Chapter 3:
Izuku gasped for breath as he settled back onto his perch, his feet barely having room along one of the boarded up windows of an abandoned shop. Thankful the group was still where he had left them. The vigilante had been tracking these men since catching wind of their intent to test out one of the illegal drugs from an underground organization. Unfortunately, it seemed they had finally secured a time to make the transaction; weeks ahead of what he thought they were aiming for.
To be very honest, Izuku was panicking. There was so much riding on this meeting. He had spent months of his time trying to track down- more like hunt- this organization responsible for hoarding the quirk enhancers from the Hero War from a decade ago. This was the first real lead he had gotten. All the others had been dead ends, just petty criminals who got lucky enough to obtain a syringe but with no solid information about the upline.
This group of men, however, were promising; though exhausting. At first, they seemed to only be the bronze type rather than brains. Izuku expected a well placed tracking device would be enough to do most of the work for him- but quickly he realized how smart these ‘idiots’ were. They were quick to trade out cars, probably more out of paranoia rather than actual suspicion, but that had resulted in Izuku tracking them by foot most of the time. It was an absolute nightmare, trying to keep track of their ever changing schedules and multiple locations while also patrolling and doing his regular scoutings was a bit much to handle.
All of this work and energy and Izuku had almost fucked it all up at the last minute.
He was grateful for the sudden hunch he had gotten when he saw one of their newly bought- very expensive- cars parked in the shopping district during the vigilante's lunch time. It was out of the norm to see them in such a high traffic area, and thus led Izuku to investigate.
After he had gotten one glimpse of the briefcase on the table, he quickly collected the photo evidence needed and sprinted to the Dynamite Agency. That case was all the confirmation he needed to know that the drug deal was happening. Everything he had been working towards was about to come to fruition and he wasn’t prepared in the slightest for it like he should have.
Izuku couldn’t believe how close he was to fucking this entire thing up. He just hoped that the group of heroes he called upon would get to this district before something bad happened.
The villains had chosen the attic of an old bakery located in the shopping district just outside the center of the city. The streets were bustling with people as they happily walked down the sidewalks; enjoying their weekend with no clue of what was happening right next to them.
Green eyes focused on his glasses, the lens’ playing the live feed from a tiny Bluetooth camera he had set up against the corner of the window that looked into the attic space. The 3 men were still sitting around the small table, enjoying some drinks as they chatted ideally. Their bellowing laughs were easily heard through the cracked window, their voices indicating just how tipsy they had gotten off the wine in the half hour the vigilante had been away.
The man that he had seen before, presumably the previous owner of the briefcase, was no longer there. No doubt having left once the exchange was made. Izuku cursed under his breath at that. He had planned to track the dealer back to the organization’s headquarters once he got the evidence to Dynamite, but it looked like he would have to beat that information out of these men. It wasn’t something he normally did, it would draw far more attention to him; but he couldn’t let his hard work be in vain. So he would have to tie them up for the heroes to find once he was done with them.
Before Izuku could collect himself, one of the men inside the room reached toward the open case. The vigilante watched as the man picked up one of the syringes, twisting it to take a closer look; the red liquid glinted in the dimmed lighting as if to taunt the vigilante. The second man was close beside him, taking off his jacket as his villain partner took the cap off the large needle. They laughed at a joke the third had said as the man aimed the syringe, not even preparing the area.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Izuku cursed as he watched the needle. He punched the window, causing a hole the size of his fist to form. He hoped the action would distract the man with the syringe, desperate to stop what was about to happen.
His actions were too late though as the needle was stabbed into the guy’s arm, the red liquid disappearing quickly until completely gone. The third man looked over at Izuku with a surprised face, his eyes wide as he quickly stood from his chair and lifted his hand. There was nothing Izuku could do but back away from the window as water sprayed from the guy’s hands like a fire hydrant.
The pressure broke the rest of the window, glass falling down to the dirty alley below as Izuku clung to the exposed brick. Green eyes looked up to the sky, ears focused beyond the building in hopes that he would hear explosions over the rush of water.
“Common, Kacchan!” He panicked, his mind racing as he looked out toward the busy streets. He waited till the water slowed, bowing lower until the spray retreated back into the attic. He waited, hoping to hear footsteps but there was nothing. It was quiet inside, the silence far more terrifying.
“I can’t wait for them! I have to get people out of here.” Izuku muttered to himself, swinging his body back over to prepare for a leap.
As Izuku moved to peer into the window, hoping that he would be able to pass by without getting hit by a quirk; he caught a glimpse of the man who had been injected. His two buddies were beside him, concerned expressions on their faces as they tried to help their companion to stand up.
Izuku’s blood ran cold as he watched the man’s fingers morph into long claws while the man hunched further into himself as his frame grew larger and larger with every ragged breath he took. His companions stumbled back in shock, moving away from to the far wall as they watched with bewildered expressions.
Within seconds the villain was touching the ceiling of the attic, his shoulders shaking as he continued to expand. Fangs pushed past his tight lips, a groan of pain escaping the guy as squeezed his eyes shut. The back of his neck pushed against the cracking plaster of the ceiling, flexing upward to make more room for the man’s new form.
Within a single blink, the once man roared; thick veins forming on his neck and face before the villain sprinted toward the window that looked out over the busy street below. His massive form broke the glass with ease, crushing the wall as he rammed through and fell down to the street below.
Screams echoed as a part of the building crumbled right after. The beast landed heavily on the sidewalk, causing large cracks to splinter into the street. A clawed hand swiped behind the beast, destroying the large storefront window.
Izuku leaped from his spot, his quirk lighting up around him as he entered the city street. With a sure footed leap he sailed through the air towards the beast, activating One For All as he connected a heavy kick to the side of the man’s face. It sent the beast flying into a building across the street.
The sounds of panic escalated the already chaotic street as people ran in random directions. Some screamed out for one another while others pushed and ran into people in their haste to flee the area. It was madness as the large form rolled in the rubble of the building, roaring so loud that it hurt Izuku’s ears.
Izuku’s throat strained as he yelled for people to run and evacuate to safety, Blackwipe flying from his hands and grabbing a few civilians too close to the crumbling buildings and moving them as far away as possible. Izuku ran toward a couple, their stroller stuck in a large crack that expanded across the walkway. They were trying to remove their crying baby, both of them terrified as they kept looking around for danger.
Izuku leaped to their side, hand enclosing around the plastic buckle and snapping it with ease. The woman cried out a thank you before her partner was dragging her away with the baby tucked close to their chest.
A heavy thump drew the vigilante's attention back to the beast who was suddenly right next to him, a large clawed hand smacking into his abdomen with far too much force. The sound of his back breaking through a brick wall rattled through his brain as pain shocked up his spine. Izuku groaned as he blinked open his eyes, dust shrouding his vision as he tried to reorient himself. The pain along his spine increased as he tried to sit up, his body habitually rolling to the side and ignoring the rubble in favor of the burning fire that was encapsulating his stomach.
With a few more blinks, Izuku was able to look around. The rubble next to where he lay was splotched in red, the dirt below him seeping into a darker shade that matched the splatter. Izuku wheezed out a shaky breath, trying to clear the dust from his lungs as he hand grabbed his stomach. His sweatshirt had a large hole through it, the edges already soaked through from a large gash that split open underneath.
Izuku closed his eyes, demanding his body to ignore the injury as he got up to his knees. The vibrations that shocked through the ground were getting heavier, closer, no doubt the beast coming to investigate what happened to him.
Izuku tried to stumble to his feet despite the pounding in his head. He needed to get the beast contained until Dynamite was able to take over. The thing was far too dangerous to allow it to roam toward any fleeing civilians. Izuku needed to distract the beast from its destructive path, just until someone could take over.
“Look, it’s the heroes!” “We’re saved!”
Multiple people began to cheer and point up to a rooftop, smiles large on their dirt covered faces as they celebrated. The beast turned away from the crumbling hole where Izuku was trying to recover, dark eyes no longer staring down the vigilante but rather curious about the new ruckus being made.
Izuku sighed a relieved breath, thankful that someone had finally shown up to help.
“It’s Dynamite!!”
Izuku froze at the cheer that echoed from another person. The joy that the civilian expressed was not reflected by Izuku. His predicament suddenly became less than ideal as he realized what heroes had entered the scene.
“Damn it! Now he shows up!” Izuku rasped under his breath, his knees wobbling before collapsing under his weight. “I have to get out of here.”
With a shaken hand, Izuku pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and crawled through the rubble and out of the entrance he had made in the shop. The vigilante could barely stand, his shoulder leaning against part of the building as a gush of blood splattered to the ground.
Izuku was far weaker than he should be, his head felt dizzy as he looked around for his best route of escape. People were beginning to surround the area, excited to watch the pros fight. Their gathering bodies left little room for Izuku to try an escape through the streets with his wounds. It wouldn’t be ideal if he passed out within a crowd since his DNA was locked down in every hospital system that Yagi could get his hands on.
Just the thought that the horde of people could bump into him had Izuku cringing in pain. He would have to go by rooftop- even if he was more likely to get spotted- it was a better option than him getting lost in the maze of alleys. He would just have to hope that the blonde super hero was too busy to notice him.
The vigilante took a large breath, begging for it to settle his spinning head as he activated One For All. He didn’t have enough energy to launch himself as far up as he needed, so activated Float halfway up to take him the rest of the way. Each movement he made had his body curling into itself in pain, his arm wrapped tightly around his stomach as he tried to keep pressure on the wound.
It was getting harder for him to catch his breath, the sting it left in his throat overbearing. It was all suddenly harder for him, his vision dancing around despite how hard he tried to keep the next rooftop in his line of sight. With a shake of his head, he pushed the pain assigned and used black whip to yank himself forward and run away from the scene below.
______————_________————_________———-
Katsuki could see a cloud of dust and smoke just ahead of him and he used his explosions to sail over rooftops. His team had raced toward the area as soon as they knew where to go. Though the sounds of screams were already loud enough to have alerted them at some point.
The blonde was angry as he stumbled to the edge of the last rooftop, they were late. He had known from one single glance at the deciphered note that they were in for a fight, but to also be fifteen minutes passed the requested rondevu time left him in a bad mood.
Mina had struggled to decipher the message alongside the other heroes. The seemingly different structure of the coding with the addition of crappy handwriting had the group confused as to what was written. After thirty minutes the alien queen finally figured it out. It hadn’t been written in code, but was rather in plain English - though the spelling was atrocious.
Three men meeting a drug dealer
syringes enhance quirks
attack today, two pm
Japan, Musutafu, Esuha city.
Shopping district, five streets east of city center.
-M
Usually M included more details in his notes. The lack of information of the villains’ quirks and a precise location had Katsuki on edge. It was barely anything to go off of, nothing to help his team prepare; but they couldn’t ignore it even if they were going in blind.
From the directions given, it was obvious that they would be focusing on containment and public safety rather than a full fledged fight. This wasn’t an area that they could go all out in or hope that no one was around to get injured. This was the middle of the day on the weekend, people were bound to be drawn to the shopping district to spend their free time.
Katsuki stopped at the roof line just above the scene, his eyes finding the issue quickly. There was a larger creature standing in the streets below with tons of rubble surrounding it. The thing had to be between thirty to forty feet tall, its muscle mass thick as it stared up at them with a pinpoint glare. There was little resemblance to a man with the way it had fangs and claws extruding from it; blood dripping from one of its hands as it growled up at his team.
“Tentacle.” Katsuki yelled, his team turning their attention in his direction. “Your team will be on evacuation. Riot, your team is on the ground. Keep that thing away from civilians! Cellophane, make sure those buildings don’t collapse any further; then help Riot. Charge Bolt, your team takes a higher assault. Take this thing down with minimal damage. Lizard and Invisible Girl, find that case! ”
His team shouted their agreement, the group of 17 splitting off in different directions. Riot’s team jumped off of the rooftop, not caring about the three story height as they used their quirks to land directly in front of the villian.
Katsuki kept his position, scanning the area to make sure he hadn’t missed anything important. There was a lot of movement down below; between the civilians beginning to gather around to watch, the rubble still falling from the destroyed sections of the store fronts, and his team moving around the villain in quick movements; it would be easy to miss something. He had to be sure to account for everything in order to keep his team safe.
Red eyes settled on the beast below, tracking its movements and looking for a weakness. But a flicker of green caught his attention. It took less than a second before it disappeared, the blonde leaning forward as he tried to find the light again between the moving bodies of his team.
Then it was there just out of his peripheral, on the rooftop across from the hero before disappearing again. Though, this time a figure stood in its place. They hunched over on the dilapidated building, a breeze moving a black clock aside to show jeans and red shoes. Katsuki’s eyes narrowed in on the detail as he compared them to M’s updated identification.
Katsuki’s eyes widened as he watched what seemed like webs fly out of the figure. Within a heartbeat the man was moving away from him to the other rooftop. It took the blonde a moment to move, his heart stiff in his chest as he remembered someone else who had a quirk just like that.
The hero looked back down at his team, mind racing to figure out what to do. His team seemed to be handling the beast fine without him, the villain making swipes at Riot but missing or getting hit with acid from Pinky before a hit could be made. Chargebolt was hanging off a light pole, releasing persistent shots at the villain to get it disoriented while another hero threw metal spikes from her perch on another building. Each spike impeded into the beast allowing the electric hero to target them.
“Stop it!” Katsuki grumbled to himself, his eyes now looking back at the retreating figure. He took a step off the building and launched himself forward with his quirk. “Deku is dead!” He practically yelled to himself. His heart was beating furiously in his chest as he began a chase.
He had every reason to chase down this person. Just by them fleeing the scene of an attack while others were swarming to watch was enough on its own. Katsuki didn’t know if this was one of the villians in the photo or if it was M, but he had a hunch that it would be M. He just needed to apprehend the person to make sure of it.
“I found M, I am in pursuit now. Red Riot is in command.” The blonde said into his earpiece.
“Yes, boss.” Replied the out of breath voice of Kirishima. Katsuki nodded, putting complete trust in his partner to ensure the safety of his team.
He sprinted across each rooftop, jumping and blasting himself over each alley as he chased down the hooded figure. The person was only a few buildings ahead of him, an easy distance for him to close in on. Red eyes studied the fleeing cloak, trying to find any additional identification of who this person could be. The pants and shoes were identical to the profile his receptionist gave, but the cloak was too snug around their head for the hero to see a hair color.
Katsuki propelled himself to the next building, noticing a trail of blood as he landed. The drops were being left behind from who he was sure was M. They were injured, and by the amount that was trailing behind them, it was bad. Even their footing looked unsure as they jumped to the next rooftop; their landing ended in a stumble as they used more of those webs to stabilize themselves.
“Riot is down.” A scream came through Katsuki’s earpiece.
The blonde paused, “What!” He yelled back, his heart dropping as he looked back to where his team was.
Mina’s voice answered him. “Dynamite, we need you here now!” She yelled, her voice shaking with huffs. The sounds of the fight filtered through the earpiece, each bang and slap loud.
Red eyes glanced back to the figure he was in pursuit of, teeth ground together in frustration as he watched them leap across another alleyway. He was close, a few more minutes and Katsuki would have had the man in cuffs. He was right there!
But he couldn’t abandon his team for the stupid possibility that it was someone he knew.
“I’ll get you, you BASTARD!” The hero screamed, anger prominent in his voice before he turned the other way.
____——-____——-____——-
Izuku glanced behind him in confusion but sighed in relief when he saw the blonde running in the opposite direction of him.
“Thank god!” He cried out, tears lining his eyes as another shock of pain rippled through his abdomen. “He didn’t see who I was.”
There was no way he could have kept running like this. His legs were like jelly and his head could barely focus enough to see straight. The call on his power was becoming sluggish with each breath he took, his body folding further into himself in hopes to relieve the pain.
With one last leap, Izuku dropped down into the next alley- Blackwhip catching his fall as it attached at the ledge and settled him lightly on the ground. Izuku landed hard onto his knees as he let go of his whip, his body had no strength to keep him standing anymore.
Blood dripped from his stomach through the fingers pressed there. He needed to act quickly before he bled out. His breathing was ragged, exiting in harsh hisses as he tried to steady his breathing. He needed to stop the bleeding first, each breath was becoming more difficult for him to take, his head becoming clouded now that he wasn’t moving.
Izuku settled down and reached for his phone; quickly sending a ping of his location to Yagi, not caring that the screen was now covered in red streaks. He hoped the retired hero would be able to make it despite the villain's attack close by. The man usually didn’t question messages like this, he would just race to Izuku’s side without hesitation.
Izuku gasped as the adrenaline began to leave his body, abdomen consumed in sharp pain. He settled forward, trying to work his cloak and sweatshirt off him as quickly as possible. The gash was far deeper than he first thought, the wound stretched from one side of his abs to the other. The edges were jagged, like a chainsaw had ripped through him; his organs barely holding on as blood dribbled freely like a waterfall.
The vigilante felt nauseous as he folded his sweatshirt and pushed itto his stomach. He yelled a closed mouth scream at the pain but continued despite it. His vision was getting spotty, no doubt his body trying to make him stop moving in hopes of slowing down his heart in an act of self preservation. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as he wrapped the filthy cloak around his back, cinching it tight to hold his sweatshirt in place.
He was panting, sweat dripping down Izuku’s face as his body grew impossibly tired. Izuku already knew what was about to happen, he was seconds away from passing out. He looked around him, grabbing his phone as he scoots back to rest against one of the walls. Each movement was like a knife slicing into him over and over again.
Once settled, green eyes looked down at the glowing screen of his phone.
Yagi’s reply was, “10 minutes out.”
Izuku’s eyelids were now heavy, his vision just a blur while his toes and fingers were beginning to prickle. He let his head fall back, not feeling it smack the wall behind him as he relented to his body's needs.
Hopefully his mentor would get here in time, hopefully he had done enough to keep himself alive until Yagi got here. With the last bit of his energy, Izuku kicked a trash can over so his shoes would be visible from the street. He didn’t care that he laid behind a mountain of trash bags. He just wanted to sleep.
Word count: 4160
That was close, Izuku almost got caught red handed. What do you think Bakugo will do in the next chapter? Please leave a comment and hit the like button above. See you soon.
