Requiem of Revolution

Chapter 5: Within Darkness

Nezu was at his desk, typing away on his computer. His work never seemed to end, he had to manage the school, work with various government officials regularly, coordinate with the H.A., and had recently started on mass renovations and improvements to the school. The war and Zeus's attack had called to mind the age before All Might, where AFO ruled from the shadows unchecked. So he had poured a considerable amount of his wealth into improving the school's facilities and its security.

Nezu had thought himself prepared, but he had vastly overestimated himself and underestimated his foes. He was going to be making some serious changes going forward, he was determined to make the school one of the safest places on earth. Where the best and brightest of the next generation could come to learn and become the best they could be. It would also help repair the damage the school's reputation had undergone. After everything that had happened, U.A. was not the bastion of education and safety as many had thought during the age of All Might. Granted, no place was seen as truly safe nowadays, but he intended to change that when it came to U.A.

He was wrapping up a work order for landscaping services when his phone rang. He glanced at the phone, then did a double take as he saw it was Tokoyami calling. Frowning, he picked up the phone and answered it.

"Good evening," he answered.

"Good evening sir, I hope I've not caught you at a bad time," Tokoyami said.

"Not at all, I always have time for my students, both past and present," Nezu said.

"Thank you, sir, though I'm afraid my reason for calling is not benign," Tokoyami said grimly.

There was a slight pause as Nezu took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever crisis was upcoming.

"I see. Tell me everything, I will do what I can to help." He said.

"Are you aware of my most recent assignment?" Tokoyami asked.

"I am not."

"My most recent assignment was to investigate the recent disappearances of several hikers and search and rescue personnel on Mt. Takatsuma. They were tracked to a cave believed to have been revealed several months ago due to a landslide. A cursory search didn't reveal much, so I was brought in due to my quirks affinity for darkness. It was believed that a plant or animal with a quirk may have been involved, and with no idea as to its strength, they decided to play it safe."

"I brought a squad of QSU with me as support, and we began to explore the cave system. It ran far deeper than we initially suspected and eventually strange growth was observed on the walls as we got deeper. Eventually, we came to a large open chamber that was connected to the region's groundwater. We found the missing people but they had been placed into pods, being used as food for a large chrysalis hanging from the ceiling. We opened one of the pods and found the corpse of one of the search personnel, thoroughly desiccated." Tokoyami said before suddenly falling silent.

"Is everything all right?" Nezu asked after a few awkward seconds.

"I- Yes sir, just a thought came to me. You're aware of the incident at Zeus's old stronghold yes?" Tokoyami suddenly asked.

"Yes, of course, we have yet to track the hound down..." Nezu said trailing off as the same thought came to him.

"The incident is worse than you are imagining," Tokoyami said.

"The hound that escaped... I don't think it was a normal hound. Before the chrysalis broke open, we encountered a creature that seemed to have been corrupted, mutated, and acting as a proxy for the being within the chrysalis. We killed the creature and that acted as the impetus for the chrysalis to open. However... when it was broken open, it was not a hound we were greeted with but Hound Zero itself. Aria Lin is alive sir." Tokoyami said.