Triumvirate Knights: Chapter 36 (Patreon)

For those of you interested in this fic and just now getting into it here are the relevant links to the original host sites that have all the chapters for both this story and its prequel MHA: World's finest:1st Story:MHA: World's finest. (Complete)Sufficient Velocity: https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/mha-worlds-finest-bnhaxbatman.70126/Spacebattles: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/mha-worlds-finest-bnhaxbatman-complete.868273/#post-68882707Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42137952/chapters/105792096

2nd Story: MHA: Triumvirate Knights (In progress)Sufficient Velocity: https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/triumvirate-knights.74415/Spacebattles: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/mha-triumvirate-knights.889027/Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47246512/chapters/119046982 (Still being crossposted)

For those interested there is also a TV tropes page:https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/MHAWorldsFinest

With all that said, lets begin :)

Chapter 36:

The rumblings of a rainstorm thrummed across the skies above, grey, black clouds blotting out the afternoon sun; casting long shadows and gloom shrouded light.

When he marched onto the scene, the lights from the ambulance, bright, flashing reds were a sharp contrast to the general atmosphere.

Young Midoriya saw him first, running up to meet him. The paramedics and police noticed him shortly afterwards as well, a ripple of surprise moving through them.

“I-I’m sorry.” Midoriya said, almost miserably as he looked down. “I wasn’t sure who else to call.”

All Might smiled, one massive hand reaching up to plant itself on the boy’s shoulder.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Young Midoriya. What’s a hero if not someone who answers when called?” He answered. Casting his eyes away from the boy that was now his successor he found young Asui and a younger, silver haired girl sitting at the back of the paramedics van.

He marched forward, urging Midoriya towards them as well as his sharp blue eyes took in the scene.

The girl was young. Five. Six at the most. But she was thin. Too thin. Bruises were very distinct along her ankles and wrists where her outfit didn’t cover them. She’d been held somewhere. Rope? No. Not rope. The abrasions weren’t right for rope. Manacles. Chains.

Her skin was thin, lack of proper water. Judging by the many hairline thin blue veins he could see under her pallid flesh and cracked dry lips, to go along with the malnutrition she was mildly dehydrated

That was another thing. She was pale. Ghostly pale.

She’d been held somewhere with little to no sunlight. A basement. If it was a residence that would narrow down the search. Not many residences held basements in Japan. 

He was closer now and he could see that her hair was long, but it was a tangled mess. Very little signs of brushing, or even washing. He could see bits of dirt in her hair. They’d need a sample. Certain kinds of dirt could denote different areas or even building composition.

The contrast of the young girl’s hair was stark sitting beside young Asui, who took exceptional care of her long straight locks.

There were bandages on her arms, with faint but old blood stains peppering them.

Places where the bandages had been torn and come unwound he could just peek at her alabaster pale skin, he could see what disturbingly resembled track marks…Signs of bruising and barely healed punctures.

Then on her leg, just peeking past the undermost edge of the hospital gown she wore, he saw a much larger puncture scar. He’d need to test to be sure. But he was fairly sure by the dimensions it was something she’d have gotten during a bone marrow extraction.

Had they been taking samples of this poor girl for some reason?

His smile was fixed firmly on his face… but the Symbol of peace did not like the implications of what he was seeing.

Where her feet dangled he caught the barest edges of her soles. Barefoot. Filthy. Calloused. But not bleeding.

She hadn’t worn shoes in a while. But a young girl running across city streets in the night- with broken glass, garbage and the rough texture of asphalt. She hadn’t been running long. Wherever she’d been held must be within a reasonable distance.

All of this he determined before he’d crossed a mere fifteen feet from where Midoriya greeted him, to where he stood now in front of the girl.

Bruce would have likely been able to deduce more.

Young Asui turned her head his way, and her large eyes and flat expression couldn’t fully hide the relief she felt at the sight of him. Her longer than average arms were wrapped around the girl, who clutched at Asui’s waist tightly as the older girl rubbed at her arms and shoulders. To give comfort or warmth, All Might wasn’t sure.

“Hello there.” He said. His voice wasn’t loud, exactly, but it wasn’t soft either, and the girl flinched at the sound.

Kneeling in front of her to make himself appear on her levelAll Might allowed his smile to shift, becoming softer, less… plastic.

“Hello dear girl… I am called All Might. Young Midoriya and young Asui are students with my Hero agency… Can you tell me your name?” He tried again.

The girl blinked, a curious turn to her lips before she finally looked at him.

“I’m Eri.” She whispered. “You’re… heroes?”

The question was a hesitant thing. As if afraid of the answer.

He didn’t miss Asui and Midoriya exchanging concerned looks beside him.

He was concerned too.

She didn’t recognize him.

There were few in the world who wouldn’t recognize him. Even in places he’d never visited he was a world renowned Hero.

This girl had been kept extremely isolated… for possibly the whole of her life. For what? Her blood? Her bone marrow?

He showed none of his mounting anger, as his fingers clenched over his knee- his smile remaining fixed and immovable over his face.

“Yes. We are.” He extended his hand towards her.

“You have nothing to be afraid of anymore.” He promised.

“Because we are here.”

(X)(X)(X)

Melissa:

The walk to the train station was as animated as their late lunch had been; Mei was still with them after all. Her friend had grumbled and whined about being pulled away from her projects but Mel had learned a while ago to not let Mei do whatever she wanted in the lab or she may very well return to a burnt down lab, or a burnt down friend. Or both.

Probably both.

So she’d dragged her out of the support lab before making sure to seal it shut behind her so Mei didn’t double back to sneak in more work.

Terry and his classmate Rivu were with them still; and Mel had to watch the two, wondering if maaaaaybe she was reading too much into what she might be seeing. She knew that Rivu was aware of who Terry, and her dad were. So she was also aware enough to know that what she was seeing might just be an opportunistic hustle trying to climb the hero ladder early as opposed to anything more… wholesome per se.

She’d have to keep an eye on her. Nicely, of course. She wasn’t like her dad with his unique social grace.

If she turned out to be… well… a bitch- then Mel would change tactics. Happily.

Until then- she was a friend. So to speak.

They made it all the way to the station when Terry's phone rang. His face was carefully neutral, but she saw the subtle twitch in his facial muscles.

Dad.

“Yeah?”

She didn’t hear whatever her father said, but Terry’s brows furrowed. “Really? He asked for help?”

A moment of silence as he heard the response.

“Alright. On my way.”

He snapped the phone shut.

Before she could ask, Rivu spoke up in her place. “Something up?”

“Yeah.” The American answered with a nod, hefting his backpack onto his shoulder. “Nothing major though-” Translation, he wouldn’t need his suit, or at least wasn’t expecting to need it.

Rivu raised an eyebrow shrugging after a moment. “Alright then, see you at school tomorrow McGinnis.

Mel waved, smiling. “Bye Ter.”

Terry offered his own parting wave, as he turned and walked away, leaving the three girls to keep heading towards the trains.

With a degree of ‘privacy’ between them, mostly because Mei was day-dreaming about what she’d be building once she got back into the lab tomorrow- so a bomb could drop before she snapped out of it, Mel turned towards Rivu. “So Aiya-san-” She called smiling. “Once you graduate, where do your plans see you going in the hero industry? Rescue work? Sidekick? Front-line boards?”

The mocha skinned girl shrugged. “At the moment, I have a few agencies asking for me to join them.” She answered easily. “So I suppose sidekick for the first year or two before going off on my own to start my own agency.”

“Want any support gear!” Turns out, Mei was indeed half listening at least, target eyes adjusting as she rounded on Rivu, megawatt bright smile almost leering in its intent. “You’ve got a transformation quirk like Ryuukyu right? I have so many ideas for a transformation quirk like that!”

“Maybe.” Came the easy concession. “It’s certainly served McGinnis well enough that I’d be stupid to turn my nose up at it.”

Mei’s eyes shined like diamonds rather than targets.

They made it to the terminal, and Mel grimaced, suddenly, remembering.

“Oh- damn-” She cursed. “I have to recharge my transit card.”

“We’ll wait, Rivu declared, pointing with one finger. “Recharge stations are around that corner.”

She nodded, rushing over towards the station to recharge her card.

Rounding the corner, Mel felt her eyes widen in shock and a bit of dismay seeing a very large sign plastered over the front of the machine.

“Out of Order”

“Oh no!” She hissed. Looking quickly towards the map on the corner for the next machine.

Next terminal over. Did she have enough time to make it there and back before her train had to leave? She wasn’t exactly a runner outside of crisis situations.

“Take mine.”

She startled at the voice, turning around to find a woman holding out her own transit card.

She was taller than Melissa, with long auburn red hair. American, like her.

Then what she said and what she was doing fully registered in Melissa’s head.

“O-oh no I couldn’t possibly impos-”

“You’re not imposing.” The woman smiled softly, features almost gentle, she had green eyes. “I’m offering. My train doesn’t leave for a while and the look on your face says running to the next terminal was not in the plan. Take mine, please.” She urged.

Melissa hesitated, it was a kind offer, very considerate but… god it felt like such a horrible thing to do. She was arguably the richest girl on campus and she’d forgotten to recharge her transit card and was now inconveniencing this woman.

“Everything good Mel?”

Mei rounded the corner, Rivu right behind her, the pinkette’s target eyes shifted as she beheld the sight. “Oh. Damn. Machine’s out.” She whirled her backpack around to her front, trying to fish out a wrench. “Don’t worry! I can totally fix it.”

“No- no need.” She winced, and with a moments second guessing she reached out, taking the woman’s transit card before bowing as deeply as was proper. “Thank you. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” The woman answered. “Run, or you’ll miss your train.”

Melissa nodded. “Yes. Thank you again. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye Melissa-san.” The American woman answered, her smile still present

She turned and ran, but it's only after she passed the toll point that she realized…

The woman had never been told her full name...

(X)(X)(X)

Izuku listened to the paramedics with one ear, while paying attention to Asui trying to coax Eri’s clearly troubled thoughts onto more positive grounds with the other.

“Do you have a favorite color?” The frog girl asked softly. “Mine’s green.”

“Purple.” Eri mumbled an answer- across from him the medic in charge was whispering to All Might.

“This isn’t a full lab here- but from experience I wouldn’t take a chance on her system. There might be some serious drugs that won’t show up on our tests. The sooner we can get her to an ER for a full checkup, the sooner we can avoid a detox crash if it happens.”

“I understand but please, try and remember, anything else you may have seen on her when you first arrived.” It was strange hearing All Might’s voice being so soft. “Not just injuries, discoloration, something she may have been holding, a strange smell.”

The Medic shook his head then paused. “Actually yeah. There was an odd smell now that you mention it.”

All Might’s head tilted, urging the medic to answer.

“You’ve busted drug operations before. I sometimes get called to come check on the kids of some dealer making meth in their apartment after a blow up or OD. There’s always that same smell the meth gives off when it's ‘cooking’. Ya know?”

“You’re saying the drugs in her system might be meth”

Izuku wasn’t an expert on drugs, but he knew Meth was easily one of the worst ones. The concerned side eye tossed his way from Asui and told him she heard it too.

“Nah, nah, nah, nah. She’d test positive for that.” The medic answered- thank god. “I’m saying that wherever she came from probably had some heavy duty mixing chemicals.”

“Hmmm…” All Might rubbed at his chin. “All right. Let's get her to a hospital, but… we may need to run some tests on her blood for a possible blood related quirk of some kind.”

“You think they were farming her to make drugs?” The medic sounded as horrified as Izuku felt sick. “Shit… Better call ahead; they can’t do anything involving needles.”

“Saliva sample then.”  All Might compromised. “I’d rather not hurt her any more than she has been.”

“You got it big man.”

Before anything more could be said the medic broke off, half walking, half jogging towards them as All Might fished out a phone and started to make some kind of phone call.

“Ok.” The Paramedic pulled down his face covering to smile their way. Izuku could tell it was practiced, yet nonetheless genuine. “It's time we get Eri to the hospital.”

Izuku didn’t notice how tightly the little girl started squeezing Asui until his classmate croaked out a wheezy “Ribbit.” A bit of discomfort shining through on her normally placid face.

“Can we ride with her?” He found himself asking before he could think otherwise.

“We have room for one of you.” The medic answered.

He looked at Tsuyu and she gave a slightly hesitant nod.

“I’ll go…” She paused. “Meet us there?”

It was almost a plea, and he found himself nodding immediately “Of course!”

“We both will.” All Might assuredly stepped up behind him. For once the massive man’s sudden presence didn’t scare his heart out of his chest.

Asui nodded, offering a nervous smile before her hand reached out, and Izuku took it, reiterating his promise as he gripped her fingers before she pulled away and coaxed Eri into the ambulance.

As the medics shut the door and drove away; He found himself speaking.

“All Might?” His voice was a whisper.

“Yes young Midoriya?”

He almost wished the man hadn’t heard him… He was almost afraid to ask really.

“You-” He hesitated. Swallowing. “You said they were harvesting her?”

The man’s smile seemed to turn into a grimace. “You heard that, did you?”

Izuku nodded, unable to really speak.

All Might released a breath through his nostrils.

“It’s been known to happen. Quirks carry unique effects… many times, criminals look to exploit that. Drugs are the usual goal.”

“Why on earth-” He felt tears of genuine… rage clouding his eyes.

People being harvested like some kind of… bag for a drug? So someone could get high?

… She looked like such a sweet girl.

All Might understood his question, even without him giving voice to it

“I know.” The man said. “It’s not something spread to the public for a variety of reasons… but potential targets are more widespread than you might think. It's why whenever a place like this is discovered, Heroes hit them as hard as possible as quickly as possible… Because many Heroes, sidekicks or their families could have someone susceptible to such predatory practices.”

“That’s why they kept her so isolated.” The epiphany was a bitter thing.

“You noticed that too, did you?” All Might nodded. “Good deduction.

Izuku swallowed, fists clenching. “Who-”

He didn’t want to ask.

Even so, All Might understood.

“Off the top of my head, I can name many potential victims… but of those you know. Hmmm.” He seemed to think for a second. “Your teacher, Midnight. Your classmates Mina Ashido, Tooru Hagakure and Bakugo Katsuki.”

He felt his heart lurch uncomfortably in his chest.

Midnight Sensei, Mina, his first friend at UA and Bakugo?

Thinking about it, though… he kind of understood the logic. Midnight’s sleeping gas quirk was a chemical effect. That might be carried in her blood. Tooru’s cells may retain their invisible properties even when separated from her. Mina’s acid was definitely a chemical on some level as well and Bakugo’s sweat was quite literally Nitrogliceryn.

Yes. He understood the logic.

It only made him… angrier.

“Let’s go.” He half pleaded, half demanded. “Let's… get to the hospital.”

All Might had the grace to nod.

“Of course my boy.”

(X)(X)(X)

Terry:

He stepped into the alley, feeling a little strange as he did so, lacking any form of disguise at all, even though he was getting ready to go to ‘work’ so to speak.

He double checked his phone’s GPS.

Yup. Right spot.

Fishing out his earpiece Terry settled it onto his ear. “I’m here.”

I know- He heard the rapid fire clicks on a keyboard. “Take out your phone, camera facing forward.

Knowing better than to argue he did so, turning on the screen and activating the camera.

“What are we doing here anyway?”

“All Might got a case today. He’s asked us to help look into it.”

“Us?” That was surprising.

“Me.” Ahh that made more sense. “You’re here by proxy.”

“Gee thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Came the dry response “Now keep your eyes open.”

“What am I even looking for”

“The victim that was caught apparently ran from her kidnappers barefoot. She wasn’t bleeding, but there should be signs. Small abrasions leaving trace skin particles the computer can pick up.

Terry couldn’t keep his face from scrunching up incredulously. “My… what, sixteen megapixel phone is gonna pick up freakin skin flakes on the asphalt.”

“I modified it when you got it-”

“Why am I somehow not surprised?”

“Now keep scanning.”

Grumbling, but obeying the old man’s demands, Terry moved forward panning his phone camera around every surface of the alley.

“There”

Swiftly returning his camera to its previous spot, Terry saw an overlay beginning to take form over the camera screen’s image. Small little signs of the footprint appeared like it was under a UV light.

Terry noticed something very quickly.

“The victim was a kid?”

“Yes. Age four to six. Unconfirmed at the moment. Stay focussed.”

“Got it.” He said, though, he’d probably punch one of the goons extra hard when he got the chance.

One footprint led to another, and another, handprints appeared along the wall where she’d caught herself mid stumble.

The girl had been running judging by the length of her stride.

One city block, two, three.

Twelve city blocks.

The girl had run twelve city blocks.

At four years old Terry doubted he could have run even half that.

When he came to the site of the building he noticed something immediately.

“They booked it in a hurry.” He noted, the back of the building had at least four different sets of tires having left skid marks on the pavement.

“I’ll find out who owns the building. Or who records say owns the building. By tomorrow, hopefully we’ll have more concrete answers.”

“This an All Might job?” He asked. “Or am I getting to punch some creepy bastards in the face?”

“All Might asked me for help.” Bruce rumbled. “Goes without saying he’s asking Batman too.”

(X)(X)(X)

Asui

Tsuyu didn’t like hospitals, she never had. The cold was a big part of it; she knew it was to help kill germs and things didn’t do well in the cold. But frogs didn’t either and after just a few minutes she could always feel herself slowing down, like she was fighting off sleep after downing some sleeping aids.

So no, she never liked hospitals.

But what she liked even less was leaving people alone in hospitals.

She’d been alone only once or twice; times when her parents had to rush back to gather some clothes or maybe a comforter on those rare instances she had to stay the night.

It was scary when she was younger, and in her teens it was miserable and anxiety inducing… lonely.

So when All Might finally needed to break away to return to his agency, the question finally came up on what was to be done with Eri.

“We can hold her here in observation-” The attending Doctor, Fujikawa answered them. “As a Jane Doe and a potential witness to a case the state would be covering her stay for at least three more days, after that other arrangements can be made.”

It was all very… clinical. Detached and uncaring

She didn’t like it. She knew this was just part of the job but it felt…. Cold.

She hated the cold.

“We can’t just leave her here.”

She wasn’t sure if it was a statement… or a plea but she looked to Izuku and All Might.

The No. 1 Hero wasn’t smiling, his features grim. “I’m afraid on such short notice, I may not be able to impose on anyone in my agency and I am simply too busy with ongoing operations to be a proper caretaker. I’m sorry.”

He sounded sincere in his apology, and she understood, she did, he was the No. 1 Hero. It was a miracle he’d been able to spare this much time already just on Izuku’s phone call.

Asui tried to think, rocking her brain for anything she could do herself. She had two younger siblings. They might get along with Eri, but she was late enough in getting back home as it was, cooking dinner, cleaning, helping with homework while her parents were away. Going home now with Eri with no clothes, no toothbrush, or hygiene supplies to help her, and then calling the school early tomorrow to call in sick or maybe make arrangements she-

“I can take her.”

Both their heads turned towards Izuku, her classmate shifted nervously from foot to foot, eyes down to the floor. Nervous and clearly re-thinking his hasty words before he pushed on.

“I-I can ask my mom. I don’t think she’ll mind, Eri seems like a nice girl a-and she’s in a bad way. I can take her with me.”

He seemed to be convincing himself more than them, and he seemed to be succeeding, becoming more and more sure with every word spilling from his lips.

“If your mother agrees, young Midoriya, I can arrange a protection detail and discreet transportation from the hospital.” All Might promised. “No one will know you have her, and we’ll figure out what to do on a more permanent basis.”

Izuku nodded, visibly grateful for the heros support. “Y-yeah. Now I just gotta… talk to my mom.” He winced.

Asui had never met Izuku’s mother, she hoped the conversation wouldn’t go too poorly.

Even so, before he left she extended her hand, fingers grasping him by the bicep before he could turn away to make his call.

He turned, looking at her in askance before she tried to make her lips move in a grateful smile.

“Thank you Midori.”

He smiled back; his nervousness evaporating like mist, showing only reassurance that everything would be alright.

“Of course… what kind of Hero would I be if I couldn’t even help one girl.”

(X)(X)(X)

Chisaki

The door slid open with a hollow bang steel slamming into steel. The cavalcade of men that scrambled in carrying duffle bags, crates, hastily packed gear and essential equipment spread out through the interior of the warehouse.

“Set up over there!” Chrono demanded some of the men, pointing to a far right hand corner where the group began wheeling over their servers and high end computers.

Chisaki himself stalked away, trusting his men to see to their jobs. He was in no mood to babysit and he was fairly sure they all knew that after he turned the driver who was too damn slow in getting out of the car into paste along the sidewalk.

This was as close to a disaster as one could get.

He needed to think.

As he made his way to the back of the warehouse and entered the office area/residence/clean room of this particular safehouse, he pulled off the plague doctor mask, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. Thankfully his hives were already receding.

He’d followed her. Of course he had. If it had just been any Hero he would have simply killed them and been done with it. He’d wash the girl in the blood spatter to remind her how she got the worthless sap killed for running away. It would keep her in line for months at least.

But then; it hadn’t been ‘any old Hero’

All Might.

Somehow, of all the heroes the girl could have run into… All Might.

He was confident against nearly anyone. But All Might was a hero who could kill him in a single blow before Chisaki himself could blink. And he was well informed enough to recognize him, not let him get close.

No. No he couldn’t have killed him.

So he ran. As a precaution he had his men relocate the base. Anything not nailed down in twenty minutes was already being hauled into various trucks and cars to transport.

Anything that couldn’t be taken was destroyed.

His quirk was useful for more than just bodies after all.

Still. Now he needed to act. He needed to find her. Hopefully before they discovered her quirk. If they did, someone might just deduce who exactly was about to start providing the market with anti-quirk bullets.

Chrono was just outside, directing the men. Kai got his attention with a rather loud bang on the tinted window of the office. He turned, and Chisaki gestured for him to come inside. Kai could hear him call Mimic as well.

Good.

They needed to respond, and they needed to do so soon. His dream had been to go public once they were flush with cash and numbers from Anti-Quirk Bullets and their vaccines. That couldn’t work anymore.

If he had to tear down the symbol of peace to get the girl back- he’d do exactly that. His dream would survive so long as he had Eri. The sickness would have a harder time without their patient zero.