25/02/2025
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest!
The Emperor's Dragon
Chapter 96 - Toxicity
On their ascension through Tartarus, they had let various prisoners go ahead of them, but Izuku admired how his father kept Toxic Chainsaw with them. It was subtle. A word here and there and the man was still with them when others from the Fifth level had gone ahead.
It was actually better that some went ahead. While Izuku didn't think that the guards would have organised any defence, not with the Nomu outside, it was possible some of the heroes had made it to the island. He didn't think it likely, given that last night was the Billboard but it was best to be prepared.
The first prisoners rushed out into the open and nothing happened. And then they went out, the sun was still high and Izuku was a bit surprised before he realised the underground environment of Tartarus gave a very deceptive impression of time.
Izuku looked around. He'd helped to level the buildings, but the Nomu had actually levelled the rubble. When he surveyed the landscape, it was flat. There were some piles of rubble, but they were only a metre high or so. Steel reinforcing stuck up in some areas and there were I-beams here and there. The prisoners were exclaiming at the change and were probably wondering how they could get off the island. He wasn't worried, though he could tell that Kurogiri and Twice had closed the warp gates. They would open them when he called.
He was pulling out his phone when he heard the shout. Since he'd been taken off guard by the explosion, Izuku was still on alert.
So was Gigantomachia and his father.
The attacker came in from above with a flying down kick.
Gigantomachia's huge arm flashed into place above them and the attacker hit it with a thunk that was beyond simply meaty. The attacker was quick to recover, dodging the grab Gigantomachia made, and actually using the arm they had hit as a platform to launch from.
'Machia snarled and all the Nomu became alert as the attacker landed, splayed legged with one hand resting on the ground and the other raised in a fist.
The moment of stillness gave Izuku the chance to identify them.
Mirko. The Rabbit Hero.
Her hair was actually still falling by her side, and she was sporting a massive grin. Her ears twitched. "Heh," she spat. "Bodyguard is better than I thought," she added.
Izuku pulled his phone from his pocket. Given it had been in his quirk pocket it was unscathed. "Himi," he said, tossing it to Himiko, who caught it clumsily. She wasn't expecting it. "Call Kurogiri, while I deal with this one?"
That caused Mirko to laugh. "I like the attitude brat, but you are going down. You are all going down," she announced.
Izuku shook his head and took up his own stance as people cleared away.
"I've yet to see you fight, my Dragon. This will be interesting," his father said as he took a step or so back.
"I won't keep you waiting long," he replied.
He could end this right now by ripping away Mirko's quirk but thus far he'd managed to keep the fact that he could take quirks from a distance a secret from the Heroes. He thought all the recording equipment was destroyed but there was no need to take chances.
Mirko charged. She was trying to get around him to get to Himiko. Izuku intercepted her. Right now… Himiko was actually the most vulnerable since she didn't have regeneration.
The rabbit dodged his punch and veered off. Izuku didn't give her a chance to recover. He swung again and missed. She was fast, which just meant he had to be faster. Though, when Mirko kicked him, Izuku realised he didn't have to catch her all the time. She'd have to attack him to get what she wanted.
He blocked it. Her legs were strong, but he had multiple strength quirks and even without them, he was no slouch. Sparring with Gigantomachia since he'd left UA had guaranteed that.
They exchanged blows, and Izuku would have liked to test strength, but Mirko avoided that. His expression must have shown something. She just smirked at him. Izuku threw a punch she avoided by ducking, which he knew, even from the few moments of battle, that she would sweep at his legs. He jumped and felt the rush of air. Izuku tried to kick out to get her his position was awkward, and he missed but he knew if he'd hit, it would have been a solid hit. Before he landed Mirko was up again and throwing her own punch that he blocked by swinging his arm up. He brought it down in a circle, trying to capture her limb but she pulled back and Izuku felt the brush of her arm against his as she avoided his hold.
He tried kicking but Mirko simply dodged and with the angle, Izuku knew it wouldn't be a good hit. Mirko jumped back but before she could try anything, Izuku closed again. Except, that was what she wanted. She jumped high and her legs came up in a scissor grip. Izuku got his forearms up in time to block and there was a brief test of strength before he managed to push her off. Gravity helped. With an awkward jump Mirko leapt away before he could capitalise on her unbalance.
"Tch," she spat. "We appear equal," she growled. "Usually I'd love that but-" the hero didn't elaborate.
Izuku shook his head. "We're not equal," he told her as he reached out with Radio Waves. He'd just been using strength and speed quirks and hadn't used the others to help him like Chain, Caeli Imperium, Hardening, Energy Suck or even Fire Breath. And even before he went to those quirks, Shock Absorption and Regeneration meant that he didn't have much to fear from her. While showing off his fighting skills to his dad was fun, he had no reason to do it here. And the longer they stayed on Tartarus the longer the Heroes had to respond. Izuku had faith in Dabi's distraction, but the hard truth was that the heroes outnumbered them. He grinned at her. "Rather ironically, I have something you do not, Rabbit."
That piqued her interest. "Oh?"
He grinned and sent the signal with Radio Waves. "Numbers."
It took Mirko a moment to understand what he meant but he saw her eyes widen as the Nomu who were around the island moved. No doubt she'd seen them and just written them off as odd black formations that were probably the result of some quirk. Now they were moving and their focus was on the hero. Izuku called the High Ends.
They loved to fight, and Mirko should be able to give them at least a little battle.
The Nomu didn't immediately move to close with her, allowing the High Ends to come to flank him. Izuku raised one eyebrow at the hero as he felt Hood, Woman, Eleph and Robot take places beside him. Hood actually eyed him off. "Fight?" the Nomu asked.
Mirko's eyes flew open at that.
"Yes Hood, you can fight her," Izuku assured the Nomu, ignoring the Rabbit Hero's surprise. He gave the hero a grin and arrogantly turned away.
Mirko jumped for him but as expected, Hood intercepted her. "I have other things to do," he told her as he continued to walk back to his father, who he got the impression was somewhat amused by his choice to let the Nomu fight her. It wasn't disappointment, merely amusement.
"They still don't know?" Dad murmured the question.
Izuku grinned, trusting that his father would see the expression through the mask. It wasn't the same as a fully functional life support helmet and there were small openings he could see through. "I don't think so," he confirmed.
His dad laughed at that, immediately recognising the advantage it gave him.
"They don't know what?" Toxic Chainsaw demanded.
"Just something I can do," Izuku replied, looking over at the villain. He finally allowed himself to fully examine the man.
He was dressed in the same prison jumpsuit all the prisoners were required to wear but he had taken off the top part, and tied it around his waist, exposing his well-muscled torso. His hair seemed to drip down and his chin was long and pointy. His hands were large, and he was a little shorter than his dad.
"What you looking at?" the villain demanded.
Izuku smiled at him. "You," he said honestly. "I've been a fan of yours for a while," he gushed. It was kind of the truth.
Toxic Chainsaw blinked, obviously confused by the answer. "You ain't one of those weird villain otaku?" he snapped.
Izuku shook his head. "I prefer to be a bit more active with my admiration," he rebuked. It should be obvious since he'd lead the- Maybe it wasn't obvious who had led the attack on Tartarus since his father had released Toxic Chainsaw before he reached the Fifth level.
"Dragon is responsible for the attack that gives us this visage," his Father explained to the villain, sweeping one large hand out expressively to encompass the destruction of the island.
The man looked around, seeing the rubble, and fires and smoke, as if for the first time and Izuku could see he was putting things together in his mind. A couple of the other villains, who were close enough to hear, stared at him. Izuku ignored them. He knew he looked young still, and he kind of missed his helmet now. It hid his youth.
"I came for him, but I would have released you too," Izuku told Toxic Chainsaw. It was actually interesting. When his father named him as Dragon the villain hadn't shown any recognition. That was kind of surprising, but Izuku realised that Toxic Chainsaw had been imprisoned for years and while his father had worked on establishing the reputation of Dragon for years, it was probable that Toxic Chainsaw had not heard of him.
Some of the other villains had, and Izuku could see one of them move closer. The man had a medium build and a scar where his nose should be below fanatical red eyes. He had black hair that was tied back by what appeared to be the ripped sleeve of his jumpsuit. He was short but Izuku realised that was just the way he was standing. Izuku didn't recognise him.
"Well, maybe you aren't a brat," Toxic Chainsaw allowed.
Izuku snorted and took a few steps towards Toxic Chainsaw. He held out his hand. "And maybe I don't revise my opinion of you," he countered with a grin.
The villain looked at his offered hand, and Izuku knew he was thinking of not taking it. But with his Father essentially telling everyone that he was the reason they were free, Izuku knew that Toxic Chainsaw would most likely take it.
"You're not bad," the man said as he took Izuku's hand.
The instant their skin touched, Izuku could feel Toxic Chainsaw's quirk. It was all over him and it felt, as the villain's name suggested, toxic, but Izuku had his own poison and claws formed on fingers and he drove them into Toxic Chainsaw's hand. "Argh!" the villain cried as Izuku pierced the skin and he snatched back his hand.
Izuku let it go, and he felt regeneration working on his hand to heal the damage from the toxicity. He gave Toxic Chainsaw a look that said clearly that fair was fair. The villain had used his quirk; he couldn't complain about another quirk being used.
Toxic Chainsaw huffed. "All right brat, you proved your point," he grumbled.
"No," Izuku replied, his voice cold. "I don't think I have," he added.
The sudden change in tone took the villain by surprise and before he could do anything, Izuku struck, driving one hand into his throat to grab it. Izuku used energy suck, ripping away Toxic Chainsaw's energy into himself. The villain hit him but there was no strength in the blows. His hair proved to be some sort of acid, but Izuku ignored the drips on to his hand and Regeneration took care of the wound. Toxic Chainsaw fell to his knees with Izuku still gripping his throat. Izuku wasn't going to strangle him.
"What?" The question didn't come from the villain but from the others who were still watching.
"Why?" the guy with fanatical red eyes demanded, as Izuku released Toxic Chainsaw. He fell onto his back, his legs kicking out oddly as he tried to move.
"I only came for one prisoner," Izuku told him. "And while I don't care what the rest of you do, he was never getting off this island," he announced.
"But you said-" one of the other prisoners said but didn't finish.
"I said I was a fan, and I am very enthusiastic in my hatred of him," Izuku chuckled.
"Wha'cha going to do?" Himiko asked, coming cautiously closer.
"I'm going to leave a message," Izuku told her, as he looked to the ground. The Nomu had distributed the rubble over everything, which actually made it faster to find what he wanted. An I-beam was visible in the rubble. Izuku went over to it and pulled at it, activating his strength quirks so that he could lift it clear. It had a jagged, pointed end.
"You're gonna stab him?" Himiko surmised.
"No," Izku answered lightly, looking around for another shorter beam. He found one. It wasn't an I-beam but was metal and had openings in it. He tested it quickly and knew it would be strong enough for his purposes. There was concrete reinforcing everywhere, and Izuku grabbed some, and quickly threaded it through some of the openings, before wrapping the ends around the I-beam, securing the shorter beam at right angles to the I-beam.
As Izuku grabbed Toxic Chainsaw, Himiko realised what he was going to do and laughed.
"No," Toxic Chainsaw objected but he was too weak to do anything more.
"Yes," Izuku told him and put him on the steel. More concrete reinforcing was wrapped around the villain's torso and under his armpits, holding his arms out on the smaller beam, before Izuku picked up some shorter pieces and drove them through Toxic Chainsaw's arms, and into the beam. He did the same with the man's calves, making sure his legs stayed put, this time on the I-beam.
"Why?" the guy with red eyes asked again. Toxic Chainsaw was probably wondering why as well.
"He knows."
Izuku looked over to his father at the statement. The other villains did as well.
"He knows," All For One repeated. "But he hasn't put it together," he added with obvious mirth. "I did warn you, Toxic Chainsaw, that those who had come were overprotective."
From the way Toxic Chainsaw frowned he still didn't understand. Izuku shook his head and hefted the steel, holding it upright before he drove the pointed end into the ground. He took a few steps back and looked up at Toxic Chainsaw. The man was hanging on the cross but the steel around his chest and upper arms would mean he couldn't fall.
"I guess I will have to explain then," he murmured. "The worst day of my life is the day All Might found him," he said, loud enough for the surrounding villains to hear. Izuku nodded at his father but didn't feel the need to make their relationship clear.
"I can still remember when he was brought home… the blood. The injuries," Izuku shook his head. He was reasonably certain most of the villains, especially the fifth level ones, had seen his father's scarred form. "That was bad, and believe me, I hate All Might for that," he announced.
Interestingly the villain with red eyes jerked at that, but he made no other move, so Izuku just filed the reaction.
"But do you know how you earned my hatred?" He asked Toxic Chainsaw and paused, though he knew he wasn't going to get an answer. Toxic Chainsaw was conscious, but he was reduced to glaring as his blood ran down over the steel. "When the fucking Hero Commission had the gall to announce that you had fought All Might. You had caused the damage in Tsu, the deaths… everything. You! Ha!" Izuku barked the word. He'd never found out who had apprehended Toxic Chainsaw. It didn't matter. Whoever it was had obviously been content to let All Might take the credit, which meant they were probably an underground hero… and they knew how the Commission worked.
"As if you could!" Izuku shook his head. "I know that bit isn't your fault. You didn't get a say in taking the blame," he explained reasonably. "But afterwards you revelled in the notoriety. I saw the interviews. You accepted the position eagerly and don't try to tell me that the Commission gave you no choice!" Izuku growled before anyone could offer that reason.
"You! As if you could ever injure All Might that way!" He snorted derisively.
"Injure All Might?" the red-eyed villain gasped.
It took Izuku a moment to realise that the villain must have been arrested before All Might's injuries became common knowledge. He did know that Tartarus didn't let the villains be informed of current events.
"I believe I gave almost as good as I got," his father said and Izuku could see the way he was looking at the villain. There was some interest there. The man whirled, staring at his father.
"All Might is a hero! The only hero!" the villain announced.
Izuku laughed. "Not anymore," he informed the man. "Endeavor is the Number One Hero now," he added.
The man stiffened and for a moment, Izuku thought he might attack but then he clenched his fists. "You are the worst type of villains! And one day-" he growled, not finishing the threat before turning on one heel and stalking away. It was only when he left that Izuku realised the red-eyed man had been projecting a rather impressive presence. He hadn't noticed because… he hadn't thought the man was a threat. Only time would tell if that had been a mistake.
All For One chuckled. "Ah, some people just do not wish to see the truth," he pronounced before he looked over at the warp gate that was forming near him. It was Kurogiri's signature black. "Shall we go?" he invited, looking around at the other villains who were still here.
Several of them whooped and raced for the warp gate. Izuku hoped Kurogiri was ready for them but before he could find out, another warp gate opened near him and Twice came through. He could tell it was Twice since the man had a quirk.
"Come with me. Don't come with me," he announced.
Izuku smiled and nodded at him and reached out to order the Nomu, focusing on those who were seeing to Whisper and Mr Compress. Those two came quickly and Izuku made sure they made it through the warp gate safely. "You too, Himiko," he told her.
"And you!" Himiko objected.
"I'll follow after Dad," Izuku told her.
"I'm waiting until then," she retorted firmly.
Izuku glanced at her but knew better than to fight. He nodded and then turned to his Dad. Izuku could feel that he was doing something with Radio Waves, but he couldn't work out what. It was like Dad was using a completely different frequency to order the Nomu to do something. It appeared to be effective as the Nomu were rapidly disappearing through black warp gates.
Then his Dad turned to one of the gates, and with Gigantomachia following him went through it.
Izuku heaved a sigh of relief and glanced towards Toxic Chainsaw. The man's head was bowed, and his hair was dripping onto the ground in front of him. The muck pooled with his blood, but Izuku could tell he was still alive, with the way his eyes were glaring. It was an unusual expression, but Izuku could tell the man wanted to say something. "So why did you do it?" he asked softly. He wasn't going to change anything but… he'd know then.
Toxic Chainsaw growled, though Izuku could hear the undercurrent of pain in the tone. And then the villain sighed and sagged on the cross. "Because it was easier than admitting I got taken out by two-bit underground heroes," he admitted.
He could kind of understand that but… "Well, at least now you can say you were taken out by Dragon," he told him, as he held up one hand, forming a scale on the back of it before letting the scale shoot off to embed itself in Toxic Chainsaw's abdomen.
Izuku turned away, glancing at the Nomu who were still here before he shrugged. They'd be safe enough and could be retrieved soon. He took Himiko's hand to lead her to the warp gate that was still open, and then he stepped through.
Tartarus had nothing more to interest him.
-ted-
I'm back! No internet for a few weeks but back now... and sick :D
Well, now that Izuku is back with his father things are moving quickly. He's defeated Mirko and gotten vengeance on Toxic Chainsaw. It's been a long time coming but Izuku is remarkably patient.
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!