Chapter 30

Shoto watched as Rappa unleashed a barrage of punches, absolutely smashing through an overturned cop car that was being used by the police as cover, laughing like a madman as he did. " Now this is entertainment!" He shouted. " Come on, you pigs! Fight me!"

" He's certainly impressive." Momo mused from beside him.

" And a wild card. Let's hope Izuku can get him on our side." Shoto rolled his shoulder. " How goes the calculations?"

" Ugh. Please don't talk about that. They have so much dirty secrets, it's taking us forever to sort it all."

" You're good at this. You'll get it done. I trust you." Shoto smiled at her before turning back to the fight. " Well, we've waited long enough."

" Are you sure you can fight?" Momo asked. Shoto simply nodded.

" My new arm is a support item." Shoto said. " It generates sub zero temperatures that can enhance my ice creation. I'm covering it with ice, but it still works like that. I have to admit. Alchemy is gifted."

" I prefer home made."

" You crafted that yourself, right? Don't you ever want to try someone elses work?"

" Call me paranoid, but I prefer knowing where everything I use comes from."

" Hmm. Fair. Your stuff always works perfectly. You do good work."

" Ha. I appreciate the compliment." Momo smirked. " You're not bad yourself."

" Ugh. If you two are done flirting, you've got incoming." Mustard snarked over comms.

" We are not flirting." Shoto said defensively.

" Weren't you supposed to be stopping incoming?" Momo asked.

" You wanted heroes in right? Moon Rabbit. Incoming. That bird is in the distance too. Good luck with that jackass."

" Alright." Momo looked up. " Rappa. Incoming."

" Eh?" As the man looked up, a shadow crossed the sky. At blistering speeds, Mirko crashed down. Rappa raised an arm to block. Mirko looked surprised before hopping back to the police line.

" Rapper?" Mirko asked. " The fuck are you doing here? I thought you were a prize fighter in Osaka."

" Those ears. Ha. I see. Tiger Bunny." Rappa grinned. " Ha ha. So you really did become a Hero after all. Small world."

" March Hare." Mirko was joined by Bakugo. " Who the fuck is that big, bird masked ass hole."

" The Rapper. He was a MMA fighter but I guess he's a League member now."

" Not exactly." Rappa admitted. " But let's save story time for another day, shall we Tiger Bunny?"

" It's Mirko now." The rabbit hero told him, rolling her shoulder. " You were a tough motherfucker ten years ago. Got any stronger?"

" Wanna find out?" Rappa raised his fists, ready to fight.

" Hey guys. Tengan won't shut up about getting Rappa to retreat. Says he'll probably bring down the building if left unchecked. Wants to step in."

" Tell him to stick to the plan." Momo told Mustard.

" I did but he's just complaining now."

" Then tell him to stop whining." Momo stated. " Just don't put him to sleep. We need him."

" Tch. Fine. I'll put up with it. Somehow."

" Blasty. Defend the cops. I'll hold off the Rapper until reinforcements get here." Without waiting for a retort, Mirko leapt into action against Rappam dodging around his fierce flurry of punches with her incredible agility. Bakugo growled. He turned his head to the cops behind him.

" You heard the bunny bitch. Get your asses inside. I'll cover you." Bakugo snapped. Momo gave Bakugo a look of confusion mixed with some mild amusement.

" What? Big bad Bakugo not jumping at the chance to blow our brains out? Is it going to rain literal cats and dogs tomorrow?" She snarked.

" Fuck off, you crafty bitch. If you wanna see a fight, tell Izuku to stop being such a damn coward and face me."

" He's busy." Shoto said simply.

" I don't see you fuckers doing any legwork."

" Rappa's got this." Shoto replied again, shrugging. " Besides, see the ice? I've done my job." Bakugo growled as he eyed the ice spikes jutting from the ground around the art museum's entrance. Rappa slid back against the tarmac as Mirko delivered a powerful kick to the Yakuza's chest. He rolled his shoulder.

" Glad to see you've still got it, Rapper." Mirko said, grinning.

" Ha. Same to you. This is the most fun I've had in a long time."

" Sorry to interrupt it then." The Villains looked up sharply. Slowly descending from the sky, like an angel ready to smite the enemies of God, was Hawks, a cocky smile on his face. " Howdy Mirko. Mind if we cut in?"

" Heh. The more the merrier, right Rapper?"

" Ha ha ha. Come on, Fly Boy. I'll ground you." Rappa announced.

" Oooh. Spitfire, ain't we?" Hawks laughed. " So, what's the situation, Rabbit?"

" Three combatants. Crucible and Forge haven't moved much since we got here but the Rapper's been giving us a hard time. As to be expected of him."

" Rapper?"

" His quirk allows him to punch really fast."

" Dunno what that has to do with rapping, but sure." Hawks smirked, facing down his opponents.

" Rappa. Mind if we make this a team match." Shoto spoke up, stepping forwards. Rappa glanced over to him.

" I can take 'em both."

" True, but I can help keep the pigeon grounded so you can strike him out."

" Keep him in my range so I can go all out, eh? Heh. You're a great guy."

" Sounds like a fun idea, right Mirko?" Hawks asked.

" Ha ha ha. Don't hold be back, you flying rat." Mirko grinned.

" Yo, Tsukuyomi. I'll leave escorting the cops to you kids." Behind him, his own intern, Tokoyami nodded. He and Bakugo shared a look before getting to work. With a sigh, Momo decided to finally step into battle, leaving Shoto and Rappa to their battle as she faced down Bakugo and Tokoyami.

" Been a while, huh?" She mused.

" Yaoyorozu." Tokoyami narrowed his eyes. " Are you sure about this?"

" I didn't come this far and sacrifice this much just to surrender to my old class mates." Momo pulled a bat from her arm, slipping another tool into the tool belt around her waste. " Steel yourselves, heroes. Show me your worthy of that name."

" C'mon, bird brain." Bakugo raised his fists. " Let's crush her."

" Hmm. Very well. Fight well, my fellow saviour of the holy light. We cannot let this villain escape."

" He said 'let's do this thing'." Dark Shadow said, emerging from Tokoyami's cloak. Momo took a deep breath. It was now or never. No regrets. Momo waited for Bakugo to charge her before making her move.

With the others were busy, Izuku decided to act on his own. While Momo's team distracted the police and the heroes, Toru, Mina and Compress were currently rummaging through the evidence locker and computers of head detectives, most notably Head Detective Tsukauchi and Police Chief Tsuragamae, for information on the Shie Hassaikai, removing any data on any investigation into them that was useful after the attack on Yokohama and stealing any weapons they could. Izuku, on the other hand, was scouting out the main base of the Shie Hassaikai from the outside, trying to spot any openings he could exploit for an eventual raid.

" West, East and North entrances are locked down tighter than I expected." Izuku muttered, looking down at a map of the area as he stepped out onto a busy street half a mile north of the compound. " Hmm. This is going to be tricky."

" Can I help you, sir? You seem troubled." He heard an overly cheerful voice ask.

" That's quite alright. I'm just looking for something is all."

" What are you trying to find?"

" Nothing important."

" I could help."

" No point bothering." Izuku shrugged. " I'm sure you've got better things to do than helping a stranger with directions. Please, don't let me bother you."

" It's no bother. Helping people is a hobby of mine. Ha ha. Let me see if I can guess what your looking for."

" Do what makes you happy." Izuku tried to tune him out as he looked over the plans. He hadn't checked the south entrance yet nor the nearby buildings to get an easy way over or below the base.

" Let me guess, judging by where you are and what's nearby…" According to Toru, the entrance to the underground lab she found on the exterior was around the back, so Izuku doubted the south side would be viable. " It's probably not a café at this time in the afternoon. A shop? No, you don't seem to carrying much on you for a shopping spree." Overhaul also seemed like a meticulous planner. There was likely no obvious holes in his bases defences to use. He wouldn't be surprised if he purchased the surrounding buildings as a landlord just to keep an eye on things. " Ah. I know. Ha ha. I should have guessed. Sorry for being slow."

" Really. It's-"

" Are you working with Kai Chisaki now, Usagi?" Izuku gasped in shock, immediately leaping backwards just in time for a fist to swing forwards at him, tearing through his map. Izuku looked up. He cursed internally for not paying attention to his surroundings. Dress in a large red cape and hero attire with the number 1,000,000 across his chest stood Mirio Togata, also known as the hero in training Lemillion. Someone far more dangerous than most knew. He raised his fists.

" Is school out already, Togata?" Izuku asked bitterly.

" He may be out of commission for now, but I'm still an intern at Sir's hero agency. I wasn't going to leave the area unmanned."

" First of all, that agency doesn't exist anymore. Secondly, isn't this a bit far from that jurisdiction?"

" No place is too far for a hero."

" Set patrols say otherwise."

" And what is the League's chief strategist doing wandering around here?" Izuku chuckled, charging air in his legs.

" You wouldn't believe me if I told you." The two stared each other down. Izuku beant his knees, ready to charge. " Sorry, Togata. But I'm not going to let myself get caught today."

" I can't let you escape, Usagi." Togata raised his hands. " For Sir's sake, I will catch you here."

Momo was blown backwards by the force of Bakugo's explosion, the shield on her arm breaking in the impact. Momo was glad that the tag team she was facing was this manageable. Thanks to Bakugo's quirk, neither could afford to follow up on another's openings lest Dark Shadow be rendered unusable for a few seconds. Momo creating mirrors on the shield she created to deal with Bakugo was not helping that problem, as the light reflected all over the place, stopping Tokoyami from moving. Even so, Bakugo alone was beginning to overwhelm her, even with her exploiting his weakness to the cold to slow his sweat production.

On the other side, Rappa and Shoto were doing much better. As per usual, Izuku's analysis was right on the mark about Hawks. Shoto's flames proved to weaken a lot of what he could do. Trying to use his feathers to weaken Rappa's barrage of punches was met by Shoto burning through them. Any attempt for Mirko to try and go for Shoto was cut off by Rappa's quick movements. If one of them tried to get Rappa in one of the openings between his barrages, Shoto's ice caught them off guard and was something Rappa did not care about as he smashed straight through it to reach their foes. While Momo was on the back foot against her opponents, the actual battle was being won by her team mates.

" Yaomomo. Sho. Hiiro. You guys read me?"

" They're a little busy, but I've got you Mina." Mustard spoke up.

" We're done with our mission and are heading back to base. You guys might wanna rap it up."

" You idiots hear her?"

" On it." Momo glanced over to Shoto, who nodded.

" We're done here."

" Really?" Rappa asked. " Can't we keep going? I'm having fun."

" Remember our agreement." Shoto said simply. " You can have more fun later. Just fall back for now."

" Ugh. Fine." Rappa growled, disappointed. " You've been a decent fight partner, so I suppose I can let this one slide."

" I'm throwing." Momo called. The two nodded, closing their eyes. Momo pulled a trio of flash grenades from her belt and unleashed them. The resulting blinding light allowed the three to get a good distance from the heroes.

" Running away?" Mirko sneered. " Like I'd let you!" The Rabbit hero was quick to close the distance, charging forwards and kicking. However, it was blocked by a powerful barrier. Momo saw as Tengai stood just behind them, eyes closed as he concentrated. Mirko grit her teeth. However, before she could try again, Bakugo leapt forwards, propelling himself through the air with his explosions, spinning as he approached them.

" DIE!" He declared. " HOWITZER IMPACT!" He unleashed his power on Tengai's shield. The barrier cracked and shattered at the force of the explosion, blowing everyone on both sides backwards.

" He broke it?" Tengai said, surprised. Beside him, Rappa burst out laughing

" What a great brat! Hey, Tiger Bunny! That kid has potential! Train him well!"

" Count on it." Mirko said, prideful of her apprentice. A cloud of white fog began encroaching on the art museum.

" If you guys are done playing house, we need to leave." Mustard called, approaching from within the fog and joining up with the group.

" You're right." Momo agreed. " Kurogiri. Gate." Black mist began circling around the group as the heroes retreated to not get caught in Mustard's death fog. Rappa grinned satisfied. Tengai looked annoyed. Overall, with their mission complete, she counted this as victory.

" I can't let you escape, Usagi." Togata raised his hands. " For Sir's sake, I will catch you here." The two got ready to charge. Civilians began running to a safe distance at the sign of the battle starting. However, they were stopped by a sound. Tiny feet and a slight panting quickly tapping from the alleyway between the two. The two stopped in shock as a young girl burst into the light, panting. A girl with a horn dressed in white. Izuku powered down. Noticing this, Togata lowered his hands. " Hey. Are you-"

" Eri." Izuku froze. The girl looked panicked, freezing up. " You shouldn't run off like that."

" Chisaki." Izuku cursed under his breath. Stepping into the light from the shadows, bird beaked mask replaced with a black medical mask, was indeed Kai Chisaki. He looked between the two. His eyes paused on Izuku, his eyes briefly becoming annoyed before returning to cold and calm.

" Are we interrupting something?"

" No. You aren't." Togata said cautiously.

" I'm glad. I'm not a fan of interrupting working Heroes. But I couldn't just let a girl this young run off on her own. You understand."

" Absolutely." Togata nodded. " Being a guardian of someone so young must be hard. Is she your daughter?"

" Cousin. I'm a bit too young for kids." Overhaul rubbed the back of his neck. " I'm looking after her while my uncle is away on business. As you can see, she is a bit prone to… accidents. Apologies." Overhaul turned to leave. " Let's go, Eri." The girl glances between the two, Hero and Villain, with eyes filled with fear and desperation. Overhaul's hand grabbing her arm, causing her to flinch, and leading her away. Izuku took a step forwards, his hand going for the knife in his pocket, before tensing up and stopping himself. He had to save her. But he couldn't right now. That bastard hero was in the way. If he attacked Chisaki now, he had no doubt they'd get in his way. If he failed, then all the League's plans to get back at Overhaul would fail. But he couldn't just do nothing. Not when someone like her was standing right there, eyes begging for help. He just needed to wait for the perfect moment to strike.

" By the way, are you with the Hassaikai, sir? They're a bit of a legend around here." Overhaul glanced back. " I hear they all wear some sort of mask, so I was just curious.

" I am. I'm just returning home from there actually with my cousin." He nodded. " You're one the UA students right? Working for a nearby agency? I haven't seen you around before."

" Of course. I'm gaining experience before I graduate this year."

" I see. Good luck with that. It's becoming a bit scary world for heroes."

" Speaking of scary, your cousin seems a bit scared." Togata looked serious. " She also looks to be missing footwear."

" She's just upset I couldn't buy her a toy and I had to scold her. Her shoes fell off while she was running away. A friend of mine said he'd finish in the store we were in and is bringing them. I wanted to make sure she was safe first."

" Ah. I see. That's quite understandable. Sorry. As a hero-"

" You want to make sure a scared child is fine. I understand." Overhaul nodded. " If you'll excuse us." He glanced back to Izuku. " We have business to attend to." Izuku tightened his hand around the handle of his knife. If he wasn't being watched, this man would already be dead. But Overhaul was a strong opponent. His quirk could kill him in an instant. He wracked his brain for an answer. He couldn't just let him walk away. Not with her. Not when he knew fine well what he was doing with her. All he needed was one solid opening and he could act. One moment of weakness from that bird masked bastard. He glanced over to Togata. The hero just gave him a stern glare and a slight shake of his head as Chisaki turned to leave again. He knew what he was thinking. He had to see what was going on with Eri. Why wasn't he ding anything? " Keep up the good work, hero." He said, giving them a backhanded wave. There. His back was turned. If he was going to act, now would be the time. Izuku drew the knife from his jacket and tried to rush down the alleyway after him. A sudden hand grabbing his arm stopped him. He looked up. Togata shook his head. Izuku and Togata waited for him to be completely gone.

" Why?" Izuku said quietly. " Why?!"

" Hmm?"

" WHY!" Izuku shouted, roughly tugging his arm from Togata's grasp. " YOU! IF YOU WEREN'T HERE, I COULD HAVE-"

" Woah. Slow down and breathe for a moment." Izuku wasn't listening.

" That girl. I could have saved her now without any need for any extra planning. If you weren't in the way!"

" Saved that girl?" Togata raised an eyebrow. Izuku sighed.

" You really don't have a clue, do you? Bandages around her body. Hospital gown. No shoes. Running, scared for dear life. Scared to death of that man. Are you fucking blind?! She was-"

" I know." Togata said, far too calmly for Izuku's liking. " She's being abused by him."

" You know? YOU KNOW?!" Izuku asked angrily, slamming his foot into the pavement and sending a shockwave from the excess wind still caught in his leg from Bound. " YOU KNOW AND YOU STOOD BY SMILING AS SHE GOT LEAD AWAY?! YOU KNOW AND YOU STOPPED ME FROM SAVING HER FROM MORE TORTURE AND PAIN?!"

" Oh. That... sounded bad, huh?" Togata winced. " Listen Usagi, I had no choice."

" You could have done your job, hero."

" I couldn't."

" Of course you could. But you just stood around like an idiot because there was nothing in it for you if you helped. No glory. No money. So you let her go"

" Hey, I don't care about money or fame. If I could have, I would have." Togata looked annoyed at the accusation. " Besides, with you here, I-"

" Do NOT turn this around on me." Izuku snarled. He angrily pointed his knife at the hero in training. " I WILL save her. You don't understand suffering, hero. I do. And that girl? She's suffering. I'll do what you can't. What your kind didn't do for me and my friends and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way."

" You'll save her, huh?" Togata asked. Then he smiled. " I like it."

" What?" Izuku was taken aback, losing his posture for a second. If Togata noticed, he never acted on it, just looking down at him with that ridiculous grin. A grin that reminded him too much of All Might. " Are you-"

" No. I'm mocking you. I think it's noble. And I want to save her too." Togata closed his eyes. His tone changed, becoming a lot less happy go lucky. Izuku tightened his grip. " I couldn't do it there. I couldn't ruin what Sir has been planning for months. If it weren't for that, without a second thought, I'd have grabbed her and ran." He opened them, deathly serious. " Come with me. I want to talk with you about the Shie Hassaikai. I won't hand you in or attack you. Call it a temporary cease fire." Izuku looked the hero in the eyes. He saw a lot of things. Most of it was anger, both at himself, a little aimed at Izuku and a lot more at Chisaki. But there was also truthful willingness in there too. He wasn't lying. At least, not from what Izuku saw. He sighed, slowing putting his knife away.

" I'll give you two hours." He said. " If I even think you've lied, I'm gone."

" Fair. Come on. I need to get changed first." Izuku nodded, following the hero from a safe distance. He wasn't sure he could trust Mirio Togata. But right now, he was a source of information that he might be able to use. For that, he'd put himself on the line.