章 2302: 44
"It looks like the dynamic duo of Lizardy and Dragonfly are at it yet again! What kinds of dangerous escapades will we be undergoing this time?"
"Hopefully nothing too exciting," Izuku mumbled. "I'm still a bit tired from all the extra exercises Aizawa has me doing."
"Which are entirely on you," Setsuna said. "I mean sure, Bakugou's a bit of an ass—"
"Just a bit?"
"Good point. A Fuji-sized asshole," Setsuna corrected."But you really must have a death wish if you thought fighting him was a good idea. In fact, all the nonstop fighting that you're doing just helps prove my point."
"Which brings us to my other point," Setsuna continued. "You still haven't given me a proper answer as to how you got approved to go on work study. I thought for sure that all of your punishments would have barred the privilege in the first place."
The punishments did just that. Or, more specifically, they would have if Izuku didn't have a few people pulling the strings for him. Nezu was one of them. He compromised with Aizawa to simply have the punishment time increased (again). And then there were the police, who for some reason wanted him out and about on whatever case Edgeshot was about to commit to. He'd have to ask the man about it later.
"And I already told you: the principal just wants me to experience work study. He thinks I need it, so he told Aizawa to just tack on the remaining time of my punishments when I'm actually at school."
It was as close to the truth that he could explain without revealing the wrong things. Still, Setsuna harrumphed.
"Fine. Be that way."
Izuku knew that Setsuna knew that he was hiding something. But he wouldn't crack. It'd be a while until he told any of his friends about his secret double (triple?) lifestyles.
"Midoriya. Tokage. Nice to see you two again."
The ninja had appeared behind the duo as they were nearing his agency. Edgeshot's sudden arrival startled them — even Izuku, who had barely noticed the man's movements before it was too late.
"Ah, Edgeshot! It's nice to see you too!" Setsuna cheered. "How have things been going around here since our internships?"
"It's been mostly quiet," Edgeshot began. He started walking into his agency, motioning for the two to follow. "However, 'quiet' doesn't necessarily mean what it should these days. There have been a few criminal activities that we've been privy to in the past months, of course. For example, it was just last week that we caught some individuals that were selling Trigger. But other than that, nothing too big has happened in Kyoto."
"Well, that's good to hear," Izuku said. His face suddenly tightened, his tone more montone. "Has Centaur been caught yet?"
Edgeshot shook his head. "No. But we have been tracking his movements. That's what our next assignment is."
They had reached a room that had two other individuals in it. One was Highbrow, evident by his costume and the bulging muscles that peered through. However, the woman standing beside Highbrow was somebody that Izuku wasn't familiar with.
Similar to Edgeshot, she was wearing clothing that many would attribute to a ninja. Her outfit consisted entirely of form-fitting black garments complete from head to toe; the costume was accented by pristine, royal blue lines that spanned down each of her every limb.
She was rather muscular too, if the way her form showed through her costume was anything to go by. Izuku honestly thought that she was nearing Highbrow in that regard, and that the image of a ninja was lost in that aspect. But he wasn't complaining.
"Midoriya, Tokage," Edgeshot said, gesturing to the unknown woman. "This is Reverb. She's another one of my sidekicks. She'll also be partaking in this mission alongside us."
"Hi there," Reverb said, her voice low in tone. She moved over and eagerly shook both Izuku and Setsuna's hands. "It's nice to see you two returning to us, you know. I didn't get to meet you two last time around. But dang, I've got to say that you two did well in corralling in Centaur when you were here.
"Keh. That they did," Highbrow added. "But of course, that was only after I softened him up for them."
"Yeah yeah yeah. Of course you did," deflected Reverb. She then turned to Edgeshot. "That aside, what's the word boss?"
Edgeshot nodded. "Take a seat. We'll be here for a few minutes."
"Ha! Mission debrief already!? You sure work fast, Edgeshot," Setsuna cheered, taking her seat. "What, you already trying to tire us out?"
"Something came up," Edgeshot supplied. "We have very little time to act, is all."
Edgeshot walked over to a board, one that was set up with various pictures and red strings. "We recently caught on to a lead on Centaur's location."
A rather loud guffaw burst forth from Highbrow upon his hearing of the words. "Finally! Took Snakeskin long enough!"
"Snakeskin?" Izuku asked.
"Another one of my sidekicks," Edgeshot informed. "He's been tracking Centaur for the past month; a very long month, filled with too many close calls than I'd like. As is, he's currently on his way back, but he won't be contributing to the operation. He deserves a rest for now."
Edgeshot turned back to the board. "As it turns out, Snakeskin discovered a lot more than I had anticipated. Centaur's meeting up with the yakuza — a group called Twisted Dragon."
"Usually, the organization scatters its members throughout the entirety of Japan, never gathering together for the exception of two times a year within a mansion owned by one of their leaders. Luckily for us, the year's second meeting is tonight."
"You mean today?" Setsuna asked. "That's some rather coincidental timing… and that means we're planning on taking them down tonight."
"How many members do they have exactly?" Izuku asked.
"I was just getting to that," Edgeshot said. "As is, Twisted Dragon has a little over a hundred members. Thankfully for us, a good majority of those members have low-powered quirks."
"Over a hundred?" Izuku asked. "We're… going to have help with that, right?"
"Not that we'd really need any due to your bugs." Edgeshot chuckled. "But yes, we are. The police are joining up with us in Sapporo."
"Sapporo?" Setsuna asked. "You mean all the way in Hokkaido?"
"Unless you know of another Sapporo?" Edgeshot asked.
"But that's all the way across the country," Izuku said. "And the op's supposed to happen tonight. How are we going to get there on time?"
"We have that covered," Edgeshot merely said. "No need to worry about transportation. We'll get there in time."
"If you say so," Izuku relented.
"Good," Edgeshot nodded. "As for the main point of the operation: Twisted Dragon's leaders."
Edgeshot gestured to three mugshots on the board. "Twisted Dragon has three leaders, all of which command a portion of the organization."
Edgeshot pointed to the first picture, which showcased a balding man whose face was entirely covered by a dragon tattoo.
"The first is Daijiro. He's one of the original founders. His quirk, Combat Stance, is rather simple, but undeniably effective. It allows him to instantaneously become a master of unknown fighting styles."
Highbrow scoffed. "Unknown fighting styles? You serious?"
"Mhm," Edgeshot responded. "It's his unpredictability that makes him so hard to counter. There's a reason he's still around today."
He pointed to the next portrait; a woman with box braided hair and a rather nasty looking scar running across her cheek to her mouth.
"This is Akeno. She's been around almost as long as Daijiro. Her quirk, Light Shield, is somewhat misleading based on the name. In truth, while she can make hard light shields, she can do the same for weapons. They dissipate shortly after leaving her hands."
Edgeshot pointed to the last image. This one showcased a rather young looking man with a rather bushy mustache that was accented by a smirk.
"Lastly is Kentaro. He's the newest leader as far as we can tell, taking leadership after killing the previous leader nearly a year ago. His position has been left unquestioned ever since, even if the other two bud heads with him from time to time."
"And his quirk?" Reverb asked.
"As of now, still unknown," Edgeshot admitted. "Therefore, deal with him with the utmost caution. Consider him capable of a whole slew of things, and the most dangerous of the three."
Edgeshot turned away from the board and pointed to the door. "That's all you need to know for now. The rest of the information — tactics, strategies, and the such — will be part of the debrief when we get to Hokkaido. For now, have some sleep. It's going to be a long night."
Effectively dismissed, everyone stood up from their seats. However, as they did so, Edgeshot spoke out once more. "Except for you, Midoriya. I need to have a word with you."
"Ohhoho! Looks like somebody's in trouble," teased Setsuna. "Looks like I'll be catching up with you later, 'zuku. For now, I'll be talking with the agency's other resident female!" She turned, heading out the door. "Reverb!~"
The door swung closed, signifying the departure of all who didn't need to be in the room. Edgeshot walked over to it and ensured it was locked.
Izuku looked at Edgeshot unblinking. "So… what is it, Edgeshot?"
"I spoke with your handler last week. I must say, Miss Kaniyashiki is rather… loose in her policies."
"Oh," Izuku laughed. "So,eh, you know…"
"No need to be so secretive about it," Edgeshot said. "As the one hosting your work study, I was informed about what was needed to know about you."
"Which is…"
Edgeshot crossed his arms. "Everything."
Izuku nodded to himself. "I suppose that makes sense."
"Yes. Now, I won't say that I'm happy with this revelation, but I can't exactly say that I fault you. I had similar aspirations when I was a child, after all."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "You did?"
Edgeshot slightly nodded. "I know what it feels like, to stand back helpless and not do anything when you could have helped."
The hero pointed a finger out to Izuku.
"Obviously, I had much more restraint than you did, but I suppose that part of why you even considered vigilantism in the first place was due to the relatively untraceable nature of your bugs."
Izuku nearly retorted to that, but conceded to Edgeshot's knowledge. "Yeah. That's partially part of it."
"That's expected. Though, I must give credit where it's due. It took years for you to be caught. And besides, Kawabata simply let you go off, and he knew what you were doing. He would've stopped you if he thought you were going to get yourself killed."
Izuku smiled. "Thank you, Edgeshot… I think?"
"Don't mention it." The hero nodded. "Though, one last thing. The others won't know about this until later, but this op's a rather finicky one. While on the surface, we're taking part in this raid due to Centaur's presence, there's something more sinister afoot."
"There's a greater case involved with what we're doing tonight. And if I'm understanding what I heard from your handler, it's likely you'll be on this case until its closure."
Edgeshot then motioned Izuku away, motioning for the door. "Off now. Get some rest. We're leaving by ten, tonight."
There was a huge crack and a whoosh, and suddenly there was a man standing in front of them that wasn't there just a moment before.
"Hey everybody!" The man said, his arm moving up in a half wave. "You all ready to go?"
"Not yet," Edgeshot said. "We're still waiting on one of my sidekicks, Reverb often oversleeps. Hope you don't mind."
"No, no. That's fine," the man waved off. "I don't have any other appointments all night, so I can wait as long as need be."
"Ah. Thank you, Traveler," Edgeshot said, shaking the man's hand. "As always, your services are appreciated."
Traveler simply nodded, his head shifting around Edgeshot to spot the costumed forms of Setsuna and slightly bouncing Izuku.
"Was that some sort of teleportation?" Izuku asked, scanning the man up and down.
"Why, yes it was," Traveler responded, his head tilting. "Huh, you two are pretty young, aren't you? It reminds me of my own daughter!"
He raced over to the two, pulling out a picture and waving it around in their faces. "Look at her! Isn't she a cutie? I'm heading over to see her right after this! And wouldn't you know, she wants to be a big, strong hero! Just like you two!"
The man went around talking about his daughter — and even included Edgeshot and Highbrow in his gushing — for the full two minutes it took for Reverb to finally arrive. When Reverb finally arrived, Traveler snapped out of his reverie and shuffled around to the front of the group.
"Right, ehem. Well, is everybody ready?" He was met with various nods.
"Well alright! From Kyoto to nearby Sapporo, here we come!"
A crack and a whoosh later, and the group of six found themselves nearly nine hundred miles away on the island of Hokkaido.
The radio cracked to life, the voice of Edgeshot streaming through the device. "How's it looking, Midoriya?"
"Well… I've scouted as much as I can. I'm counting around ninety-seven individuals throughout the complex. There are a couple of drones as well, hovering around on patrol. They look harmless, but then again the alarms aren't blaring about on the sign of intruders, so I could be wrong at that aspect."
"And the high priority targets?" Edgeshot inquired.
"Akeno's in the dining hall surrounded by a bunch of her goons. The feast is under way, so they probably won't be expecting us. Centaur's there too, by the way. And Daijiro's on the top floor in one of the bedrooms. He's… uh… well, with some others. Doing the dirty."
"Hmm. I see. Any word on Kentaro?"
"Not sure. There's a basement in this place, right?"
"If what we have on the floor plans are correct, yes."
"Then he's probably there. As far as I can tell, there's only one door leading there, and it's guarded by two individuals. A woman who has a couple guns and a bow, and a guy who's twitching a lot."
"Firearms and twitching. Those sound like Kizu and Frisk. They often are seen in Kentaro's presence, so it's likely that your hypothesis of him is correct. But can't you get a couple of your bugs inside the room? Vents or anything?"
"No, it's completely sealed in. All the crevices, vents, and such have some sort of growths blocking them. And each growth is doing something different to my bugs: killing, knocking out, and other things. From the brief overview I was able to do on the membership list that we have, I'm guessing it's Pathogen. But aside from that, what's the status of the others?"
"That's why I chimed in, actually," Edgeshot said. "Highbrow's team on the west entrance is in position. Setsuna, Reverb, and the other officers are ready in the east. We're waiting for your go."
"Oh." Izuk took a pause considering his role that was previously assigned to him. "In that case, could I possibly... deal with Daijiro, at the very least? He's vulnerable where he is right now. The window to his room is open; he wouldn't be expecting it."
"As I'm sure he wouldn't." Edgeshot sighed. "Fine, go ahead. Just remember, try not to mutilate him too much. That goes for any other individuals you decide to take out."
"Of course, Edgeshot. I wouldn't dream of it."
"Sure." Another sigh. "Edgeshot out." And the radio crackled off.
"Hmm. Shame that they're limiting your usefulness. You could send all your bugs in there and deal with the problem in minutes."
Izuku sighed. "Tell me about it."
"Wel—"
"And I don't want to hear about your anti-police propaganda again."
"Fine."
Izuku used his bugs to watch as the two groups of law enforcement closed in on the mansion. He sent a swarm just below the window just outside of the room that held Daijiro, not worrying that their buzzing would get noticed. The room's occupants were a bit loud, after all.
Izuku didn't pounce on his target until the gates surrounding the mansion came tumbling down, eliciting a loud screeching of metal. Though most within the mansion were looking around in confusion, there were a select few who immediately sprung to action.
Centaur immediately moved, leaving the dining room in a hurry. Then there was Daijiro, who stopped his actions when the gates came down. Just as Izuku had hoped he would.
As the villain arose from his position on the bed, the waiting cloud of bugs swarmed in. Combined with the abruptness of the action and the fact that millions of tiny opponents had converged on him all at once, his unpredictable fighting stance didn't do much to protect him. It didn't take long for him to be neutralized.
Izuku ignored the other individuals that had instantly begun to funnel out of the room. Some other things had caught his attention. For one, the thirty or so drones had suddenly transformed as the police had broken through, shifting from floating rectangles into flying drones covered in guns, saws, and various others weaponry.
A few of the drones set themselves on the invading police. However, what stood out more to Izuku was when ten of the drones made their way to Centaur, surrounding him like a sort of honor guard. That was when Izuku noticed Centaur making his way to the basement.
Izuku sent his swarm to the basement door. The swarm was halfway there when the few scouts Izuku had watching the basement saw Centaur reach the door to the basement. The door opened from within, Centaur entering the room beyond shortly after Kizu had done so.
It only took a few more seconds until Izuku's swarm floated down the stairway leading to the basement. His swarm almost immediately bumped into Frisk, who was holding a rather manic smile on his face. Izuku prepared to take down the threat, but he didn't have a chance to. Frisk zoomed away in a blur and through the door. However, much to Izuku's surprise, the door didn't close behind the villain.
Izuku steadily positioned his swarm until it floated just outside the doorway. From his first glance, Izuku saw nine individuals waiting within, mulling around without a care. There were some he recognized, like Kizu, Frisk, and Centaur.
Then there were the others: a young girl that had the same growths blocking the entrances to the room growing on her own body, a boy who was surrounded by the same drones from throughout the house, a rather large and exceedingly tall man, a pale woman in a tattered cloak, and a man in blue and silver armor.
However, the individual who caught Izuku's attention the most was the man who stood at the center of it all, complete with his bushy mustache, top hat, cane, and cheshire smile.
"Ah, I'm glad that you decided to play to my whims, Dragonfly," Kentaro spoke, his voice deep and elegant. "You would have been quite the handful if you hadn't, you know."
Izuku's swarm remained outside; all he would need to do was block their exit to prevent their escape.
Maybe that's why they're all calm? They know that they've been caught?
"I… don't know. But something rubs me the wrong way with that Kentaro. It's almost as if…"
"That's rather impolite, making assumptions of myself. Tell me, what is it that you see? As if what?" Kentaro said, his eyes shining in delight.
Izuku narrowed his eyes. He willed his swarm to speak for him. "...What?"
"A fair question, I suppose," Kentaro spoke, twirling his cane in the air. "Though, I know that at least two of you know as to what I mean."
"No… How?"
"Heh. You would love to know, wouldn't you?" Kentaro smirked.
Wait… Is he—?
"Waypoint," Kentaro's voice rang out, gesturing to the man in the silver and blue armor. "Send in Phantom. It's her time to shine."
The woman in the tattered cloak suddenly disappeared in a flash. Izuku's bugs instantly sensed the sudden presence that had appeared behind him. He immediately sent some bugs, but the person turned ethereal, changing to a ghostly blue. The bugs went straight through her.
"Listen closely now," Izuku heard Kentaro's words through the bugs, "because his ability to decipher my words is about to drastically decrease."
And then the woman — Phantom — screamed.
Suddenly, Izuku's control of his bugs had weakened. His connection to them was blurred, and sluggish at best. A good majority of them broke free and continued with their baser instincts. The few that remained in his control struggled against his will.
"Nice seei… aver. Or sho... ca… pri? It's su… bee… a whi..."
Phantom moved forward, her ethereal form almost floating towards Izuku. He reached for his back and grabbed his eskrima sticks, already moving across the rooftop he was on in order to dodge what would be the inevitable possibility of Phantom turning tangible to attack.
However, Izuku was surprised when Phantom didn't turn tangible, and stayed in her form as she went on the offensive. Izuku, not willing to risk being affected by even more unknown esoteric from the woman, weaved himself in and out from her attacks.
A whole minute had passed, with neither of the two opponents had gotten in a hit.
"You're a whole lot better than I would have believed you to be, Mister Hive Lord."
Izuku winced upon hearing Kentaro's suddenly clear voice. His head snapped around, searching for the man. However, Kentaro was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, Izuku's hesitation was enough for him to be hit by Phantom, who had turned back to her normal form.
"Hmm. But not good enough, it seems."
Izuku braced himself for Phantom's next attack, but it never came. He looked on in confusion at the unmoving form of Phantom.
"You ha… to tra… your dis… seems."
Wait… why can't I hear him again? Didn't I just—
"Heh. Interesting," came Kentaro's voice again. "Dragonfly, send my regards to Edgeshot. I'm thankful that his efforts got the police here.The grunts upstairs, after all, had finally ran out of their usefulness."
There was a flash, and Phantom suddenly disappeared from the rooftop. Izuku's connection to his bugs suddenly strengthened, though barely any more than before. It was barely enough to fix together a bit more of his bugs in order to see into the basement of the mansion.
Izuku nearly jumped in place as his bugs' vision cleared. It was a sensible reaction, considering the fact that Kentaro's smirking face took up nearly all of his viewpoint of the bugs in the basement.
"Heh. Did I scare you?" Kentaro removed his face from in front of the bugs, walking back to the rest of his waiting allies. Such allies, it seemed, included Phantom. "I thought of you as more steel-willed. Though, I suppose I'm being too harsh. I caught you off your game, after all."
The sound of battle was nearing his swarm, blasts of light and shouts echoing down into the stairway to the basement. Izuku tried to move his swarm, to do anything to prevent Kentaro's escape. However, they barely listened to his instructions, hardly moving forward to their target.
"It looks as if our time for fun has run out. A shame, really." Kentaro chuckled. "Though, as I said before, I am thankful for the actions of your law enforcement. Due to them, I won't have a large organization looking out for me now. And, as an added bonus," his smirk grew even wider, "my team is now complete."
Kentaro's head turned, his eyes seemingly gazing right at Izuku through the bugs. He tipped his hat, his smile never leaving his face. "Till next time, Dragonfly."
His head turned again, this time to the teleporter. "Waypoint. If you'd please."
And then they were gone with a flash of light.
Notes:
And there we are with chapter 44! How'd you all like it?
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