A/N: I apologize in advance. This was supposed to be the finale of the arc, but due to unforeseen complications I made the decision to ultimately make this a three-parter instead. Part 3 will be up tomorrow, and will most definitely be the end of this arc. Then we enter U.A!
"Hatsume!" Izuku screamed, leaning forward as if he was going to rush Brigand in his panicked state. Two hands landed on his shoulders, however, stopping him from making a dash for the gun and the man holding it. Izuku glanced back and saw both Spider-Man and Wong had slapped a hand on his shoulders.
"Remain calm, Midoriya," Wong said as he narrowed his eyes at the smirking Brigand.
"Yeah, relax kid!" Brigand sneered, poking Mei's cheek with the barrel of his gun as the girl stood deathly still. "You wouldn't want to spook me, would you? Who knows how itchy my trigger finger is today...actually, you do know, don't you?"
"Wait for the opportune moment," Spider-Man whispered into Izuku's ear, having faced more than one hostage situation before and during his tenure with the Avengers.
"The Diacatholicon," Wong spoke, perhaps hoping to gleam some information from Brigand while stalling for time all at once. "I see that you do not have the relic on your person."
"The chain with the orbs? Yeah, already sold one of them off," Brigand informed them. "Made quite the haul with a single one, too. Good thing I kept the other two around. I had a hunch I'd get buyers, but they must be quite the catch if I'm getting heroes and sorcerers lining up to my front door!"
"Unfortunately for you, we're not here to make a purchase," Spider-Man glowered.
"Oh, I'm well aware what you're here for," Brigand said smugly. "But unfortunately for you lot, now you're going to have make some deposits on my behalf!"
"What are you saying?" Wong inquired cautiously.
"You put me in quite a predicament financially, laying waste to my drones the way you did," Brigand explained, raising the tip of his gun and tapping it against Mei's temple. "And you're going to help me recoup my losses if you want this pretty little thing back in one piece!"
"...You want more relics from the Sanctum in exchange for the girl's life," Wong said with a frown.
"Bingo!" Brigand guffawed. "I'm well aware that magic isn't something the average schmuck knows anything about, but if my latest incursion is proof of anything, it's that relics can fetch top coin if you can find the right buyer! Tokyo, Chinatown, Latveria—all will be lined up at the door of Brigand!"
"We won't let you use Hatsume and us as a way to make off like a bandit!" Izuku growled, clenching his fists as he desperately sought an opportunity to save Mei and take down the thief.
"It's Brigand! I'll make off like a 'brigand'!" Brigand angrily berated. "Kids these days, I swear...no sense of professionalism! Besides...you've no one to blame but yourselves for this! You didn't consider the possibility of having the tables turned on you so quickly or easily, did you? But me? I'm always looking five, ten, twenty steps ahead!"
"You have a really annoying voice," Mei suddenly piped up. A strained silence fell upon the warehouse and everyone inside it as all eyes were on the girl being held hostage. "It's nasally and really unpleasant to listen to."
"What did you just say?" Brigand snarled, giving Mei another hard poke in the cheek with his mystical gun.
"H-Hatsume, please—" Izuku stammered, appearing particularly tense.
"Let me guess: deviated septum?" Mei continued with a chuckle. "Yeah, I recognize it from personal experience. I once broke my nose as a kid when a giant wrench smacked me right in the face. It's an occupational hazard for an inventor, I suppose...and also one for a professional thief like you, too."
"It's 'brigand'!" Said Brigand spoke with a snarl, exasperated at having to correct a kid once again. His eyes were wide with anger, repeatedly shifting from Mei to Wong and the others before him, trying not to divide his attention too much. "And stop talking!"
"I've only broken my nose once, but I can tell you've probably had yours broken multiple times over the years," Mei said, tilting her head down as she spoke. "I bet it would be really easy to break it again, too!"
Mei swiftly slammed her head backwards, striking Brigand directly in the nasal bridge as the rear of her support headgear simultaneously shattered his yellow sunglasses, driving in numerous shards of glass into his eye and cheek. Brigand reared back and bellowed painfully, his grasp loosening just enough for Mei to quickly drop to the floor and roll out of the way to safety. Blood flowed from the villain's nostrils as he angrily and shakily raised his gun toward Mei. The glass in his eye made it more than a little difficult to aim, but he never got a shot off as the heroes before him had sprung into action the instant all hell broke loose.
"Spider-Man!" Izuku yelled to his more experienced companion as his hands weaved open a tiny portal before them both. Right on the other side of the passageway the boy had conjured was Brigand's means of teleportation. "The satchel!"
Not needing to be told twice, Spider-Man instantly aimed his now refilled web shooter straight through the tiny, swirling passage. With an audible thwip, he fired off a thick deluge of webbing that cocooned the leathery relic nice and tightly shut.
Wong, too, had spun his hands and conjured a portal to close the distance between himself and Brigand. Reaching through the fiery aperture, Wong grabbed hold of the gun with one hand and Brigand's arm with the other.
"You might feel a small prick," Wong muttered before jolting his foe's body with violently arcing streaks of electricity. Brigand screamed and convulsed uncontrollably, allowing Wong to snatch the gun out of the man's gloved grasp. Wong wasn't finished, however—he quickly followed up his bolt attack with a subsequent summoning of the Crimson Bands, which dutifully wrapped around Brigand, binding him securely in their rigid, magical hold.
"Hatsume!" Izuku was by the girl's side in an instant, worriedly checking her over for any injuries. Mei gently pushed Izuku's hands away with her own, responding with a comforting grin and chuckle to let him know she was alright, just exhausted if nothing else. Izuku fell to his knees alongside Mei, panting and apologizing profusely.
"You were so busy looking twenty steps ahead that you couldn't even see the steps directly before you," Wong said under his breath as he made sure Brigand was thoroughly restrained, with no hope of escape.
"So what now?" Spider-Man spoke in a hushed tone, standing beside Wong.
"There are questions that need answering, and quick," Wong replied, glaring down at the subdued brigand. "Even with a mystical arsenal in his possession, no mere gun-toting thug could pierce through the Sorcerer Supreme's Sanctum defenses so easily—not without help!"
"So you will answer me," Wong said loudly and directly to Brigand as he stepped closer to engage in questioning. "Who sent you to steal the Diacatholicon from the Sanctum, and where have you cloistered the rest of it away?"
Wong was met with silence as Brigand glared right back, long and hard. Then, the man burst out in a fit of laughter, wriggling against the crimson bands that kept him bound in place.
"What use is it seeking an answer that you'll never come upon?" Brigand queried with a knowing smirk. "My arsenal extends to that which you cannot see so easily, yeah? Mystical mental blocks, Monk Man. I've had this magic craft 'installed' over the years while doing work for and against magic users. I cannot reveal information about my employers, especially under compulsion! You'll never—!"
"Sleep," Wong said simply, and with a gentle poke to the forehead, Brigand was out like a broken bulb, head lolled to one side and lips parting as he began snoring lightly. All the while, Wong reached out with his eyes closed, trying to probe the thief's mind.
He didn't get very far. Brigand—thief that he may be—wasn't lying about the mental blocks.
"Search the rest of the warehouse," Wong instructed Spider-Man as he continued testing Brigand's mental defenses. "There may yet be clues that can help us decipher this conundrum."
Spider-Man turned to inform Izuku and Mei about their next course of action, and the trio soon set off across the component-riddled warehouse floor, walking over and occasionally combing through piece by broken piece of Stark's now destroyed Iron Legion, searching for any kind of clue as to the location of the Diacatholicon.
"Ooh, how exciting!" Mei exclaimed to herself, thumbing through the junk and lifting the remains of a facial visor from one of the demolished drones. "To get a close and personal look at some of Mr. Stark's technology...what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"Hey, don't forget what we're really here for!" Spider-Man chided the girl, snatching the visor out of her grasp with a well-aimed strand of webbing. "And please don't steal any of Mr. Stark's tech, either!"
"Is it really stealing if it's stolen from someone else who already stole it first?" Mei asked coyly.
"Um, guys?" Izuku called out from the barren office door beside the one-way mirror, interrupting whatever retort Peter was about to give Mei and snapping Wong out of his meditative state. "I think I found something."
Izuku led the other three into the seemingly desolate, empty room. All that stood out was a dingy desk—nothing too out of the ordinary. But Izuku soon directed their attention to the pitch blackened square shape of a safe that lay beneath the desk, blending nearly perfectly with the shadows. Adorned in the center of its face and jutting out slightly was a large, silvery combination lock. It wasn't a huge safe, since it was situated beneath the desk, but it was definitely large enough to contain the rest of the Diacatholicon.
"Could it be in there?" Izuku asked what everyone was surely thinking aloud.
"Only one way to find out," Wong replied, ushering Izuku and the other two back as he circled his hands, closing a portal around the safe nearly as soon as he'd opened it.
Izuku gulped nervously as the flaming aperture sizzled and sputtered as it was closed around the safe. He'd been instructed on the potential dangers of portals by Strange before, and why it was important for him to get used to allowing his own portals to fizzle out of existence instead of closing them shut—the forceful closure of eldritch portals could prove effective at slicing objects caught in it in two...and that could apply to other people, too. Gruesome images of decapitations and lobbed off limbs sent a horrific shudder up Izuku's neck.
However, the safe was not cut cleanly in two as Izuku had been expecting. Wong too seemed particularly surprised; he grunted with exertion as he tried his hardest to close his portal completely around the top of the safe, but the metallic vault simply refused to budge. The portal soon fizzled out with a slight groan from Wong, who'd apparently relented. After spending a moment to catch his breath, Wong leaned down to inspect the safe closer. He ran his fingers across it carefully, examining the barely visible scorch marks that were imprinted on the metal. The safe itself appeared otherwise completely unharmed.
"Adamantium," Wong soon muttered, standing back up and looking down at the safe with disdain. "My magic alone will not be able to slice through such material."
Adamantium? Izuku was bewildered by this newest revelation. He'd read about the impossibly rare and seemingly impervious material via links found on various Pro Hero and Quirk forums. It proved to be a boon to whoever managed to get their hands on a sample of it, heroes and villains alike. It became highly regulated by S.H.I.E.L.D. authorities as a result. It wasn't something that could fall into the lap of the average citizen...but then again, Brigand proved to be anything but average, or even a simple civilian. Not only that, but he'd managed to craft the adamantium he possessed into a safe of all things. Just how deep do his criminal connections run?
"How are we going to get in there then?" Peter asked Wong before turning to Mei. "Think you can lend us your Quirk to help get past this like you did for the key pad earlier?"
"My Quirk affects my eyes, not my ears!" Mei responded, crossing her arms.
"It seems we will have to employ other methods if we wish to get into Brigand's safe," Wong spoke as he exited the office, staring down the slumbering man bound in crimson bands. Izuku and the others were hot on his heels, wondering what the mystic master had in mind. "Less...savory methods."
"Master Wong?" Izuku questioned, watching confusedly as Wong began twitching his fingers in intricate, unreadable motions before Brigand's body. Wong then circled his hands, and this time, much to Izuku's amazement, a shimmering green portal sprang into existence on the ground before them.
"Where does...this portal lead to?" Izuku asked as he cautiously stepped closer, peering down into the swirling, verdant abyss.
"Into this brigand's mind of course," Wong replied. "I will need you two to stay out here in order to keep a close watch over Brigand's body, as well as if any other parties arrive at the warehouse," Wong addressed Spider-Man and Mei.
"And what about me?" Izuku asked with some trepidation.
"You will be joining me into Brigand's mindscape," Wong responded, stepping closer to his portal's edge. "Mostly as potential backup to help pull me out if these enigmatic mental blocks prove too strong even for me."
Joining him? Into another human being's mindscape? Izuku had learned throughout his apprenticeship with Doctor Strange of the sheer versatility of magic, but even he hadn't considered the possibility of physically delving into another person's mind. What would it look like? How would it feel? What would he see?
This was so going down on the next page of his Magical Analysis for the Future notebook.
"We'll keep everything under control on our end!" Spider-Man exclaimed. "Just don't be in there too long! We've still got a doctor to save!"
"...Be careful," Mei whispered apprehensively as she kept her eyes firmly on Izuku. It was obvious she was still somewhat rattled from Brigand holding her at gunpoint, and the additional exposure to even more magic was probably keeping her mind reeling.
Seeing Mei look so uncharacteristically unsure and shaken, Izuku did the only thing that came to mind: he forced a wide, beaming smile on his face and flashed her a thumbs up.
"Everything's going to be okay! Hatsume!"
And with that, Izuku and Wong descended through the portal, into the mind of a ruthless, opportunistic thief and killer.
Izuku instinctively shut his eyes as he fell through the portal. The sensation of falling didn't last long, and his feet soon landed on something squishy yet stable. He immediately tried sighing in relief, only to discover the air had become incredibly thick and cumbersome. His eyes snapped open as he reached for his throat, only to go stiff and wide-eyed at the sight of his surroundings.
Entering into Brigand's mind was similar to entering an entirely new realm: the sky pulsed with vibrant hues of pink and purple, and seemed to envelop Izuku and Wong entirely, stretching endlessly from top to bottom, side to side, with no end or beginning to be seen. Izuku glanced down at his current foothold and nearly yelped in surprise at the fuchsia-colored sheath beneath him.
He and Wong were standing on a gigantic neuron, a bulbous cell body that erupted into numerous branches and axons that led to yet more seemingly suspended neurons that fibrillated in a steady rhythm. The sea of spindly sheaths and tendrils seemed to stretch as far as the surrounding sky did—endlessly and beyond sight.
"On your guard, Midoriya!" Wong shouted, snapping Izuku out of his bewilderment and awe at entering such an environment for the first time. Wong had crouched into a defensive position and had his sights set on something above them. Izuku looked up as well and paled considerably—standing above their heads on another level of connected axons and neurons stood Brigand, staring down at the sorcerers tauntingly as he leaned against a fleshy hillock.
"Man, oh man!" Brigand jeered down at them. "You must want some answers badly if you would go so far as to enter my own mind!"
"You delay the inevitable, Brigand!" Wong roared, fists blazing with magic. "We're going to shatter those mental blocks and retrieve the relic you stole!"
"Well then..." Brigand paused to chuckle ominously. "Let's see it, then."
Izuku tensed as the mindscape seemed to shudder and tremble. An oppressive force seemed to descend on the two sorcerers as they steadied themselves. A squelching, scraping sound caused Izuku to perk his ears up, and he nervously slid to Wong's side as the horrific squishing noises inched closer and closer. A gangly, clawed arm suddenly reached up, grasping the sheathed cell body the two were standing on. With a nightmarish gurgle, the creature hoisted itself to their level, squirming its revolting worm-like body onto the pulsing platform.
"Master Wong!" Izuku cried out as several more mottled, rotting limbs reached out from beneath their foothold.
"Stay by my side Midoriya!" Wong shouted as he prepared to fight off the creatures' attack.
"W-what are they!?" Izuku stammered fearfully.
Wong clapped a hand on the boys shoulder, as if trying to suppress his tangible fear with that single gesture. "At first glance, they appear to be Fear Eaters," Wong said guardedly, and Izuku could swear his heart had stopped beating for an instant. "Demons from the Dream Dimension that feed on one's fears..."