章 2356: 98
Chapter 98: Partisan
A/N: Just a quick note, I got to updating Songs! You can check out the chapter before or after reading this one; the choice is yours.
"Problem!" Izuku shouted out, all sense of ease from before fading away. He reached for his back, pulling out his escrima sticks in preparation of the approaching probable threat. "Everyone get ready for a possible fight!"
-What?!- Manga exclaimed over the comms, nearly tripping over himself in surprise. -What do you mean 'problem'!? I thought you had it handled, man!-
-It's not a problem with any of our new prisoners- Mei analyzed, looking through the eyes of her drones. -Northwestern direction. On the rooftops. Right, Izuku?-
"Mhm," Izuku hummed in confirmation. He ordered his bugs towards the target and attempted to have them identified. However, Izuku soon found out that he was having some difficulty in doing so due to the target's unusually high speeds, essentially making a blur of motion rather than anything discernable.
"Well, who is it?" Setsuna called out, her head peeking out of the newly generated hole in the ceiling and looking northwest. "'Cause it's way too dark out there! I can't see anything!"
"Sorry." Izuku apologized. "I can't really tell; they're moving too fast. Mei?"
-Hmm… Seems like I need to adjust the capture speed on these babies so things up to that speed aren't just motion blur...-
-Why don't we just get you all out of there now?- Pony asked.
"Traveler isn't back!" Momo supplied. "We need Waypoint's relay to be ready first!"
"What about Waypoint's already existing teleportation spots?" Setsuna questioned.
"I can tell that they're there," Izuku interjected. "Three of them, in fact. But not where they go; they're just designated as destinations One, Two, and Three to his power."
Manga let out a groan. This time, he didn't exert the effort to use the private comms, the sound emitting out through the various drones hiding throughout the room -What the heck is he doing then!?-
"How fast?" Todoroki called out in question. "Could I use my ice to trap them?"
It took Izuku a moment to figure out he was referring to the incoming threat. Suddenly, a distant memory came to mind. He looked back over at Todoroki. Izuku then switched his focus back on his bugs, watching the way the approaching figure weaved his way through the rooftops.
Izuku's eyes widened in realization. "I know who it is!"
"AHHH!" Setsuna's peeking head screamed, startled by the sudden figure that had appeared just before her eyes. Her head reeled back and snapped back to her real body in reflex.
Up above, staring down right at them and cast in shadow, the figure had finally stopped moving. Their scarf flowed in the wind, various knives and swords attached to their sheathes across their body glimmering from the moonlit night.
-What!? Who?! Who is it?!- Manga demanded.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes, his mouth blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "Stain?"
-Stain?!- Manga yelled out in surprise, his words still coming from the drones. -But I thought he was dead!-
"He is," Izuku muttered, looking up above. The bugs could easily view the intruder now. "It isn't Stain up there."
"Should we attack?" Momo asked, fingers nervously flexing on her newly made weapon. "I have a tranquilizer gun ready."
Izuku hummed. "Let him talk first. We'll give him a chance to explain himself."
The figure in question responded in kind. He moved one of his feet forward and off the solid footing of the roof, leading him into a freefall. He landed on the ground with a cloud of dust, masking his form for all to see. Not that it mattered to Izuku.
"Spinner," Izuku greeted.
The dust settled, revealing the man in mention.
"Seems as if you've been doing some work for yourself," Izuku observed. "You're about as fast as Stain was, it seems."
Spinner scoffed. "Not as proficient in the blade, however."
"Uh huh..." Izuku took a breath, fixing his hold on the weapons in his hand. He pointed one of his escrima sticks at Spinner. "So, what do you want?"
Spinner looked around, eyeing the prone bodies of the Nine on the ground. "You made good work with them," Spinner praised, walking towards Izuku.
A swarm of bugs instantly moved in the man's way. "Stay where you are, Spinner. You can talk from there."
"Alright, alright!" Spinner said, raising his hands in surrender. He lowered them not long after, moving his gaze towards the ground before letting out a sigh.
"Look," Spinner began, fixing his gaze once again at Izuku. "Out of the many so called 'heroes' out there right now, you're one of the few that Stain deemed worthy. And I find myself agreeing! Your actions tonight prove it! You're going out and striking against a group of murderers that everyone's been ignoring. And your takedown was near effortless, with as little injuries to either party as possible. Well not that I'd mind some injury to the killers, of course. They—"
"So? If I recall, you and your boss were hitting it right up with these serial killers," Setsuna accused, eyes narrowed. "What's that say about you?"
"Hey! I tried to tell Stain it was a bad idea from the get-go!" Spinner exclaimed in a huff. "Even tried to warn him that he was being a bit too hasty with breaking into Tartarus! But he wouldn't listen! And look what happened to him!"
Izuku sighed. "Are you here to gain my sympathy or…"
"Sorry," Spinner apologized, calming his rising voice. "I'll get to the point." He took a breath. "I wish to aid you in your fight against All For One."
"And what do you gain out of it?" Izuku immediately asked. "You'd aid in the death of the one who killed your master?"
Spinner nodded. "Exactly."
-You can't be serious!- Manga exclaimed. -You're a wanted villain!-
-Yeah! And you tried to kill Izuku too!- Pony interjected, now also through the still-present spybots.
Izuku narrowed his eyes, tilting his head in thought.
Spinner gulped. He saw something in those eyes that he didn't like. "I'll… turn myself in afterwards?"
Hmm… He is pretty fast, all things considered, Izuku mused.
"What are the chances of him having more quirk destroyers?"
Huh. Good point.
"Do you have any more of those drugs you stole from Overhaul?"
Spinner patted his utility belt. "Right here in this pouch."
"Where's Gentle and La Brava?" Izuku asked.
Spinner shrugged. "Honestly have no idea. Bastards ran off the moment All For One broke free."
There was a brief moment of silence. Each staring into the eyes of the other.
Eventually, Izuku shrugged. "Alright."
"WHAT!?" a cacophony of voices all rang out at the same time.
"Izuku!" Setsuna's upper half zoomed over. Her arms took hold of Izuku's shoulders, allowing her to shake him back and forth in a frenzied manner. "You can't be serious! That guy tried to kill you! He kills heroes to please his sick sense of justice! He's a danger to us and you!"
"I know what I'm doing," Izuku said, patting one of Setsuna's arms.
Setsuna pursed her lips. "Are—"
"I'm fine," Izuku remarked. With the phrase, he easily caught the growing look of suspicion in the girl's eyes.
"And no, none of Jack's powers are affecting my judgement. I just think that the more we have against All For One, the merrier."
"Oh, great idea Izuku!" Momo cheered. "We can use him as a meat shield!"
Spinner blanched. "Wait, what?"
Izuku ignored Spinner's bumbling. "See? Momo agrees with me. And besides, you won't have to worry about him. I'll have Nezu watching him."
Setsuna let out an exasperated sigh, backing away in resignation. "If you say so."
Izuku nodded, gazing back over to Spinner. "That okay with you?"
Spinner paused, seemingly thinking to himself. Eventually, he pulled one of his swords out.
The others tensed, quite predictably. But Spinner didn't partake in any sudden hostile actions. Rather, he quite deliberately got down on one knee, holding his blade out to Izuku.
"If you shall take me into your consideration, I'll happily oblige to your demands."
Izuku began to walk forward, stopping just before the kneeling man. He reached his hand out, hovering it just above the offered sword.
"You'll refrain from criminal activity while under this conditional truce?"
Spinner nodded. "I will."
"And you'll understand if I'd want to put you in a cell, yes? With much better conditions than these killers, of course. But you'll be kept under watch until you can be of use."
Spinner hesitated for just a moment. But nevertheless he nodded in conceit. "I understand. After all, I'd do the same in this situation." Spinner lifted his head and gazed Izuku straight in the eye. "Anything's fine with me as long as it leads to that monster being off the streets."
Izuku nodded. He reached out for the sword, fully placing it in his hands. "Good. Then—"
A sudden flash of light invaded the dimly lit room, followed by a distinct popping sound greeting the ears of those present.
"Hey guys!" Traveler exclaimed. "Sorry about the delay, but… I'm…"
Traveler took note of the additional individual in the room, his eyes roaming and darting back and forth between Izuku and the genuflecting Spinner.
"Aren't you that Spinner dude?" Traveler asked with dubious curiosity. "You know, Stain's disciple and all that?"
Spinner lifted himself off the ground, dusting himself off before answering. "Yeah. What of it?"
Before Traveler could respond, the sound of sirens began to blare in the distance.
"Oh come on," Izuku groaned.
-Recalling my babies now!- Mei announced. -The three of us up here will be ready for Traveler in a bit-
"And I'll head over in just a bit!" Traveler said.
"Alright everyone!" Izuku called out. "The cops are getting here soon. Wrap everything up!"
The others sprung into action, carrying the bodies of the Nine closer together in preparation for transport.
Todoroki was melting his ice, and Manga's words were already dissipating into nothingness. As for Momo's projectiles, they were virtually traceless considering their nature.
It wasn't long until everyone was ready. But before they departed, Izuku took one more look at their unexpected add-on.
"You better not make me regret this, Spinner."
Spinner responded with an enclosed fist over his heart. "I give you my honor."
Izuku willed Waypoint to activate his power, and any trace of them being in the warehouse had vanished.
The flash of light dispelled. With it, the arriving group regained their vision just as their feet found the floor. They appeared in a relatively featureless room of the underground complex, thick concrete walls and single doorway being the only notable features in its entirety.
"Ashido-san, reporting for duty!" Ashido remarked, appearing in the doorway with a mock salute and a hefty bag at her side. A garbled cry accompanied the girl's greeting, courtesy of the also-saluting Spurt riding atop Ashido's head.
She marched forward quite merrily, a small bop in her step as she eyed the captured serial killers. She only stopped when she noticed the unforeseen addition to the group, her face twisting in confusion as she noticed the lack of restraints as well.
"Erm…"
"He decided to join us." Izuku supplied. "Temporarily"
Another flash of light entered the room, bringing in Traveler alongside Manga, Mei, and Pony.
Manga instantly stalked right over to Spinner, getting right into the man's face.
"You know how it's going to be, don't you?" Manga asked. He held two of his fingers out, pointing them at Spinner's eyes before gesturing back to his own featureless face. "I have my eyes on you."
Spinner blinked. "Right…"
"Okay then," Ashido chirped as she approached. She eyed Spinner wearily, before turning to overview the others before her eyes landed on Izuku. "Well, everyone seems to have gotten away scott free. Now then!" She clapped. "Whose first?"
Izuku pointed his thumb behind him. With Waypoint still awake and able to walk via Izuku's control, his gesture pertaining the unconscious forms of Pathogen, Phantom, Ricochet, and Kentaro.
When Ashido looked over, Momo was already creating some gurneys and placing the unconscious four under Izuku's control onto them, strapping them down a rather extensive array of belts. Momo then strung the gurneys all together one after the other, allowing for the chance to be pulled all at once.
Once the four were secure, Izuku then looked over Ashido's shoulder. "Where's Nezu?"
Ashido shrugged. "Something about going to his office. He was all like— Ah! I got it!"
Ashido took Spurt off of her head, holding him out in front of her and swaying him from side to side. "I'll just be up in my office! It's not like I won't know what's going on down there anyways!" Ashido said, doing her best impression of the principal. Spurt even took the part, committing a couple gestures to the act.
"Ah," Izuku said in understanding, eyes darting up to the ceiling and the corners of the room. "I see."
Izuku let out a chuckle. "Well, I suppose we should be about ready for the lockup. But—"
-I had Cementoss make up another room- Came Nezu's voice. It originated from one of the many of UA's security bots, which dropped itself down from the ceiling and before the group.
Izuku only sighed at the impossibility of the event, given the fact that he was looking at it's supposed origin spot on the ceiling mere seconds ago and saw nothing.
-It's a lot more luxurious, to reassert that Spinner-kun here isn't wholly a prisoner-
Izuku shook his head in resignation. "Okay. But first things first. Manga, Mei!"
"Yes!" The two stood up straight in attention.
"Follow the… robot and introduce Spinner to his new accommodations. Act as guards, just in case he decides to commit to any funny business."
"Got it!" The duo exclaimed, dragging off Stain through the door.
Izuku turned to Momo, Pony, Todoroki, Setsuna, and Honenuki. "And you five stay here until I come back and get the rest of them, alright? Make sure each of you devotes their focus only one one, alright?"
The five others nodded in tandem.
"Umm… Are you sure that it's a good idea to have just the two of them with him?" Ashido whispered, referring to the other three who had just left.
"Eh," Izuku muttered as he began to walk towards the doorway. He gestured to Ashido to follow.
"I'm not really worried about him betraying us," Izuku admitted. "He doesn't seem the type. It's more about sending a message, you know? No doubt that she'll end up excessively showing off her drones."
"Hmm…" Ashido hummed, falling into step to Izuku and the enthralled Waypoint. Behind her trailed the four gurneys and their drugged occupants. "You're not wrong there. The past week of me helping with robot building has proven that."
They reached the first cell relatively quickly. It was a normal four wall room, built with a reinforced glass pane to view the prisoner and a thick titanium door.
Ashido walked up to the heavy door, swinging it open with a huff.
"Just try not to give them any brain damage that could actually kill them," Izuku pleaded. "We still need 'em for later. And brain damage might affect my ability to control them."
"Yeah yeah," muttered Ashido, grabbing for Waypoint first by the wrist. Ashido then reached into her bag, pulling out a bulky metallic collar from its depths. Two sharp snaps of metal later, and the collar was tightly secured around Waypoint's neck.
"And here we go! A one way trip to Nezu torture hell, coming right up!" Ashido tossed the villain right in, the controlled figure stumbling into the room and falling flat onto their face. Slamming the door up tight, and Waypoint was effectively trapped within.
"And for the final test…" Izuku relinquished his control.
Waypoint, being the only one still awake and not under the influence of tranquilizers, came to his senses rather quickly. He instantly shot up, taking sense of his surroundings before freezing when he viewed Izuku, Ashido, and the others behind the reinforced glass pane.
Waypoint tensed his body — no doubt in order to utilize his power. Instead he was shocked with a good load of electricity, making the villain fall to the ground and writhing in pain. A hiss from the collar followed not long after, and eventually the rolling body on the floor stopped moving.
Izuku took control for just a second, nodding when he found what he was looking for. He gestured for Ashido to move on to the next cell.
"Is it working?" Ashido asked.
"As intended," Izuku informed her. "The tranquilizers in the collars should keep them under until we're ready. And with the shock system we can make sure they go down if they do manage to wake up — not that we shouldn't know if they do — considering the heart rate monitor. And the neural analyzer. And the respiration monitor."
The next cell up, and this time in went Ricochet. The same process as before, minus the part where the killer was left on the gurney before placing the collar on his neck. Ricochet was shortly rolled into his new cell afterwards.
"The principal really out did himself with these," Ashido commented. "I mean, since normal quirk suppressants wouldn't work on… what do I call them again?"
"Parahumans," Izuku said.
"That's the word!" Ashido cheered with a snap of her fingers. "Anyways, these collars are good replacements, all things considered."
"Only question is where exactly Nezu got these," Izuku pondered. "But, then again, by this point I've learned to suspend my disbelief when dealing with him. Much more likely to retain my sanity then."
Next was Pathogen. Collar placed on, gurney rolled in, door slammed shut.
"Still have your wits up and ready, right?" Izuku asked.
"Mhm," Ashido hummed. "Ready to secrete some acid the second you might lose control~"
The process remained unchanged and uneventful, the same fates befalling Phantom and Kentaro. Even if there was a bit more rough handling with the latter.
Izuku and Ashido gleefully made their way back to the others, Izuku ready to place the rest of the Nine in their cells.
Izuku paused, however, when he made his way back to the room. Specifically, his reason for doing so being Todoroki's glaring absence from the room.
"Umm… Where did Todoroki go?"
"I took over his watch of Katamari since I can sink him," Honenuki said. "Oh! I mean, er—"
"He sorta, got called up to talk to Principal Nezu?" Momo added.
"Nezu?" Izuku asked. "But why would—"
-Izuku! I have some people up here who'd like to speak with you!-
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