Chapter 26 - Here Goes

You watched as the last office worker left the building at 10 p.m. If your calculations were correct, there were three custodians, two security guards, and the people on the fifth floor still left in the building. The security guards would take turns walking the hallways while the other stayed at the front desk watching the monitors.

The police had provided a warrant to search the premises after they received Bakugou and Kirishima's call. There was no way to know if the security guards were aware of the underhand dealings in the Gorgon, so you would first present them with the warrant, and if necessary, subdue them.

Shouji had been watching the fifth floor from the adjacent rooftop in case the midnight deadline seemed to change. From the alleyway you passed each of your teammates a pair of night vision goggles provided by Fat Gum and copies of your own oxygen masks, just in case.

"I don't need your shitty mask." Bakugou swatted away the mask from your hand. You lifted it up and thrust it onto his face.

"This is not the time for you to be a prick! Take it!" you hissed, your eyes sharp and deadly.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" Bakugou snapped at you but shoved the mask into his belt anyway.

"Tentacole to team. Suspects just received a phone call. Green-haired man has started laying out... are those knives?" Your heart sank remembering Scar.

"Intent to harm has been identified. Red Riot, try to reach Fat Gum," you whispered to the redheaded hero. Kirishima tapped his com twice, trying to connect with Fat Gum. You heard his question through your own headset.

"I'm across town on a robbery case. You four have to take care of it. I'll be there as soon as I can." Your eyes widened. You would have to go in alone. You felt a tight squeeze in the pit of your stomach, newly anxious.

"So, do we... go? Now?" you asked Kirishima and Bakugou, your tone much less forceful than a moment ago.

"Are you doubting the plan or are you just being a wimp?" Bakugou hissed as he peered around the alleyway wall toward the building. You could see he was itching to move. Kirishima too looked ready to pounce. This was no time for second guessing.

"I'm fine. The plan's good."

"Then yes we move in."

***

Bakugou led the pack as you entered the Gorgon, fully dressed in your hero costumes. The security guard's eyes widened when he saw you approach. You saw him press something under the desk.

I don't think he's going to cooperate.

"We have a warrant to inspect the premises," you said in a confident tone, pulling the piece of paper from your pocket and holding it up to the guard.

"On what grounds?" the man answered. He had short blue hair and his face was shaded in heavy stubble. As he stood from behind the desk, you could see he easily towered over Bakugou and Kirishima.

"Suspects just got another call," Shouji's voice rang through your earpiece.

"It's all in the warrant. We're just here to check it out. Let us through." Bakugou's tone was pushy and snide but he didn't raise his volume. He didn't want anyone else notified of your presence.

"You'll have to be escorted throughout the building. Come back tomorrow," the man said, his voice deep.

"That's not really how a warrant works dumbass," Bakugou said cockily before he set off a stun grenade in the lobby. You heard a heavy mass drop to the ground as you blinked your eyes. The guard was on the floor unconscious, Kirishima above him, his arm still hardened. You looked back and forth between the boys. "What?! You said we had to subdue them!"

"I didn't mean blind me and hit him on the head." You pinched the bridge of your nose as Kirishima dragged the guard's body behind the desk and tied his arms and legs with lengths of rope.

"Hey guys, looks like guard number two is coming back this way," Kirishima said looking at the monitors.

"You guys know what to do?" Bakugou turned toward the basement staircase. Kirishima watched the monitors, keeping track of the guard and custodians. You took a deep breath and faced the stairs to the fourth floor.

"Cinder. Green-haired suspect is in the elevator." Kirishima stopped you before you opened the door to the stairs.

"Tentacole what about the others?"

"Still in the office."

"Take 'em the fuck out," you heard Bakugou snarl. He voice echoed slightly, already in the basement waiting for his cue.

"Ground Zero, I need you back up here. Subdue guard number 2 and the green-haired suspect with Red Riot. Once you're done, head back to the basement. I need to get in place. Tentacole, inform us if anyone else leaves. And Bakugou," you failed to use his hero name, "no explosions. Pretend it's one of our sparring fights."

"Stop telling me what the fuck to do Ashtray." You could almost hear a chuckle as he clicked off his mic.

Kirishima gave your hand a reassuring squeeze before waving you off. You had work to do. The lights of the elevator dropped from 5 to the ground floor. You nodded at your friend before you opened the door to the stairwell and stepped inside.

***

The elevator door pinged open. Kirishima waited, back pressed against the eastern wall of the elevator shaft. He heard a tentative footstep tap down on the smooth stone floor of the lobby. The suspect must have noticed the guard wasn't at his post.

As he rounded the corner Kirishima hardened his entire body. He struck with a powerful right hook to the man's jaw. Kirishima could see murder written in the man's eyes when his head snapped in his direction, rubbing his bleeding chin.

The green-haired man's skin began dripping with more than just blood. It oozed a putrid yellow-green slime. Poison? Kirishima took a fighting stance. The dripping man dove at him, hands outstretched, seemingly to cover Kirishima with the acrid liquid. Kirishima ducked low and punched into the villain's stomach, avoiding contact with his hands. The man's suit seemed to withstand the poison. Maybe it was just contact with flesh?

The villain was pushed backwards from Kirishima's impact, but then suddenly switched direction and face planted into the ground. Bakugou stood above his body, his knee still raised from the powerful push kick to the man's back.

"This guy is fucking gross." Bakugou wrinkled his nose at the now unconscious man's oozing features. Kirishima blinked twice at the sudden end of the fight.

"Go get something to tie him up," Bakugou said. Kirishima quickly shuffled behind the desk to his bag, holding up rope and chains toward Bakugou, a question on his face. "Chains probably. We don't know if he can degrade things, but chains will take longer in any case."

Bakugou saw as Kirishima's eyes widened, just a second before a massive fist crashed into his ribs.

"Ground Zero!" Kirishima yelled. The second security guard's attention shifted from the blond to the redhead. He shrunk his hand back down to an average size.

Kirishima jumped forward, chains still in his hands and swung the links at the guard's face. The guard's head shrunk to the size of an apple, the chain missing its mark, before it popped back to normal. Frustrated, Kirishima threw the chains to the ground and ran toward the guard, throwing jabs and hooks, uppercuts and elbows. Some punches hit their mark, but others only brushed air, the guard growing and shrinking his shoulders, head and torso near instantaneously.

The man sent a wild haymaker to Kirishima's temple, but the boy hardened just in time. The guard recoiled from the impact. Kirishima grinned when he saw his best friend rise from the corner of his eye. Bakugou sent a roundhouse of his own to the guard's chin. The man's head snapped backwards, stunned.

Kirishima stepped forward and sent more and more punches into the guard's no longer shrinking form. After a few seconds he felt an arm across his chest and almost wrenched it away.

"He's out," Bakugou's voice was calm. "Tie them both up and check the monitors. I'm going back down." He slapped Kirishima on the back before turning to the stairs. Kirishima knew Bakugou couldn't tell him he'd done a good job out loud, so he took his slap quietly and picked up the chain.

***

You ran up the stairs two at a time, trying to get to the fourth floor as quickly as possible. Your fingertips ignited and you pulled in the fresh smoke. You didn't see the other guard. Hopefully Kirishima had already taken care of him. You spotted the air vent in the ceiling, the same spot you'd marked the other day on your rounds.

"I'm about to enter the vents. Are we good?" you whispered.

"Guard and ooze boy are captured. We're good." Ooze boy? You raised yourself to the ceiling with the tendrils from your shoes. Pulling a small screwdriver from your belt you unscrewed the vent panel from the ceiling and quietly eased the metal square up into the hole. You placed the screwdriver back into your belt and hoisted yourself into the vent.

"I'm in. Shouldn't be more than two minutes."

"Monitors are clear," you heard Kirishima's voice.

"HVAC is off," Bakugou's voice echoed again. He was already back in the basement.

"Two suspects and one hostage still on the fifth floor," Shouji added.

You took a breath and inched your way forward through the vent. You recalled the map of the vent system in your head. A left, then a right, crawl up, then left to the office. You took extra care in raising up to the fifth floor, so thankful you'd gotten better at controlling your quirk through your feet. The vents were tight, and your shoulders clunked against the metal several times. After each hit you paused a moment, holding your breath to listen, hoping your position hadn't been compromised.

Finally, you made it to the vent above the office. From your position above the grate you could just barely see the arm of Hermes' chair. One of the suited suspects passed below the vent and you held your breath. You slowly pulled your night vision goggles from your forehead down to cover your eyes, careful not to make any noise. You tapped on your mic and clicked your tongue three times, the signal that you were in position. Within a heartbeat the lights turned off. You smiled. Bakugou had taken away their eyes.

"Go check it out," a deep voice snapped. You could see a faint light, likely from a mobile phone. You adjusted the brightness of your goggles.

"What about Ekhidna?" the other suited man said, his voice higher and more nasal.

"He's not answering his phone. Go," the deep voice commanded. You heard footsteps, followed by a door slamming closed.

"Suspect has left the room. Red Riot, can you intercept?" Shouji's voice was muffled slightly by the nighttime wind outside. You prayed the last suited man couldn't hear the faint voices in your headset.

"Negative. I'm moving the captured suspects out of the building for when the police arrive. He'll come down to you Ground Zero."

"Fuck yeah!" You could almost hear the vicious glee in Bakugou's voice. That meant there was only one suspect for you to handle.

You slowly released a thin tendril from your hand, delicately edging it along the outside of the vent and finding the screw at the corner of the panel. You forced the tendril to twist, creating a smoky screwdriver. It was slow work. You caught the screw before it could fall and lowered it silently to the tiled floor with your smoke.

You repeated the painstaking process three more times until the panel popped from the ceiling. The suspect looked up to the ceiling at the noise, his eyes squinting in the darkness. But he shrugged it off, heading toward the table covered in weapons. You held the panel still with one hand and released another tendril with the other. It snaked out of the vent toward Hermes' chair.

You slowly unraveled the ropes around his ankles and prayed he wouldn't draw attention to the fact that his binds were loosening. To your relief he merely moaned into his gag but didn't kick out his now free feet. You then moved to the handcuffs holding his hands behind the high-backed chair. Not quite Monoma's window, but easy enough. The handcuffs clicked open a moment later.

Here goes.