to the headlines?"

"How well-informed you are! But no, it's the other way around. We created the wave."

"Well good for you! Now, where's Giran? And whaddya want? You better not've touched a hair on that wonderful man's head!"

"Oh, he's here, alive of course. And we seek to liberate meta-humans. We will tear down the existing framework and rebuild the world... as a place where people are free to be themselves and use their abilities as they see fit."

"I don't see any reason we should oppose that," Atushiro shrugged.

"Are we gonna lend these guys our rep like we did with the Yakuza?"

Snatching the phone from Jin's hand, you ignored his indignant squawking and walked a few steps away from the rest of the group.

"You weren't just trying to send a message, you were sending threats. You know more than our public battles."

"Ah, yes. You're referencing the train station in Musutafu? You've done well hiding your identity thus far, but even the best can make mistakes."

"You don't want to team up. You want to wipe us out." The league gasped from behind you. Based on the silence from the other end of the line you were correct.

"I'm afraid I had an entire speech prepared! I wasn't aware you were so perceptive. Yes. Destro must be the one to lead this revolution, and because of your big name, it will lend credence to our cause when we defeat you. Consider those fingers proof of our resolve. Make your way to Deika City in Aichi Prefecture. Be there in an hour. That is if you hope to see your dear friend Giran again. Stand against us and be destroyed or do nothing and have heroes sent to your exact location. The choice is yours, Tomura Shigaraki."

The call ended. Tossing the phone back to Twice, you began to pace.

"He wants us at Aichi Prefecture in an hour? He must know we could only do that if we warped."

"And he's been watching our every move? He knows our location. If that's true then we're in big trouble!"

"Sadly we haven't broken in our pet gorilla yet. Whatever shall we do?"

"Is that even a question? This ain't up for debate! We're all familiar with that intestine-like scarf and tinted sunnies... nobody else in the world's got gross taste like that! Giran gave me a place to belong. We gotta save him now!"

It was all too much. The league was being too loud. You just needed to think this through. Redestro knew too much. Knew about all the battles, and beyond that, he knew that you commonly went to Musutafu. UA was the biggest sight to see there. The pieces weren't hard to put together.

"They might have killed him already. Maybe every word is a lie."

"But if there's even a slim chance he's still alive we gotta make a move!"

Dying wasn't an option, not when there was still so much to be done. But staying in the woods meant being captured by heroes. So the LOV would have to go to Aichi.

"You're suggesting we plunge headlong into unknown danger? Calm down." At Aichi, it wouldn't be as easy as invading and getting Giran back. There would be a challenge, an army- "Getting so attached to people, so buddy-buddy... it's a habit of yours."

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" You finally screamed. The group stared at you in shock, even Tomura was taken aback. Running your hands through your hair, you tugged at the strands and nodded once resolutely, "Doctor did you hear all that?"

"Listening to villain radio is my new favorite hobby, so yes. So the Meta Liberation Army is back from the dead! What a surprise! The waves you all are making in the underworld keeps dragging people up."

"There aren't any other High Ends available, are there?"

"No, there aren't."

"Fine, that's fine," your pacing picked up again.

"What are you thinking, (Y/n)?" Tomura asked.

"Doctor, we need you to transport us to Aichi. Gigantomachia should be waking up in around three hours. We'll transport to Aichi and wait until the very last minute of the hour to buy time. I'd like to see what we're dealing with as well-"

"You're saying we're gonna take the bait? We don't even know what we're getting into!" Shuichi cried.

Tomura was finally picking up on what you were planning and cut in, "The big guy isn't invincible, he just has way too much HP."

"Wait. I get it. Wherever you go, Shigaraki... he'll sniff you out and hunt you down."

"They'll assume he's one of ours and fight him as well. He'll fight them back in an effort to get to Tomura. That'll help with two of our problems. And if Redestro was bluffing then he dies." You concluded.

"We're really doing this?" Himi looked to Tomura for confirmation.

"Yes."

~*~

Your hour was almost up. Checking the timer you set on your phone revealed that 50 minutes had passed.

"One last time," you breathed out, trying to calm your nerves by going over what you knew, "There are enough energy signatures down there to hint toward it being an actual city, but I don't see anyone on the streets from here. They're all hiding. They either know or are in on it."

"I don't know which would be worse," Dabi sighed. He'd joined up with your group after you called and told him to meet you at Aichi. He had been out that morning (probably with Hawks).

"One hour and forty minutes until our oversized friend awakens," Atsuhiro reported, "Making them clash with Machia will require that we fight as well. This will be no walk in the park."

No kidding. Your instincts were screaming at you to turn tail and run the other way. Something was waiting for you down there, something that made the Meta Liberation Army confident in your demise.

"Someone's coming!"

Whipping to face Himi's direction, you saw a figure in the distance fast approaching. Everyone either drew their weapons or activated their Quirks.

"Not another step! I was ordered to guide you into town!"

"A hero?" Shuichi questioned from behind you, "I don't recognize this one."

"If you want a face-to-face with the Liberation Army's Commander then you'd best follow me, okay?"

Without much of a choice, the group followed the unknown hero down into the city. Like you saw before, the streets were completely empty. Every street or so, there'd be someone watching from a rooftop or an alley. Everyone else was in their houses, waiting.

"I get it. This whole city?" Tomura asked what everyone had already figured out.

"This isn't my usual turf, but today's a big exception! Just as the man says! Here in Deika city, ninety percent of the population are Liberation warriors lying in wait. This is a Liberated district!" A man and a woman were at the end of the street waiting for your group. The unnamed hero sped off when they started speaking.

"Thank you for making the trip and welcome! This is a day of celebration, and you are the guests of honor. Shall we start the festivities?" Without warning, dozens of people emerged from the buildings around you and started their attack, "This is the Metahuman Liberation Army's revival celebration!"

Swearing under your breath, you were glad it was a sunny day. Good solar energy meant you'd last longer in a fight. Throwing out your hands, a wave of green energy pushed the enemy back forcefully.

"That's Hanabata of the Hearts and Mind Party! He easily has 80,000 followers!" Atsuhiro reported.

"Your broker? Waiting just over there for our Grand Commander," Hanabata pointed at a tall tower at the center of the city.

"Off to the tower then," Tomura hummed, moving along.

"There's no way we aren't going to get split up," you shouted over the crowd to anyone in the LOV that was close enough to hear, "Focus on surviving and getting to the tower!"

As soon as you mentioned being split up, the crowd got between the majority of you and sent you in different directions. You had already sent your orders out, you just hoped the league would be able to follow them.

Due to the sheer size of the crowd, you were already growing slightly tired. Using your Quirk had always been a one-on-one affair - and even if you were with a bigger group it was still limited to 10 people at most at a time.

"Shit," you swore, sliding under what must have been a light beam Quirk.

"Attention all! I have tragic news to report!" Hanabata drove by in an election van, "Ms. Curious has fallen in battle!"

The crowd cried in outrage. Who was facing Curious? Himiko, right? Curious seemed especially focused on her and made sure to push her away from the rest of the group.

"She gave her life to the Liberation cause! Our Grand Commander has said 'Do not let her sacrifice be in vain'."

After that statement, everyone that you were facing doubled their efforts. It was terrifying, and not something you were prepared for.

"I almost feel sorry for going against someone so young," someone said to your left.

"I know! She's a year younger than Toga," another person said to your right.

They were having a casual conversation about you during battle! For some reason, you were really offended about that.

Something hard and painful slammed into your back. Crying out in pain, your entire body flew forward. Tearing your pants and skinning your knees, your mask smacked against the concrete as well.

Dizzy and probably suffering from a concussion, you struggled to gather your bearings and push yourself to your feet.

"Well, look at this!" Hanabata's voice was just behind you. When did he get down from his campaign van? Was he off of his van or was your hearing off? "What a follower you could have been! You have such a big heart and such a good mind. Truly a tragedy."

The group murmured in agreement. All of the overlapping voices were disorienting, and you swallowed back bile when it all became too much. Gritting your teeth you poured your strength into your arms and pushed yourself to your feet, stumbling slightly before standing tall.

The crowd surged forward again when it became evident you could still fight. More hits landed on your this time, jostling you and banging the drums raging in your head.

Ow. Ow. Ow. It hurt. Everything hurt. More hits were coming than going. You had to do something-

You were on the ground again.

"Beneath us, like always." Bullies. You'd always hated them, thought about tearing them apart and making their pain last.

"She's always going to get pushed down. How can we change the entire system?" Parents. Doing their best but not doing enough. Trying to love you when everyone else said you weren't worthy of it.

"You just need to keep getting back up again! Don't give up, (Y/n). You start running and you'll never stop." Siblings. Old enough to understand, too young to truly disappoint you. You were closer to them than anyone else.

"You start running and you'll never stop."

"Keep getting back up again!"

"Get up, (Y/n)!"

"(Y/n), get up! Be strong!"

Eyes snapping open, your body worked against its pain and jerked up. Oh, you were unconscious. Not for long if your minimal new injuries were anything to go by.

"And she's back up again!" Hanabata was still narrating the fight. Didn't he have anything better to do? "You're one of those people who refuses to give up, and I admire that in my opponents."

Once again, the crowd surged toward you. You bent your knees and mustered up whatever energy you had left. You weren't going to die by their hand. There was too much to do, too much to say. You had to see Katsuki again. You had to say...

Katsuki, I have to tell you-

"I'm not going to die this way. And I'm not going to run!" Facing the closest enemy, you threw what should have been a relatively strong punch.

You always valued strength above anything else.

They flew across the road and through a building. There wasn't time to think about why. There wasn't time to think about anything except getting through the crowd and surviving.

But then you learned how to be weak.

Fighting was easier. Punches and kicks landed and sent people flying across the street. You weren't even using energy anymore, it was too much and you tired too quickly from it. Whatever this was, it was saving your life.

I was born weak. Now it looks like I'm strong.

"(Y/n)! (Y/n)!" A wave of Twice's sprinted down the street and surrounded you, assisting in taking out your enemies.

"I thought you didn't clone yourself?" You called out over the shouting of the dozens of Twice's.

"I'm over my trauma!"

"Yeah, trauma begone!"

"What's with those powerful punches?"

"I don't know!"

You had an idea, actually. Several Quirkologists theorized that in life-threatening and traumatic situations, an additional facet of your Quirk can appear that will increase your chances of survival. It's an immediate adaptation.

However, you technically didn't have a Quirk. Your body somewhat acknowledged your energy-based one, and you could use Quirks that you absorbed, but in the end, you were still quirkless. So in times of extreme danger, what would a quirkless body do to increase the chances of survival?

Activate dormant Quirk genes and give you a Quirk.

Your mother was a genius gifted with super intelligence, but your father had super strength. Your siblings got one of each. Now you were taking after your father too.

"A new development in the race!" Hanabata exclaimed when he finally picked up on your new ability.

Despite what you told people, becoming a walking bomb wasn't your biggest worry when it came to absorbing large amounts of energy. Your body was always taking in new energy and putting it into your muscles - that weren't meant for your Quirk - which created chronic pain that you'd learned to live with. Taking in a massive amount of energy could overwhelm your body and tear it apart long before you actually became a bomb. However, if you now had super strength, then your muscles would (theoretically) be ready for mass change.

"Sorry about your clones, Twice!" You called out, before sucking out every bit of available energy in the area.

Swinging your arms down, a wave of energy like nothing you'd ever created before emanated from your body. Windows shattered, walls cracked, and anyone within a half-mile radius would have been thrown to the ground. The closer to you, the more damage.

All of Twice's clones were destroyed from the damage. After checking a few pulses, you noted that everyone who was in the direct blast radius was still alive. They were probably just overwhelmed from the sudden lack and then overflow of energy.

"What a day," you looked down at your hand, clenching your fist, "So now I get a Quirk, huh? Well, screw you too, universe."

In the distance, the tower that Giran was being held in crumpled to dust. Tomura made it there then. Sighing, you started a slow jog in that direction. Anything else would be moving too quickly and jostling all the injuries you'd need to treat at some point.

No longer in battle, it was hard to ignore the ground shaking. Gigantomachia was on his way.

It took maybe a minute for you to be able to see Gigantomachia. He seemed furious and was much more powerful than he had been with the league. Eyes widening, you realized that up until this point he had just been playing with all of you.

"He's gonna kill him. He's gonna kill him. Tomura!" You picked up the pace, ignoring the persistent throbbing in your ankle that got more prevalent with every step. Huh, someone must have targeted it at some point.

"(Y/n)," someone grabbed your arm. Rearing back and ready to punch, you paused when you noticed it was just Dabi.

"I almost knocked you into next week," you sighed in relief when you saw Jin, Atsuhiro, and Himiko as well.

"With your weak ass punches?"

"I got a trauma Quirk- super strength. It's pretty cool," and terrifying and frustrating, but those were feelings that could be sorted later.

"What? You didn't have enough trauma with all the shit that led you here?"

You let out a sharp laugh, wincing soon after. Not smart, "How's everyone's injuries?"

"I'm fine," Dabi grunted, but you were walking next to him and the smell of burnt flesh was bothering you. Burn cream for him, then.

"Minor injuries for me," Atsuhiro reported.

"I had to give Toga a blood transfusion- ow! And my arms are broken. But my trauma is gone!"

The overwhelming silence of the city suddenly fell upon you. Your little group shared confused looks. Half of the city was leveled, but there were no longer the sounds of a battle. Even Gigantomachia had fallen silent.

"I think... I think we won."