A/N: A few things before this chapter commerces,
Fencer29: The two mice-turned sidekicks have been safely retrieved by the Endeavor Agency, and have been placed in a safe containment in the agency until a method to turn them back could be devised. As of now, they spend all day squeaking and eating cheese as (temporary) pets.
Black Cat Angel: Thank you for the review! I'm sad to say that not everyone will get their story.
Said the Liar 13: Your review is appreciated! Thanks for the support!
To those who read this story, thanks for the views! Without further ado…let's begin!
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Chapter 6: Foreshadowing of a Great Evil.
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"I wonder how Todoroki and Yaomomo are doing…"
Mina asked loudly while her body is slumped over the kitchen counter in the shared dorms, with Kirishima gave her a questioning look as he sat across her. The dorm lobby was full of activity, as the class 2-A students went about with their breakfast.
"It's weird for you to be that concerned for them; didn't you say that our two recommended pair of the class would not have any problems?" Kirishima raised an eyebrow at his horn buddy. "Hopefully they can come back with some clues regarding Jirou. But shouldn't they be back by last night?"
"Yes, supposedly." Mina emphasized. "But Yaomomo told me yesterday that their patrol would probably take way longer than that…so she mentioned that she'll be back with Todoroki by this morning. And for the record, I was concerned about a different aspect for those two."
"Uh huh…'bout wha?" asked Kirishima as he stuffed another spoonful of omelettes into his mouth, along with the rest of their classmates having their breakfast at the lobby area of the dorms.
"Oh you know…" Mina grinned widely. "About the two of them being together and all. Despite the current situation, it's still such a rare opportunity to be alone with your crush."
"Well, given that the two of them were alone all day, can we expect Yaomomo to make some progress?" Tooru whispered excitedly into Mina's ear, "I can't see Todoroki being assertive in this kind of situation, so do you think our girl has finally made some headway with him?"
"In any case, it's our job to make sure that happens." The cheeky expression on the [Acid] quirk girl's face was promising mischief and possible havoc. "As the class' cupid of romantic affairs, I must see the results of our couples' love to the end, or I can't graduate!"
"You sure you got your priorities in order?" Kirishima deadpanned. "You're being unnecessarily forceful in this, aren't you?"
"Oh Kirishima," Mina shook her head as she gave a wry smile, speaking in a sagely manner. "You young'ins have much to learn in the pursuit of love."
"I'm older than you, remember?" The redhead retorted back.
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All of a sudden, the doors to the dorms slammed open and revealed a heavily panting Sero, who just looked like he ran a marathon.
"Woah! Sero!?" Sato shouted in warning as the [Tape] quirk boy burst through the door and almost collided with the [Sugar Rush] quirk user. "Don't run! It's dangerous!"
"T-Todoroki! *pant…pant* and Yaoyorozu! *pant…pant*" Sero cried out desperately as he ran towards where his classmates were eating relaxing, making even Bakugo turn his head towards the boy to see what could have gotten him so flustered.
"Did something happen?" Ashido poked her head out and asked.
"They…! *pant*"
"They what? Did they managed to find Jirou?!" Kaminari sprang out from his chair and confronted Sero hurriedly. "Where did they find her?!"
"Kaminari calm down! Sero, what happened!?"
Sero panted and gasped for air, his lungs threatening to burst from all the running he did. "T-Todoroki *pant* in *gasp* in the hospital right now! Yaoyorozu has gone missing!" Sero managed to say between breaths.
"WHAT!?"
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Musutafu General Hospital
.The group of hero students (along with Aizawa) watched on worriedly as the nurses tended to their beloved dual-elemental powerhouse. He looked even worse than they expected; his usually uniform hair was rumpled and tangled, his hero costume looked as though he was dragged across the road gravel, and his face kept displaying expressions of mild pain and agony even though he was unconscious, like he was in a nightmare. Due to the fact that his heartrate was above the norm, the doctors have tirelessly tried to diagnose the problem. His father, Endeavor was standing next to them with a deep frown on his face.
"I…I just don't understand…" The surgeon told Endeavor with a stumped expression. "Apart from small wounds and abrasions, his body should not have any other abnormalities. The only possible explanation would be a side-effect from the villain's attack."
"He went ahead of me so I could not say what has exactly happened to him for certain," Endeavor stated disgruntledly. "By the time I caught up, he was already unconscious. I have no idea how the villain turned him to such a state."
"Did he ever wake up or show any sign of movement?" Aizawa asked Endeavor as the rest of Shoto's friends approached his bed. "Did he say anything?"
"…he did say something." Endeavor replied, watching the students of class 2-A's looks of concern for his son. "He has been saying the same thing for a short while before I brought him to the hospital, and completely lost consciousness since then. He hasn't woken up since."
"What did he say?" Aizawa pressed, at which Endeavor made a rather complicated expression on his face. He was silent for a moment before one word slipped out of his lips.
"Yaoyorozu." He finally answered. "He said the name of the girl who accompanied me yesterday for my daily patrol route."
The entire class exchanged shocked and worried looks.
"She's gone? Did something happen between Yaoyorozu and Todoroki?" Mineta questioned.
"If things were so simple, we wouldn't have to be here in the first place." Endeavor retorted with a heated expression, but his face blanched slightly as he recalled the bizzare events of last night. "I honestly have no idea how I should explain what happened last night, but she was kidnapped by a strange old lday and driven away. Shoto was chasing after her but I found him lying on the ground in the state you see him now."
"And Yaoyorozu Momo," Endeavor's face grimaced considerably at his own failure. "The girl, that old woman…they just vanished."
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"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Bakugo was the first to shout.
"What did you say?!"
"I-It can't be," Tooru said fretfully, glancing towards Ashido and Tsuyu. "You guys don't think that, just like Jirou-chan…"
"Yaomomo too?" Mina whispered, the horrifying revelation dawning in her tone. The boys looked from their invisible classmate to the [Acid] quirk girl with mild confused looks, until they too realized what they were getting at.
"WHOA! You don't mean that – the same villain who kidnapped Jirou managed to capture Yaoyorozu too!?"
"Two consecutive kidnappings in a row around the same time," Aizawa stated in a low voice. "Even if you guys have the worst luck, there is no way this could be a coincidence."
"The villain responsible for the kidnapping of Jirou Kyouka?" Endeavor repeated, looking towards Aizawa as he recalled the report he had read regarding the strange abduction of the [Earphone Jack] quirk girl. "Was it confirmed that the villain we encounted last night was the same culprit from the first case? But I thought that was a man in eastern attire, mine was an old lady with a wand. She managed to get away in this huge carriage pulled by some kind of fire-breathing horses."
"They are indeed different, but the first culprit who disappeared along with Jirou possessed a quirk which allows him to conjure some kind of portal." Aizawa replied grimly, "If he is in cahoots with the old woman who took Yaoyorozu away, then it explains why she was able to escape so quickly from the crime scene."
"Two of our class' recommended students, along with Endeavor and a group of sidekicks, and she was taken away so easily?!" Sato gasped.
"We cannot confirm if the culprit this time was the same person," Asui provided a sound reasoning, but the frightened expression on her face betrayed her deceptively calm tone. "Regardless, a second kidnapping occurred right after one day at the same timing; this is too uncanny to be called a coincidence-ribbit."
"Seriously, just what in the world is going on?!" Kirishima swept his hand through his hair furiously as he gazed at the sleeping form of Todoroki. Having paced the room nervously for the last half-hour, the boys had taken chairs and sat down, while Bakugo had just been observing quietly from the side. The spiky-haired ash-blonde glared at Todoroki's face as though doing so may force the boy to wake up and quickly provide them with all the answers they need. Tooru, Ashido and Tsuyu looked at each other with worried expressions, each just as concerned for their hospitalized friend as much as their missing one.
Several of them were considering staying the night to keep their classmate company, when the doors of the hospital ward opened and revealed All Might in his deflated form, as well as Principal Nezu. "I received the summary of the situation from Aizawa, how is Todoroki Shoto?" Nezu asked briskly as he strolled to the foot of Todoroki's bed alongside Toshinori. "How is his current condition?"
"The doctor said that he did not sustain any life-threatening injuries," Endeavor repeated for the two UA staff members to hear. "He's got bruises and slight abrasions, but something is causing him to groan in his sleep like that."
"And so," Kirishima picked up where the pro-hero left off. "we were kind of thinking about staying here for the night, or at least until Todoroki wakes up."
"That's really sincere of you," Nezu praised the [Hardening] quirk boy gently, smiling at all of the students before the tone of his voice turned a tad serious. "However, one of the teachers will be enough to accompany young Todoroki here, and we need to have the rest of you returned to the UA Heights Alliance promptly. This situation has escalated more then we can possibly imagine in more ways than one; the media and paparazzi will no doubt try to hound all of you outside the hospital. I suggest that you leave the issue of Todoroki's interrogation to the police and UA faculty."
Toshinori could have sworn he saw an expression of annoyance and extreme anger flash across Endeavor's face for a moment, before the [Hell-flame] quirk hero calmed himself down and talked. "Typical of them; the story of two kidnappings of UA students after the incident from the training camp, that will be their favourite headliner for tomorrow's paper. When we are busy enough with figuring out one culprit, all they can do is criticize and question our willingness to take responsibility."
"Don't say that Enji," Toshinori rebutted. "There's no way we can keep this incident under wraps from the public. What we should focus on now is who or what exactly are we dealing with now."
"Erazerhead has told me the possibility of a connections between the Yaoyorozu's kidnapping and the incident with Jirou Kyoka the other night." continued Endeavor with a gruff tone. "Any updates on that?"
Several pairs of eyes flickered to Kaminari Denki, who had purposely shrunk to the hospital room's corner and avoided everyone's gaze. In response to the flame-hero's question, Nezu only gave a formal nod. "We are currently looking into that. But I'm afraid to say that while Todoroki remains unconscious, we will be unable to draw any conclusive hypothesis regarding the two kidnappings which had already happened."
"But how long will that take?" Kaminari asked for the first time after being silent for the entire duration of the hospital visit.
"We don't know, but let's hope it soon enough." Toshinori answered, gazing sadly at Todoroki's sleeping form.
Ashido, whose was determined not to show others her distraught upon hearing that any friend was kidnapped, nervously stepped forward and weighted her opinion. "T-That's right, in any case we should at least wait for Todoroki to recover. In the meantime, we should head back and prepare some food and stuff for his recovery."
"Don't bother Raccoon-eyes," Bakugo jerked his thumb to the hospital bed. "Looks like Icy-hot is finally back to the world of the living."
True enough, a low moan was heard following a painful cough, making everyone turn their heads towards the bed's occupant. Todoroki slowly awoke, to a dry throat and even drier eyes. He squinted and groaned, blinking the dirt out of his eyes. "Todoroki?" Ashido, who was closest to the [Half-cold, Half-hot] said hopefully. "Todoroki, are you waking up?"
"Todoroki!" Tooru gasped from beside his bed. "Oh my god thank goodness!"
"Wha…what happened-?!"
"Dude, we are the ones who should be asking you that!" Kirishima exclaimed with shock evident on his face. "We were going to contact you when you and Yaoyorozu didn't come back to the dorms this morning. The next thing we were told, Endeavor brought you to this hospital while you were unconscious!"
"H-Hospital?" Todoroki stared at him incredulously. He passed out just like that!? Todoroki furrowed his brows, trying to remember the events which led up to this point. He and Yaoyorozu were out searching for Jirou for an entire day. A weird woman in a long dress appeared and took his friend away. Yaoyorozu was then forced into a pumpkin carriage. And then…
Todoroki looked around, noticing a number of his 2-A classmates. Ashido was the one closest to him, while Sato, Ojirou, Sero, Tsuyu and Tokoyami were watching him worriedly at his left side. Bakugo, Mineta, Aizawa and Toshinori were by his right. Kirishima, Kaminari, Tooru and Principal Nezu were at the foot of the infirmary bed.
His eyes were empty, as if the spirit behind them were gone and he could only stare into blank space for a good few seconds in horrified silence.
"Todoroki," gentle yet powerful hands shook his shoulders tearing the [Half-cold, Half-hot] quirk teen back to reality and meeting the gaze of his red spiky-haired classmate.
"Young Todoroki," All Might moved to sit by Todoroki's side, and patted his back just like Kirishima. "What ever happened last night, you are in safe hands now. What happened to you and young Yaoyorozu? I know it's hard when you just woke up, but would you mind recalling the events which happened yesterday?"
"Was Yaomomo hurt!?" Ashido questioned vigorously.
"What did the kidnapper look like?" asked Sero Hanta.
Todoroki's eyes darted from person to person, question after question, but his mind struggled to find the words to tell them just how strange and traumatic the events of last night were. He needed to tell them everything, but something deep inside forced him to avert everyone's gaze in shame.
"T-Todoroki…?" Never had anyone seen Shoto in such a broken state before. Just what in the world happened?
"Y-Yaoyorozu…is gone…I'm so sorry…!"
Those words confirmed everyone's suspicions and made the girls lean back with small gasps. Seeing this reaction only made Todoroki bow his head in absolute shame, and he clenched his fist in frustration. The hybrid-quirk boy turned his gaze to Kaminari who was standing by the door, who immediately understood.
"So Ponytail was taken too," Bakugo declared with a growl. "Come on Icy-hot, was it that bastard Jafar and that talking chicken of his!? Was he there?! That Royal Vizier of Agabow or whatever?!"
"Agrabath." Corrected Kirishima.
"Like we need to remember a damn villain with a freaking long-ass bombastic title! SPILL IT ICY-HOT! WAS THAT JAFAR GUY THERE!?"
"No…it was someone different…just one person…Yaoyorozu was…pulled into a pumpkin carriage…by…by-!"
"Stop stuttering and tell us something which makes some damn sense!" Bakugo snapped, yanking the [half-cold, half-hot] quirk boy by the collar and shaking him to see if he was still dreaming from his previously unconscious state. "What the hell happened to you?! You look and talk like that damn nerd deku when he's around girls. Did Ponytail get taken away along with your balls or something?!"
In the next second, everyone edge away when Bakugo found himself restrained by a familiar special-alloy cloth from his homeroom teacher, before he could throttle Todoroki even further. Bakugo snapped his head towards Aizawa, who was glaring back with blood-red eyes. "I can't believe you're making do this at a hospital Bakugo. We are the ones who will be doing the questioning, do I make myself clear?"
Aizawa and Bakugo glared at each other for several seconds before the latter relented with a huff, directing his glare at Todoroki. "Are you going to tell us what happened or not?" he asked in an annoyed, but less forceful tone.
Todoroki was now sitting with his back slumped forward, his head bowed and bangs covering his eyes. Toshinori rested a comforting hand on the boy's arm upon seeing this.
"Young Todoroki," the former number 1 hero stated quietly. "You did nothing to be ashamed of. I know it must be hard for you to come to terms with your defeat last night, but we have to know the whole story about how young Yaoyorozu was taken. Maybe there is something you saw that may help in the police's investigation."
Todoroki swallowed a nervous gulp, keeping his eyes downcast, before speaking again. "Yaoyorozu and I were taking a break after patrol, when this old woman dressed in a weird gown and hairstyle suddenly showed up. She then turned two of my fa-Endeavor's sidekicks into mice, I tried to fight but she had some weird ability to cancel out my quirk using the wand she was holding. She did the same to Yaoyorozu and dragged her into…into a…" Todoroki took a deep breath before continuing. "She was thrown into a pumpkin carriage."
"What?!"
"A pumpkin carriage?!"
"It was a black and green carriage resembling a pumpkin, it just appeared out of thin air when that old woman snapped her fingers" Todoroki elaborated, his voice started to shake as he continued. "It was pulled by four black horses along with two other men, and they all had glowing green eyes; it basically looked like something out of this world. Those weren't normal horses…when they took Yaoyorozu inside, they were able to outrun me and bashed through the traffic like nothing. I tried to stop them, but…that woman used that wand of hers to blast me away."
"This woman," Principal Nezu decided to step in and asked in a hushed tone. "Todoroki, do you know who she is?"
Todoroki raised his head and looked at his teachers, his eyes burning with hate. "She introduced herself as the Wicked Stepmother," he said with a low growl. "and she called Yaoyorozu her new 'cinder girl'. She was the one who created this mess; turning people into mice, making that carriage appear out of nowhere and turning all of our attacks into dust, all using that weird wand of hers. I don't know what kind of quirk she possessed, but it seems that she can perform a variety of them." Todoroki absentmindedly rubbed the part of his chest where the kidnapper's attack had hit him and knocked him unconscious in one blow, "And then…she used that wand of hers to create a portal of white light…which they drove the carriage with Yaoyorozu in it into…and they were gone."
"The villains today sure have some weird naming sense…" Endeavor commented with a scowl. "Royal Vizier of Agrabah…Wicked Stepmother…are they weirdos who can't grow out of their bedtime stories or something?"
"A dangerous group of weirdos." Aizawa replied with a dark expression. "Who possess an annoyingly convenient means of escape."
"Did this 'Wicked Stepmother' ever say anything else to you, Todoroki?" Principal Nezu asked, and the boy nodded.
"She did say some weird incantation whenever she dishes out some of her abilities with that wand of hers, but I can't remember what those words are, it honestly sounded like gibberish…but right after she forced Yaoyorozu into the carriage she told me, "I will be taking my new cinder girl, Todoroki Shoto. Let's see if you have what it takes to find her. For I, the Wicked Stepmother shall await you." She knew my name, even though I've never met her before."
He looked at each of his stunned classmates in turn, silently observing their reactions to this news. Some looked away in quiet understanding, others with their mouths agape with horror. Not even Mina, who was notoriously the most outgoing in the class, could think of anything to comfort him. They did not dare say anything for a while, no one knew what to say or do.
"That sounds exactly like what happened when Jirou was taken the night before in the UA campus." Sero finally said. "But in our case, the villain Jafar told us to send a message to Kaminari instead!"
"And if what you said was true, both of the villains used the exact same portal quirk to escape!" Kirishima deduced. "That bastard Jafar must have been near Todoroki last night, in order to help out the woman who kidnapped Yaoyorozu!"
"Could both the Wicked Stepmother and Jafar part of the same villain group?" Koda asked fearfully.
"It's definitely possible." Tokoyami murmured.
"But why?" Tsuyu croaked out. "Why are they doing this-ribbit?"
"Damn," Everyone's eyes swung towards Mineta, the [Pop-off] quirk user staring at Todoroki and Kaminari in particular, but no one felt like disagreeing with what he said next. "Someone must really hate you guys."
That statement earned an dangerous glares from the two boys, causing Mineta to break into a nervous sweat. "W-What?! Just saying!"
Sato grimaced. "Mineta is right; we cannot ignore the possibility of this being a personal attack."
Tokoyami nodded. "That's right, the fact that both of the assailants knew their intended target's names beforehand proves that hypothesis. Exposing themselves to the public like that, kidnapping in such a brazen manner, it appears that our foes this time are just that confident. And dressing as children's tales to do so…how tasteless."
Dark Shadow choose this moment to pop out and added on to his buddy's disgusted statement regarding the villains responsible. "Perhaps it's their way of sick entertainment; kidnapping our fellow friends against their will while masquerading as fairy tale villains."
"Those bastards are really targeting us huh?!" Kirishima's face darkened considerably and clutched his fists in raw anger. "That's dirty! If they got a problem with us, they should just come out and face us head-on! Not through this!"
"I'm so sorry…!" Todoroki gritted his teeth in frustration. "If only I was a little faster…!"
"Stop blaming yourself; nothing good will come out of you beating yourself up like this." Aizawa said as he gazed at the boy. "You did your best."
Aizawa turned to Principal Nezu and Toshinori, each of them exchanging dark looks. "This changes things; we have to get every single student of class 2-A and put them under strict supervision and protection." The statement made by All Might caused the very students to have fearful looks.
"Wa-but why?!"
"Countermeasures. It may have been a coincidence that the two victims so far are from my class." Aizawa replied darkly. "But there are things I hate more than a mere coincidence."
Endeavor got to his feet and looked at the group. "If the enemy is out there targeting the kids from your class Eraserhead, then you should stick together with them within the school compound." he said in a stern voice, leaving no room for negotiation, "I'll get my agency to crack down on this 'Wicked Stepmother', in the meantime it's best if the 2-A class stays within UA for the time being."
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Several minutes passed by in silence. No one had anything else to say, and the past half hour had gotten all of the heroes and students drained of their energy.
"We should head back to the school first. Let's give Todoroki some space." Ojiro suggested in a quiet voice. Every other student nodded in agreement.
"Everyone…" Todoroki began. "Thanks for coming. I…I appreciate your concerns." His face was once again bowed down and his eyes covered by his long bangs, staring listlessly at his own hands.
"Get better soon alright Todoroki?" Mina told the boy kindly. "Don't beat yourself up too hard." She heard the footsteps making their way out of the room, and she followed suit, leaving Shoto alone in his room.
Todoroki's thoughts went back to how Yaoyorozu attempted to reach out for him while he was helplessly useless against the Wicked Stepmother and her strange powers…the hysterical, gut wrenching panic he felt at the thought of not being to save her made Todoroki's face paled and clutched his heart.
"Pathetic…! This is so…pathetic…!" Todoroki clenched his teeth and cursed out in his mind.
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