Chapter Text
Cheshire perched like a panther atop a crumbling apartment complex, scanning the gritty, neon washed streets of downtown Musutafu below him. A cold wind carried snatches of subdued conversation to his ear. Not that he could feel it. His tactical green and gray jumpsuit automatically filtered the chilly winter air, keeping him nice and toasty.
Three glossy black SUV’s turned the corner, gliding silently along the road. Scavengers looked up from the overflowing dumpsters to glare as they passed. Cheshire narrowed his eyes, switching the lenses in his mask to enhanced zoom.
“Operator, do you copy?”
“Loud and clear, ‘Cheshire’! What can I do ya for today?” ‘Operator’ giggled at her joke.
“I’ve got eyes on a possible Syndicate envoy. Three cars, might be big. Need you to run a plate for me.” Cheshire rose from his position. Wreathed in shadows, he darted quietly across the rooftops like a wraith, trailing the SUVs. On the city streets far below, dull eyed passerby shuffled on, blissfully unaware as the vibrant red and yellow of his signature grinning mask flashed above their heads.
“Alright, just patched myself into the police database. Gimme them deets.”
“3HUA172.” A gap between the roofs appeared. A road; too large to clear. From his wrist mounted launcher, he fired a grappling cable at a nearby telephone pole and jumped, swinging towards the street in a silent arc as the wind whistled past his ear. His momentum carried him across the divide, where he tucked into a graceful roll and kept moving. The envoy turned the corner ahead of him. At my current speed, I’m en route to intercept them two streets ahead.
“Alright, gimme a minute.” The sound of frenzied typing filled his ears. “Wasn’t hard at all, by the way, hacking into police records. Dunno why you had to pull me away from my project for a simple stakeout.” Her voice sounded miffed over the grainy audio.
“Maybe I-” huff- “just wanted some company.” he replied with a small grin, breathing heavy from the exertion.
“Mhmm.” She said. “You know, my babies need some attention. You owe me, test dummy.” She hummed, distracted. “Car belongs to one Nakamura Kaito. Cross-referencing with our files… known Syndicate affiliate; part-time criminal conspirator, part-time upper crust brat. Guess he fell in with the wrong crowd when daddy’s money dried up… but that’s definitely Syndicate. Nakamura’s a small-fry, but with an envoy that big, there’s gotta be someone important in there. Give ‘em hell.”
“confirmed. I plan to, believe me.” Cheshire came to a halt on the roof’s edge. Switching his mask to thermal, he peered down at the street. A few grungy individuals lined the crumbling sidewalks. He furrowed his brow in irritation; city services rarely came around to this part of town. The jagged roads the cars bounced along, torn up from years of quirk gang skirmishes, were a testament to that.
“Target located.” The envoy would reach his position in less than two minutes. From his utility belt, Cheshire pulled out three separate metallic pieces, slotting them together quickly to form a small projectile launcher. He loaded six glowing blue disks into the magazine. “Any pro heroes nearby? If I get spotted up here with all my gear, well… I’d prefer to avoid that outcome, if possible.”
“That’s a negative. I hacked the heroes' comm network; zero scheduled patrols in this neighborhood, surprise surprise. You’re all clear to go ham on ‘em.”
“Perfect. If all goes according to plan, once I stop the envoy with your device, I’ll take out the grunts, then secure any priority targets before they know what hit ‘em.”
“Ooh, lemme know how my baby performs!” Operator replied. “Spent all last night on that thing, but I didn’t really have time to test it. I’m sure it works though! Well, 75% sure.”
“Here’s hoping,” Cheshire grumbled, before peering down the scope. Lining up the first car, he fired; seconds later, the enhanced audio receptors in his mask picked up a sharp, metallic Ting. he repeated the process twice more.
“Aaand we have triple contact, ladies and gentlemen! Electro-magnetic pulse is primed and ready to go. Mr. Cheshire, if you’d do the honor and push the big red button?” Cheshire rolled his eyes.
“Yes ma’am. Ass-whooping commencing in three, two…,” he pushed the red button. All three SUVs screeched to a stop as tongues of blue electricity burst across their hoods. Car doors slammed as goons spilled from the seats, powering up their quirks. The higher-ups would still be in the car, waiting out the skirmish for an opportunity to flee. Cheshire grinned in anticipation beneath his mask. Nothing like a one vs. 15 beat down to get the heart pumping.
“Time to get this party started!” Operator shouted gleefully in his ear. “Wrap this up quick tho, yeah? My babies are calling for meee.”
“Roger that. You ever realize what you sound like out of context?” He asked jokingly.
“No, no idea. What do you mean?”
Cheshire watched the scene unfold below him, mentally cataloguing each quirk and devising countermeasures. “I honestly dunno if you’re messing with me or if you’re completely serious. Either way is conc-”
Suddenly, an angry roar echoed up from the alleyway next to him. Cheshire tensed. That was not part of the plan. “Operator, what-”
“Checking right now. Hacking traffic cams across the street.” Her voice was deadly serious. “Can’t see much.. but it kinda looks like… oh no.”
“What is it?” He hissed impatiently. The priority target had vacated the SUV, surrounded by a five man entourage, and was on the move. He only had a few more seconds left to act before the window closed.
“Some kinda... sludge villain! He’s got.. he’s got a girl trapped against the wall! She looks unconscious!”
“Shit,” Cheshire whispered. He frantically weighed the options in his head. Ignore the girl and capture the Syndicate leader? Or save the girl and let them get away to hurt more people? Which was the right choice? What would a hero do?
“Izuk- Cheshire, sorry. If you don’t stop that guy, that girl is gonna die.” She said frantically. “It’s your choice, but-”
“No, you’re right.” Cheshire gritted his teeth. He could never turn a blind eye to someone suffering right in front of him. Even if doing so meant letting their biggest lead in weeks walk away scot-free. His target had reached the end of the street. Cheshire watched him disappear into the crowd before turning and sprinting in the opposite direction. Syndicate would have to wait.
“Ok, hurry!” Operator replied. “Just, be careful, ok? We don’t know how this guy’s quirk works and, well.. it doesn’t matter how many push ups you can do: you’re not invincible.”
“Trust me Mei-Operator,” Midoriya Izuku replied, staring down at the alley below him. Another wild roar shook the plaster beneath his feet. “No one knows that better than me. I’ll see you in a few.” He took a deep breath before arming his electric gauntlets and vaulting over the edge, hurtling down into the darkness below.
Uraraka Ochako, better known as the gravity hero, Uravity, was having a pretty rough week. But getting jumped by living sewage definitely took the cake.
At 19 years old, with long brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a bubbly disposition to match her quirk, Uraraka had a reputation for facing down villains and rescuing civilians with a cheerful grin on her face. With her easygoing charisma, enthusiastic attitude, and wicked skills with her quirk, Zero Gravity, she had quickly risen in the hero ranks, landing at the number 35 spot. Uraraka had been astonished; but then again, she and the rest of class 1-A, dubbed the class from hell, had fought through more villain attacks during school then most pros did their whole career. Walking down the street late at night, however, with three bruised ribs and an irritating strained shoulder, Uraraka was decidedly not feeling very hero-like.
It had been an abnormally busy week, to put it lightly. Uraraka wasn’t sure if it was coincidence, or if the local villains had all conspired to make her life a living hell these past few days (she wouldn’t have been surprised, honestly) She had been forced to pull three overnight shifts in a row just to keep up, accumulating injuries with only a few hours of sleep in between and no time to recover. After seven days straight, she was running ragged.
Taking an evening off, and the promise of spending it with her parents, had seemed like the perfect escape. Uraraka smiled fondly at the memory. She’d arrived at her parents’ modest house late in the afternoon, giving them massive UravityTM hugs and diving into the kitchen to help get dinner on the table. The rest of the evening had been spent excitedly recounting her craziest villain encounters and the antics of her friends while her parents listened with fond smiles. When she’d finally left, with firm promises to visit again soon, nighttime had fallen.
The normal crowd of pedestrians lining the sidewalk had slowed to a trickle as the city’s seedier nightlife blossomed around her. Uraraka walked briskly, shivering in the chilly winter air. The path ahead of her was shrouded in darkness, broken only by the flickering neon glow of dingy bars. Across the street, a group of haggard-looking men huddled around a flame turned to leer at her as she passed. Uraraka sped up, their cat calls echoing off of dilapidated apartment buildings. Maybe I should have taken dad up on that offer to drive me home, she reflected uncomfortably.
She was passing by a narrow alleyway when disaster struck. With no warning, Uraraka was engulfed in murky green sludge, unable to breathe and being dragged into the shadows.
Adrenaline flooded her body as she realized what was happening. Stupid! To get jumped like this, as a pro hero… She cursed herself. Iida’s gonna kill me when he finds out about this. But she could reprimand herself later. Uraraka frantically took stock of the situation. The suffocating green fluid, whatever it was, that engulfed her seemed to only be a thin layer. Deeper in the alley, she could make out a darker mass of oozing sludge and two yellowed eyes, silhouetted against the dim light. I’m being dragged over there! Which means I still have time to escape. This villain, whoever they were, had probably thought she was easy prey. They most likely had no clue that they had captured the number 35 hero, Uravity.
If I can just make contact with enough of the sludge surrounding me, I can negate its gravity and twist out of his grip! Uraraka whipped her hands around her in frenzied circles. She could feel the oppressive grip of the villain loosening, but her lungs were beginning to scream from the lack of oxygen.
Sensing what the hero was trying to do, the villain flicked his arm-tentacle, smashing her against the mottled brick wall. Sharp pain lanced through her skull. Keep moving! Uraraka screamed in her head, gritting her teeth; Work through the pain and fight back! Finally, she burst free, stumbling into a clumsy roll and maneuvering away on instinct. Rubbing the sludge from her eyes, she finally got a good look at her attacker.
Ew was the first dizzy thought that crossed her mind. He (or she? Uraraka couldn’t tell) seemed to be made entirely of oozing, green sewage sludge, except for two yellowed eyes floating where the head should be, and a mouth stretched into a menacing grin. As she watched, the arm-like extension that had captured her shot back like a spring before melting into his body. Yeesh, she thought with a shiver, And here I thought Shigaraki was creepy.
“Seems like I caught some small-time hero brat.” The villain in question grinned. “Doesn’t matter. I’m gonna take your body either way.”
“I could interpret that statement in several different ways, and each one is horrifying.” Uraraka shot back. “I’m stopping you here and now, so you can’t prey on anyone else. And you can call me Uravity!” His eyes widened with surprise, before narrowing to greedy slits.
“A bigger fish than I thought. This’ll be fun then.” Uraraka shuddered as she felt his bulging eyes raking her body. “Yer looking pretty beat up, Miss Uravity. Rough week? His features distorted in mock sympathy, before twisting into a feral grin. “How’re you gonna stop me when you can barely stand?”
He’s... got a decent point, Uraraka admitted with a grimace. Her lungs were still heaving, and her head was spinning- Don’t think about that! She scolded herself. What you can or can’t do doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is making sure this creep never hurts anyone ever again. Uraraka smirked grimly. Like they always told us at UA. Plus Ultra!
Uraraka charged forward; her quirk wasn’t optimal for this opponent, but if she got in close, she might be able to grab his eyes and fling them into the lower stratosphere before he absorbed her again. The villain roared with anger as slimy tendrils burst from his body, racing towards her.
Uraraka was the number 35 hero for a reason. This villain was chump-change compared to the stuff she’d faced before. But she was far from peak form; her head was spinning and her ribs were aching fiercely. She dodged the first attack, sliding underneath the fast-moving whip of sludge.
As the second raced toward her, Uraraka centered herself, assuming a defensive stance before knifing through the tendril with a lightning quick chop, splitting it in half. Thank you, Gunhead! She sprinted towards the villain, getting in close before he could react. Uraraka lunged for his right eye, feeling her fingers close around something cold and slippery. With a shout, she flung it upwards as hard as she could, watching the appendage disappear into the sky. The villain howled with indignation.
The victory didn’t last long. With another angry roar, the villain exploded outwards in all directions. Uraraka was too slow to evade; the attack hit her like a freight train, knocking her into the wall with a painful CRACK. She slumped to the ground, her view of the villain’s triumphant grin growing dark as he sauntered towards her.
Oddly enough, the last thing Uraraka saw before blacking out completely was the blurred outline of a figure silhouetted against the full moon, hurtling towards the villain from above with electricity dancing across his fists.