Caught

Tsukauchi checked his gun one last time and radioed the heroes who were coming on the raid, "Everyone in position?"

"Ready." Eraserhead responded. He was waiting in the rafters of the warehouse, hidden in the shadows. The current theory was that Mastermind had some sort of analysis quirk, but there was always the possibility he could have something more offensive, so they couldn't be too careful.

"Ready." Kamui Woods had insisted on being part of the raid. He and Mt. Lady may have stepped on each other's toes, but they had been friends. In his mind, Mastermind might not have wielded the knife that killed her, but he was still responsible for her death.

"Ready." Nedzu stood beside Tsukaguchi. It wasn't often that he physically came on missions, but he was the only one that could match Mastermind in intellect, just in case it wasn't something Eraserhead could erase.

Eraserhead's informants had caught wind of the deal a few days ago and plainclothes officers on the scene had confirmed that Mastermind had entered the warehouse 20 minutes ago. Tsukauchi took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It'd be over soon.

"Move in!"

Izuku was unimpressed. This group of drug dealers was hardly worth the trouble of meeting with, but Giran had vouched for them, so he'd given them the benefit of the doubt. But seriously? All they wanted to do was make sure a rival group stopped encroaching on their territory? Kill their men! Send a message! Hiring a professional strategist was just redundant. He sighed. These guys were idiots.

All of a sudden, the warehouse exploded in movement as dozens of cops came pouring in and restraining the drug dealers. Izuku cried out as he was wrapped in...branches? He swore. Heroes. A loud voice came from a megaphone outside.

"Mastermind, this is Detective Tsukauchi from the Japanese Police Force. You are under arrest for accessory to multiple murders and other crimes. Do not resist."

Izuku chuckled desperately as his mind raced for a way out of this situation. The heroes had gotten the drop on him, but...he knew better than anyone that every hero has a weakness. He slumped and bowed his head, hiding his smile as he felt Kamui Wood's lacquered chain prison loosen slightly. He silently thanked his bullies for teaching him how to pretend he'd given up, all while reaching in his pocket. His knives wouldn't do much good against this current opponent, Kamui would be be able to grow his branches much faster than Izuku would be able to cut through them, but he had a lot more tricks up his sleeve. He grinned as his hand finally grasped what he was looking for, good thing his costume was flameproof.

Kamui Woods screamed as his branches were charred and he reflexively let go. Izuku hit the floor in a roll, but still didn't let up his grip on the miniature flame thrower, instead targeting Kamui's main body. He made a break for the back of the warehouse and laughed as he felt triumph radiating from the police thinking they'd managed to corner him. He took a grenade from one of his pockets and pulled the pin before throwing it at the wall. Just because there wasn't a door back here didn't mean he couldn't make one.

"Shit! He took out Kamui and blew out the back wall! Head him off! Quickly, before he gets away!"

Izuku vaulted over the rubble into the back alley behind the warehouse and looked around to decide which direction to run. If he went left, he'd run right into the arms of the police. He turned right, but felt his body wrapped up for the second time that night.

"Fuck!" He swore under his breath. Of course this was how he got caught. What would his mom think? He supposed he should have expected something like this after how quickly he'd risen through the villain ranks. How did the phrase go? The faster they rise, the quicker they fall? Something like that?

Izuku desperately looked around and saw Eraserhead staring at him, hair floating around him like some kind of devil's halo. If he hadn't been so scared he would have laughed that they sent Eraserhead after a quirkless kid. As it was, he couldn't suppress a deranged giggle and the hero looked at him with suspicion.

"What's so funny? You can't use your quirk and you can't get away. Just give yourself up."

This just made Izuku laugh harder, because now he knew how to escape. Eraserhead wasn't used to people fighting back after their quirks were taken away, and unlike with Kamui's branches, Eraser's scarf was easy to cut through. Eraserhead reared back at the manic look in the villain's eyes as he looked up and didn't see how he grasped a knife in each hand. He made quick work of the capture weapon and threw one of his knives at Eraserhead. The hero managed to dodge only to be blinded by a bright flash as soon as he turned back to look at his opponent. By the time he could open his eyes again, Mastermind was nowhere to be seen.

Izuku watched from the roof as Eraserhead looked around for him before heading into the warehouse. The heroes and cops would start canvassing the area soon, they'd probably already set up a perimeter. He crept to the other edge of the roof so he could see where the police were gathered. Most were still clearing the warehouse or loading the drug dealers into police cruisers, but some were having to hold back the crowd that was starting to form as people from a nearby shopping district rushed to see what all the commotion was about.

Izuku smiled as an idea occurred to him and he slipped off his mask and took off his jacket, folding it to look like a bag. He quickly gathered all his knives and weapons and placed them inside his jacket. It might have looked weird in the middle of the day, but under the cover of darkness and chaos, he just looked like a kid who'd been out a little too late with friends. He shimmied down the fire escape and took out his phone, setting it to record right as he came into view not too far from the police line.

"Hey, kid! You're not supposed to be back here!" An officer rushed to him and grabbed him roughly by the arm.

"S-sorry, o-officer, b-but I heard there were heroes and my friends dared me and…" Izuku lifted his phone helplessly as the officer rolled his eyes.

"Don't be stupid kid, there's a dangerous villain out tonight, the police line is there to protect you. You and your friends can get autographs at Hero Con." And with that Izuku was escorted outside the police line with firm instructions to never do something like that again. Izuku stayed with the crowd for a few minutes, watching Nedzu talk to Tsukauchi, who looked more tired with every officer or hero who came to talk to him.

An ambulance had been called for Kamui Woods and the media had started showing up by the time Izuku left. No one paid a second glance to a plain looking boy making his way away from the chaos and he made it home without incident. He crawled through his window and drew a shuddering breath as the stress finally hit him. Tears leaked from his eyes and he wiped them away in frustration. It seemed that being a feared villain didn't make him any less of a crybaby.

That had been too close. If he hadn't had his flamethrower, or if they'd sent different heroes... Izuku cut off that train of thought before it could paralyze him. He still needed to lock away his villain gear and shower away the dust and soot that was sticking to him from the fire and the explosion.

Most importantly, he needed to find a way to make sure this never happened again.