Chapter 22: Burn
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Katsuki grumbled, following Izuku through shady back streets. "This is the dumbest thing we've ever done. And you were a goddamn vigilante. Shit, that's what we're doing right now, isn't it? You dragged me into vigilanting with you."
Izuku looked back at him with disbelief. "You're nervous rambling. That's my thing."
"Sorry if I'm not used to breaking the law," Katsuki hissed. "Why are you so calm?"
Izuku shrugged. "I'm used to it, I guess. And I might be completely wrong about this. That's why we didn't tell Aizawa and we're checking it out ourselves."
Katsuki dragged a hand over his face. Sitting in Izuku's room after dinner, surrounded by all the nerd's research and calm planning, it sounded like a good idea. Ride the train two hours to Nurugi and check out this old rundown aquarium and find out if they were even on the right track.
Except he knew that if Dragon had made this his current base of operations, they weren't leaving that easily.
He was smarter than this, how had he let Izuku convince him this was a good idea? Why hadn't he called Aizawa the second Izuku thought of this place?
"Are you coming or not?" Izuku asked, already halfway down the street.
Ah, right, he'd agreed to this because Izuku was going to do it either way. If he'd blabbed to Aizawa, he'd lose Izuku's trust and Izuku would have found a way to go without him. He preferred being part of this absurdly dumb plan than worrying back at the dorms.
But heaven help Izuku if they were caught and this jeopardized the license exam in two days. The law would be the least of Izuku's problems.
"Okay, there it is," Izuku whispered, crouching at the end of the street and peering around the corner.
Hovering over him, Katsuki peeked around the corner. The old aquarium had been fenced off, but there was an opening in the fences in front of the door. An official looking sign on the fence said the property was under new management, which was probably fake and only there to keep people from asking questions.
"So how the hell can we tell if he's actually in there or not?" Katsuki demanded. "Are we supposed to watch all night in case someone comes out?"
"I was thinking of walking through the front door," Izuku admitted.
Katuski glared down at him. "How in the world is that a good plan?"
"I never said it was."
Katsuki raised a hand and barely restrained himself from setting off any explosions.
"He's not going to attack the second we walk in," Izuku went on. "I think he's still hoping I'll reconsider and join him or something. I can go along with that long enough to find out where Mom is."
"And how are we getting out?"
"We'll have to improvise."
"Seriously, how did you survive on your own for two years? I genuinely don't understand." Izuku was smarter than this, and Katsuki knew his friend could hold his own in a fight, especially now that his quirk was supercharged or whatever. So why his best friend insisted on being such a dumbass was beyond him.
"It's going to be a fight no matter what we do, you and I both know that. I figured a complicated plan was a waste of time, especially when we don't even know the layout."
"I'm telling Aizawa to include strategy lessons next term," Katsuki muttered.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me." Izuku pulled out his phone. "Since it will take him at least two hours to get here, now's a good time to let him know where we are. Either we'll be done by the time he gets here or we'll need his help."
Once he'd sent the message, he put his phone on silent and shoved it back in his pocket. He also pulled out a handful of woven bracelets and passed some to Katsuki.
"The hell are these?"
"I used them as Alley Cat to restrain people," Izuku said. "They're like handcuffs, made with a restrictor knot so the more people struggle, the tighter it gets. They won't hold up against quirks, but if someone is already down this should keep them down."
Katsuki held one up with a grimace. "This was seriously the best you could come up with?"
"I was twelve, where was I going to get police-grade handcuffs?"
Fair point, but still. Katsuki had his doubts. Sighing and questioning several of his life choices, he looped the bracelets over his wrists. He still had full mobility in his hands, and they should be out of the way of his explosions.
"Okay, are we really doing this?"
"I am. If you want to back out, I won't blame you. You don't have to risk your career for this."
Like hell he didn't. If Izuku went in there and something happened to him, Katsuki would never forgive himself. "I'm not leaving now."
Izuku smiled. "Thank you, Kacchan. You're a good friend."
"Don't make me regret it."
Izuku laughed. "I'll do my best. You ready?"
"This is the dumbest thing we've ever done, but sure, let's go fight a goddamn criminal empire by ourselves."
After all this, Dragon better be inside this abandoned aquarium.
Xx
It was one of his rare nights off, and Aizawa was actually enjoying time at home on his couch with his husband.
Whether or not he was forced to be there by Hizashi pinning him to the couch was neither here nor there. Aizawa hadn't been getting enough sleep for the last two weeks so he did need the rest, and he wasn't the type to actually rest if he still had an open case.
This was a long game, though, and he needed to take care of himself if he wanted to make it to the end.
He was dozing, face buried in the back of the couch, when his phone went off with an annoying klaxon alarm sound.
"The hell was that?" Hizashi muttered, also half asleep while some comedy show played on the TV.
"Phone," Aizawa grunted. "It's the Problem Child's alert sound." It was probably another email of information, so he wasn't terribly worried as he fished the phone out from his pocket underneath Hizashi.
Hizashi giggled against Aizawa's neck. "You made Izuku's ringtone the klaxon alarms?"
"Am I wrong?" Finally grasping the phone, he pulled it free and looked at it over Hizashi's shoulder.
Izuku
Location sent
I know the amount of trouble I'm in can't be described with words, but I'm pretty sure I found my dad. Kacchan and I are about to go in.
"Goddamn it, Problem Child!" Aizawa swore. He nearly threw Hizashi to the floor in his haste to get up. Few things woke him up faster than coffee. Problem Children being idiots was one of them.
"What's wrong?" Hizashi asked. The only reason he hadn't ended up on the floor was thanks to his own reflexes.
Aizawa strode down the hall to their bedroom. "He figured out where his dad is and went after him. And he dragged Bakugou with him."
"What? Why wouldn't he wait, he's literally going to get his license in two days." Hizashi followed him into the bedroom and they both started throwing their clothes around to change back into their hero gear.
"Hell if I know," Aizawa said. He was ready to go much faster than Hizashi, and he checked the location before swearing again. "He's in freaking Nurugi, none of those trains are running this late."
"I can drive," Hizashi immediately offered. His hair was down for the night, and he didn't even attempt to style it before they left.
Aizawa pulled up gps directions as they got in the car, muttering all the different punishments he was going to unleash on these hellions when he caught them.
"Do we even know how they got out of the dorm without setting off the alarm?" Hizashi asked.
Aizawa hadn't even considered that. "No, but I'm very eager to learn." Once he knew he'd make sure there were failsafes to stop future students from doing the same thing.
Izuku and Bakugou had better be in one piece when they got there, or he might actually murder them.
Xx
Even after they slipped inside the aquarium and were met with one of his father's men, Izuku still couldn't believe this was where he was.
You'll know where to find the Dragon's Hoard. What a vague clue to link to an aquarium that they'd never been to. Even if Hisashi had tried to hint at it in Kamino, the one sentence he'd said wasn't really helpful. Izuku didn't even remember what he'd actually said. The only real connection they had to this place was the location. It was in the city Izuku had patrolled as Alley Cat, because of course his father set up his villain base in Izuku's old turf.
He may not have patrolled this town for almost a year, but it still pissed him off. He wished he could have come in his old Alley Cat outfit, too, but the hoodie had been unsalvageable after he was stabbed. That was probably for the better, in the end. He didn't need to get caught as the old vigilante and waste everything Aizawa and Nedzu had done for him.
He was still risking that. Worse, he was risking Katsuki's future, too. But he'd been waiting for this for three years, and now his mother was in the middle of it. He was done waiting.
Honestly he hadn't even expected to get this far. Once he'd blurted out at dinner that he knew where his father was, he'd anticipated an impromptu lockdown from his classmates. But they'd let him and Katsuki slip away to his room afterwards, foolishly trusting that he'd call Aizawa and that would be the end of it.
He and Katsuki discussed what to do for a while, but in the end Izuku convinced him to at least scout out the location. It was such a stretch for his father to be in this aquarium, Izuku wanted to prove it before wasting anyone else's time. So he'd donned a dark green hoodie and bracers while Katsuki grabbed a black hoodie from his room, and they'd snuck out from his balcony. Izuku lowered them to the ground on fire and they crept across the grounds, walking out the front gates before curfew without anyone stopping them.
Even once they were on the streets, Izuku still expected Aizawa or someone to pop up out of nowhere to stop him. But they made it to the train, Katsuki pitched a fit at how far they were going because Izuku hadn't disclosed that information to him beforehand, and there weren't any sudden stops or pro hero arrivals.
Really, he hadn't fully expected to make it to Nurugi so easily.
It took them forty-five minutes to walk from the station to the old aquarium. Izuku had passed it dozens of times on old patrols. It had been shut down for over a decade, but most of the bright undersea murals persisted on the concrete sides.
The happy whale family seemed like a sick joke as they walked under it to reach the opening in the fence.
"Are you sure walking in the front door is the best idea?" Katsuki hissed again.
"We're going to keep this peaceful as long as we can," Izuku whispered back. "So yes, we're walking through the front door."
It made him nervous, too. They could be attacked the second they walked in. If his new seeking ability wasn't so bright and flashy, he would send some fire ahead of them to scout out the lobby. Stepping into enemy territory like this was a leap of faith.
Izuku was confident in their reflexes to not die immediately, but he almost suggested walking around town until Aizawa could join them. He was scared to see what messages waited for him on his phone after the text he'd sent; Aizawa would be furious with him for this.
Actually, it was definitely better not to wait. Izuku might live longer.
They stepped through the gap in the fence. The windows had all been covered with plywood years ago and had been covered in graffiti. Even the doors had some kind of brown paper over the glass. The motion sensor no longer worked, so they each took a side to pull open, keeping one hand ready to fight back if they needed to.
It was quiet inside. Quiet, and dark. An exit sign glowed dimly above them, but that was the only source of light in the lobby. Past the lobby, soft yellow emergency lights illuminated a hallway.
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Katsuki asked.
"They might be further in," Izuku said. It would make sense not to put an illegal lair in the front door. The building naturally had no windows past the lobby, making it a perfect place to hide.
The first cavernous room beyond the lobby had freestanding cylinder tanks interspersed throughout. Whatever fish had been in them was long gone, but dirty water still filled half the tank.
"Was your dad always this creepy?" Katsuki asked, grimacing at a tank.
"No, I think this is a recent development," Izuku responded.
Static crackled around them. They both jumped and pressed their backs together, Izuku summoning fire as a shield and explosions popping in Katsuki's hands.
"There you are, Izuku!" Hisashi's voice was tinny and distorted, the pa system obviously outdated. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come. And Katsuki, what a surprise!"
Katsuki growled and then pointed over the doorway they'd entered through. A camera pointed down at them, the wires exposed along the wall and running off down a hallway. It was obviously a new addition to the old place, and hidden in a genius spot. Whoever watched the monitors would have plenty of heads up before anyone even knew they were being watched.
"You two wait right there, Gladius will escort you up." Static crackled again, and the room went quiet once more.
"Gladius was with my dad in Kamino," Izuku whispered. He didn't know if the camera had audio or not, so better safe than sorry. "Spitting quirk, it dries like cement and traps you."
"Oh, perfect." Katsuki rolled his eyes. "We're getting escorted right into an ambush. I don't like this. We should get out."
"I'm not leaving now," Izuku insisted. The room didn't even seem as scary anymore with his fire lighting it up more. "You can go wait for Aizawa though and show him in."
"Like hell am I leaving you, you stubborn bastard."
That was pretty much what Izuku expected him to say. Truthfully, he didn't want Katsuki to leave. He felt better having his best friend watching his back.
He'd regret it when they faced the consequences for this, but that was a problem for future Izuku.
They waited in silence until Gladius lumbered in from one of the branching hallways. His cheek was a blistering red, the scar fresh and raw.
Izuku forced himself to swallow. He'd done that. He'd permanently maimed another human being.
And his father had sent this man to be his escort? What kind of sick joke was this? Was Gladius actually here to escort them or was he going to attack?
"Release your flames," Gladius instructed.
Izuku did so with great reluctance. He could easily make more, but he'd liked the extra light it gave them.
Gladius gestured to the hall he'd come from, stepping to the side and waiting for them to go first. Light from the room on the other side of the hall guided their way, and from that point on there were actual lights on. It only made the aquarium slightly less creepy. The grimy half-empty tanks left a lot to be desired.
They walked up a non-functional escalator, and Gladius led them all the way to the top floor of the building. Some of the open cavernous spaces they passed had tables and folded chairs set up. A couple men worked from laptops on them. Some rooms had couches.
Izuku didn't recognize anyone they passed. He'd been hoping to see a familiar face and maybe win over a potential ally, but it had been a longshot. A foolish part of him also hoped he'd get lucky and see his mom.
Of course he wasn't that lucky.
His father had set up his office in the Deep Sea exhibit. Old information still plastered the walls between the tanks, pictures of angler fish and other underwater horrors gazing down at them. He'd covered the old tanks with blueprints and plans.
His desk was little more than a folding table with a laptop on it, the charger connected to an exterior generator. They probably had dozens of them around the building.
In front of his desk were two beat up couches facing each other, boxes in between acting like a coffee table.
It was the shabbiest office Izuku had ever seen, and he was still terrified.
Gladius stepped back to wait at the entrance of the room. There wasn't exactly a door, and strategically speaking, this was a terrible place to fight. Hisashi would have two dozen men for backup in moments while they were trapped at the top of the building.
"Ah, Izuku. I was beginning to worry you weren't going to come." Hisashi stood from his desk and walked around his desk. His suit jacket was draped over his chair, and he'd rolled up his sleeves and lost his tie.
"Well you could have left an easier clue," Izuku snapped. "You're lucky I figured this place out at all."
He chuckled. "I couldn't make it too easy, then anyone would have showed up. And I know you. I had total faith in your abilities."
"Cut the bullcrap," Katsuki demanded. "Where's Auntie Inko?"
"She's safe in her own little apartment, don't worry."
An apartment? Then she wasn't here at the aquarium. In one way that was good; she wouldn't get caught up in the chaos that was about to happen. On the other hand, Izuku still had to find her.
"If you hurt her, I swear I'll make you pay," Izuku promised.
Hisashi raised his hands. "Really, Izuku? You think so little of me?"
"You tried to kill me!" Had the man forgotten that, somehow? Had he forgotten his promise to kill Izuku the next time he saw him?
Sighing, Hisashi ran his hand through his hair. "You just won't let that go, will you?"
Izuku spluttered and looked to Katsuki in disbelief.
All Katsuki could do was shake his head and twirl a finger by his temple.
Yeah, his father had definitely gone crazy.
"Whatever," Izuku muttered. "Just tell me where Mom is."
"I'm sorry, but that is information you'll have to earn," Hisashi stated. His gaze slid to Katsuki. "And considering you brought him with you, I don't think you have any intention of doing that."
Izuku's fingers twitched, begging him to activate the bracers. He and Katsuki were strong, but they were grossly outnumbered here, and they wouldn't be fighting to kill like all of his father's men.
Hisashi sighed and shook his head. "It's such a shame, Izu. I really don't want to kill you. But if you refuse to work with me, if you insist on standing against me like this, then I have no choice. I won't lose everything I built because of you."
Katsuki's hands popped. "You won't touch him."
Unbuttoning the top of his shirt, Hisashi laughed. "Are you forgetting who trained you? I know every trick in your arsenal, Katsuki."
"No, you don't," Izuku stated. He finally activated the bracers. Fire swirled over his shoulders.
Hisashi looked mildly impressed for a moment, until he spotted the bracers.
"It's been three years since you taught him or me anything," Izuku went on. "You have no idea what we're capable of now."
"Then why don't you come show me?" Hisashi taunted, smoke curling from his mouth.
They didn't need the invitation. Both of them rushed forward. Izuku used one hand to redirect the flames, giving Katsuki an opening to use a sparking, openhanded right hook.
Hisashi batted his hand aside and spat a fireball at Katsuki's feet. Katsuki jumped back to avoid it, then used his flames to propel himself forward again and landed an uppercut against Hisashi.
As kids, their strategy had always been for Izuku to hang back and take Hisashi's fire, letting Katsuki fight close. This let Katsuki go wild without having to worry about Izuku, and it gave Izuku a wider view of the field to call out openings, if there ever were any.
Hisashi didn't leave many openings. Even now, stumbling back from an uppercut, he blew a stream of fire right into Katsuki's face. Katsuki was too close to avoid it completely, and the best Izuku could do was harden it so it wouldn't burn him.
A footstep was all the warning Izuku had before Gladius was on him, spitting his cement quirk at his arms.
Izuku danced out of the way, fire coming up to shield him from a follow-up punch. There were a few seconds before Gladius could build up the saliva to spit again, but the man was built like a tank and had all the power of one, and he had personal grudge against Izuku besides. His punches rained down on Izuku's fire shield and nearly broke through.
It didn't help that Izuku was keeping one eye on Katsuki, trying to blunt his father's flames if not draw them away altogether. But there was only so much he could do when he was trying not to get pinned to the floor again.
Katsuki was holding his own, at least. He was more maneuverable in the air than before, and Hisashi struggled to keep track of him. His shirt was singed in several places, the skin red and blistering underneath, but there was no blood. Katsuki was holding himself back from serious injuries.
Izuku ducked and wrapped his flames around Gladius's legs, then hoisted the man into the air upside down. Gladius spit at him, and he side stepped the glob. The floor was dotted with the cement, and it was starting to become a challenge to fight on such uneven ground.
Footsteps pounded in the hall, and Izuku spied at least seven men. He hurled Gladius at them, knocking them all over in the hallway. Most were back on their feet seconds later, which was really unfortunate.
He needed a way to take them out quickly, before the rest of the building made it up here. He could block the entrance with fire, but if he lost his grip on it they'd be back at square one. There were too many to properly pin with fire like he had Stain, his concentration would be spread too thin against so many people.
He was running out of time, and he didn't have much of a plan beyond 'hit them really hard in the head.' It would have to do. Hopefully he didn't give them brain damage.
He made tiny fireballs and launched them at the eight heads like tiny comets, digging into the extra power from One for All to speed them up just a little.
All eight men went down. Two stood back up. One had a force field shimmering in front of him, and the other had some kind of rock mutation quirk.
Izuku was mentally blasted back to the night he met Aizawa, at a Reverse serum demonstration. This was the guy who'd been guarding that poor kid. Izuku's fire had been pretty useless against him before, but he'd learned a lot since then.
He wrapped fire around both of them and slammed them into each other. When that failed to knock them out, he tossed them into the air and let them figure their own way down. The one with the force field threw one under him like a slide, and Rock Man got his feet under him and cracked the floor with his landing.
"Seriously? Just stay down," Izuku muttered. He glanced back at Katsuki.
Katsuki and Hisashi panted a few feet away from each other. Katsuki's hoodie was missing a sleeve, and there were charred holes in his jeans. Hisashi was in a similar state.
The fight wouldn't last forever, and if Izuku knew his father he had another ace up his sleeve for when he was backed against a corner. He wouldn't let Katsuki face whatever it was, not when this was Izuku's fight.
Rock Man charged towards him.
Izuku whipped back around to face him, eyes lingering over the empty tanks around them. Some of the plans taped over the glass had been singed off with excess flames, revealing the dirty water inside.
He jumped sideways and slammed a hard ball of fire on to Rock Man's back, looking at the tanks again.
Yeah, those would work.
He gathered his flames underneath him to lift himself up, then drew Hisashi's next attack up to his new position and pressed it against the glass. He willed the fire hotter, melting through the glass like a hot knife in butter.
It was the same principle as the blasts that kept recoiling and burning his hand, only more controlled and centralized. He didn't want to risk shattering the whole tank, he just needed a man-sized opening.
Molten glass rolled down either side of the tank until Izuku had the opening he wanted. This would be so much better than his restraint bracelets. He'd have to thank his father for picking such a convenient location for this fight.
He dropped back down to the ground. Rock Man and Force Field waited for him. He let them run into a wall of fire, and then he scooped them up and transported them into the tank, tilting the fire until they fell into the water.
They grimaced when their faces broke the surface. He imagined the scummy water wasn't pleasant, but it should keep them from creating any momentum to break through the thick aquarium glass. The right combination of quirks would manage it, he knew, but he'd just have to hope that combination wasn't among the men gathered here.
The ones he'd knocked out earlier were starting to stir, and he made short work of depositing them into their new watery prison. There were a few undignified shrieks and swears as the men suddenly found themselves falling into the disgusting old water.
…He wasn't sorry about throwing them in the tank, but he did sincerely hope they didn't get any horrible disease because of it.
A particularly loud explosion caught his attention, and he whipped around to face Hisashi and Katsuki. Katsuki pulled his hand back from a new crater in the floor. Hisashi stood on the very edge of it, panting. His gaze lifted to Izuku and then over to his men on the wrong side of the tank. His eyes narrowed.
"Better keep your eyes on me, jackass!" Katsuki yelled, launching forward again and slamming an open palm against Hisashi's chest. Hisashi went flying from the explosion, slamming back against glass. Blueprints and other plans fell to the ground with him.
Izuku stepped next to Katsuki, fire swirling over his palm. "You lose, Dad."
Chuckling, Hisashi pushed himself to his feet again. "I admit you've picked up a few tricks. This used to be a lot easier." He panted, drawing in a deep breath. "But you're not the only ones who learned something."
He released his breath in an arc in front of them. Izuku brushed it aside, and then hastily pulled it back when he saw the gun in Hisashi's hand.
The shot went off before he could fully shield them.
The tip of his ear burned. He reached numb fingers up to it, and they came away wet.
Holy. Crap.
If that shot had been another inch to the right, he'd be dead right now. Hisashi really wasn't playing around anymore.
"Bastard, you'll pay for that!" Katsuki roared, dropping into a ready stance again.
Hisashi smirked and cocked the gun again. "Come get me then."
Izuku lowered his hand. Three years ago, when he realized his father wanted to kill him, he'd been too terrified to do anything besides run and hide. Some part of that twelve year old had stuck around ever since, keeping him from seeking out his father and properly ending this.
Rage now replaced that twelve year old. Hisashi had wanted reconciliation, and maybe part of Izuku had wanted that, too. It was never going to happen. This needed to end, one way or another, tonight. Izuku was going to beat his father and move on with his life. He'd take the provisional license exam in two days, and he'd do it without the weight of his father's shadow dragging him down like shackles.
He hadn't realized it before, but subconsciously that must have been why he refused to wait for his license. He wanted to move forward in his career without this burden, to properly overcome his past and leave it in the past.
He was deceptively calm when he stepped forward, fire swirling in front of him. He called it close, settling it around his body like armor. "I'll take it from here. There should be more reinforcements soon. Could you keep them busy, Kacchan?"
Katsuki hesitated, his gaze boring holes in Izuku's back.
"This won't take long," Izuku promised.
"Remember not to kill him," Katsuki finally said. His footsteps receded.
Izuku had no plans to kill his father. There were fates far worse than death.
Hisashi fired one shot at Katsuki's retreating form, but Izuku spread his fire out and caught the bullet, unintentionally melting it. Metal dripped to the ground.
"You have one chance to surrender peacefully," Izuku offered. He had to offer for the sake of his conscience later, but he wanted his father to say no. He wanted the chance to actually beat him.
Smoke curled from Hisashi's mouth. "Funny, I was going to say the same thing."
Izuku ran forward. Hisashi tried to shoot him, but the bullets couldn't survive the heat of the fire around him. The flames Hisashi spewed weren't much use either.
Izuku threw the first punch. Hisashi blocked with a hiss, fire licking his palms. His strategy quickly became less hands on, dancing out of Izuku's reach or leaping in close and aiming for Izuku's eyes, the only part the fire didn't cover.
Without the blinding fear that had surrounded his opinion of his father for years, it was much easier to fight him. Izuku darted in quick, punching spots Katsuki had already burned, exacerbating the pain and making Hisashi swear. He spread the flames around his knuckles with every hit, expanding the impact zone and burning him when Hisashi couldn't get out of the way.
Hisashi could barely hit back. Izuku had no problem protecting his face, and he didn't let up on his attacks to even give Hisashi a chance to go on the offensive. He punched ribs, caught punches and flipped Hisashi over his shoulder, slammed a fist into Hisashi's cheek with a rush of satisfaction.
He noted Katsuki's explosions in the distance, but he didn't process them. He couldn't process anything besides the man in front of him, not when he was so close.
Finally, with another satisfying punch across Hisashi's face, Hisashi crumpled and didn't get up again.
Izuku panted. Nudged Hisashi's leg, looked for a sign of movement. Saw none.
Hisashi was down.
His father was down and he wasn't getting up.
Izuku had beaten him.
He took a few more moments to let the reality sink in, and then he turned to Katsuki's fight. Half the men were dazed or unconscious on the floor, and the other half didn't look eager to get close enough to properly fight.
Izuku inhaled through his nose and nodded to himself before lobbing a fireball in the middle of them all.
They growled when they looked over at him.
He stalked towards them, another fireball ready in his hand. "Dragon is down for the count."
His announcement had the reaction he'd hoped for. Their anger and indignity shifted to fear and disbelief, eyes glancing at their fallen leader.
"If anyone wants to challenge me, I'll gladly take you on and send you to join your friends in the tank there. If any of you are smart, you'll surrender now."
They glanced at each other, then back at Dragon.
Katsuki made small explosions. "Choose carefully. You dumbasses can't even beat me by myself, you think you stand a chance against both of us?"
The logic resonated with them, but they didn't surrender. They retreated back the way they came, disappearing into the rest of the aquarium.
"Oi! Cowards!" Katsuki yelled after them.
"Leave them, they don't matter," Izuku said, relinquishing his flames. A headache threatened behind his eyes, but he hadn't quite reached his overexertion levels.
The same could not be said for his hoodie. The sleeves were completely gone, and it hung on his shoulders by thin strands. Large chunks were missing from the sides, and even his T-shirt had seen better days. The shirt at least remained mostly intact, even if he'd never be able to wear it again.
Thank god his bracers were fireproof.
His restraint bracelets were missing, too, and he had to take one from Katsuki to tie up Hisashi while Katsuki tied up the dazed men in the hall.
He still couldn't believe it, that he'd really beaten his father. The idea that this nightmare could actually be over refused to sink in. He wasn't sure he'd be able to accept it until Hisashi was behind bars.
"How long until Aizawa gets here?" Katsuki asked, finishing up the last restraint.
Izuku pulled out his phone. The protective case had melted, covering the camera lens and probably fusing for good, with his luck, but it did successfully restart. Unsurprisingly, there were several angry messages from Aizawa. The first few demanded he not be a reckless idiot, and when Izuku didn't respond he outlined all the creative ways he was going to ground him, and the last message was a simple plea for him and Katsuki to be safe.
"Well, we are definitely grounded when we get back," Izuku stated. "Or at least I am. I don't know what he'll do to you."
Katsuki snorted. "He's not letting me off easy, don't kid yourself. Doesn't matter if he's my parent or not."
Izuku hummed. "We'll find out in about an hour and a half, I'd say." Hizashi would have to drive with the late hour, so they wouldn't have the long walk from the station. Factoring in how worried the two probably were, Hizashi might not necessarily be obeying speed laws, either, so they might even be there sooner.
"So what do we do until then?" Katsuki demanded.
Izuku looked around, jumping from the restrained men to the cracks in the floor and, finally, to his father's laptop. He grinned. "We hack all their operations."
Even if his father did somehow escape prison, which Izuku didn't think was likely right now, Izuku was about to ruin his oh-so-precious empire.
This might even be more satisfying than punching his father in the face.