Endeavor scowls as he stares up at the mountain in front of him, his arms crossed over the chest of his hero outfit. He glances over at the sidekick that brought him to the location, his glare promising pain if the number two hero doesn't like the answer to his next question.
"You are certain that this is where I can find the girl?"
The sidekick swallows nervously, bobbing his head up and down in a nod, spiky yellow hair with dyed streaks of red to make it resemble a burning flame following the motion. "Y-yeah. Back before she disappeared some nature nut snapped a picture of her in the area. You know, before the Pussycats found out they were here and escorted them off their territory."
Endeavor scowls at the phrasing used to describe the Wild Wild Pussycat's property. For whatever reason the term 'territory' has been making the rounds in the hero, villain, and vigilante communities. Mainly in regards to those with areas they are known to frequent or have some form of base of operations. He has no idea where such a change in terminology originated from, but he finds it ridiculous. Especially since those with acknowledged 'territories' are treated as more notable than those without!
With All Might still having a full year until he can officially return to hero work, Endeavor has been doing his damned best to overtake him in the hero rankings. He's traveled all across Japan in pursuit of the highest profile villains, even branching out into rescue work. Hell, he even responded to a call about an out of control fire at Nikko National Park where he used his own flames to create a firebreak!
And yet it's not enough. Even after a year of All Might being out of the picture. A year after crime rates started rising. A year of Endeavor only occasionally returning home to administer his son's training as the future number one hero. A year in which he's run himself ragged, even by his standards. A year that he's had to close the gap between them.
Endeavor's spot as the number two hero has yet to budge.
Almost as frustrating, the rise in crime has allowed those who'd normally remain unnoticed to shoot up the rankings.
The Rabbit Hero: Mirko just recently broke into the top ten after single handedly fighting back an attack by the Creature Rejection Clan at one of the facilities where those with animal quirks are permitted to 'let loose' with their instincts, which would otherwise cause problems if not addressed. Reports estimated that if she weren't there, the casualties would have been in the hundreds.
There is also Crust, who has managed to displace Best Jeanist and achieved rank number seven after preventing an out of control fuel truck from destroying the supports for a highway bridge during rush hour.
But the worst offense, the one thing that makes his blood boil in outrage, is Lady Nagant. After the upstart returned to doing hero work after her release from Tartarus, she'd been rising through the ranks as if they were nothing but rungs on a ladder meant to support her. Despite having to restart as nothing and a number of prominent figures protesting the allowance of someone with a criminal record being allowed to be a hero, she's currently ranked number four!
Learning of that was the last straw for Endeavor. He ordered everyone at his agency to redouble their efforts at finding the girl who'd supposedly defeated All Might, the one who'd caused his license to be suspended. Those who remained resistant to the idea and asked him to reconsider, like Burnin, were immediately fired. Those who remained worked furiously to find any trace of the girl, and all that effort has finally culminated into him and this sidekick standing on the Wild Wild Pussycats' property where she supposedly hides.
Thankfully there is something here to backs his claim.
Endeavor glances off to the side of a path leading up the mountain, snorting at what a sign proclaims.
WARNING
CONTINUING BEYOND THIS POINT IS A LEGAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT YOU DISREGARDED PREVIOUS WARNINGS AND ARE SEEKING DEATH
THE WILD WILD PUSSYCATS ARE FORMALLY EXONERATED FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RETALIATION REGARDING YOUR SUICIDE
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED
Such a warning is beyond ridiculous. Something a child clearly thought of.
`~`
In the DAB's Japanese branch's cafeteria, Kin Kami sneezes, causing his partner Odayakana Ora to look at him suspiciously from across the table. "You didn't do something stupid that you forgot to tell me about, did you?"
Kami manages to look properly offended at the insinuation. "Rude. No, we haven't really had anything to do since Izumi started to establish her Lair. And I made sure to put up the signs like you told me to, so we should still have another year before we have to deal with her granting people's 'wishes'."
Ora lets out a groan around a mouthful of salad, swallowing before she continues with the conversation. "Don't remind me. That's going to be a massive headache to deal with. But, well," she shrugs. "As long as she doesn't burn a city to the ground as part of someone's wish we should be able to do damage control. We're lucky she was so excited about the idea of being regarded as a mythical figure."
"I mean…" Kami shrugs. "She is a mythical figure?"
The two share a quiet laugh, unaware that their timeline is going to be just alittle off.
`~`
"Stay here," Endeavor orders imperiously. "I will apprehend the villain." The sidekick looks like he wants to say something, his indignation clear on his face. But the open threat emanating from Endeavor is more than enough to shut his mouth for him. The heat radiating from the man helps as well.
Without a second glance Endeavor stomps up the path, his eyes scanning the floor and mountain face carefully. It wouldn't do for him to be inconvenienced by some juvenile trap before he can reach the girl. He doesn't count himself lucky when he encounters nothing, it simply reinforces his view that the girl he is here to apprehend is nothing more than a child. He huffs to himself as he reaches a platform at the end of the path and enters the cave he finds there.
Her 'victory' against All Might was most likely some kind of ploy to justify him taking a step back from heroics. No doubt in order to show the public just how much they need him, further cementing his place at the top of the leaderboard!
Though Endeavor refuses to entertain the thought, there is a niggling doubt in his mind telling him that the girl actually is as dangerous as Mera claimed, and that he should be wary. But there is more at stake for him here than simply obtaining his dream as quickly as possible.
The Commission has made true on its promise of rooting out the corruption allowed to permeate through the hero system, with a whopping ten percent of the total heroes all across Japan being brought up on various criminal charges. That's not even accounting for those who forfeited their licenses and retired to an undisclosed location before they could be investigated, nor the ones who fought back when already cleared heroes came to arrest them for more serious charges and were completely stripped of their statuses.
In reality, the ten percent statistic is reserved for the heroes who were charged and retained their license. Meanwhile those who were stripped of or retired their licenses make up an additional fifteen percent. Thousands of heroes, gone! And the Commission hasn't even started on the top five hundred yet!
Endeavor knows that his family situation is a cause for concern, though he doubts that it would get him stripped of his license. No, the problem is that when it comes out that his eldest died attempting to train his quirk, and his wife was put into a mental hospital after suffering a mental break and scarring their youngest, he will likely lose his position as the number two hero as well as any chance of ever regaining it, let alone the number one spot.
A significant portion of the hero rankings is popularity, after all, and something that is decidedly not popular with the public is familial difficulties. Especially when said difficulties are caused by a hero.
Bringing in this villain is truly Endeavor's last chance to personally surpass All Might. If he fails here he will have to rely upon his stubborn, rebellious son, Shoto. And while that would be acceptable in his eyes, given it is thanks to his quirk that the boy can grow so powerful, it would not be nearly so satisfying.
(He ignores the small voice in his head saying that if he accomplishes his goal now, then all the suffering his family went through was for nothing.)
After making his way through a maze of tunnels and surprisingly well furnished rooms filled with modern amenities along with completely bare ones, he finally reaches the source of heat he's been following.
"A volcano," Endeavor deadpans with an annoyed look on his face. "The child has chosen to live in a volcano." He does remember the claim that the girl had created Mustafu's greatest attraction now known as 'The Emerald Lake'. Said lake being made of lava is a note that is promoted with surprising enthusiasm by those who bought the area to turn into a large-scale sauna.
The people who've gone swear that they feel rejuvenated, the aches of old age or old injuries fading after spending merely an hour bathing in the steam it generates when mixed with the sea water brought in courtesy of an artificially constructed underground channel.
The number two hero shakes his head to clear his thoughts, his eyes narrowing as he peers at the other tunnel to the right of the bubbling lava. He strides towards it with confidence, his quirk flaring easily in the heat. Though he wouldn't be able to remain in the same cavern as the lava indefinitely, he does have an impressive resistance to heat and flames, courtesy of his quirk.
Eventually he reaches another cavern, the heat lessened but still noticeable. In the new cavern a large, smooth boulder rests in the middle, surrounded by something that has his eyes widening.
Encircling the cavern are pillars holding a veritable fortune in valuable jewels, to say nothing of the gold bars piled at their bases. What looks like an intricately woven solid gold scarf is even hung up next to the tunnel he exits from! He reaches out to feel it, curiosity overtaking his better judgment regarding whether or not it is simply a sculpture or if someone had truly woven gold into a functional article of clothing.
But he's forced to freeze when the boulder in the center of the room shifts slightly. The boulder rotates, two protrusions stretching upwards as it expands outward, becoming more ovular in appearance. Slowly, it grows, each end continuing to stretch out until he can finally see the full appearance of the 'boulder' when its head rolls over to face him.
Endeavor can now take in the entirety of the beast whose back previously faced him, though he can't react. The simple act of rolling over to face the number two hero exerted such an overwhelming pressure that he couldn't react even if he wanted to! It's only after five minutes that the beast remains still once again when Endeavor manages to force himself to move.
He straightens back to his full height, not even aware of when he started to crouch. He takes a deep breath, calming his rapidly beating heart as it tries to escape the confines of his chest. He clenches his fists as his eyes narrow at the beast, forcing his rage at being intimidated to replace the fear that immobilized him.
He is the number two hero! The man who will surpass All Might! He will not be driven off in pursuit of his goal by some quirked beast! He will find the girl, he will make the arrest, and he will claim his position as the number one hero!
If he has to bring down this threat in order to do it, then do it he shall!
He roars as he gathers his flames into his fist and launches himself forwards using jets of fire from his feet. "Flashfire Fist: JET BURN!" He slams his signature move into the beast's exposed belly, determination driving him to put everything he can behind the punch.
Flames explode at the site of impact, so bright that they momentarily blind him from the force of his own attack. With his sight gone, he's expecting the beast to retaliate with its own attack, or perhaps attempt to flee if he's seriously injured it.
The absence of a sound of pain is his first clue that things will not go the way he believed them to. Indeed, when his vision clears he sees his fist pressed against the side of the beast's scaled belly, not even a scorch mark to signify that he'd attempted to take it down. His anger grows at seeing this, as if it is mocking him. A feeling that encompasses him, driving him into a blind rage while launching attack after attack at the beast when it finally does make a noise.
It snores.
The beast is asleep, and his attack did nothing to even make it stir.
He unleashes wave after wave of Jet Burn at it in the hopes of injuring it, killing it, but they do nothing but drive his ever-increasing anger and indignation to ever greater heights. He beats at the unmoving wall in front of him for an indeterminate amount of time, refusing to bow in the face of this latest challenge. But they do nothing, and his rage grows. When his latest attack with flames hot enough to scorch his hand prove just as ineffective, he growls.
"Damn you… DAMN YOU!" He sets himself, fists clenched and arms set as he prepares to let off his most powerful attack. In an enclosed space such as this, the heat will feed off of itself, driving it to even greater heights! He may not survive, but so long as he takes the beast with him he can accept that! HE IS NOT INFERIOR!!!
"PROMINENCE-"
The number two hero's voice cuts off abruptly as the grinding sound of scales against stone echoes in the cavern.
The beast stretches to its limit, limbs shaking, after rolling over once again. It opens bleary eyes and looks around absently, letting out a large yawn when it sees nothing out of place. It rises unsteadily to its feet, taking wobbly steps towards the exit of its Hoard. Still mostly asleep, it makes its way to its refrigerator and sticks its head in, making grumbling noises when it doesn't smell anything to eat.
Pulling its head out with half-lidded eyes, it instead heads to the Lair's exit. It lets its eyes fully close before the light of the rising sun can reach it in an effort to maintain its near-sleep state. Whether intentional or not, this is how it takes flight, allowing its instincts to guide it to something to eat.
Completely unaware of the red smear staining the floor where its Hoard rests.
Nor the one staining its belly.