A/N: Ok, this is a one shot I wrote after Lynse posted on her tumblr some crossover musings upon my request.
I *might* continue this, but it's a BIG maybe due to the fact that I want to focus and bring to an end at least one other work before I throw myself at something that's obviously going to be long and convoluted.
Also, friendly reminder that my works are not beta read, so expect errors, typoes, and general weirdness going on in the text. Auto correct and several checks from my part can only do so much.
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"I can get you in easily, if you want."
The man Danny spoke to nearly fell off the roof in his haste to turn around, and it was only thanks to his quick reflexes and that long scarf latching onto a nearby railing that he didn't met his end on the street below.
"Sorry!" Danny gave an awkward smile and held up his hands in a way that he hoped would convey he wasn't a threat. "I didn't mean to scare you..."
The man, a strange fellow with unkempt black hair and impressive bags under tired eyes, did not relax from his combat stance. "Phantom," he declared, voice a mixture of a hiss and a mutter. His shoulders appeared so tense that it was a miracle they weren't shattering. "What do you want?"
Danny cringed at the hostility in the man's voice, but was glad that he hadn't attacked yet like the rest of the many, many heroes that had tried to catch him during the two weeks of him being... wherever he was.
"Like I said, I can get you in easily if you want," he repeated, hoping his smile came across as harmless. "You have been staring at that warehouse for the past couple of hours and from what I hear from the police stationed several blocks away, there might be hostages? You're a hero, aren't you? Wouldn't saving those people take priority over catching a rough... ah... what do you call me? Vigilante?"
The man seemed to recognize the word in his own native language and narrowed his eyes. "I thought you didn't understand Japanese?"
Not the first thing Danny thought the man would say, but he counted his blessings. He'd rather be questioned endlessly than be shot at. "It's a slow going," he admitted, shrugging. "But I'm starting to learn it."
He slowly lowered his hands and walked to the the edge of the roof, leaning on the railing with his arms and looking intently at the warehouse on the other side of the street. "Anyway, my offer still stands."
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Aizawa Shota was a man with a clear idea of his priorities, and while the appearance of the vigilante known simply as 'Phantom' had been sudden and nerve wracking, he knew the kid's offer would be a great advantage in infiltrating the warehouse, locate the hostages, and possibly save them without having to fight through hordes of villains.
Still, Phantom did not possess a license and was a kid no older than his students. In no good conscience he could ask him to jump into a situation that was risky even for Pro Heroes like him. Yet, while he had never encountered the him before this night, Aizawa had seen enough videos to know that Phantom was no pushover.
Even Endeavor, new number one hero on the board after All Might's retirement, was at a complete loss at how to catch the kid. If he wasn't slipping away into the night, he was freezing the man's feet to whatever surface he stood on before leaving.
The first week people had been worried he was a follower of All For One, but when one of the heroes managed to have a brief conversation with him, he did not recognize the super villain's name.
He was a total mystery that the media had been feasting upon since his first appearance about two weeks ago.
"You would go in even if I declined, wouldn't you?" he asked when he noticed the kid's determined eyes locked onto the warehouse. "Even if I tried to stop you, you'd find a way."
The boy smiled, then grimaced. "You caught me, I guess," he replied, finally turning those bright green eyes onto him. "But I'm offering. I admit that... ah... I'm not very good at doing this without causing either massive damage or wounding some people. I mean... I can either fight the bad guys, or protect the hostages, but doing both at the same time... well... things can get out of control?"
Shota crossed his arms and appreciated the kid's intelligence in recognizing his own shortcomings.
"You offered to take me inside," he recalled Phantom's first words to him. "How do you propose to do it?"
The kid smiled and extended a hand towards him, palm facing up. "Easy," he replied. "I know you probably have seen me go intangible or invisible. What you people don't know is that I can do both at the same time and extend it to another person."
Shota paused, arms slowly falling away from his chest at the sheer implications such a statement brought. If he was a villain, there would be no stopping him, and that was without counting in his other quirks. Flight, energy manipulation, ice generation, and whatever else he was keeping hidden from cameras... If Phantom decided to go villain, it would be something close to a second coming of All For One.
And how could he erase his quirks and bring him down if he never saw him coming?
"Come on," Phantom's voice broke him out of his spiraling thoughts, his hand still held out invitingly. "I don't bite."
Aizawa considered his options. Teaming up with a vigilante was generally frowned upon by both authorities and the civilians, but he also recognized an opportunity when it presented itself to him.
Phantom might be young, but he was powerful and capable. With the right directions and orders, this mission could and would be a breeze.
Besides, when did Eraserhead ever paid any mind to what people thought of him?
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Danny was glad he had approached the Pro Hero for this because the moment they infiltrated the warehouse and located the hostages, he knew for certain he couldn't have saved them all before the alarm was raised.
With Eraserhead's help and directions however, they not only managed to get every single innocent person to safety before things went downhill, but they had also returned inside soon after and captured the man at the head of the gang. After that and without their leader, the rest of the villains had been easy pick for the heroes that had stormed in the moment the command had been given.
"You are truly something else, Phantom," Eraserhead commented as they watched the gang leader be hauled into one of the police vans that had rushed to the scene when the raid had started. "Why do you resort to vigilantism? With your quirks, entering any hero school would have been easy."
The words were spoken without malice, but they still hurt in a way that the hero could have not imagined. "I... ah... I was too late to apply?" he internally cringed at the lame excuse, and judging by the unimpressed stare he was receiving, the man knew he was bullshitting him. "Ok, look... my situation is... not normal... I never applied to a school because I don't want to stay here. I..."
As he trailed off, Danny felt a surge of sadness and loss that forced him to take a few steps back and turn away so that Eraserhead would not see his expression. "I'll be going home soon, but... while I'm here... why not help? I can't just stay back when I know I can help."
And it helped with keeping the darker thoughts that wormed their way into his mind at bay. Every day was a struggle. Every day was a reminder of how far away from home he was. Every single day he tried to remember how he had gotten in this place and failed miserably.
"You are breaking the law, kid," the man behind him said in deadpan. "Today I let you help me because it was convenient and there were more pressing matters to take care of, but-"
"Yep," Danny interrupted the man by turning invisible and intangible before he realized he would not cooperate with him any further. "Time to go! Thank you for letting me help! I hope we can chat again in the future!"
After all, he had seen Eraserhead's power at work in the warehouse. Being able to cancel other people's quirks was useful and really tricky to get around, and while Danny was sure that his ghost powers were an entire different thing, he was not going to stick around to test that.
His luck had lasted long enough as it was.
