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“Let there be light!”
The words echoed through the building, the twisting hallways and empty rooms, bouncing so many times Izuku could no longer tell where it was coming from, until a flash of blinding blue light lit up a room at the end of the corridor he had been running down, and Izuku dashed towards it, eyes squinted in case of another sudden burst of light.
They had been chasing a villain duo through an old part of Musutafu, trying to apprehend them on suspicion of various illegal activities he couldn’t be bothered to remember at the moment, and while they didn’t cause much severe property damage past a few broken windows, at least one of the pair had been leaving a trail of eye damage to add onto their list of crimes, and everyone involved in the mission had been briefed on how to deal with them and given a pair of tinted goggles.
Izuku had managed to keep up with the pair where most of the other pros couldn’t, and so had been alone when the smaller of the two villains released a concussive wave of sound out towards him, shattering nearby sindows and the lenses of his goggles, only barely managing to avoid getting the shards in his eyes. He had heard one of the more senior pros through the comms, asking if he was okay and what that sound had been, and had said he was fine, that it was just the second villain’s quirk, the one they hadn’t quite pinned down past ‘big boom’, and gave them a rundown of what he could tell, still chasing, ignoring that he was now without eye protection.
They had somehow managed to find their way to a church, large and towering and abandoned, and he had pursued inside, the echoey stone of the walls putting him on edge, but glad to see most of the windows were already shattered, shards of glass littering the ground and sticking out at jaunty angles from the mangled stained-glass frames.
They were out of his sight when he entered, and he had begun to pick his way through the slightly scattered pews, when he heard the unmistakable sound of a foot shifting on dusty ground, and begun to move to turn when he remembered his lack of goggles and squeezed his eyes shut.
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!”
Even through his closed eyelids, he saw the flash, and still had to blink away the afterimage when he opened them.
So that was why so many people had damaged eyes.
He quickly ducked behind a pillar, trying to get out of direct blast range, when another boom shuddered through the building and he heard two sets of footsteps pounding against the floor, heading towards a door just off to the right of the church.
He had made to follow, and that’s how he had found himself here, playing a game of tag with two senses compromised, and a lot more at stake than just winning or losing.
Now, he was waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, with backup and more goggles, and all he had to do was keep them in the building.
He spoke quietly into the comms, updating everyone else on his situation and the villains’ quirks, before he was forced to move by the sound of another bone-shaking BOOM from closer than before.
He couldn’t quite tell who was chasing who at this point.
The game continued, the sounds of voices and running and blasts of pure sound echoing through the building, vibrating through its walls, until for some reason, the villains retreated to the basement, the catacombs, whatever it was that was below the main church.
He crept down slowly, just as the team told him they were about to arrive, and found himself in the deep darkness of the underground.
There were no lights on down here, and when Izuku felt around for a lightswitch and flicked it on, nothing happened.
He closed his eyes, knowing a flash in this darkness could blind him, and began feeling his way forwards, one hand on the wall to his left and the other curled into a fist, ready to lash out at anyone who came too close.
In the darkness, everything felt simultaneously close and far away, like he was swaddled in a blanket but also in an open field, and his breaths seemed loud in his ears, quick but not panting, fuelled by adrenaline.
He could hear the sound of pebbles and dirt crunching and shifting, but couldn’t quite pinpoint from where, because between the walls and the darkness, everything felt like it was in a void, everywhere and nowhere all at once.
I should really head back upstairs , a part of him whispered, knowing it wasn’t the wisest decision to enter complete darkness alone, but it was quickly forgotten when he heard a muffles ‘ fuck!’ from further into the basement.
It sounded like someone who had just hurt themself, unintentionally, not a trap, and so Izuku edged forward. More sure of where it was coming from, close enough to tell.
He moved slowly, placing each foot carefully, trying not to draw attention, taking his second hand off the wall, ears pricked for any tiny sound, the subtle shift of shoes, but he was only greeted by silence.
Suddenly, from the darkness, there was a yell and the scuffing of feet, and one of the villains lunged out of the darkness, making a grab for him. Danger Sense flared, and he pivoted, feeling the rush of air as the villain stumbled past him, swearing under their breath, before there was a prickling on the back of his neck, and he ducked down just as he felt a hand brush the top of his head, trying to grab on.
He pivoted in his crouched position, kicking a leg out to where he thought one of them might be, aiming to knock their feet, letting out a small grunt of satisfaction when in the sparking light of One For All, he saw the shocked face of the smaller villain as they hit the ground, almost like it was frame-by-frame in the flickering light, but as soon as it completely flickered out, he felt a shudder of instinct, telling him to turn around and close, so close it felt like the villain was right in his ear, they shouted once more.
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!”
Izuku realised too late that his eyes were open.
And there was light.