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Chapter 16: Speed and Flames
🕑 Added 2024-02-28 16:15:33 +0000 UTCOkay, I promised myself that this chapter would be short, but with how long the last one runs, I must fight this habit. Speaking of the previous chapter, what did you all think of it? I've been eager to write that and this follow-up since chapter 8, but as you can imagine, a lot needed to be set up.
As for this chapter, it's my first time writing anything with Tensei in the field and active as my first work has him featured already in his wheelchair, so it's gonna be fun to write how he fights and how Slice and Pyre fight to run with their ill-gotten gains.
Chapter 16: Speed and Flames
(Previously)
“Just be there in an hour. We need to be gone before nightfall. The pros expect us to try and get out under the cover of night.” Looking at the time in the corner of her phone's screen, she saw it was almost 11am. They had plenty of time.
"Understood. It was a good thing we packed everything before we left," Hisaki noted before they hung up as Midoriya got up from where he had been leaning on the wall.
“Everything set?” He asked her as the two started to move again.
"Yeah, looks like we have to get out of town." Her sentence was punctuated by the sound of an engine on pull blast, along with the crumbling of paper and gravel as someone appeared in front of them, the sight of which immediately put the two on guard.
"Looks like it," The figure, masculine if that voice was to be trusted, started. The two could see more of the figure as the dust quickly arrived, clearing up, both shocked by what they saw. "But you're going to make it that far." The figure's white-coated frame became more evident to them as Midoriya felt like cursing.
“What the?” Hisaki asked, her brow furrowed as her hair shifted into weapons while she kept her tracked the ING on the person's sleek armoured shoulder, the rest of their body aside from their legs covered in a similar white.
“How…how are you even here?” Midoriya asked, heating up even as his eyes didn't leave the engine mufflers from the person's elbows before moving up to their helmet.
“A hero is always where they’re needed.” The number 56 hero, the Turbo Hero: Ingenium, replied as he got into a readied stance. Neither thought that they could run from him. “So why don’t you put those stolen diamonds down and surrender before I need to use force.” He suggested, which had Midoriya gulp.
They just had to jinx it, didn’t they?
Line Break
“What the hell? Where did you come from?” Slice demanded, keeping her eyes on the pro before them even as she wanted to curse out like a sailor. He wasn't meant to be here! He didn't answer, choosing to attack, which she met with a blast of hair needles; Midoriya also blasted a fireball at him, aiming for his feet to try and trip him up.
Ingenium evaded all that with the ease that could only come from years of experience. He targeted Pyre first with a powerful kick he barely blocked. Grunting, Pyre could feel that he was far from as strong as Chimera, not without a complete running start perhaps, but he was definitely in his league when it came to speed. The worst part was that he knew he could kick much faster than this. They needed to have the luxury of time.
“Did you run here all the way from Tokyo? You couldn’t have known we would be here!” Pyre asked him, trying to buy himself time to think, and also because he was a little pissed that his hours spent analysing and mapping out which pros would be and could be where and when during this robbery had just gone down the toilet thanks to an abnormality in the form of Ingenium.
Ingenium broke off from him, evading the quick swipe of his hand with a chuckle. “I was in town visiting a friend and heard about the bank, then the truck. You can tell which I was closer to.” Despite the situation, the speedster kept jovial, even cracking jokes with the villains he fought.
"It doesn't matter how; all we need to do is get you out of the way!" Slice yelled back as she jumped back, her hand holding the case tight as her hair latched her onto a building’s, well off the ground where she could fire off another barrage of needles, larger this time.
“Knowing the problem is one thing,” Smoke shot out of his elbow exhausts, his speed increasing as he dodged out of the way, even using Pyre as a surprise stepping stone to jump towards her; his leg pulled back for a kick, which she wouldn't be able to avoid. “Being able to solve it is another.” Lucky for her, Pyre turned his head just a little and fired off a fireball, which forced Ingenium to abandon what could have easily been a one-hit knock-out.
Ingenium landed behind them, his back to where they had come from and theirs to the open street, but neither thought for a second that it meant they could flee, not when their foe was known for his speed. "He's as fast as I thought he'd be, even faster!" Pyre didn't seem too worried about this, quite the opposite, as he laughed. Firing off another fireball, he increased his temperature further to boost himself. "This is amazing; if we weren't fighting, I'd ask for your autograph."
“Seriously, Pyre? His autograph?” Slice asked him, dumbfounded that he could find the time to fanboy while they fought to get away with their loot.
Dodging a sweeping kick from Ingenium, Pyre fired a blast of steam to force the man back as he landed. "What? I like heroes, and he's one of the coolest. I heard he even works with vigilantes if it means saving lives! What's cooler than that?” He had always wanted to meet the man, to be honest; before he met Nine and the rest, he seemed like his best bet for an answer. If he could work with people society deems villains for just wanting to help, could it mean he could be like them?
Neither could see his face, but his stance shifted, showing that he was rather pensive about Midoriya, the boy who wore his heart, and he tried to never lie. He must have caught onto that even as they continued their song and dance. “You know, it’s ironic to hear someone that just robbed an armoured car and set all those fires praise heroes and act like a fan.” The speedster noted, blocking a straight but predictable punch from Midoriya before countering with a kick to his side.
Hissing, he didn't do down even as it wasn't like he needed to worry about it; his body would heal that long before it could even bruise as he made a follow strike, which Ingenium dodged around, even evading the bladed hair tendril that Slice sent to try and tag him. "You got me there, but I didn't kill anyone with my flames; they exist to help people." Midoriya puffed up his chest, happy with himself.
"And yet, you're a villain. Sorry, kid, but it seems that you're confused." That pride left him, replaced with irritation as he locked eyes with the pro.
“Everyone kept telling me that, that I was confused, that I was the problem.” His arms shifted, flesh, blood and bone burning away and replaced with lava and rock. "But it's the world that is wrong, and I'll change it, even if it means being a villain to you." He charged the pro, as while he was faster and better trained, Pyre wasn't some back-alley thug either as he watched and learned. Still, while they were holding their own, both sides knew that they didn't need to be knocked out or restrained by Ingenium to lose.
Koharu said as much as she eyed the man. "You have any ideas? He can't just be alone; he's stalling." He asked back, to which she explained that she could distract him. It might not be enough to kill him, but she wasn't aiming for that either way. After all, why slaughter a good man? Midoriya was sceptical that she could kill a human to begin with, as while it was significant for her age and species, that was it.
Either way, she asked that he trust what she was planning so he would. So when she instructed, he'd grab her when she said so and throw her, and she'd handle the rest. “Alright, but this better work.” Hearing sirens in the distance, they knew that Ingenium's backup was, at best, a couple minutes away. As the pro kicked a trashcan in front of him to absorb both the hair needles Slice fired and to obscure her vision of him, Koharu hissed the signal. “Go!”
With a good grip, he tossed the snake, who bungled herself up towards Ingenium, who, for his part, had spotted the snake wrapped around Pyre's shoulders but chalked it up to a pet. While he had never been on the receiving end of a snake thrown his way, he could evade it and collect it later to be taken to a shelter, as clearly this villain wasn't a responsible owner.
At least, that was the plan as while he was shifting himself out of its path and getting ready to charge Pyre and end this fight, he only noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was more to this snake than he had thought as its body lit up like a firecracker, before it burst into flames. This caught him off guard, the same as Slice and Pyre. With the fire still around her form, she burst out of the, her size increased to that closer to a 6m constrictor made from flames, stone, and bones.
With a hiss that vibrated his bones, Koharu charged Ingenium, her jaws wide open. Jumping to avoid what was sure to be a dangerous bite, Ingenium got hit right in the chest with a fireball. His armour protected him from the worst, but the force still knocked some wind out of him.
“What the heck? When could you do this?!” Pyre yelled as Koharu used her size to block off the alley while also continuing the assault. Ingenium found himself fighting another quirk animal; at this point, he was starting to assume he had attracted them. Slice didn’t care for that, not when this might be their best chance as with the pro distracted, she attacked him with a bladed tendril that this time he wasn’t fast enough to dodge, the hair cutting into the flesh at the back of his right knee, throwing the man off balance as he fell to his side, his right leg no longer as stable as it just was.
"Ask her later. Just sit fire to damn place." She yelled at the two, who shared a look, a silent conversation in only a moment before they nodded.
“Got it, Koharu,” Midoriya said as he and Koharu took a deep breath before releasing two massive emerald fireballs. “Double Serpent’s Fireball!” Seeing the two fireballs approaching him, Ingenium jumped as high and as far back as he could with his good leg, having to land funny lest he only make his injury as a glance told him it wasn't deep. Still, he should only be putting weight on his leg once he saw a doctor.
Returning to the alley entrance, he saw the two villains turning to flee, but not before Pyre collected the snake, which shrunk and returned to normal. Running away before his backup could get there, the boy only left him feeling confused with his final words. “Sorry about that, Ingenium! But we really have to get going! Keep being a great hero!” Slice wanted to call him out for that but had better things to go as Pyre grabbed her bridal style and, with both their faces as red as her hair at the act, took off as he was still the faster of the two, even while carrying her.
Line Break
As evening approached, the heat hadn't died down yet. If anything, it had increased once the news broke that Ingenium had been injured trying to apprehend them. It didn't matter how minor the wound was or that Izuku bet he would be back in action in a couple days. From how people spoke about it, you would think they cut off his leg and beat him with it. Because of that, and the two heists that preceded, the streets were crawling with pros and cops, and people walked around a little scared, eager to report anything that even seemed suspicious.
In that atmosphere, the two finally made it to the meeting site, and not a minute too soon afterwards, their van pulled up right as they got there. Slice quickly changed into something else, Midriya turning to give her some privacy. She shifted her hair to stick to her skin and wore a turtle neck and beanie to mask her hair colour. Midoriya didn't bother changing, remaining on the lookout till she was done. She got up front at this point, and he joined Nine and Kon in the back.
"Heard you had some fun," Kon stated as the van started up and continued.
"Hmm! We ran into Ingenium, and he was as cool as I thought he was." Midoriya nodded, the group only rolling their eyes fondly at how weird it was for a criminal to be happy to see a hero and not be because they wanted to fight.
"We were lucky to get away. If not for Koharu, we might have had to fight through more than one pro.” Hisaki said from her seat, her phone out as she scrolled through news articles, blending it. At the same time, Makihara handled driving, and as far as they could tell, they hadn't gotten a second glance from others.
“Really?” Nine asked, having established in the time since he called them. Hisaki then explained what had gone down, leaving no detail out, which was the two in the back with Midoriya turning their gaze to the reptile wrapped around Midoriya's neck like it was normal. "Well, I had suspected that there was something more to her, but I never guessed she could replicate your quirk, Midoriya." Nine stated as Midoriya turned to him, still slightly upset about it.
"Neither did I because someone decided to keep that secret," Koharu replied. It was a fun surprise, and it didn't hurt anyone. "I don't care if it was cool. It would have been nice to know before." He shot back, the rest out of the argument between them as Nine and Kon shared a glance before the heteromorph coughed, grabbing Midoriya and Koharu's attention.
“How does that even work?” He asked as Midoriya turned to Koharu, who explained it to him, so he acted as the translator.
“According to her, she’s been siphoning my heat for months, and when I transform with her still attached, she absorbs that as well.” He started for her, with the two nodding as while crazy, it wasn't the craziest thing they had heard a quirked animal do, as there was that one story about a cat taking over a bus, of all things.
“So, she could do that for all of us?” Makihara asked, keeping his eyes on the road to make it less evident that he was carrying cargo.
Koharu shook her head as Midoriya explained why. "Not really. She says she can only hold one kind of power at a time, so if she wanted to control the weather like Nine, she'd need to ditch my flames." Makihara hummed, as that meant she couldn't act as some sort of stockpiler for their powers, though that sounded pretty impressive.
"That has anything to do with how large she is?" Hasaki asked him, only for Midoriya to realise it wasn't just a good question. That was a precise observation.
“You know, that makes sense! Why didn’t I think of it before?” He slapped his forehead in frustration at himself. "But that means she'll get too big for me to carry? I'm already the smallest guy here."
“If that day comes, I’ll handle it, squirt.” Kon joked, chuckling even as Midoriya turned to glare at him for that comment.
“I’m not a squirt!”
Nine spoke up, all attention shifting to him as he counted through the diamonds they had stolen. "Either day, it was a productive day. As we packed, it's just 5 minutes to load up everything once we return and leave." He instructed, closing the case and placing it beneath their chair, secured in place to prevent it from jostling around.
“Got it.” The group offered some version of that, but Nine still needed to be done as he relaxed a little, flashing them all a small thing that Makihara and Hasaki were missing out on.
“But you all did well. Exceptional even. It's not every day that you hear a double bank, armoured car heist followed by a top hero being injured in the attempt to stop the criminals." Nine stated, as he was sure they made the news for central Japan. This means they both managed to gain some capital and spread their name in the underworld.
"It was a hell of a fun day, definitely one to remember," Kon grunted, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat.
"Yup, it was our first time out as a group." Midoriya giggled, as while that jerk with the water made it seem that the day wasn't perfect, he got to show off the fruits of their training and meet Ingenium. If he had a camera, he would have taken many pictures.
Line Break
The following morning, the warehouse they had been staying in for weeks was raided after an anonymous tip claimed that they had seen weird activity there over the last few days. And after what went down yesterday, when the tipper had seen what appeared to be a mutant that resembled Kon, the police had been quick to act. However, as they looked around the deserted building, they wished their tip had come in earlier.
Because of that late arrival, by the time they had sent a patrol car out, the place was silent with no signs of activity, and further inquiry showed that the warehouse was again abandoned. Still, they found evidence that someone was there recently, so the rest of the police were called in now that they had a possible lead.
Walking into the place with a coffee, Kaniyashiki Monika yawned into her other hand. A glance around confirmed what she had been told on the way here. Still, it also showed that this group had plenty of time to get out as the place was clean, too clean to have merely been another abandoned warehouse. Clearly, they had made sure to erase as much evidence of them ever being here as possible, a trait that aligned with their profile for the criminals in question.
"What do we have so far?" she asked, approaching one of the CSIs as they catalogued their findings.
"Not much aside from food remains and trash; there isn't much to claim that it was the bank or armoured car group that was here." She pointed towards where the kitchen was, where they were trying to lift prints and other sources of identification.
"Isn't much doesn't mean nothing. You have something." Kaniyashiki replied as the CSI turned to her, nodding as he gestured for someone to walk over. They held a sealed evidence bag containing a shredded snake's skin and some green scales.
Taking it from the person, she handed it to the detective. "Aye, we found this. What are the odds of the site we got tipped off to just having a snake's shredded skin when one of the suspects is known to have a snake pet with him at all times?" Kaniyashiki frowned, as the odds weren't that high, meaning they were right on the money.
Almost as a cherry on top, the CSI pointed up the stairs in the corner. “We also found strands of human hair in the shower, red hair.” Well, that put Midoriya and now Hisaki in this building. They could only assume they had also been there because they were seen with Makihara, Kon, and the yet-to-be-identified 5th person.
“There were also burn marks in one of the rooms; soot is being tested now, but if it matches the armoured car and the alley where Ingenium encountered them." Kaniyashiki lifted her hand, having heard enough.
“Yeah, I know.” Bidding her goodbye, she walked away from the CSI crew as they worked, back outside and under the police tap as she pulled her phone out and dialled a number.
It rang only 4 times before it was picked up. “Hey, it’s me. Looks like I found your pyromaniac and his friends. At least we found where they were.”
“You sure about this, Kaniyashiki?” Tsukauchi asked over the line.
"We found a warehouse with burn marks, snake scales skin and red hair in the shower drain. Sure, the lab still needs to confirm it, and they're still dusting for prints, but you and I both know it's a foregone conclusion." Kaniyashiki explained, hearing the man sigh, no doubt trying to lessen the headache he probably felt coming.
“Yeah, yeah, you're right.” He agreed that while they couldn't and shouldn't jump to conclusions, the odds that they were wrong were far too low to even entertain.
Walking over to her car, the woman tried to lessen the blow. Still, she kept firm on the issue, a break from her typical bubbly, jovial attitude. "Look, I get that you wanted to help the kid, he seemed like a good kid with some shitty luck, but Tsukauchi, this is the 3rdincident he was involved in. Kyushu could be forgiven; he just robbed a place for some clothes, but Felu City, and now this? We can't treat this with kid gloves any more." She could already see the press start showing up and knew dealing with them would be a pain.
“Believe me, I know. I don’t like it, but I know.” Tsukauchi replied as she raised an eyebrow.
“Then why are you so invested in this?” She asked as Tsukauchi wasn't one of those grizzled, jaded detectives that the TV shows loved to show. He liked to believe in people, but this was strange for him as Midoriya wasn't the first kid who fell off the path into crime. He certainly wouldn't be the last, but never had Tsukauchi been so invested in one that he would reach out to other detectives like herself for help and notices if they found Midoriya’s tracks.
“Would you believe me if I’m doing this as a favour to All Might?” She blinked at that question.
"What? You know what? Forget it; you've always had a talent for making the weirdest friends; of course, you know All Might." Kaniyashiki replied, thinking back to times when All Might would get involved in cases and how it was always when Tsukauchi was there or leading the investigation. She had never thought it much, but it made too much sense now.
“I do, and he wanted to give the boy another chance at things, but with how they are now, the best we can do is make sure he gets therapy once he's locked up in a juvenile detention facility.” She hummed in agreement with him.
"Make sure, wherever it is, that it's fireproof."
Line Break
“Police are still on the lookout for the suspects that robbed an armoured car transporting as of yet identified goods though sources close to the case claim that it was precious jewels worth over 200 million yen.” As the news played over the TV, most people in the gym stopped their workouts to look on. Still, one remained focused on his workout, his sweaty fists striking the sandbag with increasing force, matching his rising anger.
“Police statements and witness testimony put the suspects, Midoriya Izuku of Shizuoka and Hasaki Kiruka of Kyushu, at the crime scene.” When the names were given, their pictures were shown, the same as the last one but hand in hand with the latest; it is a poor cell phone video from the bridge which showed the two going to town; the still frames displayed a level of power and joy in their actions that made people concerned.
When he heard that name, the only person still going through his workout paused, his fist so close to the bag he could almost touch it. With a growl, he continued, hitting it even harder, imagining that the bag was Pyro. “While numbers are still coming, it’s estimated that over a dozen people were torched by Midoriya, who is going by the villain name Pyre, while many others suffered deep lacerations thanks to Hasaki, who is operating under the villain name Slice.”
“A representative of the Idaten hero agency has confirmed that Ingenium had been in the area and responded to the emergency and that while he suffered some minor injuries, he's expected to recover fully in a few days.” He thought that when they heard the news of this last night, the old hag had invited Auntie over to make sure she was doing alright; they even sat down to eat a less spicy dinner than usual as Auntie didn't share his and the old hag love for such foods.
Only for the good mood to be ruined when the news broke over what her failure of a son had gotten up to now. From assaulting law enforcement and pros, he now went on a double robbery. He and his gang of nobodies attacked an armoured car and bank, setting fire to an entire highway like the lunatic he was and to top it all off, he attacked Ingenium on his way out.
“But to escape such a respected and accomplished pro is no small feat; we turn now to our villain psychology.” He stopped listening after that; he didn't need to listen to some 'expect' that he didn't care what their name was telling people stuff he already knew. Landing his final punch, his hand nearly set off an explosion, but he held back; the gym owner had already told him he would kick him out if he damaged another piece of equipment.
Still, he was pissed as shit but knew if he stayed, he'd end up kicking, so he grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat off his face and neck, walking towards the changing rooms so he could take a cold shower. “God dammit, Pyro can’t help himself, can he?” Even now, he couldn't get that look out of his head; he saw it almost night, that damned face of Pyro's as he smoked that villain, only now his dreams took a turn for the worst as he fought that bastard.
And lost every time.
It didn't matter how he did it or how he attacked; it always ended the same. Him on his ass, Deku laughing over him before he would torch him.
He breathed, keeping his cool the best he could, even as his glare meant that anyone who saw him gave him distance. He passed by a calendar on the way in, one marked with pointless activities like yoga and water aerobics. But he focused more on the date, which was late February. "Just you wait, it's just another month before I'm rid of this no-name shit hole of a school, and I take my place at U.A."
"And I'll be sure to throw in whatever frozen hell they have for a prison where you belong," Katsuki swore to himself as he entered the men’s changing area.
And we're done! As I said, this one was shorter than the others, as I was getting sick of how I kept breaking the word limits. The next upload will be on March 13th.
