A/N: Heyo all! Surprise right? A new chapter so soon? Sadly this may be the quickest update as the next chapter won't be up for another 2-3 weeks, actually this time. To compensate, this chapter is a lengthy one so I do hope you're patient to read through. That said, enjoy the chapter and talk to you later!- Poshil
Chapter 5: Deadly Dilemma
Morning shines across the campus of UA. The birds singing their ceaseless songs, the warmer air breaking the cold of night, what more can be asked for a new day? The dawn of a new day for the students attending UA signify a fresh start of the day for any aspiring hero training under the direction of UA's finest teachers. But recent events from last night left every student and teacher rattled to their core. The combination of Izuku's mother's kidnapping, the suicide of a student, and the unknown villain behind these events, dark times are ever so present for UA. What would be a thriving campus with students and its facility walking the grounds is but a ghost town in a veil of negative emotion. Anger, fear, all sorts of emotions hang above the once vibrant campus of UA. But nothing comes close to the negative vibe than UA's talk of the town, Class 1A.
Amongst the UA campus is the dorms of Class 1A. Class 1A contains some particular students who inspire to be heroes but often find trouble blocking their way in achieving their dream. By the end of the day, the 1A students overcome these challenges and stand today as potential pro heroes for the future. Accomplishments such as listed before can cause a moment of celebration, anyone would after overcoming such ordeals. And funnily enough last night was a moment for the students to celebrate after completing a year of school. But the celebration was cut short. A mysterious video containing a chilling message left a grave blow to the students' moral when one of their own had his mother kidnapped by a villain. Desperation led to depression when actions taken to save Inko Midoriya were all for naught.
In addition to the kidnapping, last night's search of the villain's accomplice left all of Class A's heroes in training exhausted beyond belief. The lack of sleep and the stress of how their families could be potentially targeted by this villain continue to weigh down the students' state of mind. On top of piling list of worries include some of the students' concern for their fellow classmate Izuku Midoriya. The news of Inko Midoriya's kidnapping left the students with a heavy heart, especially for those who are close to the green haired hero. In short, the dorms' current vibe is simply plain depressing.
The depressive state of Class 1A continues to spiral down when Ochako Uraraka returns from her night venture in search for Izuku. While she was successful in tracking down the boy, the state she found him in and what she learned from Aizawa wouldn't come as a surprise in seeing the gravity hero a sobbing mess.
Class 1A too is caught up to speed thanks to their teacher's text in regards of recent events such as the unknown body found at Izuku's home. But learning how heartbroken the green haired boy with what has happened and his missing mother was too much for the gravity hero and some others to bear. That said Class 1A being up to date with current events on what's happening didn't help calm their frayed nerves for Izuku's and their own family's well being should this villain continue to kidnap more victims. Aizawa confirmed to his students that several hero agencies nearby UA took up arms to act as security for the UA students' families. At least for that alone brought a sliver of comfort to the UA students. But the heroes are not out of the woods until this villain is brought to justice and Inko Midoriya is rescued.
The students of Class 1A minus Izuku gathered in the common room and wait for any new updates about the villain from their homeroom teacher Aizawa Shouta. A new plan is being put together in tracking down the kidnapper but with no leads to work on, the heroes' workload is going to be anything but easy. As of now the aspiring heroes in training could only stand by and wait for further orders from the pro heroes and their teacher. With each passing minute, tensions only continue to grow within the students.
And it didn't take long until arguments start to break out amongst Class 1A; the students shifting blame regarding who received the mysterious tape without noticing the deliverer, the need for the party last night, and all sorts of excuses to find a means to cast their anger for last night's list of failures. When it came to a boiling point, Class 1A's Katsuki Bakugou finally explodes, figuratively and literally, amidst the arguments for everyone to quiet down. But being that is Bakugou the situation only continued to spiral out of control.
"What is it with you losers talking about that piece of trash Deku?!" Bakugou shouted towards his classmates. His outburst didn't help with the situation when Iida and especially Uraraka are fuming towards Bakugou's disregard for Izuku's well-being. "Instead of twiddling our thumbs on that nerd's condition we SHOULD be out there looking for the prick that's been making us look like fools! Besides the green shit stain will get over it!"
"E-excuse me?!" Uraraka interjected, her rage soaring beyond her limit as she stomped over to the explosive student. What transpired next Uraraka would fully regret. But all rational thought is focused towards emotional thought as Uraraka's hand made contact with Bakugou's face, sending the blond hero reeling back in utter shock. A slap that the world could hear echoed across the dorms before silence took over the tension of the air.
The other students ceased arguing when the slap connected. Everyone froze and stared in horror towards Uraraka after processing her slapping Bakugou. Uraraka, one of the sweetest and kindest of the class, full swing slapped the angriest student of the group. The gravity hero rarely gets angry and to see her being pushed to this extreme is as terrifying as Bakugou at his highest point of angry.
With each second that passed by felt like a second closer for a massive bomb to go off. And like that Bakugou's shock is replaced with pure rage that could make the Earth tremble in fear. In a split second Bakugou charges at Uraraka with his hand raised to blast the slapper with his explosion quirk. Thankfully Kirishima and Sero intervene by restraining the explosive boy's assault against their fellow classmate. Same goes when Iida and Asui had to protect Uraraka if an attempt of retaliation occured. And like that chaos ensues once again, both provoked students yelling and screaming about Izuku while the others attempted to calm the fuming Uraraka and Bakugou. Simply no end to the accumulating anger.
"Quiet!"
The shouting came to a halt when an unfamiliar voice caught the students' attention. All eyes searched for the owner of said voice and to everyone's surprise it belonged to Class 1A's Koji Koda, quite possibly the shyest student of the gang, even surpassing Izuku. Bakugou remained stunned from the shy student's outburst and whether he was curious or trying to find amusement out of the shy hero, Koda continued expressing his thoughts to his fellow students or at least attempted to when his nerves got the better of him.
"U-u-um…hi." Koda stammered as Bakugou glared daggers towards the shy hero.
"Got something to say animal lover?" Bakugou demanded through gritted teeth. After mustering some courage and a few deep breathes, Koda finds his voice and shared his concerns to his classmates.
"This isn't helping anyone." Koda spoke up, his voice shaky but finding its way to stand firm. "How could we call ourselves heroes if we're fighting each other?"
Koda's statement hit everyone harder than it should as he was completely right. The negative energy that clouded the dorms slowly faded away. While the frustration and anger dissipated it was replaced with disappointment. To lash out against a classmate, a friend even, is not how any hero should act on from negative emotions. Finding clarify in the situation the class's president steps beside the voice that broke their moment of blind anger.
"He's right." Iida added, placing his hand on Koda's shoulder as his way of showing praise to the hero voicing his concern. "Now isn't the time to punish ourselves for our negligence of what has happened. All we can do is push forward, for our friend Midoriya. Let's show that villain the might of Class 1A!"
The entire class agreed to Iida's statement as a sudden burst of uplifting energy broke the gloom out of the dorms. Bakugou simply spat in anger as he storms out of the dorms with the scowl on his face growing ever so stronger. Kirishima wanted to chase after his friend only for Asui to stop him, stating to give him some space to think things through. Reluctantly agreeing to the frog quirk girl, Kirishima turns his attention back to Iida.
"So, what now?" the red headed hero asked the class president of Class 1A.
"As Sensei stated earlier, we're waiting on new orders." Iida responded, pushing in glasses up from falling pass his nose before placing his hand under his chin. "But luckily we don't have to wait any longer."
Iida fishes out his phone when it started vibrating. A quick scan over the text he received confirms his prediction. Time for action.
"Alright Class 1A, to the gymnasium!"
Going a full night without sleep can put the human body through various side effects. Izuku has done it from time to time when it came to studying for an exam or watching an All Might movie special way longer than he should have. But unlike previous times he stayed up, this one case takes the cake. A part of him is glad he didn't find his mom's body on an EMT stretcher but he's far from calm knowing that she's still out there in captivity.
"Young Midoriya…"
Izuku breaks out of his inner murmurings to spot his idol All Might standing beside him with a cup of steaming tea in hand. Not far behind All Might joins the other pro heroes of UA. They too greeted the green hair hero with a smile and wave, specifically Present Mic showing more than enough sympathy upon hearing Izuku's predicament with his missing mother. But just hearing the heroes greeting him is enough to put some ease in his heart. After their greetings the heroes and teachers made their way inside the gymnasium and settle down on some nearby chairs placed across the area.
As per request by UA's upper staff and Musutafu police, a meeting is being held to plan out Inko's rescue. Izuku is thankful how fast the heroes and police worked in preparation for his sake. It was now a matter of hearing out the plan.
But before that Izuku brought his attention back to his idol and mentor All Might. The former pro hero offers the cup of team to his pupil in which Izuku gladly accepts. The warm brewed liquid helped ease his mind slightly as he takes in his surroundings. The UA gymnasium still to this day amazes Izuku. The thought process behind the architecture that built this grand hall is something he could never comprehend.
Being a high ceiling building used for various purposes and events, the gymnasium has served countless times for UA and Izuku's benefit. The aspiring hero couldn't help but smile a bit of the fond memory of him and his class performing in this very room in front of the school. Seeing everyone happy and cheering for his classmates, Eri's first time smiling, moments like these is what Izuku can be glad for attending UA.
"Ha, guess the tea helped a bit." All Might interrupted Izuku's thoughts with a chuckle. Truth be told the tea did help actually. The soothing aroma and taste help trigger the green haired hero's mind to recall his best moments so far in UA. Then reality brought him back to the present about his missing mom. But rather than shedding more tears something else sparked in Izuku. Determination, Izuku vowed to save his mom from the clutches of this mysterious villain. He shouldn't be sharing these happy moments without his mother. Another sip of tea later he smiled again and a confident look grew across his brow.
"Just you wait Mom, I WILL rescue you." Izuku stated triumphantly with his fist pumped in the air.
It's amazing how much Izuku grown as All Might observed his new successor of One for All. It wouldn't surprise anyone that he doubt Izuku would be bouncing back so soon when learning a loved one snatched away by a villain. But perhaps there's more than meets the eye. Whatever the case All Might is glad he's wrong to assume the worst of his fan and pupil. Even Izuku's determination started to rub onto him as All Might's positive spirit sparks up. He isn't going to let this tragedy go unanswered and will do everything in his power to apprehend this villain and return MIdoriya's mother out of the clutches of this villain.
"Sorry for interrupting Mr. Midoriya. Eraserhead and your classmates will arrive shortly and then we can commence with the meeting." A male voice spoke out, grabbing Izuku's attention.
Izuku and All Might turn their focus to the voice hailing for them. Approaching the duo is the city's head chief of police, the familiar anthropomorphic chief of police donning a sleek black suit with his ID tag hanging around his neck to display his status. Izuku is very familiar with the chief of police on a couple of occasions though mostly reprimanding him using his quirk outside of pro hero supervision or aiding on a mission or two, one being the recent rescue of Eri from the Shie Hassaikai and its leader Overhaul.
Apart from that the chief has held a great deal of respect for Izuku despite the youth being a hero in training. Whatever villain danger that Izuku had a hand in on confronting with; he's overcome the challenge with soaring results.
"Chief Kenji Tsuragamae, glad you can make it." All Might greeted the chief, shaking the hand/paw with the chief of police.
"Likewise to you All Might." The chief replied happily and responded with a handshake of his own. "Mr Midoriya." The chief turned to the young hero, shaking his hand as well. "I once again thank you for your cooperation."
"Of course sir." Izuku responded after shaking the chief's hand.
"Just a reminder to you both and everyone else, all the case information-"
"Deku!"
The trio's attention divert towards the double door exit that bursts open with the entirely of Class 1A filing inside the gymnasium. Uraraka stepped in front of the group as she races ahead to reunite with the new All for One user. Before Izuku could get a word out to his friends Uraraka rushes forward and embraces the green haired hero. A couple others joined in for a group hug onto Class 1A's resident oddball, the air of tension soon fading into a calming aura of peace. Izuku wasn't sure whether to faint or stay conscious while being a muttering mess from this amount of affection. Not often he was given this much attention but it didn't take too long for him to accept the hug and be thankful that he has friends like Class 1A. "Another blessing to add since attending UA" Izuku thought to himself.
Following up the group hug is a bombardment of questions for Izuku as his friends minus Bakugou voice their level of concern of the situation with Inko's kidnapping, recapping what happened at the school last night, and other small things to add in as a means to comfort Izuku.
"Settle down now!" Aizawa barked out, emerging from the double door exit of the gym. The pro hero's voice of authority brought Class 1A at full attention without as much as a peep from the students like soldiers of the military. "Good, give Izuku some space if that's not asking too much."
"Thank you for that Eraserhead." Chief Tsuragamae thanked for the hero to regain control. The pro hero simply shrugged from the comment before zipping himself up in his signature sleeping bag and settling down on the gym's wooden floor. The chief couldn't but help but chuckle at the display but at the same time sympathize the amount of exhaustion Aizawa is under after helping his team with collecting as much evidence from the crime scene that took place during Inko's kidnapping.
After the class is up to date for the sudden meeting each member from Class 1A brought themselves to a seat alongside the UA teachers in front of a large projector screen that has set up in the middle of the gym. Chief Tsuragamae greeted everyone once more before pulling out his notebook and begins the proceedings of the group meeting.
"Once again I thank you for your cooperation everyone." The chief started, taking account of the many heroes and heroes in training surrounding him. "I won't take too long as to explain why you're all here. As many of you know last night a local resident, Inko Midoriya, was kidnapped by an unknown villain with the help of three accomplices. The significance of this kidnapping being that Inko is the mother of one of the students of Class 1A, Izuku Midoriya. Our mission is to find this villain and rescue Inko, preferably alive. For some of you this task is personal but I must advise that you treat this like any other professional hero mission tasked to you. Follow the instructions and orders to the point given by your teachers and there won't be any problems."
The police chief turned his attention to the projector screen. Using a wireless remote, he presses down a button to start up the projector to reveal some photos of the crime scene inside of Izuku's home and the covered remains of Tsutsutaka Agoyamato, the student that killed himself last night. The images caused some of the viewers to stricken up in either horror or disgust from the grueling amount of crimson displayed on screen. Izuku couldn't help but shutter intensely after seeing his home covered in blood again.
"First matter of things to cover: the unknown body found at the crime scene has been identified as Kenneth Thief, a rank D villain who is known to be a petty crook previously arrested for robbing several convenience stores and shops. Based on the evidence at hand, he was one of the three accomplices aiding our true target in the kidnapping of Inko Midoriya before meeting his end. The cause of death wasn't by Inko Midoriya's or anyone else's hands as autopsy reports state the wound to be a self inflicted gunshot. At first it was unclear on why he killed himself until…"
The chief change slides to a second set of pictures displaying what appear to be several colored wires, often found attached to some kind of PCB board, circuitry box, and any other electronic device that requires some form of wiring.
"These were discovered." The chief finished his statement. This raised a few questions and chatter among the students and teachers before the hardening quirk student Kirishima raised his hand.
"What are those wires for?" Kirishima asked the chief of police.
"These wires are side effects of a quirk known as Mind-Tapping, the ability to forcefully to take control of someone's body and their actions by simply touching their forehead."
The reveal of this quirk came as a shocking revelation for the UA staff and students. A quirk this powerful to exist in the hands of a villain is something terrifying to fathom if someone like All For One were to come in possession. Sure a quirk similar to this villain's like Hitoshi Shinso exists and its not uncommon to come across quirks with similar properties. The idea of this villain taking control of a young student for his bidding is unforgivable.
"And if I had to shoot a guess the villain was controlling this Kenneth Thief and young Agoyamato the entire time during the lockdown and kidnapping." All Might commented, his solemn gaze deepening with the idea that a student fell victim to the clutches of a vile villain with a terrifying quirk.
"Your guess is correct All Might. The villain used the victims as human proxies to go forth with this plan of kidnapping Inko Midoriya. Once the Agoyamato proxy obtained information of Inko's whereabouts the Thief proxy along with the third accomplice set forth into obtaining their target. However the third accomplice is still unknown for the time being. For now that is but we will be discuss about that later on. Moving on..."
A well thought out plan for this villain. Terrifying for the fact a villain went this far only to kidnap someone instead of hacking into UA's system to obtain other valuable information. But it still raises the question on why Inko specifically in the first place.
"There's only one user with the Mind-Tap quirk we currently have on record." The chief continued, changing slides to an image of a mug shot provided by the city's police station. The sinister looking man appears to be in his mid 40s. Other notable characteristics include the man donning a strange looking visor with a green hued screen blocking one of his eyes while his other eye appeared to be missing, a faint scar over where the eye used to be. This man nailed the look of a villain if some criteria for evil appearances were to be established.
"Maindo Kotoro, villain alias Mind Trap, a Rank B villain charged for two bank heists and two pro hero murders. It was thought he was killed during a riot years ago. But safe to say this isn't the case." The chief explained before changing slides to a detailed bio of the villain. "As it stands, this man is our prime suspect behind the kidnapping."
Izuku struggled to keep himself from breaking the handles of his chair as his grip tightens with each second of anger that welded up inside his chest. He has never seen or heard of this man, and certain his mother too never met this Mind Trap villain before. Whatever reason why Mind Trap is doing this will not stop Izuku from punishing this villain and bringing his mom home safely.
"We've confirmed that Mind Trap has no affiliation with the League of Villains but nevertheless is very dangerous and must be dealt with the upmost caution. Now moving on…" the chief went onto the next slide of the presentation. The next image is the makeshift computer room where Agoyamato was found last night. The student's body in this photo is gone and replaced with a chalk outline of where the body used to be. However the image of the victim shooting himself still fresh in the students' mind that took part in Snipe's team during last night's search.
"This room is unknown to your school's chef Lunch Rush as well as the rest of the UA facility my team interviewed. Additionally this area didn't exist based on your school's floor plan and design. We have little information on the origin of this room but we believe that this room was created in secret most likely by Tsutsutaka Agoyamato when he was being controlled by Mind Trap. And as shown leading to the kidnapping, this room was used to secretly hack into your school's database and network for the desired information. And from here Eraserhead will add on what his team uncovered."
As on cue Aizawa emerges from his sleeping bag and stands before the UA student body and facility. The prior nap did the pro hero wonders as his exhaustion is somewhat to a minimal but giving enough energy to continue off of Chief Tsuragamae's point.
"We sent investigators to comb this makeshift base and to our luck found Agoyamato's computer still functioning." Aizawa spoke with his tired eyes shifting between his notes and the slides displaying more detailed images of the hidden computer room. "After the techies fiddled around with the computer, we narrowed down to four possible locations of Mind Trap and Inko's whereabouts."
The last bit of news brought some much needed positive energy to the students. Izuku especially now that his mom is within reach. The group settles down as Aizawa continues sharing his notes on the investigation.
"While this seems good and all, this bit of information seems too convenient given the locations were directly on the desktop. Higher rank villains know better to leave anything behind especially their tech or any vital information pertaining to them. If I have to hazard a theory, the villain did this intentionally to lure us into a trap or lead us into some kind of wild goose chase."
"Precisely." Chief Tsuragamae added in as Aizawa concludes sharing his notes before returning back into his sleeping bag. "Unfortunately, time is not on our side to look deeper into this for we have another issue. One of the investigators uncovered some surveillance footage near the crime scene of the third accomplice to Mind Trap leaving the area. And…well its best you see it."
Tsuragamae switches off the slide projector and flips on a second projector which then displayed another image onto the white screen of a paused video icon. The group identified the video being some capture footage from a nearby surveillance camera located in some street corner. Izuku and Bakogou recognize the footage's location as it was taken place not too far off from their neighborhood. But what followed next left some students unraveled.
The footage starts rolling and a lone man enters in frame of the video. Izuku and some of Class 1A students grew cold upon recognizing the familiar sight. The man in the video is the same one from the video sent to Izuku last night, mask and all. What startled the group the most is how the man casually walks into shot with Inko restrained to what appears to be a wheelchair. Even at night not a single soul was nearby to witness this horrifying act. Izuku almost destroys the chair he's sitting on out of frustration from the footage played. To watch Mind Tap's accomplice walking about his neighborhood without a care in the world while his mom is terrified beyond belief. It was almost too much to watch as though this villain was taunting the group through the footage.
The masked man turns and notices the camera. The group couldn't read his expression given by his concealed face from the mask but the joyful convulsions his body made looked like he was laughing at the camera. The man sets Inko aside and walks in front of the camera with a piece of paper in hand. The villain raises his hand with the paper for the camera to view for several seconds before slipping it back into his pocket. A note from what it appears to be but the camera couldn't make out of what the note said. The group continues to watch as the villain returns back to Inko and strolls off camera. The footage ends with the room silent.
Chief Tsuragamae brings the group's attention back to the first projector to a slide of an enhance view of the note the villain held in front of the surveillance camera. The tension felt deafening with the words on the screen. Izuku slowly stood up, too shock to utter any words at the villain's note.
"Come find her Izuku. 12 hours, better hurry. Trigger finger is getting restless."
A/N: And that concludes the chapter! Thanks again for your time and hope to hear from you soon!- Poshil