I only own this fan fiction. May contain Out of Character moments.
All Fenghuang had to show was a simple device, whose screen showed a simple map and a moving dot, in order for Izuku, Minoru, Saigai, and Kazama to understand what their shifu had done.
At some point in her fight against Stain, she managed to slip a tracking device onto him.
Now, they'll follow the signal all the way back to their hideout and take them down in one fell swoop.
However, given that they need to leave behind a lot of people, due to injuries and clean-up, Fenghuang decided to call in a favor with Heroes they had been meeting. So it was here, in an upper-class suburban neighborhood in Gunma, that Fenghuang, Eclipse, Vengador, Izuku, and Minoru waited just down the street from Crimson's hideout for their back-up. It must've only been a 3 minute wait when the sound of multiple footsteps appeared behind them.
"Punctual as always. I'm glad you could make it, Mr. Number One." Fenghuang said as she and her group turned around. And before them were the Endeavor Agency, with the Flame Hero himself leading them as per usual. Though before Endeavor could address the Radiant Wing, Eclipse threw a small knife over everyone's heads. It had struck something metallic on a nearby telephone pole, causing it to roll off and land in front of them all.
It was some kind of spherical robot with loads of antenna sticking out of it, the knife going through the center of the meshing that was its front. It honestly looked like that old satellite the Russians sent into space way back when.
"Form a perimeter around that house! We cannot allow Crimson to escape now that we've found their hideout! Endeavor, take your most capable and follow us!" Fenghuang ordered, realizing what this robot meant for them. And so, without any sort of delay, the two Hero groups rushed towards the house at the end of the street.
"Right into the action! As it should be!" Bakugou shouted, blasting further ahead of the group.
"When Fenghuang called us for assistance, Bakugou got really excited. I think he's been wanting to fight Crimson for a while now." Todoroki said, sliding along the path his ice created.
"Makes sense… Kacchan enjoys winning against people who are as strong or stronger than him." Izuku replied with a chuckle as Minoru clung to his back.
"Well, he's going to be disappointed. We fought them before coming here, so they're not going to be in top condition." The shorter boy said.
"So that's why there's only five of you from the Heaven and Earth Temple… It must've been a rough fight if this is all you can muster." Todoroki said, looking between his classmates, Fenghuang, Vengador, and Eclipse.
"You have no idea." Izuku and Minoru replied, weariness in their voice. Bakugou blasted open the front gate and a quarter of Endeavor's sidekicks rushed in with him while the rest began surrounding the property. It was such a nice place too. 3 stories, plenty of room and space, a well kept garden…
"Crimson! We know you're in there! Surrender now, or face the full might of the Number One Hero!" Endeavor shouted, flames burning bright. There had been no response from within, causing everyone to prepare to raid the abode.
"I warned you!" He shouted as he ran towards the door. But when he tried to blast it open, the door didn't budge. Hell, it didn't even burn and was only singed by the intense flames of Endeavor. The man then tried to strike the door down, only for it to withstand the attack as well. Bakugou then tried blasting open a window only to find it unscathed. Izuku attempted to blow open a hole in a wall, breaking open the outer brickwork.
But instead of revealing a hole to the inside, it was just another wall. And that one was so sturdy, even another one of the green haired boy's attacks simply bounced off.
"They've reinforced it from the inside-out! The place is a fortress in plain sight!" Vengador shouted. Eclipse tried to lockpick the door, but was finding it extraordinarily difficult to get his picks to find the correct position.
"... This is a custom lock, an ordinary lockpicking kit will not suffice." He said, the frustration clear in his voice.
"Then how the fuck are we getting in!? Every centimeter of this place is unbreakable!" Bakugou shouted.
"Calm down, it's not like they can go anywhere with us surrounding them. I'll just melt this doorknob off, lock and all." Endeavor said as he began superheating it. However, the moment the door knob turned white hot, a 'fwoosh' was heard and flames had completely enveloped the building's interior. Had they just caused a gas fire? At least it didn't explode on them…
But now they've got an entirely different issue to resolve.
"I've contacted the fire department and the network for support! But we must get this fire under control!" Fenghuang shouted.
"Just our luck, huh? We must put out a fire with Heroes known for their fire power." Vengador commented with a serious and grim smile.
"This is not the time for jokes! Shouto! Can you put this fire out!?" Endeavor shouted, looking towards his son. The dual-colored boy shook his head with a frustrated look on his face.
"Only if I can get my right hand inside, but every part of this building is still holding strong!"
Minoru then thought about why it was that they couldn't break through, despite all their firepower. His mind went to Damocles and his armor and how tough it was to break through. Whoever makes and repairs Crimson's gear must've been here at the hideout too, reinforcing the house with the same materials. And the Temple's gear is the only thing known to have an effect on Damocles's armor… So could the same thing be said about this building?
That's when the shorter boy threw his collapsed staff towards Izuku, his partner realizing what to do with it.
"Shouto! Get your biggest freeze ready!" Minoru shouted, extending his baton. Todoroki simply nodded and placed his hands together, fingers linked, in front of him with intense concentration. As Izuku began striking at the window, with it starting to crack under One for All empowered strikes, Minoru then handed his baton to Bakugou.
"Out of the way Deku!" The explosive blonde shouted as his hand glowed with power. And the moment Izuku moved out of the way, the glass showing a sizable amount of cracks, Bakugou threw the baton with an ear-rending explosion. Because of the size and light weight of the baton, it flew like a bullet and struck the damaged window tip first.
And that was enough to punch through, leaving a fist-sized hole in the glass for heat and flames to spill out.
Immediately, Todoroki stuck his right hand through, barely flinching at the immense heat from within the building. A pale, flame-like cloud then exploded from his hand, freezing anything and everything it touches. Before long, the crackling heat from the house was replaced with a chilled silence.
"Woah! What was that!?" Minoru asked as their classmate removed his hand from the hole.
"Something I'm working on… But it takes so much concentration to pull it off, that I need a lot more training before I can ever use it in a fight." He replied as Bakugou blew out the rest of the broken glass. And immediately did Endeavor, several of his sidekicks, Eclipse, and Vengador stormed in through the window, shouting 'clear' as they progressed through the large home.
"You four do your school proud, excellent work. Now come, I doubt they'll still be around in that inferno… But let's see if Crimson left behind any clues to their whereabouts." Fenghuang said, smiling at the UA students before going into the building herself.
"Well this is the worst night of my life… Fuckers should've done a last stand… Would've been epic…" Bakugou grumbled as he went in. Minoru simply shook his head as he followed the explosive blonde in, Todoroki and Izuku behind him.
They had stepped into a frost covered living room, the furniture beneath the layer of ice charred black by the earlier flames. But other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary with this room. And moving into the dining room and kitchen, there was nothing strange about it either as two of Endeavor's sidekicks were checking the stove's gas line to ensure they didn't have another fiery explosion in waiting. Even the 1st floor bathroom was completely normal.
The only strange room they found was the workshop, which converted multiple rooms into a single space with all the tools and materials needed to make it functional.
"This must be where they make and maintain all their gear…" Izuku commented, looking at the piles of scorched ingots in the corner.
"No shit Sherlock. Or do you think all homes have blacksmithing tools in them?" Bakugou replied, picking up a hefty blacksmith hammer left by an anvil.
"My question is how did the neighborhood not hear the sounds of someone striking metal? Is this room soundproof?" Todoroki asked, knocking on the burned walls.
"I imagine it must be if Crimson used this place as long as they did." Minoru answered, finding a burnt shelf full of blueprint rolls that practically crumbled upon the slightest agitation.
The 4 of them then went to the upper floors. The first room they came across was barred as it was full of guns and ammo, with two sidekicks carefully checking their integrity after the fire. The next was an average bedroom… Except it also had an incredibly sophisticated computer set-up against the wall across from the bed. 6 monitors, a huge case, bundles of wires all tied up behind it… Or at least, that's what Minoru could pick out from the melted remains.
Moving on, there was some kind of rustic brewing machine in another one of the bedrooms. None of them could tell what the thing was for, especially not now since it was damaged by the fire… But combined with the surviving medical tools discovered in the room, it was easy to guess that it was for synthesizing medicine for a doctor to use.
But other than those two, the remaining rooms were ordinary bedrooms. Well, they were now as any personalizations to them had gone with the flames.
The final floor was the oddest of them. All the interior walls were knocked down and the ceiling and half the outer walls were replaced with glass. On the glass side of the floor, there were rows of tables with burnt planters full of dirt and ash. Whatever was growing up here was most likely for the machine downstairs in the doctor's room. The other half was empty, with the only thing surviving on that side are what appeared to be weapon racks.
Was that a training area for Crimson?
"It must've taken a lot of work to get this whole place exactly the way they want it… So even if we couldn't capture them tonight, we've dealt a serious blow to Crimson." Todoroki said, picking up a piece of burnt wood.
"Well look at you, being all optimistic… But we've still got some self-righteous pricks somewhere out there." Bakugou replied, swatting the garbage out of their dual-colored classmate's hand.
"As much as I don't like agreeing with him, the explosive turd's got a point. We're going to have to fight later down the line… We're going to have to get stronger for when that day comes." Minoru said, scratching at the back of his head before turning to Izuku.
"Then we'll get it done just like we did today. We pushed them this far, what's a couple more kilometers?" Izuku replied with a hope filled smile. Minoru couldn't help but smile at that as well, patting his partner's arm with all the weight of his emotions. But before the shorter boy could respond properly, Bakugou grabbed Minoru by the cape and began dragging him off.
"Alright, alright, enough with the motivational bullshit and let's get on with it. I'm pretty sure our mentors found something while we were dicking around sightseeing." He said, stomping towards the stairs.
Izuku and Todoroki followed as the 4 made their way back downstairs where they found Endeavor and Fenghuang standing by the hallway closet. The floorboards within had been removed to reveal an incredibly sturdy looking hatch that Eclipse was lockpicking. And based on his incredible focus, Minoru knew there might be a chance for him to break it open.
"What did you think of the house? Cozy, functional, and well camouflaged... Shame it had caught fire though, I could use a quiet getaway like this. But It's little wonder Crimson was able to operate for so long without raising any sort of suspicion." Fenghuang said with a small chuckle.
"So what's with the hatch? You think Crimson escaped through there?" Minoru asked, watching Eclipse put in another pin. There were already 8 of them within the lock, making the shorter boy wonder how this lock was pickable and not the front door.
"My sidekicks hadn't mentioned anyone suspicious lurking around in the surrounding area. And if there's no other secret left in this house, then this is the only place they could've gone to. The hatch is as reinforced as the rest of the house too, buying extra time for them to escape." Endeavor explained.
He didn't sound like it, but Minoru saw the Flame Hero was tapping his foot quite impatiently. Perhaps he really doesn't like the fact that there was nothing he could do but wait until the hatch was open.
"They might have dug into the sewers to make use of the pre-made tunnels to escape long distances. It can also prevent certain heroes, like Endeavor, from following them. Flame Hero, I recommend you start collecting information from the neighbors. Their testimonies could tell us more about the former occupants of this building." Eclipse said, putting in another pin.
"That sounds better than waiting here and doing nothing. Shouto, Bakugou, we're going." Endeavor said with angry relief, ready to head out the door.
"Do you mind looking after my students for a bit? I don't exactly want them crawling around such a place, especially when we've only got 3 sanitation kits." Fenghuang asked, tapping the current Number One on the shoulder with her staff. And on cue, Vengador came in with 3 transparent bags that Minoru could see heavy duty rubber gloves, boots, coveralls, and gas mask.
Now Minoru was glad that he and Eclipse didn't go through an actual sewer during their mission together a few weeks back.
"... Very well. I still owe you for last time. However, I expect you two to pull your weight again. Gathering testimonies are usually left for the police, but we don't have the luxury to wait for them. And sorting through them can be far more challenging than basic Hero work, since we must figure out the truth from a sea of conflicting facts." Endeavor said before gruffly turning to Izuku and Minoru.
The two boys stiffened up and gave an affirmative nod, feeling the same pressure they did when they temporarily worked under him before.
"You know, Grape Shot's an artist in his free time. If we can't get any photos of the people who used to live here, he could draw their faces from testimonies alone." Todoroki said, pointing to the shorter boy. Endeavor raised an eyebrow as his sharp eyes fell on Minoru, causing the shorter boy to nod carefully but proudly.
"Then we'll get you a sketch pad and some pencils. Now let's go. There are several dozen people in this neighborhood and I suspect we'll be up for a few hours more." Endeavor said, walking out the now open front door.
"Good luck." Fenghuang said simply as Eclipse finally unlocked the heavy metal hatch.
"You two Shifu. We'll see you tomorrow morning." Minoru said as he and Izuku bowed. The two then ran out the door, though not without hearing Bakugou's grumbling from behind them.
"Ugh, this just keeps getting better."
…
…
…
When morning came, only then could the Heroes get some rest.
Door to door, Izuku and Minoru followed one of Endeavor's sidekicks and began taking down testimonies. The green haired boy, with his quick penmanship, was able to keep accurate notes of what was being said about the former occupants that were seen going in and out of Crimson's hideout. The shorter boy, with his artistic skill, drew up mugshots of the former occupants, giving them some idea on what some of Crimson's unseen team members look like.
The first was a man in his late 20s, average height and build, had blue eyes with an intense stare, and dirty blond hair with noticeable stubbles on his face. He was a surgeon/doctor back in the vast open steppes of Russia and was currently studying abroad. And despite the man's rough exterior, he was a kind man who offered inexpensive medicines that cured some of the neighbors' sicknesses in the past. His name was Burakh.
The second was a young girl, looked like she just graduated high school, tall and slender, had long and cool blue hair, and had similarly cool blue eyes behind big, round glasses. The neighbors honestly never saw much of her, only ever spotting her going out of that house once in a blue moon. But the children of the neighborhood love her as she would often play video games with them at the park. Her name, though it was more of a nickname the kids gave her, was Aoi.
The last person was in his mid 20s, was tall and well built, had rather nondescript dark hair, and had this determined and hopeful shine in his dark brown eyes. The man was often seen reading history books at cafes and libraries, usually helping college students study the material as well. He's also sometimes seen walking around with bandages, claiming they were from getting into fights with hooligans harassing said students. His name was Fukutsu Ishi.
And a lot of people spoke highly of these 3 people… So it was incredibly hard for them to believe that they were part of the fearsome vigilante group Crimson.
Still, they got information and a profile on at least 3 of the members of their team. So when dawn broke, they had all gotten back together back at the burnt out base of Crimson. Fenghuang, Vengador, and Eclipse had long since returned from their underground journey and showered, though with nothing to show for it.
"There are at least 7 different exit points out of the sewers from this building, each having its own benefits and detriments as an escape route. Since it stretches far beyond our initial cordon and away from prying eyes, I doubt anyone would've noticed them emerge. And I doubt we can follow their scent anymore, since too much time has passed and they must've been as prepared as we were to enter such a place. We've lost them…" Eclipse said, the exhaustion and anger clear in his voice.
"I share in your frustration Master Eclipse… But it's bad for morale if we only just focus on the negatives of this whole experience. We've forced Crimson to abandon their main base and we proved it is possible to fend them off should they emerge again. And they've even given us information regarding the supposed crimes of Martian Support Logistics and Dr. Walter Ebbe." Fenghuang said with a more optimistic tone.
"Speaking of… Where is that SSD that Stain handed to you?" Vengador asked.
"I gave it to Mr. Number One, as an apology for coming all this way for nothing. He'll be taking care of that while we redouble our efforts in figuring out Crimson's next move. I'm certain there's some contingency they have in mind should they abandon this location. And I'm sure we can find some clue of it here amidst the ashes and cinders. So…" Fenghuang replied as she took a moment to look at the worn but determined faces of her fellow Heroes.
"Can I ask you for some more of your time today?"
"Yes Shifu!"
And that has been Chapter 145!
Sometimes, the best laid plans can be countered by the plans of another. This is why we must always be on our feet and be ready when things go awry.
I don't really have any news this week, so...
Until Next Time. T1.