Author's Note: Thank you all for reading, please leave your thoughts in a comment or review. Until next time, happy reading!
Song Inspiration: The Fighter by Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder
TWENTY-SIX | THE FIGHTER
Bakugo stood under the shade of a tree. The twelve students, who he'd been around the last seventy-two hours and still didn't know their names, sparred with one another. They panted and wiped the sweat from their brows, continuing to sharpen and hone their quirks and physique. Of all the students, Bakugo was most intrigued by Mohawk and Ghostie. Both had their own unique style, but by far they had the most grasp of their quirks. The others had talent, but Mohawk and Ghostie were far more well rounded.
Icyhot joined Bakugo. "You think they're ready for it?"
He was talking about the obstacle course on the other side of the lake. When they were in their third year, Aizawa had them run the obstacle course multiple times. It wasn't some elaborate or impossible course to complete, but it kicked their asses. The obstacle course was used to focus specifically on physical ability.
Ponytail and Uraraka were at the obstacle course and had been all morning, putting in the finishing touches. Cementoss had come by the other afternoon to assemble it, and Bakugo specifically told him to add in a few extra parts to really push the students. After being a pro for several years, there were things Bakugo wished he'd been prepared for physically prior to entering the field.
"Let's find out," Bakugo said as he walked forward, closer to the training field. "Oi!" he hollered and all the students stopped, turning to face him. "Get your hero gear on and be back here in ten minutes. Go!"
"How do you want to do it?" Icyhot asked when Bakugo came back to the shade of the tree.
He'd be thinking about that since yesterday. The obstacle course wasn't easy, when they were third years and ran it for the first time, Aizawa made it more of a relay. Eventually, they did have to run the course themselves in full gear.
"We'll run it relay style first," Bakugo said, leaning back against the tree. "See how they fare."
Icyhot stifled a laugh.
"What?"
"That just seems unlike you," Icyhot replied, shrugging. "I mean twenty-four hours ago, you were all I'm gonna break them and now you're just a little soft."
Bakugo glared. "Shut the fuck up."
Icyhot smirked. "It's okay to like them you know."
"I don't." Bakugo snorted and glanced back at the lodge. The truth was he needed to keep his mind fully occupied. If he didn't, he would only have that kiss he and Uraraka shared on his mind. His eyes drifted toward the log they'd sat on the other evening. Their kiss was so much better than he expected it to be. And he wanted more. He wanted to kiss her the way she deserved to be kissed, every single day, every single hour.
The students came running back out onto the field, lining up in rows of three before Bakugo and Icyhot. He counted twelve and nodded, checking the time on his phone. They'd all come back in under eight minutes. He moved away from the tree and stood before them. Present Mic and Icyhot had gotten them all up at five in the morning, taking them for a two hour run through the forest. They had an hour break for breakfast, then Bakugo got a hold of them and had them spar on rotations. Exhaustion was evident, but they didn't know anything yet.
"You'll be running a relay obstacle course, which you'll eventually have to run in its entirety alone." Bakugo eyed all the students, none wavered. "Also, no quirks will be used throughout the run. Heroes cannot rely only on their quirks, everything needs to be honed."
"Yes sir!" all the students shouted.
Bakugo nodded. "Follow me."
They walked along the length of the lake, the summer sun shining off the rippling surface. Ravens cawed from the trees and a few deer frolicked in the open fields. A nice breeze blew through, wafting in the mountain pine and sweet grass scents. When they finally made it to the otherside, Bakugo had all the students line up at the starting line of the obstacle course.
The overall length of the course was 600 meters and it was in the shape of a rounded W. They'd run it in teams of three with each member being responsible for 200 meters of the course. At first glance, it didn't seem intimidating, but running full speed at a ten foot wall to hop over was scarier in action. And he couldn't wait to see them drop from the thirty foot ladder.
"Hey!" Ponytail shouted, waving to the group as she and Uraraka stood at the starting line of the course. "We're ready whenever you are. Right?" She turned to Uraraka, who was sitting on the ground, doing toe touches.
"You bet!" she cheered, turning around to give them a thumbs up.
Bakugo fought the urge to smile. She was so cute. He shook his head and looked back at the students. Their eyes sparkled at the sight of all the obstacles, grins wide, and practically bouncing where they stood.
"Creati and Uravity are going to show you guys how this course is meant to be done, then you all will take it on yourselves in teams of three," Icyhot explained as he nodded back toward the course. "It's 600 meters with various climbing, balancing, crawling, and jumping obstacles you'll have to face."
"I created some drones that will be following us through the course." Ponytail pointed to some machines lying in the grass next to a large white screen and projector. "You can watch it on the screen." She tossed a circular device to Uraraka then walked over to the drones, turning them on. The machines whirred to life, lifting into the air and floated behind their targets. The projector beeped and after a few moments, Ponytail and Uraraka were both on the screens and waved.
"You ladies ready?" Icyhot asked.
Ponytail ran back to her starting point and stretched one last time, hopping up and down a few times. "I'm ready."
Uraraka rolled her shoulders and gazed at the path ahead of her. "Creati, I love you, but I'm gonna kick your ass."
Bakugo smirked. That's my girl.
"You've been spending too much time with Ground Zero," Ponytail laughed.
Icyhot stood at the side of the starting line, hand raised in the air. "On your marks," he said as the girls zeroed in on the first obstacle. "Get set. Go!" He shot a fireball into the air and the girls sprinted straight to the thirty foot rope ladder.
They were neck and neck, climbing to the top. Uraraka climbed over first, then let go, dropping into the sand pit below. She scrambled forward, jumping over the three foot wooden barricades. Ponytail was right on her heels, neither one showing any signs of slowing down.
"I'm betting on Uravity to finish first," Sunshine said, looking among his classmates. "Any takers?"
"No way," Bones laughed. "Creati is taller, meaning she can get through the obstacles easier."
After clearing the wooden barricades, they came to the sand pit crawl. Both girls dove in without hesitation, crawling through the sand like desert lizards chasing prey. They cleared the fifteen-meter crawl and jumped to their feet, racing toward the chain grid. Nothing like having to do high knees while skipping over chains.
"Uravity's got this in the bag," Ghostie said, pulling his hood down.
"They're both so fast!" Pipsqueak clapped her hands together, eyes gleaming.
The students cheered both girls on. Bakugo smirked, but it fell from his face when Uraraka tripped on the last chain and toppled over. He almost charged for her, but stopped when she rolled right back onto her feet. She staggered a few steps, but pressed on. Ponytail zoomed past her, going into the first curve in the track.
"Damn! That was so cool!" Mohawk cheered, throwing his fist in the air. "Catch her, Ms. Uravity!"
Uraraka wasn't moving nearly as fast as she had been before, but she continued running. She picked speed as she rounded the corner, coming to the wall climb. Even Bakugo struggled getting over it. He held his breath as she stormed the wall, leapt into the air, and clutched the top. She heaved herself over and dropped to the other side, closing the gap between her and Ponytail. Bakugo let out the breath he'd been holding and glanced to his left. Icyhot smirked at him, earning a scowl from Bakugo.
"Go Creati!" Bear-Girl cheered, jumping up and down beside Bones and Plum. "Don't look back!"
The girls approached the uneven bars. It was a test of agility, where they would climb over a six foot bar, drop down and dive under a three foot bar and repeat the process four times. They were neck and neck again. Bakugo bit the inside of his cheek, noticing Uraraka favoring her right leg. He assumed she'd done a little more damage than she let on in the fall.
Regardless, she pushed through her pain and ran up the balance beam. She held her arms out to her side, running to the other end. Ponytail mimicked her moves and jumped off first. Uraraka hesitated and when she landed, Bakugo noticed her grimace on the screen. He shook his head, wanting to go in and stop her before she made it worse, but he knew she would say she had to finish the course.
"Uravity's falling behind," Typhoon yawned and put his hands behind his head.
The tunnel dives came next. Ponytail slid through the first one on her back, while Uraraka slid through on her belly. They ran to the next one, repeating their same moves. For the final tunnel, Ponytail slid on her stomach and Uraraka went through on her back. Ponytail got through first, going into the next curve of the course, approaching the final stint. Uraraka was a few paces behind her, but pressed on, arms pumping with each step she took.
Bakugo's heart thundered in his chest as they came out of the curve, sprinting to the bar climb. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't be worried about Uraraka, this obstacle had always been her best event, however it required precision jumping and landing strength. If her leg wavered, she would tumble to the ground. "You got this, Pink Cheeks."
Uraraka approached the first jump, then leapt for the second, the third, and fourth. Bakugo's fist clenched as she dropped down into the sand. She limped a couple of steps then proceeded forward. He pressed his lips together, seeming to be the only one to notice her injury. The students cheered her on. Ponytail was losing steam, not running nearly as fast as she had been for the first two parts of the race.
"Uraraka's hurt," Icyhot mentioned, his eyes on the screen.
Bakugo licked his lips and nodded. "It happened she fell during the chain grid."
Ponytail and Uraraka were tied again as they covered the four foot wall jumps, gripping the tops of the wall, then swinging their legs over. Unlike the other jumps, these had little space between them, meaning it was just jump after jump after jump until they cleared all six. Uraraka had taken the lead and raced to the pit drop—a six foot hole in the ground. First they'd drop in, then they'd have to climb out on the other side. No ropes, now grips, just a flat wall. For shorter people like Uraraka it was quite the challenge.
Uraraka dropped in first, then jumped up. She held to the top, struggling to pull herself up. Ponytail dropped in then climbed out with ease. Both girls were out within seconds of each other They dashed toward the pole weave, where they zig-zagged through an S-shaped formation of metal bars. Uraraka managed to come out first, face bright red, sweat dripping off her face. Ponytail huffed and puffed as she followed a step behind Uraraka.
"I told you guys Uravity would win," Ghostie smirked.
"They still have one more obstacle," Plum interjected, placing a hand on her hip.
The girls approached the final obstacle. Both low on stamina. The students clapped, cheered, and jumped encouraging the two to push on. Bakugo smirked and shook his head as Uraraka and Ponytail came to the monkey bars. More like rings. Bars were easier, stable with more gripping room.
Uraraka jumped first, grabbing the ring and swung out to grab the next. Her arm muscles flexed as she used her left arm to pull up, then her right, causing a rocking motion. She propelled herself to the next one, repeating the process. Ponytail used both hands on each ring, slowly closing the gap.
"Who's gonna win?" Mohawk asked.
"Uravity," Pipsqueak said, throwing a fist into the air.
"No way, Creati is closing the gap," Typhoon chimed in, waggling a finger.
It was going to be close, but Bakugo knew in his gut that Uraraka was going to win. Her resolve and determination was stronger than anyone he knew. She swung from the last ring, landing in a crouch position. Ponytail landed beside her.
Uraraka pushed from the ground, taking long strides toward the finish line. The students ran to the other end of the course as she crossed it, arms outstretched above her head as she came to a halt. She turned back to Ponytail and laughed before falling onto the ground.
Bakugo and Icyhot ran over to the finish line, the students crowding the two women. Ponytail was hunched over, panting heavily, sweat dripped from her chin. Uraraka laid flat on her back then reached for her knee, curling it into her chest. Bakugo pushed through the kids and dropped down beside Uraraka. She squeezed her eyes shut, nostrils flaring as she gritted her teeth and held to her knee. He noticed a tear in her uniform and her knee was swollen.
"We need to get you to the infirmary," Bakugo said and then looked over at Ponytail and Icyhot. "You guys handle these brats, I'm gonna take her to the doctor." He helped Uraraka sit up, then turned his back to her, remaining crouched on the ground. "Hop on, Pink Cheeks."
"Are you serious?" Uraraka chuckled. "I'm fine."
"It's a serious piggyback and you are not fine, let's go."
Uraraka grunted as she positioned herself behind him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist. Bakugo grabbed the bottom of her thighs and stood. "For the record, if you get injured during this course, don't do what Uravity did."
"Hey!" Uraraka poked his cheek then smiled at the students. "As a hero, you should always fight. Never give up."
"In a real life situation, I agree, but in training there's no need to make your injuries worse," Bakugo retorted with a snort.
"No pain, no gain," Uraraka said, holding up a V with her fingers.
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "I'll be back. Get to training, brats!"
"Sir!" all the kids shouted in unison.
Bakugo and Uraraka were quiet for the first few minutes of the walk back toward the lodge. He glanced at her injured knee, the scrape on her skin and bits of blood made his shoulders droop. It wasn't his fault, or anyones really, it was part of being a hero. However, Bakugo hated to see her get hurt. What was worse it was just a scrape and sprain of the knee. When the hell did he get so soft? His emotions were going haywire! Before, he could keep it in check, but they kissed and his feelings were winning over his logic.
Uraraka rested her chin on his shoulder and let out a relaxed sigh. "You were worried about me."
Bakugo pursed his lips, cheeks heating.
"I think that's sweet," she whispered in his ear, her grip around his neck tightening for a moment as if she were hugging him. "But seriously, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm pretty tough, you know."
Bakugo turned his face toward her. He wasn't sure why, but he leaned toward her cheek. A black object floated behind them. Bakugo narrowed his eyes and whirled around, lifting his hand in the air. "Die!"
"Bakugo!" Uraraka yelped as the drone shattered into pieces on the ground. "Geez, overkill. Don't you think?"
He snorted and turned back to the direction of the lodge. The moments between them weren't meant to be for anyone else. Uraraka giggled and rested her chin back on his shoulder. With no one watching, he quickly pecked her on the cheek. "Yes. I was worried."
Uraraka squeezed him a little tighter.
-xXx-
Shinso and Kirishima had returned to the warehouse where they found Seri. Eraserhead had suggested that if Seri had seen her friend's killed, then there was a good chance it would have been near where they found her. Given Seri's fragile state, they all agreed to not question her until she was ready to talk. They needed to find out how and why her friends had been killed, what purpose would it serve to kill innocent children. When Shinso had asked her why they were killed, she said the other man mentioned needing good blood.
The connection to the Daizen 7 was there. Shinso had racked his brain most of the night trying to figure out why they would need blood. Good blood. He wasn't quite sure what that was even supposed to mean.
"Hey." Kirishima clapped him on the back. "You're thinking too hard."
Shinso blinked and looked at Kirishima, who smiled at him. He nodded stiffly, muttering an apology. "Sorry, I just can't stop thinking about what Seri told us yesterday. Good blood. Clearly it's the Daizen 7, but why are they collecting blood?"
Kirishima scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not exactly the smartest guy in the world, but given what we've dealt with before let's not pretend that quirks being stolen isn't a possibility."
Shinso nodded. "That's a good point."
"I could be wrong, but why drain only certain people of all their blood?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, according to the reports we have, not everyone the Daizen 7 has killed has resulted in all their blood being taken. So maybe they want the blood only of specific people and others they kill are just those who get in the way."
Shinso gripped his chin. That theory wasn't a bad one. Daichi could control blood, so it was easy to assume the attacks were simple killings. When he thought about the reports though, how blood had been missing...Kirishima might have been on to something.
"You know," Kirishima said as he walked down the alley to the door of the warehouse. "We have a lot of clues and pieces, but the one big piece we don't really have is what that Fujimori dude can do and why he's doing this. If we knew that a lot of this might be easier to make sense of."
"If it were that easy, he never would have lasted this long."
Kirishima stopped and looked over his shoulder. "True, but we're gonna catch him."
"How do you know?"
"Because we have too." Kirishima turned to face him, shrugging his shoulder. "What they've done, we can't let them get away with it. If we did that, it would encourage other villains to think they could get away with that shit too." He clenched his fist and stared at the ground, brow furrowed. "Ryukyu, Gang Orca, Edgeshot, Seri, and those other kids, we have to get justice for them. We can't let what happened to them be in vain." They met each other's gaze and Kirishima smiled, turning back toward the alley and walked on without another word.
Shinso followed. Prior to this mission, the two of them never really interacted. Even in high school, when Shinso was placed in the hero course during their second year. They talked a few times, did some training, but they weren't exactly friends. In a way, Shinso saw Kirishima as the brute force type that was good at all things physical, while he was more of the strategist and observant type.
Maybe he'd been wrong about Kirishima. He had a lot of charisma and that made up for his lack of intellect. People would believe in him and at the end of the day that was the most important part about being a hero.
The warehouse smelled metallic and salty, an unpleasant combination. Unfortunately the bad weather hadn't let up, making the building gloomy and filled with shadows. A couple of seagulls were perched on the metal inlays for the shattered skylights overhead. Water dripped from the catwalks crisscrossing above their heads.
Kirishima led the way in, stepping over glass, empty bottles, and moldy cardboard. Three rusting storage containers lay in the middle of the room. Graffiti covered just about every inch of space on them. Wind whistled through the deteriorating walls and metal rattled as debris from outside struck the front entrance.
Chains hanging from the cranes creaked and groaned. Shinso turned in a slow circle, studying every inch of the warehouse. For the most part it was a large space filled with garbage. No one seemed to live within, not much for places to hide aside from the metal containers, and everytime the wind blew the whole building shook. He didn't figure it would collapse on them, but no one could fall asleep with rattling metal and rain falling on them.
"Shinso!" Kirishima hollered from the back of the warehouse.
He rushed over, going past the metal containers, and slowed at a large metal pillar. Kirishima was crouched down near the yellow paint peeled stairs. As Shinso approached, a tattered cloth sheet splattered with blood poked out from under the stairwell. A body lay with their throat slit, eyes wide open still holding onto the fear of their final moments of life.
Shinso closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath, shaking his head. To the right of the stairs was an emergency exit. The kid must have tried to run through it but got caught. He bit the inside of his cheek and looked back at the body. His brow furrowed. Seri had mentioned two names, and that two had been killed. He edged closer to the body, it was the boy with the water quirk. Shinji is what Seri called him.
"There should be another body," Shinso said as he walked for the door. He pushed it open. It led to the loading dock and aside from two dumpsters and open concrete space there was nothing out of the ordinary. He walked down the way stairs and paused upon noticing a few droplets of blood on the ground. He crouched down, studying the blood. It wasn't very much at all and with only one body, perhaps the other kid had been taken and not killed.
"Find anything?" Kirishima asked as he came down the stairs.
"No." Shinso stood. "I don't think the other kid, Erika, was killed."
"Didn't Seri say that's what she saw happen?"
"Yeah, but she was terrified."
Kirishima snapped his fingers and pointed at Shinso. "Couldn't you do that thing you did with that Marionette girl to Seri?"
Shinso sighed. "Yeah, but I don't want to."
Kirishima frowned. "Why not? I could paint a clear picture of what happened and more importantly who hurt Seri."
"When I enter someone's mind, I'm violating every fiber of their being. Nothing is private, and after what she's been through I don't want to put her through that again."
Kirishima's face softened as he looked away. He ran his fingers through his hair and straightened. "Then ask her to help. I'm not saying forcefully enter her mind, I'm saying ask her to help stop these people from doing this to anyone else."
Shinso looked to the sky. "Okay, you're right. It's worth asking."
-xXx-
Endeavor and Hawks returned to BioSyn shortly after being cleared medically. Aside from a few faint scars, Endeavor was perfectly fine and Hawks had a few bumps and bruises, but overall he made it out of that car wreck much better than everyone else. Midoriya's shoulder had been dislocated and his leg had two fractures, so he had been ordered by the doctor to stay on bed rest for the next forty-eight hours while undergoing some quirk healing treatments.
Melissa got the worst of it, broken ribs, a concussion, and a glass shard pierced her eye. Thankfully, the doctors were able to save the eye. She had a long recovery ahead of her, but they were certain in a couple of months she would be back to normal. That was relieving, because Hawks would have hated for that sweet girl to have been blind because of their investigation.
Mr. Caffrey led them out of the main building. They crossed the courtyard area, which was empty. Aside from a few pigeons and the gurgling water fountain the place was dead. Endeavor seemed to be picking up on that little detail as well and stopped walking halfway across the courtyard.
"Where is everyone? It's noon and no one is here. Yesterday there were more than a dozen people having lunch here." Endeavor glared down at Mr. Caffrey, who spun around, tugging on his white lab coat.
"After the events of your accident, we've asked everyone to stay inside during their work hours. We don't know if one of those things could attack again." Mr. Caffrey gestured to the building directly across from them. "Said beast is in the lab, ready for your viewing."
"That creature," Endeavor said, crossing his arms. "Have you seen anything like it before?"
Mr. Caffrey opened his mouth then closed it. He cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, I haven't. It really resembles the minotaur from Greek mythology."
Endeavor snorted, his flames growing a bit larger. "I think you're lying."
Mr. Caffrey took a step back, face going pale, lips being pulled in to the point it seemed like he didn't have any. "I'm just not sure!"
Hawks tilted his head. Mr. Fujimori had been a test subject at the facility at one point, perhaps they knew one another. Yesterday during their questioning, Mr. Caffrey mentioned knowing what Mr. Fujimori's quirk was. He stepped forward, taking the attention off of Endeavor. "How well did you know Mr. Fujimori?"
Mr. Caffrey looked down at the ground, head lowering slightly. "We weren't close, but we talked every now and then."
Hawks nodded and glanced to Endeavor, gesturing for him to stay quiet. "You said his quirk allowed him to create living dolls."
"Yeah, I saw him do it once."
"Like the beast from yesterday," Endeavor jumped in and Hawks sighed, looking at his partner. "Is that what his quirk can do?"
Mr. Caffrey lifted his head and met both their eyes. "I don't know. What he created before and that creature in the lab...they're very different."
"Show us," Endeavor said.
Mr. Caffrey nodded and turned toward the lab, walking on. They followed in suit, staying silent as they did. Hawks had looked at the stolen files Mr. Caffrey sent yesterday while waiting around the hospital to get cleared. All the quirks were as he stated healing and regeneration types of quirks, nothing meant for mass destruction. He still hadn't figured out if that was a good or bad thing.
Upon further digging through all those files, he also discovered that a lot of the information that was taken was access codes and security information for the other BioSyn facilities around the world. Nine research centers in total existed: Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, Moscow, Shanghai, London, Sydney, Johannesburg, Munich, and Osaka. That proved to be a huge problem as BioSyn was by far the largest database for all quirks. If the Daizen 7 got access codes they could easily create drugs, weapons, anything.
The room was cold and clinical. Hawks skin prickled at the sudden change in temperature. They crossed the lobby and Mr. Caffrey stood in front of an eye scanner, which then allowed him to have access to type in a password.
"Mr. Fujimori's dolls that he created were much more human and far smaller," Mr. Caffrey said as the doors parted. He walked through, never looking back to see if they were still following him. "We checked security footage, while it's hard to tell. From what we could tell this creature came out of thin air."
"Or teleported in," Endeavor said gruffly. "He doesn't work alone."
Mr. Caffrey stopped when they came to some stairs, leading up to a large well lit platform. He swiped his card on the card reader and jogged up the stairs. Hawks and Endeavor followed him up. In the middle of the platform, a large table contained the charred remains of the creature that had rammed into their car.
While Hawks had seen the creature yesterday, he didn't really take a good look at it. All he had recalled was it was massive, scary, and angry. Even lying on the table, skin burnt, bones protruding from the flesh, inky substance pooling around it, the damn monster still looked scary and angry.
"Last night, I examined this thing," Mr. Caffrey said, his eyes tracing the monster mangled corpse. "I don't know how to explain it, but essentially it was a living doll."
Hawks put a hand to his chin. "Then why are you hesitant to say this is Mr. Fujimori's work?"
Mr. Caffrey rubbed his brow. "Because I don't think this is just his quirk, I think he's combining his with others."
"Is that possible?" Hawks asked.
"Of course it is," Endeavor said, his eyes locked on the scorched corpse. "It's no different than what I did."
Hawks raised an eyebrow, but then it clicked. His son.