Chapter 69: short reunion

Neo Kumo's wide eyes narrowed. He caught himself quicker than Hikari liked, but not quick enough. A blinding beam of lightning connected with the orange disk stuck to his pants before his spider legs reached her, and the villain screamed as the electricity soared through his body.

Someone called her name. A green blur dropped to her right and Tsuyu's big hand appeared on her shoulder.

"Hi-chan, are you alright, kero?" The frog heroine's eyes filled with concern while travelling over Hikari's body, but the taller quickly shook it off, "I'm- I'm okay, just some cuts. Neo Kumo, he won't be stunned for long..."

Nodding, Tsuyu crouched down, readying herself to evade or deflect any incoming attack. The villain's body still twitched.

"We need something to tie him up with, kero, before he-" But despite not being able to control his body properly, Neo Kumo sent his quirk into their direction. The girls jumped apart; Debris rained down where they stood a moment ago.

"Hey, not so fast!" Another beam of lightning shot at the villain, but this time he managed to cut the targeted device off his knee, sending the attack dispersing in the air. He turned to the origin of the attack.

"Shoot, that one should have knocked him out for good!" Kaminari, who was supporting himself against a wall, gasping for air, barely managed to duck before a black tendril swept through the air where his head had been. Using the momentary distraction, Hikari sent her particles out to separate her brother's quirk from his back.

"What are you two doing here?!"

"Villains have started showing up, so Aizawa-sensei sent us out to help leading the rest of the civilians to the evacuation centres," Tsuyu explained, "we ran into Itsuka-chan who told us you disappeared a few minutes ago, so we figured something had happened and came looking, kero."

Aizawa-sensei was at the shelter and Kendo and the others had arrived safely. Hikari let go of a deep sigh. "Our class…?"

"Half of them are already at this shelter, some more at the one across the river. Only a few are still missing."

Hikari hitched a breath. Was Izuku…? Did Dragon…? She shook her head. This wasn't the time to dwell on her stupid feelings.

Black spider legs flung at them. While Hikari summoned a shield to protect Kaminari and herself, Tsuyu jumped up the wall.

"I hate to break the fun, you know I do, but we need a plan!" The electric hero in training screeched, holding on to Hikari's arm. She couldn't blame him for not trusting her shield, her brother's quirk could tear through Todoroki's ice walls with ease, and the thin wall of particles didn't look like much.

"Kaminari-kun, give me one of your disks and take cover back there until I give you a signal," Hikari ordered, ignoring his protest. He only reluctantly let go once she pushed him back and handed over one of his disks.

Letting go of her shield, the girl saw Tsuyu leap from the side of one building to the next, escaping each stab by hopping further ahead. That was the distraction they needed.

Hikari dashed to the right, which didn't escape her brother. Shifting his attention to her he attacked, apparently not considering Tsuyu to be the threat that she was. Big feet crashed into the side of his head. Neo Kumo stumbled, disoriented, and Hikari used his confusion to slap the orange disk to the small space on his back between his spider legs with her quirk.

"NOW!"

Yellow lightning danced across the villain's shaking body. But Kaminari's victorious scream was short-lived. Something black wrapped around his middle, turning his yell into a high-pitched scream, and tried to slam him into the ground. Hikari barely cut off her brother's quirk before it was too late and Tsuyu managed to snatch their classmate half a second before he crashed.

"What's wrong with this guy?!"

If only I knew, Hikari thought bitterly, as she joined her two friends again, ready to raise another shield. They needed a plan-

"Not fair."

The three U.A. students froze.

"It shouldn't be like this." Neo Kumo had his back turned to them. "This wasn't supposed to go this way."

"Is he moping?" Kaminari whispered. Yeah, what was he doing?

"This is not-" He stopped abruptly, as if a new thought occurred to him. "Of course. Should have thought of that."

"No offence, Shikogane, but I think he's lost it." She couldn't agree more with the boy. Tsuyu straightened up.

"Hi-chan and I should continue to distract him, while Kaminari-chan gets another shot. He shouldn't be able to take any more hits, kero," she proposed a new strategy. The other two nodded.

"Let's get-" The 1-A students froze at the manic laugh echoing between the buildings. Neo Kumo still hadn't turned, but something orange glistened in his hand. Hikari didn't understand what was happening until it was too late, and the villain rammed a needle tip into his own neck.

Did he just-?! No, he wasn't that stupid, this would kill him-

At first, nothing seemed off when his quirk sprang to life once again. Ten spider legs rose- wait, ten…?

A scream ripped through the air as three additional legs burst from his back, apparently causing the villain pain. As soon as they reached a certain length they parted, the offspring not aiming in any particular direction, but with enough force to rip a good junk out of the street, apparently hitting a conduit, and sending a high-pressure beam of water into the air.

"RUN!" Hikari yelled as loud as she could, feeling panic rise. Tsuyu's tongue slung around Kaminari and she hopped up the high-rise block, trying to get out of reach. Hikari followed close by, using her own quirk to pull and push herself up. Black tendrils caught up to them, stabbing the wall at random. She didn't dare to turn around. If he only managed to gain control over his quirk for one second it would be over for them…

They were jumping, trying to bring as much distance between themselves and the villain, knowing there was no sense in trying to fight that thing. The black mass ascended into the air, multiple snake-like tails wiggling around aimlessly. Some drilled through walls into buildings, tearing down everything in their path, others simply flopped around without directions.

A yelp. Out of the corner of her eye Hikari saw her friends skid across the closest roof.

"Tsuyu! Kaminari-kun!" One jump later she was by her friends' sides, calling upon another shield. She was glad to be kneeling on the floor because the move felt more draining than it should. Something crashed hard into the wall of particles, and each second it became harder to keep it up. She was exhausted. Soon, she would be at her limit and not be able to defend her friends anymore…

"He got my leg, kero," Tsuyu croaked. Hikari reached for a bandage in one of her belt pouches and threw it at Kaminari, who started dressing the large cut across the frog girl's calve, not without panicking slightly.

"Hurry, I can't hold it for much long-" The next hit came so hard and unexpectedly, it knocked all three of them back. Disoriented, Hikari knew she was rolling but her vision was a blurred mess, suddenly she felt weightless, then gravity harshly tugged at her insides, pulling her down-

.

She must have lost consciousness for a few seconds. Because the next thing she noticed were strong hands on her shoulders. She was back on the street, half lying on the ground, more hands were trying to help her up.

"Shikogane?"

"Shouji?" The girl breathed, waiting for her vision to clear. "Tsu-chan and Kaminari…?"

With his six arms occupied steadying her, the heroic student only nodded to his left, eyebrows drawn together in a frown. A hero with a green cape had picked up the injured girl, there were more people in costumes standing and running around. She wanted to scream at them to run, Neo Kumo was still-

It was quiet. Too quiet. Not a single black spot on the clear sky. Was it over? That could only mean one thing.

She had already limped halfway down the street when Shouji's call reached her. Ignoring her own exhaustion, she activated her spider legs once more, almost buckling in from the sudden loss of energy, and propelled herself forward.

More people, presumable heroes, flooded the scene. There was a small crater where her brother last stood. Hikari dragged herself towards the centre where two men hunched down, another one was kneeling on the ground. Between them was a dark lump.

Hushed voiced hung in the air. "... Himself with Overload. His quirk must have ripped…"

Something blocked her way. She tried to push but the arm grabbed hold of her, and she heard Todoroki's voice, "Shikogane."

"Let me go-!"

"Shikogane."

She struggled but was too weak to push him aside. Simply staying on her feet kept every bit of stamina she had left. She clearly recognized the dark lump as a cloak, probably from one of the heroes, drenched in red, the bulks pressing through the fabric had no identifiable shape despite it clearly having to be…

It couldn't- He wasn't- That couldn't be-

Just as her legs gave in, Todoroki's other arm darted to her side to catch her.

He struggled. He screamed, but his lips stayed sealed. He threw punches left and right, but his arms dangled limply at his sides. Izuku tried to call upon his quirk again and again, he wanted to escape like he escaped Shinsou's brainwashing, but he couldn't reach One for All. He called out to the First, but there was nothing.

Dragon's hand rested on his shoulder, guiding his body down the stairs. Shockwave stood to his right, a villainess Izuku had encountered during his other time in Onderon. He himself was flanked by a man fully clad in black, Dragon had called Nightmare. The last in tow were the Puppeteer and Voodoo, the reason the villains had gained control over his body.

Izuku hollered. What good was he without his quirk, without control?

As if knowing his thoughts, Dragon squeezed his shoulder. Maybe some of the muscles in his body had tensed at the effort. If only he could reach his left wrist…

"Can't you go any faster?" The Void hissed. She had picked up Eri and Yotsune was still lagging behind.

"I'm a hacker! A nerd! I hate moving and don't even get me started about sports! Be grateful I planned this stupid escape!" He retorted through clenched teeth. They had reached the lowest level, the deepest, darkest corner of the basement. Yotsune grabbed the flashlight from his backpack.

"And now?"

"Now we follow this." He pointed at a hallway completely deprived of light that dreaded to swallow them whole.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes! There's a secret door behind one of the wall panels, where we should be able to slip into a maintenance tunnel that should lead directly into an abandoned railway system."

"And then?"

"Then we find a way out! Now shut up!" He didn't like the anxious look Eri was giving him, but the Void was asking too many questions for his liking. "Just follow me!"

They did, until the hallway was flooded in artificial light, and both teens stopped in their tracks. Eri covered her eyes with her hands.

"Please tell me that was you."

Yotsune ignored the unnecessary question. Steps could be heard from around the corner. They exchanged a panicked glance before charging towards their only way out. No more than a few meters in front was the wall panel, at the back of an apparent dead end, but they would never reach and remove it in time. A few steps ahead the corridor split into three, still dark hallways on either side, but he had no idea where they led and he didn't want to get lost in this maze, and whoever was following was closing in on them rapidly...

For the probably first and last time in his life, Yotsune did something selfless. And all it took for that was one horrified expression on a little girl's face.

The Void squeaked as she and Eri were pushed into one of the side corridors. She wanted to protest, but as soon as the approaching group rounded the corner, the girls pressed themselves against the wall, hiding from the newly arrived.

"Why do I have a feeling you should not be here?" Dragon's slick voice made Yotsune freeze completely. Of all the people that could have found them, this was the worst possible scenario.

He was going to die.

The big bad stood there, in the flesh, surrounded by his subordinates. "Yotsune was it?"

This was it.

The hacker gulped, the only movement his body allowed. His eyes flickered from the big boss to a woman in the grey bodysuit, then a villain he remembered as Nightmare, until they stuck to the smaller, green person in between.

Freckles. Was he working for Dragon? Neko told him about their relationship, but he never took the green haired boy to be one to betray his colleagues. He seemed too heroic for that. Then again, the best spies were those you'd least suspect. Yotsune almost made himself believe that, until he saw the distress in Midoriya's pleading eyes, and the two additional villains standing behind him. One of them was the Puppeteer, if he remembered. Everything made sense now.

They had Freckles under control. Four villains, their boss, and a controlled hero student with super strength. There was nothing he could do against that. Dragon would lock him up again, kill him, or worse, experiment on him.

He took a step back. Dragon took two towards him, now standing at the front of the group.

"Would you be so kind as to explain to me what you're doing down here?"

He was going to die. He should have followed Neko's example and left the country.

Something moved to his right and he withstood the temptation to look at the girls cowering in fear. They- The girls! Yotsune's eyes focussed on Midoriya again. He had an idea. Maybe. He didn't know how intelligent the Void was, if she would catch his implication, but if she didn't, they were going to die anyway, so what's new.

"I, uh, I took the wrong turn."

Dragon's eyebrows rose, as if being surprised by Yotsune's boldness. The teen clenched his fists. All or nothing.

"I-I can go back up, or, eh, are you g-going to have those two control my body like they do his?" Shit. What was he doing? It was far too obvious. Dragon threw a quick glance over his shoulder before nodding at his lackeys to follow him. The teen backed up, but there was only so far he could go until the dead end met his back. A dead end, how fitting.

"Tell me it wasn't you who leaked the info, or I'll have to make this more painful than it needs to be."

Yotsune kept his eyes glued to his feet, too scared to give away what was happening behind the group of villains. At this point he didn't even care whether the Void had caught the hint, as long as the two girls just got out of here for God's sake, they were probably better off anyway-

An agonizing yelp rang in his ears.

Izuku watched the Seishin student he barely recognized in horror. He knew Yotsune had sold Hikari out to his father, but not willingly, and he had looked guilty enough as he confessed. So, why was he still - again? - working for his father? And what happened to him? He looked rather… Neglected.

Also, what he had said made no sense. Why would he point out that Izuku was being controlled? Unless… If they could, Izuku's eyes would have widened. For the split of a second, he feared Dragon had noticed it as well, but judging by the way he confidently strode towards the other frightened teen, he either didn't or he simply couldn't bring himself to care. It wasn't like the quirkless boy in front of him was a threat, and yet Nightmare raised his arms, readying himself for an attack. Even Shockwave widened her stance.

Suddenly, both Voodoo and the puppeteer yelped in unison. The grip around his shoulder loosened. Izuku felt the feeling return to his limbs in waves, he regained just enough control to turn his head and find the villainous duo engulfed in a soft glow.

Something tore at the back of his costume, Izuku already lunged to smack it away, but terrified, brown eyes locked with his. He didn't know them, but the expression was enough. He threw himself at the stranger, tearing them to the ground with him. A wave of navy sand soared through the air above their heads.

Dragon was shouting - Izuku couldn't grasp the meaning of his words, preoccupied trying to make sense of what was happening. The teenage girl he was shielding with his body reached to their right, where a tiny, trembling hand appeared in his line of sight.

Izuku knew that hand. He hitched a breath. He barely pulled the little body close in time before the heat hit him in the back.

Eri.

Blinding green light drenched the hallway. The flames blasting weren't enough to burn him, but he could feel some of the material of his suit starting to melt to his skin, which was painful enough.

Eri.

He didn't know how or why, but he didn't care as he felt the white waves tickle his chin. She was right here, in his arms. He would never let go again.

Cold, sterile white light replaced green. The air around them still had to be unbearably hot for most people. Not paying attention to the acidic smell and the tugging and ripping of skin on his back, Izuku fully intended to use the short break his father needed to catch his breath. Sharp, navy glass fragments surrounded them, telling him that some of Nightmare's sand had fallen victim to Dragon's attack.

They needed to get out of here. Izuku had no idea how to manage that with five villains on their trail, he still couldn't use his quirk and the effect would last for another few hours, plus, he had three people to protect-

"You need to get away from me or you can't use your quirk!" The teenage girl he was still trying to protect rushed her words. She shoved him off, and indeed, he felt a surge of power rush through his body. But- Eri. The little girl had used her quirk on Voodoo and the Puppeteer moments ago to distract them, that was where the faint glow had come from. Could it be that she accidentally touched him too and rid his system off the drug?

He didn't get any time to test his theory. Dragon's shout echoed through the messy hallway, "SEIZE THEM!"

Blindly flicking a finger over his shoulder, Izuku was surprised to hear a choking sound coming from behind. He hit at least one of them. With Eri still in his arms he came to his feet, staggered, but didn't fall. His earlier attack had sent Nightmare flying and crashing right into Dragon of all people. Shockwave fell to her knees at their side, face twisted in a mix of worry and horror.

Seeing that as his chance, Yotsune skid past the villains and passed Izuku's side without stopping. Their next step didn't need saying. Izuku pulled the brown eyed girl to her feet and dragged her with him. They caught up to the previous Seishin student in mere seconds.

After muttering a few calming words into Eri's hair, who clung to him for dear life, he turned to Yotsune, "Where are we going?!"

"We… Supposed to break… Through that wall…" the other spit out between breaths. He wouldn't be able to run for much longer. "Old tunnel…"

They were running in the wrong direction, then. If Yotsune truly had found a way out, they needed to get back on track.

"Go right!" Izuku yelled at the next opportunity, igniting a few flames along his forearms to light their way. "I can smash through the walls to get us there!"

Both the Seishin student and the brown eyed girl were getting slower. At this rate, they wouldn't make it. They took a second right turn, now facing the right direction again, when Izuku had to push the two other teens out of reach before kicking the man-sized hand made of sand that dreaded to crush them. Eri didn't let go of a single sound. Had he dreamt of big hands lately or was that something out of Nightmare's repertoire?

A shockwave sent all of them to the ground. Too many villains - Izuku couldn't keep all of them busy if the others were that slow. Lying flat on his back, a pipe on the ceiling caught his attention. This might work.

Clutching Eri tightly to his chest he evaded another hand made of sand. He raised his leg, using One for All at twenty four percent, and kicked. His attack missed. A bit further behind, Nightmare cackled, unaware the pressure created by Izuku's move burst the pipe above his head.

Water splashed out of the damaged supply line, drenching the villain and his quirk. Izuku wouldn't be able to melt the sand that way, but it was enough of a diversion. His two companions were already running as he turned to follow them.

"There," Yotsune pointed to a wall, "if, if I'm… Right… There should…" He didn't have to say more. Izuku smashed his iron sole against the concrete with a well controlled kick, bursting a hole into the concrete. Dust obscured their already terrible vision. It forced him to deactivate his quirk, but that also meant Dragon couldn't breathe any fire without risking creating an explosion. Still, it wouldn't take the villains long to catch up.

Izuku knew what he had to do.

There was a click and the beam of a flashlight blinded him through the swirling dust particles. Ignoring the knot in his chest at the familiarity of the sight, he placed Eri on the ground and knelt down to meet her eyes. Izuku forced the brightest smile he could manage on his face.

"Eri-chan."

"Deku-san!" the little one replied, her big eyes filled with both fear and excitement. It made his heart ache even harder. Eri bit her lower lip, looking at him expectantly. She trusted him to get them out of here, and he wouldn't disappoint her. He couldn't. Izuku held up his arm and removed the watch from his wrist before he pulled the screw all the way out. It clattered to the wet ground.

"Here," he placed it in Eri-chan's hands, "it's a gift. With this, the heroes will know where you are and Aizawa-sensei will come to save you."

Eri looked at the watch with big eyes. Slithering steps could be heard not too far behind.

"Freckles-" But Izuku silenced Yotsune with a raised hand, his eyes never leaving the little girl.

"Eri-chan, I need you to listen to me." The steps closed in. Eri raised her chin. "You need to follow these two, they will get you out."

Her big eyes grew even wider. They started glistening and Izuku had to bite the inside of his cheek to refrain his own eyes from watering. Eri didn't look hurt, at least not physically, no bandages in sight. It consoled him somewhat. He gulped and placed his hand on top of her head, petting it gently.

"Deku-san!" She protested.

"Hey, it's okay, I'll be right behind you. I'll just take care of these guys very quickly, then I'll come after you, okay?"

"But-!"

"I'm sorry I'm so late, you've been so strong, Eri-chan. But I need you to be strong for one more time. You can do that, can't you?"

The little girl threw herself at him. Izuku closed his eyes. He had been so worried, he had missed her so much, but this wasn't the time. He looked up at Yotsune.

"Once the heroes find you-"

"I'll send them down here, got it," the quirkless boy replied, crossing his arms. Content with that answer Izuku offered him a nod, before turning his attention back to Eri. He rubbed her small back one last time.

"Promise me you'll behave and follow them, yeah? If you can do that, I'll make you another candy apple once we get back, how does that sound?"

A few tears ran down her face, but Eri didn't even sniffle. She nodded frantically.

"Good, I'm so proud of you, Eri-chan." He gave her another pat and came back to his feet. The dust had cleared enough for him to see the beam of another flashlight dancing on the wall behind them. They would arrive within a matter of seconds.

The brown eyed girl, whose name he still didn't know, offered her hand to Eri. He bestowed her with a grateful look - if only he had time to ask her about her quirk - and watched Yotsune grab her by the upper arm, ready to drag them away. Then Izuku remembered one last thing.

"Once you reach the heroes, tell them that Neo Kumo is still alive." A nod. "And… If you see Hikari, tell her not to worry too much." Another nod. Yotsune didn't even question it.

"See you outside."

Izuku let the comforting green flames travel up his arms once again as he watched their backs disappear in the darkness.

A/N: Five more chapters, people! Staying with the not so good news, this fic will be on a break until July. Maybe I'll manage to post a chapter next month, but no promises, I just have too much going on right now.

Review time:

*Nixxon Mysterio: Thanks so much! Omg, you've been following since you were that young? You just made me feel like a mother watching her child grow up xD I hope the ending won't disappoint! PS: The vigilante AU is up. But also on break for the same reasons...

*Ryu: Thanks so much for the review, as always! I'm sorry to disappoint, but there won't be more than that...