章節 23: Overhaul
It had been a month since Inko's "mugging", as the police had called it, and Izuku was finally ready. The day after his mom was attacked, Izuku had pretended to go back to Overhaul with his tail between his legs, but he was really playing the long game, making sure his mother was safe until he was ready to destroy the yakuza himself.
Being part of the yakuza was...interesting, for lack of a better word. For all that Overhaul bragged about "using him to his fullest potential" Izuku had basically been doing glorified busy work every time he was at the compound. He was seen as a 'new member' and so was at the bottom of the pecking order, a fact that irritated him to no end. He wasn't even allowed to be involved in real work of the yakuza. All he knew was Overhaul's glorified rhetoric about a quirkless world. It was getting really annoying.
Shouto had offered to come along and help him get his revenge, but Izuku had respectfully declined. Overhaul had threatened his mother , the only person who had even given a damn about him before he became a villain, so leaving the job to anyone else would have been supremely unsatisfying, even if that someone was close friend like Shouto.
Izuku pulled his mask up over his mouth and jumped down onto street level, staying in the shadows as he sneaked up on the guards. A few slit throats and a stolen keycard later, he was wandering the silent halls of the upper compound. He knew there were only a few guards on this level, with most of the Yakuza living and working in the labyrinth below, so it didn't take Izuku long to track down the dozen or so low ranking members on duty that night and take them out. A simple throwing knife through the eye or a slit throat was a quick enough death for most of them. Izuku wasn't about to waste time and energy playing when any of them could easily raise the alarm. Besides, these small fry were nothing more than collateral damage in his complete annihilation of Overhaul and an effective message to anyone else who might get it into their heads that it was a good idea to go after his mother. Izuku had bigger plans for the night.
It took him a few minutes to find the secret entrance to the rest of the compound since he'd never been allowed to find it unaccompanied, but it only slowed him down a little. He kept to the blindspots in the halls, silently killing everyonel he came across until he found the barracks. He almost felt bad as he viciously slashed each one of the sleeping men's throats, but the feeling didn't last long. Yeah, none of them had made the call to attack his mother, but they had all made it known in the past month month exactly how they felt about weak, quirkless people like him. And they were following an idiotic psychopath, so there was that.
Izuku followed his same pattern as he gradually cleared the compound, picking the lock on every door and killing everyone inside. He hadn't been surprised to find a variety of labs tucked away, but was surprised at how little raw material they had stored. Shouldn't there be a lot more chemicals involved in the production of quirk erasing drugs?
He pocketed a few vials of the quirk eraser that he found in the lab and used them to coat some of his knives before heading toward Overhaul's room. The only other room left aside from his was a door that locked from the outside. Izuku didn't know what was in that room, but whatever it was would still be there after he had killed Overhaul and his inner circle.
The expendables all stood up when he entered the small guard room he had to go through to get to Overhaul and he smiled at their shocked expressions as they took in his blood soaked costume.
"Mastermind," Chronostasis said, carefully keeping his voice even, "you're not supposed to be here."
"You're right," Izuku smiled, "I'm not."
In a flash, Izuku had thrown two of the knives he'd dipped in quirk eraser at Setsuno and Sakaki, since their troublesome quirks could affect him directly. He smirked when Setsuno's eyes widened as he tried to steal the knife Izuku had just grabbed, only to be left grasping air.
"What?" He taunted. "Having trouble with your quirk?"
Rappa pounded on his chest, "I'm not! And even if I was, I wouldn't need a quirk to kill the likes of you ! Just be sure to give me a good fight first!"
Izuku simply dodged out of the way of Rappa's quirked punch and attacked the other members. He first ran toward Tengai, who threw up a barrier to block him, but neglected to remember that Rappa was running after him full speed. Izuku smirked as he dodged at the last minute, subjecting Tengai's barrier to the full force of Rappa's quirk, which broke through it almost immediately, allowing Izuku to step right up behind Tengai and slit his throat.
Rappa gave a scream of rage and ran at Izuku again, but he was already on the move, this time headed toward Hojo, who had already covered his body in crystals. Just like before, Izuku waited until the last minute before dodging and letting Rappa tear through his opponent's defenses before finishing him off.
"Enough! He's using you to hurt your own men!" Chronostasis yelled and extended the hour hand of his hair to hit Rappa, immobilizing him. Izuku didn't waste the opportunity and Rappa was dead before anyone had the chance to blink. Tabe immediately ran at him, mouth open wide, but Izuku simply shoved a knife down his throat before he had the chance to bite down. Four down, four to go, five if Izuku was counting Chronostasis.
Katsukami ran to try to touch Izuku and sap his energy, but Izuku didn't let him get in close, dodging while slashing with one of his longer knives and following it up with a throwing knife to the back of the head.
"Who will you be going for next?" Nemoto asked.
"It doesn't matter much at this point." Izuku answered honestly. He didn't have much of a choice, afterall, "Your quirk doesn't help you in combat and both Setsuno and Sakaki are functionally quirkless right now. I'll beat you all easily."
All three rushed him at once, trying to overwhelm him with numbers, but Izuku had analyzed all of their fighting styles extensively over the last month and had much more experience fighting quirkless than they did. Chronostasis also couldn't hit him without the risk of hitting one of his teammates, a mistake he wasn't about to make again, so the fight didn't last long.
When they were all dead or bleeding out, Izuku finally turned to Chronostasis, who was staring at him in shock.
Izuku smiled and lazily tossed a knife at him, forcing him to dodge, "It's a pretty cool quirk you've got there Chrono," he tossed another knife, "too bad it's got such a big weakness."
Izuku forced Chronostasis to keep moving, which prevented him from using his quirkl, all while Izuku gradually moved closer. After a few minutes, Chronostasis was panting and finally stood still, apparently deciding that the benefits of using his quirk outweighed the potential danger. It was the wrong decision. Izuku slashed his throat before Chronostasis had even had the chance to extend his hair.
Izuku straightened as he heard the door to Overhaul's room open behind him.
"What is the meaning of this?" Overhaul looked on his dead underlings, crinkling his nose in disgust.
"The meaning of this," Izuku said, carefully coating a knife in the stolen quirk eraser behind his back, "is that you threatened the wrong person."
Overhaul sighed and removed his gloves, "It will be a shame to have to kill someone so uncontaminated, but oh well."
He ran at Izuku, who watched him get closer without dodging. At the last moment, he ducked underneath Overhaul's outstretched arm and sunk the knife into his gut. Overhaul let out a grunt, but simply slapped Izuku on the back.
Nothing happened.
"Nice quirk eraser you've developed, isn't it?" Izuku taunted as Overhaul's eyes widened. "Too bad you haven't practiced being...perfect? Wasn't that the word you used to describe people like me?"
Unlike his men's, Overhaul's death was not quick. Izuku took pleasure in slowly taking the man apart like he'd taken apart his mother. When he was finally done, Izuku gathered up all the knives he'd used during the fight and headed down the hall to the mysterious locked room. Whatever was inside must have been important if it was so close to Overhaul's own residence, and maybe prone to escape if it had to locked inside the room. After picking the lock, Izuku quickly grabbed a knife and shifted into a battle stance. It paid to be prepared for anything.
Izuku was not prepared. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't a little girl huddled on the bed staring up at him with wide red eyes. Izuku was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was covered in blood and holding a knife. The little girl seemed very aware of that as well, if the way her wide eyes were tracking his every movement was any indication.
Izuku hurriedly put his knife away, putting his hands out in front of him in a belated attempt to be non-threatening, "Hey there. I'm not gonna hurt you." The girl didn't look like she believed him, but she also didn't start screaming, so Izuku figured that was as good as it was gonna get. "My name is Mastermind, what's your name?"
The girl fiddled with her hands in her lap and now that he'd gotten over the shock of seeing a little girl locked in the middle of a Yakuza compound, he noticed that her arms and legs were covered in dirty bandages, just barely covered in most places by her too thin nightgown.
"Eri." Her voice was small and hesitant, like Izuku's had been when talking to teachers in middle schoo,l and he felt his heart break. What was she doing here?
"Eri, is it ok if I sit next to you?"
Eri hesitated, but nodded, allowing Izuku to sit on the bed beside her. He pointedly ignored the fact that he was staining the sheets red as he looked her in the eyes, "What are you doing here, Eri?"
Eri trembled for a solid minute before replying, "...I have to help Overhaul. I'm sick."
Izuku tried to ignore his anger. He didn't need Eri getting any more scared than she already was, "What do you mean, Eri? What did you have to help Overhaul with?"
She tugged at the bandages on her arms and Izuku's eyes widened at the deep lacerations underneath, "My sickness makes other people not sick anymore, so Overhaul takes the sickness from my blood so he can put in other people so they're not sick."
Izuku's eyes widened. The quirk eraser he'd stolen was made from Eri's blood? Izuku wanted to march back to Overhaul's body and somehow bring him back to life so he could torture him to death all over again. What kind of monster tortures a little girl to get his hands on her quirk?
Izuku looked at her softly, "You don't have to help Overhaul anymore, ok Eri? Overhaul's gone."
Eri looked Izuku up and down, wide eyes taking in the blood and her lip started to tremble. Izuku panicked, worrying he'd said the exact wrong thing. What if Overhaul had somehow convinced Eri that he loved her and he had just killed the one person she thought meant the world to her? Why was he so stupid!
Suddenly, Eri's arms wrapped around his waist and she started sobbing, "Thank you" she sniffled quietly, either not noticing or not caring that she was getting blood all over her hair and nightgown. Izuku awkwardly patted her on the back as he waited for her tears to pass. This poor girl had been through too much already.
That brought him to the question of what was he going to do with her. He couldn't just bring her home. His mother and the cops would ask where he'd gotten her and it could reveal his identity all too quickly if they linked Eri back to Overhaul. Even if that wasn't an issue, Izuku wasn't ready for the responsibility that would come with raising a traumatized child. He wasn't about to entrust her to another villain group either. They would just use her for her quirk the way Overhaul had. Izuku sighed, there was only one option left.
He gently grabbed Eri's shoulders and pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes, "Hey Eri. Are you ready to leave?"
Eri nodded eagerly, eyes bright with hope and Izuku knew that if she still knew how to, she'd probably be smiling. Izuku lifted her up so that she was clinging to his back before making his way outside. He wished that he'd left a path cleared of bloodshed, but he hadn't exactly been planning on carrying a five-year-old on the way out. If anything, he at least hoped Eri realized that the bodies they passed meant no one would be coming after her. It was probably a sick sort of comfort, but there was a chance it might make the whole ordeal less traumatizing.
The sky was just starting to get brighter as it got closer to sunrise and they had an excellent view as they ran across the rooftops toward Nighteye's agency. Izuku had figured out that Nighteye was investigating Overhaul while he was gathering his own info on him. The hero didn't know about Eri, as far as he knew, but despite his serious appearance, he had a good heart. Hopefully, he'd be able to help Eri recover and find a good home that would protect her from anyone who wanted to use her.
When they reached the roof of the agency, Izuku slowly crouched down and pulled Eri off his back so she was facing him. He cringed at how she looked like she'd just come off the set of a horror movie, but sighed when he realized that that wasn't too far from the truth. At least none of the blood was hers.
"The man who works here is a hero who was investigating Overhaul." Izuku looked her in the eyes. "He's going to take good care of you and make sure no one hurts you ever again. Ok?"
Eri nodded, but hesitated a moment, fiddling with the hem of her blood-stained nightgown.
"Mastermind-sama?" Eri's quiet voice trembled slightly. "Why did you save me?"
Izuku hesitated for a moment before deciding that Eri had already been fed far too many lies in her short life, "To be honest, I wasn't trying to save you. Overhaul threatened someone I care about and I couldn't let that stand. But I'm glad I was able to save you, even if it wasn't why I originally killed Overhaul. I know what it's like to have people hurt you just because they can and it's something I wouldn't ever wish on anyone."
Eri stared up at him with wide eyes. "You were hurt too?" Izuku nodded and her voice dropped to a whisper. "But you're so strong."
"Even strong people get hurt sometimes, and sometimes the people who hurt them try to make them feel weak. That's what happened to you and me." Izuku smiled and ruffled her hair. "We're strong people and it's not our fault that others chose to hurt us."
Eri's eyes lit up, "I'm strong?" she asked in wonder.
Izuku laughed, "The strongest." He stood up. "I'm happy I was able to meet you, Eri. Wait a few minutes after I'm gone, then knock on the door and tell them what happened. The heroes here will take good care of you."
Eri looked up at him for a long moment before flinging herself over to hug his legs, "Thank you so much Mastermind-sama! Thank you!"
Izuku smiled and ruffled her hair again, "No problem, Eri. Be safe."
Eri nodded and let go, waving to him as he got a running start and jumped onto the next roof. He only ran a few roofs away before stopping and crouching down. Eri was still standing on the roof, looking small against the skyline. She waited another two minutes before walking over to the door he had shown her. She hesitated a long moment before pounding hard with both fists.
Bubble-Girl thought it was much too early to be dealing with anything, especially teenage pranks. And it had to be teenagers, she thought as she trudged up the stairs, coffee in hand. Who else would climb up to the roof of a hero agency just to knock on the door? If it was anyone normal , they would knock on the front door at a much more reasonable hour.
She threw open the door, already mentally preparing the rant she'd give to the hooligans who had dared to disturb her this early in the morning, but stopped short when she saw a scared little girl who couldn't be more than five with blood smeared all over her.
Bubble Girl dropped her coffee.
Izuku smiled as he watched one of Nighteye's sidekicks usher Eri inside. The heroes would undoubtedly set up a perimeter to try to track him down, but he should be able to avoid all that if he left right now. He headed back to his base to shower and get dressed for school, sending a text to his mom telling her that he had gone for an early morning run.
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