48

Chapter Text

"You know, I'm kinda glad that we didn't have to tell them," Izuku whispered. "It would've been like giving myself a tactical nuke and letting it blow up in my face."

"Please. It would've been like giving both of us each a tactical nuke and letting them both blow up in our faces," Kaniko corrected.

Both of them were standing in the midst of a crowd of police getting ready for the raid on the Eight Precepts of Death. While most were dashing around in a fervent hustle and bustle, Izuku and Kaniko were mostly mulling around waiting for the operation to start at its fullest. As such, it gave them plenty of time to think over the events of last night.

"Yeah, but that memo still kinda scared me for a bit," Izuku admitted. "I thought that they had found us out."

"It didn't help that I got it while we were still out, huh?" Kaniko asked. "Just on our way back to UA, and BAM! Text message and a call from headquarters."

"It's your fault, you know," Izuku said. "I would've been back at UA if you didn't decide sleeping was more important than maintaining our cover."

"Oi! You went along with it," Kaniko countered. "You were still sleeping in the passenger seat when I woke up."

"Only because you wouldn't budge! What was I going to do? Drive the car myself?"

"Pfft! You could've stung me awake. Admit it, you were tired as well." 

Izuku exhaled. "It's not like it matters now. We were gone all night. And now all of my work study buddies are aware that I wasn't at UA last night since when they all got their texts they all met up to talk."

Izuku sighed. "And now they're going to be wondering why I'm already at the police station. As if Setsuna's suspicions weren't enough."

"Well, there's not much you can do about that," Kaniko said. "Besides, you're the one who proposed the idea of a stakeout in the first place." Her hands shot up in the air. "What makes it worse is the fact that it wasn't even needed! Nighteye figured it out for us. Probably a couple hours before you found Eri, even!"

Izuku let out a groan. "That's the worst part! All that hard work wasted! My time memorizing the places' layout too since Nighteye probably did the same thing. I just— Ah. Incoming at five o'clock."

Kaniko went to turn to see said arrival, but was interrupted when she was engulfed in a rather squishy and all-encompassing hug.

"Fat-yan!" she greeted.

"Kaniko! It's nice to see you!" Fat Gum exclaimed as she set Kaniko down. "How're you doing?" The two immediately went on a rather quick-paced talk back and forth.

It was a rather amusing sight, but Izuku ignored the reunion in favor of seeing to the two others following behind Fat Gun: Amajiki and Kirishima. Or, more specifically and pertinent to Izuku, Kirishima.

"Whoa, bro! Where have you been all night?" Kirishima asked. "And did I hear Fat Gum right? That's your friend Kaniko?"

Amajiki merely stood beside the red-headed boy, content to stand and wait. He didn't show any signs of wanting to join in the conversation.

"Yeah," Izuku admitted. "I… bet you didn't think she was a cop, huh?"

"Heh, definitely not," Kirishima said. He shook his head. "Anyways, where have you been? Seriously, you had everybody worried that you got kidnapped again or something!"

Izuku groaned. "I'm not going to get abducted again. It's not like the villains have any incentive to anymore."

Kirishima waved him off. 'If you say so, bro. However, I'm still curious. Where have you been? And were you just lugging around your costume the entire time you were out, or what?"

Izuku only then remembered that he was actually wearing his costume. That is, his green and yellow/gold Dragonfly costume. He had donned it only after he and Kaniko had arrived at the station. Izuku hadn't had a spare costume at hand, but Kaniko did — one for his hero persona and the muted blank and grey one for use in official police business. 

As such, Izuku had to wait in the car still dressed in the rather suspicious dark clothing he'd used for the stakeout until Kaniko came back with his spare costume. And then he had to change in the car itself, since he couldn't exactly walk around in what he was wearing. 

Overall, it was a rather tiresome experience for Izuku — a process that carried over a sense of fatigue Izuku was still holding too. As such, Izuku blurted out the first thing that came to his mind in response to Kirishima's question.

"No. I had Kaniko get it from me from her office." Unfortunately, Izuku only realized his mistake after his mouth had opened and he finished the sentence.

Kirishima crossed his arms. "Wait, the police have a spare of your costume at the station? Or is it your friend that just has a spare for you?"

"The… latter…"

"Huh." Kirishima huffed in contemplation. "Well… that's handy, huh?"

Izuku wiped away the small tread of sweat beginning to form at his hairline. "Yeah…"

"It makes me wond—" Kirishima's eyes trailed off to spot something behind Izuku. 

"Oh hey!" Kirishima exclaimed. "It's the others! They finally got here!"

Izuku used his bugs rather than turning around to check on Kirishima's claims. True to his wod, everybody that was held a part of work studies was indeed present just a little ways away. Uraraka and Tsu — who were waving them over — with Ryukyu and Hado, and Setsuna with Edgeshot. Nighteye and Togata trailed not too far behind

Kirishima was already running off to greet the rest. Amajiki followed not long after, going towards Togata. 

Once he was alone, Izuku sighed. He'd just been handed the perfect opportunity of distraction for Kirishima on a silver platter. Izuku shook the feeling off; he'd need to be more careful. He turned around and went to face his steadily approaching friends not too long after. 

He needed the small reprieve before the operation would start in full.

"Alright everybody, once I read off the warrant, things are gonna start moving. Let's try to end this quickly, yeah?" The man who had said the words was obviously somebody of higher rank in the police force, though to what extent Izuku couldn't guess.

Discarding the thought, Izuku watched in earnest as the man approached the intercom. At the same time, he was busy trying to divert Setsuna's musings as she attempted to worm some information out of him.

"Don't think that you can squirm your way around with an excuse this time, buster!" Setsuna said. "You still haven't explained why you were there or where you were all night!. You and your lady cop friend were doing something, and I will discover just what that was."

"You should refrain from causing any distractions for now, Tokage," Edgeshot warned, adding in his own words to aid in the diversion. "We're in the middle of an operation. You can interrogate him later if you want."

Izuku smirked. "Thanks Edgeshot." 

Izuku then turned to face Setsuna. "But on that note, I'm sure that you—" His bugs picked up on movement inside the compounds. "Incoming! Get away from the gates!"

Unfortunately, the warning wasn't enough. What happened next had Izuku feeling selfishly relieved that Kaniko was farther back in the crowd due to not being essential personal in terms of the raid. This was because, while a few officers were able to move just as the warning was issued, several officers were launched into the air as an enormous man broke through the gates. There was no doubt that those who were launched in the air were injured, even if they were caught by heroes before they had hit the ground.

Chaos immediately ensued. The villain immediately started on with his attack, aiming for the many police officers present. However, before he could go through with his actions, Ryukyu took up her dragon form to fend the villain. Tsu, Uraraka, and Hado joined in on the battle without the need of being ordered to do so.

At Ryukyu's behest, the rest of the force ran into the compound. However, said force was bolstered to the extremes. While the group contained the normal contingent of officers and heroes, it also had Izuku in its ranks. As a result, that included the million or so bugs he had gathered for the operation.

As the raid party invaded the compound, various yakuza grunts took the defense. Most of the heroes and police made quick work of the various grunts that came in the way..

Izuku was fine with that, since he was a bit preoccupied with some things himself. Down below, in the depths of the Precepts' base, Izuku felt the bugs he'd kept within Eri's discarded toy box being jostled around. Through the thin plastic of the pink paper box, Izuku could see Eri's face. He also saw the moment her hand went ahead and opened the flap of the box.

The miniature swarm instantly went and filled the room in a thin veil of flying, buzzing minions.

"What the fuck!?! ERI!!!" The words had come from Overhaul, that much was obvious when Izuku caught sight of the man. Izuku went on and formed his bugs together, ordering them to dart towards the man.

Izuku had planned to take out Overhaul in one go. It was a makeshift plan of course, and Izuku wasn't exactly banking on it to work. He was proven right the moment the tightly bound swarm brushed against one of Overhaul's hands. The bugs ended up exploding into a violent mess of guts and blood, effectively severing Izuku's view of the room. 

"Huh," Izuku muttered to himself. But he wasn't done just yet. Izuku mucked up together a few of the bugs that he had left behind the previous night and ordered them towards Eri's room. As is, when they got there, the door was still open. Overhaul's voice was easily audible.

"Ah! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! Get 'em off!"

Izuku chuckled just a bit.

"What the heck are you laughing at?" Setsuna questioned. Izuku was spurred by his thoughts. He found himself in front of the secret entrance of the underground facility, Setsuna attempting to drag him in. 

"Come on, 'zuku! There others are already going in! The officers are waiting for us to go first!"

"Oh." He only then noticed Bubble Girl, Centipeder, and a few officers restraining a couple grunts. He assumed that they'd be staying behind for just a bit. 

"Right, sorry." Izuku willed himself and his million-strong swarm into the stairway. 

The way down proved to be slightly difficult. It was obvious that the tight stairway and subsequent hallway weren't designed to hold large crowds such as the current police force marching through. Added with the small contingent of heroes and Izuku's enormous swarm, the way down was understandably claustrophobic to some.

It didn't help that once they reached the bottom that they were all stopped by a random wall — a wall that Izuku and Nighteye knew wasn't supposed to be there. 

"The heck is this, Nighteye?" Rock Lock demanded.

Izuku peered through the small amount of bugs hidden within the complex. A couple were luckily in the hallway that Izuku knew was supposed to be there.

"The way down's still there!" he said.

Togata made himself intangible and jumped through the wall. "Dragonfly's right! The wall's just in the way!"

"Then it looks like we'll have to crush it!" Kirishima announced as he hardened his arms.

"Now that's the spirit, Red Riot!" Fat Gum cheered, he too readying up to crush the wall.

They both dashed forward. Within seconds, the wall crumbled, it being no match for their combined might.

"Alright then! Let's go, people! Let's go!" It was the officer who had first went up to the intercom talking. Heroes and police alike swarmed forth through the now-busted wall in earnest. However, they all stopped in their tracks with what they saw next.

"What the— Now what?!?" Rock Lock yelled.

"Hmm. It seems to be shifting," said Edgeshot. 

"No, really?" Rock Lock said.

"It must be the Precepts' HQ Director, Irinaka!" one of the officers said. "He's called Mimic because of his quirk, but the scale of what he's doing right now is off the charts! The largest he should be able to take control of is something the size of a fridge!"

"Unless he gave himself a boost," Fat Gum proposed. "That would explain the sudden increase in his abilities."

"Then he's essentially made the place into a living labyrinth!" another officer exclaimed.

"You mean that our foreknowledge of the place's layout is useless?" Setsuna asked.

"Not exactly," Nighteye said. "I believe that we can still advance in the correct direction. It'll just take a bit more effort than I was originally planning to use."

"It won't matter if he keeps changing the place up!" Fat Gum said. "But on the other hand, this has got to be taking a toll on his stamina… Eraser! Any way you can cancel him out?"

"Not unless I see his real body, no," Aizawa said.

At the statement, Izuku had his swarm — which had been idly flying over everybody's heads until that point — spread out in search. Unfortunately, not many of them went very far, with most of the scouts that were sent out getting crushed or squished as the basement morphed and twisted. None of them even came close to spotting any sort of resemblance to their target.

"I can't catch sight of him in all this," Izuku admitted, his mind still on his bugs. He recalled a good number of them to avoid wasting them to a fruitless endeavor. "Not even with my bugs. The place is moving too much. And the few bugs that were already down here are now dead as well." 

Movement caught Izuku's attention. It was Togata who had just a moment ago been talking with Amajiki. As is, Togata went off through the wall and into the depths of the complex on his own.

"See you all on the other side!" Togata responded, leaving the rest of them to figure out their own way to Overhaul.

"Lemillion!" Nighteye called out. He received no response, Togata already too far off to hear.

"Great!" Setsuna began. "Now what are we going to do? Find a magical portal that leads us closer to Overhaul?"

It was at that moment that the ground opened up, swallowing the leading members of the raid party down into a large hole.

Izuku immediately sent a command to his bugs. The entire swarm followed after, dashing downwards in the air to follow their descending master. However, the bugs were met with an unforeseen opposition: the still shifting labyrinth. 

As the leading members of the force were greeted with a hard landing as they hit the ground, the hole above them immediately sealed itself up; something of which crushed a good majority of the bugs still traveling down to meet Izuku. All in all, there were probably still enough to form three or four clones in total.

"Oh come on!" Izuku shouted, his fist slamming against the ground. His head immediately turned to meet Setsuna. "Seriously?"

"What? How was I supposed to know something like that was supposed to happen?"

"Nevermind that," Edgeshot said, checking up on both of his work study students. "You two seem to be in good condition. That's good." He turned to Izuku. "How many bugs do you still have on you?"

Izuku counted. "Umm… two hundred and fifty-two thousand and twenty-one individual bugs, Edgeshot."

Edgeshot stared at Izuku. "I'm guessing that that isn't really nearly as much as you had before?"

"Hey!" It was Aizawa who had interrupted. "On your toes you three. There are a couple villains in here with us. You can go over your bug count later."

Izuku turned. There were in fact three bird masked people standing before them. There was no doubt that they were some of the stronger members of the Precepts given the fact that they donned the bird masks that were known for the Precepts' higher ups.

"I can take them on myself!" Amajiki suddenly yelled. "They're just slowing us down! Everybody go on ahead! Help Mirio!"

"Dude, seriously?" Kirishima questioned. "Why can't we do it together?"

"Ha! Now wouldn't that be a blessing!" One of the villains said. "Go on ahead and do that. Merely more pigs to the slaughter!"

"That's Setsuno!" one of the police officers yelled. "Nobody pull a gun on him! He'll swipe it off you!"

"Ha!" The newly identified Setsuno laughed. He raised up one of his hands. "You think that's going to help any of you. I can still— Huh?! My quirk!"

Amajiki took the initiative by transforming a multitude of his limbs and shooting them forward. Within seconds, he had all three of the villains captured in his hold. By that extent, none of them could attempt to escape since Aizawa currently had his gaze on all three of them.

"You're kidding me!" Setsuno yelled. 

Aizawa was already dashing forward. Within a few strides he had the villain with a bag over his head knocked out. He moved towards the next nearest villain — the one that could have crystal growths on his body — but stumbled when he heard a rather loud shout that echoed through the room.

"Incoming!"  

Everybody stopped in their tracks, heroes and villains alike. However, Aizawa took the chance to remedy his blunder and knocked out the other two villains.

Everybody had their gazes darting left to right in search of the new threat.

A few seconds passed, and Edgeshot was the first to speak. "I believe that the voice may belong to the one currenting creating this la—"

The southern wall of the room suddenly burst inwards, spewing forth a large intake of cloudy dust and rubble that blocked everyone's vision.

"Oh come on!" Rock Lock yelled. " Now what!?!?"

Rock Lock's call of distress was answered with a rather gruff voice that echoed throughout the room. 

"Stop dodging and start fighting me, damnit!'

Another voice came from the dust. "Rappa! Do you really think it's wise to—!"

"Shut it!" the first voice roared. "I'm trying to pin these guys down! If you're not gonna help then be quiet!"

As the dust cleared, the owners of the voices were revealed. If their bird masks were anything to go by, they were both another two more members of the higher command of the Precepts. One of them was obviously a bruiser, with his gauntlets and rather impressive stature giving in to such an image. The other was the complete opposite with his rather average build and flowing robes.

However, those two weren't the only ones who had caught everyone's attention. There were two others just across from them, individuals that Izuku deduced were the ones who were fighting the Rappa guy and the guy with the robes.

The first individual was green and had reptilian features. He had a simple headband covering his eyes, wild purple hair springing forth from his head, and wielded what Izuku believed was a rather impractical looking sword. On his waist was a utility belt with several pouches and a small metal case.

However, the other individual present had everybody stepping back at the mere sight of him. The man moved with an obvious hunch and was covered head to toe with metal armor pieces that went over a black outfit. His head was filled with a messy mop of black hair and a red headband that went right along with his similarly colored flowing scarf. However perhaps his more eye catching feature was also the most obvious — he was lacking a nose.

"Stain," Edgeshot muttered.

Said villain and the reptilian man beside him both turned towards Edgeshot when he had spoken up. Their expressions were quite telling in the fact that they hadn't expected the police and heroes to be in the room with them.

"Gah!" The lizard man yelled. "Police!? Heroes!? Wh—What's with this timing!?" He turned back to face Stain. "I told you that we should've come yesterday, boss!"

Stain's gaze darted back to the two conscious members of the Precepts, and then back to the gathered contingent of heroes.

"Keh. This is getting troublesome," Stain growled. "Spinner, you still have the case?" He asked the reptilian man.

"Of course, Stain!" he exclaimed, patting the metal case attached to his belt. "It's right here."

"Good. We're going," Stain ordered. "Make sure you hold on tight to it."

"Right sir! On it! I'll protect it with my life!" 

After that proclamation, both Stain and the newly identified Spinner turned tails and dashed out the door of the room. It took a moment for anyone to truly process what had just occurred.

Edgeshot then moved to follow. "Lizardy, Dragonfly, on me. We're following!"

"What?!?"

"On it!"

"Oh no you don't!"

The walls shook. Edgeshot and Setsuna both utilized their quirks to transform and speed through the air towards the door. Thanks to their speed, they were able to make it past the door and on the path to Stain before the walls blocked off said path. Izuku, with his lack of true mobility, unfortunately didn't make it. He slammed into the wall as it sprung into place.

"Ow."

"Argh! Why are there so many pests today?!?" Mimic complained.

"Rappa, control yourself! And you three! Are you kidding me? Did you get caught already?!?" 

"Oi!" It was Setsuno again, who had woken up due to all the commotion. "Easy for you to talk, hidden in the walls! Why don't try fighting someone who can erase your quirks, will ya!?"

"Hmm," Mimic hummed. " Good point."

A pillar of stone shot out from the wall and rammed into Aizawa. The pillar launched him into a tunnel that had opened up on the opposite wall.

"Eraser!" Fat Gum launched himself forward as did Kirishima, both with the goal of reaching Aizawa before he was taken away. 

"Not this time you aren't! Tengai, Brace! And Rappa, don't break the walls this time!"

A shimmering dome appeared around the two currently free villains before they were pushed back into the wall and into another tunnel that had opened up. Another pillar shot forth at the same time, connecting with the mid-air forms of Fat Gum and Kirishima. The duo were directed off course, away from Aizawa and instead down the tunnel that held Rappa and Tengai.

"Fat!" Amajiki instinctually stepped forward. He was hampered somewhat by the fact that he still had three other villains restrained in his tentacles, but he still moved forward. This allowed for another hole to open up beneath him, swallowing him and the three villains up.

"Dammit! We're losing numbers here!" Rock Lock yelled. "We need to get our shit together!"

"We need to stick together!!" Nightye ordered. "Bundle up so that he can't separate us."

Izuku immediately moved to stand and join the remaining group, but stopped himself when Mimic's voice rang out yet again.

"Gah! You're not worth the effort to deal with at this point."

The room shook. The first wall that had blocked off the doorway crumbled. The view of the hallway was visible for only a second before dozens of walls sprung up down its length, blocking off the route further ahead. 

"Try taking those on! Now that you've already lost all of your heavy hitters, there's no way through!" Mimic laughed. 

"Now stay put, will you? That other group of yours is getting close! I've gotta deal with them soon or they'll…"

His voice faded away with each spoken word, the room shaking less and less as time went on. Moments passed, and all that was left were the sounds of breathing from the group of eight: five officers, Rock Lock, Nighteye, and Izuku. 

Eventually, all was still.

"I think he's gone," one of the remaining officers said.

"That doesn't mean shit when all that's left is us," Rock Lock said. He gestured forward into the hallway. "We don't have anyone else capable of breaking down those walls! We're stuck here!"

"Not quite," Nighteye interjected. 

Rock Lock had an incredulous look on his face. "The hell you talking about, Nighteye? Last I check none of us could break through walls."

"You'll see. Just stand back." That was all Nighteye said before his hand went into his pocket. The group moved backwards as recommended; as a result, they had the perfect view of the wall in front of them suddenly gaining a newfound hole punched entirely through it. 

"What... was that?" asked one of the police officers. 

"That was a special high density personal seal — a support item I use for battle that weighs about five kilograms," Nighteye informed the group. "It fits my salaryman image, making the whole thing quite humorous"

"Does it really, though?" Rock Lock asked.

"Yes," Nighteye nodded. "Absolutely." He began walking forward, stepping through the new hole. He grasped for another weight, his effort in breaking down the wall only the first of many. "Now come. It's going to be a bit slow advancing forward since I only have a limited amount of these weights. I'll have to pick them back up as we go, but it's better than nothing."

"Wait!" Izuku interrupted. The group stopped in their tracks and looked towards Izuku. "What about everybody else?"

Nighteye's mouth drew into a thin line. "They'll have to take care of themselves for now. There's not much we c an do for them." He turned back around. "Now hurry! Our chances of getting Eri draw smaller every second.

"Right!" The group chorused. Izuku hesitated for a second, but followed not too long after.

The group marched on, each wall before them crumbling as Nighteye threw one of his weights. Each time the floor shook just a bit, the result of the wall and a weight colliding. They were upon the seventh wall when Izuku decided to adopt preventive measures.

His swarm converged onto him, surrounding his body from head to toe. He formed three bug clones around him and had them walk in tandem with him, following right in his footsteps.

"Umm…" It was one of the police officers. He had decided to audibly voice his curiosity.

"Oh!" Izuku muttered, realizing what he'd just done. "Sorry. They aren't too close, are they?"

The police officers all shook their heads. Rock Lock gave Izuku a weird look, while Nighteye simply marched on. 

"That's good. Sorry again. I just wanted to have them close, you know? I've already lost so many bugs down here. Any more and I'll end up being a sitting duck."

"Right…" The officer coughed. "Is uh, what you're doing… healthy?"

"Perfectly," Izuku readily answered. "They're all disease and parasite free. I already checked to make sure."

A few of the officers backed away by just a little. One officer went to speak up, but before he could a rather inhuman roar echoed through the hall and shook the walls.

Rock Lock, for one, sighed. "Again? Another freakin' obstacle? We were making good progress!"

The ground began to shake, heavy footfalls getting louder by the second until the wall in front of them exploded in a blast of rock and rubble. 

The first thing Izuku saw was the thing's hulking form. It reminded him of Centaur in a way, if he only looked at the sharp contrast between the creature's rather normal looking legs and the monstrous upper body. Everything else was something entirely new. 

The creature had six arms, three on each side. The two arms closest to the top were completely independent from one another. However, below those two arms were four others. What made them different was how they originated from one arm each, but separated into two at the elbows.

Three clusters of eyes of varying sizes dotted the creature's torso. It had a winding tail — no doubt to help with its balance — and a gaping maw of razor sharp teeth reminiscent of a lamprey's. It's skin was a mix of grey and black, and it was completely lacking a head. The mouth merely rested on its torso. However, what was perhaps the most surprising thing about the creature was what happened next.

"Greetings gentlemen!" The creature exclaimed, its hands moving for a wave as its gruff voiced rang out. "How are you all on this fine and splendid day? I hope it's been pleasantly... bombastic?"

"What?"

"Ah, no matter." The creature waved them off. "Anyways, get a ready for a pummeling!"

The creature dashed forward, its arms moving in for the attack. The group of eight immediately scampered off and dodged in different directions. The three-armed punch of the creature in turn collided with the ground, launching chunks of rocks into the air.

Suddenly, walls of rock and stone rose up from the floor instead, effectively separating the group up even further than before. 

"Damnit! Looks like Irinaka's back!" 

"You think?!"

Izuku wasn't sure, but he thought the latter statement was Rock Lock. It was a bit hard to hear through the walls. However, once he had a second to settle, Izuku found that he still had what was left of his swarm with him. He was still a good three clones strong, four if he counted the bugs currently surrounding him. 

Izuku could feel the rumbling just beyond the wall, no doubt a direct result of the fight with whoever it was had just appeared before them. 

Suddenly, the walls shifted again. As per before, the change was entirely unexpected, catching Izuku off guard. As a rather unfortunate result, another of his clones met the wrath of pure rock and concrete as another wall sprung up and more walls came into place.

"Dang it!" Izuku stomped the ground. "Why do I keep losing bugs!"

Izuku's irritation and shouts of irritation could be felt even by the others beyond the wall. In fact, it was so strong that it was just enough for Izuku to not notice the other person standing behind him. 

Notes:

And wow. This chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. Oh well.

Well, I hope you all liked it! Stay tuned for next time! We'll finish up the raid then!