22/07/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 89 - The Veil Has Lifted

Yagi watched the security camera recording again. It was of the holding cells where the- He sighed. There had been plans to separate those who attacked Ochaco Uraraka but it had also been thought, assumed really, that they would be safe for one night, that the kid's information network wasn't that developed.

It was a hard lesson to learn. The kid… He shook his head. Izuku Midoriya might be young, he might be relatively inexperienced but he was not a regular fresh faced villain. He had the contacts, and apparently, the will, to go far.

It was so sad but Toshinori knew he couldn't focus on that. He rewound the security footage. They only had a few moments of it but it was revealing. The group had appeared via warp gate, much as they had at the USJ and then gotten to work. One of the villains, so far only identified as Dabi, shot fire at the cameras and they all blipped out.

From there, they knew that Dragon had broken the locks, Jin Bubaigawara had used his quirk to grab the prisoners they were interested in, while the others made sure the perimeter was secure. The other prisoners, those who hadn't been taken, reported that Mr Compress, Atsuhiro Sako had stood near the warp gate the entire time, not moving, while the others had acted. And they'd also reported that everything was silent. They could hear nothing, except their own bodies. One of the prisoners had slapped themselves but they hadn't been able to hear that.

All of the villains were on the brief second of tape they had but… There were some missing. Tomura Shigaraki was not present but he could easily have decided not to come because this was Izuku's desire. Josai Shizukana was also- No, she was there but not seen? The silence definitely hinted at her quirk…

Ah… Toshinori figured it out. Mr Compress had compressed her, which would also explain why he'd appeared to do nothing but stand there. He was holding the field centred on them. Though the warp gate could also have done that.

Goto Imasuji was not present but he might not have been brought because of his bulk. He would have taken up all the space and Chou Konchu wasn't there. The butterfly quirked lady- Again, it might be an easy explanation. The villains had pulled off the mission quickly, and they hadn't needed others. The absence of other villains was not necessarily evidence of anything, it could simply be practicality. People forgot that villains were practical, sometimes far more so than others.

He watched the second again, in slow motion and froze the image on Izuku Midoriya, who they believed to be Dragon. He was showing quirks he'd never shown at UA and Toshinori felt a brief flash of respect at his control. In the image, he was covered in scales and his eyes glowed. The scales were even on his face and the analysts had been quick to tell him that with the distortion the scales caused, they couldn't use facial recognition, so there was a chance that this wasn't Izuku Midoriya.

He knew it was. There was absolutely no question in his mind that it was Izuku and the scales… They had belonged to Hiryu Ren. Yagi remembered Nighteye telling him about that case. Izuku might not know- Izuku would know his father had taken the quirk but he probably didn't know from whom. Toshinori wondered what he'd think if he knew Hiryu… Would he be angry? There was absolutely no doubt that he was angry that his friend was attacked. The evidence spoke for itself.

"Oh Izuku," Yagi sighed. He'd hoped they could bring him in and maybe… Well, he didn't really know what the maybe was. The boy had killed and now…

It was such a waste.

-ted-

Izuku was tired, but he knew he had to deal with the prisoners before he could rest. Some of them had defecated and that had stunk. At least he'd been able to use fire to deal with the mess. He hadn't been too careful either so the heat had burned some of them but the sooner they were dealt with, the sooner he could get some sleep before he went to speak with Shouto and then…

There were always so many 'and thens' to consider now.

He grabbed the chains and dragged the prisoners with him. Kurogiri had given him a look that said he wanted to talk. Izuku had acknowledged it but also whispered 'not here' to the warp gate so it was no surprise when Kurogiri reformed behind him.

"Doctor?" Izuku called. He was so used to seeing the Doctor at his workstation that it was a surprise when he wasn't there.

"He's probably asleep," Kurogiri told him.

Izuku nodded and turned to face the misty man. "Is there anywhere I can leave these then?" he asked, gesturing to the prisoners. He glanced at them. It was somewhat satisfying to see that they were staring at the tanks with wide, horrified eyes.

"Oh don't worry," Izuku told them lightly. "You aren't going to be like them," he said, gesturing towards the High Ends. "Those guys are special. They're important," he explained. He saw the prisoners relax slightly. "I expect you to turn out like him!" Izuku added, pointing towards the winged Nomu that always accompanied the Doctor. The Nomu was in the corner and appeared to be hunched over as if sleeping.

Despite how tired he was, Izuku reached out with Radio Waves and poked the Nomu. It jerked up and honed in on him. "Nomu," Izuku called. The winged Nomu came to him and looked down at him. He gave it a smile. "Such a good boy," he murmured, mostly for his prisoners. "Go and get the Doctor," he ordered. The Nomu looked at him and then nodded before shuffling off. Seeing it move, Izuku realised how ungainly it was on the ground.

The prisoners pulled against the chain. Izuku sighed and yanked them back, pulling most of them off balance so they fell. They stank but he couldn't do anything about that and so turned to look at the warp gate. It was an obvious invitation to speak.

The warp gate's yellow eyes regarded him for a few moments before Izuku got the impression Kurogiri sighed. "Your father assigned me to Tomura," he stated.

Izuku blinked. What did that mean? He waited for the misty man to continue. "If you'd fought with Tomura and he'd gone one way, and you another, I'd have gone with him," Kurogiri told him.

Except, while they'd fought, he'd killed Tomura. Kurogiri couldn't follow the other teen. Izuku braced himself. It was fairly likely that Kurogiri would want to leave and… if he did then he knew he was going to be losing a massive advantage. Kurogiri's quirk was… It wouldn't have been impossible to carry out the raid without it but it would have been a lot harder. With a warp gate, he had an advantage the heroes couldn't match.

Kurogiri knew that. The heroes knew that. Izuku remained silent as he waited for the warp gate to finish. He just might want to complain and if that's all it was, then he'd listen and… try to be more considerate of the misty man's feelings in the future. But… He didn't know.

"I-" Kurogiri definitely sighed this time. "I don't know what to do," he admitted.

Izuku was confused. "What do you want to do?" he asked. It seemed like a silly question but he couldn't tell Kurogiri what he wanted.

"I don't know," the misty man replied. "I am without orders."

That was an odd phrase. "From dad?" Izuku asked.

Kurogiri shook his head. "From anyone."

"What do you mean?" Izuku demanded. Kurogiri took orders from his dad but he was his own person.

The misty man looked at him. "You can order me," he said.

Izuku frowned. He could but what was so important about that… what w- "You're a Nomu?" That was the only thought that made sense.

"He is a special one," Garaki interrupted from the side. Izuku whirled to look at him. The Doctor looked tired and the Winged Nomu was almost hovering over his shoulder. The Doctor ignored the prisoners as he rode his wheelchair in and set himself up at his station.

"How special?" Izuku asked, feeling vaguely embarrassed to be asking that in front of Kurogiri.

"Very," Kyudai confirmed, glancing at the misty man. "He was one of the early experiments, and while it is useful having something that is able to be fully functional and even think for itself, it is too time intensive to create many. And Kurogiri is not combat optimised. Your father wanted Nomu that can be created quickly and are strong fighters."

Izuku nodded. While Kurogiri was extremely useful he wasn't that strong. "You once told me you were trying to find the perfect combination of quirks for humans," he reminded the Doctor.

"A side study," Garaki admitted but didn't deny the statement.

Izuku huffed. It appeared that until recently, he'd been told the nicer side of everything but- He shook his head. Of course he'd been told the nicer side of everything. His father admitted it too. I think we can dispense with the gentle narratives of your youth. This was the reality he had to deal with now.

"So Kurogiri is aware he's a Nomu and that he has to obey and … does he know who he was?" Izuku asked. He wished there was an easier way of doing it.

"No," Garaki replied, ignoring Kurogiri completely. "It would serve no purpose for Kurogiri to know who he had been."

Izuku looked into Kurogiri's yellow eyes. "Do you want to know?" he asked. He was curious.

"No," the misty man returned immediately.

He heard Garaki sigh. "Kurogiri is one of the more independent Nomu, but he is still a Nomu. He was not designed to have curiosity about the past, just to do what he was told." Izuku watched as the Doctor shook his head, dismissing the matter. "I presume you wish me to do something with those?" He pointed to the prisoners.

They'd been quiet until now but with the renewed attention they tried to run. Izuku sighed and again hauled on the chains. They should have learned by now that he was stronger. "Can you make them into Nomu?" he asked.

"I can but-" The Doctor gave a hiss of distaste. "I don't think they'll be good ones," he said finally.

"That's okay," Izuku said. "Just so long as they suffer," he added.

"Ah… These are the ones who hurt your friend?" Kyudai asked shrewdly.

Izuku nodded. "Can you make them loyal to her?"

He saw Kurogiri start slightly at the question. "Kurogiri?" Izuku prompted. The man might be a Nomu but he still had opinions which were based on his experience, and Kurogiri had a longer experience than he did as a villain.

"I do not believe your friend would like them. Himiko might though," he added.

He almost laughed but acknowledged the truth of what the misty man was telling him. "I don't really want to give them to Ochaco," he clarified. "I just think it would be good for them to know that the woman they hurt will have ultimate authority over them. And if one of her orders is die, then they will."

"Regular Nomu don't think about much," the Doctor reminded him.

Izuku gave him a smile. It was sharp and he flicked his eyes in the direction of the prisoners. Garaki understood. He was saying most of this for their benefit, for their pain.

"You'll have to sedate them," Kyudai indicated. "There's a reason I usually start with a corpse," he added.

Izuku was ready for the prisoners to jerk away and he was already hauling them forward. He looked over at them. "You should have thought about the consequences before you hurt my friend," he told them. "Do you have sedatives?"

The Doctor considered the question. It wasn't really a hard one so Izuku was confused as to why the answer wasn't forthcoming. "Kurogiri," the Doctor called. "Take him to the north warehouse. There's enough tanks there," he instructed before looking at Izuku. "You remember how to use one?"

He nodded and smiled at the Doctor. It was a nice touch. He could say what he wanted to them while he put them in the tank and the Doctor wouldn't be too troubled. "Can you make them loyal to Ochaco?" Izuku asked again.

"I can if you get me some DNA. Loyalty comes later in the process," Garaki explained. "The initial process will sedate them until I can come and have a look."

Izuku snorted. "They are expecting me at the hospital but I'll see what I can do," he said. It probably wouldn't matter if he couldn't make them loyal to Ochaco. As Kurogiri pointed out, she wouldn't appreciate that present, not in the way Himiko would.

He pulled at the chain. "Let's get this over with, Kurogiri," he said. "Then we can get some sleep and-" Izuku smiled.

"And?" the misty man prompted.

"And then this afternoon, I buy the loyalty of one of the League, and can start moving forward," Izuku grinned.

The warp gate gave him a look before he nodded and expanded.

"Thank you, Doctor," Izuku said as he pulled the prisoners with him. He wanted them to suffer, but he was looking forward to his sleep.

-ted-

Bokusen sat at the bar. It was run by a friend he kind of trusted. Plus no one showed up at a bar at 10am. It was closed and would be closed to about 5pm… then it would be open for as long as customers came. His friend said he could stay here, so long as he was quiet. He had no intention to be noisy. The only thing he wanted to avoid was…

Everyone.

The heroes wanted to take him in but… He'd seen the news this morning. They couldn't protect him.

Other villains would be more than happy to hand him over to Dragon. He hadn't seen any updates to the bounty but the rumour was that Dragon himself had worked with the League of Villains to take those who had been brought in by the police for protective custody straight out of the holding cells. The news just said that they'd been taken. The underworld had more details.

If the League was willing to work with Dragon, then everyone else would be. So he was now left with… not much.

The list of people he could trust was frighteningly small. Most other vigilantes would-

Actually, Bokusen wasn't sure what they'd do. He was pretty sure a few would help him but others would consider him a villain and they'd do their best to bring him in. So he was between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

The morons online had no idea what was going on. They wouldn't realise it for ages! That was assuming they even put things together. So he could only trust those he had vetted personally. Or those he could pay. There were still some people who put their highest faith in cash.

As they said, cash had no provenance, and those who paid… well they paid to get the job done. The problem was, Dragon had more cash. The only thing Bokusen had going for him there was that he was pretty sure that Dragon wouldn't have preemptively paid anyone. No matter how much money he had, that would be a stupid move. So there was a chance that if he could get to a broker, he could get away. The problem was he didn't have a lot of cash.

His day job paid okay but not that great, and his alternate work, as Edge Dart, didn't pay at all, not even when he helped himself to the valuables of the villains he took down. Their assets went towards buying information and ensuring that his costume wasn't too tatty. His costume doubled as regular clothes and thus had to be of a reasonable condition.

If this had been been yesterday then… He might have been able to bargain with Dragon, selling the location of the others or even just their identities to the man in exchange for his safety but it was too late for that now. If anything, they'd be selling him out for leniency. Not that he thought Dragon would give them any. The man didn't have… well, depending on your point of view, the man didn't have a good reputation.

He was known to be loyal to his friends, vicious to his enemies and beyond that, completely enigmatic.

So what did he do now? How did he get out of this? He could just get on a train and leave but he didn't know where to go or what he'd do. Setting up a new life with no money, no contacts and no- that wasn't an option.

There was really only one way out he could see. The villain lover wasn't dead, she was just unconscious. If she woke up… maybe she could call Dragon off… It was a big maybe.

But it was possibly the only maybe he had. So… how did he get in contact with a decent underworld healer. If it could be done, they'd heal her and then…

Yeah, he'd have to hope.

-ted-

Bokusen, you are thinking in the right direction but I'm afraid that ship... already sailed and sank. You peeved Dragon and he isn't one for token gestured to fix what was wrong. If you do get Ochaco healed though, he might just settle for killing you, so maybe it would be worth it.

All Might is losing faith in Izuku which for him, has to be hard. Since he is the Number One Hero, I think he does believe everyone can be saved but he also knows that people have to want to be saved and he knows there are some that definitely don't want that. That is what saddens him, and the loss of the person to society. All Might is, despite other failings, a genuinely nice person but he's still just human.

And Izuku is learning a lot of new things now that the 'gentle narrative of his youth' is over. :D Geeze was Daddy-dearest shoving a bucket load under that phrase :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-

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