Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi walked into the decrepit warehouse where dozens of police were milling about, some securing the unconscious villains strewn about, while others were collecting evidence from destroyed crates full of drugs of all kinds as well as weapons and cash.
"What do we have?" Tsukauchi asked as he approached the sergeant on duty.
"Bunch of guys from the local triad were trying to move all this across japan." the sergeant said,leading him past the injured thugs, some of whom were still pinned to the wall by arrows.
"The Rabbit again?" Tsukauchi asked in surprise, "This is the fourth drug bust he's beat us too."
"We got here in time to see him bouncing around firing off arrows." The sergeant grunted, turning a flashlight on and pointing it towards a broken window up in the rafters, "he disappeared through there and booked it as soon as we breached. Kamui Woods went after him, but I doubt he'll catch him; the rabbits a wiley one."
"You sound like you admire him." Tsukauchi muttered.
He shrugged, "What can I say, guy cleans up nice." He turned off the flashlight, "and it's true, two months of him being on the street and not one persons' been able to catch him."
"That's gonna change."
The two officers looked up once more, surprised to see a familiar face kneeling on the rafters, looking at a torn piece of fabric through his yellow goggles.
"Eraserhead." Tsukauchi greeted as the pro-hero dropped down to their sides, pulling his goggles down to reveal tired eyes. "Figured this would catch your attention sooner or later."
"Anything missing among the deliveries?" Eraserhead asked, looking at the contraband.
"As far as we can tell, all the crates are full to capacity." the sergeant said, "nothings missing, just like always."
"What are you thinking?" Tsukauchi asked.
"I was thinking that the Rabbit was trying to steal from the Triads, but that's not what he's doing." he looked up as Kamui swung into the warehouse, "lost him?"
"He snuck away again." Kamui growled, pacing in agitation, "how does he keep evading us?"
"More than likely he's using a police scanner to track our movements." Eraserhead explained, looking back to Tsukauchi, "from now on any mention of a hero chasing Jade Rabbit needs to only be conveyed over the Hero Network, we can't risk him using the police radios against us."
"He must be a veritable genius to be able to use a few seconds of warning to get away so fast." the sergeant muttered.
WVWVW
"What do you mean you slipped and fell into a Jell-o factory!?" Melissa exclaimed, staring at the red covered Izuku, who was doing his best to squeeze the last bits of juice out of his hair, his now red-stained uniform in a sopping wet pile on the ground, leaving him in an undershirt and shorts likewise dripping wet and dyed a deep red.
"I mean, someone left a sky-light unlocked, and i landed on it while running from Kamui woods, luckily he didn't see me fall, otherwise i'd have been captured-hrk!" Izuku gasped, coughing and choking when Melissa hit him with a water hose, "w-w-what was that about!?" Izuku spluttered, trying to wipe the water out of his eyes.
"You would've been sticky if i didn't." Melissa giggled as she threw a towel at him, hitting him in the face. "Dry off, I stocked up on some clothes your size in case something like this happened."
'Thanks." Izuku sighed miserably, quickly drying off and taking the clothes Melissa offered him into the bathroom so he could change fully.
"You know, they'll probably catch on pretty soon that we're using the police radio to track them." Melissa shouted through the door as she went back to working on new arrows, "you'll need to get better at evading the heroes or we'll both be in hot water."
"I figure if I start using the sewers I might be able to get away faster." Izuku said, stepping out in gray sweats and a white t-shirt with a bow and arrow on it, "also, really? With the design?"
"Hey, Jade Rabbit Merch is really on the up and up!" she defended herself, "you'll fit right in on the train ride home!"
Izuku sighed again, looking at his uniform, "I have no idea if I'll be able to clean that." he grumbled.
"Don't worry, I can take care of that, but we can also use this opportunity to upgrade your costume." she laughed, gathering up the still wet articles and tossing them into a nearby basket, "we can eliminate the bulky kevlar vest and sweater, replace it with a bodysuit with a kevlar/steel weave, it'll be a little heavier because of the steel, but it'll keep you better protected from attacks of all kinds."
"Shouldn't be a problem, though I'd rather it not be a jumpsuit." Izuku said flippantly, grabbing his bag as he headed out, "you coming? The last train leaves in fifteen minutes."
"I'm working through the night so you'll be ready for tomorrow!" she cheered haughtily.
"I could take a day off, don't run yourself ragged just to help." Izuku said worriedly.
"Please, I got the week off before classes start again, i'll catch up on sleep when i'm done, now go! Wouldn't want to miss that train!"
Izuku hesitated, then nodded, "Thank you Cyber, for everything." he said before walking out of the warehouse, Melissa beaming with happiness as she got to work.
"Must be nice having a week off." Izuku muttered.
WVWVW
It'd been another rough day, more of the other students had begun picking up their old bullying habits as more and more speculation fell on the Jade Rabbit, the whispers had finally began that the verdant vigilante might be quirkless, and no one wanted puny Izuku Midoriya getting any delusions of grandeur.
They probably would've hounded him all the way home had a bright white scooter not drifted into a parking spot right beside him as he was leaving.
"Hey Izuku!" Melissa exclaimed happily as she pulled her helmet off, pushing her tangled blonde hair out of her way as she waved him over, "hurry up! We have a lot of testing to do!"
"Uh…right…" Izuku chuckled nervously, walking over as he ignored the confused and shocked looks he was getting from everyone.
"Hop on the back!" she said, handing him a plain black helmet with subtle green streaks on it,
Really? Rabbit ears? He thought miserably as he looked at the helmet, with a sigh he put it on and climbed onto the back of the scooter,
"Better hold on." she said with a smirk, putting her helmet back on.
"Hold on to wha-WHOA!" Izuku yelped as she suddenly took off, his arms instinctively going around her stomach as they took off. "H-h-h-hold on! Do you have a license!?"
"Who needs a license when you have this kind of horsepower!" Melissa cackled as she gunned the engine, zooming down the road and weaving between cars.
"I'm pretty sure this is illegal!" Izuku cried, shutting his eyes tight as they zoomed through town.
"What are you gonna do Rabbit? Arrest me?" She taunted as she veered through traffic and hit a small overgrown bike trail just off the road that lead into a bit of foliage and then back into a large concrete floodway, about two car lengths across, "I was doing some snooping last night," she began as she slowed their pace so they could talk, "and it turns out these flood ways pass through the majority of Mustafu and neighboring Prefects; Most of its underground so you can avoid being seen, not to mention with these being fairly straight shots with split offs you should be able to reach other towns and cities to widen your operating sphere. Can't have the heroes tracking you down because you're only keeping it in Mustafu and the few towns you can reach via train."
"How am I gonna make it to other prefects and back in one night? I'm not All-Might you know." Izuku questioned, peaking over her shoulder as She snorted.
"Good riddance for that." She grumbled, then seem to perk up as she brought them out of the floodway and up another small dirt road that was a block down from their warehouse, "I worked on a mode of transportation last night, the fabricator will finish your uniform in time for patrol tonight, Giving you time to practice."
"Practice what?" Izuku asked cautiously as they pulled into the warehouse, his eyes widening when he saw a dirt bike sitting beside the work table. Green and black, and slightly bulkier than a regular dirt bike; the gleaming bike looked ready to drive.
There was only one problem.
"I have no idea how to ride a bike." Izuku said, jumping off the scooter when Melissa came to.a stop.
"It's not that hard," Melissa reassured him, "it's like riding your pedal bike, except you're not pedaling, and you have a 500 horsepower engine between your legs powered by an industrial grade battery engine that charges while you drive.'
"Yeah…pedal bike…never learned how to ride that one either." Izuku admitted. Staring at the bike.
"How did you not learn how to ride a bike!?" Melissa exclaimed, "That's a crime! It's like…an American right of passage."
"I'm not american." Izuku pointed out helpfully.
"Semantics! How have you never learned to ride a bike?" She demanded to know.
"Well…riding bikes is kind of what you do with friends…and I never really had any."
Melissa winced at that, then quickly rebounded, "well! It's a good thing you have a super helpful, smart and beautiful friend who will help you learn how to ride this baby!"
"And who is that again?" Izuku teased, jumping when she quickly jabs him in the side, sending a small jolt of electricity up his spine, "what the hell!" he yelped, as she held up the small arrowhead, where two taser prongs were protruding slightly in front of the point.
"New taser heads." she said innocently, "can be set from minor annoyance to knock out. Now, let's get to riding!"
It took a few hours for Izuku to confidently ride the bike without prematurely hitting the break, now there were no jerky hits on the break or attempts to bail off of the surprisingly sturdy bike. After two hours Izuku was zooming down the halls with Melissa right beside him, talking through a headset as they went by the access tunnels that would take him to other wards and prefectures.
"You won't be able to go to multiple places in one night," she told him as they headed back towards their base, "but you'll at least be able to go to different prefectures every night, keep the heroes and cops guessing."
"Where are we going first?" Izuku asked as he pulled into the main base, jumping off and trying to stretch out his cramped limbs, glaring at Melissa when she laughed at his slightly bowlegged waltz.
"I say you head to Saitama, word on the street is Mirko is hitting Hosu to try and find you, be the best place to be."
"That sounds like it'd make her mad, maybe we shouldn't make her mad." Izuku muttered anxiously.
"Please, she won't catch you." Melissa said dismissively as she checked on the fabricator, grinning when she pulled a finished collection of clothes, "here…ya…go!" she grunted, tossing the finished clothes to Izuku, who grunted at the weight. Nodding to himself as he got used to the weight, "barely more than the plate carrier I used." he said begrudgingly, making Melissa grin smugly at him.
"Little more weight for your legs and arms, but it's distributed well." she bragged, "the program should've optimized it so you shouldn't feel much of a difference.
"Well, let's put it on, see how it goes." Izuku said, heading towards the bathroom while Melissa logged into her desktop.
"I got a new software in, we should be on a completely secure channel, keep with code names though." she warned, "radio waves aren't one hundred percent secure, there's always a chance we'll still be picked up by independent radios."
""You got it Cyber." Izuku said as he stepped out, flipping his rabbit-eared cowl over his head, hiding his eyes and domino mask under shadows, he turned left and right, nodding at the ease in which he was able to do so without the hood bunching up or falling back. looking down at the skin tight suit with a critical eye, he was pleased with the dark green and gray highlights of the suit, as well as the relative ease he was able to move. "it's a jumpsuit." he noted, shaking his leg a bit, the slight bagginess in the legs was welcome, as was the dark emerald utility belt; the boots were the same, which he was thankful for, and the hood was staying in place even as he did a couple of flips and rolls to make sure it'd stay.
"There's a magnet in the cowl that keeps it near the domino mask." she explained, noticing what he was testing as her programs booted up, text appearing across her dual screens as her eyes darted between them, "it also keeps the hood down when you pull it off."
"This is great." he praised her, grabbing his bow and quiver as he mounted the bike, "Saitama right? Third tunnel to the left?"
"Yep!" she confirmed, grinning at him, "No new Triad intel, so go out there and see what you can find!"
"I'll clean up Saitama by 1:30." Izuku bragged as he revved the engine of his new bike, "keep me posted on police movement when you can." with that he tore out of the warehouse, speeding out into the tunnels, barely thinking as he took the correct turns down the right tunnels.
"Police haven't even responded to this one yet: we got a run and gun downtown Saitama, they stole three ATM's and are currently evading the likes of Smile Man and the Tick, so how about lets steal this robbery from them."
Izuku grinned as he gunned the engine, speeding through the floodgates at an unprecedented speed, "what's the location?"
WVWVW
The Tick laughed as he jumped after the ATM robbers, his powerful legs allowing him to jump as far as Mirko, though the strength of his strikes left much to be desired,"You'd think these guy's would hit an easier mark!" he laughed to Smile Man, who was easily keeping pace his basic strength enhancing quirk, "ATM's are a bitch to break into."
"Still a lot of money."Smile Man growled, dodging between and over vehicles as he tried to catch up, "if we don't catch them they'll make it off with it!"
"Don't worry, we'll catch up soon-what the hell!" Tick yelped as he rolled to a stop as a Dirt Bike suddenly cut him off, with a rev of the engine, the bike took off, easily outsripping Smile Man and the cars around it as it weaved in and out of traffic.
"The Jade Rabbit?" Smile Man questioned in confusion, the costume was slightly different, but there was no doubt about those ears flapping in the wind behind him, or the bow he pulled taught as he passed the running thieves in their 4X4 truck. With a well placed arrow the two front tires exploded, sending the truck careening across the street and crashing into the guard rail of a particularly sharp curve.
"You're welcome!" Came the fading shout as Jade Rabbit tore through downtown before TIckeven slowed down enough to arrest the robbers.
"Radio in Smile!" Tick called as he grabbed the leader, one of the grunts tried to attack him with a rebound quirk, but he shrugged off the attack and grappled with the man, slamming him to the ground as he put cuffs on him.
"This is Smile Man in Saitama, I have eyes on Jade Rabbit heading north in downtown Saitama-" she began, blinking when the vigilante hit a hard right turn and disappeared by the time he caught up, "where did he-the Rabbit has disappeared! I repeat, the Rabbit has disappeared! All available heroes converge on his last known location.
Rabbit vaulted through several hilly tunnels, having hit an access point into the flood canals, "scratch one group of bank robbers." he said into his headset, "we should start live streaming this."
"That's a good way to catch a Rabbit.' Cyber chided him, "just be happy you're helping, Fame and fortune can come AFTER UA."
"It's not about the fame and fortune Cyber." Rabbit laughed as he peeled out into one of the main streets, bobbing in and out of traffic as he kept his eyes open, looking for any crime to stop, "it's all about helping."
"Right, that's why you've barely cracked down on the Jade Rabbit merch; you know it's illegal for corporations to use your Copyrighted name and badge without paying right?"
"Nothing I have is copyrighted." Izuku muttered, merging onto the freeway where five police cruisers were chasing a Dodge Charger, which was easily outstripping the cruisers in terms of maneuverability and speed. "I don't have a badge either."
"Oh, it's copyrighted, I made sure." Cyber bragged as Izuku weaved through the first responders, rapidly gaining on the fleeing muscle car, "I'll take it to court in Six months, so long as I file your taxes while we do this we have a case! Oh, you're facing quirkless thugs by the way, big Corporate Heist of Detranat."
"Lots of that lately." izuku muttered, hitting the boost on his bike and surging forward, another flip of a switch and two arrows shot out of tubes mounted on the side of his main headlight, both hit the back wheels, making the driver lose control for a second before he corrected his path, sparks shooting into the midnight sky.
"I'm already looking into Detrenat to see what we can find, but their encryption is as bad as UA's, might take me a while."
"Take all the time you need!" Rabbit grunted as he hit a particularly steep incline, sending him flying into the sky over the dodge charger, with expert timing he aimed a taser arrow at the driver, letting it loose before his front tire even touched the pavement.
He was already three blocks down before the cops took the now crashed occupants of said charger into custody, "there's been too many targeted hits on Detrenat to not investigate, especially now that they're trying to break into the support gear game. Doesn't sit right with me."
"Agreed, they're way too invested in the Quirk Superiority theory then I'm comfortable with." Cyber agreed, "until I get some concrete Evidence: there's been a reported Serial mugger in the area, he targets lone civilians who don't look like they'll fight back in Mae Park, think you can get there before Vector?"
"Is the Pope catholic?" he laughed as he once again gunned the engine, streaking through the town without a care in the world.
WVWVW
The next morning: UA High School.
Shouta Aizawa didn't understand what was so hard about catching a single teenage Vigilante.
If the reports were to be believed, then this potentially fifteen year old had the skills of a top fifty pro with the drive of a top ten in arrests and cases closed.
From eye witness accounts the Rabbit was a klutzy, gag character that shouldn't of even made it passed his first week debut, one of their first eyewitness accounts swore he'd slammed into the wall of the alleyway when he'd made his escape, but 'it was too dark to be certain'. Death Arms and Backdraft had sworn he had accidentally revealed his position above them after he'd stopped three armed robbers of a downtown Bodega; and yet some of the brightest minds available to the hero association had yet to have the fortune of catching him on and off the streets.
"Ah Aizawa, it's good you've joined us." The principal of UA laughed as Shouta strode into the meeting room, eyeing the dozen or so Underground heroes that ringed the table, some of them didn't even have names; preferring the unknown to spread fear amongst the low lifes of their towns. All of them are here to help deal with the vigilante Jade Rabbit.
"Now, you all know why you're here." Principal Nezu began as he hit a button and a holographic display came to life, showing the few pictures they had of the Rabbit, jumping between rooftops and the one video they had of one of his first take downs, posing atop the highest building in the area and proclaiming himself more of a midwestern hare, "the Jade Rabbit has gained a certain notoriety amongst the populace in the last two months."
"His work is mostly clean." one of the heroes-smoke, Aizawa thinks Idly-commented, "he's yet to cross the same lines Stendahl did. Nor is he hitting the high profile targets, he's keeping himself to small fry drug dealers and crime of opportunity. He hasn't even tried to steal the spotlight like so many others."
"That's what makes him dangerous." a rat-faced hero rebutted, his whiskers twitching as he seemed to mull over his words, "he's out there taking targets at random, who knows if he'll suddenly switch targets from villains, to heroes."
"I doubt it's that serious," Snipe muttered from his position near the head of the table, "far as we can tell he wants to catch criminals. Nothing else suggests otherwise."
"He's been hitting a specific triad when he can." Man-Bat retorted, the bat-like man flapped his wings in agitation as he did, "it's very likely he's doing this as revenge."
"Revenge for what?" Aizawa questioned, making everyone look to him, "if his target was revenge, Then I doubt he'd be going after these small time criminals, he'd keep his focus completely on the Triad-"
"-So you suggest we just ignore the blatant targeting?" Man-Bat scoffed, others around him whispering in agitated agreement.
"I didn't say that." Aizawa sighed tiredly, leaning forward, hands clasped on the table in front of him, "The fact of the matter is: we don't know what his drive is, until we do, anything we guess is hearsay."
"What do you propose to change this, Eraser?" Nezu asked curiously.
"I propose we begin sending out heroes with the specific mission of smoking out this Jade Rabbit." The tired man began, "for the last two months he's been alternating where he begins and ends his patrols; always within a bus ride of Mustafu. Last night he was sighted in Saitama; twice the distance he usually travels. If we don't stop this soon, we may just lose him in the countryside when he decides to go to ground."
"And how will we decide where we begin our search?" X-Less asked, jutting his chin out, "you said it yourself, our search goes from Saitama to Mustafu and the surrounding areas in between; how do we narrow that down?"
"We station one of us at each hot spot." one of the unknown heroes piped up, scratching at his coyote-like muzzle as he spoke, "we know where he's hit the most frequent, so we concentrate our efforts there; we put a few scouts on the lesser hit areas and we keep monitoring until someone gets a hit. After that we start increasing our numbers until we can intercept him. It's a long con, but it might work."
"Best idea we've had so far." Man-Bat muttered, "we'll have to be careful, the Triad is actively hunting for the Rabbit, they might try and piggy back off our operation if we move to obviously."
"Leave that to me." X-Less said, jabbing a thumb at his chest, "I got some contact and moles that can throw out some false information, keep the triad from figuring us out at least."
"We keep all communication on a strictly secured and encoded channel." Nezu piped up, "we know they've been monitoring the police radio, it's best to add another layer of protection in case they figure out how to hack the Hero Network.'
"They?" Aizawa asked, looking at the rodent that was his boss.
"Indeed, the Rabbit's sudden change after his first two weeks in both Cyber Security and his physical patrols suggest he's found a partner to help organize and encode his work." Nezu said solemnly, "he isn't like your typical vigilante that's easy to find online and even easier to take down; the Rabbit is very much a capable opponent, and if we're not careful he may just slip through our fingers no matter how tightly woven the trap is."
WVWVW
The town of Providence burned. Not a single soul would survive the Hellfire that engulfed it.
The only indication a town once stood where the smoldering ruins now resided was the small cluster of Motorcycles that left the now Ghost town behind, stopping deep in the desert where no unfortunate soul could pass them by accident.
"Fed's are gonna be on our trail soon enough." one of the riders said gruffly, the shadows of the midnight moon keeping his face hidden as others joined him, "we fulfilled our part of the bargain: Providence is burned. You got your revenge."
"Not yet." a tired voice rasped, it came from a wiry man, visage hidden in the shadows by his broad brimmed hat, only the twin revolvers glinted dully in the moonlight, "Providence was only a small part of the cancer, If I want my revenge, true revenge. Then I must travel to the land of the rising sun."
The rider grunted, "you'll do it without us." he said, "we put our necks out far enough already."
"And I'm grateful." with a grunt, the vagabond turned his bike on. "Tell no one of my intentions, I'll know if you didn't." With that he was gone, roaring through the desert with nary a care in the world.
"Good Luck Slinger." the lead rider muttered, watching the man disappear into the desert, and keeping vigil long after he was gone and the camp fires were nothing but smoldering piles of ash, "show them what Hellfire really is."