...Hi?

More info at the bottom. Also I'm stopping the text formatting thing, since I don't see a reason to keep it around.

Chapter 08 - Preparation

How far away is this place?

For the past hour or so, Izuku had been discretely following the three criminals throughout the city. Wherever their base was, it was outside District 7. A while back, they passed the border between it and District 10.

That begged the question though: Why did they come all the way to a random alleyway in District 7 to talk? The only reasonable answer he could think of is that they lived in the district, decided to meet up first and then headed to the base.

Either way, it seemed like the base was somewhere in this new district. Unlike the one he was just in, this one was filled with power plants and… suspicious looking buildings. It became pretty clear why a group would choose to base here.

The trio ahead of him were talking as they walked, but he could not make out what they were saying. Hopefully it's not anything important…

As the crowds thinned out, however, Izuku realized that he would be spotted immediately if he kept following behind them. It was hard to act inconspicuously when he was the only one in the crowd, after all. Looks like he would need to act very careful from here on out.

Eventually, the three turned into a narrow street that no one else was entering. He stopped just outside of the turn and peeked in.

It appeared to be where workers for the buildings surrounding the street would park. That explains the lack of people walking in; the workers are already working. In the distance, he could see the trio walking confidently. Up ahead, the street turned right. Once the group had turned in that direction, Izuku ran into the street.

He hid around the corner that the criminals went around and peeked into the next street. Thankfully, he was able to catch them turning into another narrow street. Like before, he ran after them when they disappeared from sight.

This went on for a while, with the quirk user needing to be quieter the deeper they went into the maze that was District 10. He noted that it was probably inconvenient for the group to get out and about if they were this far away from the main street. Then again, it also means it was less likely for Anti-Skill to find them.

Along the way, numerous abandoned buildings lined the narrow street, all of them possible locations for a base. But the trio only kept moving.

After what felt like hours, they finally stopped in front of a… pretty small abandoned building. Several of the windows were broken, the walls seemed to be falling apart and it seemed to reek of something. Despite all of that, the criminals walked inside without a care in the world. He let out a sigh of relief. I was worried they would notice me.

But now he had a problem. Should he go after them and see what was inside the building, or go back? He wanted to do the former, but he was extremely likely to be caught doing that. Going into a place without a plan tended to end badly.

Well, he did resolve to avoid fights, so he really had no choice. If only he had more information.

At least he knew where the base was. He could prepare himself a little bit and attack at the right time. He needed to act quickly though, before UNDER could move forward with their plan.

First, he needed to return to the apartment.

After having taken the bus back to the apartment, Izuku was now standing in front of the door to the room. He walked in, only to see that no one was currently inside. Yomikawa must still be out working. Does she ever get any breaks?

He shook his head. Of course she had to have breaks! He only knew her for three days after all.

He placed his backpack on the couch and sat down. That's when he noticed a piece of paper sitting in front of him. He picked it up, revealing an envelope underneath it. Huh? What's this?

The quirk user moved his eyes to the paper in his hand and read it.

Hey Midoriya!

Yesterday, you told me that your money didn't work, right? I figured that you'd probably need some in case you head out. In the envelope, there should be around 20,000 yen. Feel free to use it for anything you need!

-Yomikawa

Izuku's eyes bulged at the figure listed. 20,000?! Why did she give me so much? Doesn't she need this money for her own purposes? I can't take this!

But… wouldn't refusing the money be like refusing her kindness? And, truth be told, the money would be very useful in raiding the base. There were a few items he wanted to try finding that would improve his odds of success. The green haired teen decided to take the money, but he resolved to eventually pay Yomikawa back.

He picked up the envelope and opened it to make sure the money was inside. It was, so he took out the cash and stuck it into his wallet (He took out his world's currency out beforehand). When he was done, Izuku sat on the couch and started thinking.

How should I go about taking down UNDER? I know their base location, but not much else. Unlike with the Shie Hissaikai, I'll be going in blind. And I'm still not sure how powerful they will be either.

Alternatively, I could wait for them to attack me, then interrogate them. It would give me more information on their base, plus a raid would work better. I think that's what Nighteye would have done.

But… that runs the risk of the other hostage being captured. There's no way I could allow that to happen!

Indeed; there was no way that someone like Izuku could purposely get someone taken as a hostage. Which meant that he needed to take action very soon. Preferably tonight, because I don't know when they will attack. The sooner I can attack, the lower the risk of there being any hostages.

He glanced over at his phone, which displayed the current time: 12:37. That gave him the majority of the day for him to plan everything out. However, he knew for a fact that the majority of raids done on his world required days, if not weeks of extensive planning to ensure that it would go smoothly.

But why would he let that stop him? With a determined expression, the green haired teen pulled out his notebook and flipped to a new page (He definitely would need a new notebook soon).

I can do this!

Later, Izuku was back in the streets of Academy City. After making a fairly decent plan (in his opinion), he left the apartment and walked towards a shopping mall he found on his GPS. There were several items he wanted to buy, but the underground mall he had visited the past few days didn't have them. Instead, he found another mall called the Seventh Mist, which was only a little further away.

Apparently, it had been closed for a few days not too long ago, thanks to some bombings by a rogue esper. No one had been killed, but it still shocked Izuku when he read about it. Yet, it had already reopened, as if it had never happened. Academy City's construction crews sure do work hard!

Nothing noteworthy occurred on the way and eventually, he was standing in front of the building. Above the doors to the mall was a sign spelling out 'Seventh Mist'. Unlike the underground mall, it was several stories high and appeared to be entirely aboveground.

He walked inside, passing by several stores that sold various different items. At the moment though, Izuku was searching for a very specific item.

It did not take long before he stood in front of a gadget store. Thanks to Academy City's technological advances, items that normally cost a fortune in his own world were much cheaper. He found out about this when looking online for anything he could use.

He walked through the shelves, looking back and forth for the specific item he wanted. There was a container filled with pens that apparently translated other languages into Japanese. Next to the pens were stacks of boxes, full of objects that Izuku could not see. While they interested him, they were not what he was looking for.

It took him some time, but eventually, he found what he was looking for. Among several boxes of watches and glasses, he pulled out a dark green box. The price was marked at 6000 yen, which was very low for the quality of the item.

Night vision glasses.

While his plan did not require it, the glasses would help him immensely. Izuku intended on attacking during the night, so having something that would let him see better would make the operation's odds of success go up.

(Of course, the base could be lit up, but hey, better safe than sorry!)

He walked over to the counter and purchased the glasses, using the money Yomikawa gave him earlier. He gave a bow to the cashier and ran out of the store. He needed to prepare the other parts of the plan, and quickly!

But as he was running through the large hall of the mall, he passed by a clothing store that stopped him in his tracks. There was a sales rack sitting just outside of the entrance that caught his eye.

Most of the clothes were winter clothes or old looking t-shirts. Izuku supposed that made sense, because most people wouldn't buy a jacket in the middle of summer. So what caught his eye?

At first glance, it was just a dark green hoodie. Nothing special about it whatsoever. But his sharp eyes noticed that there was something else.

Sticking out of the hood were long rabbit ears, not unlike those on his hero costume. Hell, it was actually strange how similar they looked. Izuku walked to the rack and checked how small it was. To his surprise, it was in his size.

It was like it was made for him, because who else would buy something like this? Most other people would feel self-conscious wearing that. Then again, he would too had he not had the experience of wearing a hero costume with a similar hood.

He never really used the hood, but that was beside the point!

Izuku grabbed the hanger it was sitting on and walked into the store. There was no one else inside except for a teenage cashier. They looked like they were about to fall asleep right before the green haired teen walked up to the counter.

"...Huh…? Oh, a customer!" As if a light-switch was flipped on, his expression became cheery and energetic, a complete 180 from before. "How may I help you?"

Izuku placed the hoodie on the counter. "I'd like to buy this!"

The cashier looked down at the dark green hoodie, surprised that someone was buying winter clothing at this time. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted the rabbit ears protruding out of the hood. "Are you sure about this?"

The green haired teen nodded. With a shrug, the cashier scanned the item and shoved it into a bag. "That'll be 880 yen."

Back at the apartment, Izuku pulled out the hoodie out of his bag as well as the night vision goggles. The clothing might have been an unplanned purchase, but it would work well as a disguise.

After all, he knew terrorist groups had plenty of followers that might feel animosity against him for destroying their organization. By having a disguise, his identity would remain unknown to the group.

Is this what Aizawa-sensei did when he prepared for a raid? He was definitely nervous about doing something on his own, but there was an undercurrent of excitement too. All of this preparation felt like something a hero would do.

That thought put a smile on his face. At the same time though, he wondered if he should try to ask Anti-Skill for help. They are the police, so why not?

Izuku shook his head. There wasn't any time to contact them. While he greatly appreciated the police in his world, they were notoriously slow at planning operations. It mainly had to do with needing enough information and gathering warrants for arrest. Perhaps it was different here, but right now, he wasn't taking any chances.

What if he was in trouble though? This was a risky operation with little planning beforehand that could very well go wrong.

Maybe a note for Yomikawa wouldn't hurt.

The quirk user pulled out a small piece of a page from his notebook and wrote a short letter to Yomikawa. When it was completed, he stood up and placed it near the door so she would see it whenever she returned to the apartment.

Izuku walked back to the couch and sat down. He had left the night vision glasses on the table, unopened. It was time to see how well they fit him and whether Academy City's technology would truly work.

He carefully opened the box and pulled out a pair of glasses. The lenses were green while the rest of it was pitch black. The quirk user tried them on and found that they fit his face well. But the question was: Did they work?

Izuku walked over to the windows and pulled down the curtains on all of them. Then he turned off all of the lights and looked around the room. To his relief, the glasses worked very well. Phew, that should make this easier…

He turned the lights back on and took off the glasses. Next, he needed to see whether the hoodie fit him.

He pulled the hoodie over his current clothing, making sure it wasn't too tight. Once he was satisfied, he walked over to the mirror in "his" bedroom and looked at himself.

Without the hood, he… looked kind of cool! Of course, his sense of what was cool and what was not was pretty different from others, but it didn't matter! Maybe he should find something like this when he returns to his own world.

What about with his hood up? Izuku pulled on the hood and let it fall onto his head, with the rabbit ears sticking up towards the ceiling.

…

This looks so odd! Despite looking similar to his hero costume, the ears looked much more out of place. It was likely because it was a simple hoodie, rather than something a hero would wear.

But it did the job of covering his green hair. With the night vision glasses as well, it would be difficult for someone to recognize him.

He pulled out his phone to check the time. 3:23, huh? Maybe I should leave now. It wasn't like there was a specific time he had to start his operation. And who knew how long it would take to get ready?

Izuku took off his hoodie and shoved it into his backpack, along with the night vision goggles. He wouldn't need to wear them until he got closer to the base. No point in broadcasting that he was about to do something suspicious.

He packed a few extra items that he thought would come in handy, including a first aid kit. It was entirely possible that someone would be injured, so this allowed him to help someone out.

Though, before he left, he wanted to try something.

He opened his phone's web browser and searched up 'District 10 building layouts'. There was a possibility that a company put something online, in case of emergency. And luckily for him, there were several floor plans for some of the buildings. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if any of them fit the building he was planning to sneak into.

Still, he saved them to his photos for him to look at later. Once he got a better idea of what kind of building it was, he could use them.

When he thought he was as ready as he could be, he hauled the backpack onto his shoulders. It was heavier than it usually was, since it was normally used for carrying lighter objects. But he could handle it easily enough.

Izuku stood at the door, looking back at the apartment. Sorry Yomikawa. I'll do my best to return soon. And with that final thought, he was gone.

Hours later, Yomikawa wandered into the apartment, exhausted. She had to deal with several out of control espers and robberies today.

Not to mention the broccoli guy she was taking care of. Her lips twitched slightly upwards. Hopefully he didn't do anything too crazy.

As she was taking off her shoes, she noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor. Curious, she picked it up and read it.

A few moments later, she was running out of the apartment with a furious look. What the hell is he doing?!

Izuku took the same bus from earlier to District 10, although he had to wait a while for it to arrive. Once he was in the district, he retraced his steps to the street leading to the secret base. Unfortunately for him, there was still plenty of daylight left in the day.

I left too early! But this is a good opportunity to get some last minute information.

He walked towards the base, making sure to avoid any workers in the nearby buildings. It was going smoothly until he reached the final street before the base. To his surprise, there was a small truck parked right next to the building. Several workers were carrying crates of equipment down the street.

The quirk user was hidden around the corner of a building, making it difficult for any of the workers to notice him.

Aren't all of the buildings abandoned? Either he guessed wrong, or there was something suspicious going on. But how could he investigate more without being found out? It wasn't like he could just… jump on top…

Izuku shook his head. No! These buildings likely have structural issues, so I can't do that! As much as he would have liked to have observed from above, that wasn't an option at the moment.

Those were his thoughts before he heard someone shouting. It sounded faint due to the distance, but he could pick out the words.

"Faster! We need these materials ready within a few hours!"

That caused Izuku's face to pale. Were they seriously going to go ahead with their hostage plan tonight? They must be a very efficient group if they were almost ready.

Wait. Calm down. There was no guarantee that it was for UNDER. Even if it was, it could just be something harmless, right?

If only there was a way for him to check the crates…

Izuku looked upwards at the building he was hiding next to. He originally said that he wouldn't jump up, but what else could he do? Remember, you need to stop their hostage plan. All Might wouldn't have hesitated like this, right?

He took a deep breath, before charging his legs with One For All. He leaped up onto the top of a building, granting him a view of District 10. He chose to ignore that, instead he quietly stepped over to the other side of the building. He peeked his head over the edge, granting him a view of the street below.

Indeed, the workers were entering the abandoned building Izuku marked as the UNDER base. Standing in front of the building was a blonde haired guy, glaring at the workers as they walked past him.

One of the workers flinched under his glare, causing him to drop the crate by surprise. The lid slipped off, but the worker caught the crate before it could spill the contents.

"You!" The blonde haired guy roughly grabbed the worker's collar. "Are you trying to hold up everyone?! The gas isn't going to deliver itself!"

Gas? What would they use the gas for? It took Izuku a moment, but he thought of something. It caused his eyes to widen in shock. Oh no…!

Gases can easily be used to knock out multiple people at once. With large quantities, they could do many terrible things with it.

Izuku stepped back and took off his backpack. He pulled out the hoodie and the night vision glasses. He was not going to wait any longer. The longer he waited, the less time he had before they could begin.

He pulled the hoodie on, making the bunny ears stick up. Then he placed on his night vision glasses. It was a good thing he picked a brand that worked in the daylight.

It was time to stop their plan, once and for all!

So, superlance, where the hell have you been?

Well, I spent most of June working on my other story. But after I posted it, I needed to take a break. I guess writing 18k words in two weeks really can kill your creative juices, huh?

Truthfully, I wanted to write more. This chapter is only 3.5k words, which is way too short for my liking. Hell, its barely longer than Chapter 1. But I couldn't think of what else to put in. All of my plans fit better for Chapter 9.

That should mean that the next chapter is the actual raid. I'm hoping it will be a lot more exciting than this chapter. I have no clue when it will come out. It could be soon, or it could be another month. I have no clue.

If you want to see my chapter progress, go to my profile. I give status updates and I update my progress for all of my stories. So if there's a long break between chapters, just go there and you'll see if I'm working on it or what's going on.

Also, no review response this chapter. Due to the short size, I don't want to inflate the word count too much. I'll answer all reviews from last chapter and this one in Chapter 9. I'm hoping to start working on it right after this, but who knows?

So I guess I'll see you whenever it comes out.