Nana was really growing to hate 'The Batman'
At this point, after almost two months of chasing after the bastard she didn't even know what the hell his quirk even was.
Her own personal theory was something like "Fear aura"
Because holy hell she needed something to explain how completely useless the villains were in identifying it.
At this point, her tally had everything from a possible mutation quirk where the guy was actually a bat, some minor super strength quirk, a combat thinking type quirk like better reflexes or some crap, possibly some precog, all the way up to a quirk that could move people, invisibility, flight and anything in between.
Every day he kept going was another day the authorities got more and more riled up. And more and more on her case. Anti-quirk laws were just approved, having someone breaking em willy fucking nilly was not a good image.
And at this point, it was a point of personal pride really.
One did not evade Shimura Nana for two whole months on a wild goose chase without consequences damnit!
So when Gran Torino finally managed to track down a pattern in the attacks and had narrowed down the next vector to just two possible sites, she was completely and totally on board for the stakeout.
Turns out, stakeouts were borning.
Really fucking boring.
Stakeouts for three days with criminal activity happening right infront of her were even worse.
But, it did give her an opportunity to write down everyone's names (or makeup some of her own) and imagine the many many many ways she was going to punch the living hell out of them after Batman was dealt with.
It was honestly a little more entertaining than it should be.
Maybe she was a closet sadist?
Did that have something to do with One For All?
Maybe she had taken on personality traits of other users.
Wait…
Did that mean one of the previous users was a sadist?
That was worrying!
People had to be careful when choosing successors! They couldn't go picking sadists… or… women who rambled to themselves about possibly non existent personality trai-
Her phone rang.
She didn't need her quirk to jump that high.
Fishing it out of her pocket she found Gran Torino's caller ID staring back at her.
"Hello-"
"He's here!"
One for All thrummed through her body, and the smile that spread over her features was almost manic, sadism concerns or not.
Float worked as advertised, it allowed her to… well… float.
With One for All however, her body shot through the sky like a bullet, accelerating so fast it made her head spin, all but shattering the sound barrier in an instant as she flew across town towards the second site where Gran Torino was located.
She made it there in under three minutes, Gran Torino was still waiting outside, he wouldn't go in without backup if he could avoid it. It was how they usually worked.
He turned, looking her way with a smile. "Ahh, nice of you to join us."
"So where's the big bad bat?" She asked, half with malicious intent, half with genuine curiosity. Honestly, after two months could you blame her?
Torino gestured to the nightclub down below. "Down there, from what I've gathered the goods they're smuggling is in the sub level."
"How do you know he's down there the-"
Gran Torino held up a single hand held walkie talkie, something he'd probably snagged.
He switched it on.
Instantly, the sound of gunfire, screams of pain and shouted orders made her jump.
Torino clicked the walkie off.
She whistled, thoroughly impressed. "Damn, the soundproofing down there must be amazing. I can't even hear the gunshots."
"Oh yeah They spent a hell of a lot on it. Well, shall we?"
She bowed. "Age before beauty Gran-"
"Pearls before swine!" Torino snarked back, leaping off the ledge.
She huffed.
The nightclub's loud music was pounding in their ears, entering through a backdoor the two heroes slipped through, apparently the same route that the Bat had come through, given how the guard at the door was out cold.
So was the one at the security elevator.
And the ones in the hallway at the sublevel entrance.
Gran Torino and Nana walked through the halls, taking note of an ever increasing tally of groaning, injured and very beat up bad guys.
She saw one guy twice her size with three times her muscle mass with his head stuck in a wall.
"Damn. Honestly I kinda wanna see this guy work."
"You just might get the chance." Torino replied.
She heard it then, the sound of fighting.
The two of them started running.
They made it right to the end of the hall, they heard a gut churning crack a scream and then-
The door infront of them practically flew off its hinges, snapping off its moorings and frame completely, Nana's whole body braced arms smashing into the wood and shoving it aside along with the body behind it.
The guy hit the ground, face bruised, eyes rapidly swelling shut and blood pouring from busted teeth and an equally busted nose.
She looked inside.
And there he was.
Had to be him.
Either that or there was some kind of secret convention of "Horned black suit guys" running around and no one told her.
It vaguely resembled a bat she guessed.
It was actually pretty high quality for a vigilante. The body armor was form fitting, but easy enough to move in that a throw like what he did to the guy he broke the door with possible, it looked strong, maybe good enough to stop bullets. She could spy a utility belt peeking just past the shroud of the cape.
Torino moved in first, his quirk activating, allowing him to hover, flying up to swoop down. The room was taller than normal and the second she stepped through the door it didn't take her long to realize why.
They were in a lab.
Nana blinked, eyes turning this way and that way. There were people here. Five of them, laying on beds, IV tubes in their arms she vaguely recognized one as a boy that had been kidnapped just recently. He had some kind of groundquake quirk or something.
"What… is this?" She asked, looking at Torino. "I thought we were tracking weapon shipments."
Her old friend looked just as confused as she was.
"The weapons are three doors down to the right." They turned, looking to the vigilante.
His voice was gutural, low and deep, almost growling. "This… this is something they're doing on the side."
He turned beginning to march away towards the main computer.
"And what the hell is 'this' supposed to be?" She asked, marching after him.
"All the victims have one thing in common." He said.
"You dragging it out for suspense?" Gran Torino groused. "Spit it out."
"Powerful quirks." His hand reached out, finger smacking against the clipboard at the foot of the bed.
Nana froze.
The bat kept walking. "I trust you two can call this in."
"We can." Torino said. "But you're coming with us."
The Bat never even broke his stride. "Not happening."
Torino darted through the air, coming to a stop infront of the Bat. "Sorry, wasn't a request. You're in violation of the anti-quirk vigilante laws."
She could almost feel the man smiling. "I doubt that."
Torino's face twisted with displeasure, reaching up to place his hand on the man's shoulder, his other pulling free his handcuffs "Don't make thi-"
That's as far as he got.
He's fast. Fast enough that Nana has to wonder if its a speed quirk of some kind. The Bat's fist snaked out, punching Sorahiko dead in the center of his chest. Her old friend gagged, all but retching as he choked on air, the quirk in his legs sputtering like a choking engine.
She rushed forward.
Batman threw him right at her.
She stopped mid charge, rapidly adjusting her stance to catch Torino who still kept choking and sputtering as he tried to suck down a greedy lungful.
The Bat stepped back, hands falling into the folds of his cape as something clinked onto the tiled floor.
Then the room was swallowed by smoke.
Nana grit her teeth, One for All pulsing through her body as she threw out a single, solid punch.
The smoke was blasted to the back of the room.
And the Bat was gone.
She set Sorahiko down, her old friend still coughing, trying to breathe as she stepped into the room, head on a swivel.
The only door was behind her. But somehow… he was just gone.
Nana snarled.
"You bastard! Get back here! I haven't even gotten to punch you yet!"
(X)(X)(X)
She went home that night, irritated.
She was tired and angry.
But most of all…
She was scared.
Opening the door she found Bruce diligently cleaning and preparing some food at her kitchen.
He looked to her, offering one of those smiles of his that kinda said "I know something you don't"
Right now, she didn't have the mind to play games, fun as they tended to be sometimes.
"Long day?" He asked
She sighed.
"Yeah… yeah you can say that."
The cops were still going through the area.
The weapons were definitely there, so were the drugs. One of the cops with a specialized quirk said that some money was missing. Actual cash money taken recently from where it had been.
She suspected Batman had taken it.
It's how most vigilantes funded themselves without official backing or sponsors, but she could hardly prove it without catching the guy.
But that didn't matter, not really. Weapons were bad, drugs were worse.
The missing people though…
They worried her.
Each and every single one of them said the same thing as soon as they'd regained consciousness
They couldn't activate their quirks.
So either she stumbled onto some hellhole where someone had found a way to remove people's quirks through science…
Or she stumbled onto a place where… he was harvesting victims… harvesting their quirks.
Both possibilities were completely terrifying.
...
She wasn't ready…
In another ten years… or maybe the next successor, if she found one… maybe.
But right now?
Right now if she faced him… she'd die.
She was strong. When she activated One for All she was faster than Gran Torino, stronger than most people with strength quirks could ever dream of being. She could fly, and she wasn't half bad thinking on her feet either.
But that wasn't enough.
Not nearly enough.
Not against him.
He'd been alive for centuries. His top lieutenants alone were enough to give her tough fights and he completely outclassed all of them by nautical miles.
She would die…
Just with the five quirks he took tonight… she couldn't even begin to think on how she could force her way past those potential combinations.
And he had hundreds; thousands more like it.
Bruce caught on to her mood it seemed, either that or her emotions were just obvious on her face.
"Something's wrong."
It wasn't a question.
Nana looked at him. She couldn't say she knew her housemate well, but after a few months...she did think of him as a friend.
A quirkless friend, one who would never see the Hero work she did, never be put in danger by it.
Never be in danger of crossing paths with All for One.
He'd be completely beneath his notice.
She couldn't tell him. Not everything.
But maybe something, maybe enough to vent, tell her own fears like she hadn't been able to do with her own family that she abandoned, or Gran Torino who she worried for…
But… maybe Bruce, just a bit would be okay.
"It's… kind of a story."
He pulled out two glasses and a bottle of wine.
The invitation was clear.
I got time.