17

Chapter 17: An Exercise In Futility

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The city is quieter at night. It's still pretty loud, but there are places he can go and rooftops he lands on where the silence feels oppressive. Maybe it is the lack of noise mixed with the lack of light, but either way, it is an entirely different animal than the city during the day.

Izuku pockets his burner phone after texting the police the location of the trashcan he dumped his latest zip tied villain. He stands on the rooftop and adjusts the new All Might mask on his face. He didn't think there would come a time when he'd miss wearing this fashion atrocity, but he's glad he has it back.

Because of its absence, Izuku had to wear his usual disguise for when he wasn't leaping across rooftops: the surgical mask and sunglasses. Unfortunately, the shades didn't stay on very well, so he had to get a cheap pair of swimming goggles. It made him wonder, how did Aoyama keep his glasses on? Or Iida? Did Iida wear glasses under his helmet or have them built in? (Izuku will have to ask. He can put it in his notebook.)

Now though, he doesn't have to worry about the extra things like that. While still uncomfortable, the hard-formed plastic is widely more desirable. There is something to be said of Izuku wearing the face of his favorite hero, idol and mentor. (Something like him trying to be closer to someone he loves in a way he never will be again.) But Izuku doesn't psychoanalyze, and he's always loved hero merch.

He hops to another roof and crouches low on its edge. It's dark here, more so than usual. From what he can see, the streetlights in this particular area have gone out. Izuku can still see, barely, by the faint glow of the moon and the haze of city lights far off in the distance. His quirk helps illuminate, but only in the areas immediately around him. It also serves to blind him if he's not careful, or give him away, so Izuku only uses it in short bursts.

He leaps across a few more buildings until he reaches where he wants to be: The Docks.

He can see the ocean, dark and calm, stretching until it seamlessly bleeds into the sky. Even in the night, there are a few ships with people scurrying about loading and unloading cargo. But, Izuku knows that there is another type of activity occurring here, one that thrives under the cover of night.

Izuku watches the cargo ship unload for a while before he turns his sight to what the city refers to as "The Graveyard". It's a place, or more accurately, a maze, where shipping containers are dropped, emptied, and left to rust and die stacked on top of each other. It could almost be a city in it's own right, with how far it stretches. It's a perfect locale for shady deals and blackmarket transactions.

After finding out the usefulness of this place for all criminals, Izuku has taken to patrolling it. And every time he has come here, he's been able to catch something without fail. If he wants to get stronger for the entrance exam or USJ, he doesn't just need to train his quirk, he needs experience as well. If he comes here every night, he's sure to get plenty of training in, while also thwarting crime. Of course, he can't neglect the other parts of the city, but as of now, this place gives him more action.

Movement catches his eye. It's the silhouette of someone slipping out of sight behind a shipping container. Izuku zeroes in on the movement and hastily stands in order to follow.

One good thing about having Black Whip is that he can utilize it much better in stealth situations. It blends in with the night, and doesn't project light like One For All does. It's perfect for maneuvering himself so that he can track the person forging a path between the rusted containers.

The person arrives at a specific container where a few other people are standing. Izuku counts four- no five-, but he isn't positive that there aren't others hiding deeper in the shadows. A couple of them are smoking, the orange lights of their cigarettes floating in the near darkness. They seem relaxed, oblivious to any onlookers. Which is good for Izuku.

At the arrival of the man who Izuku followed, the others break out into conversation. Izuku can't hear what they're saying from his position, but he gathers that it's some sort of sales pitch or business deal. The question is, what are they selling? Drugs? Arms? Other illegal contraband?

Someone grabs a hold of the door of the shipping container and pulls it open. Izuku leans further over where he sits in order to see what's inside. It doesn't help. The container is too saturated in darkness to make out it's contents. Thankfully, one of the people shines a light into the container and Izuku's breath catches in his throat.

There are people, bound and gagged, mostly young, of both sex. Izuku can barely process it for a second. How can someone do something like this? What would have happened if he didn't show up here tonight? Would they have been sold? For what? To whom? They were people , not commodities. Izuku swallows the rising bile in his throat. Disgusting.

He leaps off his perch, aiming to land on the closest criminal. He can't tell how strong these people are, or if they have any physical tells of their quirks, but that's not necessary if he can save those people faster.

Izuku connects his feet to his target's back, sending them falling onto the pavement with a shout of surprise before they get knocked unconscious. The others make various noises of shock. Izuku can only make out vague silhouettes.

"What the-" Escapes someone's mouth and Izuku launches at them next, socking a fist into their gut. The person chokes, the cigarette falling from their lips before they are sent flying backward into another shipping container.

Unfortunately, when Izuku jumped at the second guy, the others finally got their bearings and fled in differing directions.

He curses his inability to capture all of them. Right now he just needs to focus on one and hope he can catch the other ones despite their plan to split up and impede him.

In the darkness, Izuku follows the person that is heading towards the water. Whether they know it's a dead end or not, it will certainly benefit Izuku when they are cornered. The person he is pursuing isn't all that quick, but they make good use of the shipping containers. Izuku barely gains any ground because of the person taking every available turn. It's a bit annoying, but Izuku just needs to bide his time. He can be patient.

They both run, twisting and turning and leaping off shipping containers until the path finally opens out. There's just a few more meters of dock before it drops off into the deep sea. Izuku's got them.

Except, the person does not slow down or stop. They keep running- straight for the water.

Izuku realizes why when the person he's chasing gets illuminated. He's lucky this area of the dock is well lit. The lights perfectly reveal the silhouette of the villain. And surprisingly, Izuku recognizes who he sees.

Kaiyō Samehada. The man with the shark quirk. The one Izuku knew from the USJ and was actively trying to find.

...what are the chances?

He doesn't have time to marvel over that though, because if Samehada makes it to the water, Izuku won't be able to catch him.

He picks up speed, forcing more of One For All into his limbs and leaps at the fleeing villain.

Izuku knocks into him, bringing them both to the ground. He cuts his hand on something sharp before belatedly realizing that Samehada's skin is sharp. This information, however, does not make Izuku let go.

"Let go of me, fucker!" The shark villain yells, kicking at Izuku. Izuku holds on and they roll around as he tries to find a good opportunity to knock him out. He can hear the lapping of the waves if he focuses which only serve to remind him that he can't afford to fail here.

He has no guarantee that he'll be able to find Kaiyō Samehada again after this. And trying to catch a water compatible quirk user, in the water, at night, was basically asking for something terrible to happen.

Unfortunately, Samehada is quite hard to pin down. Izuku keeps slicing his hands trying to hold him and any attempt at a knockout is redirected or dodged. Izuku grits his teeth. If any of the other villains came back, Izuku would be in too vulnerable of a position to defend himself.

Samehada soon gives up on bucking Izuku off and instead decides he will continue to advance towards the water regardless of whether Izuku holds on or not. The problem is, their body weights are vastly different, and although Izuku tries his best to hold the man down, or drag Samehada in the opposite direction, he is being unwillingly dragged closer to the dock's edge.

Thinking quick, Izuku glances around for something to hold on to, or use as an anchor. The ground is too flat and smooth to dig into. He catches sight of one of the light posts a few meters away. It's too far for his arm, but Izuku has something better anyway.

He shoots out Black Whip, and in the darkness, while holding a struggling man, he misses. The light post isn't large enough to make a good target and Izuku's still moving involuntarily forward. He curses audibly.

He tries to aim properly this time, but his hand is knocked to the side by Samehada and Black Whip shoots harmlessly into the night. He doesn't have much longer.

Izuku tries once more and this time Black Whip catches the light post as intended. Izuku shouts in joy, but then Samehada slips out of his hold.

His blood spikes. His breath catches in his throat. He watches, as if in slow motion, as the shark villain leaps over the side of the dock. Without a second to spare, Izuku launches Black Whip after him.

He hears a yelp and a string of curses. It's hard to see, but he can feel that Black Whip caught onto something. Izuku breathes a sigh of relief. He reels in his quirk and a sense of satisfaction washes over him when Samehada is dragged into view.

In his All Might mask and dusty, blood-stained hoodie, Izuku stands over the bound criminal who is noticeably not wet. Samehada snarls up at him, revealing pointed teeth. They remind him of Kirishima's, except a lot less friendly.

He won't be able to hold onto Black Whip forever, certainly not longer enough to get to a police station without the chance of it losing control. Looks like he's going with good ole zip ties.

Izuku uses two zip ties. One around Samehada's wrists and the other to affix his wrists to the lamp post nearby. He doesn't say much as he works, even as the villain curses up a storm and fights against his bonds.

He leaves briefly, to recover the other two he knocked out earlier and also to see if he can track down the ones who ran. Which- he can't. Izuku sighs and pulls out his burner phone in order to send his location to the police. He stands beside the container housing the people who would've been sold. They're still in there. They didn't run when they could've. Izuku can't say he blames them, he just feels like he ought to have punched Samehada a couple more times.

The people in the container are scantily clothed and bound with ropes. All are gagged with ripped cloth and most have tear tracks etched into their faces like scars. Izuku can hardly control his rage at the sight.

Unfortunately, the people shy away from him. They let him untie them and take off their gags, but they don't speak to him. And they don't leave. Izuku wastes too much time trying to convince him that he is a good guy, but when he hears police sirens, he has to leave, and he isn't sure how much good he did.

As he vaults and swings away, he sends the police the location of the lamp post he left Samehada at. He does once last sweep of the area, out of sight of the officers and heroes, to make sure the villains who ran are truly long gone. It's pointless; Izuku doesn't know what they look like, even if he did find them.

Overall, he feels conflicted. Samehada was one of the last villains on his list that he needed to catch in relation to the USJ. He should be glad- and he is- but it still doesn't feel like a victory. Izuku is starting to see that sometimes there are too many villains for the heroes to catch everything. Sometimes bad things happen and he will never know about them. He won't be able to save everybody.

Izuku climbs in through his window and gets ready for bed. He barely feels the cuts on his hands and body that he bandages as if he's watching someone else do it. His thoughts are edging on something they shouldn't, and Izuku can't tug them away.

What happened to those people in the original timeline? What is happening in his timeline? He is living everyday, working everyday, towards fixing a future he's already lived through, because that is the obvious thing to do.

He has to find himself, the other Izuku, in order to fix things. And since that will take him a while, knowing the things he knows, he is responsible for setting the future right. He doesn't have time to think about other things. In truth, he refuses to think about other things.

Things such as: What is happening in his world? What does his mom think? What do his friends think? His teachers? All Might? Do they think he went missing, like in this dimension? Do they miss him? Do they blame him? Are they crying for him? Is his absence putting them in danger? Are they getting hurt while he's not there to save them?

What is he doing here?

Why is he still here?

Why can't he go home ?

Izuku crawls into bed. His old room and its arrangement feel more alienating than ever. Most people would think the chance to fix their past is a blessing. Izuku would normally think that too.

He stares up at the ceiling. He avoids the numerous eyes of All Might as they gaze down at him.

Izuku takes a deep breath.

He pushes his thoughts back down.

That's right. He has things to do.

Notes:

Oof this is probably the longest *knock on wood* break I've had between chapters. Sorry about that.

Anyways I'm trying to update more, I've just been busy. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Y'all stay safe out there.