Midoriya was growing restless as the sun dropped out of view and the sky grew darker. He'd been waiting outside Edgeshot's agency for a few hours and it was beginning to wear on him. What was taking Uraraka so long? Did she normally stay at work this late? His phone had died earlier in the day so he had no way of checking back in with her. He watched as the sun disappeared from view completely and dusk set in.
"What the heck," He muttered impatiently and pushed open the door the agency. Perhaps she'd gotten distracted and he didn't want to be stuck waiting forever. He glanced around the lobby at the nighttime heroes getting ready for their patrols. He spotted one that looked somewhat familiar and approached, "Excuse me," He waved awkwardly, "I'm looking for someone and I'm hoping you can help."
"Oh my god!" The hero he approached seemed shocked, "You're Deku!" The hero was a young kid, probably a sidekick that was fresh out of high school. He was wearing all black robes and his long black hair was tied back.
"Yep," Midoriya smiled brightly, "That's me!"
"This is amazing," The sidekick beamed. "Can I get an autograph?! No! A photo!" The kid turned to the heroes that accompanied him, "Do any of you have your phone? I need to get this photo!"
Deku suddenly found himself in the uncomfortable situation of having his photo taken with a number of people that worked at Uraraka's agency. It didn't take very long but he was feeling impatient and worried. When the photos had been wrapped up, he turned back to the young sidekick. "I'm actually looking for someone," He gave his winning smile, "Where can I find Uravity?"
"Who?" The young hero furrowed his eyebrows.
"Uravity…" Deku drawled out her hero name with uncertainty but was surprised when the young hero didn't seem to register the name.
"I'm sorry," The young hero seemed confused. "I don't know of anyone by that name here."
"She's this tall," Deku held up a hand to just below his shoulder, "With short brown hair? She wears a pink costume?"
The sidekick seemed to think hard but eventually shook his head, "I'm sorry, I don't know."
Deku released a terse sigh before another name popped into his head and he felt his nerves fray as he asked, "What about Ground Zero?"
"Oh!" The young sidekick seemed to brighten, "Yeah, he usually works out in the gym at night!" The kid pointed to the elevators in the corner of the grand lobby, "If you take that to the third floor, go down the hall, and take the last right, you'll find it." The sidekick's smile seemed to droop a bit, "But he doesn't like to be bothered so I would probably steer clear."
Deku almost laughed at the fear written on the sidekick's face, "Don't you worry, Bakugo and I go way back. We went to high school together." He turned toward the elevator, "Thanks for all your help!"
"Of course!" The sidekick smiled and waved back, "And I'm sure I'll meet er…. Uravity?"
Midoriya felt his heart sink a little, "Yeah… I'm sure you will." He turned away completely and made for the elevators. His mind suddenly felt foggy as he mulled over the conversation he'd just had. That sidekick had known just about everything that was to know about Deku's hero name and legacy but couldn't even put a face to the name Uraivity. He felt a wash of guilt.
As he pressed the button for the third floor inside the elevator, Deku considered Uraraka's claims so far. He realized that she hadn't been joking when she told him she was virtually unrecognized as a hero. She had even told him that she'd been mistaken as Bakugo's sidekick at one point. He hadn't believed her in the slightest at the time but now… he believed her. Not even heroes at the agency she worked at recognized her name.
Deku was in a cloud of thoughts as he exited to the third floor and turned down the hallway to see it mostly empty outside of a few leftover heroes leaving after a late workout. He waved at them as they whispered when they recognized him. He meandered down the hallway until he reached the gym and poked his head through the door. There were a few heroes jogging and lifting weights but none of them were the woman he was looking for.
Deku bit his cheek and furrowed his eyebrows as he turned back to the elevator. Perhaps she had to work late and she was still in her office? He glanced over the directory inside the elevator before smashing the button for the 9th floor. A sudden feeling of anxiety washed over him as he exited to the empty floor of offices. It was silent as he exited the elevator and he couldn't ignore the feeling like he was intruding as he slowly walked further down the dark blue painted hallway. But the feeling didn't last long as he heard voices coming from around a corner.
He glanced around the corner and was surprised to see Uraraka standing in the doorway of an office a few doors down. He could see her side profile and she brushed a few locks of hair behind the ear facing him. He could see that she was smiling softly at whoever she was speaking with. She wasn't dressed in her costume, only in jeans and a baby blue sweater.
"I never thought about it like that," He could barely make out the words as she spoke with whoever was in the office she that standing outside of. "That actually helps so much!" Her smile grew a bit.
He could hear a muffled man's voice but he was unable to make out any more than that as he watched and listened in dead silence.
"Always quick with the wit," She laughed lightly. "But really, I appreciate the help. I've been trying to learn that move forever but I could never get the footwork right."
"That's not hard to believe," Deku felt a brick drop in his stomach as he was finally able to hear the voice of the other person talking to his girlfriend. "It's like you forgot that we went to high school together, short-stack. I know how bad you suck at everything."
Uraraka took a half-step back as Bakugo appeared in the doorway and leaned against the door frame. He looked relaxed, maybe even content, as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave the girl his full attention. His face held no frown as he watched her squirm at his playful insult.
"I seem to recall a time that I almost beat you in our freshman sports festival," Uraraka teased and unconsciously stood up on her tiptoes as she clutched the strap of the duffel bag slung across her chest. "And another time that I kicked your butt at ground beta… Oh! And that one time that I-"
"Alright, alright," Bakugo smirked and crossed one foot over the other as he leaned harder against the door frame, "You got lucky two or three times." He leaned forward a tiny bit as he watched her smile mischievously. "That's all it was, roundface. Luck. You'd be wise to remember that."
Deku watched quietly as the brunette playfully slapped Bakugo's shoulder and giggled loudly, "Well I always had my biggest wins with you against me," She teased. "Like that thief I captured a few weeks ago."
"God," Bakugo turned his head down to hide his smile behind his spiky hair, "You fucking embarrassed that guy. I'm sure he's still hurting to this day from that arrest." His red eyes reappeared as he looked at her with a serious expression, "But I still let you have that one."
"Oh, stop it." Uraraka finally fell back onto her heels and sighed happily. "Just let me have that win, huh? I beat you fair and square."
Bakugo didn't reply. Instead, he just looked at her with an almost soft expression. Midoriya knew that look. It's the look that people used to say he wore when he looked at Uraraka. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the blonde that was so easily chatting up Uraraka. A little piece of him died in that moment as he saw Uraraka smile back at the blonde with a warmth that he missed dearly. When was the last time she looked at him like that? Or even laughed with him like that?
The moment between the blonde and brunette finally simmered and both began clearing their throats and looking away from each other. "Well," Uraraka breathed tiredly, "I suppose I should probably head home." She gripped the strap on her bag tightly.
"I'm gonna stick around here," Bakugo muttered and suddenly his expression was stoic. "I'm expecting an update any minute."
Uraraka looked down at her shoes and breathed out a sigh. "I really want to stay too but…" Her voice drifted off.
"Deku." Bakugo finished for her with a flat tone.
"Yeah…" Uraraka hummed awkwardly. "He and I still have a lot to talk about."
Deku's heart leapt to his throat and suddenly he felt sick. He watched Bakguo scoff at her comment and ever so slightly shake his head, "When does that fucking shitstain leave town anyway?"
"Tomorrow I think," She replied softly and took a step away from the blonde. "Listen, about our conversation earlier on patrol-"
"Don't." Bakugo cut in harshly. "I don't have anything else to say about it."
Uraraka huffed a frustrated breath, "Bakugo… I'm sorry if I kind of put you on the spot out there. I didn't mean-"
"Uraraka," Bakugo stated her name with a firm tone. His red eyes zeroed in on her but he didn't say anything more.
Deku felt a spike of jealousy that he didn't realize he'd been harboring until that moment. He had never needed to worry about his relationship until today. For three years, he never doubted Uraraka's feelings toward him but he saw the way she looked at the blonde in that moment and he saw a face he couldn't describe. It was a mix of confusion and hurt. A look that said so much that he didn't know. It wrecked him to realize that Bakugo could read the expression while he couldn't and the blonde-haired man held her gaze with an intensity that Deku couldn't hope to match.
Both the blonde and brunette didn't look away from each other for a long moment but Bakugo suddenly fished out his phone and glanced at the screen, "You're in luck, roundface." He turned the screen toward her. "You don't have to go home to that fucking dipshit tonight. You get to catch a snake."
Uraraka looked away from the screen and back at a maliciously smiling Bakugo, "Oh my god," She breathed. "I need to change!" She turned down the hall and began jogging toward the locker rooms on the other end of the hallway from Deku.
Bakugo, who was still clothed in his costume, shouted after her, "Hurry the fuck up! I'm giving you thirty seconds!"
"I'll be fast!" Deku heard her call from down the hall and the sound of a door slamming followed. Dead silence followed the exchange and Deku suddenly hid his face back behind the corner of the wall. Panic took over him as he realized that Bakugo, the hottest-headed and strongest-willed person he'd ever met, was alone with him in the silence. It would be shockingly easy for the explosion hero to discover Deku's hiding place by his listening capabilities alone.
Deku slowly turned his head to the right to see the elevator and a little beyond that was the door to the stairwell. He licked his lips as he felt his heart rate spike. How was he going to escape without Bakugo hearing him? A dozen scenarios ran through his head and he didn't dare to move as he considered the options. It was obvious that the stairwell was the only plausible means of escape but the door would be so loud and Bakugo would surely come to investigate. Even with the use of his quirk, Deku doubted he'd be fast enough to make it all the way down to the bottom floor before Bakugo made it through the stairwell door and looked down to see Deku escaping.
Suddenly, his mind was made up. He silently snuck over the stairwell door and quietly pushed it open. He'd hardly pushed it a quarter of the way before it creaked loudly and at that moment, Deku was in action. He pounced over the railing and jumped down an entire flight of stairs, green flashes surrounding him. He quickly turned around and threw open the 8th floor doors and dashed inside just as he heard the door above him slam open.
The 8th floor was buzzing with the night shift heroes. All of them buggered their eyes at him as he threw open the door.
"Shit…" Deku breathed as they all recognized him. "I was never here," He called out to all of them and pressed a finger to his lips. "I'm playing a prank on Ground Zero and he cannot find out." He stressed the 'cannot' with a serious tone before he ducked into the second office down the hallway. He slammed the door shut and repeated the words to the stunned hero seated at the desk, a finger pressed firmly to his lips again.
Deku crouched behind the desk and waited, praying that Bakugo didn't investigate too far. He only hoped that whatever message Bakugo had received was more important than discovering an eavesdropper. He leaned toward the window and waited, watching the street outside the agency, all while trying to soothe the excitable night shift hero he'd barged in on.
Long minutes passed before suddenly, a bright pink costume could be seen leaving the building with a set of grenades walking alongside her. Deku shot to his feet and took off out of the office, tossing a thanks over his shoulder as he went. He raced back to the stairwell and dashed down the stairs to the exit, all while using his quirk as an accelerate. He slowed down as he went through the lobby, hoping to not draw any more suspicion to himself as he tried to hastily push through the front doors.
When he exited to the street, he followed to the last place he'd seen Uraraka. She and Bakugo had headed north and he jogged after them, scanning the sidewalks for any glimpse of where they had gone. Clearly, they were heading to handle a villain and he more curious about Uraraka's life in Tokyo now more than ever. How she approached a fight would be the perfect analysis of how she functioned as a pro hero.
Suddenly, he caught sight of Bakugo's orange and black headpiece and he began to follow. He told himself that following them was okay. It had been a long time since Uraraka had fought a serious villain and Bakugo tended to fight some of the worst kind. He'd just keep an eye on her. Just in case.
He quickened his pace to keep track of them but kept a safe distance. Based on their accelerated speed, he could only assume that wherever they were going was important. A part of Deku was glad that he'd shadowed Uraraka all day for this very moment. Now he could help her if she needed it.
Kirishima didn't feel his phone vibrate in his pocket as he spoke with the salesman. He was inside an electronics store that was mostly empty and he looked at the wall of televisions as they played the evening news. "Tell me about this one," Kirishima pointed to a slightly curved television mounted high up on the wall.
"Oh," The salesman gushed, "That's one of our best models on the market right now. It's your typical Samsung smart TV but this one has the latest 4K technology." The salesman clicked a remote and all the televisions all turned to views of landscapes. "You can really see the definition in these photographs but wait until the videos start and you'll truly understand the sort of streaming capabilities available to us today."
"Damn!" Kirishima remarked with a goofy grin. "Look at all those colors." He leaned into one and pointed as a nature video about ants began to play. "That's seriously cool stuff."
"Are you just looking for a television for your living space?" The salesmen questioned.
"Bachelor pad," Kirishima replied and smirked. "I want to flex on all my high school buddies with a cool ass TV."
The salesman, a middle aged gentleman, did not look impressed with Kirishima's reasoning. "Then perhaps you'd be interested in a surround sound system as well?"
"Oh hell yeah," Kirishima nodded enthusiastically. "Take me to them."
The salesman nodded and pointed past the walls of televisions. "I'll show you a few options we have and then I can show you one in action in our home theater."
Kirishima was stoked to say the least. He finally had set enough money aside to upgrade his set-up. He was more than happy to let the salesman do his job. They wandered for a while as the salesman pitched many, many televisions and sound systems to him. They even briefly discussed throwing in a new game console until Kirishima finally made his way back to the curved television they'd talked about earlier. "So, be real with me dude. How much is that TV gonna set me back? Can you give me a deal?"
"Well," The salesman grabbed the remote to the televisions. "I don't know how much of a deal I can offer but maybe we can work something out." The salesman clicked the remote and set the channel back to the news. "What sort of budget are you working with?" He signaled back to the sound systems, "And are you interested in maybe bundling it with a sound system?"
Kirishima laughed a little. As much as he wanted a sound system, that would have to wait until his next check, "Let's just talk about a TV first, huh?"
"Breaking news," A newscaster seated at a silver desk broke Kirishima away from the conversation. "We have just received word that a confrontation between villains and heroes has broken out in Keihin Industrial District." Kirishima's shot toward that screen and he watched as the newscaster showed video footage taken with a cellphone that showed an explosion and rubble flying. "We are sending a helicopter now to capture the scene."
The red-headed hero felt his jaw drop a mile and he scrambled for his phone. "Shit!" Four missed calls and ten missed texts from Bakugo.
Salty Boi: Keihin. Thirty minutes. It's happening right now.
Salty Boi: You fucking idiot! Where the fuck are you?!
Salty Boi: If you're not hauling ass right now, I might just murder you for this. Hurry the FUCK UP you good for nothing piece of human debris.
Salty Boi: Fuck you. Uravity and I will handle this shit.
Salty Boi: Fuck you asshole.
Kirishima felt his stomach plummet. Had they gone alone? He turned his eyes back to the screens just in time to see that the helicopter had arrived on scene and it was pure chaos.
Bakugo and Uraraka were in the center of it all, battling against a swathe of enemies five times their number but the villains were small potatoes. Nothing that a few seasoned pros couldn't handle. Kirishima took a moment to watch as they worked with astounding coordination. The camera was focused in on Bakugo as the newscasters' voices faded into the background. When you could see the blonde through the dust and smoke, he looked to be animate and alive. He and Uraraka, when you could see her, were flip-flopping between moves that seemed effortless. She'd perform a flip as he distracted the villain moving in close and then she could place her fingertips on them from behind. Once they were suspended in the air, Bakugo would blast them away with frightening force. They were truly a killer pair that fought with a iron will. Kirishima knew that they knew the odds of the battle but they were there anyway, trying to protect the people of Tokyo and Japan as a whole. They seemed fearless and unstoppable on the screen.
However, Kirishima saw something that he doubted the hero pair was even aware of in their preoccupation. Shadowy figures standing just inside the warehouse that the fight was happening in front of. A purple fog had began to escape the crumbled front face of the warehouse and Kirishima suddenly felt sick to his stomach.
"Oh man," The salesman breathed. "That's not very far away from here. I hope that it doesn't come this way…" His tone was worried.
"Don't worry," Kirishima suddenly broke from his trance. "The heroes will handle this." He snatched his duffel bag off the ground and looked around. "Where is your bathroom?"
It wasn't more than two minutes before Kirishima had abandoned his clothes and duffel bag inside the bathroom to race toward the action. He knew he didn't have much time. The fight that Bakugo and Uraraka were fighting was about to reach a new level and Kirishima knew that more heroes wouldn't be able to back them up soon enough. He had to get there before shit went sideways.
"I'll be back tomorrow!" Kirishima yelled the promise as he bolted out the door and turned toward the Keihin district. If he was fast enough, he just might make it in time.
Mina was bored at the bar that was conveniently placed two stories below her apartment. She'd been snacking on the bar food and chatting up the girl bartending as she let the night drawl on. She and the barkeep were good friends now, as Mina was certainly her most loyal regular. The television above the bar was playing the evening news and Mina was half-watching it as she talked.
"Yeah…" Mina swirled her nearly empty glass in her hand. "I guess I'm just wondering what I should do next, you know?"
The bartender, a girl that resembled bubble girl in style but instead of blue skin and hair, she was caucasian. "You have to get back out there, Mina. It's the only thing you can do. You can't just sit around and wait for somebody to come to you, you know?"
"That's easy for you to say," Mina scoffed. "Did I tell you that my best friend has two amazing, and let me emphasize amazing, guys basically fighting over her?"
The bartender laughed as she poured another beer for one of the five other customers in the bar, "Only a thousand times."
"How?!" Mina burst with hilarious amazement. "I honestly don't know how she does it!"
The other girl delivered the beer to the man at the end of the bar before she returned to stand in front of Mina. "Listen," She took a towel and began wiping down the bar area around Mina, "I know you think you're never going to meet someone, but you will. But if you approach every situation like it's doomed to fail, then how will you ever know when you meet them?"
"Argh!" Mina leaned back on her barstool and sighed, "I wish you would stop being so right all the time."
"You never know, Mina," The bartender waved the towel jokingly, "Maybe you already met him."
Mina laughed aloud, "Perhaps he's one of my tinder dates I stood up." She ran through a list of dates she'd been on in her mind. "Maybe… Maybe he's that guy that I insinuated was into his mother. Or better yet, my one true love could be that guy that I noped out on when I first saw him on the street."
"Mina," The bartender said insistently. "Stop doubting yourself and open your stupid eyes. It could be that the person you're meant to be with has been on your radar for a long time."
Mina laughed aloud again, "Like who?" She sputtered, "Kirishima?!" She broke out laughing but the laughter died in her throat when she saw the serious look on the bartender's face. "You cannot be serious right now."
"I've seen you guys together more times than I care to admit, Mina." The other girl shrugged before turning her back to the pink woman. "All I can say for sure is that I've seen you two drunk at two in the morning enough times to be amazed, emphasis on amazed, that you two haven't hooked up or dated."
Mina frowned, "Why does everyone say that about us? Kirishima and I aren't like that at all." But the question never got the chance to be answered.
"Breaking news," The words caught Mina's attention and she looked up at the television.
"Hey!" She waved at her friend, "Turn that up. Now!" Her tone went almost cold. A villain confrontation in Tokyo? There hadn't been on in weeks. This was actually a really big deal.
The young bartender shrugged back at her friend and tossed the pink woman the remote. "What's up?" She followed Mina's gaze to the screen. "A villain attack? Geez, I haven't seen one of these in forever. Thank god it's all the way across town."
"Shh!" Mina hushed the other woman and turned the volume up high. A few minutes passed at an agonizing pace as the newscaster waited for the helicopter video feed. When it finally appeared on screen, all the breath left Mina's lungs. "Oh my…" She couldn't even finish the sentence as she watched Bakugo and Uraraka battling their hearts out on the screen.
"Why are they alone?!" Mina barked at the screen and threw her hands out to either side of her. "Where is Kirishima? Or Edgeshot? Or literally anyone else?!"
The helicopter circled around the scene of the battle that was taking place in a large parking lot that had been nearly torn apart. There were warehouses dotted around the site that were dimly lit. The fight was only lit up by Bakugo's explosions until the helicopter shot a spotlight down on them. The scene minimized to show the newscasters, a man and woman, commenting on the scene that was unfolding. "It is unclear at this point what brought about the clash between heroes and villains." The minimized video feed closed in on Bakugo standing back to back with Uraraka as the blonde unleashed a shot from one of his grenadiers, sending a cluster of villains closing in on them flying like rag dolls.
"Oh wow," The bartender muttered as she dried a cup with a towel. "Ground Zero is there. Now I'm interested."
"Shut up!" Mina hissed and stood up out of her barstool. "I'm trying to listen to what they're saying." She felt a growing worry in her gut. There had been a lot of rumors at work that villains were organizing all over Tokyo. Did Bakugo and Uraraka just stumble in on a meeting of sorts? If that was the case, then this could be bad. Really, really bad.
"Ground Zero is on the ground now," The male newscaster commented with an almost relieved tone. "We are unsure of who his companion is at this time. Our specialist hero work commentator will be joining us momentarily and with any luck, we will be able to identify her."
The video feed maximized again to show the chaos of the scene that Bakugo and Uraraka were handling the like pro heroes. Bakugo had spent many explosions at this point but it seemed to be working to their benefit. With every move that the helicopter could catch between the smoke and dust, it was clear that the number of opponents was growing smaller. Uraraka was hardly seen in the haze of the battle, but that was mostly due to the fact that the helicopter's camera was focused on the blonde explosion hero.
The mindless commentary continued as the dust and smoke began to clear more so that the entire parking lot in front of the warehouse could be seen. Part of the wall on the front of the industrial building had collapsed to rubble, most likely caused by Bakugo. The two heroes were tied up with the final and more resilient villains in the parking lot that had been reduced to piles of asphalt and dirt. But Mina felt her breath hitch in her throat when she saw a purple fog slowly leak it's way out of the crumbled crevasse in the warehouse. The fog meandered its way out onto the battlefield, directly toward the fight.
"God damn it!" Mina shouted anxiously at the screen. "Look around you guys!" She felt her hands clench into fists.
"Oh my," The woman commentator was the first newscaster to see the slow-moving fog in the distance. "What is that?" The view zoomed in on the fog before the video minimized to show the newscasters again. "Is that fog?"
Both the man and woman seemed to squint in an attempt to see better. Suddenly, the man looked up and nodded before he spoke, "Joining us now is hero and villain specialist reporter Taneo Takuda! Thank you for joining us tonight."
Taneo pushed up the brim of his circular glasses as he took a seat the half-circle desk that the reporters were seated at. "Thank you for inviting me on. Let's see what we have here." He leaned into the screen that was obviously hiding behind the cameras. "Oh, I see Ground Zero there and what looks to be Uravity. Wow, it's peculiar to see her at a fight like this one!"
"Show the fucking video!" Mina spat at the screen angrily as she pushed up on the bar to hoist herself up so she could be closer to the television. She could hardly make out the fog on the halved screen and she bit her lip hard. Had her friends seen it yet? Did they know what was coming? What kind of quirk is that?
The fog had nearly reached the heroes at this point and Mina felt her anxiety shoot through the roof at the sight. But her held breath didn't stay long as Bakugo grabbed Uraraka's arm in a blink before he shot a blast that knocked both of them away from the creeping fog. Mina felt herself relax just a tiny bit as the camera seemed to lose sight of the heroes. Maybe they had this all under control after all.
"Oh!" The woman newscaster gasped. "Who is that?"
Mina blinked as the video feed full-screened again and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She knew who it was. She could barely hear Taneo's reply. "That looks like…" There was a long pause, "Oh wow, that's Viper." The shot finally focused on the fog where a figure that was once shadowed cleared and a man somewhere in the range of his mid-thirties was standing with a gas mask over his face.
"Oh shit," Mina breathed the words out her mouth and felt her heart leap to her throat. Every hero in Japan knew who Viper was. He leads the Mamushi group, sometimes called the Pit Vipers, and he was an unbelievably powerful villain. His bite meant a slow, agonizing death and his movements were astonishingly fast. He'd earned the name Viper for perfectly mimicking the creature that his quirk was named after. He had never been defeated. Heroes had started to call him the head of the snake a long time ago due to the fact that the Mamushi would never fall until they chopped off the head of the snake.
The newscasters seemed to burst to life with a fervor that Mina hadn't seen since the days of the League of Villains. "This is breaking news," The man's tone became stoney as he recited the words, "Heroes are engaged in a conflict with Mamushi group leader, Viper, in Keihin. Viper is known for the distribution of the popular and often fatal drug known as venom as well as the death of at least twenty-two known heroes, although some estimate that the count could be much higher."
"They need to get out of there," Mina's voice was almost a whisper as she watched two more figures appear behind the villain. She knew these villains almost as well as Viper. Constrictor, a lanky man, came up behind Viper on the right hand side. His alias as a villain said all anyone ever needed to know about his quirk. Cameo was the villain to Viper's left. He was an average sized man and his quirk reminded Mina of Toru's. Toru was invisible but Cameo was capable of changing himself to perfectly blend into his surroundings. It was a nearly unstoppable trio.
"Things are really heating up as Ground Zero and Uravity, a hero that recently transferred to the Edgeshot agency, face off with the Mamushi Viper and his two henchmen, Cameo and Constrictor." The woman followed up her male counterpart. "Taneo, what can you tell us about these villains and heroes?"
Taneo heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't have many good things to say about this situation, unfortunately. Ground Zero is a veteran hero at this point but Uravity… I can't even recall her last major villain bust. This pair will have their hands full with these villains. If we're lucky, we'll see more heroes appearing shortly."
"Get out of there!" Mina yelled at the screen. "Please! Don't be stupid!" She watched in horror as the camera switched to a view of Uraraka and Bakugo taking a fighting position, determination written on their faces. "God damn it Bakugo! How do you manage to talk her into doing the dumbest shit?!"
Mina couldn't recall the last time she was this stressed out. All she could do now was watch and hope that everything would be okay. If more heroes show up, then maybe the odds would change. If even one hero showed up to back them up, then the field would be more level.
Deku was crouched behind a pile of rubble as he watched Uraraka and Bakugo fight. He'd already dug into his backpack and changed into his hero costume, ready to jump in at a moment's notice. But he knew that he couldn't until it was a necessity. Uraraka would never forgive him if he jumped in too soon and he couldn't bear the heartbreak of losing her over a villain fight.
However, his feelings started to change the moment he saw three shadowy figures appear through a veil of purple fog, all three wearing gas masks to match Viper. His eyes turned to see Uraraka and Bakugo ready up for a fight and he felt his gut drop. They were actually going to fight all three of them? Are they insane?
Viper, the villain in the center, suddenly laughed through his gas mask. "Ground Zero!" His tone was almost jovial, "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting."
"Shut your fucking trap!" Bakugo sneered, "Are you going to fight me or what?!"
"Who is your friend?" Viper tilted his head, the purple fog circling around him, "Your new sidekick?"
Deku's eyes flitted back to his girlfriend to see her tense. He knew her well enough to know that the villain was touching on her deepest insecurity. It would undoubtedly get under her skin.
"Uravity?" Bakugo scoffed, "She'd kick your ass ten times over. Besides, aren't you getting a little up in age there, Viper?"
The villain frowned and he was silent for a moment, "Constrictor, why don't you take a crack at 'em for this 'old man?' It would be a shame to dirty my hands any more than I already have."
The lanky villain wearing a trench coat seemed to be put off by the request, "Are you delusional?" He angled his body toward Viper and laughed, "While we may have a common enemy right now, I'm done being your fucking errand boy. I'm taking my fair share now."
"I see I haven't been successful in persuading you to reconsider," Viper replied with an almost joking tone. "If you really think that I'll just let you walk away, then you are mistaken. The Pit Vipers stay together and that's the end of the discussion, Constrictor."
Constrictor visibly tensed, "We will see about that, you fucking egomaniac. Can't you see that the Mamushi group is suffering? We won't be viable by the end of the year if we keep going the way we're going now. I'm done trying to convince you, Viper. I'm going to do it myself."
"Enough," Viper held up his hand. "We have a bigger problem on our hands tonight." He turned to the two heroes. "Cameo and I can handle this if you're truly that disinterested. It shouldn't take longer than a few minutes."
Deku watched as Bakugo leaned into Uraraka's side and they had a short exchange of words before they nodded simultaneously. Deku could hardly believe his eyes that Uraraka was agreeing to fight not only Viper, but Cameo and possibly Constrictor as well.
"What do you think of my new invention?" Viper indicated to the fog that began to grow more intense and spread, "I managed to turn my venom into a gas," He held up his wrists to show off the canisters spewing the gas that were strapped to his arms. "It renders biting someone almost completely unnecessary. It is incredibly effective."
Bakugo laughed maniacally, "Here's what I think of your little party trick, noodle neck!" He pulled up one of his grenadiers and grinned before he aimed and pulled the pin.
Well hello there! I'm back for another chapter! See? I told you all I'd keep going with this.
I have to be honest with you all, this was one HARD ASS CHAPTER to write but I DID IT! I feel great! I really hope you all enjoyed it despite how iffy I feel about it. I'd love to hear your thoughts! (especially regarding the beginning part with Deku spying on Uraraka and Bakugo!)
For those of you that haven't already seen, you may want to go visit my profile page. I took some time to address every review I received during my hiatus on there, including guest reviews (that left a name to address) and I will be moving the review response section to my profile page because there are just SO MANY of you now! (Thank you for that btw) So if you leave a review, check my profile when the next chapter is posted in order to read my response! :)
I also created a twitter account at onlycamefortaco to give you all live updates on where I am in the writing process and continue the conversations with you guys off this website. I'd be very honored if you decided to give me a follow and I'd be even happier to start up new conversations with you all on a more personalized basis. I want to keep this party going in between chapters! I think it could be fun!
As always, I love you guys and I'd appreciate to hear from you not only in the review section, but also on Twitter! I'll see you all soon!
XOXOXOXO