Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 64: Endeavor

Izuku was worried. It was bad enough that Endeavor was missing, but his disappearance had emboldened all the local criminals. For some reason, it seemed like they thought that since Endeavor was off the streets, no other heroes were going to be around to catch them. It was stupid, but then again, most of the criminals Izuku caught weren't really known for being smart. He'd even decided to go out a few hours earlier than he usually did tonight to help out with the increased workload!

He ziptied yet another criminal, bowing to the cashier of the convenience store that the woman had been trying to rob and rushing out the door. He hopped up onto the rooftops and started scanning for movement, checking the alleyways he knew attracted muggers the most and was just wondering if he'd somehow missed something when he was startled by a brilliant orange light flaring in the distance. He stopped in shock, feet frozen to the rooftop as the wall of flame grew brighter, smoke starting to rise and block some of the light as Izuku watched. He wasn't close enough to hear anything, but he knew that people were screaming.

They hadn't been fast enough. Endeavor was back.

Izuku instinctively started running toward the commotion before his brain caught up and he stumbled to a stop. He'd promised Eraserhead that if Endeavor showed up, he'd run in the opposite direction. He'd promised Kaminari that he wouldn't abandon him. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't use vigilantism as a way to die anymore. But...

But hadn't he also promised to protect people when he became a vigilante? Hadn't he basically promised the heroes that he'd help out when they weren't enough? Based on the size of those flames, Endeavor had been modified, or at least drugged, to make his quirk stronger. He knew that every hero even remotely close would be called in, but the last berserkers they'd faced had been capable of destroying city blocks!

Filled with determination, Izuku started running again. He'd stay out of sight and wouldn't get anywhere near Endeavor, but if he could help evacuate, then the real heroes could focus on fighting! He'd be able to keep all his promises!

He ran across the rooftops until he had a good vantage point of one of the burning buildings. It was a business building, the kind with floor to ceiling windows that were starting to be backlit from the flames. There didn't seem to be too many people left in the building, but those that were there were focused on the windows, which meant that the fire might be blocking the stairs. Izuku could see Rock Lock on the ground below the building, so he grabbed his slingshot from his toolbelt and started shooting out the windows. The first one shattered with a satisfying crash and Rock Lock didn't waste any time using his tiles and debris to make a staircase to the window and get the people down. Izuku kept breaking windows until Rock Lock got everyone out, then ran to find other people to save.

Some buildings, Izuku just helped by breaking the windows, others he ran inside and helped get people out. Sometimes he had to shoot some marbles at people to stop them from looting the local businesses and get out of there! Didn't they know how dangerous staying around was?

"Viridian!"

Amplifier's voice echoed over the chaos and Izuku stopped. He tried not to shuffle awkwardly as the civilians around him turned to look as he was called out. He couldn't see Amplifier and if she was using her quirk to talk to him, she probably didn't know exactly where he was either, so why ask for him specifically when there were so many other heroes around.

"Viridian! If you can hear me, you are the Berserker's target! Get out of the area as soon as possible! Heroes! Please pass along the message!"

Despite the fires roaring all around him, Izuku felt like he'd been doused in ice water. He was the target?! Izuku realized he'd started hyperventilating and forced himself to take a deep breath. This wasn't good. Amplifier had referred to Endeavor as a Berserker, which gave a good indication of his power level and if Izuku was his target, he probably wouldn't stop his rampage until he either passed out or got what he wanted. Izuku should take off his hoodie and go home as fast as he could and let the heroes take care of the situation, but the last time Endeavor had been involved in a berserker attack, thirteen people had died and he'd been the hero in that situation. Izuku couldn't let people die tonight just because he was being selfish and was too afraid to fight.

He started running, focusing on getting to the place where the flames were the most intense, a mental map forming in his head alongside his list of Endeavor's weaknesses, hoping that whatever experiments the villain factory had done on him hadn't changed those too much. Endeavor's main weaknesses, of course, was his own quirk and his tendency to ignore his surroundings. He had a high collateral damage rate because he didn't tend to care what was around him as long as he took care of the villain and his fights tended to end rather quickly, even more so than heroes like Ingenium who were focused on speed. At first, Izuku had thought that was because he was trying to have the best incident resolution rate, and that was certainly part of it. The faster Endeavor beat one villain, the faster he could move onto the next enemy and the next arrest. But in the research Izuku had done since Eraser had told him that Endeavor was missing, he'd discovered another reason for the short fights.

Endeavor had a tendency to overheat.

Like most flame users, Endeavor had a good amount of heat resistance, but he didn't have heat immunity. As with every quirk, there would come a point where Endeavor's flames would turn on him and he'd start getting heat exhaustion. If he kept fighting past that point, he would get weaker and more dehydrated until he eventually theoretically passed out. Not that Izuku planned on still fighting him past that point. No, basically what he was planning was a giant game of tag mixed with hide and seek.

He'd started being a vigilante by just running, after all.

Izuku could hear both Amplifier and Present Mic yelling by the time he saw Backdraft fighting the fires. He heistated for a split second before deciding that there was pretty much no way Backdraft would remember one stupid kid from almost ten months ago and ran up to him, "What areas have already finished evacuating?"

"Second street and the warehouse..." Backdraft did a double take as he realized who he was talking to, "What the fuck, kid?! Didn't you hear that you're the target?! Get outta here!"

Izuku shook his head, "We need to get him away from civilians and keep the fight to unpopulated areas, hopefully without a lot of water. You said the warehouse district has already evacuated, right? I'll lead him along second and take him there. Have any heroes that aren't focused on rescue follow us!"

"Kid!"

Izuku ignored him as he started running. Backdraft tried to use his water spurts to knock Izuku off his feet, but he simply rolled and kept running, soaked but otherwise none the worse for wear. At least the water would form another layer of protection from the flames right?

He skidded to a stop as he rounded a corner and the main fight came into view. A small group of heroes was fighting Endeavor, but they couldn't get close to him because his flames were just too hot. At first glance, Izuku could see Present Mic and Ingenium, at the very least, but it looked like Amplifier had switched to focusing on evacuation and left the main fight to those with more powerful quirks. Endeavor himself was growling and seemed to be trying to do the most damage he could and kept shooting bursts of flame toward both the heroes and the civilians that were still struggling to evacuate, considering how quickly Endeavor kept running toward them. Izuku took a deep breath as he loaded a marble into his slingshot.

"Mom, Kaminari." Izuku whispered softly to himself. "I'm sorry. I know it's risky, but I'll find a way to come home to you. I promise."