Chapter 33
Making Moves
Seven hours have passed since the League of Villains attacked the Girai Industries building. Currently, Detective Tsukauchi is standing under a bridge, having a smoke. He looks at his watch, expecting someone to come at a certain time.
"Where is he? He's late," said Tsukauchi.
"I like to make people wait," said Joshua.
Detective Tsukauchi turns around and sees Shadowstriker standing behind him.
"Why didn't you just walk up to me? You almost gave me a heart attack," said Tsukauchi.
"You're getting old, detective," said Joshua.
"I'm only 36. I'm not that old," said Tsukauchi.
"Let's get down to business. The League of Villains attacked the Girai Industries building in Tokyo, Japan. They attacked primarily with nomu. The nomu were transported to the battlefield by Kurogiri. Joshua Girai, Mei Hatsume, and All Might took down the nomu. Dabi approached Girai and talked to him. Then, he somehow escaped with the help of a black goo. 412 people died and 876 people were injured. It will probably take a few months for Tokyo to recover," said Joshua.
"Why did they attack the Girai Industries building?" asked Tsukauchi.
"I don't know. They didn't steal any inventions or anything valuable. They could be trying to send a message or maybe it was a test," said Joshua.
"A test?" asked Tsukauchi.
"The League of Villains are a group of dangerous people led by All For One. All For One is known to test his opposition to see if they're a threat. Girai did help All Might defeat him, so Shigaraki possibly ordered them to go after him," said Joshua.
"Is Girai that much of a threat to their plans?" asked Tsukauchi.
"Well, he did defeat Shigaraki at the USJ, helped take down All For One, and defeated Chisaki, so I would say that they're pretty scared," said Joshua.
"Will they attack again anytime soon?" asked Tsukauchi.
"I doubt that. After failing to defeat Girai once again, they're probably going to tweak their plans and go into hiding for a little while," said Joshua.
"I'm glad that you wanted to meet with me. You always give us good information," said Tsukauchi.
"I'm just doing my job," said Joshua.
"But, you're a vigilante. I'm supposed to be arresting you right now," said Tsukauchi.
"But you aren't. You're a cop that only cares about protecting his community. That's why I chose to speak with only you," said Joshua.
"How's the investigation going with the possible moles?" asked Tsukauchi.
"The Aoyama kid is still acting odd, but that's all I know so far," said Joshua.
"It's going to take some time to figure out who the mole is. If they were able to infiltrate U.A, they must be skilled at hiding their identity," said Tsukauchi.
"They probably are very skilled, but I will find out what they're hiding soon enough," said Joshua.
Tsukauchi radio starts to buzz. He pulls it out of his pocket and answers it.
"What is it, Hisho?' asked Tsukauchi.
"The League of Villains are back. They are transporting something in a black delivery truck on the highway. Police officers are en route, but they will probably need help," said Hisho.
"I'm on my way," said Tsukauchi.
Tsukauchi places his radio back in his pocket.
"I guess you were wrong about your prediction, They're-" said Tsukauchi.
Tsukauchi stops talking once he sees that Shadowstriker has disappeared into the night.
"Not again," said Tsukauchi.
Ten minutes pass. Joshua is riding his motorcycle at high speeds, trying to catch up to the chase. He continues to drive fast until he sees two cop cars on his sides.
"Pull over, vigilante!" exclaimed one of the police officers.
"I don't have time for this," said Joshua.
Joshua speeds up and leaves the police cars in the dust.
"We can't let him escape," said one of the police officers.
One of the police officers rolls down their window. He pokes out his gun and tries to shoot Joshua's tires, but his bullets just bounce off.
"Bulletproof wheels? Really?" said the police officer annoyingly.
Joshua turns his head and grabs a gun-shaped gadget. He places two disks in the gadget and shoots them at both of the police cars. The police instantly stop moving.
"What the hell happened?" asked one of the police officers.
"He shut down our car somehow," said one of the police officers.
"Dammit," said one of the police officers.
Joshua continues to drive at high speeds and gets closer to the truck, but he's stuck behind three cars.
"These guys must be undercover police or pro heroes," said Joshua.
Seconds after he says this, the truck pushes one of the cars off the cliff.
"They're aggressive. They must be taking something valuable," said Joshua.
Joshua turns and breaks through the barricade. He hops off his bike and lands on the car. He looks through the window and sees an undercover police officer, panicking. He tries to take off his seatbelt, but it won't budge. Joshua taps on the window.
"Do you need help?" asked Joshua.
"Of course I do!" exclaimed the undercover police officer.
"Nuh uh uh. You have to ask nicely," said Joshua.
"What do you mean! I'm going to die and you want to joke around!" exclaimed the undercover police officer.
"Well, I guess I'll just go," said Joshua.
"Don't! Please, save me!" exclaimed the undercover police officer.
"That's what I like to hear," said Joshua.
Joshua punches the car window, breaking it. He grabs the seatbelt and rips it off. He grabs the undercover police officer and pulls him out of the car through the window. He pulls out his grappling hook and grapples to the road before the car crashes into the sea.
"Thanks, but you are messed up man," said the undercover police officer.
"I'm not messed up. You just don't understand comedy," said Joshua.
Joshua walks a few feet forward.
"It looks like they've gotten pretty far. I'll have to put my legs to use," said Joshua.
Joshua turns his head.
"You, stay here. Stay out of the chase. You would just be dead weight," said Joshua.
"Alright," said the undercover police officer.
Joshua starts to run at top speed. He sees the two cars turned over but runs past them.
"I'm the only one chasing after these guys. This will be difficult," said Joshua.
Joshua runs for a couple more minutes until he reaches the moving truck. He jumps onto the back of the delivery truck. He climbs to the top of the truck. Mr. Compress pokes his head out of a window on the top of the truck.
"It looks like we have a straggler," said Mr. Compress.
Dabi sticks his head out of the other window.
"It looks like we do," said Dabi.
"We should get rid of the pest," said Mr. Compress.
"Yeah. We should," said Dabi.
Mr. Compress pulls out two marbles and throws them at Joshua. Joshua easily dodges them but is nearly hit by Dabi's blue flames.
"Damn. It looks like I missed," said Dabi.
"Guys!" exclaimed Spinner.
"What is it?" asked Dabi.
"Look for yourselves!" exclaimed Spinner.
Dabi and Mr. Compress turn around and see the number two hero standing in the middle of the road.
"It looks like Endeavor is here," said Mr. Compress.
"I'll deal with him," said Dabi.
Mr. Compress rescinds his head from the window.
"I hope that they're paying you overtime for working so late!" exclaimed Dabi.
"Prominence Burn!" exclaimed Endeavor.
Endeavor launches a large wave of fire at the truck. Dabi launches a large wave of blue flames at Endeavor to counter the attack. The Prominence Burn was the stronger attack and completely engulfs the truck in flames. Dabi ducks before he's hit.
"I hate to say this, but get us out of here Ujiko," said Dabi.
Black goo pours out of the villain's mouth and it engulfs them, teleporting them.
"Of course Endeavor doesn't check before he uses his ultimate move," said Joshua.
On fire, Joshua jumps off the truck. The truck flies off the cliff. Joshua rolls on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames. Joshua gets back up.
"Endeavor!" exclaimed Joshua.
Endeavor turns his head, surprised to see the famous vigilante standing twenty feet in front of him.
"Why are you here, vigilante?" asked Endeavor.
"Doing your job," said Joshua.
"I didn't need your help," said Endeavor.
"You didn't retrieve what the League of Villains stole and you let them escape. I won't say that you didn't need my help," said Joshua.
"I don't have time for this," said Endeavor.
Endeavor starts to walk towards the cliff.
"Maybe you should focus more on being a hero instead of beating your son," said Joshua.
Endeavor quickly turns around and walks towards Joshua. His flames start to rapidly burst out.
"Do you want to fight!" exclaimed Endeavor angrily.
"Calm down Mr. Number Two. We have to find out what's in that truck. Plus, if we fought, we both know who would win," said Joshua.
Joshua walks past the angry Endeavor.
"Bastard," said Endeavor under his breath.
Joshua jumps over the barricade and slowly descends the hill. He reaches the bottom and sees the number three hero standing next to the demolished truck.
"Hawks, why didn't you help?" asked Joshua.
"I just flew in Shadowstriker. Why is a vigilante like yourself here?" said Hawks.
"I'm just helping. Endeavor's here too, but he's not in a good mood," said Joshua.
"He's never in a good mood," said Hawks.
Joshua walks towards the truck.
"What were they carrying in here?" asked Joshua.
"I don't know, but it seems to be a life support system. They have to have been carrying a pretty important person," said Hawks.
"Whoever our John Doe has to be somewhere near here. I'll start looking," said Joshua.
"Go ahead and do that," said Hawks.
Joshua runs into the surrounding forest. He starts to search around the forest for a few minutes until he feels something buzzing in his utility belt. He opens up a patch and sees that Momo is calling him. He answers it.
"Hello," said Joshua.
"I'm glad you're ok. I heard what happened in Tokyo earlier today and I saw you fighting that giant nomu guy on YouTube. You were amazing!" said Momo.
"That was nothing. I was just doing what was right. I deserve no praise. People still died. Some may never be able to walk again or see anything anymore. I failed," said Joshua.
"Don't say that. There will always be casualties in big battles like these. I saw you save many people. You're just human. You won't be able to save everyone no matter what you do," said Momo.
"I still didn't try to save everyone. I was reckless and I joked around instead of going all out. I suck," said Joshua.
"You don't suck. This was your first time fighting a nomu. Don't beat yourself up. You just have to get back up no matter how hard life's punches are. That's how you become stronger," said Momo.
"Did you grab that off Google?" asked Joshua.
"You will never know," said Momo.
"I'll talk to you later. I have to sleep," said Joshua.
"Wait," said Momo.
"Wait what?" asked Joshua.
"Mir. Aizawa told us that we would be spending a week on an island called Nabu Island starting in two days. Will you be there? This could be your redemption," said Momo.
"I'll think about it," said Joshua.
"Choose wisely. Good night," said Momo.
"Good night," said Joshua.
Joshua hangs up.
"It's time to redeem myself," said Joshua.