They arrived at the bar just before midnight, the neon sign above the door buzzing faintly in the damp night air. The streets around it were quiet, but the low murmur of voices seeped through the walls.
Izuku stood still for a moment, tilting his head slightly. His hearing sharpened, filtering through the background chatter. Most of it was mundane — poker bets, dirty jokes, someone complaining about the price of beer — but then a deep, gravelly voice stood out.
"Monkey see, monkey do," the man said to the bartender.
A faint metallic click followed, then the muffled sound of a door opening and closing.
' Wow… a secret password. How original,' he thought, smirking faintly.
He met Mt. Lady's eyes and gave a short nod. She understood immediately, following as he stepped toward the entrance.
The second they pushed the door open, cold steel greeted them.
Multiple gun barrels pointed their way, the metallic glint catching the dim light. The stench of alcohol and sweat hit them at once.
' Why do they need a password if everyone inside is a villain?' He thought.
"Wow," Izuku said, scanning the room. "I thought Japan had harsher gun laws."
Mt. Lady's lips twitched into a smirk beside him, but she stayed quiet.
"You better leave," a massive man growled as he stepped forward, towering over the others. His bald head gleamed under the yellow light, and his arms looked like they could bend steel pipes. "Before we put 177 holes in you… and have some fun with your girlfriend, darky."
Izuku's gaze sharpened. "Darky, huh?"
"Yeah, darky," the man repeated, his grin widening. His skin began to shimmer, taking on a metallic sheen until his whole body looked like a human-shaped slab of steel.
Reminds me of Kevin from Ben 10. Never liked that guy.
Izuku didn't waste time. His foot snapped up in a brutal kick — the kind that could shatter concrete.
CRASH!
The man's body rocketed backward, smashing through the far wall. Dust and chunks of plaster rained down, revealing a hidden elevator shaft behind the wreckage.
"FIRE!" someone yelled.
The room exploded with gunfire. Muzzle flashes lit the smoky air as bullets ripped toward them. Izuku instantly moved in front of Mt. Lady, shielding her with his body. The impacts tore through his current outfit, shredding fabric with each hit.
He frowned. "Tch."
Mt. Lady's eyes widened at the transformation, her heart skipping. Watching as his upper body become visible infront of her eyes.
' I knew he was attractive. I mean Wattpad really gave me a mental image of this guy but wow, my expectations have been met. I just need to see that face of his' she thought.
The shooting stopped when they ran out of ammo. But before the nearest thug could reload, Izuku vanished in a blur.
Bodies dropped one by one, guns clattering to the floor — until silence claimed the bar. He stood at the center of the room, half naked.
"Wow…" Mt. Lady breathed, cheeks flushed. "Who knew you could look even hotter?"
"…Eh?" Izuku blinked.
She coughed quickly. "I mean — impressive. Really impressive."
He shook his head slightly. "We should move. Before they get a chance to warn whoever's downstairs."
He strode toward the broken wall, peering down the elevator shaft. A faint whir rose from below as he pressed the call button. Moments later, the elevator came up — with the metal-skinned man on top, still groaning from the earlier hit.
Izuku stepped in first, the confined space making the air feel heavier.
Mt. Lady followed, casually slipping her arm through his.
' Does she like me? Why though? She doesn't even know me for real. Don't tell me she's like MJ… never liked her honestly.'
The doors slid shut with a metallic clunk, and the elevator began its slow descent into whatever waited below.
The elevator doors slid open to reveal… more guns.
Izuku stared at the group — but this time, the barrels were held not by street thugs, but by men in lab coats. Scientists. Their nervous eyes darted between him and Mt. Lady, fingers trembling on the triggers.
He sighed. "Really? Scientists with guns?"
Before any of them could respond, he was gone in a blur. A gust of wind followed him as one by one they were disarmed, their weapons clattering to the floor. By the time Mt. Lady stepped into the room, the last man was slumped unconscious against a steel table.
The place looked straight out of a villain cliché — shelves stacked with strange devices, half-finished cybernetic limbs, glowing vials of unknown chemicals. The air smelled faintly of ozone and something acidic.
Izuku glanced around. "Guess we know where all the chips are being made."
Mt. Lady entered fully, scanning the room. "Yeah… but the woman he talked about isn't here."
"That means this is only one of her bases," Izuku said, his tone flat. "Could be five, could be fifty. She could be anywhere in the country right now."
"What do you think her plan is?" Mt. Lady asked.
Before Izuku could answer, a distorted voice filled the room.
"My plan, you asked?"
They both turned toward a massive monitor on the far wall. The static cleared to reveal a woman seated elegantly in a leather chair, wearing a black mask that hid everything but her lips.
' Is she a pervert?' Both him and Mt Lady thought as soon as they saw her.
"Well, it's simple," she said, her voice smooth and confident. "I want to take over Japan."
"Why?" Izuku asked immediately.
Her lips curled slightly, as if she hadn't expected that question. "Why? …Hmph. I suppose I never really thought about the reason. Let's just say… because I want to."
Izuku's brow twitched. "So you're just doing it for the love of the game? Wow, that's… some conviction."
"Yes," she said without shame. "And you can't stop me. My plan is already in motion. In one hour, my army will be deployed. Mustafa will burn. Then Naruhata. Then the rest of Japan. Try all you like… you'll never find me."
The screen cut to black.
"We need to tell every hero," Mt. Lady said urgently.
"Yeah. Do that," Izuku replied.
She didn't waste a second, running back into the elevator to head topside.
Izuku stayed behind, scanning the room. Something was… off. His ears caught a faint, rhythmic tapping — too deliberate to be random. He turned his head toward the far right wall.
A narrow vent opening, barely wide enough for a hand, caught his attention. Without hesitation, he pressed his fingers into the metal and peeled it back like paper, revealing a hidden chamber.
Inside, Queen Bee sat before a smaller bank of monitors, her black mask reflecting the light of the screens. Her posture was rigid — she hadn't expected anyone to find this place.
"You know," Izuku said as he stepped inside, his voice calm, "about eighty-nine percent of the time when a villain says, 'You'll never find me,' they're a lot closer than you think."
She narrowed her eyes. "…Eighty-nine percent?"
"Yeah," he smirked. "Totally made that up. Still not wrong."
His smile faded. "So… how exactly were you planning to deploy your little puppets?"
Her chin lifted defiantly. "Fifty men across the city. Each with a trigger to activate the chips embedded in the homeless I've been collecting for months. One button, and chaos begins. You'd better walk away, hero."
What will Izuku do? Find out next time!
TO BE CONTINUED