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Hito Shichi is having a terrible horrible no good very bad day.
That is to say that he’d woken up before his alarm this morning, spilled his coffee after leaving the house and before he’d gotten to take more than a single sip, and then he’d somehow had the misfortune of being the lone customer at his bank while it was being robbed— therefore becoming the sole de facto hostage when the grates had come down to separate the tellers from the villain.
Awesome. Perfect. Yes. A wonderful end to a wonderful day.
Hito would like to wake up from this nightmare now.
“Aw don’t fret little man,” the villain sneers, tentacle-like appendages shooting from his back to wrap around Hito tightly till he’s all trussed up like a gosh darn turkey. “This will all be over for both of us as soon as I get what I want.”
“In this economy?” Hito groans, struggling against his bonds to no avail. “You’d have a better chance trying to mug a hero.”
The villain laughs, twirling a gun around his finger in the worst lack of gun safety Hito has ever seen. Fuck but maybe he’ll get lucky for once and the guy’ll accidentally shoot himself.
“Now now civilian-kun there’s no need to make me mad and rush things along to your doom. There’s plenty of time to deal with you later.”
Hito struggles harder. Dammit, these things are impossible to get out of! It’s like they’d turned solid after securing him, there’s not an ounce of give to wriggle through at all!
“This villainous behavior is unbecoming,” a cool voice suddenly interjects.
Hito whips around to stare.
That’s!
That’s pro hero Creati!
When did she get here?
How did she get past the grates?
Oh thank fuck she’s here to save him!
He’s so happy to see her he thinks he might cry.
“You—!” the villain shouts, swinging to point his gun at her.
“Ah ah ah,” Creati chides, deftly pulling two sealed test tubes of liquid from the skin of her arms and wiggling them pointedly with one in each hand. “Careful now, you wouldn’t want me to drop these.”
Hito blinks as the villain lowers his gun a fraction in his confusion.
“Huh? What are those?!”
“I’m glad you asked,” Creati beams, wiggling them once more for emphasis. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of common household products that combine to form something truly unfortunate.” Her eyes flick to meet Hito’s briefly before returning to stare down the villain.
Hito’s mouth goes dry.
Oh… she’s stalling for time.
“Now then, simply telling you wouldn’t be any fun, wouldn’t you agree? I will say that this one…” She shakes the right one pointedly. “Contains bleach. Any guesses as to what’s in the other one?”
“You bitch,” the villain hisses, taking a small if panicked step back. “It’s ammonia isn’t it?”
Hito is so focused on the exchange he can’t hold back a full body flinch at the sudden feeling of invisible hands touching lightly to his own. Right. Distraction. Creati is stalling for time while her partner, Invisible Girl, works to get him free.
Luckily the villain assumes he’d flinched at the threat Creati is casually waving around and barely looks his way.
“It could be ammonia,” Creati nods. “Not exactly a household product but it’s a downright nasty combination with bleach. Chloramine gas can create respiratory issues and chest pain, you know?”
The villain takes another step back, and Hito can’t help but notice that it’s one step closer to the large window behind him. “You sick fuck,” he yelps.
“Now it could also be Vinegar.” Creati hums, wiggling the tube with a bit more force to keep the villain from noticing that Invisible Girl has now pulled a knife from within her costume to slice Hito’s bonds with. “And that combo would give us chlorine gas.” She beams at him all calm and happy, like they’re merely discussing the weather. “Terrible symptoms that one, coughing, breathing difficulties, and burning to the eyes, nose, and throat.”
“Y-You,” the villain croaks, taking another step closer to the window. “Y-You’d get hit too!”
“That is true,” Creati nods, tapping the stopper of one vial against her chin like she’s thinking about it. She looks back at him then and grins. “Assuming of course that my quirk isn’t fast enough to create a gas mask before the vials hit the floor.”
She tosses the bleach into the air and catches it with an even wider grin. “Shall we find out?”
Hito is following the exchange with wide eyes, his bonds loosening with every passing second that Invisible Girl works at them.
Surely Creati must be joking right? If she drops them won’t he be—
Oh.
Invisible Girl had pulled a knife from within her costume. Who knows what else she’s hiding within the folds of her quirk compatible cape. A gas mask or two isn’t a big stretch and she’s definitely close enough to pull it on him if it comes to that.
But still!
This can’t be legal…
Can it?
“Now we can’t forget about rubbing alcohol,” Creati is still musing, tossing the vial high and catching it once more. “Chloroform may have a reputation as a relatively harmless knockout agent but don’t let Hollywood fool you. Airborne like this it’s highly toxic leading to dizziness, nausea and of course, fainting.”
“Y-You—“
Hito gets to watch it all go down in what feels like slow motion.
The villain takes the biggest step back towards the window yet.
And with a sudden shattering of glass Red Fucking Riot himself comes bursting through the window to tackle the villain to the ground.
The gun clatters harmlessly into a corner.
Hito lets out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.
It’s finally over.
“So what was it really?” Hito manages to ask, having been left to sit with his shock blanket in peace now that he’s finally finished giving his statement.
Creati laughs, popping the stopper on both vials and drinking them down in one long go.
“Oh this?” She grins at him with a wink, tossing the now empty vials at him to keep as a souvenir. “Why, they were both full of water of course.”