Chapter 2
The Blood Banker

It seemed that as the ship docked, the entire world suddenly lit up. Which was impressive considering how deep in the planet they were.

"So, what's first?" Kirishima questioned.

Dunban flipped a single coin, "Well, a good place to rest for tonight is a good start. Which should be a bit difficult considering how little cash we have."

"Right, good point."

Once they all got off the ship, they took notice of a few security drones and bots sweeping the docks, with half as many soldiers standing guard. "Well, there's probably a good opportunity to build a resume." Reyn shrugged.

Before anyone could respond to him, a guard came up to them. "You don't look like normal travellers. Mind explaining your business in Suizo?"

Shulk was the first to speak, "We're trying to make our way to Mayflower. We're survivors of the fall of Victory."

"Well I'll be! I didn't think anybody survived that disaster!"

"Well, that aside, I assume there's a reason security is so high here?" Dunban questioned.

"In fact, there is." The soldier slowly lowered his guard, his hand shifting away from his sword. "We've had numerous cases involving a single culprit. The people here have started to refer to this ghost as the Blood Banker."

"I guess he doesn't do withdrawals?" Reyn joked, the soldier only smirking before quickly brushing it off.

"Every homicide case involving this criminal has only come up with a body drained of all blood. The strange part is that all other bodily fluids are still present in the victim."

"That's where the name comes from." Dunban hummed. Both Izuku and Kirishima looked pale.

"Could it be some sort of Quirk?" Izuku wondered.

"Doesn't seem like it. Actually…" The soldier pulled out a notepad, "I shouldn't be doing this, but maybe you could help. Go to the police and detective station near the north end of Suizo. You'll know where it is when you see it."

As they walked through the town, they started taking note of a few landmarks. One that stood out was a modern cinema near the center of town. In fact, despite the world they lived in, the towns and cities that littered the fragments were just as modern, if not more so than those of the worlds they came from.

The other thing that they took note of was the lightshow in the center of town. There was a tablet at the center of where the light seeped through the stone, that read "Here lies the center of Suizo, the Fragment of Illusion's resting place."

"With a landmark that has illusion in the name, you almost expect to see a bright neon sign that says 'Don't trust anyone'." Reyn joked, with nobody cracking a smile. "What?"

Brushing off his horrible joke, they proceeded north to the station. Just as the soldier said, it was painfully obvious where it was. Kingdom level security was swarming around it, ID stations blocking the roads.

"Guess they're not taking any chances." Kirishima said with a sigh. As they came up to the station, two soldiers stepped in front of them.

"Identification." They demanded, with Izuku stepping up.

"I have a provisional hero license. We're here to help out with the Blood Banker case." Izuku took out his license and gave it to the soldiers, who looked it over for a second before handing it back.

"Very well. You may enter alone." The first soldier said.

"Wait, why can't the rest of us come?" Kirishima inquired.

"Unless the rest of you have any form of license, you're not permitted." The second soldier snarled.

"Guys, it's alright. Only one of us needs the details." Izuku said. Shulk was visibly worried, but nobody retaliated after that. Izuku headed in followed by the second guard. Meanwhile the others stepped back.

"Yo, we'll be at the cafe a block away, meet us there!" Kirishima shouted, Izuku giving the thumbs up.

Before they even reached the door, it was nearly pushed off its hinges by a huge man. "Two days! If you don't catch that son of a bitch in two days, I'm sending in every soldier I can get my hands on to find them!"

'Well that's a warm welcome.'

The large man stomped off with two soldiers following him. "That's the chief for you, always with the shortest fuse." The second soldier laughed a bit at the end of his remark before straightening up. "Well, I'm sure the detective on the case is still here."

"After that, I don't think I want to know what the detective is like." Izuku silently muttered. As they entered the station, Izuku saw that it was just as big of a mess as he expected. Whatever paper wasn't scattered on the floor was stacked messily on desks and shelves, bursting out of binders.

"Damn the chief to hell! For all we know the Blood Banker could be hiding under these paper stacks!" A stack of paper obscured Izuku's view of the woman, but from her voice alone he knew her plate was overflowing.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" the soldier asked, dodging someone rushing past him. The woman finally came into view. She looked as bad as she sounded, frizzled hair and a crazed look in her eyes, one that screamed that she hasn't had a good night's sleep for three days straight.

"If you haven't noticed, lieutenant, I'm a bit busy here." She growled, saying lieutenant with a clear distaste.

"Well, I wanted to introduce this kid. He's a licensed hero and volunteered to help out with the case." the lieutenant said, pushing Izuku up.

"A hero freely revealing his identity like this is especially bold in these times. And more so foolish." She only glanced at him, but she talked as if she'd observed him for an hour straight.

"Ms. Suryoku, please just give us a moment, that's all we ask." the lieutenant pleaded, Suryoku breathing a heavy sigh before standing up.

"This kid better be a prodigy, or else you're helping me with this mess Mito." Suryoku snarled.

'Maybe this wasn't the best idea." Izuku thought as he hesitantly stepped forward.

"Alright kid, listen up. The Blood Banker ain't you average, run-of-the-mill villain, they're quick, clean, and more efficient than anything I've ever seen. Just today, the chief brought back the body of one of his elites, blood completely emptied out. And as you saw as you came in, if I don't get some sort of result in two days, he'll have my ass as a trophy.

"The only leads we got on this chick is that she only attacks in isolated locations. Doesn't matter if it's a civilian or a pro, it's always the same results. So what does that mean for you, you ask? Well, to put it simply, discretion is key. Since you don't carry any visible weapons, I assume you have an augmenting type Quirk?"

"Something like that." Izuku said with a nod. "I have a few other friends that could help out, though some of them do rely on weapons to fight."

"We can provide them with simple nanotech weapons, standard issue. Though, it might be smart to have one keep to the roofs as a lookout."

"I think I have someone for that. What else do you have?" Izuku continued to scribble notes on his flip notebook.

"Well— wait, when did you start writing on that?" Suryoku asked.

"When you said 'listen up'." Izuku said. Suryoku blinked before continuing on.

"A-Anyway, other than that, I should say that armor is useless against her. It seems like she can pierce the thickest of armor without effort. Your best option is to be as agile as possible and wait for an opening."

"Then… that might mean Kirishima and Reyn wouldn't be very reliable in taking down the Blood Banker, if she can pierce any armor, their specialties are taking hits, but one hit from this woman would do them in, so it might be better for them to stay on standby for this mission, which would only leave Shulk, Dunban and I. But could we really take her on our own? It already seems like she's fast enough as is, so the chances of just the three of us taking him down are slim, and if all three of us are there, he might run away, which would be more work for us—"

"Oh my God, shut up! Do you want to know everything we have on this guy or not?" Suryoku shouted.

"Oh! Sorry, I get a bit distracted when I strategize."

"So, as I was saying, Blood doesn't care about collateral damage, meaning you shouldn't either. A few broken pipes and cracked walls are better than another funeral, so break some shit if you have to. That's all the advice and intel I can give you. Get to it, kid."

"It's Deku." Izuku said as Suryoku walked away, not even sure if his words reached her.

After a bit of navigating, Izuku found the cafe that the others were at. The subtlety the group had was nonexistent with their equipment, though Izuku couldn't exactly say he didn't stick out like a sore thumb. "So, what's the scoop Midoriya?" Kirishima asked.

"Well, I'll certainly say that this Blood Banker person sounds rather dangerous. And by dangerous, I mean 'one scratch and you're dead'. Her weapons can pierce the heaviest armor out there, and one scratch could drain an eighth of your blood. So sorry to say, Kirishima and Reyn, but since you guys's specialties are tanking hits instead of dishing them out, you're gonna have to sit this one out. That's why it has to be Dunban, Shulk, and I. You two can play recon, or if we're lucky, you can back one of us up if we run into trouble."

"Alright, well these outfits and weapons aren't exactly incognito. How do we draw this guy out?" Reyn stated.

"Suryoku said we would be getting some standard issue nanotech weapons to maintain a low profile." Izuku answered, everyone blinking.

"I'm sorry, did you just say nanotech?" Reyn asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm surprised, what with the technological advancements Titanic has made. Every day, it seems like they pump out some sort of new technology." Dunban stated.

"Sure would be nice to do some weapon development in a place like that. It would at least allow me to not go salvaging each time I needed supplies." Shulk said with a laugh at the end.

"Wait, you made weapons in your world?" Izuku asked.

"Oh yeah! Shulk would make the best weapons from even the tiniest amount of material. This scrap driver here? He made it all by himself." Reyn flaunted.

"Yeah, but Dickson still outdoes me by a mile. I still have a lot to learn, both in fighting and manufacturing." Shulk humbly stated.

"Well, with that light sword thing, I'd say it makes up for your intermediate fighting." Kirishima said.

"You mean the Monado? Well, as great as it is, it doesn't come without its limitations. While it allows me to see into the future at times, there are certain visions that are set in stone. Worst still, it's hard to tell which is which, and not all are crystal clear. Besides that, it can't harm people, so when it comes to fighting crime, I'm pretty useless."

"But you can still cut through the toughest metals, right? I'd say that makes up for it." Izuku said, Shulk just shrugging and taking a sip of his drink.

"I guess."

"Besides, not many people have the ability of foresight, or anything that's a semblance of future vision. It could come in handy more than once, and probably save our butts even more." Kirishima optimistically stated.

"Alright, enough of the flattery, otherwise Shulk's head'll explode. When did they say they'll outfit us with the equipment for the mission?" Reyn asked.

"I think she mentioned sometime tomorrow when I left. The police have this place pretty well stationed, but it might be best if we hang near the station just to be safe, and check in at noon." Izuku said.

"Sounds good to me. Problem now is finding a good place to rest for tonight." Reyn shrugged.

"Well, there are plenty of alleys in this city, and I'm willing to bet some of them are sanitary enough for a good night's rest." Dunban suggested.

"C'mon, surely you can do better than that." Kirishima said with distaste.

"Well, what would you rather do? Break into an inn and sleep there without paying rent?"

"Yeah, not exactly the first morally correct choice on the list." Reyn said with a sigh. "But then again, alleys aren't exactly safe either with the Blood Banker out there."

"Actually…" Izuku slyly said as he placed an envelope down, with a few twenty dollar bills inside, "Suryoku gave me an advance pay for agreeing to help out. Should be enough to rent a room for a night."

"Now we're talkin'! Say, the force in this world ain't half bad!" Reyn cheered. "Compared to Square-tache, this Suryoku is a saint!"

With a satisfying feeling in the group, they headed off to the nearest inn. Nearby, the Blood Banker creeped on them, observing their conversation and actions.

While they disgusted her, she couldn't help but feel envy towards them.