Chapter Twelve: Rescue Mission

It was early on Monday morning, the sun not quite awake enough to illuminate the world. Aizawa was still sleeping when something jumped onto the end of his bed. Aizawa woke and quickly sat up only to be faced with the amethyst eyes of the shadow cat that stared at him.

"Veronica?" he looked around the room, expecting her to be there. There was no one though, just him and the cat.

The cat blinked slowly at him before moving to approach him.

"Somethings wrong…" Aizawa spoke softly. He looked over to his clock, it was nearly 0400. The cat jumped down and moved to the door as Aizawa grabbed his phone and dialed Veronica's number "Come on…"

"The number you have called is out of service or unable to be called at this time." the robotic response repeated.

"Damn it!" he shouted, throwing the phone onto the bed, and quickly putting on his hero outfit and leaving his room. He knocked rapidly on Yamada's door before just opening it.

"'Zashi!" he shouted "I think Veronica's in trouble. I need to get ahold of Nezu. Something's wrong." he woke him up and began dialing Nezu's number.

Yamada stretched and yawned before he sat up and rubbed his eyes "What time is it? Can't we have an emergency at a normal time?" he spoke sleepily "How are you so sure anyway?"

The phone was ringing and Aizawa simply pointed to the dark corner of the room. There, two faint purple eyes watched silently. The body of the cat completely hidden by the shadows.

"Oh…" Yamada stared with wide eyes and moved to start getting dressed too.

"Eraser? Kind of early isn't it? Even for you-"

"I think Veronica's in trouble." he cut Nezu off "Her… her shadow quirk… it's in my room… well… at least a part of it." he began. He really didn't know how to explain the cat, he didn't know much about it or Veronica's quirk. How could it be here when she wasn't. Can she control it from a distance?

"It does seem to have a mind of its own doesn't it."

Something he's said before. He looked back to the cat and stared, remembering the attack and how even with his quirk activated, the shadows still waivered… like they were watching him.

"Well that is bad news then… Have Midnight stay in the dorms, you and Mic meet me at the gates." Nezu spoke quickly before hanging up.

Yamada and Aizawa let Kayama know what was going on and gave her Nezu's instructions. Once things at the dorm were squared away and they had their gear they made their way to the gates. The cat lurking nearby, moving in and out of the shadows.

Nezu took notice of the cat and raised an eyebrow "Is that it?" he gestured to the shadow.

Aizawa nodded "Yeah, I don't know how she does it… or at this point… if she's even in control of it at all. We can figure that out more after we find her though." he nodded.

"Yes, of course. I called a few agencies, let them know there may be a situation and to keep eyes and ears open." Nezu began "I'm here to help assess the risk." he offered.

Soon the cat rubbed against Aizawa's leg and began walking in the direction of town.

"I think it wants us to follow it…" Yamada looked between Aizawa and Nezu.

"Then that's what we'll do, just keep your guard up. There is an exceptionally good chance we could be walking into a trap" Nezu spoke softly.

"Sho… maybe you should let us handle it. If it really is a trap, we already know that you're the target of the last attack."

"I'm going!" Aizawa looked back to Yamada, fists clenched.

"We actually might need Eraser, he's the only one that can negate her quirk… or the villains." Nezu spoke matter-of-factly.

Yamada just gave an understanding nod and Aizawa pushed past them and began pursuing the cat.

"Let's go, who knows what they may be doing to her, or what plans they have." Aizawa spoke, his voice seeming calm and collected but a hint of worry still clung to the words.

The trio followed the cat as it led them down a strange winding side road. The trees around them began to get closer together, the morning sun just barely peeking through. The cat stopped as it came to a clearing where an old abandoned house sat. Vines growing over the sides, and the windows cracked or missing all together. The cat made its way into the shadow of the trees and vanished completely.

"She's here?" Yamada looked around "It looks deserted." he added.

"Or that's what they want people to think, look over there." Nezu pointed to the front door.

Beside the door was a small panel with a red light. The more they looked around they also noted a few security camera's that scanned the grounds.

"A lot of security for just an abandoned lot…" Aizawa noted.

They stuck close to the tree line and blended into the shadows when the front door creaked open and The Doctor emerged from the house.

"Alright, you got the plan? You better not mess this up Kaori." he spoke sternly.

"You can count on me Doc! She should be awake soon, so I'll get her to the location." she spoke, barely visible in the door frame.

A car pulled down the long drive and a large man got out and opened the back door. The Doctor looked around before sliding into the car, his bodyguard sliding in after him. The door shut and the car reversed down the road.

"Well if there is only one inside, this has a pretty good chance of success." Nezu began "Sounds like they may have Veronica sedated. We should proceed with caution. I will wait out here, keep an ear out." he nodded.

"That animal sense I tell you…" Yamada spoke to Aizawa as they moved around the side of the house.

"Yeah his hearing is impeccable." Aizawa nodded "That's how he always knows all the gossip…" he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

They refocused as they went around the back of the house, avoiding the cameras. There was no door in the back but there were also no cameras. They crossed over and peered into the windows cautiously.

When they got to the furthest window, Aizawa peered in and noticed a large box that took up most of the room. There was bright light peering through the cracks in the corners. "I think I've got something here." he looked back to Yamada.

Yamada took a chance to peek through the window and nodded "Alright, we know there is one villain for sure…" he noted.

Aizawa nodded and carefully moved the window, seeing that it opened. He looked around to be sure there wasn't anyone around before hoisting himself up and into the house. He held out a hand and helped Yamada in as well. Once they were in, they walked around the large box until the found the door.

Aizawa opened it slowly to see Veronica lying on the ground before quickly moving to her side and checking her pulse "She's alive but we've got to get her out of here."

"Going somewhere Eraser?" a familiar, sultry voice called from behind.

Yamada turned to face Kaori and took a defensive stance "Don't worry, you're coming too." he smiled.

Kaori scoffed and lunged at Yamada with a needle in hand.

"Watch out Mic, you don't wanna be hit with anything she has!" Aizawa called out.

Yamada dodged the attack and swept her legs, causing her to trip forward.

Kaori got up and snarled "Lucky move…" she spat and ran at him again.

While the two were fighting, Aizawa quickly picked up Veronica and carried her from the box bridal style. He carefully avoided Yamada and Kaori as he moved from the room and into the main part of the house.

There was another guard standing there and immediately saw Aizawa and pulled out his gun. Aizawa quickly moved one hand from Veronica and grabbed his capture tool, throwing it forward. It wrapped around the gun before it could be fired and pulled away from the guard.

The guard lunged at Aizawa and lead with his right fist, just barely missing him and he leapt out of the way.

Soon the front door busted open and several officers came storming in, Nezu following behind.

"I called some backup." he smiled and waved.

The officers apprehended the guard and Kaori and had them cuffed. They lead them out of the house and put them into a large vehicle "We're going to bring them in for questioning as well as charge them on abduction." one of the officers talked to Nezu before they retreated.

Nezu smiled and looked back to Aizawa who still had Veronica in his arms "Take her home. She doesn't appear to be too injured so I'm sure you can handle it." he spoke cheerfully before heading out himself.

Yamada pat Aizawa on the back "Come on, I'll walk with you." he nodded.

The pair carried Veronica home which was only about a twenty-minute walk from the abandoned house. When they arrived, they managed to get the door open and Aizawa laid Veronica on the couch and turned his attention back to Yamada.

"Alright, you should probably stay here with her, Nezu said that it was mentioned she would wake up soon… she's going to be confused and disoriented." he nodded and turned towards the door.

"Yeah… that's probably a good idea…" he spoke, looking back to Veronica.

"Oh, and maybe don't chicken out this time Sho." Yamada smirked.

"Go home Zashi!" Aizawa pointed to the door.

Yamada laughed and made his exit, leaving Aizawa alone with Veronica once again.