Chapter 1: Death’s eyes

The sirens of police cars were blaring all around the city, along with a pro hero, scouting alleyways for a man with grey scales and sharp teeth. He had no skin to cover them. There was no sign of him, or it. Five men, along with firearms ready, went to the alleyways in Kamino.

"Everyone! Find the lizard! He can't have gone far!" the police exclaim as they search for the vigilante.

And from the darkness, a pair of yellow eyes stare at them, preparing claws to slash if one gets too close in his hole in the wall. Two men continue to scout the alleyway, going away from the hole.

The lizard breathed calmly now that he was safe, for now. He knew that he can't stay there, so he peeped from his hiding spot and left.

As he walks, gloomily through the street, thunder and rain started to fill the night. He pulls his hood up and shoves his hands to his sewn pockets, passes through the crowd and disappears to the streets.

'How did it come to this, man?' He thought to himself as he walks through the rain.

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After a few hours of passing by police officers and police cars blaring, he made it to a storehouse near a middle school. He peeps again to make sure that the storehouse was empty. It was, and with that, he settled in.

He breathed out a gust of air and lay down. "Cold." He said.

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"Ryu? Where are youuu?" His mother cooed to find her little Dragon. She looked under bedside tables, the sink, heck, even the toilet. He was nowhere to be found.

"Hmm… Well I guess if Ryu is not around here, I could have all the muffins to myself." She exclaimed, hoping that would snuff him out. Then a little boy came out from under the couch.

"Rarrr!!" He roared and pounced on his mother.

"Oh no. Please do not hurt me, O Great and Powerful one." With that, they both laughed for a while. Then he woke up.

He woke up checking himself, and his favorite shirt had been wet and finally got torn. He growled and his day had started.

He got up from the hard cement floor and ripped out the dangling fabric. His grey scales start to show through the tears. Hissing from the sunlight, he started to look out from a window.

"Quiet." He said. And then his stomach grumbles. He exhaled out of his nose and started to look around for vending machines, to see if he could break them.

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Later in the day

"Eyewitnesses appeared to have spotted a humanoid grey lizard going through alleyways. Authorities in Kamino Branch are on full alert for this man.

He appears to show grey colors, is a five-footer and is shown to be wearing brown fabric. He is shown to have similarities to the average Komodo Dragon, but no tail and snout.

Only teeth cover his face.

His Quirk is unknown and might be dangerous. If you spot this lizard, call your local authorities and be wary, for this man is dangerous. I am Rox----."

The television goes to black. When people were showing people with unknown Quirks in his vicinity, it would lead him to them.

But this, this made him cautious now, and hesitated. With the disappearance of their big piece, he has to take more covert trainees.

He takes one more smoke before putting it out and putting it in the trash.

"Time to see what he is made of." He mumbles to himself.

With nothing on his mind but money, he girdles and girdles for ideas. Then it hit him. He grabbed his telephone and started to punch numbers to his henchmen. "Yeah, boss?" The man on the line replied. He smirked before answering,

"Hey. It's me. I have a job for you."

Line

Ryu brought two vending machines inside the abandoned storehouse, both had candy and chips. The sun had started to set and he was becoming impatient. Breaking one down, he grabbed a bag of chips and swallowed it.

Then coughed up the wrapping. When he was about to grab another one, Ryu heard footsteps coming from outside his cave.

He peeps out to see what the ruckus was about, and he sees a little girl running from four other boys that were his size.

The four boys were chasing her into an alleyway on the ready to use their quirks on her. On impulse, Ryu steps out the back and chases after the boys. 'Do it quick.'

"Don't run!"

"Yeah! We just want to be friends!" The boys shouted after her. She was holding her teddy bear to dear life.

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10 minutes earlier

The little brunette girl was walking from the candy store with her caretaker, and she got separated because her favorite teddy bear fell on the concrete. She lost sight of her caretaker and she started to wander through an alleyway.

Midway and passing by another alleyway, she saw 4 gangsters beating up a civilian. They were laughing and kicking him. One of them glanced at her and she started running. "Hey!"

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When the gangsters caught up to her and cornered her, she had no more choice but to use her quirk on them. "Give it up, kid." One of them wearing a facemask said. She stances and readies herself with her fists to use her Quirk at them. The pose makes the gangsters burst in laughter.

"Hah! Look at this kid. She thinks she's some hero now." One of them starts teasing and they start laughing. Ryu had arrived and hid behind the gangsters. "Sorry kid. No witnesses." The facemask pulls out his pocket knife and his lackeys start noticing Ryu. He glares at them and the lackeys start getting nervous.

"Uhhh Takie?" One of them calls the facemask.

"Not now, Soman." Ryu walks closer, prepares his claws to slash at them. "Takiee?" he tries again, louder.

"Shut up, Soman!"

"Takie!"

Takie looks behind him and sees Ryu, growling and blocking the only exit.

"Take him!" They all ready their quirks, and Ryu only stances with his claws. Soman lashes his tongue at Ryu, and he catches it. He yanks it and Soman goes flying toward him, and punches him. "Soman!" Takie shouts, and Soman is lying on the ditch. Ryu continues to glare at Takie, making him stagger from his stare.

"Get him!" His other two lackeys stance up with their quirks. One throws a fireball at Ryu, and he takes the hit, stumbles, and endures it.

They take a step back in fear. Ryu opens his mouth and lets out fire from his mouth at the lackeys. But this was no ordinary fire. This had white elements. The little girl saw this feat, and was only amazed.

"Cowards! I'll do it myself!" Takie grows in size and strength. Ryu stances and sprint at him with his claws. Takie tries to block but was unable to, and Ryu slashes his arm.

"Gahh! You—." Takie grunts before Ryu climbs on top of his back, and breathes fire onto his back.

"AAGGHHH!" Takie screams as he feels the heat, slowly making its way to his spine. With that, Takie stumbles down and Ryu jumps off and lands on one of the lackeys.

"Back off, man! I will kill her!" Ryu hears the last lackey call him out, and Ryu grew more cautious now.

'Damn. This lackey is bold.' Ryu thought to himself. He growls one more time, before seeing that the little girl had stomped on the lackey's foot and lets her go.

Before giving the lackey a chance to use his Quirk, he uses his first, giving the lackey burns on his chest. The lackey stands in smoke before he falls to his back in defeat.

"Ughh.." The lackey groans. With that, Ryu walks away from the scene, fulfilled with the child's safety.

Then he feels a hand holding onto on his.

He glances down and sees her holding his hand with fear. "Th-Thank you." She sputters with tears in her eyes.

Ryu glares before giving up, agreeing to himself that he would take her back to her caretaker. He kneels to her head level to spew out some words to her.

"No … Telling." The girl only nodded silently. With that, Ryu and the girl walk out of the alleyway, ready to leave.

While walking, Ryu steps on the facemask that lackey wore. It was in a block color with dirt and cement making it grey.

Picking it up, he wore it to conceal his face. It's a perfect fit.

Almost out of the alleyway, they come into the sunset's rays, and Ryu stops before his face is caught in the sunlight. Then, they see the the girl runs toward her caretaker and her parents.

"Sakura!"

"Mommy! Daddy!" The three went for a hug, and the police officers were relieved to see their child in their arms again. With that, Ryu backs up into the alley, disappearing into the dark.

'Done. Always good to see a smile because of me.' He thought to himself and walks back to the storehouse to eat more chips. The little girl looks back to Ryu

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/Yo broker! Where's this guy at?/ Two guys have been assigned to finding the lizard and they only brought batons. The broker wants them to be discreet, with the situation being that the guy he was trying to find had high notoriety, and that he had to lay low for a while.

"Patience. You'll find him in the secluded areas… Start with the warehouses near Kamino. The ones without people in them. If you find something, let me know." He talks down to the phone before he ends the call at that.

He puffs out a cigarette and blows out the smoke and smirks. "Where are you, lizard?" He mumbles, pulling out some pictures of Ryu taken in public.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-2 hours later=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"There have been reports of bodies beaten up, slashed and burned in an alleyway near Orudera Middle School. The bodies have been identified as members of a backstreet gang affiliated with villains hiring them in the past.

Though unsure of how they got put in that state, the police brought them in for questioning. In other news, A miracle…" As they were watching the news from their dinner table, they pondered about if this was a deep hole.

"Hmmm… Tamaki? You think this is something worth getting into?" Kirishima asked him, kind of curious and interested to see how this happened.

Tamaki looks at the screen and shrugs it off.

"Let the authorities deal with this one, Kirishima. It's nothing the police can't handle." Tamaki answers stuffing his mouth with cooked venison. Kirishima looks at the

"But what if this could lead to a recruit, Tamaki?" Kirishima proposes and Tamaki starts turning. They did need to recruit other people. With summer vacation about to close, they needed people to be at the base.

"Fine. But tell Fat-Gum about this. He'll want to know." Tamaki replied. With that, they finished their meals and went off to Fat-Gum.

Line

Two hours later

Ryu had finished a load and still felt hungry. His stomach rumbled and he was getting impatient. Then he smells something, coming from outside.

It was not food, but it was moving, and coming this way. He sprinted back to the wall and smelled the air outside for gunpowder.

He smelled none, but something smelly. It was walking slowly, as if it was tired.

He peeps out, ready to slash. It was nighttime so he could not see much but what it was.

It was a girl, but he wasn't sure if it was police or not, but still climbed to the ceiling of the warehouse nonetheless.

He waited from above as she walks in, waiting for the right moment. The girl was carrying her box mat and laid it on the ground.

"Well Ikari, you've found yourself a house." She talks to herself.

'Talkative… At least I'll know if she is gone in the morning.' Ryu thought as Ikari . Ikari started sniffing around. Ryu raised his brow, if he had any.

Ikari started to smell the band of chips strewn about and in the vending machines on the ground. Ikari's eyes start to widen. She sprints forward and eats Ryu's haul. Ryu growls and Ikari hears but shrugs it off to continue.

Ryu is becoming annoyed already. He walks and jumps down on a vantage point on top. Besides watching her eat all her food, Ryu lays down on the floor and dozes off, trying to refrain from beating her up.

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The next day

"We've already searched this place!"

"No! To hell with that! He said we should search the places with no people so we're searching, and Orudera's perfect for it."

They were becoming less and less patient since they started searching for Ryu yesterday. They only got a blurry picture of him, and they really needed the money. One of their cellphones starts ringing and picks it up.

"What is it?!!"

/How you doing on Orudera? Find him yet, Mero?/

"We're looking! We're starting with the middle school! When we're done, gather what you find and let's see what we found."

"Allright. Let's hurry. I'm getting hungry here in Hosu."

They were already spread around, and much of the alleyways of Musutafu were filled with gangsters, with and without quirks. They really needed the money from the broker. They had not been this big since All Might had come. Now that he was gone, criminal rates have slowly been on the rise.

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Thirteen years ago

"Mom?"

"Yes, Ryu?"

"When I grow up, I want to be like dad. A hero." Ryu and his mother were reading a storybook that was about a knight saving a princess from a tall tower and from a fearsome dragon that guarded her for forever.

Ryu's mom giggles at his aspiration. "And I'm sure you will, Ryu." After saying that, her smile went to a frown, after remembering what had happened to her husband. She shed a tear and goes down on and off her cheek, and Ryu wipes off what remained.

"Mom?" he looks at Ryu and smiles a sad one.

"It's nothing, Ryu. How's about you watch tv for a bit before going to bed?" She proposed and Ryu cheered. Then he woke up. Again.

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Looking at his surroundings, he sees that he is on a platform above the room. Looking down, he sees his vending machines with little bit of food left inside, along with a certain thief inside, sleeping and snoring.

He growled to himself and leaps down. He walks up to the empty vending machines and past the cheese wrappers.

Seeing her in the daylight, she has white hair, slender body and waist, and claws for nails. She had feline characteristics, and she wore them well.

Remembering that he had stolen from people's pockets yesterday, he put his facemask on and went out to buy some hotdogs.

"That'll be 75 yen, sir." With that, he gave all his money to the vendor and left the street with hunger sated but wealth gone.

He bought 3 hotdogs and he was less hungry then before. Having nowhere else to go, he went back to the warehouse.

While he was walking through the crowd, he bumps into someone and shrugged it off. Then, he smells something familiar, as if someone from his past was there, then gone instantly.

The blonde looks at Ryu's back before shrugging it off two seconds later.

Once he was in front of the warehouse three blocks behind the middle school, he can still smell Ikari's from outside. He tenses up and walks in.

"Aha! Gotcha!" Ikari had caught him from the hand. She pulls him in and throws him at the wall. She's got her claws up her throat and ready to pierce.

"Who are you? I knew I heard something." She asks and Ryu grabs it and throws it off. He prepares his claws and slashes her, but dodges and jumps back.

"Hmph, you're good." With that, him and her were now at a standstill, circling each other with their claws.

"How's about you tell me your name first? Would be nice if I'd get to know you." That threw Ryu off, and complied.

"Out." He was not gonna let her under his skin.

"You asked for it."

Ikari runs toward him with her left and Ryu blocks it. Ryu slashes his left at her, but counter-slashes with her right.

They were again at a standstill, pushing each other.

"Ready to give up?" Ryu complies with, "Never!" and kicks her at the chest. She grunts and Ryu throws her to the wall. She maneuvered and plated her feet on the wall, jumps off the wall and hits Ryu with a kick. Ryu stumbles and falls, and Ikari pins him on the ground.

"How's about you give this place to me?" Ryu struggles to break free and tries to take off his facemask but can't.

"Awww, the lizard can't take off a muzzle. So sad." She was toying with him now, and Ryu was getting tired of it.

He opens his mouth and lets out fire from it, and Ikari sensing it, she got out of the way in time. Ryu stands up and stances. "Hothead. Could have killed me with that." She complained and stances.

Then, Ryu smells that smell again. He knew that he smelled that before. Ikari hears footsteps coming from outside and, by instinct, turns tail and runs.

Ryu looked outside and the two outside looked sketchy. They both had weapons, but no guns. He climbs up and above the room to scope out the scene as it unfolds.

The two walk near the doorway and are disgusted by the stench of potato chips.

"Whooo, that is something I'll have to wash later." One complains and one groans. "Let's just get this over with." They walk in and investigate the broken vending machines on the floor and the wrappers strewn about.

"He might have been here, so look out for anything. "Sure thing, Peter." They started to search the area.

Ryu started thinking. 'Peter? They must be from another country…' He thought.

Americans weren't common in Japan, since they had no interest to be in Japan for money. The other was searching the dumpster outside and found Ikari.

"Peter! I've found a girl!" He found her and Ikari slashes her claws but was unable.

"Ungh Let go of me!" He drags her in, kicks her stomach and throws her to the ground.

"Hello there, girly…" Peter grabs her arms and pins her at the floor. Ryu was waiting now. He crawled above them, aiming to jump on them.

"Have you seen a guy like this?" Peter says and shows the blurred picture of Ryu. Ikari hesitates to answer but does.

"…Don't know, don't care." Ryu hears this and is more cautious now, that people were finding him, but why he thought.

"It's not okay to lie, girl…" Peter moves closer to sniff her fragrance. Ryu prepares to jump and slashes them both.

The other looks up and sees him, about to pounce. "Peter!" Peter looks behind and up, seeing Ryu leap down and slash his partner at the chest.

Peter hoists Ikari up and holds her hostage. "Heheheh there you are. I was wondering if you wouldn't show up."

Ryu goes closer and Peter holds a small knife up her throat, making Ryu stop.

"Heh what now, lizard? Kill me and you'll prolong your stay in villain jail." Ryu growls and Ikari struggles.

"No no, don't move, you are about to see something exciting here." Ikari gives up and starts tearing. Ryu starts to hold fire in his mouth.

"Ohhh burn me and her? So brave of you." Peter taunts Ryu, making him even more annoyed.

'Damn this. She's in the way.' Ryu thought of sprinting toward him to scare him off, but would be troubled by the aftereffects. Peter chuckles as his cellphone rings.

"Sorry kids, but I've got other places to be. See you later." Peter said before throwing Ikari at him and running off. Ryu catches her and puts her on the ground to chase Peter.

The chase was on. He breaks through the window and started running after him. Peter looked back to see him coming.

"Persistent." He grunts and goes to the crowd. Ryu stops and climbs up the small buildings and jumps from rooftop to rooftop. He had eyes on him. He waits until he had cornered himself. Peter looks up and sees him still after him.

"Damn." He goes to the other street and through the alleyway. Ryu leaps onto the road and dodged the cars and goes to the alleyway.

Ryu could not see him anymore and was panicking. Ryu turns left and right to finding him.

Eventually, he got out of the alleyway. He walks in the crowd and saw him running toward the Tatooin Station. There were too many people around. He had no choice but to go into hiding again.

Peter sits down and calls the broker. "Hey broker, we found him. He's in Orudera. Bring in your guys and back us up."

/Good. You'll get what you need in a few days./

"Don't forget our money, broker."

/You'll get your money when I see him./ With that, the Broker ended the call. Peter looks out the window and smirks.

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Two hours later

'Dammit! How could I have let him get away!' He cursed himself. He walks down an alley and steps on a manhole. He then stares at the lid for a bit.

'Hmmm… I could live down there. Depending if I find somewhere to stay.' He slides his claws through the holes and uncovers the lid. He sees a ladder and goes down, but not without covering the lid.

'Can't see.' He thought and continues to go down. Once landing on the ground, he could hear rats from his left and right. He walks down to his right and keeps going. He could not see much, but enough to see the pathway.

He prepared his claws just in case. He smells his lefts and rights and he smells something to his right. He walks down and starts to see rats coming. The rats went through and under him. He growls to get the rats to move faster, which they did.

He pushes on until he finds a place to stay in the sewers.

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Ok. Stopping it here. You need context? Meet Ryusake Tahashi. He was born of having lizard-like qualities from her father and having a fiery quirk from her mother. His father had died when Ryu was only a baby, because the Broker, Giran, had ordered his goons because he was standing in the way of achieving money. When he had gained his Quirk, when he breathed fire for the first time, he had almost burned his entire house, and he had burned his mouth. After that, he was homeschooled because his mother worried for him, because of his burnt face. After 10 years, his mother had gotten sick of cancer. 3 months of agony and pain, she had died. Ryu was now all on his own. Ever since then, he had become docile and distant.

All he had for home was a foster home. They did not like him, and left him with only a house. He resented humanity because of them. He thought that there will be no one to help a 13 year old. He gathered what he can, money, clothing, anything. He burned down the house and lived in the streets and alleyways. Anywhere to be alone. 4 years, and that was the time when Chisaki, Overhaul, had been arrested. He did not give a rat's ass about the heroes, but he did develop that sense of helping people out. Then he was branded as a villain by some for helping people in the alleyways. For other people, he would be seen as a vigilante with a sense of rescuing other people, and doing what's right. Now, Giran, The Broker, has seen his potential and is trying to hire him. Who knows? Maybe he'll say yes just to get money. Thank you for reading. If you have any suggestions, that'd be ok too. Bye.