With barely a thought, his wings manifested along the length of his arms, and with a burst from the rockets concealed within the heels of his boots, Izuku flew up, into the air and along the length of the building, setting down silently on the rooftop, his boots containing the noise, as his wings retracted back, seamlessly contained within the body of his suit. From his new vantage point, he could see the opposite side of the building, and in the far corner of the car's parking lot, tucked as far away as possible from the road, was a white van.
He'd found them.
He reached up, pressing two fingers to the communications system in his ears, "I'm muting my comms now. Priority messages only".
"Got it… and good luck".
With his last message received, he muted the sound of Rody's voice, making sure that he would have nothing to distract himself with.
There was no opening on the rooftop, save for a single fire exit, which he took as his entry point. Thankfully the door was unlocked, so he didn't have to waste time picking the old, possibly rusted lock, but he still made sure to move slowly, taking his time and not wanting to make a sound, worried that the disused hinges could creak and give him away. Moving down the staircase, making sure to stick to the darkest part of the shadows, he stepped onto the uppermost floor of the old factory, where he could hear voices.
"-too long".
"It's time enough. We don't want to rush this".
"But-"
"Oh, for the love of god, shut up will you".
"Fuck's sake, it's two more days and then we're all rich".
"I get that, but-"
"No buts. Just shut up and do your damn job".
The factory had four floors that he took note of, but that was without counting the open rooftop or the ground floor. He'd been hoping they'd spread themselves out, making it easy for him to take them out quietly, but it seemed as though the Glutton God Gang and their associates had only bothered to make use of the first floor, using it as a sleeping area, and the ground floor, which was where they were conducting their operations from. He took a look at the floor around him, and between the layers of dust and the faded rubbish that had been left behind, it was possible that Izuku was the first person in years, possibly over a decade, to have even walked along the others.
Human beings, or at least, those human beings that didn't possess Quirks that made them capable of flight or underwater manoeuvring, were only ever in the habit of thinking two-dimensionally. They might have lived and existed in three dimensions, but they were only ever in the habit of thinking that what was immediately around them, was all there was to worry about. 'They literally think laterally', his master had told him once, and then he had taught him to take advantage of that fact; taught him to strike from above and below, and discombobulate his opponent's senses, before moving in to disable them.
There were six targets below: five were hostiles, but one was friendly, and he had to disable the hostiles, without compromising the safety of the friendly.
The problem for the moment, was that they were all together, sat around in one big group.
There was a group of boxes, camping beds and folding chairs that made up a living space, centred around an old oil drum, which they were using for a fireplace, as well as a dark blue van parked in the corner, with its livery proclaiming it as belonging to, 'KING CONDIMENTS'. He counted his opponents, ticking them off of his mental checklist as he went: Glutton God; his two minions, Gobbler and Guzzler; the female driver who was using the alias, 'Mei Rin'; and the missing maid, Senya Nohara, who he could now confirm was a willing accomplice and not another victim being used by the Gang.
And based on the way she was comfortably cuddled up on the lap the self-proclaimed, 'Glutton God', he was quite certain he knew why she had gotten involved with them.
He spotted the boy, Yojo Yaoyorozu, stuck off to the side of their little sitting area, far enough away from the fire to not 'bother' them, but still close enough that they could keep an eye on him at all times. They'd gagged him with a mass of duct tape and handcuffed him to the railings but seemed to have otherwise left him alone. Used the lenses built into his mask, he zoomed in, focusing on the boy's face. There were marks on his cheeks, running down his face, that suggested the boy had been crying and they were now dried up tear tracks, which wasn't surprising given that he was a four-year-old boy who had been kidnapping.
Four-year-old Izuku would have probably still been crying.
Despite the obvious signs of the boy's tears, Izuku was glad to see that despite having been ruffled, (most likely from the act of the kidnapping itself), none of the boy's clothing appeared to be damaged or torn, least of all in a manner that suggested Izuku would need to make sure that the kidnappers suffered every inch of his displeasure.
He had made the suit to be designed for shock and awe. It was designed for maximum intimidation, and to strike fear into the hearts of those who gazed upon it. It wasn't designed to be comforting and reassuring. He held only a single comfort item, tucked away in one of the back pockets of his belt, and it was useless to him here.
His initial plan had been to sneak in, remain undetected and then drop down, setting off smoke, before breaking open the boy's restraints and then carry him off to safety, but that plan had been contingent on the others spreading out more than they had. Now using that plan held a number of issues, not all of which could be mitigated, and the biggest part of which, was the boy himself. If he panicked or fought back against the big scary man in the scary black suit, he'd give them away before they got away and then Izuku would quickly find himself in the unenviable position of having to defend the boy, while also having to fight back against three career criminals and two unknowns.
Could he do it?
Yes, he probably could. He had the skills and the training.
Did he want to do it?
No. No he did not.
It was far from ideal, and ultimately, not worth the risk. It put Yojo in too much danger and relied on the unknowns not posing too much of a risk.
No, that plan was out.
Instead, he had to find a way to take out the criminals first, then rescue the boy at the end.
Which meant he also had to find a way to separate them first.
For the moment, the boy was safe, and as long as he remained that way, then the priority had to be a careful rescue and not a rushed one. Thankfully, the sun was already starting to set, slowly bathing everything in a reddish-gold tint, so Izuku settled himself back, electing to wait and watch, until he could start picking them apart.
=== === === === ===
His opportunity came almost two hours later.
At that point, the one he had identified as Guzzler took off, telling the team that he was going to pick them up something to eat. Based on what he'd seen and heard, it seemed to Izuku that he was the gang's designated driver, and he took the King Condiments van out to find something for everyone's dinner.
That left him with four to deal with instead of five.
Senya was, essentially, a non-issue. As long as he didn't drop his guard around her and allow her to stab him in the leg with a pencil, then he should be fine in handling her. While he had been waiting, Rody had gotten hold of her medical records, including the Quirk Determination Exams she'd had to sit through as a child. Now he knew that her Quirk only allowed her to cool liquids to room temperature, and she had no combat training to speak of.
Gobbler had a nasty reputation for destruction but had never had an official charge levied at him, so there was very little to go on. Only his appearance and Quirk, which the authorities had given the name, 'Production'. He could produce any naturally occurring element from his body, and while he was limited to creating the raw elements only, he could shape them as he saw fit, if he wanted them to be produced as a solid.
He was best known for creating solid iron, in the shape of a baseball bat.
Glutton God was the biggest, and the toughest looking, complete with a Quirk that allowed him to produce a non-toxic slime from his body. Despite being non-toxic, however, it was still more than capable of enhancing his physical attacks, protecting him from harm and, if pushed through the right orifice, causing you to drown.
He had nothing on Mei Rin to begin with.
Based on the care and attention she'd shown them, as well as their bright green appearance, which appeared to be natural and not synthetic, he was assuming that her Quirk was related to her fingernails, but he had no way of confirming that, and so, he needed to remain wary of her. He had no idea what her Quirk was, or could do, nor did he have any understanding of what combat abilities she might possess.
She was a complete unknown.
He didn't like unknowns.
They were risky, requiring chance and luck over skill and training to deal with, and most importantly, were impossible to truly plan against.
Still, she wandered off a few minutes ago, saying she needed to grab some fresh air, leaving the other three alone in the main room, but that only lasted until Glutton God saw the opportunity it presented.
"Go check the perimeter. Make sure we're still good".
"You can't be serious", Gobbler complained, "no one knows that we're here".
"Yeah, and I'd like it to stay that way".
"Then we should all stay inside".
Glutton God growled, his grip on his girlfriend's waist tightening, "Just go take a walk, would ya".
"Whatever".
And with that, Guzzler was gone too.
Izuku wasn't sure if Glutton God was feeling paranoid enough that he wanted someone outside, or if he really just wanted some alone time, but it didn't matter. Either way, it suited his purposes, and as Gobbler walked off, just looking altogether irritated by the situation, all Izuku could think, was that their attitudes suited him and his needs perfectly.
Moving slowly, making sure to use the very same steps he had entered with, he slinked away, and headed back up towards the rooftop.
=== === === === ===
"What a load of crap".
Gobbler grumbled to himself, as he walked around the edge of the building, each exhale of his breath misting over in the January night air. He'd remembered to grab his jacket at the last second, zipping up a plain black hoodie, and despite the temperature, he was pleased to find that he'd left himself a snack in his pockets.
"Sweet", he murmured, before ripping open the packaging, and taking a bite into his favourite snack, "sweet mochi".
He was debating the idea of slipping his phone out and letting some music play, when something clattered to the floor at the side of him, the noise echoing loudly in the cold night air. He span around to face it, but his eyes found only darkness waiting for him.
There was no way they could've been found, they hadn't even collected the ransom yet, but still…
With a mere moment's focus, a thick metal bat made of solid iron began to grow from his hand.
It was better to have a bat than be sorry.
That was the saying, right? His mom had said so.
He took a few steps forward, until he was under one of the security lights, but all he could see was loose gravel and small stones; nothing to be worried out.
"Great", he muttered around his last mouthful of his mochi, his mood ruining the sweet taste, "now I'm becoming paranoid", he shook his head, "it's just you jackass, there's nobody else out here".
"Good to know".
"What the-", he span on his heels, swinging his bat with all his strength, his Quirk already beginning to create him a matching knife, when he saw it.
It was a monster.
Tall and wide, with sharp claws and gleaming fangs; one of its limbs slipped around the one he was holding the bat with, and before he could think to even try and pull it free, the monster rattled his skull with a devastating right hand.
Caught squarely on his chin, his bottom teeth smashed horribly against his upper ones, and as he fell to the floor, he spat out a mouthful of the disgusting mixture that was blood, broken teeth and mochi.
He felt himself lose the struggle with consciousness quickly, and as his gaze turned skywards, he saw bright wings of acid green, as the creature stood over him, and smelt the burning fires of whatever pit the creature had crawled out of, before it flew up and away, into the night sky.
=== === === === ===
"Did you hear that?"
Pausing his attempts to kiss his way down Senya's neck, to where he knew her beautiful breasts were contained within what would hopefully be an easy to open bra, Glutton forced himself to look his love in her stunning blue eyes, "No. Hear what?"
"It sounded like a crash".
"It's probably just Gobby trippin' over his own two feet. He's a clumsy bastard", he pulled her into him, as he pulled back the corner of her t-shirt with his teeth, one of his hands popping open the front of her jeans, "now let's not worry about him for a moment, yeah?"
Senya smiled, wide and brightly, as she felt the tips of his fingers toying with the edge of her panties, and ground herself against his lap, gently pulling herself away, while pulling a throaty moan from his lips, as she found his rigid member clasped between her buttocks.
Her voice was light and teasing, "And what should we do instead?"
"I have a few ideas", he groaned, as she wiggled gently from side to side.
"Well then… why don't you show me- AHHH!"
She screamed, as a creature dropped down from the heavens.
Feet first, it landed on her lover's skull, sending the two of them and the chair they were sitting on, tipping backwards, until Glutton's head cracked into the floor with a sickening 'THUD'. She could still see the rise and fall of his chest, but that was the only indicator he had that he was still alive.
She scrambled to her knees, her jeans slipping down her thighs, to try and see what was happening, but before she could gather herself, all she felt was pain bursting at her temple, as her eyes rolled up, into her skull.
She was completely unconscious before she hit the ground again.
Above her, the Vigilante of Yokohama stood tall.
Getting directly above the pair had been a risk, but with them both distracted trying to get into each other's pants, they were too busy to notice him standing above them before he landed on top of them. He'd chosen to land on the Glutton God, knowing that his bulk would help, somewhat, cushion the blow, but that he was also easily the more dangerous member of the pair.
But having learnt his lesson about supposedly innocent bystanders and the potential danger they could pose when armed with something as common as a number two pencil, he'd knocked her out with a solid blow to the temple as well.
It wouldn't hurt him to be cautious.
Quickly, he made sure that the duo were alright, before he turned to face the boy.
The speed of his attack must have made for quite the frightening sight, because as he stepped towards the boy, he drew closer to the flames and cast himself out of the shadows.
Yojo whimpered.
The mass of black stepped forth to reveal pointed ears, as sharp as any knife, and a metallic grin that almost seemed to gleam in the firelight. On his chest, bright green and easy to see, was the symbol one his chest.
It was a bat.
It moved with slow, deliberate movements, each one letting him clearly notice the man as he moved closer.
But if he'd beaten the bad men, did that mean? Was he… was he a Hero?
"Are you alright?"
He was!
But-
"Mmfff mmrhff-"
Beneath his mask, Izuku's brow furrowed. For a moment, Yojo had seemed calm, thankfully relaxing at the sight of him, without him needing to try and placate a terrified four-year-old, but then, as he moved closer, the boy's eyes had grown wide and fearful, his head jerking about as he tried to speak through his gag.
He seemed almost desperate.
Almost as if… he was trying to warn him.
He threw himself to the side without hesitation. He hadn't been able to see her, but it was obvious that the woman calling herself Mei Rin had returned from her fresh air, the talons she called her fingernails narrowly missing him by a fraction of a centimetre, only managing to scrape off the tip of the outermost layer of his armour. Given that she had swiped at him with her nails, as opposed to finding a heavier weapon, never mind a firearm, was all the proof he needed that his assumption about her Quirk was correct.
It was in her nails, and whatever it did, she was apparently confident enough that a single sneak attack from behind would be enough to take him down, possibly even permanently.
It was imperative that he didn't let her break the suit's integrity and reach through to his skin.
He couldn't risk her so much as nicking him with the tiniest of scratches.
Circling around each other, he moved them into position, until Yojo was directly behind him, and as far away from her, as was possible.
She laughed when she realised what he was doing, the sound high-pitched and girlish, and completely out of place with everything else about her, "You needn't worry about him. Without the boy, I'm not getting my money".
"You're not getting the boy".
"We already have the boy".
There was a buzz in his ear, that meant Rody was about to break his silence and speak to him, and he hoped that meant Rody had done what he had asked.
"Police just arrested Guzzler after they got an anonymous tip about the van he was driving", he could practically see the amused look on Rody's face, as he lounged in the computer chair, "and they've just received another one telling them about a sighting of the boy from the news. ETA is less than five minutes".
Beneath the mask, he grinned, before his anger reasserted itself, "You're not laying a hand on the boy. Not so long as I have anything to say about it".
"I wasn't asking your permission".
And with that, she lunged.
=== === === === ===
His gauntlets held some of the thickest parts of his armour plating, reinforcing his bones, muscles and ligaments for both, attack and defence, and that was a fact he found was profoundly grateful for, as he brought them up to block more of her sweeping attacks. He adopted a boxer's stance as he guided her away from the boy, with both of his hands up, covering his chest and head, ducking and weaving, as she slashed and swiped at him, using her nails.
"Stay still!"
Ducking under another slash, he leapt back to avoid her attempt at a kick to his head, batting the follow up kick aside and countering by dropping to the floor, and sweeping her legs out from under her. She hit the floor with a grunt, and attempted to roll back to her feet, but Izuku was quicker.
As Mei Rin pushed herself back up to her knees, she pushed her jaw up, and straight into a jab from his left hand.
It rocked her, and as she swiped for his hand, she moved in closer, and he didn't hesitate to catch her with an old fashioned right cross at the corner of her jaw.
As she hit the floor once again, he kept his eyes on her, making sure she was staying down, and taking a moment to catch his breath. Once again, he'd been snuck up on because of his own carelessness. If he hadn't been wearing a full suit of body armour, if it had been the loose clothing that he'd been wearing just a few nights ago, then her nails would have been able to affect him in full.
Storied in one of the compartments at the back of his belt, he pulled out a small examination kit.
Mei Rin groaned as he took her pulse but made no move to attempt to return to her feet, and with the miniature tweezers, he took a few strands of her hair, before using a cotton swab to take samples from her fingernails. Despite the situation, he was curious as to what exactly her Quirk could do and made sure that both samples were secured in two of his utility belt's rear capsules.
He'd examine them later.
He made his way back across the floor, where the boy, Yojo Yaoyorozu, was still gagged and cuffed to the railing, and knelt down in front of him. Moving slowly, careful to not hurt the boy, he peeled back the duct tape that had been slapped across his face, doing his best not to harshly pull at the edges that were stuck in his hair, and while he moved, the boy only whimpered, but was otherwise near silent. His eyes were large, bright red and puffy, and if he hadn't looked like he'd spent hours crying already, then he was certain that the boy would've burst into tears.
He knew for a fact that he would have, at that age.
He shoved the used duct tape into one of the empty compartments at the back of his belt, before he hooked one of his fingers into the wrists of the boy's handcuffs and then pulled.
They held for a moment, but they were cheaply made and with his suit's enhanced strength, they came apart with relative ease, shattering into several pieces and clattering to the floor around them. He pried off the few pieces that remained around the boy's wrists, before smoothing out his hair.
"Are you-"
The boy threw himself at his chest, doing his best to burrow into him and after a moment of hesitation, worried that it might be too much, he brought one of his arms up to pat him on the back.
"-alright?"
Izuku wasn't sure how long they remained there, him on one knee, while the boy was stood up, but leaning fully into him. He heard a few sniffles, and remained still, patting the boy's back, until the sound of police sirens began to fill the air, growing louder by the second, and he could make out the faintest sight of flashing lights.
"Come on then, kid".
"Mother?"
"Yes. The police can take you back to her".
Sniffling, the boy leant back and wiped at his eyes, which likely only served to irritate them more, but nodded, "Okay, Mister Bat-Man".
=== === === === ===
Mister Bat-Man walked right next to him, still in his hero costume and it was so cool!
He missed Mother. He was cold and tired, and he wanted Mister Zetsu to make him fruit pancakes and tell stories with his two voices and ask Mother to let him have a bath and then tuck him into bed.
He wanted to go home.
He wondered if Mister Bat-Man would take him home, and he could even meet Mother too! She was a Hero too. She had a costume in her office with a big belt, kind of like Mister Bat-Man's. His might have been cooler to look at, but he knew hers was a lot bigger, so that meant that it probably had more stuff.
Having more stuff meant that it was better.
"Will you stay with me?"
Slowly, Mister Bat-Man turned to look down at him. He was wearing a mask with big, pointy ears, bright white eyes, and shiny metal teeth, and while he couldn't see his mouth, Yojo hoped that Mister Bat-Man was smiling.
"I'll stay until the police get here".
"Really?"
Mister Bat-Man nodded slowly, "Yes".
He tried to smile, but it hurt his nose, he rubbed at it, but it hurt, and then Mister Bat-Man knelt down again, and pressed against his belt. One of the flat parts swung open, like having a little door, and he pulled out a handkerchief.
"Here".
It wasn't the best way he'd ever been given a handkerchief. His mother had made one, once. She'd held out her hand and made it appear there, just by thinking about it! He hoped he'd be able to do that one day, when his Quirk came in.
But still, getting given one by a real hero was really cool.
"THIS IS THE KANAGAWA PREFECTURAL POLICE DEPARTMENT! GET YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"
"KPPD! On your knees!"
"Hands where we can see them!"
The police sirens had gotten louder and louder as he'd dried his eyes and wiped his nose, and now, as he looked up, he could see bright red and blue lights flashing in front of him. There was a lot of yelling and boots stamping on the ground, and then he could see the police officers.
"Is that him?!"
"Confirmed. We've got eyes on the kid!"
The police were really there!
He could go home now and then he could see Mother and Mister Zetsu, and Grandfather and Grandmother, and they could meet Mister Bat-Man-
Where was Mister Bat-Man?
He looked around, as the police came in, and they were nice, and they even said that they would take him home, but he wanted Mister Bat-Man to go with him.
He looked around, as the police ran around the building and had to put handcuffs on all of the bad guys, before making them go and sit in the back of their police cars, (and he laughed with them when the girl's pants fell down), but he couldn't find Mister Bat-Man again.
He told the police officers that he was missing, and they ran to check, but none of them could find him either.
Where did he go?
=== === === === ===
Author's Notes:
It's surprisingly hard to imagine exactly how a four-year-old thinks. Knowing how they can speak is one thing, but trying to get into the head of a toddler is very difficult.
Other than that, our first 'real' combat happens in this chapter, and I would really like to know what you all thought of it, (more so than usual).
The livery of the van, 'KING CONDIMENTS', is a reference to the Batman villain, Condiment King. For those of you who may be unaware, I can confirm that, yes, he's entirely as silly as his name suggests, but he serves as a nice throwback to the whimsical, pun-based era of Batman that coincided with the 1960s TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
The original outline for this chapter saw the introduction of SAT, as well as an OC relative for an existing canonical character, but it ultimately didn't fit the flow of Part One, and so I decided to cut it. I did, however, have a nice idea of where it could take place, and that just so happens to be in Part Two, so hopefully, it won't be too long before we see them pop up. The plan was for the SAT team to attack and open fire on the building, but I couldn't find a way of doing that, while justifying them shooting at a child, especially when the case was gaining media attention, so I had to cut it.
Another fun fact about my original outline of this chapter, from when I was in the initial design stage: Yojo's Quirk was originally planned to manifest during the scene with the SAT, (no, I won't spoil what it is), and then, when I made the decision to write them out of the chapter altogether, I planned to have him manifest it in time to help defeat Mei Rin, but it completely ruined the flow of the chapter, as well as the ending, and also stopped me from setting something else up for later on, (something we shouldn't see until Volume One, Part Five), so I've pushed the scene back as well, and an amended version should appear, either in Part Two or Three, depending on how exactly they turn out.
For those unaware, SAT is the Special Assault Team, which is Japan's equivalent unit to the American SWAT Team. At this point in time, they are without a doubt, the KPPD's most corrupt unit, mostly filled with those police officers that are looking for a legal reason to be allowed to take someone's life, which is something that I'm sure our new favourite vigilante will find himself forced to deal with.