Peppermint || Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter 69

Y/N's jaw dropped.

Kirishima and Izuku had straight-up broken the wall completely. 'You guys aren't too bad.' The snobby pro remarked reluctantly. 'They beat me to the punch.' Fatgum muttered, gaping at the hole. 'Let's keep going.' Mirio suggested, walking forward with a determined look on his face.

Suddenly, the path began to warp and change. 'This isn't Chisaki!' The police chief declared. 'The only person who can do this is the director, Irinaka! Irinaka's quirk, Mimic, lets him going into objects and control them from within! He's gone into the concrete that makes up the underground, and it's turned into a living maze!'

'I'm going up ahead!' Mirio yelled, just as Y/N lost her balance and crashed into Tamaki. 'Ahh... Tamaki, I'm so sorry!' She apologised sheepishly, pulling him to his feet. 'It's fine...' He replied, dusting himself off. Suddenly, the ceiling sealed itself off.

'It looks like they've got us good.'

'Are you a pro or not?' Irked, the brunette threw herself at the pessimistic hero. 'Is that what a hero says?' 'Hey, hey, hey, hey! Some government authorities have fallen from the sky. Strange things happen, huh?' Three figures appeared before the group before the pro who was constantly getting on Y/N's nerves could start a fight with her. 'Guess it's time to show them the strength-' Fatgum was interrupted by Tamaki.

'Save the strength of the pros for the main goal.' He ordered, holding out an arm to stop his mentor. 'For the ones stalling for time... I'll be enough by myself.' 'What are you saying?' Kirishima protested. 'Let's work together!'

'Yeah, work together.' One of the criminals teased. 'I'll kill all of you.' 'It's Setsuno!' The chief realised. 'We can't use our guns against him. Heroes, it's up to you!' 'Ah. Figured it out, didn't you? Oh, well. Just makes it easier to go wild!' He attacked, but was swiftly stopped by Aizawa. 'We won't let you. Throw away your sword.' 

'Huh? I can't use it..?' His baffled tone had Y/N fighting to keep her laughter inside. 'He erased his quirk? An inferior version of Eri's quirk. I've heard a hero like that exists, but it doesn't matter. What we should be doing is blocking them. That's all.' 'Swords and bullets sink into my body! It would be better if you just gave up.' Fatgum challenged.

'Threats like that just make you seem like you fear for your life.' 

Before anyone could act, Tamaki had defeated the three of them. 'At Fat Agency, we eat tons of takoyaki, so I'm really good at using octopus. Since I was shot before, I'm more alert to things like this.' Tamaki's octopus tentacle transformed into a crab's pincer, which crushed the thugs' weapons easily.

'But Suneater!'

'It won't do any good for us to all fight against them. With so many pro heroes stopped here, we're playing right into their hands. We should save all of the pro's quirks, including Eraser's for later! We should save the power to get through the wriggling underground, too! And the police officers and their guns! Fatgum! If it's me, I can completely shut down all three of them.'

There was a moment of pin-drop silence.

'Let's go.' Fatgum demanded, turning on his heel. Immediately, Y/N followed suit, the clacking of her heels bringing everyone back to the present and the task they had at hand. 'Please take care of Mirio!' Tamaki beseeched, just as the brunette disappeared from his view. 'He's definitely going to try too hard, so please help him.

'Fat! You're going to leave him alone like that? What are you thinking?' Kirishima questioned incredulously. 'He's stronger than anyone here.' Fatgum replied. 'But he was weak emotionally. He crushed himself with pressure to do things perfectly. He climbed up to become part of UA's Big Three under those conditions. Someone like that declared that he could completely shut them down! So, all I can do is leave it to him!'

'Have some trust in Tamaki, Kiri. He is part of the Big Three after all. You can't ignore that fact.' Y/N consoled, drawing in energy from the water molecules in the air to give herself a speed boost. 'Besides, all you can do right now is trust him. We can't wast a single second of the time he bought us.'

'It's weird. It's weird that the guy who was moving the basement hasn't shown any movement...' Aizawa mused. 'Now that you mention it, nothing's twisting or turning.' Izuku remarked, sweeping his gaze around the tunnel. 'If he isn't putting any obstacles in our way while we're running, then our opponent may not be able to observe and control the whole basement. There's the police squad that remained up there, too. Maybe he's focusing his attention up there.'

'We're in the right direction!' Y/N suddenly called out. Everyone looked up, no one had noticed that the girl was now running above them, a hand sliding smoothly along the pipes as she went along. 'I keep forgetting you can do that!' Kirishima yelled, but then a shadow passed them. 'It's him!' She warned, pointing at the patch of darkness.

A concrete spike caught Aizawa, but when the concrete slammed into the wall opposite it, Fatgum and Kirishima were the ones missing. 'Kiri! Where'd he go?' The airborne brunette cried, pointing at the pillar. 'It doesn't matter! Keep going!' Aizawa commanded, using his scarf to bring the girl down to the ground. 'Stay close, we can't afford to lose another person.'

But as soon as her teacher set her down, Y/N felt the ground begin to shake. 'The ceiling and ground are moving closer together! Is that Irinaka guy... is he... trying to crush us?' 'Looks like it.' Nighteye replied grimly, hoisting the girl to her feet. 'Rock Lock!' 

'Stop acting like you're the leader! It's because of you we're in this fix!' The said pro retorted, making a tick mark appear on the silver eyed girl's forehead. 'You know, if we weren't allies in this situation, I would order a wave to toss you all the way to California.' She scolded, eyes smouldering. 'Are you a pro or not?'

The dark skinned hero glared at her, but slammed his palm onto the wiggling concrete wall without a single word. 'Deadbolt!' He thundered, twisting his wrist so violently it seemed painful. A reed shockwave flashed through the ground, locking the underground passageway in place. 'Things that I lockdown get locked in place.' He explained, pointing a hand forward. 'This way! This area won't move anymore, don't complain about how cramped it is! I can't hold that many places with Security Max Deadbolt. This is the limit of my powers!'

'He's coming at us again!' Someone pointed out the concrete that was flying towards them from the direction where the pro couldn't lock. A gust of wind and a glimmer of emerald flew past Y/N, and in seconds the rock was nothing more than mere pieces of rubble on the ground. With nothing but a few hurried 'thanks' and a sweaty hug from Y/N, the group continued on, but every few seconds, they would get cornered. It all seemed hopeless.

Then, the passageway opened. 'What are they planning this time?' A pro quizzed uneasily, but his question was soon answered. Slabs of the ground and piece of the ceiling flew up, closing Y/N, Izuku and Aizawa off from the rest. 'Sorry, are you okay?' Izuku asked, bending down to help his teacher up. 'Why separate us now?' The brunette questioned, climbing up to the pipes and feeling around. 'There's that annoying hero and Himiko Toga next door.' She announced.

A shout issued from behind the wall. 'Eraser, please move aside!' Izuku commanded, getting himself into an attacking pose and activating his quirk. With a simple, quirk enhanced kick, the wall was blasted apart, the scene in front of the trio burned into their eyes. Rock Lock lay face-first on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, a single stab wound in his abdomen. Another exact copy of the Lock Hero knelt beside him.

'A copy of me suddenly attacked me!' He proclaimed, but Y/N wasn't convinced. Her gut tugged at her, telling her that this wasn't the real Rock Lock. 'What's Himiko Toga's quirk?' She suddenly questioned abruptly, eyebrows furrowed. 'Izuku, stay away from him. I'm pretty sure that's not the real Rock Lock. He isn't as nearly as nice.' She huffed, emphasising on the word 'nearly. 'That must be Toga, there's no way she could've escaped.'

'Yeah, it's me, Toga!' The blonde girl cheered in excitement, revealing her actual self, covered in a layer of grey goop. 'You remember me? Oh, I'm so happy to see you again! So happy! Izuku, I'm so happy!'

Before she could land a solid hit on the terrified green haired boy, she slammed into a wall of water, got tangled in Aizawa's scarf, and was harshly yanked backwards. However, she swung herself using the scarf, vaulting to Aizawa's unguarded back and plunged a knife in. Then, she was gone.

It was peaceful, but no one could keep their guard down. It was like the calm before the storm, the worst was yet to happen.