11/03/2023
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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 54 - The New Guy
Aizawa resisted the urge to rub his temples. He could do that later, at home, after he'd searched the place for bugs. He was not going to let Nezu know that this bothered him. He'd already done that anyway and insisted it go on the record. If the shit hit the fan for this, he wanted to be clear that he'd tried to avoid it.
It being getting a student to spy on another student.
He wasn't against that per se but at least they should use a student who had a provisional licence and some experience.
Nezu had pointed out that the first years would be going for their provisional licences soon and that the student successfully completed work experience. At that point, Aizawa knew it was a lost cause. The rat had some other reason for wanting this, some reason he wasn't going to let anyone know. Or he'd assume they already knew.
Either way it was a bad idea but…
If what Nezu had hinted at was true then, Shota agreed that someone had to watch the kid. But that someone should be one of the teachers, or at least a third year who had had more than work studies as their sole supposed real world experience.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?"
There was one thing to be said about Setsuna Tokage, she was always polite. During his first day test, he thought she might be a bit of a slave to tradition and in many ways she was but the general irreverence of some of his class was giving her a much more flexible view on life. That was good. Though she still looked up to authority as being absolute. For a daytime hero that wasn't too bad. For an underground one… they had to learn to pick their battles. Thankfully she was going to be daytime.
Aizawa sighed under his breath. "The Principal wants you to do something," he said. There was no point in telling her their suspicions.
"Of course! What is it?" Setsuna asked.
That was another problem. She was too eager to take on jobs.
"Hear what it is about before you decide," he advised.
"Of course Sir," she replied. Time would tell if she'd actually listened.
"The Principal wants you to watch a particular student," he told her and then waited to see what conclusions she'd arrive at.
"The traitor?" Setsuna immediately demanded, her eyes bright.
That was a bad conclusion. "No," Shota said firmly. They had fully established that the kid was not the Traitor. His location had been verified at times when the traitor had been active. "Not everything is related to that," he added for good measure.
"Something to do with last night?"
At that, Aizawa sighed audibly. He wished he was in his sleeping bag right now. "Do you really think a villain of that calibre has anything to do with UA?" he asked pointedly. He didn't want to admit that they might.
"Yes," Setsuna told him. "The villain who attacked the USJ was the same one who kidnapped Bakugou and Todoroki," she said. "So there is some connection."
"Granted," he allowed with a shrug. "We just need tabs kept on this kid," Aizawa repeated.
"Understood," Setsuna replied but he could tell she was already inventing stories as to why.
"You remember the Management Student who competed in the Sport's Festival?" He asked. She bloody well should! He'd told his class that anyone who hadn't done better than a Management Student had failed in his eyes. And he meant it. Admittedly they hadn't had much training by that point but… to rub salt into the message, was the fact that the Management Student hadn't used his quirk.
Most of his class completely understood what he was talking about. Todoroki also knew he'd gotten lucky with his match against the General Studies Student as well.
"You mean Mitei Chui?" Setsuna asked for confirmation.
"Yes," Aizawa confirmed. "Just keep tabs on him during school."
"And after?"
"You can remain separate for that long?" Aizawa challenged. She could break off parts of herself but there was a limit to how long it was comfortable for them to be away from her body.
"I could probably sacrifice the bit and regrow it overnight," she told him.
He thought about it for a few moments but as the old saying went, in for a penny, in for a pound. If they were tracking this kid, then they might as well do it properly. "Only do it if you are positive you are not going to get caught. At UA you can claim it's a class exercise but outside-" he shrugged.
Setsuna nodded. "I'll be careful."
He glared. She'd better be more than careful. If the kid was connected to- If the kid was anything like his father then… but he'd been here all year, thus far and nothing had happened. All Might indicated there was a possibility the kid wasn't here on his father's orders, that he was here to go to school, nothing more, nothing less. Except… after last night… He had his doubts. Even if the kid was here for schooling, after last night, he was bound to do something stupid.
Aizawa could only hope Setsuna wouldn't get caught in it.
Nezu better be right about this.
-ted-
Izuku took Hitoshi's advice and went straight home after his friend had trotted off to belatedly join his afternoon classes. And he must have been more tired than he thought he was because as soon as he got to his little apartment, he felt a wave of exhaustion carry him straight to his bed. He flopped on it, thankful that his tie was undone before sleep took him.
When Izuku woke, he knew a few hours had passed. It was still light outside but that soft, almost hazy light you usually got around dawn. It was odd for twilight but at least it gave him a general indication of the time. The traffic outside was a good indicator as well. The dawn light like this was generally silent. The evening light was filled with the sounds of people going about their business. He sat up and blinked a few times. Because he had night vision, the dark was never that dark and for a few moments he just sat there, not thinking of anything.
But then, inevitably, he remembered. He squeezed his eyes shut against the wave of mixed emotions that threatened to overwhelm him and focused on his breathing. He hadn't got the amount of sleep Hitoshi said he should but that's just too bad. He has to think of this now.
At least he would after he saw the message that had just come in on his phone.
Call me
The text was bright in the twilight gloom and the id of the sender was simply unknown.
Yeah… How about he not call?
One thing he'd realised this morning but couldn't quite bring himself to regret was that if the bar had been taken, then there was a fair chance at least some phones were now in the hands of the HPSC. They would be looking at them carefully. His calls last night would have been noticed.
While the authorities probably couldn't break into Tomura's phone, or his Dad's or Kurogiri's if they had them, Himiko's would be a risk and… He wasn't sure what they'd be able to piece together from his messages.
This could be a trap. Or… it could be the new number of one of them.
Izuku put his phone down. He'd think about that later. There was always a chance one of them still had their phone and he'd wait a little longer in the hope they messaged him so that he'd know. There was no point in taking further unnecessary risks.
He took a few deep breaths to settle his mind. "Okay, like Hitoshi said, what do I want?" he whispered to himself.
His answer hadn't changed. He wanted to beat up Tomura for doing that to his dad and do something to the students who'd lead the heroes there. Except… those were reactions. Those were the things he wanted immediately. What did he want long term? He pushed aside his immediate desires. He could get them but they had to be worked into a plan for the longer term.
Heroes reacted… Revolutionaries, villains planned, he thought with a smile. Dad had never said that but Dad had shown him that in every conversation they'd ever had. So what did he want?
The news had said that Dad had been taken to Tartarus. So that was something he wanted. He definitely wanted his Dad out of Tartarus. And… He and Tomura had spoken about the plan. They'd always assumed his Dad would be around. They'd thought Dad could be the one who was in charge except, that wasn't quite what Dad had wanted. He'd told him that….
Izuku thought about the plan he'd discussed with his dad and what his place was in it. Tomura would be a public villain, would do the work that would cause the public to lose faith in heroes. Someone would be in government. Dad never said who, just that he could find people and they would press for changes on the wave of public desire and he would be the one who coordinated between them all.
He nodded to himself. Maybe he could work towards that. But to get towards that, he'd need to get his dad free. Okay, so that was the plan.
To free his dad.
Right, how did he do that? Izuku blinked, realising the room had gone dark while he was thinking. He had no idea.
Where was Tartarus? It was one of those places that people mentioned but no one said where it was. It was in Japan. He knew that much but he had no idea where, though honestly, finding out where Tartarus was probably easy. Finding out about Tartarus' defences was another thing.
He took another deep breath and got up, going to the wall to turn on the light. He was kind of hungry now that he had a plan and he'd been feeling way too sick to eat earlier. He had some instant noodles which would be easy to prepare.
As the kettle boiled, Izuku thought about his goal further. Saying he wanted his Dad freed was easier said than done. His previous thoughts had assumed that he somehow mounted an assault on Tartarus and while that was possible… it would be better to get his Dad freed legally. Though, he admitted to himself, there may not be any way of doing that. If he mounted an assault, probably with Tomura, then he'd need to have another identity. He couldn't exactly be the person who was the go between if he'd been seen breaking the law that way.
So how did you get a new identity?
Well, he didn't so much as need a new identity, as to make sure that no one knew it was him. That was the simpler solution. Izuku peeled back the lid on the noodles and carefully poured in the now boiling water. He pushed the flap back and set his fork on the gap to hold it down.
So… step one was to find out where Tartarus was. Step two, find out if there was any possibility of getting dad released legally. Step three, or maybe that should be the real step two, find out about Tartarus' defences. Step four, figure out how to get around them. Step five, get dad out, while making sure no one knew it was him. Step six, talk to Dad to work out step six.
He grinned at that thought before picking up the flavouring sachet and shaking it. The instructions said to put it in with the water, but he didn't like that. It took all the flavour out of his noodles. He preferred to tip out most of the water and then put the flavouring in. It was more intense that way.
That was a distraction and just as he was tipping the water out his phone beeped again. He put the noodles down and poured the flavouring in, before picking up some chopsticks and stirring it around. Only once the noodles were all a uniform shade, indicating that the flavouring was evenly distributed did he pick up the bowl and turn to his phone.
There was another message on it.
Call me, brat.
That was far more like Tomura. But he still wasn't sure.
And even if it was Tomura… Izuku shook his head as he took his first bite of noodles. No. He didn't want to talk to Tomura now. Not yet. He'd just be shouting at him and that wasn't what they needed to discuss. It would be better to wait.
He'd call tomorrow.
Tomura would just have to be patient.
-ted-
Danui Borurero sat as he nursed his beer. He wanted to down it and then order something stronger but Tartarus' guards were not allowed to be fully inebriated.
Ever.
One beer was all they were allowed. And to prevent someone slipping them something stronger, or mixing their drinks, when they were offsite there were several bars they were encouraged to drink at. The proprietors paid handsomely for that privilege and part of the agreement was that they served the guards exactly one beer and made sure that no one slipped them anything or asked too many questions. They were usually ex-guards themselves, so they took it seriously.
To top it off, on or offsite he had to wear a monitor. It didn't just focus on blood alcohol, it focused on a lot of his vital statistics. The authorities wanted to know if anything was wrong with him and if there was, then they either investigated or straight out interrogated him.
He still remembered the first time he'd had sex with his girlfriend after landing the job. Being called in the next morning to explain his elevated heart rate was… He'd rather not remember that thank you.
The other guards had practically fallen over themselves laughing at him. That particular scenario was one of the ones they liked to trip the new guards up with. Now… well, now he knew to tap a certain pattern on the monitor which sent the signal that he wasn't in distress.
Even so… he swore old Jakku who checked him in when he reported to his monthly shift, just knew how many times he'd gotten lucky during his off time. There was a look in Jakku's eyes. But then Jakku always had some sort of look in his eyes. It was part of his quirk.
Today that wasn't a problem. He was midway through his month onsite stint and he knew his girlfriend, Kei, was off visiting her parents, so even if he'd made it back to his little apartment the bed was empty. Today, the problem was the prisoner.
The man had been unconscious through most of the check in procedure but had woken up while he was wheeling him to his cell. Danui knew the Doctor's had been astounded at the man's physical condition but he wasn't entirely sure if they were shocked at his fitness or the scars that were obvious on his head. He knew from talking to Avulynu that they'd had to take off the helmet with extreme care. Apparently it wasn't just head gear. It had been physically connected to him and feeding him one hell of a concoction of drugs.
What no one was saying was that they couldn't believe someone with those injuries could have fought All Might. It didn't seem possible that he was strong enough, even with the drugs. Then to top it all off, the man had spoken to him. He wasn't some crude, uncouth thug. His voice was cultured and rich. Danui had no doubt the man was super intelligent. When the villain had gently asked where he was, his voice showed his education and he hadn't even seemed scared or concerned. Then came the kicker. The villain was asking because he was blind.
That was why he was drinking, and wondering if it was worthwhile putting in an application so that he could get drunk. He'd have to fill out the forms with Toshiko. And…
Nah by the time authorisation came through he'd probably be over it.
Danui sighed and took a sip of beer.
It was just impossible that a villain, a man with that level of injury could fight All Might, and before that, could simply blast away other heroes. Tartarus housed others who had killed high level heroes.
Lady Nagant, Stain, Parallax, Frenzy, Bloodline… they had all killed high level heroes and the thing that united them was that they were all aggressively fit and uninjured. Even Dictator was physically fit and uninjured, even if he didn't look it.
This villain bore the scars of his past and they weren't minor… He was blind. How could he have fought All Might?
Plus the villain was calm.
When the others were all fearful when they realised where they were. This guy… he just thanked him for the information and left it at that.
"What's up, Danny-boy?"
Danui didn't bother glare at Iken when he sat down. If he glared, Iken just laughed and made sure to rib him harder. "You seen the new guy yet?" he asked instead.
"Mr Potato head?" Iken laughed.
"Yeah, him."
"What's up?" the other guard asked. "He took on All Might and ended up here, which is where they all do." Iken wasn't concerned.
"Mr Potato head," Danui murmured. "You said it but did you think about what it meant?" he asked.
Iken had opinions but didn't think about them at times. It appeared now was one of them. "What do you mean?" He asked, taking a large gulp from his beer.
"The man has no eyes," Danui pointed out. "And Avulynu says that mask was actually implanted into him."
"Yeah so, villains do odd things," Iken shrugged.
"He's fucking blind!"
It took a moment for Iken to put the dots together. Iken wasn't stupid, none of the guards were but- "Oh."
Danui could see the rest of the bar making the same connection. "And the scar tissue on his head, that isn't his quirk, that's an injury," he pressed home that information.
"What?" That was Charuri.
"Injury," Danui repeated.
It appeared everyone finally understood what that meant.
"Then how-?" Charuri didn't finish the question but Danui knew what he was asking. How had the villain fought All Might with those injuries?
Danui shook his head to indicate he had no idea. But… He'd seen the image of All Might after the battle. He'd seen the scars on the Number One Hero's left side. They all had. The world had… An uncomfortable thought occurred to him. "You don't think-" he couldn't bring himself to finish.
"You don't think," Iken tried to joke but it fell flat.
"What?" Charuri encouraged him to continue.
He took a gulp of beer. If what he suspected was true, then he was filling out that form to get drunk, because he'd definitely need the drink then. They all would. "You saw All Might at the end right?" he asked rhetorically.
There were nods all round.
"That was an old injury," Danui pointed out. Avulynu had been happy to point that out to him. She'd meant to calm him, to reinforce that All Might was still active even with the injuries so there was nothing to worry about but- "What if the new guy is the one who did that to All Might? And All Might gave him his injuries?"
There was absolute silence in the bar as he asked that. It was only a theory but…
While it was bad enough thinking that there was a villain out there who could fight All Might, it was even worse to think there might be two! His theory, while concerning, was better than some of the alternatives.
"Fuck!" Iken said, and downed the rest of his beer. "Fuck!" he growled again when the amber liquid was gone.
"It's just a thought," Danui offered the meagre consolation.
"It makes too much sense," Charuri said, and Danui noticed half his drink was gone.
"He's here?" Danui said. "It's not like he can fight All Might again," he added. No one had ever escaped from Tartarus.
Charuri shook his head. "He's here," he agreed, before gesturing with his glass around them, indicating the world. "But there are a lot of villains who watched last night, and they are out there," he said. Unspoken was 'and All Might is injured'.
"Yeah," Danui nodded because there was nothing he could disagree with there. He sighed and picked up his beer, looking contemplative at the liquid before he drank it all. "Yeah," he said again when it was gone.
They may not get many new prisoners out of this. Most villains were just run of the mill… but…
For a while, the villains would be emboldened by last night and it was going to be chaos. He kind of felt sorry for law enforcement.
He hoped they were ready.
-ted-
From last chapter, on the subject of Nezu. I get that he's smart, but even if he had cameras, with audio in every class room, and that's a big if, he does not have the time to actively look through them all. It's far more likely if there is a camera in there, it is visual only, and not recording but let's say it is recording. Nezu does not have the time to go through and look in every class room for every recorded thing. In due course, he may find this conversation but what does he learn from a visual only camera? Izuku had a talk with Hitoshi. So, please, Nezu is smart, but not as smart as fanon makes him. The Entrance exam is a bit different, it's a once a year event where they need to see and hear what is going on and actively listen in on things. I know a lot of schools have camera's these days, but they are mostly visual, and sometimes not even recording.
Plus, from canon the actual spy who was doing stuff, took a long time to catch and Izuku hasn't done anything anywhere near that bad. They aren't going to just jump him. They want to observe him so that means hanging back for the moment, and letting things take their course. Their stupid course, yes, but that is privilaged, reader information.
Dizmo, another one of your names showed up! Eventually. :D
My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!
-ted-
Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!