Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 53 - Unexpected Raid

Everything escalated way faster than Izuku would've liked, because his friends just had to track him to Jikan's base. Izuku knew they didn't fully trust his judgment right now, not after Kacchan told them about how he spiraled during his time in their headquarters. So they'd taken it upon themselves to intervene as soon as possible, having Kacchan track him down with their weird quirk link as they surrounded and attacked the building as an illegal raid party. God, Shouta was going to be furious with them after this...

"Ikyu! In here! Quickly!" Kohaku yelled, pulling him into one of the storage rooms within the facility. She locked the door with the multiple mechanisms that were installed, a bit of an overkill if Izuku didn't know they had a past of being attacked over and over again. "Damnit! How the hell did they find this place so quickly?!"

"Who- Who are they?" Izuku asked, still a bit shaken up from the sudden alarm and panicked evacuation that was going on. Something crashed and exploded somewhere in the facility, yells and screams echoing through the halls as they ran to safety. He could sense Kacchan, though, so he knew who they were. Knew it was the Alliance attacking and not some other villain group or gang that wanted to claim this territory for their own. It was a small comfort amid all the chaos. "What do they want? Why are they attacking us?"

"They're people who wish to stop us," Kohaku sighed, pushing Izuku further into the room, between the racks of devices and spare parts. As if that would keep them hidden enough not to be found. No, if Izuku was their goal, Kacchan would be here within seconds. "They don't want to see All Might standing tall. Instead, they wish to see him fall so they can take the spotlight. They think they're better than All Might! Can you believe that?!"

Izuku wanted to argue, wanted to tell her she had it all wrong. They weren't doing this because they thought they could do a better job- I mean, All Might is All Might for crying out loud! No one is a better hero than him! But he deserved his rest. He deserved to retire peacefully after all the years he put his life at risk for the people. He deserved to lay back without worry, knowing the next generation of heroes had it handled. Because even All Might was human, not some immortal god. Not now, at least. Not now that Jikan hadn't succeeded yet. They won't. Ever. Izuku needed to make sure of that.

"All Might is the best," Izuku confirmed, keeping his eyes on the door as they reached the back of the room, hiding away between the racks and boxes. He watched Kohaku type away at a small phone-like machine. A bit like a walkie talkie, but with a lot more buttons. She was probably messaging the crew that stood guard over the rewind machine. They were gonna fire it up, weren't they? They always used the time machine as a means to escape whenever things got dire.

"Come on, we need to move."

"But we're safe here," Izuku said, wanting to stall as long as possible.

"Not for long, come on," Kohaku said as she pulled him along once more, glancing down at the communication thingy more than once on their way there, cursing under her breath as words popped up on the screen. "Where the hell is he..?"

"Did you expect them to come?" Izuku asked, yelping as he stumbled and fell against a wall when Kohaku pushed him aside. They just dodged flying debris, probably caused by the fight not even two meters ahead, and quickly turned to take another route. It happened too fast for Izuku to make out who was who in the blur of limbs and quirks. "Are we looking for someone?"

"No one that concerns you," Kohaku stated rather harshly, before taking a deep breath. She probably realized her tone wasn't helping anyone. That, and that keeping answers away from him was no use at this point, not with how involved he already was. "Their leader. He hasn't been sighted yet. He could be a problem, but we don't know yet."