Chapter 10

The USJ Incident

The night was warm, the sweet air curling around her body and caressing her wings like soft blankets. Dakota closed her eyes and smelled the air as the wind billowed towards her, the bottoms of her wings skimming the tops of the clouds so that the cool, fluffy material soaked into her scales, small water droplets flying off of the tips with each beat of her wings. Her paws were in the clouds and she purred at the cool feeling that wrapped around her legs and flowed in between her claws. She flew all night, the warm darkness chasing away her weariness and the cool breeze lifting her higher into the air. She twisted her right paw slowly and beat her wings once more, testing the once-broken bones for any pain. She felt none. Her chest and back still stung where the clawed traps had latched onto her flesh, but the bandages that the green-haired boy had placed on them had allowed them to heal just enough for it to be ignorable. A strange pang of sadness shot down her spine and burned in her heart for a moment at the thought of the boy, the one kind human that she had ever met in her life, the one human who did not try to capture her for money or try to force her to mate with other dragons in order to expand their wealth. The one human who actually cared.

Dakota shook her head, trying to erase the image of the smiling green-haired boy from her mind. She opened her eyes and growled low in her throat, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. She had been flying on her own for a week, growing prouder with each passing day at her genius plan of letting the boy heal her while also keeping her hidden until she could fly off on her own once more, but even so, the more she tried to forget him, the more he filled her head, his kind eyes piercing her memories like a hot iron that had been pressed into her brain. She roared out into the brightening night and suddenly felt very weary. Beating her wings lazily, Dakota gathered up some of her remaining energy and blasted a large fireball into the sky in front of her, folding her wings and flying directly into the flames. The warm flames enveloped her, roaring over her scales and giving her the cover needed to hide. She was above the clouds and so no lightning effects occurred during the transformation but the flames worked well enough. When she came out of the other side of her own fireball, her scales had changed so that they reflected the sky around her, allowing her to seemingly turn invisible.

As soon as she was positive that she was hidden, she allowed herself to drift lower and lower until she broke beneath the cloud line, her wings angling so that she could land on the branch of a huge oak tree on the outskirts of a nearby forest. Her claws reached out and grasped the rough bark, her wings, raising, above her head to balance herself as she settled on the branch. She grimaced a little as the branch creaked underneath her weight, her eyes roving over the brightening countryside for any sign of a human presence. She was unable to relax until she was one hundred percent sure she was alone, besides the birds and the deer of the forest. Exhaustion washed through her, flooding her legs and wings, causing her eyelids to droop wearily. Deciding that it was safe enough, Dakota settled down on the branch, curling her paws underneath her and allowing her tail to dangle, double-checking that she was still invisible before unconsciousness took over and she fell into a deep slumber.

A sensation similar to that of ice water creeping slowly down her back caused Dakota to jolt awake, her head snapping up in alarm at the feeling, her ears rotating around rapidly to catch any suspicious noises from the environment around her. She saw nothing, the air smelled clean, and the only sounds that met her ears were the whistling of the birds and the swish of the tree leaves in the breeze. And yet, something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones and her muscles ached to move and fly to the source of the problem. That was when she froze, thinking carefully. Since when had she ever wanted to fly towards a problem? Her instincts were normally to fly away and hide, only fighting when absolutely necessary, trying to avoid detection from her previous captors. But now, her instincts had changed. Her mind screamed at her to move, to find the source, and to eradicate the problem. She tried to shake herself out of it, her ears flapping as her head moved from side to side, but her mind refused to drop the idea and she started to grow agitated. Finally, she stopped fighting her strange urges and she took off, her wings flinging her up in the air.

Dakota shot through the cloud line, her wings folded slightly to move faster. She knew she was still invisible but she hated being out in the open, no matter what, with the sun glaring at her from above her like a hot spotlight. Once she broke through the fluffy clouds, the cool condensation pooling on her scales as she passed through them, she shot another fireball into the sky and flew through it until she had revealed herself once more, her scales returning back to their natural shiny black color. Dakota shook herself as she flew, a slight tingly feeling tickling down her back and sides. She began to fly south, her wings pumping in slight confusion as she tried to figure out which direction to move in. Suddenly, the mark on her forehead began to throb, the swirly figure glowing a faint blue. Dakota threw her wings forward, halting in midair with a pained roar. She paused for a moment before she turned around to fly north, following the slight pull of her marking. As soon as she changed direction, the mark warmed pleasantly, glowing with less strength than before.

Dakota had no idea what she was doing as she flew north, the wind billowing underneath her wings, her eyes scanning the clouds despite not really being able to see anything. She took her time flying across the countryside, using her natural instincts to direct herself. Suddenly, she felt something prick at her nerves, a sharp tingling that ran up and down her spine like an electric shock. Her eyes widened and her ears pricked, her pupils dilating as the scene of clouds in front of her dissipated and reformed as a new scene, one that she had never seen before. She was in a large dome-like building that was filled with random destroyed mini ships and buildings that were scattered throughout the large space. Some of the buildings were on fire, some were buried beneath sand and mud, and the ship was cracked down the center while sitting in the center of a small lake. Dakota blinked a few times and looked around, trying to clear her head and figure out what was going on. She turned around, her eyes roving over each and every corner of the building until they settled on a group of people who were all standing at the top of a large staircase, above all of the destruction. Immediately, she leaped behind a wrecked building, her wings tucked in close to her body and her teeth bared in a silent snarl.

She was sure they had seen her, how could they not have? She knew that she was a large creature and that it would be nearly impossible to avoid detection, especially since she was so disoriented. She waited for the sound of shouting and the pounding of boots but nothing came. She peered around the edge of the building and glanced at the people to see that none of them had seen her despite the fact that they were facing her. Dakota tilted her head slightly in confusion and then looked behind her. She felt all of the energy leave her body as her eyes took in the sheer number of people behind her, all of which were holding some sort of weapon. She pinned her ears and whined in pure panic, all of her fighting instincts flying out the window at the sight of the mass of villains standing around a swirling purple vortex.

"Everyone, stay back! Those are real villains!" A voice called from the top of the stairs. Despite the fact that she practically had to drag her eyes away from the swarms of villains, she managed to peer around the building wreckage again to look up at the group of people at the top of the stairs. She squinted her eyes until the individual figures came into focus, her ears straining for any sound from the villains behind her. She managed to make out a strange-looking human in a giant white suit that bulged out from her sides as if it were made of pillows. This human was standing in front of a group of smaller humans, beside a menacing-looking man in solid black clothes who was holding a long white band from around his neck as if it were a weapon.

A cold laugh echoed throughout the building that washed over Dakota like a bucket of ice water, the iciness seeped into her bones and froze her to the spot, her mouth parting open slightly in shock. She knew that voice. She whipped her head around to face behind her where the swath of villains were located, and felt her heart nearly stop at the sight of their leader. It was him… the man with the hands covering him from head to toe… he was the one who had tortured her, he was the man who had nearly driven away her sanity, who had killed almost every last Night Fury in an attempt to find her. Because he was the one she was supposedly destined to bond with.

"You think you can protect your students, hero? Against the likes of all of us?"

Another cold laugh followed the comment and Dakota shrank back as much as she possibly could in the cramped space.

"I will fight to the end if it means I can protect these aspiring heroes," the woman in the space suit called out.

Dakota swiveled her head back around to look back at the smaller group of people. She peered at all of their faces but it was hard to see them with all of their strange gear and costumes on. Her eyes combed through the group, moving past a spiky blonde boy, a frog-like girl, a boy with strange, purple balls on his head, and then over a girl in a pink, black, and white body-suit with chocolate brown hair. Dakota perked her ears slightly when she saw the girl. She was the sweet girl who had fed her some beef when she was injured. Dakota remembered that the green-haired boy, Izuku, had called her Uraraka. Her tail absentmindedly thumped on the ground twice, but she stopped it before it attracted any unwanted attention. She was still confused as to why she had not been spotted yet despite being in the center of the action, but she decided to not think about it too much and use it to her advantage. Dakota then glanced beside Uraraka and felt her heart skip a beat. It was Izuku. There was no doubt about that green hair and wide eyes.

Dakota suddenly felt severe panic as she realized everything all at once. Izuku was in trouble. That was what her bonding mark had been trying to warn her of. She didn't even stop to think as she bolted from her hiding spot and out into the center of the area, half galloping and half flying towards Izuku. She took the stairs six at a time and leaped past all of the other people, ignoring them entirely, her ears roaring and her eyes fogging up as she focused entirely on reaching the boy. She finally made it and reached a protective paw out. She really didn't know what she meant to do, maybe hold him close to her as a thank you and an apology, maybe to bat him across the head for making her feel attached to him but what she did not expect was for her paws to feel nothing but air. She swiped right through him, Izuku's body disappearing into swirls of smoke.

Dakota whined in confusion and looked around frantically to find all of the people starting to whisk away. She also realized that none of them were looking at her, as if a giant black dragon had not just run in front of them and try to hug one of the students in the group. The building also began fade until she could once more see clouds in front of her. She whipped her head around back and forth, searching for the people and the villains and the destroyed buildings, only to find empty sky and a large, spanning blanket of clouds below her. She blinked rapidly and shook her head, her entire body trembling with nerves. She calmed herself after a few minutes of breathing and collecting her thoughts. She managed to keep herself in the air as well despite the fact that her wings were trembling and twitching. Once she felt calmer, she narrowed her eyes and changed course slightly. Izuku was in danger and no matter what grudge she held against humans, she was in his debt. Pumping her wings with greater fervor, Dakota aimed for the edge of a forest where a giant meadow bled from the treeline and led the way to a charming little cabin.

Haruka stood at the kitchen sink washing some of the dishes from the previous night's dinner, staring out the window at the swaying grasses and the proud trees of the forest beyond, thinking about the Night Fury. The one that got away. Cassian brought her out of her reverie with a soft squawking noise and a gentle nudge to her shoulder. Haruka smiled and rubbed the eagle's head with the tip of her finger.

"Sorry buddy, I know we haven't had a lot of time together, I am just desperately trying to find that Night Fury. You know how important it is that we find her, both for her sake and for young Midoriya's," Haruka said sadly.

Cassian closed his eyes and dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement.

"I promise that as soon as we find her, we can hang out more but in the mean-time, we can go on one flight today but I want to then get back to focusing on where she may have gone."

Cassian nodded and took off, leaving small scratches on the kitchen counter as he made his way across the hall to a wooden post for him to land on. His wings fluttered as he settled himself on the wood, his talons curling in slightly. Tucking in his wings, the regal bird chirped a little and looked out the window in front of Haruka, gazing at the blue sky. Haruka went back to washing dishes, her eyes downcast and her nimble finger drifting over each plate with warm suds. Cassian was about to turn his head to take a short nap when something small caught his eye. The bird tilted his head at the window and peered sharply into the sky where a tiny black dot had suddenly appeared. The black dot was getting closer and closer until his sharp eagle eyes were able to define the shape in the sky. His heart leaped into his mouth in excitement and Cassian squawked loudly.

Haruka turned to face him and he tittered on the wooden post a little, his beak parted in a small smile.

"I am sorry Cassian but I've already told you, we have to wait until later to go flying. I am almost done with the dishes but you have to wait," She said.

The bird shook his regal head and screeched again. Haruka suddenly felt a soft tug on the edge of her mind, as if someone had suddenly build a small bridge across it and she felt Cassian's warmth in her head. A deep, growly male voice filled her head as Cassian spoke to her.

"Look out the window; at the sky," Cassian purred. "Someone finally decided to crash the party."

Haruka whipped around and Cassian smirked a little as he saw her eyes widen in shock and excitement. She didn't even respond before bolting out the door to meet the Night Fury, who was darting for them at the speed of a rocket. Cassian did not need any prompting to follow and took off after his bonded dragon rider, his eyes shining. The dragon got closer and all of a sudden, Cassian's smile disappeared and the gleam in his eye was replaced with something slightly darker as he realized that something was very wrong. She was flying out in the open without any cover and she was beating her wings rapidly.

"Haruka, something is wrong," Cassian whispered into the bridge of their minds and he felt a gentle caress, like wind blowing across an old wooden fence in the fall, against his mind to show that she had heard him.

Dakota finally landed heavily on the ground and trotted quickly towards the pair, her eyes wide and her chest heaving with exhaustion. Cassian approached her immediately, flying up to her to land on her muzzle. Dakota tensed but held still as the eagle glared at her before giving a low growl.

"What is wrong?" He asked gently.

"I'm not really sure," Dakota answered. "I was asleep but I was shocked awake by this feeling of panic. I went for a fly to try and clear my head but just ended up experiencing a vision. The green-haired boy is in danger, the one who saved me."

Cassian nodded and turned back to Haruka, his voice echoing in her mind.

"Midoriya is in danger, let's go."

"I'll get Emiko," Haruka said and dashed off, her boots thudding heavily on the ground as she ran, leaving the dragons to sit impatiently and wait.

Dakota crouched low to the ground as she moved, her tail swishing behind her and her ears constantly rotating. She had not been too keen on being turned into a dog again but she knew that it would be the best form of disguise for her. She prowled through some bushes and peered through them at the gates of the huge building, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of it. She had described the details of the dome-like building to Haruka and she had informed her that it was a training ground for aspiring heroes and that Izuku and his class were on a field trip there at the moment. Cassian and Haruka had given her the directions to get there and although she had tried to leave right then and there, Emiko had proposed a new idea. Dakota glanced once more at the giant U.A. sign that stood proudly at the center of the gate, before moving carefully out into the open.

The security gates to the school had been temporarily destroyed by a bunch of nosy reporters a few days earlier and so although it was open, there were a few guards that remained standing on either side. Dakota kept them noted before looking around to her left to see Emiko and Cassian. Cassian remained in his eagle form but Emiko pressed a palm to her chest and let her quirk reassemble her body until she had reformed into the shape of a small tabby cat. Dakota nodded once and immediately the two were sent into action, Emiko running out of the bush with her fur ruffled and her teeth bared into a snarl. Cassian screeched and chased the seemingly frazzled cat, leaning down as if to snatch her in his talons before lifting up at the last second and circling low to the ground once more. Emiko hissed and spat and ran right for the gates. The guards tried to redirect her but Cassian flew right in their faces, giving Dakota just enough time to slip in. As soon as she was out of sight, Cassian and Emiko ran off, Cassian continuing to pretend to capture her.

"Jesus… that was something wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I guess it is part of the job."

Dakota perked her ears at their conversation to make sure she had not been discovered before she shook herself and ran towards the building. Dakota galloped at the doors, her paws drumming wildly on the pavement. Suddenly, a medium-sized object splat down in front of her. Dakota looked up to see Cassian circling above her. He let out a squawk and she replied back with a bark before leaning down and grabbing the hero notebook from the ground. Cassian had flown to Izuku's home and snatched it while the others debriefed on the plan.

Dakota pushed open the doors with her nose and body, looking around skeptically for any sign of a trap. When she had determined that the coast was clear, she trotted quickly into the hallway and padded towards down a hall where she heard voices. The voices got louder and louder as she walked and she paused several feet away, her fear of humans taking over her movement. She hesitated as one person laughed loudly and boisterously from inside a room at the end of the hall but shook herself to clear her head. Taking a deep breath, Dakota galloped down the hall and skidded to a stop at the door with a loud bark. She set the notebook on the ground as the voices faltered, and she leaped up to touch the door with her paws, jumping backwards and barking loudly.

"Is that a dog…?" Someone asked before opening the door.

The person who opened the door almost sent Dakota running, but she planted her paws and barked again, louder this time to a tall, lanky blonde-haired man with a yellow suit.

"Present Mike? What is going on over there?"

"It's a dog, Nedzu."

"How did the dog get in here?"

"I don't really know…"

The tall man kneeled and held his hand out a little. Dakota wanted nothing more than to shrink away and growl but she forced herself to smell and then lightly lick the tip of his knuckle.

"She seems friendly enough," He said in a loud voice. "Hey sweet one, what are you doing here?" The man tried to pet her but she backed away and barked again, twirling in a circle and grabbing Izuku's notebook. She let out a muffled bark and twirled again, her ears rotating wildly.

"Hey… is that… Midoriya's book?" Present Mike asked, reaching down and gently taking it from her. Dakota whined and paced up and down the hall, running half-way down and then back up with a bark. She finally looked at the man dead in the eyes and tilted her head in the direction of the exit, whining slightly.

"Nedzu, I think we need to go check on Aizawa and the students," Present Mike said apprehensively.

"Now, now, let's not get too crazy," a new voice said followed by the appearance of a rat/dog/bear cross in a suit and tie. "Aizawa and Thirteen are more than capable pros, you need to finish your lesson planning."

"But this dog…"

"Don't worry about the dog, I will tend to it," Principle Nedzu said.

"Oh alright…" Present Mike turned to leave when the dog launched at him and grabbed the cuff of his pant leg in her teeth. Present Mike paused and she tugged on it slightly before dropping it and making a circle with another whine.

Nedzu tilted his head and twirled his tail.

"You know what, Present Mike? I think maybe we should go check on those kids…"

Dakota led the way down the sidewalks and across the streets. She galloped the entire way, her paws bleeding from the constant friction. Her ears were pinned as she ran and she flinched in pain but she refused to give up, this was nothing compared to some of the other things she had been forced to endure. She could sense herself getting nearer and just as some of the teachers were beginning to complain about the long distance and how they were just on a wild goose chase with a dog, a tall teenager shot around the corner, smoke roiling from his calves. Dakota yelped and skidded to a stop before leaping off of the pavement and bounding into the brush beside her, hiding herself in the plants.

"Iida?" Present Mike asked.

"Present Mike! Nedzu! All Might! Everyone! We have been attacked by villains, they have cut off our communication system so we have been unable to contact anyone but my fellow classmates are fighting for their lives in the USJ!"

The teachers glanced at each other and then took off with Iida, tearing down the sidewalk towards the dome building. Despite the fact that her part was basically over, she felt a strange need to watch them, to make sure they actually got there to save the boy and repay her debt so she followed them at a slightly slower pace, giving her paws a rest.

Izuku didn't know what to do. All Might was bleeding from the side, he had defeated the Nomu but he was exhausted and his time in his muscle form was wearing thin, the smoke from around him just barely masking the smoke that was coming off of his body. The amazing hero was trying to get the villains to secede but so far they refused to leave, just standing there clenching their fists and shaking with barely suppressed anger.

"You cheated…" A scratchy voice called out as the owner of the voice reached up with cold, dead-looking hands to scratch at his already very irritated neck. Suddenly, just as the hand villain began to get worked up, the villain who had teleported the whole group of villains here leaned down and whispered something to his childish boss.

"Ahhhh yessss I guess I could settle for that idea…" Suddenly, the hand villain leaped at All Might with furious force, like an angry cat leaping at an unsuspecting mouse. All Might got into a weak fighting position but really had no idea what to do as the man came flying at him with his rotting hands outstretched. Before the villain could even get half-way to All Might, Izuku was in the air, getting ready to aim a full fledged punch at the man. A purple vortex bloomed in front of Izuku just as the man looked over in surprise which had Izuku looking right into the dead hands. The villain began to laugh as the obvious fear lit up Izuku's features, his hand starting to close on Izuku's face…

The villain's arm jerked on the spot, away from Izuku's face and flailing back in the wrong direction. The villain screamed as three more bullets made it to each of his limbs before a large purple vortex swathed over him as a shield.

"They're here!" All Might groaned in exhaustion as the other U.A. teachers made themselves known on the front step by the doors. Iida stood panting in the middle of the group, his glasses sliding down his nose as she shouted out to his classmates. Izuku lay on the ground, his legs once more broken but his friends and mentor were safe and that was all he cared about.

Izuku and all of the other students and staff who had been at the USJ were admitted to a hospital as soon as all of the villains had been arrested and contained. His legs were pretty easy to fix and so although he was still pretty shaken up, he was able to go home at the end of the day. He walked home with his friends after they had been released but they remained in an uneasy silence compared to their normal bright chattiness. Izuku coughed awkwardly as they walked and glanced at Iida.

"Congrats today, Iida! You really pulled off the timing today with getting the teachers to come and help us out," Izuku said with a weak smile.

"Yeah, I was actually really lucky though, I met the teachers half-way there, they were already on their way."

"Oh, really?" Ochako piped up from Izuku's right side.

"Yeah. When I asked them how they had known about the attack, they said that a strange dog had come and alerted them by barking and running to the exit and back. Principal Nedzu said that they had almost ignored it but decided to check it out. Seems like a good thing considering what would have happened had they not showed up."

"A dog?" Izuku asked incredulously. His mind immediately shot to Dakota at this thought. He had been trying to keep thoughts of the dragon out of his mind, his emotions and mental capabilities already plenty busy with school and making friends and becoming a good hero. But he knew that he would never forget her completely. He hadn't been sleeping well ever since she left and in the dark loneliness of the night he often thought about her no matter how hard he tried to shove them out of his brain.

Izuku left his friends at the train station, waving goodbye and then turning to go to his home. He sighed as the evening breeze kissed his cheeks, and he ran a nervous hand through his hair, his eyes averted to the ground as he thought about the attack. Finally, Izuku rounded a corner and made it to his side of the street. He looked up to reach for the door when he stopped dead in his tracks. Sitting there, holding his hero notebook gently in her jaws, was the dog form of Dakota. The two stared at each other for a moment. She tilted her head and looked him over, her eyes trailing all over him for wounds. When she was satisfied she met his gaze again, her blue eyes sparkling brightly at him. Izuku suddenly felt a gentle caress down his mind and he gasped at the strange sensation.

"W-welcome b-b-back Dakota," Izuku said in a tone that was a mix of angry, relieved, grateful, and excited.

"T-Thank you," She responded in his mind, her sweet, soft voice filling his head pleasantly. Izuku gasped and she growled but she padded up to him anyway, her head held up high. She made it to his side before she pressed her muzzle into his hand and sighed.

"It feels good to be home."