High Street

The Morning of the Sports Festival.

"~hrrk! What do you, what do you want?!"

High Street dug his heel deeper into the man's throat, crouching slightly and casting a menacing aura. "I was hoping you could answer that for me, Dr Tsubasa. Or… is it Garaki today?" He released his boot from the neck.

Gasping, the doctor took a few much needed gulps for air. He looked over to the toppled surgery cart, the body of his latest assistant nearby. Scrambling, the doctor reached for a scalpel.

Click~ there was a gun pointed at his head "Ah ah ah." High Street smiled calmly. "You took some work to find, do you know that? The name on my list just kept on changing! I'm a little embarrassed I never realised you were all the same person." Confident he had the upper hand, the killer redirected the pistol. "So let's start over. Who are you, Doctor? And what can you do for me?"

Garaki fixed his glasses with a shaky hand and tried to sit up. "What are you talking about, you mad man?! I'm just a doctor!"

Chuckling, High Street shook his head, "'Just' Doctors don't hide away in secluded basements in Hosu. Nice choice of real estate, by the way. Here's a secret; I actually killed the previous owner! I know, right? Of course, I didn't know at the time. His name was crossed out for me. In fact, most of the names my quirk gives me are crossed out, but YOURS," he pushed the gun against the doctor's temple and growled, "Yours was circled! Now why would that be, Doctor?!"

Upon hearing these words, Garaki's temperament shifted abruptly, now intrigued. "Your quirk gave you my name? Fascinating… How does it work, exactly?"

"Why, I can see potential, doctor." High Street said with a smirk, removing the gun from his head. "With just a touch of my hand I can reveal what could be, and what should've been. And it appears that you may prove useful."

"Potential…" The doctor said, twitching his nose in thought, before grabbing High Street's wrist. "Then show me! Show me my great potential!"

High Street grabbed a hold of the doctor's arm and felt his quirk activate, both their eyes turning cloudy as he allowed Garaki to view the vision. Flashes of images came to them. The doctor, younger, holding a child, tears of joy streaming down his face. He's laughing and playing catch with a young girl, he's posing for a family portrait, he's surrounded by loved ones. He's happy.

With a sharp intake of air, the two of them exited the vision and High Street leaned in close to the doctor's shaking face. "Not what you were expecting to see?"

"That… That wasn't…"

"Wasn't your potential? Oh but I am quite afraid that it was. The best version of you that you could have been. But look at you now!"

Slowly, the doctor's shock began to turn to rage, his eyebrows tilted, his face turned red and he clenched his fists, until finally he shouted out in anger "I was supposed to help bring this nation to its knees! It was IMPORTANT WORK! Necessary work! That thing you showed me was not my potential! It was to be my greatest weakness!"

Suddenly, High Street clutched a hand around Garaki's head, and the visions started back up. These ones much more vivid. They showed a man in silhouette standing atop a ruined city. An image of people bowing in reverence. Money, power, worship.

"What… What was that..?"

"My potential, doctor. You want to bring this nation to its knees, so I'll ask again. What can you do for me?"

The doctor's breathing slowed and he began to smile, looking up at the man crouching over him. "Everything."


Mayhem & Eraserhead

Mei had everything she needed to be a hero. The suit. The gadgets. The attitude. What she might be missing however, was the grace. Her arms flailed clumsily as she smashed through the glass, not anticipating the crash landing she'd be making on the circular table below her. Wood splintered in a frenzy, sending cards and chips flying in all directions, and she thanked her past self for the extra padding she'd wisely added to her costume.

Inside her helmet, the image flickered for a second. Mei smacked the side of her head a few times, then glanced around, her eyes hidden behind her visor, and took in the garishly decorated, smoke-filled room. It was unmistakably an illegal casino, with shady characters huddled around blackjack tables and slot machines lining the walls.

Looking around at the gang surrounding her, Mei's annoyance slowly began to rise. All around her were villains that she had helped put behind bars - and yet here they all were?! There was Bullfrog! Man-Arms! King Bad! Evil Steven! All the work she put in and all of them were back on the streets already?!

She jumped to her feet, "Alright you bozos! What did you do with Izuku Midoriya?!" she shouted, pointing an accusatory finger.

A man with two ram horns protruding from his head scowled in anger, "What the hell are you talking about?! You ruined our best table! We oughta kick your ass, whoever you are!"

"Don't play dumb with me, Sheepy! I know you've got something to do with this!" Mei yelled.

Another character with a head shaped like a foot put his hand on Sheepy's arm. "Woah there friend, let's not be too hasty. I'm sure there's a good explanation for- HEY WAIT A SECOND, THAT'S MAYHEM!"

"GET HER!"


"That's right, the apartment is completely empty. No sign of anything relating to Rosa Omasuba." Eraserhead leaned on the doorframe, looking at a bare room. Not even a solitary pizza box to be found. He listened to Nezu over his earpiece for a moment, then answered. "No, it's been like this for a while, she didn't move out recently… Agreed, this place was a cover. I'll head back to UA and we can-"

His words were halted by his earpiece mysteriously switching channels. "Alright you bozos!" came Mayhem's voice.

"Mayhem?" He asked "What's going on?"

"I know you've got something to do with this!"

"Are you in danger?"

"That's Mayhem! Get her!"

Aizawa sighed. Yeah. She was in danger.


Evil Steven made the first move, and Mayhem almost got a face full of fist, but she was too fast for him. In a flash, she grappled up a chunk of wood from the ruined table and held it over her head like a makeshift shield. The villain's punch shattered the wood, but it offered enough protection to keep her safe. Now, with the two pieces of broken wood still in her hands, she brandished them like swords.

"Uh… En Garde?"

Behind her, another goon pulled a knife from his belt and swung. Unluckily for him, the Mayhem helmet had been upgraded to account for surprise attacks of this nature. Ducking just in time, the knife missed her by a hair's breadth, scraping the top of the helmet and letting off a few sparks. The knife kept moving, straight into the bicep of a bigger, meaner bad guy.

"Argh! What the hell, Gary?" the man yelled, pulling the knife out of his bicep.

Mayhem saw this distraction as a chance to fight back and prepared to activate one of her electrified projectiles. It buzzed with energy in her hand, but before she could strike, a new figure landed powerfully in front of her. With his scarf flowing, Eraserhead was like a ninja poised to strike. Stealthy enough to catch the villains off guard, but strong enough to kick up a shockwave of dust.

His unkempt hair floated in the breeze as he extended his hands, preparing to attack. His mere presence was enough to make the gaggle of criminals keep their distance. In a cold voice, he addressed his companion: "I told you to wait."

Mei lowered her hand, the projectile still crackling with energy. "Can we maybe discuss this after?" she snapped.

"Hm." Eraserhead answered gruffly, before addressing the people around them. "We can do this one of two ways, your choice. Either my partner and I walk out of here right now and nobody gets hurt. Or we'll be the only people walking out of here."

The man who had gotten an armful of dagger cracked his neck, his knuckles, and somehow, his eyebrows. "Mayhem's got a lot to answer for, Eraser! She ain't walking outta here!" he shouted.

Eraserhead kept his deadpan expression as he glared through his goggles. "Well, it seems you've left us no choice. Mayhem, are you ready for some on-the-job training?"

"Ahh, I thought you would never ask!" she said, twirling the broken pieces of wood in her hands. The villain who had made the first attack moved to lunge at her again, this time glinting like metal. She had only had two training sessions with Eraserhead, but even after that small amount of time she could see how the attack was wide open. With a small modicum of effort, she dodged the punch and jabbed the blunt end of the wood into his abdomen. It hit him in just the right spot to make him stumble back, clutching his stomach in pain.

Meanwhile, Eraserhead used his quirk to erase those of several villains surrounding him, rendering them powerless. With precision and grace, he swung his capture scarf around them and pulled, looping them together, before flicking his weapon like a whip and slamming the whole lot of them into the corner of the bar.

The guy who had previously stabbed his friend pulled yet another blade from his belt and took another shot at fighting Mayhem.

"Where are you getting those from?" she shouted.

His attacks were a flurry of swings, and Mayhem found herself being pushed backwards. It was difficult for her to land a counterattack because of the relentless swinging of the knife, but she knew she had to create some distance between the two of them. "Eraser!" she called, "Little help?"

Eraserhead looked over to see what was happening, when someone threw a bottle at his head. He caught it easily by the base, flipped it to grab the neck, and launched it straight at Mayhem's assailant. It caught him directly in the face, smashing against his forehead. With her foe disoriented, she grabbed her electric batons and jabbed them both in his neck. Voltage surged through him and he collapsed to the ground.

With the bad guy out for the count, she somersaulted over the bar's countertop, looking for an opportunity to scan her surroundings for any possible advantage.

All around her, Eraserhead's fight raged on, groups of three or four villains at a time rushing him only to find themselves wrapped up or beaten down. He wasn't enough for all of them though, and most were beginning to pick themselves up and renew their attacks. Her heart raced with adrenaline, and she concentrated in order to access the full extent of her quirk's abilities.

Zoom activated, and all the noise and movement of the bar began to fade into the background as she surveyed the scene. Up in the rafters, she noticed a series of hanging, dim light bulbs that illuminated the casino. Right now they were off, and she followed their wires to a series of outlets near the slot machines across the wall. A smile formed on her face. "That's it."

Her grapple made it a cinch to access the lights. Quickly, she unscrewed each bulb and replaced them with her own electrifying projectiles. As she worked, Eraserhead continued to hold his ground.

Hanging upside down from a support beam, she called out to him, her voice filled with urgency. "Eraser! Take cover!" He nodded, and used his capture scarf to escape into the safety of the ceiling, understanding her message.

With intense concentration, she clicked the button on an electrical disk and focused. Everything slowed for her, as she released her weapon towards the outlets. It spun in mid air, before hitting its mark dead on. Blue sparks ignited, causing every slot machine in the room to sizzle and emit smoke. But the real spectacle was yet to come.

Eraserhead and Mayhem shielded their eyes as the lights erupted in a dazzling display of electrical energy. Waves of electricity surged down towards the unsuspecting casino patrons, ensnaring them in a net of stunning voltage. Helpless and unable to resist, the villains were completely outmatched and every single one of them was knocked out.


"I told you to wait on the roof." Eraserhead said simply as he stepped over another smoking body.

Mei stopped in the centre of the crowd of knocked out criminals. "I wouldn't have gone off on my own…" she clenched her fists, before shouting out loud "If you were actually DOING SOMETHING!"

The sudden outburst of emotion caused the underground hero to stop in his tracks. But he said nothing.

Mei glared at him. Even with the helmet modulating her voice, he could hear the tears in her eyes. "Don't you get it? He's my best friend! He's missing and you haven't done anything to help! You're supposed to be a pro hero, but you're acting like you don't care at all!"

"A case like this is never as simple as it might seem, Mayhem. We're all trying our best, doing what we can. But the fact remains, what you did was reckless and could have compromised everything." Eraserhead spoke in a calm, measured voice.

"I had to at least try!" She yelled.

Eraserhead shook his head, "Working irrationally like that will only lead to-"

"You don't get it! You don't… You don't understand…" With a click and a hiss, she removed the helmet from her head, showing her eyes bloodshot with tears. "It's my fault he's gone! If I hadn't pushed him to show off his quirk, he wouldn't have used it at the festival! I'd still know where my best friend is… But instead I'm… I'm what?! Playing hero?! I don't know…I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing…"

Eraserhead listened to Mei intently, before picking up two fallen barstools and taking a seat at the bar. He patted the stool next to him, urging her to sit.

"Hatsume," he said, more gently than usual, his normally stern expression softening just a bit, "I understand that you're hurting, and I can't pretend to know exactly what you're going through. Something similar, maybe, but these feelings are rarely comparable. But, this isn't your fault. None of us saw this coming, and there's no way you can know how things will turn out."

The young vigilante wiped her eyes, her anger momentarily giving way to vulnerability as she took a seat. It wasn't an emotion she was used to experiencing.

Eraserhead continued, "In this line of work we see our fair share of difficult situations, it's most of why I've been doing this for you. The other students at UA have a whole faculty behind them, but not you. I could have stopped you, but I doubt I could even if I locked you up in Tartarus, you'd find a way to break out after an hour, so this was the best way to give you a chance." Mei gave an involuntary laugh at this. "Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we can't save everyone. It's a harsh reality we face, and it's something every one of us struggles with." he turned to face her better. "But it doesn't mean we stop trying. It doesn't mean we give up."

She looked into his eyes, unsure if she was finding any solace in his words. "But what am I supposed to do?"

"We keep looking. We don't give up until we've found Midoriya. But you have to promise me, you'll work with me, not against me. I've seen what you're capable of, and…" he sighed, as though the next words coming out of his mouth were a struggle, "and you're good at what you do."

Mei sniffled again, then grinned. "You think I'm good?"

"You could be better, but I suppose you're not terrible at fighting crime."

Suddenly Mei wrapped her arms around him. He didn't move his arms, but accepted the hug all the same.

"Yeah this is happening, Eraser, just deal with it."

When she finally let him go, he stood up from the stool. "Come on, your friend needs us. We're going back to UA, don't forget your helmet."

As they moved to exit the building, a man on the floor gently whimpered "...Help me…"

Eraserhead sighed again, he probably should call someone to clean this up.


Power Loader & Snipe

The Snipemobile kept the engine running as it idled in front of the ornate golden gates, emblazoned with the same Y as the fork Power Loader found on the victim. The ever-suffering support tutor drummed his iron tipped fingers against the dashboard, his impatience growing.

"I am quite sorry, but the lady of the house shan't be taking visitors at such short notice." An immaculately dressed and impeccably postured man, with a nose which suggested a parrot quirk, stood by the driver side window. His head tilted back so far and nose so stuck in the air it was practically impossible for him to see who he was addressing.

Snipe leaned an arm out of the window, casually spinning his revolver. "Listen here, cowpoke, we ain't got a whole mess o' time to be shootin' the breeze with some oiled up cityslicker. There's a lady an' her boy out there needin' our help an' you are preventin' us from conductin' our business. Now either you mosey your ass back up and open up these here gates, or the next visitor the 'lady of the house' can be expectin' is the town undertaker. You catch my drift?"

The unflappable footman refused to budge. "Sir, I do not take idle threats lightly-"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Power Loader spat out, leaning over from the passenger seat to grab the steering wheel and slam a foot down on Snipe's own tailored boots. The Snipemobile burst into action, crashing through the gates and heading off down the expansive driveway at a high speed. The pristine lawn suffered as they went, along with a few stone pots in the process. Snipe hootin' and a hollerin' the entire way. As they neared the mansion, he yanked the steering wheel hard to the side and slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt.

With no delay, Power Loader leapt out of the car and began to loudly bang on the front doors. "If nobody comes to this door in the next five minutes, I swear to god!"

Snipe put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, cool it partner, ain't gonna be helpin' nobody if ya locked up in the hoosegow."

It had some manner of the intended effect, as Power Loader stopped banging on the door. "The hoosegow?"

"Yeah, heard it in a movie once."

Finally, the door opened to reveal the matriarch of the estate, dressed up in a sequinned dress like she was headed for a ball, "What on Earth is all this noise? Can I help you gentlemen?"

Power Loader pulled the Yaoyorozu branded cutlery, safely nestled in a ziploc bag, from his pocket and held it so aggressively the woman had to take a step back. "A fork from this estate was found near a body earlier today, we need a full list of everyone to enter or leave this building in the past week, NOW."


"Aya Matsuri, Sir. Are you getting any matches at all?" On the drive away from the estate, Power Loader was engaged in a discussion with Principal Nezu on what steps could next be taken.

On the other end of the line the tapping of keys could be heard "I'm quite afraid Aya Matsuri does not exist! There are quirk registration files, a birth certificate, even some tax records, but they're all as fake as Endeavour's hairpiece!"

"Did that lil fuzzy fella say fake?" Snipe asked, "Why that no good Yaoyorozu…"

"Why hello Mr Snipe! Don't take your frustrations out on the dear Mrs Yaoyorozu, she would have been wholly unaware. The forgeries are remarkably good. But either way, I can't be certain who Miss Matsuri is."

Power Loader contemplated his options. "The estate has cameras in every room, do you think we could get footage of her? We only need one frame of her, full body, preferably facing toward the camera."

"I shall see what I can do! I'll see you back at UA posthaste. Toodles!" The phone clicked off.

"What ya thinkin', hoss? Ya got a plan rattlin' around in that noggin o' yours?"

"Beginnings of one, yeah." With that, he began to type out a message.

Power Loader: Kazutani, it's important, does your quirk work on still images?

Hiro Kazutani: is typing…

Hiro Kazutani: Partially.

Hiro Kazutani: It might not be as accurate, but I can get close.

Hiro Kazutani: Is this to help Izuku?

Power Loader: Yes, how soon can you get to UA?

Hiro Kazutani: We're all here already. Workshop H.


Izuku, Inko & Yuki Haro

As the fork hurtled towards him, Izuku transformed his hand into a singing Billy Bass fish and batted the projectile away, watching as it embedded in the wall. "Yuki! That one was really close!" He said, shocked, as the novelty ornament began to sing Old Man River.

She cocked her head to the side. "An interesting choice of defence."

"Huh? Oh!" Izuku replied, glancing at his transformed hand before shaking off the manifestation. "Well, you said I should try being more unpredictable, right?"

It was true, and Izuku had taken her advice to heart. Rather than relying on his usual go-to transformations, like hammers or grappling hooks, he had turned his arms into various unconventional forms, including a metal snake, a gigantic lightbulb, a big electric toothbrush, an ornamental dancing Santa Claus, a fan, neon rope, assorted farming equipment, a pen, and, much to his delight, a fully functional Gameboy. With Yuki's guidance, he had even attempted to create different types of weaponry - knives, guns, stun grenades - but no matter what he tried, some limitations to his quirk became evident. Items specifically designed to harm were a no go.

Yuki's smile remained as she levitated cutlery around her in a graceful orbit. "I did. You're making progress. Would you like to continue?"

"Absolutely!"

"Not." his mother said, appearing in the doorway. "You've both been training for hours. No more until you've had something to eat!"


Yuki savoured another bite of her hamburger and complimented, "This is all very delicious, Ms. Midoriya."

"I was surprised at how many ingredients you had in the kitchen! Of course, if I were at home I could make something even nicer." Inko hinted.

"Mom…"

Setting aside her half-eaten burger, Yuki turned to Inko with a serious expression. "I'm very sorry about this, but it is for your protection. Until we know for sure The Market isn't hunting us, this is the safest place to be."

Izuku contemplated, his gaze fixed on his now empty plate. "But... What if we could know for sure?"

"Izuku?" Inko asked, "What do you mean?"

"What if we could find out? An organisation like this, they must have some way of keeping in contact with their agents, right?"

Yuki nodded, "I was always directly given assignments by High Street, or my handler, Museum."

"I'm assuming through a closed connection earpiece?"

"Um, yes. Yes, mine was provided to me by High Street." Yuki answered with a slight shock in her voice. For someone who would never have been involved in this life, Izuku had a good grasp on it.

"Which means they have a network, means of communication presumably disconnected from any other source. Which means somewhere, there's a server!"

"Barbershop's room…" Yuki said quietly, "It's the information hub for The Market, where all our research was done. If there's anywhere that has access to that server, it's inside that room."

"Yuki," Izuku said with determination, "If we can get inside that room, I can find a way to access the server and get every other agent to stand down! You could be free from all of this, forever!"

Unfortunately, she shook her head. "I can't put either of you in that kind of danger-" her sentence was stopped by Inko putting a hand on hers.

"Yuki, sweetie, we're already in danger. If Izuku's right, this could be the best chance we have. And I know you can both do it."

It took a few moments of intense quiet and introspection before Yuki finally spoke again. "...Alright, we'll do it."

With a stern face, Izuku nodded confidently, as Yuki continued.

"We'll go tonight, midnight. High Street has never been there in the early hours so it would be the safest time. If Museum is a problem, I can… I can deal with her."

Izuku took a deep breath, those usual pangs of anxiety welling up. But instead of letting them overwhelm him, he reminded himself that this was the best chance he had at returning to his normal life. Returning to school, seeing his friends again, seeing Mei again.

This was his mission now, to save Yuki Haro.

He could be a hero.