UA's Gremlins

The Lost Boys...The Rat Finds the Rat

OOC: Back with the teachers...

Shouts could be heard from the doorway...seconds too late to be of help. Aizawa crumbled, struggling not to cry. He felt a soft paw on his hand.

"Shouta...I am so sorry. I...I...couldn't protect them," Nedzu said softly.

Aizawa yanked his hand away, turning angry eyes at his boss. "You? Are you seriously asking for forgiveness?"

The rat principal flinched back, his signature smile gone. "I should have had someone else with me."

Aizawa clenched his jaw to keep from spitting his first thoughts at the other creature. Hizashi joined them.

"I'm not sure having someone else here would have helped," Hizashi said honestly, holding Aizawa. "They...came prepared for their quirks and ours."

Aizawa wanted to shove everyone away and go hunting...but he didn't. Letting his anger take hold wouldn't save his boys.  So he just knelt there, twisted into Hizashi's arms so his back was to their boss.

Midnight joined them. "Is everyone okay? Where are the boys?"

Aizawa was silent, still refusing to speak as his mind raced over everything that had occurred in a matter of seconds. Hizashi watched him a moment, then turned to the other heroes.

"The League just kidnapped two students," the blond said with a serious tone never heard from him. "They employed someone new and a Nomu we haven't dealt with before. From what I saw, it knocked Izuku out first and was essentially batting away Katsuki's explosions. Nedzu needs to be seen by Recovery Girl."

"Who was the new person?" Midnight asked.

"I didn't see much, but it looked like his quirk had something to do with crystal," Hizashi answered. "Get word out and get people looking. Time is critical because we know how they left the League."

Dabi came racing in, fire dancing along his arms and hair. "You fuckin' rat! You turned off your damn system!"

All eyes turned to him as Aizawa snapped his head towards him. "What?"

Dabi pointed a finger at Nedzu. "That damn rat turned off the security system!"

Nedzu frowned deeper. "I did no such thing. Doing so would put the entire school at risk. I have no reason to even consider such a thing."

"Then why the fuck is it off?" Dabi demanded.

"Wait, how do you know it's off?" Ectoplasm asked.

Dabi held up his wrist. "I have to wear this damn thing so it doesn't signal that I'm here. Green light means good. Red light means low battery or the rat is calling me. No light means-"

"No system," Aizawa finished. "W-When did the light go off?"

"Five minutes ago," Dabi snarled. "No system also means easy access."

Nedzu's frown shifted into something...almost evil. A smile that caused Hizashi to shiver as he had only seen that look twice and neither time had been good.

"It wasn't me." The rat god's tone was terrifying. "I was in here with the boys testing a theory about Tracker."

"Who has access to the system?" Midnight asked, eyes scanning the room.

Nedzu's evil look darkened further. "Bring me Class 1B, would you, Midnight dear?"

All eyes turned to the principal, but Midnight nodded and hurried out to summon the class. The other teachers spread out - some left to tend to the other students and others formed a permitter around the gym. Hizashi moved Aizawa to sit near the center of the destruction where he had spotted Izuku's notebook. He let the raven haired man clutch the book, staring into space.