The Monster's Capture + Small Extra Side Mission (Part 1)
“Are you sure I can’t come with you guys?”
“Well, Knuckleduster-san said that this mission required, a skill level of an amateur pro hero, and since Eraserhead never saw you in action sooo…”
“I’m labelled as weak in his eyes.”
Izuku twirled around in his chair as he kept exchanging glances at the table which had a couple of medical supplies on, and most of them that were half empty and seemingly used.
The Crawler or Koichi rubbed her neck awkwardly as she, in her vigilante suit complete with the mask, wore on a couple of metal wrist and ankle support gear which had a battery icon with four full blue bars.
“I guess it’s for the better, I mean that, she’s probably concerned about your well-being.”
“Yeah, I think it’s for the better, I would only be a set-back if I were to come with you.”
Koichi was about to argue about Izuku’s statement but realized that she was running out of time so she walked towards the door but before she left, she faced Izuku again.
“Uh, food is in the fridge---”
“I know Koichi-san, thanks for worry about me.”
Koichi let a smile as she went out of the door, leaving Izuku alone as he stopped twirling with his seat and grabbed a test tube that was filled with a red-coloured liquid, which Izuku used an eyedropper to take out exactly three drops out on a nearby petri dish.
They’re all gone, now I can focus on making a cure.
As Izuku bit his tongue hard and let it drop a few drips of blood on another dish while he grabbed a pH tester as well as a few other things, the sound of a clock ticking with drips of water from the sink accompanied Izuku in his silent quest to cure himself.
But as Izuku had just finished sampling the sample number three, he could feel the haziness of exhaustion from the last few days creep in, mostly since he had been busy tracking down Leo’s movement and getting over his craziness of blood.
I’m going to sleep if this place stays silent, I guess nothing else to do but turn on the TV.
So Izuku shook off his exhaustion and stood up as he grabbed the TV’s remote which he used to turn the thing on, while Izuku hovered through the channels and was about to get back to fixing the compound in the test tube, that is until as he tried to get rid of the water in his compound using centrifugal force, a familiar voice rang into his ears.
“I have a very special plan going forward.”
Leo…
Izuku’s attention was now fully focused on the TV that was on right now, well, half focused while Izuku kept doing whatever he was doing with the test tubes, petri dishes, and a couple of other things.
“And what it may be Harvard-san?”
“Oh, I can’t just spoil you the details just yet miss, it’ll ruin the surprise, after all, I won’t like to give fake promises.”
“Are you saying that you can’t do it sir?”
“*Small laughs, not at all, I have every resource I need right in my palms.”
A small sneeze made it out of Izuku as he accidentally sniffed a cloud of some compound that burst into the air after Izuku heated it over a flame, while Izuku coughed and tried to get rid of the substance from his system, he reached out to grab a nearby box, only to find that it’s empty.
Dang it… I have to get more blood supplements……
Izuku’s coughs got worse as he supported himself with the table and grabbed a nearby glass of water which he used to intentionally get it in his nose, Izuku choked for a split second before he spat out the water onto the ground while the inner parts of his nose had a stinging pain.
But then Izuku’s exhaustion was soon replaced with hunger, and a familiar one at that, Izuku made his way towards the door as he put on his black hoodie as well as it’s hood and was about to exit when he glanced on the prototype cure he had been making.
It’s not yet finished, but, can I hold back until getting more blood all by myself?......
Izuku’s mind was conflicted with multiple pathways to choose each with a very bad result if hypothetically everything went wrong, Izuku then against the better of himself, pushed by his hunger, grabbed the vial and opened the lid.
And with closed eyes as well as a pinched nose, Izuku took a gulp of the compound while leaving a small amount left for him to keep working on.
I sure hope this thing doesn’t mess around with my systems too much, I wonder how’s Koichi and her group are doing?
Izuku thought as he walked out through the door before locking it and went down using the nearby ladder, while Izuku who was feeling his hunger slightly satisfied for now, a pair of glaring lenses laid their eyes on Izuku.
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Isn’t this surreal?
Koichi thought as she made her way down a ladder with Pop Step, Knuckleduster and Eraserhead already ahead of her.
The group had just arrived at the scene, which was a regular flower shop, while Tsukauchi in their car was guiding Eraserhead and the vigilantes through the place.
“Are you sure this is the spot Eraserhead? I mean it’s kinda hard to believe that this spot is a popular place for villains to---”
Koichi saw that her partner, Pop Step or Kazuho Haneyama got the silenced treatment from Eraserhead who used her capture scarf to muffle Pop Step’s mouth.
“Quiet, Tsukauchi already gave you all the briefing.”
“I’m pretty sure that she might have ignored it.”
Knuckleduster replied with a smirk on her face as Pop Step looked to her mentor with a look of betrayal an annoyance at which Eraserhead let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine, listen closely, behind that door is an auction room belonging to one villain we’ve been chasing for a month now, as well as an undercover spy, who’ll act as we give our signal.”
“So then what do we do?”
“We’ll go in and sneak towards a room that the villain always rents, and create chaos which’ll give us time to apprehend her.”
“And who is the villain?” Koichi asked because she didn’t remember detective Tsukauchi giving a name during the briefing.
“Her name, is Ellie Rose, a notorious criminal who stole the Tunisian diamond.”
“If she’s just a high-ranking thief, then why are we the one catching her?”
“It’s because she has avoided capture from the government for a total of five years, and after a recent stunt she pulled, they decided she is too dangerous to be left unchecked, so they made the case available for the hero commission as well.”
Eraserhead explained as she approached the door and knocked on it, which was answered by someone opening the peep hole, “What’s the weather out there?”
“Hot, so stay fresh.”
Koichi cringed as Eraserhead attempted to replicate some weird move which made Pop Step and Knuckleduster laughed so hardly until the door was opened and the group entered.
“What was that Eraser!? *Laughs! That was the most hilarious thing I’ve seen! How’d I wish I got it on camera---”
A death glare sent from Eraserhead’s red eyes was all that took to silence Knuckleduster while she pulled out four tickets from one of her pockets and showed it towards the guard.
“Your seats are written on the tickets; the auction is going to be starting soon.”
Eraserhead just gave a nod as she led the group up the stairs while Koichi looked out to see a huge auditorium, each seat filled with participants as the entire place was being blasted by loud DJ music and colourful lights.
The four settled down on their seats which was one of the private rooms and was close to the stage, Knuckleduster instantly went to grab a nearby refreshment drink while Pop Step was giddy about something she saw at the stage.
“What do you see Pop Step?”
“I can’t believe it! It’s DJ Sango down there!!”
Koichi didn’t recognize the name, considering she isn’t too much into music and internet fame, “Probably another hotshot sappy musician if Pop Step knows her.”
While Pop Step seemed offended by Knuckleduster’s comment, Koichi went closer to the balcony and tried to get a closer look at the stage, by itself it seemed to be a regular opera stage decked out with multiple DJ equipment, and in the centre was presumably DJ Sango.
Who wore a white cap and cone-shaped headphones, with orange hair that seemed to be reminiscent of thick tentacles as the bottom part was white, her attire was a dark blue jacket with white lines outlining several parts of her jacket.
“So, where’s this Ellie Rose?”
“She’s not a very silent criminal, so we might have an easy time to find her.”
Suddenly the lights turned off as the DJ exited the stage, and came in another woman with a very, revealing outfit who walked onto the centre and grabbed the mic.
“*Clears throat, welcome everyone! Prepare your boards and money, because it’s auction time!”
The crowd cheered as some held their number boards up, echoing the entire auditorium, two guards with knight helmets carried a huge crate which opened and revealed an antique vase.
“First up, this porcelain vase that was retrieved from a sunken ship in the Atlantic Ocean! It’s beautiful pattern is the artwork of nature itself, bid starting at 7.000 American dollars!”
People started to shout out large amounts of money while Knuckleduster, who had finished her drink, gave an annoyed look at Eraserhead.
“I sure hope you aren’t going to make us sit through this entire event just to get a glimpse of that criminal.”
“We are.” Eraserhead bluntly replied as she took a sip of coffee from a nearby coffee cup and pulled out her phone which was in a video call with Tsukauchi which she showed to the vigilantes.
“Ellie Rose doesn’t show up in any places unless there’s something that interests her, and in this auction’s itinerary, one item in particular caught both her’s and the government’s fascination.”
“And what is it detective?”
“You’ll see it for yourself The Crawler, and when it does appear, she’ll have to show herself to put a bid on it and that is when you all strike.”
Koichi curiosity was now peaked as she looked back to see that there have been already a few items that have been sold, and they were approaching the next one.
Koichi’s heartbeats couldn’t help but increase with both excitement and anticipation as to what the item a notorious criminal would want to have, after a few items, as well as Pop Step going to the bathroom two times and Eraserhead grabbing three cups of coffee, a sudden flicker of lights caught the attention of all in the room.
“And now, to our main course! Now, how many of you ladies want a man that can keep up with you!? One not just for breeding, but as a guard dog! One that can keep up with quirks!”
Loud cheers made Koichi close his ears as the entire crowd went wild, this time, four guards carried a metal crate with a number pad on it.
“So let me hear it! For our main auction item! Henry Stickmin!!!”
The crate opened and revealed a bald, white skinned man wearing a green bomber jacket, although the thing that stood out was his right arm and legs, it all seemed to be made out of metal, the unconscious man named Henry Stickmin was chained by his wrists and ankles in the crate as all of its sides fell down leaving just a square frame.
“Auction starts at 50.000 American dollars!”
The woman in the middle announced as now, the entire crowd was biding for the man in the middle, Koichi was half-disgusted but also intrigued beyond belief, disgusted that all the people here don’t seem to give a care about equality or human rights, but intrigued as Henry opened his eyes and revealed a pair of black pupils.
“500.000 Dollars!”
A feminine voice rang through the room with the highest bid, and Koichi saw the voice belonged to a crimson haired woman, wearing a pink top hat as well as a black tank top under a purple jacket.
Aided by two other top hat wearing women beside her, one held the number board, Eraserhead stood up from her seat and silently signalled for the vigilantes to follow her.
“It’s time, we’ve got eyes on her, Crawler and Pop Step, you two will create the distraction while me and Knuckleuster will take on her.”
“What do we do to create a distraction?”
“Anything necessary.”
“Won’t there be property damage?” Koichi asked as Eraserhead and Knuckleduster went into an elevator while she and Pop Step were outside in the hallway.
“It can be easily covered, the government will take care of it, so go wild you two.”
The elevator’s door closed and Pop Step immediately ran to the other end of the hallway while Koichi was followed her, and she stopped in front of an electric panel.
“What better way to stop the show than to mess around with the power?”
Pop Step exclaimed as she opened the panel, revealing multiple switches which Pop Step fiddled around with, but before she could mess around anymore, a guard spotted them.
“Hey! You’re not authorised---!”
Koichi wasted no time and used her quirk, Slid and Glid to propel herself near the guard before delivering an uppercut at the guard’s chin and followed it with a kick to the stomach, sending the guard flying.
However, Koichi’s small victory was interrupted as three more guards came out from a room where Koichi had launched the other guard into through the door, Koichi prepared a fighting stance as the lights flickered on and off.
Time to kick some villain butt!
With Koichi and Pop Step currently creating a distraction by messing with the power source, while Eraserhead and Knuckleduster approaching Ellie Rose’s room, the auditorium was sent into chaos not because of Pop Step’s stunt, but because of Henry breaking free of his chains thanks to a certain secret agent.
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“That’ll be about 1402 yen, is that all?”
“Yes, that’s all.”
“Okay then, thank you for your purchase sir.”
Izuku gave a nod as he walked out of the drug store, luckily this one seemed to care less about his status being a quirkless man, with a small bag in his grasp, Izuku made sure his hoodie’s hood was on before continuing his walk, although Izuku’s senses told something was wrong.
Paranoia was always set in Izuku’s mind and it had been a great help, considering it had saved his life multiple times in the past, but if it puts Izuku’s mind into some sort of cautious state, then something is definitely up, so Izuku stopped and activated echolocation again right before a sudden knife he dodged.
“Greetings, my target.”
A voice rang as a figure landed down behind Izuku, who deactivated his echolocation ability with his sight becoming normal again, Izuku though, realized something about his echolocation ability, it takes a good chunk of time before Izuku could activate it, which left Izuku completely blind to his surroundings.
Leaving it to be dealt with later, Izuku turned back and saw another familiar face, although not so familiar as his aggressors face was covered with a crow-like mask which’s beak was replaced with a red respirator and it’s lenses glared at Izuku.
“Bloodhound?”
“Nice to meet you again, Shaman.”
Bloodhound, was a non-binary person wearing a brown jacket which had multiple trinkets on it and long pants with grey boots, red gloves each with a knife in it’s grasp, a crow landed on their left arm which let out a squawk as Izuku took a step back.
“So, how you’ve been doing?”
“Fine, thanks to you, also, I’m tasked with bringing you back, to Leo.”
“*Nervous laughs, can you perhaps not do that?”
Izuku was very worried now, considering that Bloodhound was not a regular hunter or mercenary, they are another one of the large group of people he had helped over the past years before Leo took over, which was either six months or a year ago.
And Izuku wasn’t that desperate to fight against someone he had helped in the past, let alone someone who he had helped shaped themselves into a skilful fighter, hunter, tracker, and assassinator, although the last part was something Izuku did unknowingly.
“Not really, I’m in a contract with Leo, so I don’t really have a choice.”
“And, what did he promise you in return?”
“Oh nothing big, just giving my tribe freedom from, his grasp.”
That doesn’t sound like nothing big. Izuku thought as he remembered the memory of finding Bloodhound, during a rainy weather as he and Leo alongside of Yuno were having a field trip when they worked under a different company before they established the Q.T.F.
Thanks to his bad sense of direction, Izuku got lost and stumbled upon someone in their dying breaths, and the rest is history, Izuku kept walking subtlety backwards from Bloodhound before them noticing.
“Ah, so you and Leo have had a small fall out huh? Well, it’s not my business to pry, but now, are you ready?”
A red glint appeared through their lenses as Izuku’s mind instantly screamed run, akin to a prey witnessing it’s predator’s eyes on them, Bloodhound twirled one of his knives and throwed it towards Izuku, which Izuku side stepped away and began to form a sprint.
“You can’t run from us, Shaman!”
Izuku ignored the shout as he kept his pace and continued to make a run for it before a black van drove through an alleyway and blocked his path, a rifle was pointed out from the driver’s window at Izuku’s face.
Shit!
Izuku couldn’t react in time as the rifle was fired and he saw the bullet for a split second before it collided with his head, blood Izuku saw which spewed out from his forehead as he felt his consciousness fading away slightly as well as the hard surface of concrete banging his head and body as he fell to the ground.
As Izuku felt the control over his body slowly dissipating, Bloodhound leaned down to put his head in Izuku’s vision with their knife pocketed, “You should’ve paid more attention to your surroundings, but anyhow, I’ll make sure to take care of you.”
Izuku’s ears was still ringing as Bloodhound lifted him and entered the windowless black van which’s back doors were opened, the last thing that Izuku saw before darkness overtook his vision was a piece of paper on the van’s wall which was a sparrow in a circle, which made Izuku realize something.
Wait, the USB is still back at Koichi’s house! I can’t… I need it for… information………
“Whoo, what did Leo actual did to you, surviving a bullet to your cranium.” Bloodhound wondered as he set Izuku on a nearby medical bed while gently restraining an unconscious Izuku to the bed, they grabbed a nearby med-kit before facing the driver who fixed the top mirror.
“Looks like you’ve got the cargo, let’s go.”
“Where exactly?”
“Fujitani Hospital.”