It had been a stupid move to run off and leave Togata-san -damn, Lemillion- behind, Deku would be the first to admit that, bu the girl with the horn had been so scared, so petrified, that there was no way he could just leave her with that strange man, no more than he could believe that guy was really her father.

"Stop right there!" he shouted, pointed a finger at the pair.

They both turned, cautious joy breaking out over the little girl's dirty face and annoyance shining in the man's eyes; his grip on the girl's arm tightened and she flinched. "Oh look, it the hero," the masked man drawled darkly. "Do yourself a favor kid and run along; this doesn't concern you."

"You're hurting that girl," he snapped back. "As both a hero-in-training and a decent human being, that makes it my concern!"

The girl, with a burst of courage and strength, ripped her arm from the man's grasp and broke away, running straight for Deku, she tucked herself behind him with her little fingers clutching the back of his shirt.

"Now, I'm going to take her to get some help," Deku told the towering man who was looking at them both the way an animal looks at its prey; later on, he'd be proud of how steady and confident his voice sounded despite the chill creeping up his spine and into his lungs. "So get out of here if you know what's good for you!"

The man chuckled, "You got guts, kid; I'll give you that. Too bad they won't do you any good!"

And, with that, he lunged forward at breakneck speed; Deku fell his eyes widen as he instinctive pulled a fist back, ready to punch with everything he had, and he heard the little girl start to scream. He closed his eyes.

CRUNCH!

Deku's eyes flew open and his jaw dropped at the sight before him. The man, who just a second ago had seemed so vicious and imposing, was now flat on his face, imbedded into the concrete in the center of a crater of shattered stone. On top of his back was a dark-haired teenager with a straw hat. He stared down at the man for a second, bounced up and down on the balls of his feet a few times, and then hopped off his perch, landing a few feet from Deku and his new charge.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked.

The teenager's voice had a causal manner of speech, but not in a way that would indicate delinquency or ill-intent and the look in his eyes seemed to be genuine concern. Deku could only blink at him.

"Ahhh, y-yes. Th-thank you," he stammered out; the girl didn't say anything, instead tightening her grip on him and letting out a little whimper. "We s-should be going n-"

Before he even finished talking, the teenager whirled around; every muscle in his lean body tensing and his feet sliding apart like he was getting ready to enter a fighting stance.

"Well, that was unexpected," the masked man drawled, getting to his feet. "You're a strong one, aren't you kid?"

The teenager crossed his arms, "Yeah, I am. Way stronger than you."

"That is quite the claim," the man chuckled. "I'll tell you what, I'm in a hurry so why don't you bring me that girl and I'll make it worth your while. I'll even put in a good word with my employers; if you're as strong as you say then they may have use for you."

The teen glanced back at them and, for a second, Deku was worried he'd take the man up on his offer, but then he turned back. "Nah, I don't work for anyone."

"What a shame."

The man lunged again but the teen was prepared. Quicker than Deku's eye could see, one of his arms turned black and shiny, like polished stone, and side-stepped the attack; He punched the man square in the gut, burying his fist in deep.

"Oomph!"

Their attacker doubled over, the wind completely knocked out of him. "Heh," he wheezed, weakly gripping at his opponent's wrist, "so you're strong and fast. Too bad it won't help you."

"Huh, what are you- OW!"

The teenager jumped back and twisted, landing a powerful kick to the back of the man that sent him flying to the side of a nearby building, the brick wall smashing at the impact.

"What the hell did you do to me?!" he demanded, clutched his forearm with the other hand.

'What…'

Deku's eyes went wide at the sight; the teenager's arm was now gray and crackled, like crumbling concrete. After a moment, it turned back to regular looking flesh but the now the tanned skin was bruised a clouded dark purple, like someone had repeatedly taken a hammer to it.

"Never had that happen before," the villain noted calmly as he extracted himself from the broken wall. "It's too bad I can't play around with you more but I've got places to be."

With that, he put a hand on the wall behind himself. To Deku's horror, the brick seemed to crumble before reshaping itself into a massive pillar that shot right at the teenager.

'He… he is just standing still! Move!'

But he didn't, the teenager remained still as a statue… frozen in shock.

'I can't let him die!'

Deku charged forward, pushing the teen out of his way and punched the pillar with all his might.

BOOM!

The pillar exploded into a million tiny pieces of shrapnel, dust filling the air.

"Wow, that was AWESOME!" the teen cheered, giving Deku a friendly, open look.

"Uh, thanks!" Deku replied with a confused smile as he tried to ignore the pain from his broken hand. 'He's not scared at all.'

He continued, "Thanks for…"

Deku's voiced trailed off as the ground beneath him began to rumble, 'An earthquake?"

Then the ground dropped away and Deku started to fall.

Just for a second thought, then he felt some warm and strong wrap around his waist; the girl was pressed into him now too, screaming into Deku's ear, and then they were flying up, up, and now they were above the buildings.

"AHHHHHHHH….Umpf!"

"You can stop screaming now."

Deku worked on keeping his stomach and heart in place as he stared up at the bemused face of the teenager. "Oh… sorry…"

"Don't apologize."

"Sorry…" Deku forced himself to sit up. "I mean, thank you for helping us. We might have been toast if not for you… Uh, wants your name?"

The teenager gave, "I'm Strawhat Luffy! Nice to meet you!"

5