08/04/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 62 - First Blood

"Dwagon!"

Izuku blinked as he came awake, wondering if he'd heard the voice.

"Dwagon!" It came again. It was oddly high pitched. He didn't feel any threat from it which was why he wasn't tense.

"I'm awake," he said.

"Master wants Dragon," the voice told him.

Izuku sat up. Doctor Garaki had told him there was a small room to sleep in and he'd take advantage of that. He yawned, chewing the air as he woke up further. He hadn't had enough sleep yet. He still felt tired and while the room didn't have a window, he knew it was still early. He looked over to the voice. In the door was the little Nomu that the Doctor kept with him. Izuku tried to remember its name… Johnny. He yawned again and rolled his shoulders as he pushed the covers down further and swung himself out the bed. "I'm coming," he said. Kyudai wouldn't have sent Johnny for him until it was important.

"I tell master!" the little Nomu chirped and then waddled away.

Izuku watched it go and then turned on the light. He blinked a few times and got his shirt. Since he'd come straight here from UA he hadn't had a chance to get more clothes. Maybe he could quickly go to his apartment to get that sort of thing, though even if he couldn't, it shouldn't be too difficult to get some shirts and pants for him.

He put on his slippers before he made his way to the corridor. The corridor lights were on and he blinked in the light. The Nomu had gone back to the room he'd first seen Kyudai and Izuku followed it.

"Doctor?" he said as he came into the darkened room.

"Ah, Izuku," Kyudai welcomed him immediately before he tapped a few keys on the board in front of him. One of the monitors changed to show Kurogiri. The Doctor didn't need to explain further.

"It is good that you are safe, Izuku," Kurogiri greeted him.

Izuku swallowed, remembering what the Doctor had told him. His Dad had chosen to rescue Kurogiri by going out to fight, not that Kurogiri had abandoned his dad. Even so he could still feel some anger at seeing the misty man. He knew it was nothing compared to what he'd feel when he saw Tomura. "You too," he responded.

"Why are you not at home?" Kurogiri asked.

Izuku knew what the misty man was asking. Why wasn't he at his apartment, and then going to school. Nothing had happened which would have revealed him. "Circumstances changed," Izuku answered, without giving details. He saw the way Kyudai nodded, no doubt indicating to Kurogiri that he'd provide more details later.

"Can I come through?" Izuku asked. "With-" he gulped. "Without Dad, we're going to have to change the plan," he indicated.

Kurogiri nodded and before Izuku could ask anything more a swirling black disc appeared beside him.

"Leave your phone here," Garaki said suddenly.

"What?" Izuku objected. He knew he'd need a new one but if he left it here then the Doctor would be found.

"I'm not as defenseless as I look," the man chuckled, gesturing towards the tubes.

"But-" The Doctor might not be defenseless but if the facility was found then that was another resource the heroes had.

"You won't be gone long and if the phone is off, it should be fine," Garaki told him.

"I'll be there shortly too," Kurogiri told him.

Since he really wanted to see Tomura Izuku allowed himself to be convinced. He pulled out his phone and turned it off before putting it on the side of Garaki's control panel. Then he turned and went through Kurogiri. He hadn't lied when he said they needed to talk. Kurogiri and the Doctor knew that as well but they didn't know the depth of his anger. He was not going to work with Tomura until the other teen knew exactly how upset he was.

His Father had been captured as a direct result of Tomura's stupidity. If Tomura didn't at least acknowledge that, then… the plan was going to have to change even more.

Izuku blinked. The room he emerged into was dark, especially compared to the bright light of the Doctor's monitors. As his eyes adjusted he could make out the forms of several people lying on the floor. They were covered in blankets so he couldn't make out any details. He then saw Tomura. The other teen was sitting in the corner. His knees were drawn up under his chin and he was chewing on one nail as he sat there. He was staring off into the dark and didn't seem to be seeing anything.

Izuku clenched his teeth. What was he doing?

"Tomura?" He forced himself to call.

There was no response and Izuku moved to shake Tomura's arm. The other teen could space out on his own time. Except the moment he touched Tomura he felt… Izuku blinked, and looked at the teen using Dragon's Hoard.

And then his vision went red.

-ted-

When he wasn't alone, Atsuhiro Sako always slept lightly. In his current accommodation, that was doubly true. As a result the first inarticulate scream woke him.

"Why do you have that?" It was a male voice but it was not one he recognised. It was also contorted with rage.

Whatever the reply was, it was drowned in the crash that followed. If the scream hadn't woken everyone, the crash did.

Atsuhiro jumped up with the others and turned towards the crash. He was surprised by what he saw. There was a massive hole in the wall and their leader was locked in combat against another … teen, Atsuhiro decided. And he wasn't doing well. Tomura Shigaraki had never made it obvious but he had been acknowledged as a decent fighter. Muscular wouldn't have followed someone who wasn't. Now he was struggling against another teen.

"Dragon!" Himiko cried.

"What?" Dabi demanded.

"That's my Dragon!" the girl repeated, moving to the hole to watch the battle.

"Why do you have that?" the teen identified as Dragon screamed again as he delivered a solid punch to Tomura. The hit actually shook the older boy and Atsuhiro watched as he staggered.

"Shit, should we help him? We can't help him!" Jin muttered.

"Wasn't it enough that you got him captured!?" The question made no sense, but it was obvious that Dragon was enraged. He laced his fingers together to bring the double fist down on Tomura's back. He crashed into the ground and managed to roll away from Dragon's kick. It didn't do anything to soothe the teen's temper.

Except, this couldn't be Dragon! Dragon wasn't some kid! He was- Actually, Atsuhiro admitted to himself, he didn't really know much about Dragon, except that Dragon was meant to be some sort of super villain. Someone who knew just about everything that was going on in the underworld and who wasn't crossed. But beyond that- No, Dragon was just a story, he realised. There wasn't enough detail about him.

So, this could be Dragon, if someone had been building up his reputation. That happened sometimes. The teen had green hair and was covered in green scales. His eyes glowed, green of course and his expression was one of anger.

Tomura staggered to his feet and glared at Dragon. The teen was glaring at him, his hands balled into fists at his side and his lips curled into a rictus of a snarl. He was not happy.

"It wasn't my fault!" Tomura said.

Atsuhiro instinctively knew that was the wrong thing to say. Their leader, though, seemed to never take responsibility. It was always someone else's or something's fault. That was the wrong thing to say to someone who was mad at you. Even if it genuinely wasn't his fault, now was not the time to say it. He climbed through the hole in the wall, followed by the others. No matter what happened now, they couldn't stay here.

They could hear the grinding of the green haired teen's teeth from here. Atsuhiro didn't blink. He knew he didn't blink but Tomura was again on the ground. He was sprawled face down on the ground.

"We have to help him," Whisper said.

"Of course I'll help Dragon!" Himiko said with a sing-song tone as Tomura got to his feet again. He snarled at the other boy.

"Where's misty?" Dabi asked.

Actually, that was a good question. Where was the misty man? Atsuhiro had never seen their Leader without the warp gate in the background. And leading on from that was the worry about how the boy, Dragon or not, had found them. Because if he could find them, then the heroes could.

"No idea," Butterfly answered after looking around.

"How do we help him?" Atsuhiro asked as Dragon again battered Tomura. One of those hits was going to be too strong.

"Why do you have that?" The question came yet again.

"Muscular?" Dabi suggested uncertainly. He would no doubt try to hit the boy with fire but while he was glaring at Tomura a lot, he wasn't staying in the one place. That meant it would be iffy to target him with a burst of fire. Butterfly had to get close to attack, and Whisper was more a support villain. Twice could probably attack but didn't want to and he… They really needed more people with long range skills. "We could all attack?" Dabi added the other suggestion.

"He gave it to me!" Tomura yelled at the other boy. "Because I'm the one who is important! Not you!" Their leader glared at the other boy when he said that. The effect was lost a little with the blood that was dripping from a split lip.

The other boy visibly took a breath.

"We can try," Atsuhiro said, gesturing to the group to spread out. They should be thankful that so far it didn't appear as if the heroes had found them but… He looked around. They hadn't been outside for a day or so. The misty man hadn't let them and so he didn't know where they were. It looked like some sort of warehouse area but he couldn't be sure. There might be other inhabitants close by and they'd no doubt be calling heroes. Or… whoever the strongmen were for the region. Either way they were attracting attention and attention left memories.

Except the moment he said the words, something snapped around his neck. Instinctively he pulled against it. More things wrapped around his wrists and ankles and Atsuhiro found himself slammed back against the wall. He got a look at the restraints. They were chain but where had they come from? He looked at the others. They were also restrained. Each had a chain around their neck, wrists and ankles and they were all held tight against the wall.

Except Himiko.

She was still standing watching the battle.

Dragon had done this, Atsuhiro realised. He was almost incandescent with rage but he had heard them and- Well, they weren't able to interfere this way. He watched as Dragon flexed his fingers. He appeared to have claws and while it was easy to believe he had some sort of transformation quirk, how had he made the chain?

"You, important?" Dragon growled the question, even as he shook his head. "You don't even get what was meant to happen!"

"It doesn't matter!" Tomura yelled back. "I have it, so I'm the important one."

Dragon's expression changed from rage to completely blank. That wasn't a good sign.

"Don't let Muscular out," Twice said, obviously having heard Dabi's earlier suggestion. "Let him out."

From what Atsuhiro could see, Tomura was about to get smashed, more than he had been already and if they wanted to get paid, then they'd better do something about keeping him alive. He might be restrained but he wasn't completely helpless. He flicked his hand, pushing the pearl that had Muscular into his hand before he flicked it towards the green haired teen.

Muscular appeared in mid-air. The moron had been attacking when Atsuhiro had put him in the pearl. He was attacking now, thankfully the right way.

Dragon didn't even flinch, though he did gesture. He waved one hand towards Muscular, without even looking. Gravity did something weird, because Muscular crashed straight into the ground. Then Dragon seemed to clasp his fingers and Muscular went limp. He was unconscious.

How?

Atsuhiro had no idea and while Dragon was young, he was beginning to see how he had the reputation he did. If this was his quirk … then what the hell was that quirk? How did he manage to generate so many different effects… Unless…

The man who had rescued them had multiple quirks. Dragon could be like him.

Before Atsuhiro could think about that further, Tomura lunged towards the teen his hands extended in a pose they all knew. Tomura fully intended to disintegrate the boy. The green haired boy showed no reaction. If anything he seemed bored, except Atsuhiro could still feel anger radiating from him. He lifted one hand and Tomura seemed to slam into a wall. Their boss was then lifted into the air.

"Go Dragon!" Himiko cheered. She was still not restrained and had made no effort to help Tomura. And Dragon seemed to know she wouldn't! How the hell did she know Dragon?

"Put me down, Brat!" Tomura snarled.

That seemed to amuse Dragon, though Atsuhiro had a feeling it was not going to buy Tomura any favours. "No. I warned you, Tomura. I warned you more than once, if you hurt him I would make you pay."

"I did nothing!" Tomura objected.

"You lead All Might to him! You think that is something I can overlook?"

Atsuhiro knew what they were talking about now. Sort of. The man who had rescued them. Somehow, Dragon knew him and… Father, perhaps? That would be a reason he seemed to have multiple quirks.

"I didn't do it!" Tomura growled back..

"At the very least you could have helped him fight. But you did nothing! You cowered and ran. You dare to then sit here and tell me that it wasn't your fault? Everything was your fault!" He screamed.

"Ha! So what are you going to do? Kill me? You don't have the guts!" Tomura mocked.

Dragon's reputation would say that he'd kill you as soon as look at you. The reality that he was young, made Atsuhiro doubt that part of his reputation at least. He certainly had the power to kill. The type of ridicule Tomura was engaging in was… Even if Dragon didn't, as Tomura said, have the guts to hurt him, egging him on was going to make him do it anyway.

"Don't I, Tomura?" the question was deceptively soft. "I was sent to make a choice. I thought about what the choice would mean. I thought about both outcomes. I thought about the consequences of the choice. Thought about what I would have to do after I made that choice."

He fixed Tomura with a glowing eye. "I will dare and I think you will find I do have the guts," he growled.

Dragon lifted his hand and repeated the gesture he'd made towards Muscular at Tomura this time. Unlike Muscular, Tomura didn't fall into unconsciousness.

"What have you done?" He demanded.

Dragon was frowning at him, and repeated the gesture before he looked at his hand. Atsuhiro had no idea what he was seeing but it was obviously something with the way Dragon was flexing his clawed fingers. "Nothing that you wouldn't have done to me," he replied, looking back at Tomura who was still suspended in the air. Then Dragon gave him a small smile, as if recalling something from the past. "What did you tell me when I got this quirk?" he asked softly.

Tomura didn't answer for a few moments, then his eyes widened. "You wouldn't?"

"I never have, but let's find out if I can, shall we?"

Atsuhiro still didn't know what he was doing. He looked at Dabi and the others from the corner of his eye and only got a shrug from them in response. They had no idea either.

And then Tomura gasped. He seemed to choke and he convulsed and coughed and… He wasn't breathing in. Atsuhiro watched as Tomura moved his hands to his throat. Dragon didn't appear to be restraining him as much as them. He didn't need to. Tomura was focused on breathing. The boy was watching on with apparent detachment but Atsuhiro could see that he was actually… he wasn't entirely sure but Dragon wasn't as committed to this as he appeared.

"No blood?" Himiko complained but Dragon ignored her.

He let Tomura drop to the ground. He went to his knees immediately, still trying to draw in air. As Atsuhiro watched, Tomura pushed himself upright and got to his feet. He wavered unsteadily and then staggered towards Dragon with his hand outstretched. It was kind of impressive that even choking, he recognised his enemy. There wasn't that much distance between them but Dragon stood firm, watching as Tomura approached.

Tomura collapsed just out of range and convulsed before he went still. Atsuhiro recognised the stillness. There was a certain quality the newly dead had that couldn't be faked.

Dragon shuddered and then took a deep breath. He did something and somehow Atsuhiro knew he was removing the quirk he had been using to choke Tomura. He swallowed but before anything else could happen, there was a familiar swirl of darkness. Kurogiri reformed and Atsuhiro watched as his yellow eyes widened slightly.

"Izuku," he whispered. That must be Dragon's name.

The green haired boy whirled to look at Kurogiri.

"What have you done?"

-ted-

In hindsight, I think I should arranged to post this chapter on Tuesday - Tomura's Birthday but alas... these are the things you think of after the fact.

I think Tomura might be regretting his suggestion from Nestling Chapter 13, where he says of Caeli Imperim "Bah! Boring!" Tomura dismissed Izuku's suggestion. "If you create a force, then you can create a force on someone and hold them in place. You could press down on their chest, or better yet, if it's air control, you could make sure that they can't get any air! Far more useful!"

Yes, far more useful but probably not how Tomura ever expected Izuku to use the quirk. And obviously never expected it to be used on him! If anyone is thinking 'but they were brothers'... no, they weren't. They were raised together but they weren't brothers. Right now you could argue that Tomura has more of a 'Rex' side, and that in canon, he developed out of his stupidity from this time, but I already have a mature character and the League only needs one leader. Izuku's 'Rex' side isn't as well developed because he's always made compromises and given in to Tomura. Not this time. And no longer. So now, he's gonna have no choice but to develop that side of himself.

Somehow.

And he's going to have to learn about and live with the fact that he's screwed up one of his father's major plans. That is gonna hurt.

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!