Minor content warning: Brief descriptions of violence and torture.

Chapter 100

.::Seeing Red::.

Shouta had been wrong.

The showers would be a regular thing.

Not long after breakfast, Kurogiri paid a surprise visit to remove the mittens before calling for the two thugs from last time to enter. His heart had sunk when they lifted him and dragged him to the bathroom, mind already flashing back to the last shower. At least they didn't drug him this time, instead choosing to cuff one of his arms to a bar on the wall probably meant for handicap support.

This time it didn't last quite as long since the first shower had cleared away the worst of his filth. Once they got him situated only one thug stayed in the large stall with him, scrubbing him down while Shouta slumped on the stool. Even without the drugs hindering him he didn't feel like resisting, just wanting the experience to be over already. He felt hyper-aware of his vulnerability the entire time.

When it finished the other thug returned to help get him into new clothes. Shouta remained limp and compliant the whole time, moving exactly as ordered and offering no resistance. They left him on top of the blankets again, leg re-splinted and mittens returned by Kurogiri. He'd grimaced as Kurogiri lingered afterwards, waiting for the thugs to depart first before taking his own leave.

At least he hadn't put the handcuffs back on. That was likely the reason Kurogiri had lingered, to avoid any suspicion from the other thugs. In the end, the whole event had left him on edge, and he hyper-focused on analyzing the wall's cracks to try to calm himself. After an hour of close examination, he was now convinced that there had once been two separate posters on the wall based on the faded rectangular shapes.

Shouta had been just about to doze off when he heard voices outside the cell. Voices in the hall had been common enough at his last prison, as they used that hallway to reach other parts of the building, but not here. He had long deduced that he was in a dead-end hallway with only cells—and he was the only prisoner. Outside four instances (yes, he'd been counting), voices meant someone was here to see him.

Immediately he sat up, straining to make out what was being said. The voices were deep and masculine, and trying to be quiet. That last part had alarm bells ringing. People trying not to make any noise meant they didn't want to be found. They had no reason to try to keep Shouta unaware of their presence, which meant they weren't supposed to be here, period.

Which meant whatever was about to happen would not be pleasant.

Sure enough, the door opened and a man in a skull mask peeked inside. "Found him," he called as he entered. Aside from the skull mask mask he looked rather unremarkable, if a bit more muscular than the average person, but the two who followed were a different story. One had a hulking figure, with pale blue skin and a single eye like a cyclops, and two long horns. The other was also a mutant, with an elongated bald head and eyes jutting from either side of his head, and sharp metal claws for fingers.

Shouta only vaguely recognized the second guy, but he knew the third in a heartbeat. Couldn't give a name, but those those long claws had left a nasty scar on his thigh. It had been a lucky shot on the villain's part while Shouta had been distracted with another villain, but allowed him and another of their cohorts to escape.

The claw-guy's mouth grew into a grin almost as wide as his face as he took in Shouta's state. "Dang, he really is in bad shape! This is the best thing I've seen in weeks!"

"What do you want?" Shouta demanded, deciding to skip straight to the point.

"Testy, aren't you?" Skull-mask snorted. "You're not really in any position to be asking questions, though."

"And you three are obviously sneaking around," Shouta retorted. "So I don't think you're supposed to be here."

Skull-mask huffed. "You're mouthier than I remember. Too bad you weren't this talkative back then." So they'd met before then. Going by his tone, this visit was definitely a grudge match. "We might have to do something about that. Good thing we came prepared." Even as he spoke he pulled out a wadded up ball of fabric from his belt, as well as a bandana. "You got the tape, Minotaurus?"

"You know it," blue guy responded, grinning as he pulled out a roll of duct tape from his jacket.

"Good. Watch the door, Sickle."

Shouta promptly took stock of his current physical state. Broken leg, severely hindering mobility. Two chains tethering him to the floor, one attached to his unbroken leg and the other to the damn collar. The handcuffs were thankfully off and hidden under the pillow which increased the range he could use his arms, but he still had the mittens, severely limiting dexterity. There wasn't any time to remove them, either.

In short, he was largely screwed. Barehanded fighting was out of the question in his current state. He didn't have any weapons he could use except the chains, pillow and blankets. He doubted the magazines Midoriya had left would be useful either, even if papercuts hurt. Either way, the mittens would limit his ability to use them creatively.

Still better odds than any other time he'd been captured.

So when the skull-masked man moved forward Shouta moved in turn, lurching forward for the guy's legs. It took the villain by surprise and Shouta collided with his shins with as much of his weight as he could, managing to topple him. Even as he did he grabbed his ankle and yanked, hearing a satisfying crack as the thug hit the ground.

Shouta's own leg throbbed from the sudden movement, but he ignored it as he slammed his arm against the ankle just to make sure it would be broken. The blue guy charged over, but Shouta rolled over while grabbing the chain attached to his collar and yanked. The chain links had enough slack that the motion caused them to briefly fling towards the villain, managing to whip him in the shins and make him yelp in pain.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Shouta shouted at the top of his lungs. They clearly intended to gag him to silence him, so they didn't want anyone to hear and interfere. Beating these guys wouldn't be possible in his current state, but he just needed to buy time and make enough noise to get someone to investigate.

That was his last thought before he felt a hand wrap around his good ankle followed by a sudden surge of white-hot pain, making him gasp and cry out. As he did he felt something get shoved in his mouth, and then heard the sharp crack of duct tape before feeling it get slapped over his mouth. "Damn bastard!" Minotaurus snarled as he yanked the roll around Shouta's head.

"You okay, Tesla?" the other one asked the skull-mask guy, and Shouta froze, recognizing the name. He'd never seen the guy, but he remembered his electricity Quirk all too well. Hard to forget it when it had been used to torture him during an interrogation three years ago. He'd been called in special for the interrogation, and left well before backup arrived.

"Fuck no, I think the bastard broke my ankle!" he snapped. Shouta winced as he felt another jolt of electricity from the hand still gripping his ankle, giving a muffled cry of pain. "Tch, I was already pissed at this asshole. But now I really don't want to hold back." He released his hold to grab Shouta's hair and hold his head aloft, the hero glaring at him and making no attempt to hide his contempt. "You're going to regret that."

"Sounds good to me," Minotaurus said, ripping the duct tape right next to Shouta's ear. He winced at the loud sound, and to add insult to injury the guy pressed the tape over his ear. It was wound tightly around his head, enough to make him almost worry about it cutting off circulation. "This bastard got my brother thrown in jail! He got fucking killed there! I've been waiting for a chance like this for years now!"

He gave Shouta a shove so he fell towards Tesla, the villain roughly spinning him so his back was to him. One hand gripped his hair from behind, tugging at the duct tape painfully, and from the corner of his vision Shouta could see the other one reaching for the bandana. "Don't worry, we'll give him plenty of pain for what he did to your brother and the rest of us."

Shouta's whole body jerked as he felt another round of electricity, this time from the hand on his head. The gag did an infuriatingly good job at muffling his screams, and he reflexively jerked his elbow back, driving it into Tesla's chest. The man released his hair with a shout, but as he did Shouta saw the third guy lunge forward from his post by the door. He couldn't move in time to dodge the claws as they slashed across his chest, making him release another muffled cry.

Shit. The scratches weren't too deep, but they were long. He squeezed his eyes shut as he reflexively pressed his hands against it, feeling blood seep through the mittens. "Yeesh, today's just not your day, huh Tesla?" Sickle mocked with a teasing grin.

"Shut the fuck up, scissor-hands," Tesla growled, and Sickle's grin fell instantly, replaced with a scowl.

"Hey! Freaking asshole."

"Just blindfold him already," Minotaurus cut in impatiently. "We don't have time to yap. Once Shigaraki figures out we're here, we're dead men. Can't waste a second."

"No, we can't," Tesla agreed with a huff, and Shouta scowled as the villain threw the bandana over his eyes. As it obscured his vision he stiffened, breath briefly hitching. Between that and the object in his mouth, for a moment his mind flickered to another time, a plastic tube instead of fabric in his mouth and his arms perfectly immobilized against his torso.

Twin jolts of electricity to his shoulders jarred him from the memories before he got shoved to the ground. He grunted in pain, using the lingering tingling sensation from the shock to ground himself back into his current reality. These people clearly expected to get killed for coming here, which meant they almost certainly wanted to take him down first. It seemed they wanted to take their time though rather than just kill him outright. Pissing them off would only expedite his torture.

As much as it sickened him, his best hope was that they'd take their time tormenting him. He was blind, couldn't scream for help anymore, and had one leg completely out of commission. Even with his arms loose this time, his hands were still stuck in those damn mittens. All he could do was wait and hope someone would come before this went too far.

"Let's have some fun, Eraser."

"Because I have no way to contact you, and a group of lower-ranking members of the Alliance intend to attack Eraserhead."

The room instantly chilled at Seiko's words, Izuku feeling the blood drain from his face. Aizawa-sensei was in danger? The others looked just as shell-shocked as he felt, Uraraka staring in wide-eyed horror and even Todoroki looking stunned. Izuku quickly recovered from his initial shock, expression hardening. "Seiko, what did you hear?" he demanded. "Who is it?"

"There were three people discussing their plans in a hallway," she replied. "I do not know their names, but they seem to have a strong grudge against him. Shigaraki has made it clear Eraserhead is not to be harmed since he belongs to you, but it seems their grudge against him is strong enough they don't care if they die. Their suggestions for how to harm him were quite violent."

Izuku's stomach sank as the explanation continued. If they were willing to risk being killed by Shigaraki for attacking Aizawa-sensei, then that potentially meant they had no incentive to leave him alive. Judging by the looks of horror on Uraraka and Todoroki's faces, they realized the same thing. "When are they going to do it?" Uraraka asked frantically.

"They noticed you have been leaving for long periods of time, and decided to attack him him while you're away." That felt like a gut punch, all of them wincing. It had been well over an hour since Izuku had left. "They had not yet confirmed you left when I heard them, and it has been five minutes since then. However, they were talking about checking if you were present at the base. So you should hurry."

Izuku felt sick, momentarily paralyzed as his brain processed it. Aizawa was in danger because he'd left. "Go!" Uraraka shouted, snapping him out of his stupor.

That was all the push he needed and he took off for the stairs, phone out to text Kurogiri for a portal. Even before he reached the fourth floor he got an affirmative reply, and he opened the apartment door just in time to see a portal open. He didn't waste a second and ran straight into it, emerging in his bedroom back at the Alliance headquarters.

Kurogiri wasn't actually present there like he'd expected, but that suited him fine. It just meant he could run straight to Aizawa's cell without having to waste time explaining himself. He nearly slammed the door open as he raced out.

"Heh, look at how he's crawling! He looks so pathetic!"

"Aww, now he's trying to curl up, like a little baby. It's almost adorable."

The halls blurred around him as he hurried, feeling One For All pulse through his veins as he zipped around corners. The risk of someone seeing him didn't even occur to him. His mind focused on only on getting to Aizawa as soon as he could.

How could he have been so naïve? To think that Aizawa could be safe in the heart of enemy territory? He was heavily injured and surrounded by people with grudges against him. Whille Tomura might have a semblance of command over the Alliance, he didn't have total control over the members. His threats would only stave off so many people. If they hated Aizawa enough to be willing to accept death for the sake of revenge, then those threats did nothing.

And in his current state, Aizawa was near-defenseless. Even without the broken leg, he'd spent months in captivity under some other villains before Tomura brought him here. Izuku still remembered that brief glimpse of his teacher before Kurogiri warped him to Aiko's apartment all too clearly. There had been a bulky metal collar around his neck back then, his ankles connected by metal shackles.

It was clear from that brief glance just how bad Aizawa's previous circumstances had been. Izuku had thought he'd at least be able to keep Aizawa safe from being tortured here, have a chance to rest and recover, but he'd been horribly, horribly wrong.

"Hah, he's trying to get off the blindfold now!"

"Does he really think it'd help? Tesla's the only one without a mutant Quirk."

"Hey, that gives me an idea..."

Izuku skidded around the corner to the hall with Aizawa's cell. It was empty as always, the hallway dead silent. That silence just made his heart pound even harder as he raced to the closed door, dreading what he'd find behind it.

"For every five seconds you fail to get it off, you get another shock from me, a stomp from Minotaurus and a nice big scratch from Sickle Claw."

The door flew open with a resounding thud, slamming against the wall, and Izuku felt his world freeze. Three distantly-familiar villains loomed over the crumpled form of Aizawa. Izuku found his attention focused purely on his teacher, stomach churning at the sight.

He looked absolutely haggard, sprawled on the floor with one arm stretched outwards and the other clutching his side. Silvery duct tape wrapped tight around his skull over his jaw and even his hair, a dark blue bandana tied over his eyes. His hair was in a state of total disarray, tangled and wild and matted, with strands pulled out from beneath the blindfold and tape from his struggles.

One large blue-skinned man had his foot on top of Aizawa's splinted leg, having clearly just stomped down on it. Another in a skull-mask had his hand on Aizawa's back between his shoulder blades, while a third stood above him with long metal claws raised above his head and dripping with red. As Izuku saw those claws start to descend towards Aizawa's back, he felt something

snap.

A guttural shout escaped his throat as he lunged forward, One For All sparking through his veins. The clawed man barely had time to glance at him before Izuku's fist connected with his jaw, sending him hurtling towards the wall with a loud crack. In the same motion Izuku pivoted and delivered a heavy kick to the side of the guy with his foot on Aizawa's leg, successfully knocking him back.

This close, Izuku had an even clearer view of Aizawa's state. The back of his shirt was torn up, revealing bloody gashes crisscrossing his skin through the rips. The tape was wrapped around his head even tighter than he'd realized, no doubt painful with how it clung to his messy hair. He could also see drops of dark red on the ground by his side: blood.

And there was still a hand on his back.

Izuku's gaze flickered to the villain pinning his teacher, locking gazes with grey eyes within a skull mask. Tesla seemed stunned, just as shocked as his Quirk probably made people feel. Soon his eyes narrowed though, no doubt scowling. "The actual fuck?" he snarled. "Get the hell out of here, brat!"

His free hand shot towards Izuku's face, electricity sparking from his fingertips. As he did, the sound of a muffled groan had Izuku's mind briefly going blank, eyes flicking towards Aizawa. He saw light dance brightly against the dark hair around his shoulder blades where Tesla pinned him, his body tensing under the touch. Izuku's breath caught at the pained grunt—so quiet and muffled, so much weaker than it should be—and he

saw

red.

Red filled the room, a bright flash of light bathing everything and everyone in crimson. Tesla's body went flying back in an instant, hand tearing away from Aizawa's back in the process. Another scream tore from Izuku's throat as he threw himself after the villain, delivering a heavy punch to the center of Tesla's mask. He felt the hard plastic fracture under his fist, eliciting a cry of pain from the man as the pieces no doubt dug into his skull.

The pained noise didn't make Izuku stop. If anything, it made him angrier. Aizawa had sounded so much quieter than this, so much weaker. Had he been screaming earlier? Could he even scream anymore? The thought had Izuku roaring as he delivered a hard knee to the villain's gut, further pushing him back until his back collided with the far wall with a painful smack. He slid down to the floor, head slumping even as his mask crumbled atop his face.

Teal light sparked along Izuku's limbs and body as he watched the villain slump, the color even brighter inside the red-tinted room. His fists clenched at his sides before he surged forward with another angry shout, directing a kick to Tesla's chest.

Except just before he made contact, the sparks died out and the red glow vanished from the room.

Izuku actually stumbled at the sudden change, nearly tripping over his own feet. He threw out a hand onto the wall next to Tesla's head to catch himself, taking a large breath. What... What just happened...?

Instinct had him glancing over his shoulder to find a familiar pair of glowing eyes staring at him.

Aizawa's hair strained to rise with the duct tape binding it to his head, the blindfold skewed on his face just enough to reveal his eyes. Izuku couldn't read his expression, but the familiar sight of his teacher using Erasure had an instant numbing effect on him. His energy and adrenaline faded in an instant—and as it did, he felt himself sway.

He staggered and caught himself just before he could collapse, releasing a small gasp as his head snapped up. He blinked dumbly at the sight of those still-red eyes, and felt his shoulders sag.

"Oh," he said softly.

After a moment the hero released his Quirk, head slumping to the floor with obvious exhaustion. Izuku didn't go directly to his side, taking a moment to survey the villains. They all looked unconscious, slumped against the walls. More than that, he could see cracks in the walls where Minotaurus and Sickle Claw had been Repelled.

This... would be very hard to cover up.

While he surveyed the damage he'd caused, Shouta just exhaled through his nose, trying to ignore the lingering soreness in his eyes from Erasure. Even with it inactive his eyes ached. The only reason he'd succeeded in using it was because of some strong force that push down on him from above, almost like a gust of wind, and jarred the blindfold's position just enough to expose one eye. His body ached even more than before now, but he barely paid it any mind.

At this point, Shouta couldn't bring himself to care what the kid would do next. He could hear Midoriya hurrying around the room, no doubt checking on the villains, but he didn't bother looking. Everything hurt, and he felt exhausted. His back ached from the scratches, he could still feel phantom tingles from the electricity, his broken leg probably had even more breaks now... He just wanted to rest.

Only when the footsteps approached him did he finally force a single eye to open, finding the boy kneeling next to him with a frown.

In the brief glimpse he'd gotten of the kid's face before launching at Tesla, he'd looked almost like a demon. His face had been twisted into a vicious snarl unlike anything he'd ever seen on the boy and his pupils had been red, a bloody crimson color that matched the light that filled the room.

Now though, it was gone. The red light, the green lightning that sparked along the kid's arms, the vicious rage that tensed his entire frame. All of it vanished with a flash of Erasure.

All that remained was heavy concern, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I—we'll take care of this, I promise. They're all unconscious, so they can't do anything anymore. I know it hurts, but I'll be right back, so... t-try not to fall asleep?" He looked lost for a moment, but then stood up and hurried out the room, leaving the door open. Shouta let his eyes fall shut once more.

He kept them shut even as he heard voices approach, all of them unfortunately familiar. The open door let him hear the conversation clearly. "Dammit, damn NPCs... What were they thinking—shit." Shigaraki cut himself off, no doubt just reaching the door and seeing the destruction.

"Tomura-nii, you need to help him!" Midoriya exclaimed. "Please!"

"Yeah, yeah, I will. But first, Kurogiri."

"I know."

"Wait—" Midoriya's voice cut off, but Shouta didn't have the energy to check why he fell silent. His consciousness teetered on the edge of the void, ready to pass out.

The last thing he felt before passing out was the cuff loosening from his ankle, accompanied the jingle of chains.

"Repel, huh? You just had to do that, didn't you?"

"You know we have no control over it anymore. It's all on him to use our powers. And why aren't you looking at Third?"

"Still, I am surprised he could access any of ours. He must really care about that man."

"Of course he does. We've heard him talking about it to his friends, they all seem to care."

"He must have done a lot to earn that sort of loyalty and devotion."

"...I wonder... how it would have been to go to UA and have him as a teacher."

Well, this is it. Chapter 100.

This is a MASSIVE milestone, and I want to thank you guys so much for all your support. This is, to date, the longest story I've written, and I'm just so excited that so many people enjoy it so is my greatest passion, and your reactions to Ignite to the Call is a genuine dream come true for me. I absolutely LOVE seeing all the speculation and theories in the comments, it's the kind of thing I've genuinely fantasized about.

Thank you all so much. I wouldn't have made it this far without such an active audience. I honestly have no idea how much longer this story will go, because it feels like we're just starting to get to some of the best parts. So let's enjoy this wild ride while it lasts!

Also, on the note of the art contest: I'm extending the deadline by two weeks. Some people have asked for an extension so they can finish their pieces, and I'm eager to see what comes out of it!

(Also: the three mooks here are actually canon characters from the USJ. Even Minotaurus's brother is based on the anime having two designs for the character. The only change is that Sickle Claw has thumbs in the Ignite universe.)

Thank you again for all your support everyone. See you next week!