["Alright, everyone. Sorry to crash your big party or whatever the hell you call this. But there's been a slight change to tonight's schedule."] The man held a pistol pointed to the ceiling; a brass casing spun in the air momentarily before falling to the floor.
Everyone, even the pro-heroes, froze in place ["Good, I won't need to repeat myself. Now, where can I find Dr. David Shield?"] Nobody spoke. ["I find it hard to believe nobody knows where probably the most important man on this island is."]
Still, nobody answered. The man's grin was replaced by a scowl ["Oh, come on. Really? Nobody knows where Shield is? Fine. I guess they need a little incentive."] The men surrounding the ballroom trained their rifles on the crowd at his words. The man yelled, ["Unless you want these fine gentleman here to mag dump your sorry asses, you'll tell me where David Shield is!"]
A woman in a lab coat hesitantly stepped forward, ["He-he's i-in his o-office. P-p-ple-please don't kill us."]
The man grinned, ["Thank you very much."] Then he and half the other men turned and headed to the elevator. The rest kept their rifles trained on the crowd. ["Oh, and if anyone so much as tries to use their quirk, my boys here will open fire. So I advise you just sit tight and let all this blow over."] The man laughed as he left the room; the doors leading out of the ballroom slammed shut.
Izuku looked to Iida, who was grinding his teeth in fury, "Those fiends, I have no idea who they are or why they're here, but they won't get away with this."
"What the fuck are you talking about, four eyes? They're after Shield," said Bakugo.
Iida sputtered, "W-well, English isn't my first language, so it was hard to understand what he was saying."
"It doesn't matter now; we've got to find a way to save these people," said Izuku.
["Hey! Shut the fuck up!"] one of the gunmen pointed their rifle at them.
Uraraka yelped and moved closer to Izuku; Iida and Kirishima froze, while Bakugo unflinchingly glared at the gunman. Izuku glared at the gunman, refusing to show the fear that was clawing away from the inside.
Apparently satisfied with their reactions, the gunman resumed scanning the crowd of pro-heroes. Izuku clenched his fist; why wasn't anyone trying to do something? Why were all of these pro-heroes just standing here? Were they just going to wait around for rescue?
Izuku turned to Bakugo and whispered, "We've got to do something."
Bakugo growled, "Oh yeah, tough guy? And your gonna be the one to risk all these people's lives?"
Izuku stopped; Bakugo was right. If he or anyone else did anything, these men would start shooting.
Uraraka whispered, "Don't do anything rash, Deku; we need to come up with a plan."
"If we create a distraction, one of us could sneak past them and go for help," suggested Iida.
"Yeah, but who?" asked Kaminari.
Kirishima looked at Bakugo, "What about Bakugo or Midoriya? They're both the strongest."
Bakugo looked down, then shook his head, "No, as much as I hate to say it, Deku should go."
To say they were shocked wouldn't give what they were feeling the credit it deserved. "W-w-what are you talking about, Kachan?" No way Izuku could manage to pull this off. Surely Bakugo would have been a better choice.
"Think about it, dumbass; they'll hear me, but your so fucking small and pathetic they won't notice you." Bakugo wouldn't meet his eyes, but somehow he knew that Bakugo wasn't insulting him.
"Bakugo, don't call Midoriya small; it's unproductive," said Iida.
"Shut up, four eyes," said Bakguo, glaring at Iida.
"What did I say about calling me four eyes! You you you, weird hedgehog hair, baby man." Iida was floundering; he was also drawing the attention of a few of the guards.
"The hell you call me stick up the ass?!" yelled Bakguo.
"Guys, chill; the guards are staring," said Kirishima nervously.
"No, this feral child needs to be put in his place," spat Iida.
"Feral child? That's rich coming from the guy who can't take a fucking joke!" retorted Bakguo.
"Guys, seriously, calm down," begged Kirishima trying to get between the two.
"Out of the way, Rock head!" Bakugo roughly pushed Kirishima to the side.
["Hey! What the hell is going on here! I said shut the fuck up!"] A pair of guards had approached them, aiming their guns at Iida and Bakugo.
["Sorry, he just said stupid thing"] said Bakugo, glaring at Iida.
The guards glanced at each other, and one said ["I don't give a flying fuck what he said, kid, just shut up, and we won't shoot you."]
One guard left and wandered back over to his previous position. The other guard stayed where he was and watched them closely. Now how was he supposed to sneak out unnoticed? It would have been hard before, but now it would be almost impossible.
If he had any chance of escaping, he'd have to deal with the guard during his escape. But if he left the guard here, the others would start shooting when they realized one of their comrades was unconscious. So he'd just have to take the guard with him during the escape. But then there's a risk the guards would notice he, along with one of their comrades, were missing. But it was a risk they were going to have to take.
Now, he just needed some sort of opening. Some sort of distraction long enough for him to grab the guard, run out of the room, and quietly deal with the guard. But before that, he needed an exit.
If he opened a door, someone was bound to notice, so it would be best if there was an open door for him to escape through. There across the room, was a door left wide open. Beyond it was a hallway, at least from what Izuku could see. That would have to do.
Now he just needed a distraction, but what would be distracting enough and not have the guards start shooting. Just then, the lights in the ballroom shut off. It was so surprising that, at first, he didn't do anything. "The hell are you waiting for Deku?" hissed Bakugo. "A fucking invitation?"
Izuku's body finally caught up with his brain, and green lightning crackled as he grabbed the guard by the back of his bulletproof vest and yanked hard, pulling the man as he sprinted across the room. One for All coursing through him.
It took him a second to cross the room and through the open door. He turned right down the hallway, the guard still in tow behind him. He had to deal with this guy before he went to find help. Thinking quickly, he stopped and opened a random door.
Apparently, today was his lucky day.
Behind the door was a janitor's supply closet, a quick search of which he found duct tape. The guard he'd hauled off was pale and shaking slightly. No doubt that was the first time he'd moved quite that quickly, and right now, he looked so dazed that Izuku doubted he'd be able to do much for a while.
Nevertheless, he had to secure the man, but the moment he grabbed the man's rifle, the man looked up sharply, made a yelp of surprise, and yanked back on his rifle. Izuku momentarily lost his grip, "No, you don't" he regained his grip and ripped the gun away from the man, throwing it across the hall where it thumped onto the carpeted floor.
Izuku grabbed one of the man's hands, but the man was quickly regaining his bearings ["You little bastard!"] The man wrestled for a bit, trying to free his hand, his thick-soled boots digging into Izuku's chest as he tried to push him away.
Izuku struck the man with his free hand over and over; the man squirmed as he hit him. Then he brought his free hand up, blocking Izuku's fist before it made contact; he suddenly leaned forward, slamming his forehead into Izukus.
He reeled back from the sudden impact, falling onto the ground as the man shoved him hard with his boot. Suddenly the man jumped onto him, ["Fucking little shit! I'll kill you!"] The man reached behind him, drew a knife, and he drove the knife down at Izuku.
He managed to grab the man's arms, stopping the knife before it pierced him. The man was putting all his weight and strength down onto the knife, his face red, eyes bulging, spittle flying. ["Fucking….little…..bastard"]
The knife ever so slowly lowered, Izuku trying desperately to stop it. "AHHHHH!" With a monumental effort, he pushed back against the man and slowly pushed the knife away from his neck.
He knocked the knife out of the man's grasp and hit the man in the face. The man reeled back, stunned by Izuku's sudden strike. Izuku didn't let up; he kept striking the man over and over; he felt ribs crack, bones break; by the time he was back to his senses, the man was barely conscious, blood dribbled out of his mouth, and his breathing was ragged and labored.
Izuku slumped back, his raised fist flopping down to his side. He sucked deep breaths, trying to calm down; fortunately, the man didn't try to get back up. Izuku felt a cry trying to worm its way up from the pit of his stomach; his eyes stung as he grappled with the fear and panic that tore away at him.
After a moment, he quashed his baser instincts, took a deep breath, and said, "I-I have to keep moving. They're all relying on me to get help. I have to pull myself together and keep going."
He pulled a length of duct tape and wrapped the man's wrists nearly a dozen times, then he bound the man's ankles together. He pulled the man into the closet, putting his rifle and knife high up on the shelves out of reach of the man. Then he put a single piece onto the man's mouth. He felt terrible about it, but he couldn't let the man cry out for help from his comrades when he woke up.
He poked his head out of the closet, looking down the dim hallway for anyone else. Once he determined the coast was clear, he left the supply closet, quietly closing the door behind him.
Jonathan peered around the corner of a building, he waved for Claire, and she quickly ran across the street and into their hotel. Once she was inside, he followed after her. As they entered the hotel, the staff seemed surprised to see them ["Oh, um, hello, valued customers. Since you're here, please remain inside while the situation is being dealt with."]
Jonathan fished his wallet out of his breast pocket on his suit ["We're just here to grab a few things, and then we're heading back out."] He presented his badge and license to the staff, who looked at each other and said nothing.
They quickly climbed the grand staircase. The emergency lighting made it difficult to find their room. Jonathan immediately went to his equipment case, keying in the code to open it. It popped open, inside was a rifle and his revolver, ["Alright, here's the plan, I'll make my way to the spire by sticking to the side streets, hopefully avoiding the APCs."] He loaded non-lethal shock rounds into the revolver's cylinder.
["And what do you expect me to do, huh?"] asked Claire, ["Just sit on my ass?"] She had gotten her flight suit and was zipping it over her dress. Her expression was a mix of anger and determination.
Jonathan paused then spoke, ["I-"] he faltered; he was too busy thinking of a plan he just assumed she'd play the role of overwatch.
Claire zipped up the flight suit and pulled her helmet from her equipment case ["I'm not letting you go gallivanting around an Island crawling with terrorists by yourself. It's dangerous to go alone."]
["I'd just assumed you'd be on overwatch above me,"] replied Jonathan, clipping his armored vest over his undershirt.
Claire clipped a utility belt on, pulled out a small pistol she checked, slid a magazine into its slot, and pulled the slide back. ["I'm coming with you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."]
Jonathan turned and said, ["No, it's too dangerous, Claire, I'm willing to put your life in danger!"]
Claire scowled, ["Oh, like our jobs aren't inherently dangerous already?"]
["That's not the point!"] said Jonathan, slotting in stun and lethal rounds into easy-access loops along his belt.
["Then what is the point?"] Claire crossed her arms.
Jonathan sighed, his voice was soft, ["I- I just couldn't live with myself if- if you get hurt, or- or worse."]
For a moment, Claire was quiet, then she spoke, ["Jonathan-"] she reached out and put a hand on his cheek, gently pushing his face to look at her, ["-look at me.] He met her eyes ["Sometimes I think you forget I went through the academy same as you. I might not have as much training as you do, nor as much experience, but I can kick ass and take names with the best of them."]
After a moment, he nodded, ["Yeah, sorry. I'll make sure to remember that in the future."]
Claire nodded ["Good, now let's get going; we've spent enough time here."]
Jonathan nodded, slipped a few magazines for his rifle into their holders, and pulled his helmet on. ["Oh, take this. It's not much, but it should be more protection than a flight suit."] He held out his large overcoat to Claire. If she was coming with him, he wouldn't let her walk into the fire without some protection.
She took the coat and slipped it over her slim frame, he wasn't much taller than her, but the coat's tail brushed the ground, and the sleeves, which on him just went to the wrist, nearly covered her entire hand.
He hefted his rifle, checking it as he did to make sure it was functioning and pressed the power button on the side of his helmet. The internal power supply for the helmet should last the night, but that depends on how much he had to use its more power-hungry features like the thermal vision or the experimental sonar setting.
Claire was fishing around in some of the hidden pockets in his overcoat and pulled out a fist full of small flashlights the size of his thumb, ["Seriously, why the hell do you have so many flashlights?"]
["Look in the left breast pocket,"] he grinned underneath the helmet as its systems came online, green lights flashing on some systems; it flashed red on a handful, primarily on the pressurization status and the systems that he'd neglected to attach because of time.
Claire pulled out a small box, opened it, stared for a moment, then after reading the small slip of paper that had "just" scrawled on it in big, bold letters, she closed it and tucked it back into the breast pocket ["Jeez, your such a dad."]
Jonathan repressed a chuckle as the radio system finished its boot-up cycle. He cycled through frequencies trying to get in contact with the Spire, ["Spire, this is Ranger. Do you read? Over."]
The only response he got was static; he changed frequencies ["Spire, this is Ranger. Do you read? Over."]
Again, static. After two more frequency changes, he finally got an answer. ["Ranger! Thank god! The Spire is under lockdown; it's all we can do to stop these mercenaries from taking complete control. We managed to stop them on floor forty, but that only slowed them down. They're on floor forty-seven, and at their current pace, they should arrive within two or three hours. Over."]
["Roger Spire, Raptor, and I will make our way to you and try to clear them out before that happens. What is the quickest route from the Palace to your location? Over."] asked Jonathan.
Nicky answered, ["Fastest route will be through Anitoli Plaza; sending the route to your headset now. Over."]
A moment later, there was a *ding* as he received the route information; it displayed to the right corner of his vision, out of the way but still easily accessible. ["Thank you, Spire. Raptor and Ranger are moving to the scene now. Eta. Approximately one hour. Over."]
["Acknowledged. Be advised we know of at least two roving patrols of heavily armed groups, reports are spotty, but they reportedly have armored vehicles. Over."] said Nicky.
Jonathan and Claire left the room, heading down the hallway and back onto the street ["Roger Spire, we encountered them earlier; I believe the vehicles are Tector's. Over."]
["A-acknowledged Ranger, I'll pass that on to the other personnel I can contact. Over."] said Nicky.
As they rushed through the lobby, the staff did a double take, most likely trying to determine why two pro-heroes were running through their hotel. Before they left the lobby, Jonathan did a quick scan of the area, ["Clear."] He then pointed to an ally across the street.
Claire nodded and drew her pistol; holding it at the ready, she sprinted across the street. When she arrived, she did a quick sweep of the area, then, without looking back, she gestured for him to follow. Gripping his rifle, he stood and sprinted across the street.
His dress shoes clattered along the pavement; in their haste, they'd neglected to change into proper shoes, and he was sure they'd feel it in the morning. But they'd just have to suck it up for now.
He stopped behind Claire and whispered, ["I'll take point."]
She didn't argue as he moved ahead of her, his rifle up in the ready position, and as they moved forward, he would point it down every alley they passed. Similarly, Claire would do the same as they slowly moved down the alley's length.
They followed the path given to them by Nicky; their progress was slow and methodical. Both were on high alert for any indications of those mercenary patrols. Occasionally they heard a shout down some alley or from the street; they'd stop, careful to not draw attention to themselves as they crept past whoever it was.
As they approached the alley's end before Anitoli Plaza, they stopped to get an idea of what was ahead of them. ["We should go around, not through,"] whispered Claire.
["Agreed,"] he looked for a path around the plaza. Unfortunately, whoever designed this plaza was ergonomically minded and used as much space as possible. The Spire loomed before them, and the plaza was deathly silent. Checking the map, the only way around the plaza was to head northwest for another half a mile, then head east for another half a mile; while that would put them at the base of the plaza, they wouldn't be close to the entrance.
["Damn, only way is through,"] said Jonathan. ["Alright, we move in ten-second strides."] Claire nodded and readied her pistol. ["Go."] Claire moved forward, weaving between bushes and stalls, her pistol up and her head scanning left and right for any threats. Ten seconds after she moved, she stopped and dropped to a kneel.
Jonathan moved next, quickly following her.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
At ten, he dropped to a knee next to her, ["Go."]
Again Claire rose and moved forwards, head moving left and right, gun drawn in front of her. Jonathan also carefully watched as she moved, particularly on the tree line to their left. After ten seconds, Claire stopped and took a knee.
Jonathan rose, smoothly striding through the stalls, counting and looking around for danger as he did.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
He dropped to a knee when he got to Claire ["Go."] Again she got up and moved forward for ten seconds before stopping and kneeling. Jonathan got up, took a step, and heard an *fzzzzt!* A second later, there was the crack of a rifle. Both he and Claire dove for the ground ["See where it came from?"] asked Jonathan.
Claire shook her head, ["Not a clue."]
["Damn. Stay there; I'll move to the left, see if I can spot them!"] he crawled behind a bush, staying as low as possible to the ground. While Claire stayed motionless where she was.
Jonathan peaked out from the bush, looking from one potential vantage point to another, but he couldn't see a thing. ["I don't have ey-"] *fzzzzt!* *CRACK!*
There was a puff of dirt in front of him, and he jolted back, scrambling to get behind cover. ["Damn, left side left side, I didn't see where the shot came from."] Judging from how far the shot was, the shooter was somewhere in or near one of the hotel buildings along the other side of the plaza. There was the roar of an engine, followed by shouting and the sound of people running.
His blood ran cold; they were caught in the open with little protection. ["Back! Get back to the buildings!"] He yelled to Claire as he got up on his knee, bringing his rifle up. He didn't have a line of sight yet, but he had a rough idea of where they were and fired a quick burst in their general direction.
It got the desired effect of the mercenaries stopping and scrambling for any cover they could find. He fired another burst, then another. ["Made it to the building, pull back, and I'll cover you!"]
Alright, now it's his turn. Don't think, just run.
He took a deep calming breath, stood, and started running.
Jonathan sprinted through the square, weaving through trash cans, trees, bushes, and display stands. As he passed one stand, it stopped dead in his tracks. There, trembling behind the counter, was a group of four or five people.
He'd stopped too long, and the mercenaries started shooting at him, forcing him to dive into the booth next to the civilians. ["Jonathan! What the hell is going on?!"] asked Claire. The engine roars became louder as the Tectors were getting closer.
["I found a group of civilians."] Jonathan turned to the people, ["Stay low; I'm gonna get you guys to safety."]
An elderly man spoke ["There's no getting to safety from that APC, were gonna have to deal with that first."] Jonathan knew he was right, but he didn't have the firepower to take on a Tector, let alone a squad of mercenaries.
Looking around, he realized he was in Kole Industries display tent. Hidden under the counter was an entire row of high-tech weapons. ["Here"] The man had grabbed a pistol with large rings surrounding the barrel. ["You get two shots with that if it even fires.]
Jonathan took the weapon, ["What?"] he turned it over in his hand; for all the world, it was an ordinary pistol save for the large rings.
The man spoke, ["We call it the Nikoli, just point and shoot."]
Peeking up over the counter, he spotted the Mercenaries moving in two groups, with a Tector in between the groups. Jonathan again looked at the "Nikoli." How the hell was this supposed to take out a Tector?
Gritting his teeth, he aimed the pistol and pulled the trigger. Nothing seemed to happen for a second, but he knew better than to duck down with a live pistol. What happened next was utter mayhem.
The little pistol hummed and crackled, then there was a blinding light and earth-shattering *BOOM.*
If he had to describe what happened, he could only say that he was too busy trying not to die. ["Jesus fucking Christ! What the fuck was that?!"]
The man who gave him the pistol grinned, ["The Tesla!"]
Poking his head over the booth's counter, he saw the area he shot at was now on fire, trees lay charred and scattered around the impact area, and he could now clearly see the Tector.
It had come to a complete stop, and there was a blackened spot on the front plate; other than that, it looked completely unharmed. The mercenaries surrounding the Tector, though, were not as lucky. It seemed a couple were still alive. Fortunately, they'd dropped their rifles and instead clutched their ears; one man was stumbling around in a daze, half his face blacked from burns.
["Jesus Christ, what the hell does this thing shoot?"] asked Jonathan.
The man poked his head up to witness the carnage his gun had wrought, ["Well, it's a failed prototype of a plasma gun."]
Jonathan turned to look at him, ["Failed?"]
["Yes, well, it was supposed to shoot a highly concentrated beam of plasma."] The man seemed giddy from the success of the Tesla, ["But it failed in a rather unexpected way. Instead, it seemed to generate a bolt of lightning."]
Jonathan gingerly set the lightning pistol down and said to himself, ["Oh yeah, that's not terrifying at all."]
In front of them, the Tector lurched, the crew seemed to still be alive, and the vehicle was still operational. But the turret didn't turn to face them; possibly, the sensitive electronics were fried. That was at least a good thing.
But he couldn't let them just drive off.
["Hey, Jonathan, you alright?"] asked Claire over the radio.
["Uh, I think so."] replied Jonathan, ["Little shaken, but I'm still good to go."]
["What the hell was that just now?"] asked Claire.
Jonathan glanced down at the Tesla pistol ["Just a bunch of mad scientists' latest wonder weapon. They call it the Tesla."]
Claire replied, ["Apt name. From here, it looked like some sort of lightning, really scared the shit outta me."]
["It's apparently a quote-unquote, failed prototype."] replied Jonathan.
["Failed prototype, my ass; it wiped out an entire squad of mercs."] grumbled Claire.
Jonathan nodded, ["That Tector is still operational, but I don't know how operational. I'm gonna go check it out."] He cautiously stood, grabbing his rifle.
The Tector lurched again, moving a few feet before stopping. It seemed something was wrong with the driving mechanism. ["Be careful, Jonathan, you said it yourself, those things are dangerous."]
He nodded and slowly approached the APC. The vehicle lurched, black smoke billowed from the rear. There was a crunching noise, and suddenly the Tectors engine roared; it quickly accelerated forward, running over stands and plowing through trees and bushes.
Jonathan cursed as the Tector retreated; they'd nearly run over their own guys in their haste. He reached the group of mercenaries keeping his rifle trained on the man stumbling around before kneeling and checking on the nearest man.
No pulse, no breathing, burns covered most of his body. He didn't survive, nor did the second man. A third was shivering, clutching his bleeding ears, and as he kneeled down next to the man, he tried to stand but fell. The man crawled back, his eyes locked on Jonathan. Then he reached for his sidearm.
["Don't!"] Jonathan raised his rifle, pointing it at the man. The man either didn't hear him or didn't care, most likely the former. The man aimed his pistol at Jonathan, his finger on the trigger.
As the man fired, Jonathan acted instinctually, depressing the trigger, the rifle gently pushing into his shoulder. He hardly even felt it.
The bullet from the mercenaries pistol whizzed past, but Jonathan's aim was true, and a pool of blood slowly formed under the man. Jonathan took a heavy breath. ["God, damn it."]
["Hey, you okay?"] asked Claire.
Jonathan let his rifle fall, the sling gently tugging at his shoulders ["I'm fine. He missed. Let's get going; we don't have a lot of time."] It seemed that most of the mercenaries that survived the "tesla" had scampered off either after the damaged Tector or just trying to get away, save for one. He stood, his rifle pointing directly at Jonathan. How the hell did this guy manage to get the drop on him?
The mercenary had panic and fear twisting his expression. The man was breathing heavily, and even from thirty feet away, he could see the slight shake of the rifle.
The man gestured with his rifle in an obvious 'put your gun down' way. No way in hell was he going to do that. Jonathan raised a hand, his palm facing the man, ["Hey, calm down. Your hurt; let me help you."]
The man took a step back, his rifle still trained on him. "Posez votre arme!"
French? Was he speaking French? He didn't know French! ["Look, I don't know what you're saying, but it should be obvious I'm not a threat."] he kept his hand up as he slowly approached the man.
"Éloignez-vous de moi!" yelled the man.
Jonathan continued to take small, slow steps toward the man ["Jonathan? What's going on!?"]
["Just stay out of sight, he might shoot if he sees you."] replied Jonathan.
"À qui parlez-vous?!" said the man.
["Any idea what he's saying, Claire?"] asked Jonathan.
["He's asking who your talking to, tell him this"] Claire then said something in French, and Jonathan did his best to repeat it. He was sure he jumbled the words a little, but the man seemed to get the general idea.
Claire emerged from a bush to his right, roughly forty feet away, pistol drawn on the man. The man pivoted, aiming his rifle at her. Jonathan took his chance to raise his own rifle aiming dead center, ["Hey!"]
The man looked over at the loud noise, saw the rifle, and pivoted back to aim the rifle at him. Claire spoke in rapid French, causing the man to look over at her and yelled in such rapid French that the words seemed to blend into one singular word.
["What's going on?"] demanded Jonathan.
Claire replied, ["It was hard to make out, but I think he said he's not willing to surrender himself to us. That he'd rather die than be taken by pro-heroes."]
["Really now?"] said, Jonathan.
The man spoke rapidly, causing Claire to cock her head to the side as she tried to catch what he was saying, but she held up a hand and spoke slowly and clearly. Most likely trying to get him to slow down. All the while, Jonathan kept his rifle trained on the man, his finger next to the trigger guard twitched as if it was eager to pull the trigger.
A small voice in the back of his mind goaded him to wrap his finger around the trigger. To pull the trigger and end this man's life here and now. He was a mercenary, after all, and he suspected that this mercenary group was more than familiar with killing fellow pro-heroes, especially with how heavily this group was outfitted.
"Go on, do it." whispered the voice. "The only good murder is a dead one."
He fought back the urges, refusing to give in to that voice. It had been a while since he'd heard it; the last time was when they arrested Mitsuzuka. The man continued arguing with Claire, his attention solely focused on her. "He'd never see it coming; you could just shoot him now and be done with him." No, he shouldn't. Not unless the man decided that diplomacy had failed and tried to shoot either of them.
The man stepped away from Claire, his eyes darting between the two. Seemingly weighing his options. Claire said something; the man grimaced, spoke softly, and slowly took his finger off the trigger and set his rifle on the ground.
Claire sighed in relief and approached the man, pulling a pair of cuffs from a pouch on her belt. She cuffed the man and hauled him to his feet ["Alright, we need to find somewhere to keep him."]
["We could have one of the Kole industries guys keep an eye on them, their armed after all, so if he tries anything, they can at least deal with him."] Suggested Jonathan.
["I suppose that's our only option, alright."] She followed Jonathan to where the Kole Industries display was and handed him over to the employees; then, after leaving strict instructions to keep him tied up to a pole and not keep their eye off him, they left to head towards the Spire.
Izuku crept along the hallway, careful not to make a noise. His ears strained for sounds of anyone else. So far, he hadn't encountered anyone. It took him longer than anticipated to find a stairwell; the main problem was the door was locked. Next to it was a keypad, not that he would know the code to open the door. He silently apologized to the staff and Dr. Shield as he gripped the door handle and channeled as much of his quirk as he dared into ripping the door open.
Much to his surprise, the door didn't budge. All that happened was that he ripped the doorknob off. "Well, that's unfortunate." Now he either had to hit the door off its hinges or find another way. Deciding on busting the door down, he took a couple of steps back, intent on ramming the door down. He charged up his quirk and hit the door with his shoulder with as much force as he could muster.
"The hell?" He'd dented the door, but it was still firmly in place. "Who designed this place?" He rubbed his shoulder, pain radiating out from it. Obviously, he'd have to find another way around it. But what? He looked around for any other obvious routes, but there weren't any.
Izuku was trapped inside the building, with no way out.
Save for one.
The window.
Looking out the nearest window, it was a long way down to the ground. A very long way. But it was the only way out of the building and the only way to get help. He could do this; he had black whip; he should be able to jump through the window, attach to the building via black whip, then slowly lower himself down the side of the building.
"Okay, come on, Izuku, it's only a half-kilometer fall, nothing to worry about, just don't imagine what happens if you fall. Nope, don't think about splattering on the concrete." He slapped his face, grit his teeth, and ran at the window.
Instead of shattering, the window just popped out of its frame; seriously, whoever made this building deserved an award, even the glass was unbreakable.
As he leapt from the building, he turned, reaching out his hand towards the building; focusing, he launched long black tendrils towards the window. The tendril pulled tight, and Izuku slammed into the building; his already aching shoulder burned with pain. Izuku gasped; his heavy panicked breathing and racing heartbeat blocked out all other senses.
Eventually, he looked down, which was a huge mistake, his head spun, and he felt his knees go weak, "Ho-holy shit, why'd I do this!"
He gripped the black tendril tightly, praying it wouldn't snap and send him plummeting to Earth below. "Come on, Izuku, focus, ignore how high up you are; it doesn't matter." He shook his head, trying to clear the thought of falling.
"Okay," he willed the black tendril to dissipate, which caused him to plummet downwards. As he did, he felt as if his heart was going to burst from how quickly it was racing.
Acting quickly, he shot another tendril at the building; the sudden stop pulled on his arm, causing the already searing pain to spread across his back now. "Ignore the pain. You have bigger things to worry about."
Again he fell; again, he stopped his rapid descent with black whip. Good news, his arm no longer hurt.
Bad news, he was pretty sure he'd injured his shoulder, and the reason why it didn't hurt was because of the absurd amount of adrenaline that was coursing through his system was just blocking out the pain.
Other good news, he was almost at the bottom; Izuku guessed that another couple of drops and he should be on the ground. He'd just have to grit his teeth and get on with it. He willed the tendril to dissipate.
He fell farther than he anticipated before catching himself with black whip. By now, he was only around a dozen meters from the ground, so he just let go of black whip and landed onto the concrete. Even with his quirk activated, the impact left his knees aching a little.
Izuku rolled his shoulders, wincing at the pain it caused. When he returned to UA, he'd have to figure out a way to do that little maneuver safely. Looking around at the darkened, empty streets filled him with intense anxiety.
He needed to find help; there've gotta be more pro-heroes on I-island that he could get help from. But he had no idea where they could be, so he just ran down a street at random.
To his surprise, around a corner, he found a restaurant of some kind that was not only still open but still had lights on. The building was yellow, and the restaurant's name, "Waffle House," was in bright neon lights that illuminated the rest of the street.
If they still had power, that meant he could call someone for help!
As he threw open the door, a bell above him tinkled merrily; the person behind the counter, a pimple-faced teenager that couldn't have been more than two or three years older than he was, looked up from his phone and said in a monotone voice ["Welcome to Waffle house, how can I help you?"]
["Can I use a phone?"] asked Izuku.
The teenager gave him a blank stare and then said, ["Uhhh, I don't think they allow customers to use the phone, sorry."]
Didn't he know there was an emergency going on? ["It is emergency."]
The teenager didn't seem to care ["I still can't let you use the phone, sir, sorry. Can I, um, get you anything?"]
There was a rumbling from outside, and Izuku turned to watch in mute horror as a tank drove down the street, smoke billowing out of the rear as it went. He then turned to the Teen and said ["That why I need to use phone, emergency, whole island in trouble."]
["Well, it's just a couple tanks, isn't it? It doesn't seem like a big emergency,"] said the Teen nonchalantly.
He's gotta be kidding, right? Did he seriously not consider this an emergency? He can't believe he was about to do this, but he doesn't see any other way, ["Need to speak with manager."]
The Teen rolled his eyes ["Carl, someone wants to speak with you."]
Carl, a middle-aged, balding man with a large gut, waddled out of a back room a moment later, ["Ah, yes, can I help you sir?"]
["Yes, need to use phone, emergency."] said Izuku.
The man put on a polite smile and said, ["I'm sorry, sir, but our policy doesn't allow customers to use our phones for any reason, I hope you understand."]
Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. ["This is emergency! Tank drive past! People in tower being held hostage! Need to call mainland for help! You only working place left!"]
The man's smile didn't falter, ["Well, according to section four of our emergency measures file, we can't allow customers to use our phones while we are open."]
What did he mean? Why would they be open at a time like this? Izuku cursed, then said ["What you mean open? Why you open! There villains roaming streets!"]
["I'm well aware of that, sir, but you see, we are Waffle House, we don't close for anything,"] explained the Manager cheerfully.
He must have misheard this man; surely they'd close for emergencies? ["Still need to use phone!"]
Outside, a few men shouted; Izuku turned and saw they were mercenaries dressed in heavy equipment and were pointing their rifles at something at the end of the street. Izuku pointed at them ["See! Emergency!"]
["I see,"] said the Manager with a smile.
Then the tank came back; it came to a stop, its turret turning to where the men with rifles were pointing. Then there was a *BOOM BOOM BOOM* as its main gun opened fire.
The glass in the windows shuttered from the concussive blasts. Izuku ducked under a table, but the two employees seemed calm and didn't flinch. ["Ah, this reminds me of the location I ran in Detroit,"] spoke the Manager fondly.
The men started to fire their guns. Occasionally the tank would open fire and drown out the rattle of machine guns. The Manager approached him with a cup of coffee, ["Here, have this."] Izuku looked from the coffee to the smiling Manager, ["We'd like to apologize for how loud it is outside."]
When Izuku didn't immediately take the coffee, the Manager pushed it into his hands and left. Confusion overwhelmed his fear of what was happening outside, and the only thing he could think of was, 'Waffle House employees are something else.'
Outside, there was a flurry of activity as the mercenaries were falling back; one turned and started to run, only for whoever they were fighting to rush them. The man was familiar; it was the pro-hero dressed like a European Knight!
The Knight, his sword lifted high above him, rushed forward, pursuing the fleeing mercenary. The mercenary looked back, terror plastered on his face as the Knight brought his sword down. The blade cut clean through the man, a trail of blood splattered along the ground.
The Knight turned with inhuman speed cutting another mercenary's head off in a single stroke. Another fell when the Knight stabbed him through the chest, and in a brutal fashion, the Knight dismembered him by wrenching the sword up through the man's head. The tank's turret tried to follow the Knight but couldn't move fast enough to train the gun on him.
Bullets shattered the restaurant's large glass windows as the mercenaries desperately tried to shoot the Knight. Izuku dove for cover, covering his head as bullets whizzed overhead. But the Manager and Teenager remained unperturbed by the situation. ["Shoot fire, we just got those windows replaced,"] said the Manager. The teenager grumbled as he put his phone away and went into the back; he came back with a broom and dustpan, then started to sweep up bits of glass and bullets from the floor.
The Knight quickly dispatched the remaining foot soldiers, then turned to the tank and spoke in a clear and loud tone, ["Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you."]
The tank's turret stopped, aiming directly at the Knight, then fired a single shot. Miraculously, the man raised his sword and cut the shell in two. The two halves careened past him and skidded along the pavement behind him.
Izuku stared in awe at the Knight. The tank crew must have been too shocked to do anything because the tank didn't fire again until the Knight had taken two long strides toward it. With a flick of his wrist, the Knight batted the shell aside.
The tank backed up, trying to get more distance or to escape the wrath of the seemingly invincible Knight. There was movement behind the tank, and for a moment, Izuku thought that more mercenaries had shown up.
But it was just a solitary man, dressed in an odd way, with a bulletproof vest covering a white button-up shirt and a helmet covering his head. The man held a rifle as he approached the tank, then after climbing onto the rear of it, he laid his hand on the roof of the tank. A moment later, the tank shuttered, and the engine died. The turret turned to the left, the gun pointing as high as it could.
As the man moved to the front, Izuku recognized the man. It was Ranger! Not that he wasn't glad Ranger showed up, but where the hell did he come from? And where's all the rest of his gear?
Ranger pointed his rifle at something on the roof and yelled ["YOUR VEHICLE HAS BEEN DISABLED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"]
A moment passed before a hatch swung up; two hands poked out of it, palms facing Ranger. The man said something in such a thick accent that Izuku couldn't make it out. Ranger bent over, grabbed the man by the arm, and hauled him out of the tank, then roughly pushed him onto the roof face first. He pulled a pair of cuffs out of his belt and wrapped them around the man's wrists.
The Knight, realizing Ranger was friendly, at least to him, sheathed his sword and approached, ["Greetings!"]
Ranger looked up from the man he pulled from the tank and said, ["Well, I'll be damned, is that you, Tommy?"]
["You know my name, stranger? Pray, have we met before?"] asked the Knight.
["Uhh, yeah, it's me, Jonathan,"] replied Ranger.
["I know many by that name,"] replied the Knight, ["But I only know of one that wears a helmet such as that."] The Knight held his hand out to Ranger ["I only wish we could have met again under better times."]
["Same,"] reapplied Jonathan as he shook the man's hand.
Glass crunched under Izukus' feet as he walked towards the door. The sound caused the two pro-heroes' heads to snap in his direction; the Knight had his sword half drawn when Ranger stopped him with a hand. ["He's friendly,] hey kid, long time no see."
Izuku carefully stepped out of the restaurant, trying his best not to look at the carnage the Knight had just done. "Ranger, I'm glad I found you. There are these mercenaries; they've taken everyone in the spire hostage."
Ranger nodded, "Yeah, I know; Claire and I were on our way there just now. Any idea how many there are and where they are keeping the hostages?"
Izuku nodded, "I know there's around twenty of them; half are in the ballroom with the hostages, the other half, I think their leader said they were heading to the top. They were looking for Mr. Shield."
Jonathan nodded, "Thanks, kid, stay here, keep these people safe; we'll handle it from here." He shoved the handcuffed man forward into the Waffle House, ["Can I get y'all to keep an eye on this one for me?"]
The Manager nodded ["Most certainly, sir, we have some accommodations in our back room to keep him locked up."]
Ranger did a double take, looked up at the neon "WAFFLE HOUSE" above the ruined front of the building, then said ["I take it you guys are still open?"]
The Manager nodded, ["Yes sir, may I tempt you into trying our signature waffle combo?"]
["Another time maybe,"] said Ranger as he shook his head. He turned back to the street where he came from and yelled ["CLEAR!"]
There were footsteps as someone approached; as they came into the light, he saw someone wearing a flight suit, a pilot's helmet, and Rangers coat long coat, the bottom of it trailing on the ground behind them. They had a pistol in front of them as they walked and were looking left and right as they approached. They kept their pistol drawn and said, ["Jesus,"] the voice was feminine and somewhat familiar. ["You could have at least not cut them in half,"] she had to turn away from the grizzly scene.
The Knight replied simply, ["The wicked deserve no more mercy than an ant should."]
Clearly, the woman in the flight gear didn't agree with the methods that the Knight used; frankly, Izuku thought it was horrific that the Knight could casually take the life of another without feeling some sort of shame.
Ranger shook his head ["Yeah, dismembering people is a tad bit too much, Tommy."]
The Knight scoffed, ["I see you are as soft as ever, Jonathan, you treat these devils with too much kindness."]
["I don't treat them kindly at all, I just don't kill on sight,"] retorted Ranger. The woman glanced at Ranger as if about to say something but didn't.
["If you don't, we shall be haunted by these criminals forever, we must set a harsh example."] said the Knight.
["We already do, by locking them up, and if we start going around executing everyone who does something wrong, there won't be many people left,"] said Ranger.
The Knight scowled, ["I apologize, but this is a problem how? When we cleanse the Earth of the sinners, then we can start anew; we can create a heaven on Earth."]
Ranger swore, ["And here I hoped you'd have stopped spouting that zealous bullshit by now."] Izuku couldn't help but think that, perhaps, there was a good reason why he'd never heard of this pro-hero, despite his obvious strength.
["Hold thy tongue, lest I cut it off,"] warned the Knight.
["Enough, you two, we have more important matters,"] said the woman as she stepped between Ranger and the Knight.
["Right, sorry, I got carried away there for a moment,"] said Ranger, ["Hostages first, then I'll deal with you later."] He pointed at the Knight.
The Knight nodded, ["Agreed, we must rescue the innocent before tearing each other's throats out. They are in that Spire, correct? Come, let us away then."]
Ranger and the woman glanced at each other, shrugged, then followed. Izuku trailing behind. After a couple steps, the Ranger turned around and said, "No, stay here."
"I'm going," said Izuku definitely.
Ranger shook his head, "No, you're not. Stay here. Keep them safe."
Izuku stared him in the eyes, "No, I'm not. I'm coming with you."
Ranger swore in English, then said, "Kid, I ain't letting you come with us. This is gonna be more dangerous than you think it is. This isn't training; these guys won't pull their punches. They're going to try and kill you."
Izuku nodded, "I know."
Ranger was quiet for a moment before swearing, "Fine, but stick close to me and don't do anything stupid. You will do as I say when I say. Don't ask why; just do it. Understand?" Izuku nodded. "Good. [I hereby deputize Izuku Midoriya as a temporary deputy of Tarrant County until this crisis has passed you will have the powers to lawfully conduct arrests and use your power if deemed necessary."]
Ranger then pulled a small yellow gun from his belt and handed it to him, "You know how to use a tazer?" Izuku shook his head. "Never mind then," Ranger holstered the small device.
They walked a few meters before the woman turned and said, ["It's good to see you again, Midoriya."]
["Sorry, who you?"] asked Izuku, embarrassed.
The woman seemed taken aback, then said ["I'm Claire. Remember? I taught you English."]
["Oh! Mrs. Claire. Sorry. Did not recognize you."] said Izuku.
And that's a wrap, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, classes really got in the way of stuff. But since it's summer now, I should be able to write a few more chapters. Unfortunately it seems like this story is gonna take longer than expected to write, but I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Oh, and if you didn't catch the joke before, Ranger has a little case with a piece of paper with "Just" written on it. You know, "just in case" he ever needs it.
Anyways.
Enough prattle, and onto the legal stuff.
I do not own My Hero Academia and Probably never will, Rangers armor is based off the Riot Gear from Fallout New Vegas and I also do not own that.
This story is also loosely based off of other fanfictions that I have read. Any persons or events that mirror reality or another story are completely accidental. If anyone wants to see any specific quirks or have any ideas about quirks, they would like to see in the story let me know and I'll see about adding them.
If y'all want to leave a review about what you like or hate, feel free to do so, that's why the little review button is there. Feel free to Pm me as well, I'm always happy to hear criticism, suggestions, or if y'all just want to chat for a bit.
What do you call a hiker in a sleeping bag?
A bear burrito!
(Yeah I know, not my best joke, try to bear it though)