The Emperor's Dragon II

Tartarus Security Control

"Is this guy having an affair or something?" Dabi grumbled as the lights on the house they were watching went out. Without their target being present.

Izuku sighed. "I don't know," he replied.

This was the third night they'd been watching Eren Kuchisu's address and the third night the man had not appeared. They had checked. This definitely was his address but... he wasn't home and ... It was possible he was on some business trip but Izuku hadn't been able to find that out.

"Then where is he?" Dabi growled.

They were lying on an air platform, hovering above the house. Unless someone was specifically looking they wouldn't be noticed in the dark and while Dabi did have a fire quirk, they were both dressed suitably for the cold night air. Even so, Izuku appreciated the natural warmth Dabi's quirk produced.

"There's a possibility he's at Tartarus," Izuku admitted. They'd been watching Tartarus as well, during the day, trading off shifts. There wasn't much to report about the prison. It didn't get a lot of traffic and they had discovered, just by watching that there was an in and out shift system in place. It appeared that Tartarus traded its staff out routinely but on a weekly schedule because there was a lack of daily traffic to the island. That was one of the things they wanted to confirm with Eren.

Izuku knew Dabi was getting angsty but the villain, like him, had appreciated the time the last few nights had given them to work out the plan. Or at least the outline of a plan.

No, that was wrong. They had a plan, they were now working on the details.

But time was running out.

The longer the Doctor was in custody, the more likely it was that he'd say something. And the Hero Billboard was coming closer. They wanted to hit the day or night after it. It would have a greater impact that way. Let the heroes have their night of showmanship, and then show how ineffectual they were.

Dabi huffed, rather than acknowledging his sentence, which was acknowledgement enough.

"You are okay being the distraction?" Izuku asked. Dabi had volunteered but that didn't mean he wouldn't want to be involved.

"More than okay," the fire villain replied with a cocky little smile.

Izuku didn't like it. There was something not quite right with that smile. "I know it's personal for you," he said casually, "but you do know that they probably know who you are," he finished with a shrug.

"Who?" Dabi demanded.

"The heroes," Izuku replied. It was pretty obvious.

"They haven't worked it out yet," Dabi told him, which cemented Izuku's knowledge that it was personal for the fire villain. It was personal for them all but there was something extra there.

"They may not have advertised it," Izuku corrected.

The first villain was quiet for a few moments before he shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he declared. "It doesn't matter if they know. It doesn't change what I want," Dabi added in a hiss.

Izuku nodded and realised there was nothing more to say on the topic. Dabi would do his job. But it did remind him of something. He pulled out his phone. Have you got them yet? He sent the message to Giran. He could call the broker but he didn't know if Giran had gone to bed at a sensible hour.

I was going to let you know tomorrow, after testing them, came the reply.

He was surprised it was so quick but... Why do you need to test them? Izuku asked instead.