Chapter Text
Bakugou showed his receipt to the pizzeria clerk. She confirmed the number and handed over the steaming cheese pizza. It looked edible considering how cheap it was. Ooey gooey, would sum it up. Bakugou couldn’t wait to teach Eri about cheese pull. He carried the pizza in one hand and texted Kirishima with the other.
Wassup, Spiky Hair?
Kirishima responded, Chilling in the commons with Mina, Jiro, and Kaminari. Are you done yet?
Nope.
Bakugou tsked. Good. So, Aizawa isn’t back yet, or else there’d be a manhunt for us.
What are you two doing? Lol Has Eri driven you up the walls? Kirishima followed with, You haven’t scared her to death, have you?
NO! I’M A GREAT GUARD. SHE’S SAFE PLAYING PONIES AND CRAP.
Lololololol Guard? You’re treating babysitting like a hero mission!
Bakugou set the pizza on the table. “Eat up,” he said, eyes on his phone as he texted an all-caps paragraph. He would teach that spiky-haired bastard to laugh at him. “You too, Mei, I don’t care.”
Bakugou looked up when no one answered. The table was empty.
Am I at the wrong table?
He looked around the dining room. It was as crowded as before but he was sure he didn’t see her. On the seat were two plastic ponies, meaning it had to be the right table. He ground his teeth.
Dammit. I told her to stay.
Bakugou stomped into the arcade, on a mission for two mischievous little girls. He checked every game console. As he searched every face, dread weighed his guts. Four minutes ticked by, and he still hadn’t found her.
The air smelled of nitroglycerin as he sweated. His throat went dry. Panic tickled under the surface of his skin.
Maybe she’s in the bathroom.
Bakugou stood outside the girls' bathroom and called into it, “Hey, brat, are you in there? Eri?”
He waited a few seconds before dipping his head inside. No one was there.
His stomach twisted. He breathed shallowly as he took a few steps into the dining hall and stopped.
Oh shit. Could she have left? I was only gone, like, two minutes. How could I be such an idiot? I shouldn't have left her alone.
A little girl with tight curls and big, green eyes skipped by.
“Mei!” he called.
The girl stopped, looking startled. “Yes... sir?”
“Where’s Eri?”
Mei shrugged. “I haven’t seen her in forever.”
“What do you mean? I left you two at the table. Then I come back and you’re both gone.”
Mei looked at him like he was crazy. She took a step back, ready to run. “I don’t know what you mean. I’ve been with my dad ever since I lost to Eri.”
“Don’t lie,” he warned, though it seemed pretty clear she wasn’t.
“I’m not. I’m sorry I can’t help you, but I have to go.”
Bakugou didn’t argue. His heart hammered in his chest, threatening to go into cardiac arrest.
I have to find her, dammit.
He tried the ticket counter, but the cat clerk hadn’t seen her since they collected her prizes. He checked with the token counter, but nobody saw her leave - alone or otherwise. He walked around, looking for clues, as anger and fear wrestled within him.
There was something else. Guilt. Aizawa had trusted him to watch Eri and he lost her. Most importantly, Eri trusted him to keep her safe and show her a good time. Shame left him feeling hot all over as if with a fever.
What do I do? Do I call the police? Aizawa?
Bakugou walked another loop, deciding if he didn’t find her then he would call for help. He walked down the hall by the bathrooms. His shoe hit something small and sent it sliding across the tile. He squinted hard in false hope.
Is that…?
It was a BFF bracelet from the prize counter. What were the odds this one was Eri’s? He picked it up and slid it on his wrist just in case.
What other rooms are down here?
One door opened into an empty break room. There were narrow lockers, a couple of tables, and a mini kitchenette. Nowhere for Eri to be hiding.
The next door was a janitorial closet stuffed with brooms, cleaning supplies, and a mop cart. As much as he wanted to find Eri, he would hate to find her hiding in such a spooky, dirty place. At the end of the hall was a door marked EXIT.
Shit, is this place bigger than it looks?
He got chills stepping into a back hall leading to a red door. He followed it, unsure what to expect.
The truth gnawed on Bakugou. No way was Eri lost from simply wandering off. She had to have been taken. He thought back to Mei who had no memory of sitting down with Eri. Could someone have erased her mind so they could nab Eri? Or had someone lurked in the crowd with a mimic quirk?
Bakugou opened the red door and walked through onto a loading dock. One door was rolled up, an unmarked, black van backed up to the dock and parked. The back doors popped open.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” asked a man in a Playland uniform. He threw a bag into the back of the van. “Employees only.”
“Shit,” someone cursed from the other side of the dock. A tall man with python-sized muscles held a catatonic Eri.
“You! Give her back!” demanded Bakugou.
“Here,” the man said, handing Eri over to another man.
“You’ve got this, Tanker,” said the man holding Eri.
Bakugou recognized him as the same man in all black that had almost stepped on his fingers. Had he been scouting for targets like Eri? Was he the one who pretended to be Mei? Bakugou couldn’t think about it now as the other man called Tanker advanced.
Bakugou dodged a humongous fist, trying his best to keep sight of Eri. The man whispered into Eri’s ear. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her head drooped to the side.
“What did you do to her?” He ran around Tanker and toward the whispering man. He activated his quirk but waited for an opening to strike. “I’ll kill you.”
“Wow, not much of a peacekeeper are you,” the whispering man said, cradling Eri’s head as he ducked a small blast. “Maybe this little lady is better off with us.”
Shit. How can I hit him without hurting Eri? And it’s not just her – I have to make sure my explosions don’t hit any bystanders inside Playland or on the street. Bakugou fell on his knees as Tanker punched his back. That’s fine. I like a good challenge.
Tanker was stronger than Bakugou at hand-to-hand combat. Bakugou’s best bet would be to keep a distance and strike. Maybe if he got Tanker outside he could blast him to high heaven.
Bakugou jumped back, creating as much space between him and the man who could’ve passed for Mr. Olympia. He stretched out his right hand and used the other to form a circle on the palm of his outstretched hand. He focused on his large target, aiming for his chest. He fired an explosion through the circle, creating a concentrated blast beam.
Tanker cursed; narrowly dodging Bakugou’s AP shot. The second blast hit him in the backside. He cried out as he tucked and rolled out the flames.
“If you hurt a single hair on her head, I’ll kill you!” Bakugou shouted, face red and sweaty, as he turned to the whispering man.
The man handed a sleeping Eri to the Playland employee and turned to wave. He called out with a jeer, “Better luck next time, big bro.”
“Get back here!” he shouted, propelling himself forward with his explosive quirk.
The man jumped into the van. Was this whole place a trafficking operation? Bakugou reached the van before they could close the doors. He grabbed the man by his hood.
“Dovev!” shouted the Playland employee.
Bakugou shot him with a small blast before he could activate whatever quirk he had hidden up his sleeve.
Dovev took the chance to grab Bakugou’s shoulders. Bakugou tensed, punching wildly. Dovev leaned in and whispered in his ear, “You want to walk home. You want to walk home. You want to walk home.”
Nice try. I could never – Bakugou’s smirk dropped as his eyelids drooped and his arms fell to his side. I want to walk home.
His body was no longer his. As hard as he tried to kick forward or open his mouth to yell, he simply couldn’t. Dovev had given him a command and his body was making him follow.
Is it like Shinso’s quirk? Except he whispered in my ear, if I had interrupted him before the third time would it have failed? Fuck, why am I so weak that I can be brainwashed?
None of the men attacked him as he walked to the red door. As if he were about as much of a threat as a fly. Bakugou couldn’t look, but it sounded like Tanker scuttling to the van as the engine roared to life. There was nothing he could do to stop them, Bakugou walked down the hall like a zombie and returned to the main Playland building.
Look at all these people here. Completely useless. Did no one see anything odd? No way they hadn’t heard the explosions and yelling, right? Idiotic extras, all of them can fuck off.
“Goodbye, thank you for coming!” cheered a token counter clerk as he walked outside.
Bakugou tried resisting but couldn’t break through Dovev’s quirk. His muscles ached as he fought for control.
Come on, idiot. Fight it! Stop walking and go back. Go back before they get too far. Come on! Fucking fight for your own body!
Dovev’s brainwashing fought back; I want to walk home.
Tears pricked Bakugou’s eyes. Their intensity made his eyes burn. He couldn’t even wipe them away.
Humiliation sickened his stomach.
Fear for Eri’s wellbeing cramped in his chest.
He was terrified to the bone; would he really walk all the way back to U.A without Eri?
Then came rage, hotter and heavier than he’d ever felt before.
It charged through him. He tried imagining his body separated from his spirit. He imagined putting his mental hands into his physical ones like gloves. He squeezed the best he could, but nothing happened.
His feet carried him farther away.
Try harder!
I want to walk home, Dovev’s quirk repeated.
His heart thumped hard enough to feel through the numbness in his body. Then, ever so faintly, his pinky twitched. Then came an index finger. The farther he got from Dovev, the less he felt the static like numbness of his quirk.
Bakugou’s hand slowly returned to him. Didn’t Shinso’s brainwashing have limitations? Like, a great shock can end it quickly. Maybe the same effect… if I could just…
Bakugou concentrated all his strength into his free hand and activated his explosion quirk. The force of the explosion shot him into the air. The sudden motion knocked Bakugou free of brainwashing.
The desire to walk home disappeared.
Huh, it’s about damn time.
I’m gonna kill those bastards.
Bakugou propelled himself higher into the air, scanning the roads for the van. Once spotted, he shot through the air like a missile. He sailed over the building and got close enough to see the back tire.
He aimed a small explosion. A bright comet closed in on the van. The driver saw it in time and steered into the next lane.
He didn’t want to hurt Eri, but he couldn’t let that van reach a high traffic area.
I’ll tail them and wait for help. I’m not sure I can do this alone anymore.
Bakugou reached for his phone, but his pockets were empty. He cursed, realizing it must’ve fallen out during the brawl.
Fine, it really is up to me. The future number one hero.
Bakugou flew lower to the ground and reached the van in seconds. He opened the backdoor. Moving so quick he didn’t see the big man in time. Tanker leaped on his back and together they tumbled to the asphalt.
Bakugou rolled a few feet away, hitting his nose and scraping his elbows. He jumped quickly into a defensive position, raising his arm for an AP shot.
Tanker stalked closer, activating his quirk. Blonde, spiky hair pushed out of the top of his head. His bones creaked and popped as his height shrunk. The curves in his face changed. Large muscles reformed into a smaller, more defined body.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Bakugou said, staring eye to eye with his doppelganger. It was trippy looking at himself without the frame of a mirror. Not bad looking. Then admiration changed to insult. “Hey, how dare you steal my image?! Fuck you.”
Fake Bakugou raised his arm in AP shot style. Bakugou laughed, believing it was a bluff. No copycat quirk also copied the quirk. Then he paused, what was Monoma’s quirk again? Could there be hybrids?
Shit.
Tanker activated AP shot. He lunged forward as Bakugou dodge. They closed the distance, punches flying. Bakugou blasted Tanker in the face. His Bakugou impression distorted for a second then corrected itself.
“I swear I’ve had a dream like this before,” Bakugou said, chuckling.
Tanker surprised Bakugou by sweeping his leg under his knees and knocking him down. He then said, “Well, it’s a honor to make your dreams come true.”
Tanker lifted Bakugou by the waist and flew him into the sky. He didn’t react as Bakugou punched him. At fifty feet, he flipped them and dived downward.
Bakugou cried out when his head hit the road. Blood gushed from his nose. He raised his arm to shoot but was grabbed again.
“Night, night,” Tanker said with his real face returning. He grabbed Bakugou by the hair and smashed his head down. He rubbed his face into the ground like he was trying to put out a fire.
Dammit. I gotta get up. I have to keep going.
I can’t let them take Eri.
Useless, useless, useless body! STAND UP.
Don’t be scared, Eri. I’ll save you; I swear.
Tanker slammed Bakugou’s head into the pavement, immediately submerging him in darkness.
Out cold, Bakugou Katsuki dreamed he flipped off God.