Thank you all for the massive support and love already shown to this fic. Both this and Beetle's Cowling have had more follows, favorites, and kudos than I've had for a long time. Reminds me of when I first released My Assassin Academia and Assassins Play SAO, both of which are fics which will be updated rather soon. So if you're a fan of either, get ready for long awaited chapters. But for now, here is the Red Hood back again. By the way, I'm choosing between Kendo and Setsuna as the ship, so make sure to list who you'd prefer
Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia. My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Shueisha.
"First things first. We need a base of operations." Lady Nagant said as she and Red Hood made their way through an alleyway.
"I guess that makes sense. My house probably won't be the best place to put my stuff." Izuku said from behind his helmet.
"So we'll be meeting with someone to help us get our own base." Lady Nagant said. She came up to a door and knocked in a specific pattern. A peek-hole opened, showing two red eyes.
"Who's there?"
"Someone with a grip on reality." Lady Nagant said. The eyes crinkled in amusement before opening. A wolf man was behind the door, but he gestured for them to come in.
Lady Nagant and Red Hood walked down a long flight of stairs before coming out into a massive cavern. There were people all around, with a large variety of different Quirks. Some were mutated completely, looking like humanoid animals. Some were half mutated, with animal traits but a human look. And some were showing off their own Quirks, ranging from ice, to metal, to fire, to, diapers? Okay.
"Where did you get that notebook?" Lady Nagant deadpanned as Red Hood wrote at a rapid speed. She swore she even saw smoke.
The former hero led the newly named villain through a large crowd. Red Hood looked around, left and right, up and down. He saw thick metal making up the cavern's walls and ceiling. He saw some suspicious looking people who looked at him with greedy eyes. He saw drug users. He saw criminals seen on the news. He saw underground heroes. He saw famous vigilantes. He saw sad-looking children. He made to go to those children, but was stopped by Lady Nagant.
"Rule one here. No conflicts. Whatever it is, it can wait until both parties leave." she said. She looked at the children with sad eyes but turned away. Red Hood looked at them in sorrow before turning away as well. The rule would explain why heroes, villains, and vigilantes were all in the same place. They were eyeing each other with suspicion and hostility, but weren't doing anything.
"What is this place?" Red Hood asked.
"The Underground. This is where you can find just about anything."
"How did you find this place?"
"Heroes, villains, and vigilantes all know about this place as long as they know the right people. This place is completely neutral. Each seller here will only support those who pay them enough, and they'll keep their customer's secrets no matter what." Lady Nagant walked up to a small building and knocked. The door opened, and the two walked inside. There was a seedy looking man sitting there, fingers intertwined. He smiled at them.
"Ah, the famous Lady Nagant. And the new kid on the scene, Red Hood. You have a better outfit than I was told."
"Uh, thanks?"
"Don't get too friendly with people here Hood. Giran, we need a base of operations and complete silence." Lady Nagant said. Giran smiled as he leaned back, hands behind his head.
"That, I can get you."
-Line Break-
"How's this?" Giran asked. Lady Nagant and Red Hood looked around. They were in an abandoned bomb shelter, built underneath a factory that had also been abandoned. The bomb shelter was big enough. Red Hood estimated a height of 3 meters, width of 10 meters, and a length of 11 meters. Not too big, but big enough. It was also filled with workout equipment. From treadmills, to weights, to pull up bars.
"Good enough." Lady Nagant echoed Red Hood's thoughts.
"Excellent. Now, we have two choices here." Giran said. He held up two fingers. "You pay an annual fee, or you pay a monthly fee."
"Prices?"
"Annual is a price worth 10 million, while monthly is a price worth 250 thousand."
"We'll pay the 250 thousand. By month's end." Red Hood did a double take while Giran nodded with a smile.
"Then, if that will be all?"
"Leave." Giran nodded again before slinking out the door.
"Lady Nagant, how are we going to pay that?" Red Hood questioned. "I don't have a job, you don't have a job, and we're sure as hell not going to rob a bank."
"We'll be good for a while. One good thing about the HPSC is that the scumbags paid me well." Lady Nagant said. "I withdrew all that I could before they closed my account. I have enough cash to pay the fees for the next year or so. Excluding the money we might be needing for any of our future endeavours."
"Okay? And what about the years after that?"
"We'll talk about that later. Right now, we're training." Lady Nagant said as she walked into the middle of the room. She turned around and gestured for Red Hood to take off his gear. He complied, taking off the helmet, jacket, vest, and hoodie. He took his stance. One fist near his face and the other slightly extended.
"Boxing." Lady Nagant said.
"Yep. With a little bit of other things in it to make my own style. I think it fits me well." Izuku said. Lady Nagant shifted her weight.
"Prove it." She said before dashing forwards. Izuku leapt back to dodge a punch from Lady Nagant before weaving past it and landing a punch on her cheek. Lady Nagant was stunned for a second before looking at him.
"Not bad." her own punch shot up, grazing Izuku's cheek as he moved his head to the side. His eyes were wide from the speed. He threw a fast kick, but Lady Nagant leaned back to let the kick pass over her. When Izuku straightened himself, he found himself flying through the air and slamming into the hard ground. He groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. Lady Nagant was bouncing slightly in place, ready for round 2.
"I thought you're a long-ranged fighter." he groaned as he put his dukes back up.
"If someone only has one range, they're in trouble when they enter someone else's." she said before dashing forwards. Izuku raised a hand to block a kick that staggered him slightly. He spun and tried to kick her back, but she ducked under and swept his leg out from under him, knocking him to the ground again.
"Don't try a spin kick unless your opponent can't immediately counter." she said. Izuk flipped to his feet and put up his dukes again. He charged and threw several fast jabs. Lady Nagant blocked all of them before shooting her own jab. Izuku blocked it with his hand, but felt something enter his mouth. Lady Nagant's fingers hooked into his cheek and she hurled him across the floor. He grunted as his head bounced on the ground, and he clutched it with a sound of pain.
"What the f*ck!" he yells.
"Your hair is sticking out like a porcupine." Lady Nagant observed.
"You put your fingers in my mouth and threw me!"
"So?"
"That's playing dirty!"
"Good." Lady Nagant's cold tone stopped Izuku. She put a hand on her neck and suddenly her elbow was a rifle. She pointed the end at Izuku, who froze.
"Don't forget. You're Quirkless. You're weaker than 80% of Earth's population, and 90% of Japan's. You can't afford to play it fair. You can't afford to play it nice. You can't afford to lose. Play all of your cards and do it smart. Don't care whether it's good manners or bad. Don't care whether it's fair or not. If you do, you die." she said. Izuku swallowed before she turned her arm back to normal.
"Again." she said. Izuku got up shakingly before taking his stance again. He charged and threw a barrage of punches, which Lady Nagant blocked with her arms together. She ducked under a hook and Izuku spun, swinging a backhand that she ducked under again. Lady Nagant threw her own punch, but Izuku redirected the punch and threw a counter. Pain exploded in her eye, forcing her to close it and stagger back with a grunt. Izuku grinned as he charged forwards.
'Alright! She's open. I'll end this with a kick!' he thought. He leapt into the air and brought his leg back. Lady Nagant spun towards him, hand coming up. A bell sounded off in Izuku's head, and he was face-down on the ground, clutching his nethers. Lady Nagant relaxed and rubbed her eye, blinking through tears.
"Smart choice to poke my eye. It causes a good amount of pain, blinds the opponent, and distracts them. Leaving them wide open for a finishing blow. But next time, don't leave yourself wide open." she said. A high-pitched groan was her answer.
-Line Break-
After Izuku recovered from getting the end of a rifle swung into his nethers, they continued training. This time, it was building up strength. Good speed and decent strength wasn't going to be enough. He needed good strength, great speed, physical endurance, and agility. So that was the rest of the day. It was hell.
First, Izuku did the standard push ups, sit ups, squats, and laps in the factory. It didn't sound bad at first, until he found that the amount for each was determined by time, and not count. He did push ups for an hour, sit ups for an hour, squats for an hour, and laps for an hour. The only relief is that he was allowed to do them at his own speeds, though Lady Nagant said it was only until he could handle an hour at those speeds.
"You don't get to count. When people give themselves a number, they sometimes get lazy. They think, 'Hey. I've done enough. I should take a break.' And that number gets smaller each time. But if you do it by time, you keep doing it until the timer rings." Lady Nagant said.
Next was weight lifting. Bench presses, squat-lifts, deadlifts, curls, etc. Izuku was given hundred pound weights to start out, and repeated the time-based plan, though they were shortened to twenty minutes on the condition that he does at least twenty of each reps. His bones and muscles were aching after hours of training.
"Weight lifting doesn't help if you become too bulky. Bigger muscles mean you can't move as well, and your body gets too heavy. But it still helps. It builds strength, good muscles, and endurance. If you manage your muscle build well, you'll be able to fight at your best."
Next, she had him stretch to the best of his abilities. It helped relieve some of his soreness, but it also added new burning feelings in his body. This was to build up his flexibility, which was important for some martial arts. Thankfully, this was still the easiest for his body to handle.
"Stretching seems like a chore at times. But it's important. Stretching not only makes you more flexible, allowing for ease in martial arts and acrobatics, but it also makes sure your muscles don't tighten themselves and prevent you from moving them fully."
After that was running an obstacle course. Lady Nagant was pleased to learn he had already gotten used to knife throwing, but he had to learn how to do it on the move instead of trying to find a good time to throw. It also helped him begin learning acrobatics and maneuvering. Izuku jumped over hurdles, marked spots, under boards, through open spots. He stumbled and fell multiple times, but was decent enough at it. His knives went wild though, so he still had to keep training in that.
"If you want to stand still and make yourself a target then fine. But if you want to utilize your skill without making yourself a target, then practice this. It'll also help to maneuver around the battlefield. Always remember to have the environment to your advantage. It's your greatest ally in controlling the flow of battle."
But then there was the one that he truly freaked out about. Lady Nagant showed him bottles of poison, and told him that he was going to slowly take each one bit by bit in order to build up an immunity to them all. He thanked all of his lucky stars when she said that they weren't going to do it then.
"Your body is a natural adapter. Your immune system is all about getting stronger. The more foreign stuff enters, the more your immune system learns. And the more it learns, the more it can defend against. And if you can build up a good resistance to poison, you won't have to worry about it affecting you. It won't account for every poison, but it will help."
If the poison was the one he freaked out the most about, it was the next training he hated the most. Lady Nagant beat him brutally. In the world where strength-enhancing Quirks were the norm, he needed an iron body to deal with them. So she took sticks and beat him. She took signs and beat him. She took her own hands and feet and beat him. Several times he stopped just to throw up, only to get beat again.
"Again, natural adapter. The muscles and bones are constantly breaking themselves down and building them back up, becoming stronger. The more you use them, the more they heal. The more they heal, the stronger they get. These beatings not only build your muscles, but they also increase stamina and pain tolerance."
"So if I break my bones all the time, I can become superhuman?"
"..."
"OW!"
Fortunately, the day eventually comes to an end, and Izuku slows down his training until he stops completely. He was covered in sweat, blood, bruises, and dirt.
"I feel like I ran through hell." he said truthfully.
"I know the feeling." Lady Nagant nodded.
"So what's next?" Izuku asked as he toweled himself off.
"Don't use that towel yet." Lady Nagant said. Izuku paused.
-Line Break-
"OKAY! YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!" Izuku yelled as he shivered. He was sitting in his bathtub at home in a pair of swimming trunks. And he was currently drenched, with ice cubes in his hair. His clothes were being washed as he was also washing. Lady Nagant sighed as she scrubbed the boy's fluffy hair.
"You have a lot of hair. It's coming down to your shoulders." she pointed out.
"Why an ice bath?!" Izuku shivered.
"It helps regulate your blood flow and reduces inflammation in your muscles." Lady Nagant said as she dipped her hands into the tub, letting it sooth her knuckles.
"Man, an entire day of torture, an ice bath, what next? You're feeding me dogs for dinner?" Izuku grumbled as he tried to get comfortable. Lady Nagant dumped more ice water on his body, causing him to yell.
"No. You're eating vegetables." she said.
"So what, a stir-fry?"
"Raw."
"...Any meat?"
"In order to get as strong as an ox, you have to eat like one. When have you ever seen an ox eat meat?" Lady Nagant deadpanned. "Now out of the tub. You've been in there long enough."
Izuku gratefully got out of the ice water and accepted a fluffy warm towel. He quickly dried himself off before doing some more stretches. When he was done, he was allowed to put on a shirt and pants. Lady Nagant gave him a couple of vegetables. Carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, celery, etc. Wait, why do they all start with C? All tossed in a raw salad. Izuku ate the salad as they sat on his couch before swallowing several eggs given by Lady Nagant.
"Ugh, they're so oily."
"Get used to it."
"You're a sadist."
"You're a whiner." the two went back and forth until Izuku was done with his salad.
"So what's next? Are all of our days together going to be like this?"
"Kinda. Tomorrow, we'll continue building your skill. Martial arts, gun training, and guerrilla warfare. Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays will be spent on physical training. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will be spent on skill training. Saturdays you have off. When summer is done, we'll be doing a different kind of training. You do have school after all." Lady Nagant said.
"..." Izuku fell silent. He had completely forgotten about school.
"You're training to be a weapon. But you still have to be a kid." Lady Nagant said. "Otherwise you'll forget what it means to be a person."
"Okay."
"That's it?"
"What, you want me to say no?" Lady Nagant shrugged. The two fell into silence before Lady Nagant spoke.
"Slidin' Go's dead."
"What?!" she slid a phone over to him. Sure enough, the corrupted hero had been killed. Izuku's face darkened when he saw the words 'Red Hood' listed as the person responsible.
"The HPSC doesn't like corrupted heroes any more than you do. But they don't like them for the wrong reasons. Slidin' Go was bound to fall into investigation with the assault you did, so they killed him off and pinned the blame on you. You provided yourself to be the perfect scapegoat." Lady Nagant said.
"So what am I supposed to do?" Izuku asked.
"For now, nothing. Keep training, become stronger, become faster, become tougher, become smarter. And then, start investigating. You built up a good amount of evidence already. Build up some more." she said.
"I'll need cameras, microphones, recorders…"
"You'll get it. But first, you need a business."
"A what?"
"My money will only keep us afloat for a bit. It's gonna run out soon. Especially if anything happens, like injuries or property damage." Izuku thought about it.
"So I have to find a job."
"Yep. And I got the perfect one for us." Lady Nagant said.
"What?" she took out an envelope and tossed it in front of Izuku. He picked it up and opened it. He blinked.
"This is an invite to an underground fighting ring."
"This is another way you can train. Classes are good and all, but the real teacher is experience." Lady Nagant said.
"Who exactly would I be fighting?"
"Mostly physical Quirks. Transformation and Mutant. Emitter Quirks will be overcome with brains instead of brawn."
"And how will this help with money?"
"You fight, I'll bet."
"You sadist!"
-Line Break-
"This here is a M1911A1 pistol." Lady Nagant said as she held said pistol. "It has a 15 round cartridge, can fire 85 rounds per minute, has a range of 50 meters, and a muzzle velocity of 260 meters per second."
"Cool."
"This is what you're gonna be using." she said as she placed the pistol in front of Izuku. The factory had been set up with multiple targets, and the two were standing behind a table far from the targets. Izuku was dressed in his outfit, with his helmet on his head.
"Take a shot." she said. Izuku picked the pistol up and aimed. Lady Nagant grabbed his arm. She adjusted his grip and stance until she felt that it was good and nodded. Izuku squeezed the trigger and fired a shot. The gunshot rang through the factory, and Izuku saw a bit of dust.
"I hit it!" he cheered. Lady Nagant held a pair of binoculars to his eyes. He peered into them and frowned. He hit a target, but only slightly on the shoulder.
"Not bad for a first attempt. But you have to keep yourself steady." Lady Nagant continued to guide Izuku until he fired again and this time, hit his target in the chest.
"Yes!"
"Good. You're getting better. Now keep doing it." Lady Nagant said. Izuku continued to shoot the targets.
"Keep practicing your aim." she said as she walked away.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked over gunshots. Lady Nagant stopped and looked back.
"Why is that important?"
"Well if we want to go incognito, we'll need to call each other with different names instead of just Lady Nagant and Red Hood." Izuku pointed out as he reloaded clumsily.
"..." Lady Nagant watched as Izuku continued to fire, missing some times and hitting other times.
"Kaina Tsutsumi." she finally said. Izuku glanced at her before looking back forwards.
"Izuku Midoriya." he said.
"Nice to meet you Midoriya."
"Nice to meet you too Tsutsumi." Kaina walked out of the factory. She looked around to make sure no one was around before darting forwards. The factory was located deep in a forest near a mountain, allowing them to train and practice freely. There were numerous traps and alarms to make sure they were hidden. But those weren't what Kaina was focusing on today. She continued making her way through the forest until she reached the edge of a city. She scaled up the side of a building with great ease until she reached the top. She looked around until she spotted a larger building.
"There you are." she said before rushing off.
-Line Break-
"Shoto! Where are you! Shotoooo!" those were the roars of Enji Todoroki, the Number 2 Hero known as Endeavor. He stomped through the building, shaking it slightly before roaring again and stomping to his office. He flung it open, revealing a large room with a single desk. He made his way over to it and sat down with a huff.
"That child. He always makes a big deal out of everything."
"That must be his genes." Endeavor paused before standing up. He turned around with an angry scowl on his face. Lady Nagant was on the top of his room, hanging from a rope embedded on the ceiling. She nodded in greetings.
"Lady Nagant. You are bold to come into my office, villain."
"Not really. I'm here for business." Lady Nagant leapt out the window as fire burst out after her. She yanked on another rope and swung around the building as Endeavor burst out behind her.
"I don't know what business you have here Lady Nagant, but I do not care! I will bring you in!" Endeavor roared as he used his fire to fly after her. Lady Nagant clicked her tongue as she landed on the side of the building. She slid down at a fast speed before morphing her arm into a rifle and firing it. The recoil slowed her down until she could jump off and land on the roof of another building. Endeavor landed behind her and fired a stream of hellfire. She flipped over the flames and fired back with her rifle. Endeavor dodged and threw a lance made of fire. Lady Nagant dodged by jumping to another roof. The two continued to trade long-ranged shots and attacks as they maneuvered around the city.
'Seeing him first hand, I can understand Izuku's notes now. Endeavor pays for 60% of the damage he causes, and causes 23% of the damage found during his missions in heavy battles on average. His precision, decision making, and calculations are all impressive.' Lady Nagant thought, wincing as she felt the intense heat of some fire pass by her. 'His temper would have you believe he causes the most property damage, but he is actually on the lower end of the spectrum.'
'Her accuracy, agility, and maneuverability are all incredible. As expected from the one trained by the HPSC.' Endeavor grunted as he felt a bullet graze him. There were several, all curving through the air as if by magic. 'It's obvious she and I are on equal levels in ranged combat. I'll have to get up close.'
With that in mind, Endeavor let himself fall slightly as fire built up inside him. Lady Nagant's eyes widened and she fired another shot as she kicked off the side of a building to go behind another.
"Flashfire Fist - Jet Booster!" Endeavor yelled. He rocketed forwards, flames spewing behind him like a comet's tail. He shot past the building Lady Nagant was hiding behind and fired more flames from his feet. He shot towards the sniper, who grunted as she ran up the side of the building and flipped off it. She curled up and spun as she fell, chased by Endeavor as he fell after her.
"Flashfire Fist - Hell Spider!" Endeavor yelled as he swung his hands around. Threads of flames poured out from his fingers and fell towards Lady Nagant. Bullets tore through the flaming threads and forced Endeavor to use his flames to dodge. Lady Nagant fired down to slow her fall and rolled on impact with the ground. Endeavor landed and charged towards her.
"Flashfire Fist - Jet Burn!" a beam of fire shot towards Lady Nagant, who flipped over the flames again. She fired back, but the close Endeavor caught the end of her rifle and forced it up, causing the bullet to go wild. A foot flashed and smacked into Endeavor's chin, causing him to grunt and knock his head back. Lady Nagant kicked him again and freed herself. She fired the rifle to land on the side of a building again.
"You have skill, woman. But you are still not enough to kill me." Endeavor growled.
"I'm not trying to kill you." Lady Nagant said.
"Obviously. You're the greatest sniper in the world, yet none of your bullets came close to hitting me. You've only been out of the job for a few weeks. But if you choose to be a villain and show up in front of me, you must be prepared to kill, lest you yourself will be killed." Endeavor growled. "Fight to kill. Don't strive to. That is the basic mindset of a combat oriented hero."
"I completely agree, but I was never here for combat." she said.
"Then what are you here for?" Endeavor growled as he lifted himself up to her level with his flames.
"I'm here to blackmail you." Endeavor raised a brow.
"You really are bold."
"Not just that. I have substance." Lady Nagant said. She held up a folder and out to Endeavor. The man took it cautiously and opened it. His eyes widened. Oh, there was substance indeed. Five years worth of blackmail material. He gritted his teeth and incinerated the file.
"Burn it. I have more. And an accomplice who will release both the contents of the file and more on every forum on the internet if I don't get back to him in every ten minutes." Lady Nagant bluffed. Endeavor glared at her with immense hatred.
"What do you want?" he growled through gritted teeth.
"Two things. First, I want a deposit of three million yen every week into a secure bank account." Lady Nagant said as she held up a finger.
"..." Endeavor only continued to glower at her.
"Second. Stop abusing your kids." Endeavor blinked.
"What? Why do you care about my children?"
"I just had about enough of kids not getting to choose if they become weapons." Lady Nagant said. Endeavor pursed his lips before nodding in defeat.
"Very well. I'll give you your money. And I'll stop training my child without his own desire." he said.
"Good." she said before firing a grapple gun to the top of the building. "You'll get an email for the bank account."
She shot up to the top of the building, disappearing from sight. Endeavor shot up after her, but growled as he realized that she disappeared. He looked around before roaring in anger and flying back to his agency.
"Endeavor! What's going on? Who was that woman you were trying to take down? Did you get her?" his side-kick Burnin' scurried up to him eagerly. Endeavor stormed past her, his flames burning brightly. He slammed the doors to his office, the sound echoing through the building.
"I guess not!" Burnin' said energetically.
-Line Break-
The Email was sent, and Lady Nagant was pleased to see the money being deposited in the bank account. She transferred the money through several accounts before into an account she could use without worrying about being traced.
'Okay good. Now I can pay Giran. The weapons and such are way too expensive.' Lady Nagant said in her head.
Yeah, her backup cash didn't exist. The HPSC doesn't pay their assassins. Except for Hawks. Favoritism.
That's the second chapter. Fair warning, we might not get into the canon events for a while. Izuku is fourteen right now, so he has two years until his canon counterpart enters UA. I'll be honest here, there was no point in me adding the Endeavor vs Lady Nagant mini-fight. I just did it in order to reach a word count of over four thousand. Trust me, real fights will be coming soon. And remember, Itsuka or Setsuna. It looks like Setsuna is in the lead for now. If you want it changed, vote for Itsuka. Anyways, as per the usual, leave a review! Azure out!