Chapter 72: Lull

Summary: Some bits of calm before the storm hits...

Lemon Warning: This Chapter contains a lemon. It is clearly marked with -Lemon Starts Here- and -Lemon Ends Here- for those that wish to skip it.

Chapter 72: Lull

Izumi triple-checked the black-box HSN hardware, an upgrade of the version the Yaoyorozu Group made of for Aegis. Satisfied, she racked it into the server-stack and shimmied her way back out of the tight space of the server stacks. They were using a smaller run then ideal for all of this hardware, but it would be well hidden. And they'd installed extra cooling for the room to handle the heat.

As for the upgrade, it contained a hidden near-true-AI that would come as a nasty surprise for the numerous people and organization that routinely took runs at the HSN encryption. Previously, she, Momo, and 2B had been content to let them frustrate themselves by smashing their digital foreheads into a brick wall. Now, however, with the HSN being converted to include a unified information exchange, they'd decided that it was time to be a bit more proactive. The almost-AI would backtrack any attempt to breech the new system, hopefully finding hints regarding the locations of some of their more irritating enemies in the process. Finally wiggling fully out from the hidden server stacks, Izumi stepped out into the equally-hidden control room and nodded to the tech there.

"Alright. The upgrade should be good. Power it up and start a stress test. There shouldn't be any issues, but better to make sure before we take the HUB live."

The tech, one of several vetted by both Aegis and the Mighty Agency, was one of a very small group that had been assigned to the new Might Tower HSN High-Security Hub. The General Exchange HUB was already up and running at UA, with Izumi and Momo having both been able to access it more readily than Might Tower. Izumi's visit to said Tower today had needed careful concealment, to prevent any risk of questions about why she was there. Ryukyu, who was one of the first people they'd cleared to access the more heavily restricted Hub, was currently covering for her, pretending Izumi was undergoing training at her Work Study.

It was, perhaps, a bit paranoid. But everyone involved was done taking chances. Best to assume everyone really was out to get them, rather than hoping for the best. Particularly as both the League of Villains and Meta Liberation Army had been disturbingly quiet for the last two weeks. It had given the Heroes time to rush their plans into action…but that was what made it so disturbing. The MLA might be busy with the JSDF at the moment. But the League, at least, really should have followed up on the attack on Endeavor by now, and there was an ominous feeling of the other shoe waiting to drop as such a follow up failed to appear.

"Everything looks green, ma'am! Should I report the stress test results to you?"

Izumi shook her head.

"Not directly. Report them through the system and I'll end up seeing them. Keep an eye on the temperatures, in particular, as the test progresses. This was a bit of a rush installation and these servers pump out a lot of heat. We added enough cooling it should be fine. But the tight space here…"

The tech grimaced and nodded. While Might Tower had plenty of room, they'd decided to go whole hog on concealment and carved out a space that wouldn't show up on the building's plans. That meant the space was less than ideal for the servers, but that it was incredibly well concealed. The tech fully understood and quickly confirmed he'd keep an eye on it. With that reassurance, Izumi nodded and left. She'd done her part of this, and there was supposedly some all-hands training for the next several days at UA. Given the winding route she'd be taking to get back to their safehouse, it was best she get a move on now….

... ...

The next day, everyone from Heroics First Year Groups A and B found themselves all grouped together for their Heroics Practicals session. They were once again in front of one of the larger cityscape training areas, with the intermixed classes milling around a staging area much like the one used for their final exams. Midnight, Vlad King, and All Might were all present, and as the last students arrived, All Might quickly spoke up about the reason they were all here.

"Good afternoon, students! Today is a lesson in Joint Training. Normally, this is a chance for the classes to clash in teams against new opponents! However, circumstances prior to today have ruined UA's usual practices. All of you have somewhat more interaction with each other than is normal. For better or worse, none of you really need the shock to your system provided by mixing it up with new opponents, either. Due to events like the campus invasion, you've already gotten a broad set of examples about differing opponents. And the beginnings of our Anti-Swarm training has had you working together in mixed groups. As such, we've decided to jump two steps ahead and focus on the other aspect Joint Training is suppose to help you with. Vlad, if you would?"

Vlad King stepped forward with a slightly unhappy look that he quickly wiped off his face as he spoke up.

"In addition to giving you new opponents, the normal Joint Training we would do during this part of the year is also intended to ease you into working with larger teams. As All Might said, we effectively started that bit early with the anti-swarm tactics. However, in light of the sheer scale of the attacks that have happened this year, we are jumping you forward to something normally covered in disaster relief courses. Specifically, in second year, you're normally taught how to manage large scale disasters. Ones in which not a handful of heroes, but dozens of heroes, can be involved as a first responder wave. We are repurposing that training not for disaster relief, but in the event you all are forced to face a large scale, city-wide event that requires a multi-agency, coordinated response."

Vlad King stepped back, with Midnight swaying forward. She seemed more at ease with the situation, though the Group A students could see a degree of tension in her posture as well. She clicked her fingers and holoprojectors flared to life, displaying groups of names. There were ten groups, but the numbers of people in each were not even. Indeed, Momo was listed with only one other person, Izumi was listed solo, and the largest group had a total of eight students.

"In light of this, we have divided you into multiple 'agencies!' These divisions are meant to accurately represent common agency sizes, based on the strength ratings of the heroes within the agency. For example, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya represent agencies that operate solo, with a single high-powered hero and minimal or no sidekicks. Other groups are made up of those of you who are mostly intending to be rescue specialists, which often operate in larger groups but typically lack combat powerhouses. Still others are intended to reflect the typical everyhero agency, which hovers between the two extremes. Today, you'll work with only your 'agencies' to set up individual plans for efforts against a large-scale attack. Tomorrow, you'll be thrown into a mock attack and see the results."

There were groans across the group as most of those present could already see what would happen. Without central coordination, those plans would conflict with each other and possibly cause more harm than good.

"The two days after that, before you're allowed to return to your work studies and regular courses, will be used to allow you to rework your plans. You'll be allowed to coordinate and combine your agencies under an umbrella plan, with a command and control team you'll have to pick yourselves. Day three will be for planning, and day four for another mock attack. Now! Split up into your groups! As you were informed, you'll all be staying in special accommodation tonight, in order to prevent attempts to organize beyond your allowed groups."

There were complaints and murmurs of protest, but everyone quickly found their groups and split off…

... ...

Izumi was cheating like a bitch and completely unrepentant about that fact. Knowing the disaster that today was going to be, she and 2B had initiated a plan for 2B to cover her assigned area alone. This was achieved through spending all of their prep day reworking the systems of her Combat Flight Unit, the initial design that had been upscaled for their Space Flight Suit. Originally, the CFU had been an answer to the issue of combat endurance in a Flight Unit. Just large enough that it could house a smaller pair of the QE storage batteries that the SFS had used to create the power and endurance needed to drag a capsule into orbit and back down again. Unlike the SFS, the CFU wasn't a full blown mecha. It was far closer in size to an original YoRHa Flight Unit, only very mildly bulked up by the need to include the QE conversion and storage batteries to power the CFU itself, without demanding additional power from Izumi's reserves.

Yesterday, they had spent basically their entire prep time frantically re-working the CFU so that it could act not as a Flight Unit…but as a Pod. One which 2B could pilot with a summoned copy of her teenage iteration. That copy of her copy could, at least in theory, be powered by the CFU itself after Izumi initialized the process. Needing to sustain the copy of 2B, even the lesser teenage-civilian copy of her, would half the CFU's flight time. But, for roughly 25 minutes, 2B could rain hell on anything that entered the patrol area Izumi had technically been assigned to cover. Which was, in fact, exactly what she was doing right now, against waves of drones. Thankfully, the whole powering-2B-via-battery had proven it actually worked. Though it was a jury-rig, at best.

Meanwhile, Izumi herself was in her Striker Mode, frantically zooming from disaster to disaster. They'd known today would be a clusterfuck. So 2B and she had simply decided not to plan. Instead, they'd used 2B to cover Izumi's place, and had Izumi go high and observe for breeches in everyone else's plans. It had kept the entire clusterfuck from becoming a total disaster as Izumi dashed from one frantic firefight to another, so far. As she sliced and diced her way through yet another such firefight, relieving a beleaguered team that was already down half its members…Izumi knew they were still destined to fail. After all, both she and 2B were running out of power, and Momo's attempt to replicate their method had failed quickly as the heavy forces poured against her area couldn't be held back by her own 'sidekick,' Sero in this case, for very long…

Fifteen minutes later, a nearly-depowered Izumi watched helplessly as the last of the objectives there were supposed to protect was captured. They'd almost made it to the time limit that was supposed to represent reinforcements, but only almost. Only Momo had still been in fighting condition at the end of it, and she simply hadn't been able to cover every angle. Izumi sighed and hoped that the next two days would go better…

... ...

"Resolution, vector 57 degrees north. There's a containment breech forming at the center of Endeavor Ave and Garbage Street. Plamo's blockade is coming apart. Gevanudan and Twinkletoes won't be able to hold it much longer."

Izumi quickly acknowledged Hydra's report, shifting her flight path to intersect the correct street junction. Setsuna's incredible ability to multitask, something baked into her brain by the nature of her Quirk, had made her one of their two command and control choices. The other, Shoji, had a similar Quirk-Based multi-tasking boost. The fact that both of them also had scouting abilities that didn't require being on the front line to use had only made the choices easier. Setsuna, in particular, was making extremely good use of the short-ranged HSN repeater cameras Izumi had come up with just for her. The tiny cameras didn't have a full Scouter, as that would be something of a security risk. But they could pair back to Setsuna's actual Scouter at a range of up to 3km. Meaning she could turn all of her split body parts into additional mobile eyes and ears throughout a broad territory.

Izumi quickly reached the intersection Hydra had directed her too, frowning as she saw how bad it was. Kodi and Bondo had built this particular hard point, making it one of the more effective ones across the fake city, but it was also at a critical choke point. Which meant it had taken a pounding from the start. A pounding only made worse when Setsuna had needed to pull Bakugo away to contain a breech through an unknown alleyway Izumi was almost certain hadn't been on the city plans. Nedzu throwing kinks into the works, most likely.

The firepower of her CFU easily let Izumi hose down the drones and bots that were assaulting the fortification and overwhelming Shishida and Aoyama. But it was a temporary solution. Eyeing another wave that was building up, Izumi keyed her comm back to Command and Control.

"Resolution here. Intersection is temporarily clear, but I don't think we can hold it. Recommend we pull back and trigger the controlled demo."

There was a moment of hesitation, before Setsuna's voice came back over the line.

"Agreed. Let's just hope it works. The right flank is being hit too hard to pull Nitro back. And they are going to need you soon, SonicWave and Keystone are both tied up. You'll need to hold the position until someone can get free."

Izumi nodded, even as she signaled through the HSN channel dedicated to the exercise, pulling Shishida and Aoyama back and starting the timers on the detonators that would bring down a building whose fall would block off the street. It was a drastic measure, but it should seal this avenue of attack off from anything but fliers. And Izumi could handle the relatively small number of fliers each wave came with on her own. She had to unleash a few bursts of hardlight gatling gun fire from her CFU to push back the drones as the other two pulled back. But then she was flying up, getting clear as the detpacks, carefully placed based on their recent lessons from Thirteen, took out critical supports of the three-story building on the nearside of the intersection.

It took long seconds for the building to fall, and longer still for the dust to settle. Thankfully, when the view cleared it showed they'd gotten it right. Poor Cementoss was going to hate them for wrecking more buildings, but this path forward was closed, at least on land. Izumi stuck around for a few more minutes, clearing the skies repeatedly, before Chargebolt appeared to replace her. She tapped her comms as she pulled back and left him to it.

"I'm free again, Command. Where do you need me?"

Izumi listened to Setsuna giving a new set of directions, even as she checked her fuel levels. Plenty of combat endurance left for the remaining half hour they were supposed to last. Finally, she'd at least partially cracked her stamina issue! At least when she was somewhere she could use a Flight Unit! Pleased with that bit of progress, Izumi checked on the overall battle situation as she moved to her next target. So far, so good…and certainly much better than the first time!

... ...

Unlike most of their classmates, Momo and Izumi didn't really suffer from physical exhaustion. Just like All Might, who at his prime could go a week straight powered by One for All, Momo had found her own physical stamina ludicrously boosted by the addition of selfsame Quirk. Izumi, meanwhile, had needed progressively less sleep the older she got and the farther her physical mutations advanced. By now, she only really needed sleep as a mental reset switch, with absorption of QE and the moderate regeneration her Quirk granted her filling in the rest. A few hours a night was more than enough to keep her healthy, and Momo had now joined her in that same situation. Though it had taken Momo months to adjust to the change, something not aided by the fact that it was a change that was still ongoing as she continued to master One for All more completely.

This, first for Izumi and then for Momo, had been one of the keys behind their success for years. They could afford to do things like tinker with support gear, develop the HSN, and run a business, all without taking away from their Hero Training, because they simply had more hours in the day than normal people. Something which was even more true for 2B, who flat out didn't need sleep at all, even as a mental reset. For long years it had been almost entirely Izumi and 2B that had the advantage, and they'd gotten a fantastic amount done with the extra time.

Now that Momo had joined the group of we-only-need-three-hours-of-sleep-a-night, productivity had gone up, but only marginally. The reason for the mere marginal increase instead of an explosive boost could be reasoned out by anyone who rubbed a few braincells together…or peeked in on Izumi and Momo on any given night they were together. Their first free night in the same accommodations again after four days of forced separation during the latest training was certainly no exception. Far from it, as they hadn't actually been together for over a week due to that training and Work Studies combined. Now that they were, they had other things on their mind than inventing cool new ways to explode people…

-Lemon Starts Here-

Izumi kissed and nibbled her way up her girlfriend's helpless body, enjoying Momo's squirms and moans. This time, the helplessness was more honest than most, Momo having blushingly surprised Izumi weeks ago with a set of hyper-density restraints that she would struggle to break out of even with One for All. Izumi had giggled at the adorable blush…but understood her girlfriend's intent. It had become increasingly clear to both of them, as they explored their sexuality, that the ravenette thoroughly enjoyed the idea of being helpless to resist Izumi's not-so-nefarious whims. Being too easily able to escape after have receiving All Might's Quirk had spoiled the excitement a bit for Momo, leading to the new restraints. Restraints complete with a bedframe that Momo had reinforced and added attachment points to. She could almost certainly still escape, but it would be a serious effort, and that was good enough to restore the excitement for Izumi's lover.

Tonight was one of the first times they'd actually gotten to use the new restraints, Izumi slowly peeling Momo out of her clothes after they'd had dinner and wound-down from their successes in training. Their makeout session had turned intense quickly, and Momo's response to being scooped up and bodily thrown onto their safehouse's bed had been eager-eyed enthusiasm. She's shuddered with each cuffs Izumi had sealed around her wrists and ankles and squirmed as Izumi hooked those cuffs to the attachment points that left Momo spreadeagle on their bed, utterly exposed and thoroughly helpless.

Just to amplify that feeling farther, Izumi had blindfolded her lover, denying her any chance of seeing what Izumi was up to. Now, after kissing and nibbling her way up and down Momo's body, teasing her by staying away from her most sensitive spots, Izumi pulled away. The whimper as her love felt Izumi's body heat vanish was adorable and oh-so tempting, but Izumi held strong. She had a few surprises of her own to add to the picture and needed to retrieve them from the closet where they'd been carefully hidden. She was quick and quiet at doing so, grabbing the selection of toys she'd managed to acquire through the beauty and glory of the internet added to an anonymous package drop box a few stations over.

The first toy wasn't anything particularly new. A powerful 'wand' style vibrator, the only thing different about it from a similar design already in their small-but-growing toy collection was its size. Most toys of its nature tended to be big, bulky things. Brute force in the best way possible. This one was smaller and its handle was flatter. Contoured, as it happened, to rest well against someone's abs. Momo being the someone, in this case.

Grinning, Izumi couldn't resist the temptation to tickle her girlfriend lightly for a moment, enjoying her helpless trashing. She only kept it up for a few seconds before letting up, focusing instead on threading the thick band that went with this particular toy under Momo's torso. It looped around to meet just below her navel…where Izumi unceremoniously used it to secure the 'wand' toy. The result revealed the toy's nefarious purpose, as the smaller-than-usual head for this type of toy just-so-happened to nestle itself right at the apex of Momo's spread legs, held firmly against her clit by the strap tying it to her body. Momo gasped at the sudden contact with her clit, then wiggled, seemingly trying to figure out just what was touching her by feel. Izumi didn't give her time to process that it was something new, channeling just a tiny bit of Midnight's naughty glee into her smirk as she turned the toy on low.

Momo reaction was immediate and dramatic. She squeaked, gasped, moaned, and bucked against the restraints almost instantly. The toy, even on low, was powerful, and pressed directly up against her magic button. Worked up as she'd already been, it wasn't quite too much, too fast, but it was certainly pushing the boundary of being so. Particularly as there was no escape. The strap and restraints meant that, no matter how she bucked or writhed, Momo couldn't escape that intense stimulation. Izumi watched in delight, enjoying the way the ravenette's confused body seemed to flail between trying to get more and trying instinctively to escape the continuing intensity. As much as she was enraptured by the sight, however, she still had another toy to use and tore her eyes away from Momo's heaving breasts with a supreme effort of will.

The second toy was as much for Izumi as for Momo. More, in a way, really, given that Momo would cum repeatedly just from that wand even if Izumi did nothing else. The purple strapon that Izumi had already practiced putting on was an entirely different animal from the simplistic ones they'd played with before. This model was far more hi-tech than those early experiments, and Izumi shuddered, biting her lip against a low moan as the knobbly, textured, shorter end pressed into her own drooling sex. The texturing alone was something new and exciting, but it wasn't the primary draw of this toy. Whoever had designed the thing had gone all out, building in not just a vibrator, but a gyroscopic sensor and some sort of electrically-activated polymer that expanded slightly under the right current.

Securing the toy, Izumi activated its basic features and gave an experimental hip thrust to check it was working. She gasped, eyes screwing shut just as they had when she'd tested it before, as the toy both vibrated and expanded. It wasn't quite a perfect analog for thrusting, but it came close, and the gyroscope would signal both the 'thrust' and 'vibrate' functions to perfectly sync with her thrusts. The harder she fucked Momo, the harder the strapon would fuck her back. Grinning, Izumi returned to the bed, giving little gasps as the seven-inch-cock that was the outer portion of the toy jostled and jiggled, triggered an series of minor stimulations.

Capturing Momo's hips and forcing her thrashing to still, Izumi's slightly-evil smirk returned as she lined up the toy and thrust, hard. Momo came for the first time before Izumi even bottomed out. But the only response Izumi gave as her girlfriend howled through that first climax was to reach down and flick the wand to a higher setting. It had been a truly wonderful day when she'd first discovered Momo was truly multi-orgasmic, her body being fully able to ride nearly back-to-back orgasms if she was pushed hard enough. It did pair so nicely with all the fun things she could do with her lover's love of being tied up, after all! Grinning as Momo bucked so hard she nearly threw Izumi off, Izumi showed no mercy as she brought her weight to bare and roughly began to thrust…

-Lemon Ends Here-

... ...

Deep in the night, there was a muffled struggle as malformed creatures, looking something like lizards standing on two legs, dragged the homeless man into the abandoned warehouse. A much larger lizard-thing, less deformed and radiating authority, hissed in satisfaction as the struggling man was pulled onto an altar before a growing and entirely-to-stable-looking portal. A knife came down, blood gushed, the portal shivered and grew. The man, already bleeding out, slowly desiccated, then began turning white with more than just blood loss.

A pile of salt was swept off the altar a few minutes later, and yet another hunting party was sent out for a new victim. There was an awful lot of salt strewn all over the floor around the altar…