A quick change into some comfortable clothes and Izuku was out of the window and down the fire escape.
The night was still a bit chilly, so he stuck with the hoodie idea, only deciding to go with a black one this time around and some black joggers to round out the 'blend in with the night' look. As he made his way through the city, he put his hood up, just on the off chance that somebody could recognize his hair and slipped on a black face mask to cover the lower half of his face. Not that he was particularly worried about someone calling the police and trying to explain that they saw a dead kid walking around, but better to not take any chances.
It took a second for Izuku to end up back where he was the night before, but once he got there, he couldn't help but smile at the race of his heart. This was going to be so much fun!
This was it; this was the feeling that Izuku loved. Maybe it was the wind in his hair (due to his hood falling off), or the burn in his legs, or maybe it was the thrill of doing something dangerous again, but he couldn't help laughing as he jumped over the gaps in between the tall buildings.
For this short amount of time, he felt like he could let everything else in his life fall away, he could forget about all of the crap that he's had to deal with and his current dumpster fire of a homelife. He could just focus on running and trying not to fall. It almost made him happy to be-
No. No, that wasn't it. This was just a good distracter, that's all.
Well, at least it was until Izuku stopped short at the sound of commotion somewhere a building over. Maybe he underestimated how 'safe' this area was, because this would be the second time he had run into an altercation of some sort here. It was honestly getting annoying.
It was just as he had expected; some thugs were ganging up on a scrawny man who looked scared out of his wits. Three on one, didn't seem very fair, but Izuku guessed that those kinds of things didn't matter to people like that...he would know.
The three thugs looked tough, each of them large and well built. It would be difficult for him to take on all of them even with the element of surprise. Izuku really should go get someone who would be better suited to handle this kind of situation...
Bang, bang.
Gunshots sounded and echoed through the alleyway. Izuku had just begun to walk away to find someone else to help but froze mid-step.
"Stupid Deku, you really think that you can be a hero? You're just a quirkless weaking, how do you expect to fight villains if you won't even fight me?"
"Look at him flinch! What, are you scared of Bakugou?"
"How pathetic-"
A quiet ringing filled his left ear, a phantom of the injury he had received from Kacchan. His limbs locked up as his heart began to race. This was a new feeling, Izuku knew just how powerful and scary Kacchan's quirk could be, but he had never been this afraid of it, had he?
Memories of explosions going off in his face and beating him until he was almost unconscious on the ground swirled in his head. This was a lot, he didn't think that those times that Kacchan and his lackeys had ganged up on him had affected him that much, but maybe he was wrong.
Another shot shook him from his thoughts and Izuku could see the scrawny man cowering on the ground in a ball. Warning shots, to scare the victim into submission. The three thugs laughed and made fun of the man as if they weren't the ones who were hurting him. It was wrong...
He didn't deserve that. No one deserved to be beaten up and treated like dirt.
Someone had to help.
It was stupid. It was reckless. It was dangerous. But then again, when had that ever stopped Izuku before?
He clambered down to the ground as quickly as he could pulling his hood up in the process and pounced on the thug closest to him. He jumped onto his back and held on for dear life.
Did he know what he was doing? No. Did he have literally any experience in fighting or defending himself? Also no. But he did have a lot of experience with not dying and that had to count as something.
It didn't take long for Izuku to be thrown off of the thug's back and onto the ground. He landed on his shoulder and rolled a few times, but eventually stopped with a groan. The impact hurt like a witch, but he had had worse. Plus, now the three thugs were distracted and if the other guy was smart enough, he could easily run away and get help.
But of course, when had people ever lived up to Izuku's expectations? He just sat on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the thugs approaching Izuku and did nothing. It took Izuku glaring at him and discreetly gesturing for him to go that he finally got up and ran out of the alley.
Alright, that was good. Izuku's objective was complete, now all he had to do was find a way to escape himself.
"Well guys, it's been nice chatting it really has, but I think that it's about time that I get going-"
Izuku got up from the ground and made an attempt to bolt the opposite way that the other guy had gone, but he was caught by the back of his hoodie and yanked backwards. "Oh no you don't. You think you can just fall out of the sky and attack me and get away with it?" The guy he jumped on held him up so that his tiptoes barely touched the ground.
"Uh, I was hoping..." He gave his best innocent smile, but it did nothing against the three. Okay then, plan b it was (not that he actually had a plan to begin with).
He stuck his arms straight up and slid out of the hoodie that was too big for him easily and scrambled away as soon as he was free. It took the thug a minute to realize what had just happened, but when he did his eyes flashed red.
That couldn't be good, but it would've been soooo interesting if Izuku hadn't been in such a dire situation. Was that a part of his quirk? Was it linked to his emotions or just anger? Did his quirk have something to do with his eyes or was that just an extra detail? Maybe-wait. Not the time!
The thug tossed his hoodie to the side and Izuku's expression frowned. That was his third favorite hoodie. Rude.
All three of them were now glaring at him and Izuku got into a sloppy battle stance. He knew that he probably couldn't run away, and he definitely knew that he couldn't beat them, but he could most likely survive them killing him so that was something.
He was surprised when all three of them rushed him at once. Usually, villains fought one at a time; it was a stupid tactic, but one that most heroes were able to take advantage of. But apparently, these guys were smarter than he had thought.
Izuku had just been able to weasel his way out of them surrounding him, but was met with a fist to the face when he tried to get further away.
Since when had that guy been there? Teleportation quirk? How did it work? Vision based, or maybe he had to know where he was teleporting...Ugh! Not the time Izuku!
He staggered as his vision faded in and out and his cheek throbbed where he had been punched. Okay, not too bad, but not the worst. He could take more. The one who had hit him ran at him again and Izuku dodged easily only to be shoved to the ground a second later.
Oh yeah, this guy was getting annoying, but how could he combat a quirk like-
That was when Izuku noticed the gun that was right in front of his face. The guy he had jumped on smirked when he saw him stiffen and smirked as he cocked the gun. How had he forgotten the gun! Oh my-He was an idiot. That was the only logical explanation.
"Not so cocky now huh?"
This was bad. I mean-he would probably survive a bullet to the brain, but that couldn't be comfortable. And just imagine the kind of scar that would leave, he'd have to get really creative to explain that one away...
"Okay, okay...no need to be so hasty guys. This is all just a huge misunderstanding and I'm sure we can work this out-"
The gun was pressed against his forehead and the three guys smiled sadistically. "No, I don't think that we will. Sorry kid-"
This was it. This was going to happen. Alright then, I guess I'll see you soon mom, hope you're happy to see me this time.
Izuku shut his eyes and braced for the fire, but it never came. With his eyes scrunched closed he couldn't see what had happened, but he heard what he hoped was the gun clattering as it fell to the ground along with a few grunts and the thug in front of him swore.
He opened his eyes cautiously and his mouth dropped at what he saw. The guy in front of him was restrained and lying on his side with a look of annoyance on his face while his two friends were unconscious. Slowly, Izuku followed what the guy was restrained with to a very done looking Eraserhead.
Izuku let out a nervous laugh and tried to smile, "Hi Eraser..."
"Hi problem child."
"Fancy seeing you here, huh?"
At this Eraser just raised his eyebrow and Izuku internally grimaced. "That's a new look for you. What do you think you're doing?"
Izuku moved to sit cross-legged because he knew if he tried to stand up, he'd probably fall due to how all of his limbs felt like jelly. He was glad that he covered his head and mouth, it would be harder to recognize him now, and he also felt kinda cool and mysterious with this whole 'secret identity' thing. Not to mention that like sixty percent of his facial expressions were covered so it was easier for him to hide his emotions. "Uh, well I was planning on getting shot, but you kinda interrupted that so-"
"Don't joke, you could've been seriously hurt, or killed. Taking on three guys twice your size, really? Do you even know how to fight?"
Eraserhead just sighed as Izuku refused to meet his eyes, a clear answer to his question.
"I-" It was as if he was having an internal struggle with what to say. The hero was not known for showing a lot of emotion, but even in the tiny changes of his expression Izuku could guess all of the things he was feeling. "You know what? Stay."
He turned to the thug on the ground that was under his shoe and quickly knocked him out so that he couldn't attempt to fight or run away.
"I have to get these guys down to the station, but I will be right back. Do not go anywhere."
Was he serious? He wasn't Izuku's dad, he couldn't tell him what to do. Did he seriously think that he would obey-?
As if Eraser could read his thoughts, he glared at Izuku and activated his quirk which was terrifying. His eyes glowed a threatening shade of crimson and his hair floated upwards and away from his face. A built-in mechanism of his quirk? That was so cool! His quirk relied on sight, and it would be a problem if his hair kept on falling in his face so the fact that his hair levitated when he activated it was amazing and-
Not the time Izuku!
It didn't take him long to realize why Eraserhead was one of the most respected and feared heroes of the underground. He was terrifying!
The glare was enough to glue Izuku to the ground and make him never want to move again. Not that his jelly legs would let him any time soon.
Once Eraser was sure that Izuku was properly scared, he blinked, deactivating his quirk and began to wrap all three thugs in his capture weapon and dragged them out of the alley.
Well crap, he was really out here...