Chapter Text
Hi, everyone! I hope you are doing well!
Before we continue the story, I was asked to introduce everyone to the world. We don’t want to throw you in without prior knowledge, do we? As a worker who had that happen to me multiple times when starting a new job and almost getting fired because nobody taught me anything, I completely understand.
I will introduce the nitty gritty details overtime because I don’t want to overwhelm you. However, there are a couple of details that are necessary to get you going.
Hopefully, my notes are accurate. Otherwise, I apologize for anything wrong, and I promise to do better!
Most likely in your world, you have heard of superpowers. They aren’t real, but you have seen a story or a manga featuring these most likely. They give people the capability to do something beyond what a typical person can do. Think of things like super strength, mind-reading, and teleportation. The most important thing to note with these superpowers is that they are typically limited to a specific group of people.
The reason I bring superpowers up is that they more than exist in our world. In fact, they go beyond the stories. These superpowers are called “Quirks” in our universe.
Additionally, unlike in stories, these quirks do not apply to a specific group of people. The majority of people have a quirk, around 80% of the human population. These quirks also do not stick to the norm you’re likely used to. While quirks like the previously mentioned can be found, there are far more beyond that. If you can think of it, it exists. It doesn’t even have to affect just the person with the quirk. It can affect the world around the quirked person, something that is pretty common.
That is the bare bones because, again, I do not want to overwhelm you.
And…to be honest, quirks are very complicated! I struggle to understand a lot of the concepts because they say one thing but then there are a bunch of exceptions to that one thing! That is why whenever I need to describe the specifics, I will be having someone else write that for me and reading from that instead of making an embarrassment of myself.
I was told that was completely fine, so I shall be doing so.
One more thing before I continue: if you are worried about not understanding a quirk, do not worry! I will be here to provide a brief description of the person and their quirk. I will always have your back!
Continuing on, with the introduction of quirks, that probably leads to plenty of questions, especially about the society we live in.
Well, whenever you give people power, it doesn’t always lead to the nicest things unfortunately. When quirks first started to appear, some used it for devious things, such as inappropriate pranks. With the rise of quirks, it led to the creation of plenty of laws and new law enforcement.
Like your time, we also had comic books that showed superpowers before quirks came into existence. The person who did good with their powers was considered a hero while someone who did the opposite was considered a villain.
I am bringing that up because that idea was easily applied. People were already calling people who did wrong with their powers villains.
And if you have villains, then you need heroes.
Heroes and the hero system were introduced as a new branch of law enforcement. Unlike your typical law enforcement, heroes can use their quirks for good. They even go as far as to act as heroes, from their heroic actions to how they dress.
To summarize what I just said, being a hero is a job. Not an easy job, and it’s a job you have to go to a school or training for, but it’s a job.
Just like with quirks, the whole hero system is complicated, so I’ll explain it when it is seen as necessary with the help of anyone that isn’t me.
With that said, I believe you have all the tools to enter! Welcome again!
The patient room would be tense despite the lack of personality the room itself holds given it’s in a hospital. One of the only two things with a personality would be a blonde, quite athletic, woman sitting on the patient bed. She’s fuming, but she isn’t exactly relevant to the story. Instead, the focus would be on the doctor in the room: Doc.
Doc - A D-ranking hero for NY, a B-ranking hero on the federal list (this shall be explained later), and an infamous doctor, Doc is well-known for his uncensored opinions on the hero system that I thankfully do not have to censor here. He is 6’2” (188 cm) at about an average weight. His blue hair is shoulder-length, but he usually has it part way up with a ponytail. He has blue eyes and rimless glasses. He also has some scruff matching his hair on his chin and pretty consistent eyebags from the lack of sleep he gets. He typically wears a wrinkled suit and a trench coat that seems to swallow him whole.
Quirk: Health Status - Doc’s quirk allows him to see health ailments someone is suffering from through tags attached to the person.
Doc likes to believe that he is a reasonable man. He tells people to take better care of their health and how. It’s certainly cheaper and more effective than doing drugs, and it is far cheaper than surgery. Doc tries to avoid both of those the best he could because he doesn’t want to shove shit into his patients, let alone cut them open.
If he did, he would be a murderer.
The problem is that being healthy is work. Some people don’t have the motivation. Some people don’t have the time. Some people just don’t want to give up their lifestyle.
Of course, quirks do exist, and they do fix a lot of problems to some extent. The problem is that they create others. For example, if a doctor has a healing quirk and heals patients, it is found that those patients are more likely to come back than those whose doctor doesn’t. The reason is obvious given it basically erases consequences of the patient’s actions. The problem with this is that it can not only encourage patients to not be as careful, but also those doctors are put under more stress since they are dealing with those dumbasses.
And they wonder why doctors are becoming alcoholics and crackheads. Unfortunately, that’s only surface-level, and Doc won’t be provided his soapbox to preach on at the moment.
Rolling back to the previous point, Doc doesn’t give a fuck if they don’t give a fuck. Just leave him out of it if that is the case. He gives a big fuck if they give a fuck. It’s very simple. There’s a reason why he has so many one star reviews on all the doctor websites.
However, for some reason, Doc still gets patients that don’t understand. Like, seriously, don’t people look up reviews on doctors to make sure that doctor is okay?
Apparently not, thus why he is in this situation.
“I have a marathon in two weeks! If you can’t heal me, why don’t you send me to a doctor who can?!” The woman exclaims, clearly pissed about the entire situation if the red in her face said anything. If her hair could change color, it probably would be red as well.
Mrs. Wedderford. She’s an up-and-coming runner in the marathons with a desirable quirk allowing her to adjust her temperature to a minor degree. She’s here because she sprained her left ankle. She thought he had some kind of healing quirk, but Doc doesn’t.
If he did, he would be rich by now.
On the bright side, it’s a minor sprain, so it could heal in about a week. The issue is that marathon runners hate themselves and love to destroy their bodies in order to participate. Mrs. Wedderford would need to be careful for around a month to make sure shit doesn’t get worse, and that’s not on her agenda given what he just said.
Doc looks at the woman with an unamused look as his monotone voice fills the room, “Because doctors with those quirks are rare. Those with those quirks are specifically saved for people in drastic situations like, you know, about to die or rich people,” He leans back in his chair with a sigh, “Additionally, healing quirks are not the perfect solution. For all you know, it will happen again soon after. I understand that it’s shit, but it’s best to let it heal naturally unless you feel like making it worse.”
Mrs. Wedderford abruptly stands up, “I’m sorry, but I can’t miss this. I haven’t since I started, and I don’t plan it now!”
“Okay.” That response seems to piss her off more.
“I’m not paying you for this either!” Mrs. Wedderford snarks as she storms to leave.
“I’m not expecting you to. I only charge those satisfied,” Doc clarifies, and she squawks at his response. He continues without acknowledging it, “By the way, your quirk is a temperature regulation quirk?” That causes her to stop and spin around to face him.
“So what if it is?!”
“I am unsure how in depth you have gone to understand your quirk, but quirks revolving around maintaining homeostasis typically require more energy. Eat more, especially if you’re going to do this ridiculous marathon. At least make it somewhat more bearable for yourself.”
Doc is unsure if Mrs. Wedderford maintained what he said given she scoffed and left, but he can hope. That’s out of his hands at this point.
With a sigh, Doc rubs the sleepiness from his eyes and checks his watch on his right wrist. He doesn’t know why because it just ruins his mood further when he realizes that it is still morning. It’s like the world wants him to jump off the hospital roof.
Doc stands up and leaves the room to a hallway. As he makes his way down the hallway, he stops by the desk and asks, “Who and when is the next appointment?”
The woman manning a desk at the time, Jessica, mutters, “Can’t you be less of an ass?”
“No.”
“...you’re right. It would be creepy,” Doc doesn’t get a chance to consider if he should be offended or not as she answers his question, “Carl Marson in half an hour. By the way, Hopper and her friend are waiting in your office.” Doc swears his exhaustion became worse hearing that.
Doc groans, “Seriously? I thought I put her on the ban list?”
Doc can hear the smile in Jessica’s response, “You did, but she’s a hero, so you can’t stop her.”
Fucking Tiger. And if it is who he think the friend is, fucking Iris too.
Doc makes his way slowly to his office. When he opens the door, he immediately sees the demon sitting in his chair at his desk. As soon as the door opens, a grin appears on her face.
“Hey, Doc! What’s shaking, bacon? I heard someone storming out just now! Was that one of your patients? She was muttering something about a some-of-a-bitch so I assume it was you-”
Tiger Spade - Also known as the hero Hopper, she is an S-rank hero in NY and an A-rank hero in the federal ranking system. She certainly knows how to bring attention to herself. She is a short woman at 4’10” (147.32 cm) and is larger than the average woman her size. She has long ginger hair that she keeps tied back besides for two strands in the front and green eyes. Surprisingly, despite how much she moves around, she always keeps glasses on somehow. Her hero costume consists of whatever she feels like wearing that day, which is typically a hoodie and sweatpants. However, somedays, I have to turn off the television if she is on given her concerning fashion choices. The only consistent part of her costume is the boots and long gloves.
Quirk: Bounce - Tiger’s quirk enables her to jump higher and faster for each consecutive jump she makes.
Why did Doc come in here? Now that he thinks about it, he could have just left them in here. Then, he wouldn’t know that Tiger has stolen his seat yet again, which he doesn’t get when there is a seat literally closer to the door, and Iris isn’t even sitting in it! She’s leaning against a wall!
What did he do to deserve this?
Speaking of Iris, she finally interrupts Tiger gently, who is now going on about who knows what, “Tiger, sweetie, noone can keep up with you.”
Iris Magnolia - Iris is the far more sane woman of the two. She works as a maid for varying businesses as she enjoys cleaning and entertaining. Unlike Tiger, Iris is a tall woman at a solid 6’ (183 cm) and is skinny as bean. She has short, reddish/brownish hair that never seems to cooperate with her given how messy it usually is. She also has purple eyes and pristine skin. She typically wears maid outfits because she loves them.
Tiger goes quiet for a moment as she takes the time to process what Iris just said.
“Oh, whoops,” Tiger says awkwardly, but she snaps out of it quickly and becomes super hyper again, “Heyyyyy, how you doingggggg?” He prays for the day he can sell her soul for a cup of coffee.
Doc glances at both of them with an unamused look, “Working. Aren’t you supposed to be doing something?”
“Nah, I’m on break. I happened upon Iris and we were like ‘hey, we should totally visit Doc and make sure he isn’t dead or arrested’ and here we are!”
“Uh huh. And why me?”
“Because we love you and want to support you!” Doc is choosing not to question it.
Iris reminds them of her presence when she brings up a sane question, “I’ve been meaning to ask, but have you been assigned to another hero agency yet?”
Doc willingly answers that one, “They were supposed to a couple of days ago, but I haven’t got a response.”
“That’s probably because you got all of New York to hate you,” Iris responds innocently with a smile on her face as if he doesn’t know that.
“Not my fault the majority of the people I was forced to work with sucks.”
“You’re just stringent.” Iris has no idea.
“Your opinion.”
Tiger hops back into the conversation, “No, it’s facts. At this point, they aren’t going to put you with heroes anymore because your publicity is ass. They are probably going to put you under the police.” As much as Doc hates to admit it given it is coming from Tiger, that is sound.
The conversation is interrupted by a loud alarm going off, and Doc can’t help but wonder what did he do to piss off whoever the fuck is above.
“Something tells me that is bad,” Tiger points out the obvious. Doc would already be pulling out a handheld radio from his trenchcoat as he storms out of his office and looks towards the entryway to find a decent crowd of villains trying to storm in with only a couple of guards attempting to stop them. To make matters worse, a majority of them have animal quirks, which only means one thing.
It’s the Animal Gang. Doc has so many questions, but he’ll have to wrangle the answers out of Tiger later.
Doc calls to Tiger, who is rushing out of the office behind him with Iris, “It’s the damn Animal Gang! I need you to call any nearby heroes here!” He can hear the buzz of his earbud in his right ear from Tiger’s request, but he hardly pays attention to those voices as he focuses on the hospital’s needs by clicking the call button on the radio, “Nurses, keep the patients in the rooms. Lock the doors and turn off the lights. If out, bring them to the nearest room to hide them. Security, tell me what you see.”
The radio buzzes back, “There’s an attack at every entry way!” Yahoo yay. Doc watches as the guards get defeated, and the brutes burst through with grins on their faces. Tiger and Doc are just about to move in when a small batch of purple flames separate them from the villains, causing everyone to stop in their place. He quickly turns to find Iris standing back with an innocent smile on her face.
Quirk: Will-O-Wisp - Iris’s quirk allows her to produce purple flames that burn away active quirk factors on objects or people. This one is a little hard to understand unless you see it in action, so I do want to provide some clarification for her through an example. If someone has a quirk that produces rocks in midair and Iris’s flames hit said rocks, the rocks will disappear. Outside of that purpose, in Iris’s words, “It’s just really pretty to look at.”
Doc had no idea that was Iris’s quirk, but he’ll take it. He faces the crowd again to find that the flames are spreading rapidly, far faster than normal flames as they have already filled the hallways.
Doc steps back from them and returns to the radio call, “Animal quirks?”
“Some, yes, sir!” Some? That’s odd.
“Keep me updated,” Doc shoves the radio back into his trenchcoat and picks up the conversation happening between Iris and Tiger.
“-don’t burn, no worries!” Iris tells Tiger calmly with a smile still. That’s something, but how long will it take for the other side to figure that out?
Tiger huffs, “Still, you can’t surprise a girl like that! I-”
Doc interrupts while activating his quirk to see if anything comes through the flames, “Hopper, status.”
“Oh, right! Gearshift will be here in less than a minute, but everyone else will take longer. We can take care of this easy peasy with the security-!”
Doc snaps at her, “This isn’t one of the covered hospitals, Hopper!”
“Wait, hold up, what?! What the fuck you mean?!”
“This wasn’t one of the hospitals that was supposed to be attacked! Extra security was transferred to the ones you dumbasses thought were going to be attacked! There are maybe a couple of agents, but we don’t know since they don’t have to wear the stupid earbuds!”
Iris intervenes, “Guys, they are going to get through here. We need a plan.”
“Hopper, I need you to take care of the second floor. There’s likely noone there besides shitty Shelly, and that is where the entry to the parking garage is. Iris, stay here and cover me-”
“You sure you got this?” Tiger questions.
“Just go, we’ll figure it out!” Tiger smirks at his response and runs off while yelling over her shoulder.
“I like that confidence!”
Doc doesn’t fucking care as he reaches up to press the button of the earbud in his right ear, “Gearshift, when you get here, take care of the top floor and go down.”
The earbud buzzes with a male response, “I’m just getting here now! It seems they are using the emergency exits to get some of them in.”
“Hopper is on floor two, so you two will likely get through the floors quickly. Focus one floor at a time. The patients and nurses were told to hide in their rooms.”
“On it!”
“Iris, your quirk?”
“It burns active quirk factors on objects and people. It’s safe otherwise,” Iris explains. Doc isn’t 100% sure what she means, but he knows enough to come up with an idea.
Doc looks around and finds a medical cart in one of the lobbies. Likely, it was being moved to a patient’s room, but he’s taking it now. Doc moves quickly to grab the cart as he brings Iris into the loop, “Just keep me covered!”
While Doc has never worked with Iris before since she isn’t a hero, he does trust her enough to do that. It’s just going to be annoying having to do the paperwork saying he gave her permission to use her quirk. Not his biggest worry right now though.
With the cart in front of him, Doc flicks his wrists to set up a certain something. Then, he rushes into the flames with his quirk still active and the cart rattling.
The strategy is quite simple: use Iris’s flames as cover and his quirk to locate everyone. Without Iris, fighting them would have been impossible since it’s not only a group but it’s a group of people with animal quirks from the Animal Gang. The Animal Gang only sends out their strongest, something Doc typically can’t compete with.
If he plays dirty, he can.
Random tags of conditions Doc hardly pays attention to pops up to indicate their locations. He continues to run until he enters the waiting room where he finds that they have spread out due to the flames.
Yelling can easily be heard.
“Dude, we need to get out of here! We have no idea what these flames do!”
“Oh, fuck off! They don't do shit! They’re a distraction!”
“Gorilla, where are you?!”
“SERIOUSLY, THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT?! I’M GOING IN!”
They never were known for their teamwork. From what Doc can see, there are only five of them. Again, odd, but maybe they are stronger than they look.
One of them starts running at Doc, and he can probably assume the one screaming “i’m going in” is the one coming at him.
“YO, THESE FLAMES DON’T BURN! GET IN HERE, BOYS!” The same voice yells as they quickly approach.
To be honest, if they all act like this, this will be an easy fight for Doc. He raises his right palm to the one approaching, flicks his wrist, and a dart flies out to get its target.
“OUCH! SOMEONE Is in here with…” A new tag shows up for her as Doc hears a loud thump in front of him. Unfortunately, her warning triggered the boys.
“You heard her, let’s go!” One of them yells as the group approaches from all angles.
Doc can’t help but groan in annoyance. Despite that, he gets to work as he grabs the medical cart earlier and shoves it to his left as a distraction. He then tracks the one reaching him the fastest, the one behind him, spins around, and does a similar motion with his left hand to shoot another dart. One is still coming in on his new left since the spin around, and Doc just has to hope they aren’t too big to be shoved around by him. From the height of the tags, they seem to be on the smaller side, but it’s not the perfect indicator.
Once the one on the left is close, Doc notes a shorter individual with red fur. He has absolutely no idea what his quirk is, but he looks like a red racoon. Either way, he has a mammal quirk, and most mammals are not venomous. Therefore, he can touch him safely.
Doc sidesteps the racoon to avoid the attack. With a new opening, he shoves his hand up the man’s armpit, causing him to squeal as it goes limp.
“You ass!” The man squeals.
“Don’t need you to tell me,” Doc can’t help but snark as he grabs the man’s arm and forces it behind him.
Just as Doc is about to shove the man down, he notices tags popping up from the guy who he shoved the kart at. If he was quirkless, the incoherent yelling probably would have signaled the same. Doc doesn’t hesitate to use Raccoon Man as a shield by moving him in front of himself. Once he is close enough, he shoves the man after the yeller and jumps back. Now that Doc actually has a chance, he pulls out some more sleeping darts from his coat and loads each hand. He just has to keep an eye on how many he has left…which he has no idea of, but he’ll figure it out.
Doc is about to move in when he takes note of tags that don’t belong to either of the men he was just messing around with. Additionally, they seem to be approaching from above and a little bit behind him. Doc supposes that is feasible with animal quirks, but it doesn’t stop him from thinking it is a pain in the ass to deal with.
Well, it would be if Doc didn’t have sleeping darts. Those with quirks that make them more mobile are usually his first target because of how much of a pain they can be.
He just needs to wait a moment and not fuck up his chance.
Doc stands his ground as he watches the tags get closer. At the same time, he knows the two he just pushed away are scrambling to him at the same time. Honestly, it’s just his luck.
Doc’s annoyance almost gets him jumped by the creep on the ceiling, but he notices it just in time and steps to the right. He spins himself around enough to where he can see who it is, raises his hand, and shoots the remaining dart. Doc catches a glimpse of the guy he just shot, someone with a gecko quirk. It doesn’t take long for him to knock out, leaving the other two.
Before Doc has the chance to load his darts, the large man moves too quickly for Doc and grabs him by the neck. Doc hardly acknowledges the large horns indicating either a bull or a moose given he’s being fucking choked.
The man brings Doc close to his face, grins, and tightens his grip, “Finally caught you, brat!”
“Hell yeah, give him a piece of your mind!” Racoon yells from Doc’s right somewhere.
Doc forces himself to focus. With as much strength as he can muster, he throws a hard right hook to the head. He makes contact, and he can feel himself breathe a little easier.
“YOU PIECE OF SHIT-FUCK!”
Moose starts to scream, but Doc kicks him in the balls before he can finish his first insult. The man’s hand instantly lets go of Doc entirely as he reaches for the new pain area. To add insult to injury literally, Doc kicks him in his right kneecap, causing him to drop to his knees. He takes the chance to reach into his trenchcoat to grab another dart with his right hand. This time, Doc goes to stab it into his victim, but he forgot one thing.
The goddamn raccoon.
A growl interrupts Doc pursuit, and he stops to turn to the direction where it is coming from to see Raccoon right in his face with his claws out. Doc skids out of the way, but he can feel a scrape across his right cheek.
Doc can feel his anger bubbling up. He could have easily avoided that! How did he forget that there was another damn villain there?!
“For fuck sakes, I’m done with your guys’ bullshit,” Doc barks as he grabs Raccoon by the shirt with his left hand and does not hesitate to stab the dart into his right shoulder while continuing to rant, “If I wanted a fight, I would have gone to the fucking gym! Can’t you do other shit besides bothering people who already hate their fucking lives?! Do this in video games where I don’t have to be a part of it!” Using the momentum from Raccoon jumping, he throws him in the opposite direction. He feels very little satisfaction when the man rolls on the ground knocked out from the darts as he is aware he has to be a doctor to these damn bastards afterwards.
It certainly doesn’t help that Tiger’s loudmouth comes on over the intercom.
“Yo, Doc, when did you get so good at fighting?! I’m just reaching the third floor, and all I see is a one-sided battle! It’s cleaner than anything I have ever done! I always leave footprints or holes everywhere! If I knew you fought this good, I would have asked you to partner up with me again!” Tiger rambles on and on, and Doc’s confusion of what she is talking about just annoys him more.
Doc reaches up to activate his earbud while grabbing a dart for the last guy, “What the fuck are you talking about? I’m still on the first floor.”
“...wait, really?!”
Doc chooses not to answer Tiger, instead dropping the connection. Just as he is about to stab the dart into Moose, who has been recovering this entire time, Moose realizes what is about to happen. He grabs Doc’s left leg and pulls him right on his ass before climbing on top and pinning him before Doc has the chance to recover.
“You’re done now- WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Doc interrupts Moose’s monologue by spitting in his face. Then, he moves himself enough to bite his arm, earning his arm back once more.
“YOU BEAST!” How ironic.
Once again, before Doc gets himself into another hole, he finally stabs the dart into Moose’s arm, causing him to quickly collapse on top of Doc.
After a deep breath, Doc shoves the man off and stands up. So far, he has earned himself a scratch on his face, possible bruising on his neck, a headache from constantly using his quirk, and a pain in the ass.
“Doc?! Doc, talk to me! I can’t have you dying, you grumpy ass bum! Gearshift, you talk! He may respond to you!”
“Uh, why?!”
“Because you’re not me!”
And a reminder of the pain in the ass he is stuck with forever.
“IRIS, CAN YOU KILL THE FLAMES?!” Doc yells as he makes his way back to where he left Iris. He hears a snap, and the flames disappear as requested. Now he can actually see Iris sitting in one of the chairs behind the receptionist desk with that damn smile on her face. However, once she notices his shape, she gets up quickly and moves her way over to him with concern written clearly on her face
While Doc gets closer, he finally responds to Tiger, “I’m alive unfortunately. I’ve been on the first floor the whole time, so what the fuck are you talking about?” When Iris gets close enough, he points at his ear while making the talking motion with his hand. Iris nods, not saying anything as she pulls out a tissue from one of her skirt pockets and presses it gently against his cheek. He flinches out of instinct, but doesn’t shove her away.
“Well, there were a bunch of people knocked out, so I assumed it was you! Gearshift, can you produce sleepy darts now?”
“Uh, no? That’s not what my quirk is.”
“So it can’t be you!?”
“I’m sorry, Gearshift, she’s stupid. Many heroes use the same darts, so it was probably an agent who did that. I have no idea how you assumed it was me given I’m the only hero without a physical quirk and it’s taking me forever to get through this floor anyway.”
“I don’t know, man, I don’t have, like, 10 PHDs!”
“You don’t even need one!”
Gearshift interrupts, “Are you still dealing with floor one? If so, Hopper can go down because we are both on floor four, and I am pretty sure we only need one of us here,” Finally, a reasonable person!
“I’ll let you know,” Doc cuts communication with them and grabs his radio for the hospital, “Security, are there any more villains on the first floor?”
“Uh, yes sir! They are working on bringing everyone to the cafeteria.”
“Great,” Doc drops the radio and returns to the hero connection, “Yes.”
Tiger’s quips, “On my way, captain!”
Doc chooses not to respond to that. Instead, he withdraws from Iris and starts making his way to the cafeteria.
Iris quickly catches up with Doc to match his speed, “I can go for you! You don’t need to be pushing yourself.”
“It’s fine. I just want to see how big of a mess it is.” Besides, even if he were to try and take a break now, he would just be needed within a minute anyway as a doctor.
“Just be careful, alright?”
“Yeah yeah.”
As they make their way quickly across the floor, Doc loads his darts again and checks what he has left. Finding there is only one more, he groans. He has to be careful now. If he can knock them out without it, he has to. If it is absolutely necessary, Doc should have some in his office, but it doesn’t mean he will get to them easily.
Speaking of finding anybody else, Doc starts to hear a buzzing sound approaching them rapidly. Without a second thought, he grabs Iris by the arm and pulls her into the nearest room. Once the door closes behind them, he looks out the window just in time to see someone fly by the window.
“Hey, at least buy me dinner first,” Iris teases. That encourages Doc to let go of her and give her an unamused look.
“You’re a lesbian.”
“I mean, yes, but there’s always-” Doc wisely cuts Iris off by reaching up to his com again.
“Hopper, one of them has a flying quirk. I don’t know what they are doing, but I suspect they will return back to the cafeteria.”
“Ughhhh, I don’t wanna deal with that! Please take care of it-!”
“Sounds like a you problem,” Doc responds before dropping his side. He’ll have to listen to her screaming, but he can’t find it in himself to care. You grow numb to it after a while.
Iris smirks, “You’re going to take care of it anyway, aren’t you?”
“...shut the fuck up,” Doc grumbles as he steps out of the room and gives chase, “Get back here, you damn mosquito!”
It doesn’t take long for Doc to catch the villain’s attention. Ironically, the woman seems to have a mosquito quirk. He can only imagine the bullying she had to endure.
The woman glares him down with her mosquito eyes, “I knew there waz zomeone elze here! Move!”
“Excuse me, I’m the damn law here, you move,” Doc remarks.
Perhaps that was not his greatest idea as the woman is tackling him down within an instant, and he feels something prick his neck on the right. Doc reaches for the thing on the neck with his left hand and rips it off while holding a grip, earning a squeal from her. He then moves to the left while pulling on whatever he is holding. He hears a loud thump as her head crashes into the ground, and the smell of blood fills his nose.
Doc quickly activates his quirk to find that she is still alive. Perhaps he did put too much force behind that, but it was necessary in his eyes. Hopefully, she did not give him anything beside an itchy bug bite.
“Are you okay?” Iris asks as she fills his vision and offers a hand. Concern once again.
Doc rolls his eyes as he takes Iris’s hand and stands up, “Yeah. Normal Tuesday.” He keeps his quirk active for another moment as he makes sure that noone else is nearby. Once confirmed, he shuts it off, “Let’s continue.” Without giving her a chance, he continues once more. It doesn’t take long for her to catch up, not that he was expecting her to take long anyway when she is used to dealing with Tiger.
“Let’s be less reckless, alright?” Iris recommends.
“I try.”
“Uh-huh.”
That conversation ends quickly, especially as the itchiness distracts Doc.
Within a minute, the two arrive outside the cafeteria, and Doc doesn’t have to go inside to know what is going on from the screaming, crashing, and cracking noises escaping to the outside.
“GET BACK HERE!”
“PLEASE SPARE-!”
And there’s another one.
Neither of them bother to step inside. Tiger has this completely handled, and they would be a burden more than a strength due to how erratic Tiger can be. Peering inside the window, both of them struggle to see Tiger hopping and tackling her opponents like a rabbit on crack due to how fast she is going. If they weren’t tackled into a crater, they were probably dragged into one by one of her grappling hooks.
All within a few seconds of them arriving. It felt more like a skit in a comedy show than a fight. Tiger may be a nuisance to society, but she is one of the best in New York for a reason.
Once Tiger manages to finally stops, Doc takes it as a sign that she is done with the job and enters the cafeteria. Immediately, he notes that patients that he does see, and he can’t help but pity them because they were right in the middle of Tiger’s madness.
“Is everyone okay?” Doc asks as he scans the crowd.
“I am!” Tiger exclaims with a grin.
“Not talking to you,” Doc mutters as he watches out for head nods or thumbs up. Once confirmed, he focuses on his patients and peers with a firm voice, “I am sorry for what has happened here today. We will do better to prevent this incident from happening again because this is bullshit. For now, if you are a patient, please return to your room. Nurses, please help them. Ignore the villains because they will likely be knocked out for a while: we will take care of them.”
As everyone begins to move, Doc turns to Tiger and Iris. Once within range, Tiger immediately notices, “I just told the police to come inside and clean up. They also told me to tell you to come out because you have to fix them for some reason.”
“I have to fix them because it’s humane,” Doc explains with a glare, but he decides to drop it and go to the com, “Are you good, Gearshift?”
“Oh yeah, I’m just finishing the last one!”
“Good. The cops are here. Do you mind waiting a moment? I don’t know if your villains will wake up since you don’t beat them to the brink of death like Hopper here.”
“Can do!”
Tiger immediately rebels, “Hey! I do not beat them to the brink of death! I just hit them once! If that brings them to the brink of death, they shouldn’t be committing crimes.”
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you had to fix them,” Doc snarks, but that annoyance reminds him of something else, “Whatever. What the fuck happened? I was told this hospital was safe from them.”
Thankfully, Tiger does take this seriously, “It was! From what we knew, they had no manpower to take down this hospital. It’s too big of a risk! I don’t know what the fuck happened. What’s weird is that the crowds are usually bigger. They don’t usually spread out. We’re all in this together, you know?” As seriously as she can anyway.
“I also heard from security that it wasn’t all animal mutation quirks.”
“Yeah, my floor and the third floor were emitter quirks mostly with a special little buddy here and there. I have never seen that before from them.”
Iris joins the conversation, “Is it possible that it wasn’t the Animal Gang?”
“No, it was them. I could bounce off them all the same. Most of them really are related somehow.” At this point, Doc notes some cops coming in and starting to gather the villains.
“But they don’t team up, do they?”
“They don’t…off topic, but third floor, who was it?! I really want to know!”
“We should have got an indicator by now of who it was, wouldn’t we?”
“If it was an agent, you’re right,” Doc states as he pulls out the radio once more. While he wouldn’t usually care, he would like some information about what the fuck happened, “Security, can you see who was on the third floor?”
“Of course!...Uh, I don’t know who that is. A woman with long black hair wearing a suit, but wowzers, can she shoot! Didn’t miss a shot!”
“Oh, that sounds like Finley!” Iris brings up.
“Oh shit, yeah, she could definitely pull something like that off,” Tiger adds to Iris’s proposal.
Doc looks at her confused as he has never heard of her, “Finley?”
“You haven’t met her?”
Iris intervenes, “No, they have not. However, you probably know her as Detective Apricot.”
Any hero worth their salt in New York recognizes the name Apricot. Apricot is one of the top detectives in New York. Any case that is given to her, she solves it faster than anyone else could have otherwise. Outside of the hero community, she is most likely known for her position in the Typhoon case, a highly intelligent serial killer that has killed more than a hundred people. Nobody has been able to begin to unravel that case like Apricot.
However, now she is just getting on his nerves because where the fuck is she?
“Have you asked the police if she came to them?” Doc questions.
Tiger makes an ‘o’ with her mouth and interrupts a poor cop that is walking by trying to do his job, “Hey, have you seen Detective Apricot?”
The cop looks at her in confusion, “She’s here? We haven’t seen her.”
“Really? That’s odd.” Since the cop wasn’t asked anything else, she returns to work.
Doc pulls out the radio once again, “Security, did you see where she went?”
“Hold on…she went to the garage? Yeah, the garage after some of the villains. I can’t find her anywhere after that, but I do see the villains leaving.”
“Shit, animal quirks or otherwise?”
“Otherwise.”
“Thanks,” Doc lets go of the call button on the radio and looks at Iris, “Apparently, you know Detective Apricot, so what do you make of it?”
Iris hums, “Well, she either got caught, which is unlikely as it’s really difficult to get close to her, or she hitched a ride or followed them.” Doc can feel his annoyance growing.
“...without telling anyone? She’s a detective. She shouldn’t be pulling this kind of shit! Now we have no clue where she went, and she could be in danger! It certainly doesn’t help if she gets into Animal Gang territory because they’ll find her instantly!”
Iris’s expression turns serious, something Doc has never seen from her, “She’ll be fine. We’ll probably hear from her soon. This is normal for her.”
“So she’s normally stupid.”
“I prefer independent for her,” Iris corrects firmly.
“Yeah, this is on brand for her. I can’t think of a time it’s gotten her in trouble,” As Tiger is talking, Doc sees a lightbulb light up in her otherwise empty head, “Hold on, if she was involved, wouldn’t that mean she has to help with the case now?” Doc has no clue.
“Depends what she finds. If she finds something ground-breaking, they may pass control to her, yes.”
“YES!” Tiger celebrates while hopping on her feet, “The detective on the Animal Gang case currently sucks ass, and, to be blunt, I’m getting bored of beating their asses over and over.”
“That’s if she comes back,” Doc mutters.
Iris gives Doc an innocent smile, something he knows as a threat, “Finley will be perfectly fine.”
“I never said she will or will not. I am just saying-”
Doc doesn’t get to finish when one of the cops calls for him, “Doc, we need your help with this one! He is mutilated!” He sighs. This is his job.
He quickly returns his attention to Iris, “If they ask why you used your quirk, tell them I gave you permission-”
Iris tilts her head, “Why would that matter?”
“...what the fuck do you mean why would that matter? You used your quirk in a hospital, which is illegal!”
“Yes, because I am a licensed agent.” There’s a moment of quiet.
“Excuse me?!” Iris smirks.
“I have my hero license, Doc.”
Doc freezes for a moment because, of all people, fucking Iris has a hero license?! He has known her for, what, two years, and he has never heard of this?! The girl is a fucking maid! Hell, she won’t even throw a punch, yet she has a hero license?!
Bewildered, Doc does the only thing he can do in this situation: walk away in silence and do his job.