Black Fox (Vigilante Deku AU)

Part 45-This Is Why We Trust Our Hunches

Deku POV

When smoke began to rise from the forest, I had the urge to start laughing and shouting, 'I told you so!' But since I was a mature vigilante, I pulled the fire alarm and shot out the window into the forest as the alarm started ringing.

Alright. Think. Who do you need to protect?

Most students were in the forest playing their horror games. The rest were in the lodge doing remedial classes with Aizawa. Who else...

Kota. Kota's missing.

I turned my steps away from the other students and toward the cliffside the boy called his hideout. The prickling at the back of my neck spread down my spine, urging me onward with whispers of danger, danger, danger and he's in trouble, go help him.

Before I got there, however, a tingle in the back of my brain grew into Mandalay's voice.

'Everyone! We're being attacked by two villains! It's possible that there are more! Everyone who can move, get back to camp immediately! Even if you come across the enemy, retreat and do not engage!'

I scoffed. No way in hell. Aizawa would have my head for it later, especially on direct orders not to engage, but God would be dead and gone and then some before I left a kid alone in a villain-infested forest.

Faintly I heard voices and saw smog to my right, blue flames licked over the treetops to my left. The mountain rose directly in front of me. I don't have time to take the proper path. Fine, then. With a gulp of breath, I launched myself straight up the side of the mountain. Finally, I can properly put my parkour practice to use again.

It was actually relatively easy- the side was rather sloped, and with lots of crags and dips to serve as handholds and footholds. I found myself at the top of the mountain just in time to sweep a terrified Kota out of the way.

The villain's punch smashed right into the mountain, leaving a sizeable hole in the stone. I twisted so Kota was crouching behind me and I faced the villain. In a heartbeat, I recalled all the information about him available. Muscular. Not so prominent of a villain to have worried about him before. His quirk expands the mass of his muscle fibers so much they can't be contained by the skin, so blunt force trauma will be ineffective, and most other wounds may be rendered inert...it's not likely that he can regenerate torn muscle fibers, so-

I yanked Kota out of the way of another punch. Muscular's face twisted into a smile-grimace. "Hello, vigilante. Didn't expect to see you here."

"Hello, jackass. Already knew you would be here. Kind of rude of you to attack an actual child, but hey, you villains are never right in the head."

He grunted with a smirk. "I'm sure you know you can't kill me."

I shrugged. "No, but I sure can stab you."

Muscular burst out laughing. "You can try!"

I shoved Kota into a crevice of the rock wall and sprinted the other way. "You know, I think your name could be a little more literal, don't you think?"

The villain growled. "It's just a working name, it's not there for flair!" He turned so he was always facing me. Good. His focus is not on Kota, it's on me. Maybe Kota can get away.

I shrugged. "Some flair can't hurt. Maybe...try 'Gym Man.' Or maybe just 'Muscle Man.' Either would work, I suppose."

He snarled. "I've had enough of you!"

I jumped up and sprang off the wall to land to his side. Whipping out a knife in one hand, a plan began to form itself in my head. I dashed in close to stab his side, only to be blocked by a writhing mass of muscle fibers creating a rock-hard wall. I left the knife behind to flip away from a punch. "You know, my old teacher told me that the people who just punch things to death aren't smart enough to make up a real plan. What's your thought on that?" He growled at me, more similar to an animal than a human. "So, you agree? Good, good. I think she's right too."