23/04/2024

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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 13 - Leagues Apart

"Wait!"

"What?" Captain Teiko roared at the instruction. She was not about to be ordered on her raid by the tag along heroes.

"Someone has just arrived," her spotter reported reasonably.

"Who?"

"Shit, it's him!" the response was from one of the heroes.

She thought it was Gunhead. "Who?" Teiko demanded. If they weren't going to engage in radio silence, then they could at least give her information.

"Izuku," came the response.

Captain Meishu knew that name. He was a villain who'd been put on the Police radar as well. He was meant to be a UA Management student but also the son of the villain who had fought All Might. He had supposedly stolen several quirks from hero students, or at least that was what the Yaoyozoru's claimed. She had no idea if that was true. It seemed far fetched but that hardly mattered since the call was out to arrest him.

If she could get Izuku and the Yakuza then… You didn't get to be a Police Captain without some ambition but she'd always thought Captain would be the pinnacle of her career. But if she could bring in this villain and take down the Yakuza with one raid then District Commander was a possibility or even a move to a more prestigious posting, closer to the centre of Tokyo. She had a Tokyo posting already but the more central the posting the more chances you got to prove your worth. If she could do this, then that would provide future options.

"Hold!" She commanded.

She now wished they had someone, anyone, on the inside but the Yakuza were suspicious bastards. Getting someone into them was… Yeah, it didn't happen.

"Track him," she instructed her spotter. "And where the hell did he come from?" They'd been tracking the vehicles along the road.

"It was a quirk," her spotter said. "There's two others with him."

"Do we know them?" Teiko demanded.

"Facial recognition software says one is Himiko Toga but the other guy's in a mask and we couldn't get a good read."

"Twice," Gunhead reported. "The other villain is Twice. If they are here, then this is no longer a Police Operation."

"No way! This is my raid," Teiko objected.

"And those are wanted villains," came the retort. "Which makes it hero business."

"You are not using my men to-"

"Not alone," the hero agreed. "We are calling in backup."

That was interesting. Heroes seldom called in back up. They didn't like to share the limelight but- Was it because this Izuku could supposedly take quirks? That would be- She had a quirk. It allowed her to change the colour of any clothing she was wearing. It was useful occasionally if she was wearing something that was just too colourful for the situation. She could blend easily but it was hardly the most useful quirk and so losing it…

She didn't want that but… The Police used quirks sparingly and while it would mean she was definitely stuck at Captain level, it wouldn't impact anything else. For a hero though…

"How long will that take?" Teiko asked.

"They are scrambling now," Gunhead told her. It wasn't an answer.

"How long?" Captain Meishu pressed.

"At least half an hour," he gave her the better answer.

Teiko sighed heavily. "Hold your positions," she instructed her men. Not all of them would be as sanguine about losing their quirks and it would be better to let the heroes take that risk.

She settled back, pulling out a pair of binoculars to watch. It would be best if she was seen to be calm.

Teiko even maintained that fiction, right up until a gunshot rang out from the Yakuza compound.

"Move!" She screamed into the comm.

It didn't matter what villains were there, the Police responded to things like that. It had been their job for centuries. It would always be their job.

She discarded the binoculars and focused on the body cameras. She had to direct her men now.

-ted-

Izuku turned at Himiko's scream and then there was a noise and she fell back on to him. He managed to twist fully so that he fell back onto the tatami floor first, cushioning her fall as he grabbed her shoulder. He pulled his hand away from Himiko's shoulder but it felt sticky. Izuku looked down and he felt his eyes widen. It was red. It wasn't meant to be red.

"What have you done?" Izuku demanded, looking up at the Yakuza. He saw the man hand something red to the man sitting next to him. The guy was dressed in white but wore the ubiquitous plague mask they all seemed to favour. His mask was black with gold highlights.

He didn't need to see anything further. "What have you done?" Izuku snarled as the guy raised the gun.

No, there was no way he was going to let him fire. Izuku saw red as Dragon's Hoard lashed out. He didn't bother to be gentle. They'd hurt Himiko and they were obviously dangerous. Three of them slumped over, as they lost consciousness. Two of them remained the same as they were but the third, the one who had introduced himself as Mimic changed. The cloak fell away as a body morphed into existence.

"Himiko!" Izuku cried, looking down at her. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale but she was breathing and he could see that the bullet had hit her shoulder. Against the cream of her cardigan the blood looked bad.

"Iz… Dra…"

He looked up as Twice's shadow fell over them. The man didn't appear to know what to say.

"It's a shoulder wound," Izuku told him, forcing himself to take a deep breath. Himiko would be fine. She'd recover and then… "Take her," he instructed, gently holding her out.

Twice took her and Izuku was pleased to see he was gentle. He almost gingerly held her as Izuku looked over to the Yakuza. He could hear shouting coming from outside but he was curious as to what they had been using. "Do you know what is happening?" He asked Twice, gesturing towards the door as he walked over to the Yakuza. The one dressed in the white hood had the gun extended. Izuku picked it up. He didn't know much about guns but he could see the bullet and that's all he wanted.

There was something special about that bullet because the boss had handed it over. He put it in a quirk pocket. They'd have to examine it later.

"It's noisy," Twice replied. "It's quiet."

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Izuku asked as he turned back.

The villain emphatically shook his head. From the way his mask stretched, Izuku could see that his eyes were wide with worry. It felt genuine and Izuku was unconsciously relieved. He didn't want to have traitors this early. Just as he was wondering what to do, a clear shout came from outside.

"Stop! Police!" There was a pounding of feet on the wooden balcony.

Izuku sighed. "I liked those boots," he murmured. Their shoes had been left at the front door and if the Police were here then they weren't getting them back. Except he really shouldn't be worried about that yet. They had to get out of here first.

Calling Kurogiri would be the easiest way but he felt as if he couldn't always call upon the warp gate to get him out of trouble. There would be times when he had to fight in the future and he should practice now. If he couldn't extradite himself from a Police raid then he really shouldn't be leading.

Izuku sensed more than saw the attack coming and he lashed out, both physically and with Dragon's Hoard. There was a heavy thump and he stared, somewhat dumbly down at the body. It was a Hero. He frowned and then looked around the room. One of the doors was open, which told him how Gunhead had gotten in. Izuku shook his head.

"We have to get out of here," he announced.

Twice nodded.

Izuku sent a burst of air towards the door and closed it. "How many clones of us can you make?" he asked.

"About five."

"Just five?"

"Five sets of us," Twice clarified.

Izuku nodded. "Can they use my quirks?" he asked. He should have done some experimentation earlier. They would have to rectify that when they got back.

Under his mask, Izuku could tell Twice was thinking. "They usually can use a quirk but-" His expression was doubtful under the mask.

"You don't know if they can take multiple," Izuku finished and sighed. "It doesn't really matter," he decided after a moment of thought. "We just need them to run in other directions so that when we run, the Police and Heroes won't know which is the right group to follow," he explained.

Twice nodded and then shifted Himiko slightly to hold out his hand. Izuku took it and before long the room was completely filled with copies of them.

"Ready?" Twice prompted.

"Just a sec," Izuku hesitated. "Ochaco liked Gunhead," he said, turning back to the hero. Gunhead was a patrol hero but his stats weren't that bad and Ochaco had done her internship with him. He brought the Heroes quirk to the front of mind. It was the same grey colour as the hero's helmet. Izuku flicked his hand towards the hero, returning his quirk, before he grinned.

Eventually, the Yakuza would wake up and realise they had lost their quirks. They might report to the Police what had happened but with Gunhead having his quirk back… It should confuse the issue… Izuku frowned. It was interesting. When he reached out he couldn't- No, he couldn't think on that now but it was something to discuss with Twice when they practised. And- No! He could not get distracted again.

"Ready," he confirmed. "Come stand with me," Izuku instructed and waited for Twice to come closer. When the other man had come close he made a platform and lifted them into the air slightly. He could tell Twice was slightly concerned but he didn't tense too much. That was good.

"Oh!" Izuku realised and shot his hand out towards the Yakuza. Chain snapped out and wrapped around them. It was making it easier for the Police but… He didn't need their leaders getting away and exacting revenge. And come to think of it, there would be underlings-

Another thought for when he was out of here.

"Let's go," Izuku announced to avoid getting distracted again. He looked up at the ceiling. Was this a one storey or two storey house? He couldn't remember. He thought it was one storey… If it was two they'd just have to punch through it again. "Everyone ready?" He asked.

There was a chorus of yes from the clones. "Go!" Izuku yelled as he formed a solid barrier around them and shot upwards.

-ted-

It wasn't how she'd planned the raid but Captain Teiko Meishu didn't think it was going too badly. Thankfully, there had only been one gunshot and her men were still trying to figure out where it had come from. The heroes…

She had no real idea where they were. Gunhead had been only a step behind her men and then they reported that he'd disappeared. They were nearing the inner rooms now and while the Yakuza had fought back, they didn't seem organised. She'd call them distracted but she had no idea what was causing that. She didn't care either. They were taking them into custody so it didn't matter.

Equally important, the Yakuza weren't launching a counter attack.

"We've surrounded the presentation room," the update came as expected.

"What the hell?"

The call wasn't something she expected to hear. Before she could demand an explanation, it became clear. The roof of the Yakuza house exploded upwards and two things emerged out of the dust. From the presentation room, the traditional sliding paper doors blew outwards and as she watched, people leaped through them. They broke into four groups and ran in different directions.

"What the hell?" Teiko echoed her officers.

The groups were identical. There were three in each group. It was the three villains who had arrived earlier. The villain the heroes had told her was named Izuku. Now Teiko could get a good look at him, from almost every angle. He was dressed in what looked to be black biker leathers with green highlights. It matched his eyes and hair and…

He was young. Villains were getting younger all the time. The villain, Izuku, was with another man. That villain was wearing a skin tight suit, complete with mask, and was carrying the third. She was young and was dressed in a high school uniform except she appeared to be unconscious and bleeding from one shoulder.

Was that the gunshot that had started this?

Teiko shook herself. "Capture them!" She ordered over the radio network. "And find Gunhead!"

The heroes owed her answers.

A variety of shouts came from her officers.

"Two are flying!" Someone yelled.

Teiko looked up. The two things that emerged from the dust of the roof turned out to be two more groups. They were exactly the same as the others and they both shot off into the air in different directions.

"Darn it!" Captain Meishu screamed.

It was obvious what the villains were doing and she would put money on the real ones being one of the flying groups and there was nothing she could do about it. It wasn't much of a comfort that she didn't think the heroes could do anything either. Teiko was reasonably sure that none of them could fly.

"Capture the others!" She ordered again and began stalking towards the house. She wasn't that fair and Teiko was happy to note that by the time she got there, the situation was under control.

"Sir," one of the guards at the gate greeted her as she approached.

"Where's Gunhead?" Captain Meishu demanded.

"This way, Sir," the guard said. Teiko peered at him for a moment before recognising Anzen.

"What's happened Anzen?" Teiko demanded.

"It's best you see for yourself," he replied.

Meishu glared but he didn't offer anything further. "Show me," she instructed.

Officer Anzen led the way into the Yakuza house. It was a nice house, in the traditional style but she could see where it had been modernised. Whoever had done it had kept the balcony, and most of the garden. There was even a small pond. Anzen led them around the balcony to the presentation room. The doors were a mess and the tatami mats would need replacing. On the way to the room, they'd passed officers leading out hand cuffed Yakuza but the majority of the force was around the room. They parted to let her through and Teiko felt her eyes widen at the sight that greeted her.

Three of the Yakuza were slumped over, unconscious. Her officers had cuffed them but the Battle Hero Gunhead was lying on a tatami mat. One of the officers had pulled off his mask and was checking his vitals.

"Report!" Teiko ordered.

Buntai stepped forward. "We found them like this, Sir," he reported, gesturing to the Yakuza.

"And Gunhead?"

"The same," he confirmed what she suspected.

"Who have we got?"

At that question Buntai grinned. "We got the boss," he told her.

Captain Meishu looked down at the middle Yakuza. She'd seen images of their boss, Kai Chisaki. She knew he was relatively young for the seniority of his position and had only gained it by doing something to be previous boss. Unconscious he looked even younger than his 27 years.

"They are quirk suppressants?" she asked.

"Yes," Buntai told her rather than be insulted she'd had to check.

"And he was like this?"

"Yes, Sir."

Teiko sighed. While it was good in one way, because none of her men had been injured, and they had managed to get cuffs on the boss, in another, very important way it was bad. The meeting between the Yakuza and Izuku had obviously gone badly and…

"Fuck."

"Sir?"

She sighed. "I'll have to talk to Gunhead but send the word out… We're probably going to be looking at a war," Teiko told her men.

"A war?"

"The Yakuza are not going to take our raid lying down, especially if we've got their boss, but there was obviously some sort of confrontation against Izuku and…" She shook her head. The timing was bad. To the remaining Yakuza, it would look like the Police had taken out the boss. They'd assume the other villain, Izuku, had either left before the raid or had seen it and left. They might blame him but…

This was bad. "Forget it, the Yakuza are going to be after us. Warn the stations," she instructed.

They were ready for this but… Meishu sighed. At least part of her didn't believe they'd capture the Boss. He wasn't meant to be here! He was meant to be at their other facility. But they had and now…

Well… She looked down at Gunhead. They'd have to see what the Hero said but now, it really was going to be a joint operation.

-ted-

Imagine a sporting league... When you look at the leagues that Kai and Izuku occupy, Kai is in the extreme junior, like under 3's league, while Izuku is a full on pro! Hence a fight... there was never going to be a fight between them. However, Kai does have that second asset where he has Yakuni, Eri and the rest of the Yakuza and Izuku is pissed... Guess where he's visiting next? :D

While the Police politely clean up after him.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!