Warning: From this chapter and forward the story's main rating has risen to "M".
Disturbing imagery such as child violence, torture, and animal cruelty are present in this chapter
For those who can't stomach such things: Reader discretion is advised.
Original Work was written by Op Taipan.
Fanfic is now available in Wattpad.
土
BOOK ONE:
EARTH
CHAPTER NINE:
ORIGINAL EARTHBENDERS, PART 1:
TŌU LIÈ ZHĚ
Silence.
Silence dominated the crystal cavern. The Wolf-bats and Shirsu were all huddled up behind the many pillars dotting the cave; The Catgators were hiding in the water, only picking their heads outside; The Singing groundhogs hid in their burrows and even some Cat owls came from the surface to watch what was happening.
In the middle of the cave, a group of adult Badgermoles were forming a circle with their bodies. Inside that circles, two Badgermoles and one human child were currently walking around each other in circles.
The boy's name was Izuku Midoriya, eight years old. Maintaining his stance, feet rooted in the ground and arms at his sides, the boy remained silent like his partner, who was by his side.
The two glared and kept their full attention on the adult Badgermole in front of them. He was about twice the size of Chima and had many scars on his paws that signified his experience.
Like the two before him, he too kept his focus on them. Waiting for an opportunity, a moment when one of them would slip up.
.
.
.
*BAM! *
Suddenly, the adult Badgermole slammed his paws into the ground and launched a multitude of boulders into the air. With one whip from his tail, Izuku and Chima faced a shower of rocks.
*CRUSH! *
Joining his feet together, Izuku dug a hole in the ground and fell through it just before a boulder came crushing where he stood. Chima, on the other hand, created a shelter from earth slabs to defend himself.
As soon as the rain of earth shards stopped, Chima wasted no times and launched the slabs that created his barriers at his opponent, garnering his attention.
While the older creature was distracted, underground Izuku used his quirk and formed a small network of tunnels. Choosing a hiding spot, the boy made himself comfortable before stilling his movements as much as possible.
Their plan was quite simple. They knew that once Izuku went underground (Technically, deeper underground) he would be followed by their opponent's seismic sense. By having Chima distracting him while Izuku was hiding his presence, they could launch a surprise attack and catch him off-guard.
Back on the battlefield, Chima was sending one boulder barrage after the other. His opponent, however, managed to swipe the offending projectiles with ease or block them with walls and blocks.
Nevertheless, the futile attacks served their purpose.
*BOOM! *
Izuku's form burst out of the ground with an explosion of dust and stone shards, a medium-sized boulder levitating at his side. "Take this!"
Throwing a punch in midair that a child of his age shouldn't be able to do with such skill, Izuku sent the rock flying at high speeds towards its' target.
Said opponent merely swatted the projectile with a raised paw in nonchalance, as if disappointed that all that preparation went to an attack such as this.
Just like Izuku and Chima had planned.
Letting a smirk form on his face, as soon as Izuku's feet touched the ground, the boy tugged with all his might and shifted the ground beneath the place the older Badgermole just stepped in while Chima did the same.
The result sent their opponent stumbling face-first into the ground. Getting up, the older Badgermole only huffed in a low tone, as if saying 'That's better.'
Deciding to get a little serious, Izuku and Chima's opponent charged at the boy.
Joining his forearms together, Izuku formed a rock column between himself and the charger. Placing his hands on the barrier and sticking his feet in the ground, the boy braced himself for impact.
*Bam! *
The adult Badgermole charged headfirst into the column, pushing it back with incredible force. Izuku grunted in effort as he tried to withstand the attack while being pushed back, living indents in the ground as he went.
*Boom! *
With one final push, the adult Badgermole broke through the column that separated it from the boy, tackling him with his snout and pushing him back.
"Ooooofff! " Izuku's body rolled a bit on the ground before finally coming to a stop, hurting his shoulder a bit. "Uhhhgg…" Sitting up, he found himself quite a distance away from where he was launched, his attacker shifting his attention to Chima now instead.
*CRUMBLE! *
The older Badgermole wasted no time and went on the attack, swiping at the ground and sending a stream of jagged rocks and protrusions of earth at Chima.
Getting up and clutching his hurting shoulder, the boy got to witness his partner swipe at the stream of rocks with his claws and break through the attack like it was made of glass.
"Yeah! Chima!"
The moment of triumph was sort lived as the older Badgermole charged at the younger one and swiped him to the side with his paw. Sent flying, Chima's body dragged across the ground for a couple dozen meters before coming to a stop.
"Chima!"
Clutching his fists in anger, Izuku sent one boulder after the next at his opponent. Punching and kicking with full force at any rock he summoned from the ground, the flurry of attacks only got stronger with the more momentum the boy got.
The older Badgermole remained unfazed and simply blocked the assault. Shifting the ground from underneath the boy's feet, Izuku was launched forward in the air directly at his opponent. Coiling his tail around the boy's waist, the older Badgermole spun him in the air for a couple times before sending him at Chima.
While crash landing on a fluffy animal was certainly more pleasant than the hard ground, both Izuku and Chima got the wind knocked out of them at the moment of impact.
"Ughhh…" Wheezing and trying the catch their breath, both Izuku and Chima managed to get up through struggle and dizziness.
*Smack! *
"Ow! What was that for?!" Izuku rubbed his head where Chima slapped him with his tail. The offender merely scoffed at him in disapproval.
A shameful look crossed the greenette's face, "You're right… Sorry…". It was a trivial matter to them, but after spending so much time with him, Izuku began to understand his partner. Though they couldn't communicate through words, the boy learned to read Chima's mannerism which acted as a language. And now the message was clear to him: 'You lost your focus and slipped up!'
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Izuku cast a glance at his and Chima's opponent. He had them beat in almost everything: Size; Power; Skill and experience; The only advantage they had was numbers and teamwork. If they couldn't capitalize on that, they wouldn't stand a chance.
On look at Chima was enough for the boy to see that he thought the same, and with a curt nod from each of them, they charged as one.
*CRRRUUUMBLLEE! *
Slamming his paws into the ground, the adult Badgermole channeled its' strength and triggered a small earthquake around itself. Lifting his paws slowly, Izuku watched while still running as a massive boulder was ripped from the ground and hurtled at him with enough force to crash a car.
Stretching his right arm to his side, Izuku stiffened his muscles and concentrated on the fragments and pieces of broken earth around him, willing them to come towards himself. In less than a few seconds, earth and stone had formed an armor around the boy's hand and forearm, cocked back in preparation to strike.
"Earth Gauntlet!"
With a mighty battle cry, Izuku smashed his fist into the boulder with unbelievable speed and watched with no small amount of pride as the mass of earth caved in and eventually shattered from the sheer strength behind the attack.
Special move: "Earth Gauntlet!"
By using Earthbending on the stones encasing his arm, Izuku accelerates his punches to inhuman levels. The additional speed, as well as the extra mass and hardness, results in a strike strong enough to smash through solid stone!
The boy's opponent had no time to prepare another strike before Chima was already on top of him and directed a vicious swipe at his snout, causing him to recoil.
Having reached the older badgermole himself, Izuku followed up on Chima's attack and aimed an 'Earth Gauntlet' at the enemy's chin, staggering him even more.
It soon became a dance between the three. Each time either Izuku or Chima sent an attack, only to be followed by the other. Izuku, both arms now incased with armor, sent one 'Earth Gauntlet' after the other while Chima repeatedly swiped at his senior or body-slammed him.
"Let's go, Chima!" cocking his right arm back, Izuku signaled his friend to commence their final attack. Launching the boy high into the air with a well-timed earth catapult their opponent was left wide open for Izuku to deliver one final strike.
Now diving straight at the older Badgermole, Izuku let the acceleration of gravity amplify the speed of his attack even further before slamming his fist straight to the Badgermole's back, knocking him to the ground.
*SMASHHHH! *
After the dust from the crash settled, Izuku was revealed, panting heavily while standing on the defeated Badgermole's back. "We… *pant* did it…"
And fell unceremoniously to the ground below.
As far as sparring session's go, it was probably the hardest one the boy ever had the privilege of participating.
Leaning on Chima and getting up, Izuku cast a glance at their opponent only to sigh in relief once he saw him standing up. "I'm glad you're okay!"
Nodding in confirmation, the older Badgermole joined the rest of his kind that had already broken the circle around them.
With the tension now gone and the cave's return to normalcy, both Izuku and Chima were left to their own devices.
While taking a few more minutes to catch their breath, Izuku saw it fit to dust off his red shirt and green shorts before the both of them made their way to the small pond at the center of the cave to take a drink, greeting some of the more familiar faces they met during the boy's two years of knowing the place.
While it took time, more and more animals eventually accepted the boy's presence. Though the Wolf-bats generally avoided him due to his proximity to the Badgermoles, almost every other species took to the boy quite well.
And Izuku was quite happy for it, he got lots of new friends because of that. He was still a kid after all. So, between the numerous hours of training that involved sparring, form practice, earthbending choreography or just wandering about in the caves; The boy found his time to play with all of them.
Catgators- skiing, Singing groundhogs musicals, playing with his earthbending with other Badgermoles, or simply hanging with some Cat-owls was always considered a good time for the boy.
"I think we still got time…" Izuku mused after a long good chug of water, "What you wanna do now?"
One look at Chima was all Izuku needed to know what was on his mind. And if he was honest, he needed it too. "Bath it is!"
It was currently midafternoon in Musutafu, Japan. As expected of a Saturday, the streets of the city were more bustling than usual, filled with eager shoppers, playing children and the occasional office worker rushing off to the last meeting of the week.
Amongst these people, an unlikely due of individuals were walking on the sidewalks with a somewhat hostile air around them. Whether it was towards the world around them or to each other remained unanswered.
"Ohhh maaaaannnn… I'm soooo tired…"
The shorter of the two groaned out. He was a slightly chubby man with a not so impressive height. In addition to the clear need for a salad in his life, the man sported a mop of light gray hair on his head that was so dirty and thin, he would've probably looked better with a pile of haystack on his head.
"SHUT UP YA FATASS! CAN'T YA GO FIVE FUCKING MINUTES WITHOUT COMPLAINING?!"
The man walking beside the chubby one snapped at him in irritation. He was clearly the taller of the two, a man of average height with a slightly better than average physic. His sharp and scary eyes were hidden behind messy bangs of spiky, dark gray hair, the same color as gunpowder. In addition to that, each of his wrists was covered in a metallic object.
To complete his look, the vulgar man opted for a getup that consisted of a brown leather open vest that exposed his arms and simple blue jeans. A stark contrast to his partner(?) who look like he was ready to take a nap with a simple loose dark-blue shirt and pants.
"Why are we even here…?" Ignoring the fitter man, pajama guy continued his complaining instead. "There's no way it's here."
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!", spiky head spat back. "S'not my fault the boss has gone coocoo over the last three years."
"So you think it's' a waste of time too?" A glint of hope flickered in the chubby man's watery, grey eyes. "Then why don't we find a nice place to take a nap and tell the boss we didn't find anything here when we get back?"
"Lying to the boss? HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!" The man's brow twitched in irritation. Out of everyone in the organization, he just HAD to be paired up with the fatass. Then again, life had never been kind in terms of company to provide him with. "I don't know about you, but I got enough scars for this lifetime."
"Like a new scar will change anything... You won't ever get a date as is…"Pajama guy murmured under his breath, thankfully unheard by his forced companion.
"Whatever… Let's just get this over with and go back…". Walking in silence for a couple of minutes, the two were put in alert once they heard a human scream.
"Help! Villain!"
'SHHIITTT! They recognized us?!' The duo turned around and looked like they saw a ghost, only to breath a sigh of relief as they saw a young man with a mohawk and spikes coming off his body running away from the lady with a purse dangling behind him.
"Phew… For a moment I thought they caught us…" Pajama guy sighed in relief and turned toward his taller coworker, only to immediately facepalm at his expression. ' I should've known that would tick him off…'
A predatory grin was stretched in the man's face as his eyes never left the burglar's figure. "My, my… What do we have here…?"
'Please don't…'
The prayers of Pajama guy went unanswered as spiky-hair bolted ahead at the burglar's directions. Scaring the life out of him and causing tears to well up in his eyes. 'Nonononono….! A hero?!'
Taking a sharp left at the intersection, the burglar caught sight of a small store in front of him. The store's goods were now presented in pride in various boxes and shelf near its' entrance, an assortment of vegetables and fruits, all neatly stacked in piles and rows.
Gripping tightly on a shelf that held a bunch of cabbages as its' content, the burglar wasted no time and slammed the shelf to the ground, creating a barrier.
His pursuer only scoffed, unimpressed, and simply jumped over the obstacle, catching from the corner of his eye the owner of the shop who looked on in horror as his vegetables rolled on the sidewalk.
"MY CABBAGES!"
The two continued their game of cat and mouse. But no matter how hard he tried, the burglar couldn't shake off his tail and spiky-hair only seemed to close on him in every passing second.
Taking a sharp left into an alley, the burglar's heart sank as he gazed at the wall in front of him
"A dead end? Really?" Freezing in his place, the burglar slowly turned around only to see the guy who has been trying to catch him blocking his way out. "How cliché… Welp, whatever. Works for me I guess…"
"P-p-p-please have mercy! I don't wanna go to jail!" The burglar groveled on the ground, clearly afraid for his life. However, when no response came from what he assumed to be a hero he dared look up at his pursuer's face.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! You thought…! You thought I was a fucking hero!" spiky-hair burst out laughing at the burglar's apparent stupidity. HIM? A HERO?! That was certainly new!
'He's not a hero?! Is he a vigilante than?'
*Bang! *
"I'm no hero kid." The burglar's eyes widened when he felt a little stab at his calf. Looking down, he saw a dart lodged into his leg.
"I chased you because I saw that pretty purse you were carrying and thought, 'Hey, I want a piece of that too!'"
'So he's just trying to steal my score…?' The burglar's blood now boiled with anger. That catch was his! Who that spiky headed weirdo thought he is that he could just take his rightfully stolen loot?! He tried to get up, but found he had no strength to do so.
"Don't bother trying to get up." The spiky-haired man informed as he picked up the purse and rummaged through its' contents. "I already paralyzed you with my quirk."
Tekubi Jū, quirk: Dart gun
Jū can shoot hollow keratin darts from his gun-like organs on his wrists. He is also capable of filling those darts with a special sedative that causes paralysis. The more sedative put into the dart, the longer it needs to be charged and the more taxing it is.
"Damn, you didn't take her phone." Casting him one final look, Jū did something unexpected. "Next time you decide to steal someone's purse, make sure you steal their cellphones. Otherwise they'll just immediately call their bank and cancel their credit cards. That means that what we have here…"
Taking out a couple of credit cards out of the purse, Jū showcased them to the paralyzed thief, "…Is no more than useless plastic."
Stuffing a few bills of yens into his pocket, as well as other items of value, Jū turned around and threw the empty purse and credit cards at the thief's head and walked out of the alleyway.
Making his way back to were he left his deadweight of a partner, Jū was slightly pleased seeing him running towards him.
But only because it saved time.
"Do- *pant*- do you have to- *pant*- to do this every- *pant*- time you see a- *pant*- robbery?!" The chubby man managed to utter between gasps, leaning on his knees for support.
"Humph! The boss said we couldn't draw attention to us by commenting crimes. He didn't say anything about taking away from other criminals, no honor among thieves and all that shit."
Not waiting any longer for his partner to catch his breath, Jū has already taken off. "Let's go fatass. The faster we finish checking this place out, the sooner you can get back to bed."
Perking up like he had caffeine injected directly into his blood stream, the chubby man followed after Jū. "Where do we still need to look?"
Jū smiled. "We are almost done. All that's left is a park right down the corner."
Izuku emerged from the cave to the calming sight of the afternoon sum shining brightly on the park's ground, riding on Chima's back, "Were back!"
Stretching a bit from sitting so long on the Badgermole, the boy soon jumped down onto the ground and scanned their surroundings. As expected, for a certain radius around the cave, they couldn't find any human present.
It was part of the reason they chose this place as Chima's hideout in the city. That way, he could expose himself almost all the time and play with Izuku outside back before they found the tunnels.
"Seeya tomorrow, Chima!" Patting his friend on the head one last time and saying him goodbye, the boy turned around and went to pick up his shoes from within one of the bushes.
Not even halfway there and an ominous crackling washeard by the two.
Darting his way around, the boy couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Confusion and anxiety filled his mind, this was the first time he heard anything like it in the park. To add to that, he didn't see anything that could be responsible.
But the most concerning thing, was that even with his seismic sense he couldn't feel anything wrong.
*ZAP! *
"RRRRAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Chima!" The Badgermoloe's pain filled roar echoed in the woods before Chima went silent and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Running to the downed Badgermole, Izuku crouched before his snout and tried to shake his friend awake, "Chima! Chima! Do you hear me?! Please, get up!"
The boy's pleads, however, went unanswered as the young Badgermole didn't even show the slightest hint he was hearing him.
"Don't bother." An unfamiliar voice made itself known to Izuku, coming from an unexpected direction, the sky.
Floating in the air, just above were Chima laid, was a chubby man who held what appeared to be a toy gun that was connected to Chima's body via a cable. The man gestured to the weapon, "See that? This weapon was designed to take down creatures twice its' size. That animal won't be getting up anytime soon."
Aruku Kūki, quirk: Air walk
Air walk allows the user to levitate in the air. There is also a height limit of about twenty meters to the quirk and the user can't go any higher. Also, the possessor's ground mobility directly correlates to the speed achievable through the use of this quirk. Meaning a fast sprinter could achieve impressive speeds while flying, while a slowpoke on the ground will be a slowpoke in the air.
"What did you do to Chima?!" Izuku yelled at the man with more rage than he knew he could muster.
"Chima? You gave that thing a name?" The man only gave the boy an uninterested look that quickly devolved into a yawn. "Doesn't matter. I'm only supposed to bring the animal back to base. Who knew that the boss was right when he sent us here to search?"
"You aren't taking Chima ANYWHERE!" Taking a stance and clenching his fists, Izuku glared at the floating man with such anger that its' target almost flinched.
Almost.
Signing in exasperation, the man pressed a button on the device and the cable that was connected to Chima was detached from the Badgermole and coiled itself back into the gun. "I'm afraid you are in no position to demand such a thing. Besides, as much as I hate it, I have orders: "All witnesses must be rid of". What a bother…"
Quicker than a man his size was supposed to be capable of, the floating man directed the gun at the boy and shot. A metal cube shot forward at breakneck speeds at the boy, connected to the gun via a cable.
Thinking fast, Izuku planted a firm foot into the ground and raised a small wall of earth with an upward motion from his left arm.
The projectile attached himself into the wall, not even causing a crack to appear on the dense earth. "Tch…!" Izuku's attacker was not pleased, "Figures you would have a defensive quirk…".
Pressing the same button on the gun, the cable detached itself from the wall the boy made and started to fold itself into the gun again.
A light bulb went on above Izuku's head 'He only has one shoot before he needs to fold the cable back into the gun! That means…' Kicking at the ground with his left foot, Izuku lifted the wall he created into the air and blasted it upwards with a push from his hands. "You're wide open!"
"Whoa!" Aruku was forced to dodge the attack by stratifying to the side at the last seconds. Breathing a sigh of relief after the boulder was behind him 'That was close…'
'He's slow…' Ever the quirk analyzer, Izuku's plan of attack took shape with each new piece of the puzzle in place. 'So his quirk is being able to stay airborne… He doesn't appear like a close-range fighter, so he'll probably stay up there and only attack with the gun. If I can land a hit on him, he should be down for the count!'
With a resounding *click! * the cable was fully retracted, and the gun was ready again to fire. "Finally! They really need to make the retraction mechanism faster!"
'If I shoot the boy, he'll just make another wall and I'll waste my shot! I need to make him lower his guard…'
Looking around for a solution to his problem, Aruku's eyes landed on the unconscious form of Chima. 'That'll do.'
Firing the gun again, Izuku's attacker went against his expectations when instead of trying to hit him, the cable once again lodged itself to Chima. Pressing on another button, the boy watched in horror as the body of his best friend flailed and twitched uncontrollably on the ground.
"Chima!" With tears in his eyes, Izuku forgot about his opponent and ran directly to his friend.
As he neared the Badgermole, he failed to notice the smirk that appeared on Aruku's face, 'Got him.'
"GAAAAAHHHHH!"
As soon as the boy made contact with Chima's body, his whole body convolted in shook as the electricity from the taser went through him. His muscles twitched; his teeth clanked; and an unbearably hot sensation went through his body like a million fire ants walking on each and every one of his nerves.
Luckily for him, that sensation only lasted a few seconds before it went away. Hurting and panting, Izuku collapsed to his knees and struggled not to puke.
"Huh." The chubby man hummed in an indifferent tone, "That was supposed to knock you out. Is the battery empty or something? Just my luck." The man put his hand inside one of his pockets, "Could've swore I had a spare…"
"Aha! Found it!" Lifting the battery up like a prize, Aruku wasted no time and started to replace the power source for the device, "Stupid little piece of technology…"
Back on the ground, Izuku was still reeling from the electric attack he received. Eyes shadowed by his hair and still panting heavily, he almost missed the clicking of the gun as the cubby guy finished repairing it.
"Well kid, I can't say this was fun, I'd much prefer to be in bed right now. But I guess I can help YOU go to bed." Aiming his taser at the boy's form that was still on the ground, Aruku fired.
'Not yet… Now!' Using reflexes that could only be developed by intercepting ground-to-ground rocks, Izuku caused his opponent's eyes to bulge as he closed his rock-covered hand on the cable.
"What th-!" Before he even had time to finish his sentence, Izuku yanked at the cable with a reverse Earth Gauntlet and Aruku was sent flying directly at the boy.
"Take this! Earth Gauntlet!"
*SMASHHHH! *
Forming an armor around his other arm, the boy let out his self-proclaimed signature move straight at his attacker's stomach.
*CRASH! *
The chubby man was sent flying backward and crashed into a tree trunk nearby and got the wind knocked out of him. Falling to the ground, the Chubby man held his stomach in pain before hurling his lunch on the ground.
A sight Izuku could've lived without.
Panting in exhaustion, the boy barely managed to stay on his feet as he kept a cautious eye on the one who attacked them.
The man may have been disarmed and was currently puking his soul out, but he was still the man that hurt his friend and himself. He needed to make sure he wouldn't try anything else.
'A simple earth trap should be enou-'
*Bang! *
* Shlack- Shlack- Shlack! *
"Gah!" A sharp pain shot through the boy's abdomen suddenly. Taking a scared look down at himself, Izuku saw three large darts stabbing into his side. Taking a shaky breath, Izuku's eyes widened in fear as he felt himself weaking at an alarming rate, barley managing to stand up.
The boy let out a choking sound as his legs gave up on him and he fell onto the ground. With twitching muscles that weren't in his control anymore, the boy could only look with his one eye that wasn't facing the ground at the one who shot him.
" *cough! * *cough! * Took you long enough…" The chubby man complained as out of the woods came Tekubi Jū, his wrists still raised and his expression as sour as ever.
'They know each other?!' The boy greeted his teeth in frustration, desperate to get up and fight back, even though he felt like he couldn't lift even a pencil.
"Remind me again who it was that insisted we split up?" Jū replied in a condescending tone before eyeing the paralyzed boy who currently glared at him. "Don't make that face at me squirt."
Crouching beside the boy's body, Jū delivered a swift strike to his neck and watched as he gasped out in pain and lost consciousness before turning to the other man. "Nice fight, by the way. You got your ass handed to you by a preschooler."
"Shut up! I didn't get my ass handed to me and this kid is not a preschooler!" Aruku spat back in an attempt at recovering any type of dignity.
"Excuse. Me!" Jū mocked, "Comon! Does it matter if he is a preschooler or a…" Jū glanced at the boy's unconscious body. "Seven? Eight? Point is, you got your ass kicked by someone who isn't even allowed to cross the road yet."
"You're never gonna let me live this down, aren't you?"
"Nope!"
"* Sign…* So what are we gonna do with him? We were sent to retrieve the animal…" Aruku pointed at Chima with his thumb. "Should we kill him or something? He's a witness."
*Smack! *
"Ow!"
"For once in your goddamned life, USE YOUR FUCKING HEAD YOU DOLT!" Jū Smacked Aruku on the head, tempted to scream over his stupidity. "What was that kid's quirk?!"
Aruku tilted his head in confusion, "He could control the earth with his movements, from what I saw."
Jū pressed on and pointed at Chima's unconscious form, "And what are those things' quirks?"
" They can… control the earth with their movements."
"You're right so far, now…" Taking his round face between his hands, Jū directed his partner's head towards the cave in the hill. "See that?! You know what this is?!"
Aruku only nodded, "Yes. We built a base near one of them back in the Izu peninsula."
"And where did you see those two coming from?"
"From the cav-" Aruku's eyes shot eyed open, " I get it."
"Then you get what this boy is, right?" An excited smirk began to appear on both of their faces as Jū picked up the boy's unconscious body. "Just wait till the boss hears about this! We're gonna be rich!"
When Izuku opened his eyes, he only saw darkness.
He didn't know where he was, nor how he got there, it was all foggy. The boy tried to recollect the events that led him to this point, but to no avail. His mind just refused to work with him now, he just felt so disoriented and groggy that it just felt impossible.
Plus, the fact he only wore a T-shirt and shorts without even shoes on in this FREEZING place wasn't helping his concentration either.
Rolling to lay on his back, Izuku blinked a couple of times just to make sure it was really this dark here, either that or he was blind now.
With MUCH effort (and a whole lot of groaning) the boy pushed himself to his feet, slightly flinching as his feet were now touching the cold floor.
Taking a single step, the boy yelped out in surprise as he found he couldn't part his legs very far from each other and found himself on the floor again. Luckily, he caught himself with his hands before his head made contact.
Though the boy didn't notice it before, there was a weird pressure around his wrists and ankles. Whatever that pressure was, it felt cold to the touch, just what his quivering body needed.
" wha…wa…tha…? Yo… thi…he... awe…?"
Muffled voices were picked by Izuku's ears, causing the boy to perk up in attention. "Hello…?" he called, grimacing at how dry his throat felt "Is anyone there?"
"ye…he..up… righ… ca…the.. bos…"
A familiar voice was soon heard after that, causing the boy's eyes to widen. It all came back to him. The voice he just heard was from the one who attacked him and Chima!
'Where is Chima?! Where have they took us?!' Realization quickly dawned on the boy as his heart sank with dread. He was kidnapped by these people and who knows what they did to Chima!
Thoughts running a mile a minute, Izuku breathing hastened as fear crawled up his spine. Questions like 'what are they gonna do with Chima?!', 'what are they gonna do with me' and 'what should I do?' all ran amok inside his head.
But before he had a chance to come up with answers to any of those question, the sound of footsteps was heard coming his way.
With a metallic grinding sound, light finally broke through and Izuku got a chance to look at where he was through his squinted eyes.
He was in some sort of a closed off box. Black metal walls were surrounding him on all sides, clearly capable of holding things much bigger than himself. Looking down at himself, his eyes widened at what he saw was attached to him. Metal shackles were locked in place around his wrists and ankles, short metal chains connecting them between each set.
"Looks like you're finally up." A cold voice said from above the boy. Looking up, Izuku flinched from the harsh light before he made out the silhouette of a man.
He didn't recognize who he was. The man had long, oily black hair that was tied into a single braid that rested on his back; He had a rather impressive and sharp chin-beard as well as a thin mustache that looked like he spent way too much time on.
The man's pale skin did nothing to hide how muscular he was, much like his red and yellow open vest that revealed his well-toned body. Cold, thin eyes glared at the boy, causing him to shiver in fear, something that clearly brought the man delight.
"W-what h-have you done to Chima? W-where is he?" Izuku stuttered. Even as terrified as he was, his friend came first.
The man before him only raised an unimpressed brow, "Chima?"
"He's talking about the animal we brought with him." Aruku, who was standing behind the man and clearly wanted to go and sleep, chimed in.
A vicious smirk appeared on the black-haired man face, "That friend of yours is fine for now, kid. We wouldn't want to harm potential merchandise, now do we?"
Izuku, while relived to find out Chima was okay, couldn't help but become bothered when he heard the man finish his sentence, " Merchandise?"
"Why yes… quirked animals are quite a commodity in the black market. It's what we do around here."
The boy didn't like what he heard one bit, "Where is here? Who are you? "
"Oh, where are my manners?" The braided man let out a chuckle before spreading his arms like he was presenting something, "My name is Shuzumu Kaen, I'm the leader of the Japanese branch of the Tōu liè zhě. We specialize in the capturing and selling of quirked animals in the black market, animals like that friend of yours."
Izuku certainly didn't like this. "You are just a bunch of Villains!" He shouted through greeted teeth, "Bring Chima back and let us go!"
"Ughhhh…." Shuzumu groaned in irritation, "Ever sense we started talking, you were all: "Chima this! Chima that!". This isn't about that stupid furball, you little shit!" Faster than the boy could see, Shuzumu grasped at the chain of his handcuffs and slammed them (and by extension him) into one of the walls of his prison.
Pushed against the wall with his hands held above his head, Izuku squirmed under the man's tight grip as he came face to face with him." This is about you, boy. You see, a little bird told me you share the same quirk as that friend of yours, correct me if I'm wrong."
Izuku didn't want to tell him anything, but even his silence was enough to make the man smirk in victory. Little sparks began to emanate from the man's hand, heating up the chill container they were in. "Now, that same bird told me something else interesting. He told me that you were inside a cave with your friend before they found you. Ain't that right?"
Again, the greenette remained silent. Trying to break eye contact with the man to little success as the cuffs around his wrists began to heat up.
"Now, final question. Have you seen any of these before?" Taking a piece of paper out of his pocket, Shuzumu presented it to the reluctant boy, causing his eyes to widen.
It was a picture of some of the animals he had met while in the caves! While they probably weren't the same ones he encountered, they certainly had a relation to them. "How- How did you get that picture?" the question left his mouth before he could stop himself, slightly wincing as the cuff's temperature began to become uncomfortable.
A victorious smirk appeared on Shuzumu's face; he had found the jackpot. "Let me tell you a story, kid. A couple of years back, one of our operatives found a mysterious cave in the Izu peninsula."
A gasp made its' way out of Izuku's mouth, 'That's where I met Chima!'
"That cave seemed to have no end to it. No matter who we sent in, they would either come back days later half dead; or they didn't come back at all."
The boy knew exactly where this was going, the correlations where just too perfect for it to be wrong.
"You may ask yourself, 'If it's so dangerous, why go there in the first place?'. The answer was quite simple." Shuzumu flapped the picture in his hand, "Those caves held more quirked animals than the Tōu liè zhě had ever captured! The few survivors told us about what they saw! Not capitalizing on such a resource would be a waste!"
"But…" A note of frustration passed through the man's voice, causing Izuku to gulp nervously and struggling to not cry in pain as the cuffs were reaching scorching degrees. "No matter what we tried, navigating through those caves is a death sentence! We were reduced to merely setting baits by the entrance, hoping to get something once a month!"
Shuzumu tucked the picture back into his pocket, and reached out his free hand to cupped Izuku's face with it, "But now, we have you. A human with the same quirk as those animals who live in those caves, Who, from what we saw, can do so as well! Ain't that right, Izuku Midoriya?"
The boy's eyes grew wide in terror, "H-how do you know my name?"
"You'd be surprised at what you can find out about anyone if you know where to look…" Shuzumu chuckled.
"Even if you know my name, that doesn't matter! I'll never help you!" The boy yelled through greeted teeth, tears building up from how much his wrists were hurting.
The smile that was on Shuzumu's face vanished in an instant, "Trust me…". The pain was almost unbearable, causing the poor boy to begin writhe in place in a futile struggle "… You will."
Raising the hand that held the chains, he lifted Izuku's body into the air. The boy's muscles were screaming from effort, lack of blood, and the heat as his feet kicked aimlessly in the air before Suzumu threw him back into the ground.
"Close it."
The last thing Izuku saw before being plunged back to darkness, not even able to elevate his pain from the still hot shackles, was Shuzumu's receding form.
