Chapter 15 is ready to go. could have gotten this out two days ago but I wanted to add more stuff to the chapter. Not gonna lie I got a little stuck writing the middle but I think it turned out alright. I want this chapter to foreshadow some things because in the next few chapters are going to be fun. p.s, Izuku is wearing a jacket that forms a mask for most of this chapter, picture it as a red version of his costume alpha with no lines, his eyes are visible and where his respirator would be is just black fabric. Enjoy
Chapter 15 Those in the shadows
Izuku and Taku were just cruising across the city, neither having any real idea where they were going. The city of Kashik to those in the know was well known for its underground and shady operations, making it the perfect place to set up the underground Masquerade. Taku had done some digging and if it were here it would definitely be in an area that was obvious but not OVERLY so, like a deep parking garage or something. Both boys also knew that there were a good handful of organized crime syndicates in this city, but the police monitor their movements so they're typically a non threat. They're plan was to find someone in the know and go with them to the event, but finding a shady looking person who'd be willing to trust them was looking to be a challenge.
The boys sit on a bench to relax a bit. "We've just been walking around for over an hour, either we find this place by accident or we find someone who can take us." Izuku stated.
"We gotta keep looking around, we can find the place if it's hidden in the usual areas. By the way here you go, I forgot to give this to you back at the hotel. Good thing I grabbed them." He mentioned this while handing Izuku a pair of black and red gloves while he put on a pair of black ones.
The two went quiet for a moment, looking around them and taking in their surroundings, Izuku looked down the street and saw a tall, bulky guy with light hair wearing a black and red mask, a white shirt, baggy black jeans and boots, a light blue tunic and gloves with metal wraps on his arms. The guy definitely looked like an underground fighter. "Hey Taku, I think I just found a lead."
Taku turned to where his friend was looking, "That guy? I guess he would fit the bill. Let's see if he knows anything? Let me do all the talking."
The two follow the man down the street until they get close enough to speak to him, "Hey guy, can we talk for a minute?" Taku spoke out to the man.
He turned around surprised to see two teenage kids, "Hey, what do you guys want?"
We spotted you down the street and you seem interesting so let me get straight to the point. I'm looking to see some good fights while my man here is looking to bust some heads." He gave Izuku a hard pat on the back as he said this. "You look like the kind of guy who knows where we can get what we want so can you help us out?"
The mentioning of a fight seemed to excite the man, "Oh! So you guys are looking to rumble! Why didn't you start with that?! My whole day's been boring and I've been waiting for some good fights!" He exclaimed.
"Happy to hear it! We're looking for a place called the Underground Masquerade. You seem "in the know" about where we can find it, so do you?"
"You runts are looking for the Masquerade huh? You're in luck, I was headed there now. But before that, I want a good warm up so let's go a quick round, right now!" He exclaimed, totally serious.
Taku should have expected this but he tried to play through it, "You sure? You look like a pretty serious guy and I hate for you to get banged before we get to the fight club." Taku smirked, sarcastically.
"Don't worry about me! This is just a little warm up and since it's not a real fight it's not a death match, so you can relax." He said once again, `` totally serious."
Izuku finally spoke up, "That's fine with me, I just had a good meal and I gotta work it off. Let's head into that alley and do this." He said with the man eagerly agreeing.
"By the way, what do we call you?" Taku asked.
"Just call me Rappa." He replied with an excited smile.
The three walked into a nearby alley and after a little over five minutes of trading blows and loud bangs coming from the place they came out. Rappa came out looking beat up but very excited, while Izuku didn't have a scratch on his disguise. "Kid, you are awesome! We definitely got to fight for real next time!" Rappa exclaimed as they walked in the direction of the fight club.
"I wouldn't mind fighting you again, But for the record I'm not a fan of death matches."
Rappa looked disappointed, "Oh come on! Those are the best fights! Going one on one with your quirks with your life on the line, that's how a fight between men SHOULD be done! I've been in underground MMA most of my life, at a certain point I became too strong, after one punch my opponents would start begging for their lives. You ever felt that? Having to walk away from multiple fights unsatisfied?" His tone switched to a more solemn one.
"I can't say I have. I can fully empathize with how you feel Rappa, I mean most strong people want to go all out against other strong people. But as a fighter you decide how every fight will be fought, if your opponent is on the same page as you then go for it. But I personally know how I want to fight every match, so if I don't kill you you can't really be mad at me because I won."
Rappa looked at the plain mask of the kid in a rabbit hood, "Hahaha, you're a weird kid, but you're strong so you'll fit in just fine at fight club."
After a forty minute walk they made it to the parking garage where the Underground Masquerade was being held. During the walk over Izuku spoke to Rappa about what kind of place it was and to his shock he learned he was one of the guys Mirko teamed up with to fight the strange Nomu all those years ago. But to avoid suspicions he couldn't ask for a lot of details. Still, what Rappa told him was viable information. Getting in was surprisingly easy with Izuku and Rappa signing onto the fighters list before he parted from the teens. As Izuku watched Rappa leave he couldn't help but think, "That guy wasn't so bad."
The two boys looked around the crowded area and to their shock the place was a lot more organized than they originally thought. Apparently you get paid for each fight you win and collect that at the office, anybody looking to sell some goods is more than able to but it's cash only. The place was full of fighters, spectators and underground people looking to do some business, all wearing some sort of mask. There was an octagon cage that acted as the ring and they would call you through the speakers when it was your turn to fight. This was definitely a place where a lot of shady deals went down, more importantly people have been reported to have gone missing from this place.
Their theory was that they were most likely kidnapped and turned into Nomu. They made it inside and it was time to look for answers. They were now deep in enemy territory where anything can happen, more than just disguises, Izuku and Takumi also chose aliases for when undercover like this. Izuku went with "Seto Uzui" while Takumi chose "Ryo Karui".
"I'll keep listening for when they call me to fight, let's look around in the meantime Ryo."
"Got it." He responded.
The two looked around, taking in everything of this shady environment. Taku especially was looking around as he had a special contact lens in his one exposed eye that was truly a high def camera. It was recording everything he witnessed and was sending it all to the super computer back at the lab and his laptop back in their hotel room. For about twenty plus minutes they looked around, talked to people and watched some fights. They were unsurprisingly as vicious as they expected, of the first fights they saw it appeared most of the fighters here had physical based quirks. Izuku had to head to the stage when the intercom announced Red Rabbit would be fighting someone named Rhino Wrestler.
"That's my que, let's do this." He said as he walked to the ring. Taku didn't even look at him as he was occupied observing someone else.
"Hey Seto, before you go, what do you think about THOSE guys? He asked while pointing a thumb at a group of men all wearing plague mask's of some kind.
Izuku looked in the direction of his friend and saw the group that were chilling in the corner but were surrounded by people. They were clearly selling something and whatever it was people were interested. "My guess, drug dealers." He said casually through his mask.
"I'm gonna keep looking around but I definitely want to talk to them."
"Ok, but in the meantime I have a fight, so I'm off." He raised a hand to say "Later".
"Meh, it's my first underground fight, I'm gonna watch."
The two teens walked to the octagon and Izuku walked in from the opposite end of his opponent. He was a tall, heavy set, muscular man with a type of rhino mutation quirk. He was wearing a blue tracksuit, and full face mask on his head, black wristbands on each arm, and he had the kanji for "Smash" on his shirt. He punched his left hand with his right a few times as a sign of intimidation, "It's my first match and I was hoping for a decent warmup but I get some scrawny runt! Oh well, this won't take long! He boasted confidently.
"HEY! I may be shorter than you but don't call me a runt!" Izuku exclaimed.
This only made the rhino man smirk, "Whatever, I call it like I see it. You pesky, little, runt!" He said much more mockingly this time.
Izuku went into his thoughts after observing his opponent and their quick talk, "So he underestimates me, good. Every martial artist knows that challenging or underestimating an opponent you know nothing about puts you one foot in the grave. His guard clearly isn't all the way up, I can use this."
He finished his thoughts before the match started and Rhino Wrestler charged at him, looking to bulldoze him. Izuku runs head on to meet him and before the two touch he becomes intangible, phasing right through the rhino man. Rhino Wrestler is clearly shocked as he manages to stop himself before hitting the cage, the moment he turned to see his opponent he was met with several kicks to the face. He tanks a handful of them before he brings up his arms to block, they are far stronger than he expected. Red Rabbit uses his last kick to jump off the rhino man and get some distance as he gets into a fighting stance.
"So, Who's the runt now?" He smiled behind his mask.
Rhino Wrestler couldn't see his face behind his plain looking mask but he could tell he was smiling, and it made him mad. "Still you. I hope you enjoyed that because it'll be that last hit you land on me, plus they didn't even hurt." That wasn't entirely true.
"I can do this all night, but I don't have that so bring it on!" Red Rabbit exclaimed
The rhino charged at him again with him throwing a barrage of punches that Izuku uses his Seikuken to defend against. Not a single punch touches he perfectly dodges and deflects them, all the while landing every counter and inching closer to the rhino. He fully takes advantage of the fact his opponent is both taller and longer than him, he's able to pummel Rhino Wrestler with point black punches that force him to back up. But before he could try to recover Red Rabbit jumps at him with a right spin kick that he tries to block with his left forearm, his leg phases through the arm and a brutal kick connects with his face that stuns him. He quickly recovers and throws a right hook at the runt but he jumps forward, phasing through him and sends him to the ground with a kick to the back of the head. He lays on the floor in pain as he thinks to himself, "Damn it all! He's strong, and his quirk makes him untouchable. What the hell can I do? I'm dead if I keep taking hits like this." He thought as he got back to his feet, shaking off the pain.
He turns around looking for Red Rabbit but he's nowhere to be seen, he looks up and around the ring completely confused, he takes a couple steps before he's hit in the side that makes him grimace in pain. He blindly swings at whoever hit him but hits nothing, he throws a punch at the air and he feels something grab his arm. He realizes too late as he's suddenly brought off the ground and slammed multiple times across the ring like a ragdoll before spinning and being tossed across the ring into the cage, landing upside down. He gets back up and angrily looks around the ring. "Fight like a man, you coward!" He bellowed.
"Ok." Red Rabbit casually replied as he suddenly appeared in front of the rhino man, shocking him. Taking advantage of his surprise the rabbit jumps and lands a powerful triple kick to the rhino's head, knocking him into the ground, unconscious.
"And that's a win for Red Rabbit! The announcer exclaimed.
Izuku flexed his arms as he left the ring and met back up with Taku, "Way to catch your first dub Rabbit!" His friend said as he congratulated him with a fist bump.
"That went well, let's check out this office where I'm supposed to get paid."
The two walk to where the office was and they find a door next to a counter window to it where a man with tentacles coming out of his head was inside wearing a mask and slides some money under the glass window. "Good first fight Rabbit, here's your pay."
Izuku took the money and counted it, to his shock it was 50,000 yen. He paused for a moment as he looked at the money, something the man noticed. "Not used to making that much from one fight are you?" He said with an obvious smirk under his mask.
"No, I'm just a bit surprised. It's my first time here, I heard the fights and the money were good but I still wasn't expecting this. He responded, his expression u unreadable behind his mask.
"Well you can call that a taste for right now. You'll get paid more the more fights you win, I saw your fight through my monitor in here mind telling me what your quirk is?"
"My quirk let's me vibrate my molecules to become intangible or invisible. If the fights and money stays this good it'll have be worth coming here." He said, trying to sound as arrogant as possible.
The man crossed his arms as he spoke, "Your quirk is impressive, keep kicking ass and the boss may want to offer you an opportunity."
"I'm curious, the organizer of something like this, what kind of person are they?"
"All you really need to know is that they offer people who don't know what to do with their quirks a place to use them how they want." Izuku and Taku accepted the man's words and walked away
"Well that was ominous." He says to Taku after getting far enough away.
"Tell me about it, all the more reason to keep winning though. There's definitely something off about this place."
"Yeah, this whole fight club definitely feels like a front. I'm actually looking forward to meeting this organizer."
The two went back to watching some of the fights and talking to people, they got to see Rappa win his fight and Izuku got to see several interesting quirks before he got called back. This time Red Rabbit was up against Power Fist. Entering the ring he could see his opponent this time was a tall man with brown hair in a mohawk and black eyes, he was wearing a blue tank top and face mask. He had several piercings and a scar that ran diagonally across his face, he looked ready to go. Red Rabbit got in his stance and as soon as the match began it was on.
Power Fist crouched to the ground and balls of energy appeared on both his hands as well as making energy revolve around both his arms. He slammed his fists together causing a loud bang before charging. Izuku put up his Seikuken and easily deflected all the incoming punches, after not getting through Power Fist dropped to try and sweep his legs with Rabbit doing a butterfly flip to avoid it. "Every guy in here seems to be a straight forward fighter, this'll be too easy." He thought before getting back to the fight.
Back with Taku he was doing a little investigating of his own, he decided to talk to the guys in masks that he saw earlier. They seemed really interesting to him, especially the one wearing a plague mask, a dress shirt under a green jacket and white gloves. The way he carried himself he could tell that he was the leader of whoever these guys were. As he approached the group he saw that they were selling some things, they had various containers filled with some red looking bullets but he also saw that they were selling Trigger. This set off a red flag in his head so he had to approach. "What's up?" His hands were in his pockets as he walked up to a man in a white coat wearing a plague mask, sounding as cool as possible
"What are you looking for kid?" He responded casually.
"Don't know, I saw a crowd around you guys and I got curious. What do you got?"
"We've got some exclusive product, stuff you'll only get from Shie Hassaikai."
"Shie Hassaikai huh. This is my first time out here, what are you about?"
"We're just out here to make a little money right now, we've got some drugs for the right price, come check it out. The man turned around and showed him a small red bullet.
"I can tell just by looking at that that's not a normal bullet. So what's it do?"
A man in a black cloak, plague mask and a black bowler hat suddenly approached the two. "Before we conduct any business tell me..Are you a hero, undercover police or affiliated with any law enforcement group?"
"No." Taku answered. Though it was the truth, his mouth moved on it's own without him ever getting a chance to think about how to respond. He realized that this was this person's quirk and knew to be careful how to proceed from now on. "That was the truth, I'm not a narc or anything. But still, not cool using your quirk on your customers?"
"This is very special product, try to understand." The black cloaked man responded, not at all sorry.
"Back to the matter at hand, these bullets are very special. They can take a person's quirk away for a couple of hours." He stated causally.
"I see, I know you can make a quirk booster but a quirk eraser is next level stuff. How did you make this?" He asked, not trying to sound suspicious.
"Don't worry about that, if you want to buy one it's 30k yen."
"30k yen DAMN man I'm just supposed to have that on me?!" He exclaimed dramatically.
A small black creature with a white bird head spoke up, "Aye you little punk! Don't you DARE whine about our prices! This is just a sample, when the finished product is out it'll be worth WAY more than this! So either buy one or scram!" He exclaimed in a surprisingly deep and angry voice.
"Relax Mimic, we're still doing business and the boss told us to sell." These words seemed to make the small creature relax as he turned back to the teen. "How much you got?"
Taku scrunched his face behind his disguise, "Ok, I actually DO have that. But how do I know that these work?"
"We've tested them and can guarantee they work. I'll shoot one of my guys to prove it to you but these are expensive so you're definitely paying for this round. Hojo, come here?" A bald man in a black dress shirt and white mask walked up, after explaining the situation he sprouted crystals on his body as a gun was pointed at his chest and he didn't look the least bit scared about it. "So, final warning: you wanna waste money on this test or you wanna just buy one?"
"Taku took a moment to think about the question, "They seem really confident in these bullets and people have been coming and going from this group for a while. If these are authentic I need as much of it as possible because this will definitely turn into something. Finally making his decision he spoke, "Alright hold up, you don't have to shoot one of your own guys to prove a point, give me two!" He exclaimed.
"Hm, suddenly not so cheap are we?"
"Not what it's about, I just hate wasting money." He said in a tone that sounded believable."
After paying them 60k yen in cash they gave Taku a special gun loaded with two bullets and he went on his way. "Had to spend all the money I brought with me but it seems worth it. I can't wait to get back to the lab and study this." He thought as he walked to the octagon just in time for them to announce that Red Rabbit won another fight. The two friends bumped fist as they walked to collect Izuku's winnings. He was impressed with his sidekick for the good job, promising to use his winnings to buy food after this.
After going back to the office and collecting his 60k yen prize they went back to waiting for the next fight. They were surprised to hear that the next two to enter the octagon were Rappa and someone named Overhaul. "Rappa's fighting next, let's go check it out?" As the two joined the rest of the crowd surrounding the octagon they could see Rappa slamming his fist's together ready to go. While his opponent in a plague mask merely took off one of his white gloves, he seemed relatively uninterested in the fight.
"That's Shie Hassaikai's boss, I wonder what his quirk is?" Taku said.
"That's supposed to be my line. Still, given a name like "Overhaul" I've got a good idea, and it definitely requires him touching something." Izuku studied the man in charge of those who sold so-called "Quirk erasing bullets". With his training and time as ONE he has built up an arsenal of detective skills and he could easily tell this man was very business oriented, he had plans for Rappa and this fight was merely a stage. Plus given the mask and gloves the guy's definitely a germaphobe. "Let's see how this goes down."
The match began and Rappa rushed his opponent hungry for a fight. Overhaul dodged his first punch and with his gloveless hand swiped Rappa's left arm, an instant later his entire upper body exploded in a burst of blood. "Rappa." Izuku said in a low voice, slightly horrified. Though his hunch about overhauls quirk was confirmed he was still shocked to see someone just die like that. Overhaul then swung his hand back and suddenly Rappa was back together again, dropping to his knees and breathing heavily. The crowd was still hyped so he was probably the only one who could hear Overhaul walk up to Rappa and say, "A deals a deal." And Rappa, while still clearly in shock from the past few moments, said, "I'll win next time". Overhaul was named the winner and they both left the octagon.
The night went on with Red Rabbit snatching win after win, making more and more money as the night went on and before they knew it two hours had gone by. Rappa went over to the Shie Hassaikai after his loss to Overhaul and didn't fight again after that. Red Rabbit had dominated ten matches, showing off his "quirk" as much as possible. He and Taku went to collect his winnings from his most recent match and were surprised to see Overhaul and the man in the white cloak coming with them. "You guys off to get paid too?" Izuku asked the pair as they walked.
Overhaul responded, "Something like that. I want to discuss some business with the boss of this operation."
"They told me earlier if I won enough fights they might wanna offer me some kind of opportunity."
"I watched a couple of your fights, you've got talent, and a strong quirk. We may be a small time Yakuza right now but I've got a plan to rise to the top. It would be good to have someone like you on for the ride?" He said casually with his mask making his voice sound dry.
"So they're here to sell drugs and recruit members to their group, Yakuza? That's organized crime, surely one of many based out of this city. If they can make bullets that take away quirks we should definitely keep tabs on these guys, but quietly. He thought to himself. "Thanks for the offer but no thanks. I just came here to bust some heads and make some money, and I got PLENTY of both! Plus my man here did some business with your guys earlier and if these are as good as you say, we'll do business again." He said pointing a thumb at Taku.
"So you bought some of our product, I can guarantee it works and I'm sure you'll like it."
"I have a couple things I could use it for."
They arrive at the office and the man seems happy to see them. "That's your tenth win, way to kick some ass Red Rabbit." He looks over to the other two men, " And you're Overhaul right?"
"Yeah that's me. I came to you because I wanted to ask you about speaking to the person in charge. I have a business proposition I think they'd be interested in?"
"His face was stern but gave no clear indication of what he was thinking. "That's a definite possibility. But the boss has several other operations running out of here, you look like drug dealers and far from the only ones in here so how are you different?"
"All I can say to YOU is that our product is something only our organization can produce. And in time we'll shake up the entire world."
"The man raised an eyebrow, "Quite ambitious. I'm not against letting you see the boss but if I'm being perfectly honest he's a little upset you didn't fight more."
"What?"
"Your last fight was against Rappa, he really liked your quirk and wanted to see more of that?"
"I came here to sell some product and recruit people into my organization. This was a business trip, nothing more." He said, fully serious.
Izuku and Taku who had been standing there the whole time were both fully attuned to the conversation in front of them, but they couldn't let them forget they were there. "Ah, hey, my money?!" Red Rabbit waved a hand as he stepped to the glass window."
"Relax, I didn't forget about you Rabbit, here you go." He slides 140k yen under the glass window. "Speaking of the boss, he wants to meet you. Take the elevator upstairs and his office will be on the left." He said pointing a thumb to the elevator.
Putting the money in what were now full pockets he turned back to the man. "So, is this that opportunity you mentioned earlier?" He asked, with a sly grin behind his mask no one could see.
"I don't know, go upstairs and find out." He turned back to the Yakuza, "Alright Overhaul this is what I'll do, I'll call the boss and ask if he'll speak with you. Give me a minute?" He pulled out his phone before walking to the end of the room to make the call.
Izuku and Taku made their way to the elevator when Taku's right arm was suddenly grabbed by a tentacle, "Only Red Rabbit gets to go upstairs, no plus ones! He said in a stern voice as he began talking to someone.
The two got some privacy as Taku let out a sigh, "Wish I could come with?"
"It's fine, whatever this is, it shouldn't take too long. You should head back to the hotel, I'll catch up with you later."
"Got a feeling this could be a trap? I'm definitely getting that vibe."
"I HOPE it is. I'll get some answers tonight, one way or another."
"That's just like you, first step, spot the trap. Next step, spring the trap. Out of curiosity, how much money DID you win tonight?"
"I haven't counted it yet, but I won 50k yen my first match and it went up 10k every fight after that and I won ten total so I've probably got 950k yen on me more or less. Thanks for picking out Baggy shorts with big pockets."
Taku just grinned, "I know right! I'll head out now, call me as soon as you leave here, I'll order some pizzas and we can play games. No way in hell I'm spending a three day weekend just working."
"Bet." Izuku replied with a fist bump as his friend walked into the crowd towards the exit.
At that same moment Overhaul seemed to be having a talk with his friend in white, with his sharp hearing he heard him say to tell the others to head back to base without him before he made a way for the elevator. Izuku did the same with Overhaul hitting the up button first, and after a five second wait the elevator opened with them both stepping inside. The two men stood in silence as the elevator took them upstairs, "This is the whole reason I came here, the one in charge of this tournament knows something. I need to get all the info I can from this one visit, I DO NOT want to make a habit of coming back here." He thought to himself
Suddenly a dark gray substance burst from the mouths of the two men, this sudden act startling both of them. "What the Hell?! Overhaul exclaimed as the substance began to consume his body.
Izuku acted surprised but he didn't panic as he was already expecting some sort of trap, the substance seemed to consume his body and he quickly realized this was some sort of warping quirk. "So this is the trap, DAMN this is nasty! This is what I get for walking into such an obvious trap, whoever's doing this BETTER have what I'm looking for!" He thought as he allowed himself to be consumed by the substance. When the elevator opened up at the desired floor, it was completely empty with no trace of it's two occupants.
In a darkly lit office above the Underground Masquerade, a man looks at several monitors viewing the event. More specifically he was looking at the camera in the elevator and the two inside it who disappeared after being consumed by a gray substance. A big smile on his face as he looked to another screen revealing a large brightly lit square room that the warped men suddenly appeared in. "Doctor, I've put two new test subjects in place, send a high end to greet them." He thought for a moment before continuing, "How about "Fist"?"
"That's doable. Are either of their quirks to your liking?" Dr. Ujiko responds.
"Yes, both of theirs actually. Of all the quirks I've seen tonight, theirs interest me the most, so I definitely want them copied.
Understood, and I'll have them ready for you as soon as I can." He said before hanging up.
"Even if these two somehow survive a high end nomu, I'll still get their quirks before this is over so this should be a more enjoyable show. He smiled as he looked at the screen with Red Rabbit and Overhaul seemingly talking to each other.
"What the hell is this place supposed to be?! Overhaul exclaimed clearly on edge.
"Obviously some kind of trap, MAN all I wanted was to bust some heads and make some money. Gonna need half a bottle of mouthwash to get the taste of that stuff out of my mouth." He said, wiping his mouth.
"Whatever this is I'm not sticking around, not the kind of business I wanted to conduct." Overhaul said as he turned around and walked towards the wall behind him."
"I'm with you there." Red Rabbit agreed, turning to walk with the man.
After a few steps the two stopped and turned around after hearing a strange splashing sound the see the same gray substance from the before appeared with a black Nomu coming out of it. The creature came out of the substance and crouched down with its right fist hitting the ground and his left resting on his thigh. It had a shredded, muscular body, looked above average height and had yellow eyes with red irises. It had an exposed brain surrounded by scruffy pink hair.
"What the hell is this thing?" Overhaul asked shocked.
"A Nomu." Izuku thought to himself.
As the two were still registering this new development the Nomu rushed at Red Rabbit, it was in his face in an instant, cocking back a right fist ready to smash his head. Red Rabbit quickly braced himself as he deflected it with his left hand and slammed a right backfist into the monster's face. To his surprise the Nomu tried to backflip kick him as his punch sent him back, he raised his chin and leaned back just barely avoiding it. The Nomu flies back and hops diagonally left to right before backflipping to stop itself while looking back at the two.
"What the hell just happened?! Overhaul exclaimed as he was unable to follow what just happened.
"That thing just tried to kill me with one hit, get ready. This just got serious." He answered as he got into a fighting stance.
Nomu continued to look at the rabbit in red in front of it, "You're...Strong." It said in a rough voice
Overhaul narrowed his eyes, "This thing can talk!"
"Yes it can." Izuku said, confused as his eyes widened under his mask.
"He..Said I..Can't kill you but I..Really want to fight." It said as it stomped it's foot, cracking the floor as it took a fighting stance that completely shocked Izuku. It then looked at the two with an excited smile, "You better be REALLY strong."
Izuku looked at the monster that prepared to attack, "That stance, that's the stance for Rising Sky's style of Karate!" He thought to himself. He turns to Overhaul, "Your name's Overhaul right? I don't know what your quirk is but I saw you use it earlier so help me try to kill this thing." The man nodded in agreement as Izuku rushed at the Nomu and began trading blows with it, the two become blurs as they fight while Overhaul waits for a chance to strike, but he can't keep track of either of them. After deflecting and countering some punches Izuku lands three kicks to the Nomu's left leg, side and head before throwing a heavy right punch to it's chest that the monster blocks with its arm pushing it back. The Nomu comes back, it jumps and flips throwing several kicks at Izuku who grabs it's legs, spins and throws it away. Izuku feels the ground rumble as the floor forms into spikes that head towards the Nomu.
The creature avoids them with skillful agility as it slips past the spikes to get back at Izuku, it throws a flurry of punches and kicks with Izuku blocks, dodges and counters, taking a couple hits on purpose. He dodges a right punch and chops the Nomu's arm, severing it in two before vibrating his fists and hitting it with a Yamazuki that sends it flying. It skids as spikes come for it and using skilled agility it's able to dodge most of them but one does pierce it's left arm. The Nomu tears it's arm off to avoid more incoming spikes but to the shock of both men two new arms quickly grow to replace the lost ones. "So this freak can regenerate?" Overhaul thought to himself as the creature continued to dodge his attacks.
The Nomu jumps off of one of Overhaul's spike trails and throws a punch, firing a shockwave at Overhaul that hits his right forearm, breaking it instantly. It then fires multiple shockwaves at him with several hitting his body. The man grimaces in pain as it puts it's attention back on Izuku.
"That quirk?" He thought just before the Nomu sends multiple volleys of shockwaves at him that he dodges, they crack and make imprints in the wall when they miss. He tanks a couple on purpose before phasing through a wave of them and turning invisible. The Nomu looked confused as it's opponent was completely gone, speed blitzing the monster and with one chop severed it's head from it's shoulders. The head hits the ground with the body following back, "It's over." He thought before suddenly he was blasted in the forehead by two lasers, looking down he could see the Nomu's eyes glowing red and what looked to be a whole new body growing from it's severed head. After a few seconds the monster's body was good as new, "I underestimated the regeneration of this thing, won't happen again." He thought as he jumped back to get some distance.
It was back in his face and the two were fighting again. Izuku becomes intangible as the Nomu punches him, hitting nothing as he shifts and lands a heavy right to it's lower stomach. It tries to retort with an elbow but Izuku becomes intangible again, shifts and slams a right elbow to the face then landing a hard left to it's stomach. He isn't finished as he wails on the monster with powerful punches before phasing through it and kicking it in the back, sending it flying across the room. The Nomu get's it's bearings as Red Rabbit is in its face in an instant, the Nomu grabs a tight hold on both his arms, Red Rabbit reacts quickly and grabs onto ITS arms as he knees the monster's chin, HARD.
The powerful blow doesn't make the Nomu let him go, Izuku is shocked when he sees two giant arms come from it's back as two massive hands clasped together. The attack comes down on him, slamming him into the floor, cracking it and making the whole room shake. Izuku bounces off the floor from the hit, as the Nomu is still holding on to him the creature's eyes suddenly glow red. Reacting quickly, Izuku brings up both his feet to kick the monster in the chin and chest, his right foot tilting the monster's head just as two lasers flew from its eyes that cut into the ceiling. "How many quirks does this thing have?!" He thought as he kicked off the Nomu's chest, taking both its arms with him. He backflips away and tosses the arms aside as the Nomu stumbles back, its arms regenerate just as it's skewered and pinned by a spike against the wall. Turning around he could see Overhaul, hurt but alive, using his quirk.
"Good to know you're not dead." He joked as looked at the older man.
"It'll take more than a few broken bones to kill me." He said, even though he healed himself with his quirk immediately after he was hurt and had just been watching him fight for a while now.
Izuku turned back to the Nomu pinned by spikes as it struggled to free itself, he looked at the creature. It used Rising Sky's style of Karate, but more than that the air shockwave quirk it used, he was certain he'd seen it before. Then it came to him. The air shockwave quirk, the fighting style, the desire to fight and fight strong people, the scruffy pink hair that surrounded its brain. His eyes widened in horror as remembered when he was younger, an aggressive senpai that dubbed him a weakling because he was quirkless. "Akaza...Soyama." He said to himself in realization.
The Nomu's eyes glowed red again and it fired lasers at Izuku that he managed to dodge. He is surprised when he turns his head just in time to see the lasers coming back at him. He manages to dodge a second time and getting some distance he could see that the lasers were cutting and zig-zagging to chase him. He starts moving his feet and is able to avoid it for a few seconds until the Nomu fires a second set of lasers with both sets hitting him and making him crash against the wall. He was able to block them but the right side of his jacket was destroyed revealing his black undershirt. Thankfully his mask was still hiding his face.
Izuku pretends to be injured as the Nomu breaks free of it's spiked trap and heads for Overhaul. He was crouched with his hand on the ground, he never saw it coming as in a flash he was kicked on the right side, breaking a few ribs and making him crash against the same side of the wall as Red Rabbit.
"Is that all?..You were supposed to be strong...I'M NOT DONE YET!" The monster reared in frustration. As he releases two giant arms from his back that beat on both his opponents, after a few smashes Overhaul is able to touch the hand and disassemble it with his quirk. Izuku took a couple hits on purpose before rolling under the fist and rushing in the direction of the Nomu.
The creature seemed stunned as Overhaul got up, rubbing himself as he felt dirty and had coughed up what was surly blood, "You made me dirty!" He said with venom as he continued to rub himself.
The Creature didn't respond as it was struck with a flying kick that made it crash into the wall on the far side of the room. "I'm ending this now!" He said as he took a breath and took a fighting stance.
The Nomu got back up and took it's stance, "Good, I want to keep using my Strength on YOU!" The monster exclaimed as it rushed his opponent.
"You showed your hand to me earlier, all I have to do is destroy your head to finish you. You have no idea how doable that is. You have the skills of a martial artist but zero heart, let me show you what MY strength looks like."
The two rushed at each other with Red Rabbit viciously pummeling the Nomu. The monster takes hit after hit with punches so fast it doesn't have a chance to try and defend itself. The Nomu tries to counter with both its arms being instantly severed, the fighter in red continues to beat the armless creature with brutal punches and kicks. After a brutal flurry of punches followed by a hard side kick the Nomu is pushed back and clearly in a lot of pain, it's limbs start to regenerate but in a flash Red Rabbit is in its face. He plants his feet, cracking the floor as he lands a uppercut that makes the creatures head explode in a splash of blood and gore. The Nomu's body hits the floor as nothing but deadweight, Izuku takes deep breaths to give the impression that he's tired.
He turns to Overhaul, "That's over now, let's get the hell out of here."
"Right."
Walking past the headless Nomu a black portal suddenly appeared beneath it with the corpse falling through, the two step back to avoid the same fate. "Now what!" Izuku exclaimed, though he knew exactly what it was as he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He turns around to see a hand with a hole in the center coming through a portal trying to grab him. He grabs the arm it's attached to fully squeezing it. "That's really rude, you know." He said sarcastically
Overhaul looks to see what was happening and was horrified, he remembered stories of the boss telling him about the old days. How the underworld was ruled by one man, one charismatic, dangerous, very powerful man. Most in his generation think that he's a myth from a past era, but his boss assured him he was real and very much alive to this day, that he should never cross him. He had the power to take away a person's quirk, permanently and had it to his own power, a man with holes in his hands and his name is. "All For One." He said in a low voice, trembling slightly.
Red turned to the man, "All For One, What's that?"
"Who you're holding onto and you're officially on your own!" He exclaimed as he touched the ground making the wall in front of him come down, revealing woods. "I alerted my guys while you were fighting, they'll find me, try not to die!" He said before running towards the opening and into the woods. He didn't get far as a small portal opened in front of him with another hand coming through, successfully touching his face. A red aura surrounded both his face and the hand. Sensing something bad, Izuku quickly lets go of the hand and tackles Overhaul, freeing him from the hand's grip and jumping into the woods and running away while carrying the man.
When he jumped he could see the lights of a city, hopefully it was Kashik, but it showed him that they were on an incline and very far away so he just had to head down. Though it's dark Izuku doesn't have a problem seeing as he runs through the woods fast (but not really). After running through the woods then down a hill they make it to a water way, Izuku looks to his left and can see a bridge with cars and people walking on it. He puts Overhaul down and they begin to walk down to the bridge, "I could have ran on my own, I didn't need you to carry me." He complained.
"Whatever, be grateful. You were gonna leave me back there. And what was all of that about anyway? Who is All For One?"
"The king of the underworld, and the absolute LAST person you want to be your enemy. Speaking of-." He stopped his thoughts as he put a hand on the ground and a bridge appeared from under the water before going back to normal. He let out a sigh of relief, "Good, I'm fine."
"Why, something wrong with your quirk?"
"I was afraid I wouldn't HAVE my quirk. That's who AFO is, he can steal quirks permanently and add them to his own power. I used to think he was a myth from the old days, and if he was real he would surely be dead. But those hands with holes, plus when I was grabbed I felt my quirk slipping from me, there's no doubt that that was him."
"So that's who we were dealing with back there."
"All the more reason to keep getting far away, I recognize that bridge, we're still in Kashik, right on the edge of town."
"Good to know." Izuku responded as they continued heading to the bridge.
The two walked in silence as they made it to the bridge, after crossing it and walking for a while a car pulls up the the sidewalk with Overhaul's men calling for him, "Kai!" The white coat man calls out.
"Hey Kurono, took you guys long enough." He said as he got in the car.
Izuku raised a finger, "Um, can I get a ride? I don't know this city at all and my gps says it'll take two hours to get to my hotel."
Some of the guys in the car looked to tell him to piss off when Overhaul just sighed, "Let him in?"
The Yakuza didn't debate as they let Izuku in. He told them where he needed to go and they headed off. During the drive the Yazuza asked their leader how he ended up like this with him explaining the situation to the shock of all of them. Izuku was just chilling and enjoying the ride, while anyone else would have been intimidated by the looks some of the men were giving him he was completely unbothered by them. After fifteen minutes of driving Izuku recognises the area so they pull up to a sidewalk and let him out. "Thanks for the ride guys, take care."
"Remember what I said before, we could use a guy like you in the Hassaikai?"
"Hm, thanks but no thanks. Tonight may have gotten a little crazy but I digress, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, you lot keep doing what you're doing." He said, completely serious.
"Alright then." Overhaul said before rolling up the window and the car drove off.
As he saw the car drive away he was left with his thoughts, "So AFO is who I'm looking for. If he can take quirks, he should also be able to give them. A quirk that can take quirks, and give them to people after modifying them. Just what kind of man is this?" He put a finger to his chin as he thought. "Gotta tell Taku about this ASAP!" He thought before walking down the street.
Izuku headed for his hotel. Before that he had to get out of his torn disguise, luckily no one was able to see his face, but walking around with a ruined jacket with bunny ears with a plain mask and gloves made him look really suspicious so he decided to trash it. He dipped into a nearby ally and threw his jacket in a dumpster, he felt a presence approaching him but he ignored it. That was until he heard a gun cock behind his head. "Put your hands up and don't try anything?" A masculine voice ordered.
Izuku complies, not afraid in the slightest just indulging the gunman. "Wanna tell me what this is about?"
He shoved the gun to the back of Izuku's head, "DID I tell you to talk?! I didn't, did I?! You move, I shoot, You talk back I shoot, You use your quirk, I shoot. You got me?!"
"Yes."
"Now... Empty your pockets?"
"But you just said if I move you shoot?"
"What I say about talking ba-."
In one swift motion Izuku shifts and spins, grabbing the gun and snatching it with his right while decking the gunman in the face with his left, he hits the ground while Izuku holds his own gun on him, the wannabe mugger is terrified. He puts his hands up in surrender, "Okay okay, just relax?" He pleaded with the teen he just tried to rob.
Izuku kept the gun on him. "Oh I'm very relaxed, you're the one who seems stressed out."
"Look please don't kill me, I'm sorry alright. He kept his hands up in surrender.
"You're sorry, NOW you're sorry. You just threatened to shoot me in the back of the head for what basically amounts to nothing and now you want mercy, how does that make sense in your head? You don't expect to get what you give?"
"Please don't kill me, I have a daughter, PLEASE?! He pleaded.
"You have a daughter?" He asked skeptically. "What's her name?"
"Shoko!" He exclaimed without an ounce of hesitation and with genuine truth.
"How old is she?"
"13!"
"What school does she go to?"
"Kashik middle!"
"What grades does she get?"
"She's a straight A student!
Izuku looked down at the man and he could tell that he was telling the truth. He also knew that he didn't want to, and was not going to shoot him. Whatever reasons he was doing this, they were for his family.
Izuku gestured with the gun for him to stand up and he complied with his hands up. Izuku reaches into his pocket and grabs two stacks, after giving it a quick count he sees it was 110k yen. "Here." He hands him the money, something that clearly surprises him.
He is reluctant to take it but after a moment he does. "Why?" He asks, genuinely confused.
"Because I knew you weren't going to shoot me, more importantly I could tell you didn't want to. Those questions I asked showed that whatever your reasons for doing something this stupid, they were with your family in mind. So take this, if it can make things easier, even a little."
The man was speechless as he looked at the money in his hands, he looked like he was about to cry. "Thank you!" He exclaimed as he bowed his head, Izuku could hear the relief and gratitude in his words. He turned to walk out of the alley before stopping and turning back to the teen, "Um, can I have my gun back?" He asked hesitantly but still completely serious. Izuku said nothing as he slowly crushed the gun in his hand, the mugger just looked down and sighed, "Right." He said in defeat before walking away.
After the incident Izuku left the alley and made his way towards the hotel, he called Taku and gave him a simple version of what he had gone through. They would talk in more detail when he got back to the hotel, Taku himself had gotten back not too long ago and had ordered some Pizzas and would be there by the time he got back. Izuku got back to his walk after hanging up, the city of Kashik, despite the craziness since he got here, did look beautiful in the night time. He was the only person walking down the street where he was and looking in the distance he could see a police station. Sensing a presence approaching him he turns to his left in time to see a little girl crash into him, he is surprised by this and the girl falls on her butt. "Woah, you really took a tumble there. Here, let me help you up."
He reaches down to help the little girl but she flinches and tenses up, this makes Izuku hesitant for a second, "Hey, it's okay." Izuku says with a smile as helps the little girl up. Taking a look at the child his hero instincts and detective skills kick in. This girl looks no older than seven, running around the city THIS late at night, barefoot and unattended. She's wearing a large beige shirt but what really concerns him is that this kid has bandages around her arms and legs. The way she first reacted to him says she's not used to people, she's clearly scared and her eyes are screaming for someone, ANYONE to help her. Her eyes also reveal a lot of pain, she escaped from somewhere and wherever it was it was REALLY bad. This girl needed help, she needed a hero and he was going to be that.
He lowers himself to her level, "Hi, my name's Izuku, what's your name?" He asked with a smile.
"The girl looked hesitant at first but she opened up, "Eri."
"It's nice to meet you, Eri. It's really late, why are you out here by yourself?"
She tenses up again, the way she's acting says that she's remembering something painful and she starts trembling. "I..I don't want to go back!" She exclaims as she grabs onto him.
Izuku holds onto her. It's okay, it's okay." He says warmly as he rubs her back.
The two embrace for a moment before Izuku tries to talk again, the child seemingly becoming more relaxed and comfortable around him. He breaks the embrace, gently holds Eri's shoulders and looks her straight in the eye. "Eri, who hurt you?" Her face tenses into a sad expression as she looks down. "Don't worry, I promise I'll protect you. She raises her head and red eyes met emerald, "You ran away from a bad place and a bad person tonight, didn't you Eri?" The white haired girl nods her head, keeping eye contact. "You're really brave." He says with a smile. "Your eyes tell me everything I need to know, you ran away because you wanted help, I'm right here." He said with conviction. A few tears fell from Eri's eyes as she hugged him again, with Izuku returning it.
Thirty minutes later
Izuku was sitting with Eri in a room at Kashik PD, luckily it just happened to be down the street. The two talk while they wait for the police to come back. Izuku had some questions that he would surely need to answer, but the issue right now was Eri and her problems. After a while two officers walked into the room with a file, taking a photo out then sliding it onto the table. "So is this the man you described?" One of the officers asked while showing Eri a picture of Overhaul. The look on her face is one of fear as she nods her head. "We figured as much." The officer said as he put the photo back in the file. Both of the officers take a seat at the table.
"Ok Midoriya, good news and bad news. The good news is, we believe you, the bad news is we can't do anything with this, at least not right now."
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked
"I mean that we're currently investigating the Shie Hassaiki. You may not be aware of this but organized crime is heavily monitored by law enforcement (he did know that), and we've noticed that the movements of this particular group have changed over the past few months. We suspect they're making some big moves in the drug trade, so for now we're just watching them. However, what you and the girl have shared with us will be added to evidence, and when that time comes that we nail them, we'll need Eri here to testify."
Izuku looked at Eri, slightly surprised that they would play the waiting game, But that's the power of the big picture. And it's not like he won't pay for what he's done to Eri, so for now he would have to roll with it. "Ok, but in the meantime what about Eri?"
"Normally she'd be sent to a foster home, BUT...The way she clings to you like a life-line gives me the impression that she'd feel safest with you. So my question to you is..Would your family be willing to take her in until we've concluded our case?"
"I'm certain that my mom won't mind, plus we have an extra room so she can have her own space. I also promised that I would protect her, and I like to keep my promises."
"Alright, call your mother and tell her we're bringing you home and also confirm that she'll be fine with this arrangement."
"Yes, sir.
"But before any of that, you wanna tell us why you had almost 900k yen on you?" He asked, giving him a piercing look.
Izuku knew this question was coming, he had to empty his pockets when he came in here. "Well I have a friend and he comes from a very rich family. We were playing video games and he started betting money, then he lost it, so he bet more to win it back, lost again and that's how I ended up with that much. Signs of an early gambling addiction, I'm trying to help him kick it." He said casually as he seemed convincing.
The officers didn't seem too convinced but they didn't press him on it. "Alright." Said one of the as they left Izuku alone with Eri. After a while they loaded up in a squad car and drove to the hotel to pick up Taku, luckily Izuku called him and told him this might happen before he went to the station. So he had plenty of time to put away anything suspicious when Izuku and the cops came to the door. Taku answered the door eating a pizza wearing a tank top, Izuku explained the situation like he didn't already know so they grabbed their bags and checked out. Luckily Taku was able to get some of his money back, then they were in the car with two medium pizzas, one with double pepperoni and another with extra pepperoni and bacon.
Eri sat in the middle of Izuku and Taku when he got in the car, giving her a warm, welcoming smile as he offered her some pizza after hearing her stomach rumble. She accepted the food and talked to Taku as they drove to Musutafu. They got out as they arrived at the Midoriya residence with Inko Midoriya opening the door, she sees her son carrying a little girl while Takumi is next to him along with some police officers. She let them in and while sitting in the living room the cops explained the situation to the mother and she agreed to take in Eri for the time being. After letting them know they'll be working with Musutafu PD to keep tabs on the girl and update them on information. Apparently Eri doesn't know her own quirk so they'll be sending a quirk doctor to the house on monday.
After Inko answered some questions the officers left, she waited for a moment before confronting the two teens and little girl sitting in her living room. She walks in the room and gives both Izuku and Takumi the "Mom look". She walks up to Eri and puts a hand on her head, giving her a smile that was warm and accepting. "You're safe now." She said as her emerald eyes met red ones as she took a breath. "I've accepted this, it's late, we'll talk about this in the morning. Off to bed, all of you." That wasn't a request.
Taku went to the spare room and Izuku and Eri went to his room. He didn't change his clothes as they just laid in his bed. Eri hugged onto him as she quickly fell asleep while Izuku was thinking about everything that happened tonight. 'I found what I was looking for and THEN some. AFO, just who are you? If he can steal quirks and keep them, I can only imagine what he can do. There are multiple Nomu as we suspected, but why the hell do this to people? What's your game?" His thoughts then drift to his former senpai. "Akaza, what happened to you after you were expelled? That Nomu..Was undoubtedly you." Anger began to build in him. "AFO! Just how many people have you taken from, experimented on? I'll bet those were your plans for me and Overhaul too."
He turns to the little girl peacefully drifting off to sleep, "Overhaul", he thought. Had he known then what he knows now he'd have taken that monster down along with the Nomu AND AFO. The next time he saw the Yakuza boss he was definitely going to punch him. He knew it was only a matter of time before he faced these two men, and ONE will NOT let them get away with this. Watching Eri sleep seemed to calm his anger. From the moment he looked into her eyes and saw her pain he swore he would protect her, and it's a promise he'll see through. If he can't save Eri, one small child who ran for someone to help her, how could he ever call himself a hero? She found him, not ONE, but Izuku. And he would be her hero.
So much happened in this one day alone. He fought the hero killer, stopped a hijacking and plenty of other crimes today. Momo was now his girlfriend, his investigation was fruitful and he got the name of the true enemy, and now he's taken in someone who needs him. He closed his eyes and let him sleep after a very, long, day.
And that's chapter 15. Leave a review and let me know what you though of the chapter because I'm looking to writing the next two. Things are about to get intersting and intense. Media manipulation will be exposed, ONE's strength will be shown, the world will notice and society will question what a hero is? All while a vigilante became super popular and seems to set the bar. Keep reading because I've been waiting to get to this part for months now. Next time, Eri adjusts to life at the Midoriya house, Momo does her internship, Taku and Izuku analyses the bullets, ONE meets L'Million and saves all of Shizuoka prefecture from a meteor.
