Takahashi looked on in dismay at the wreckage before him, wondering how it was possible for things to have gone so horribly wrong so quickly. The bar was trashed, patrons and staff alike lay groaning across the floor, nursing various injuries from the bar fight that had just occurred. Furniture was strewn across the bar in splinters, broken glass crunched underfoot anytime someone took a step, and he was pretty sure he smelt something burning.

- 6th Hell bar, 1 hour ago -

"Remember, we're laying low, waiting for his lackeys" Takahashi whispered to Serena as they sat in one of the corners of the bar "keep a cool head and we might be able to follow them back."

"Tsk, I know that damnit" Serena muttered as she took a sip from a mug, it was just water, but the taste of booze had soaked into the dirty glass for so long it still tasted disgusting. "Damn it, I'd almost forgotten how filthy these places are"

"Just deal with it, here's our mark" Takahashi said, subtly gesturing to two men who sauntered through the door and made their way to sit at the bar. They were clearly already drunk, but they were served drinks regardless. A bar like this wasn't concerned with the health or safety of its patrons, only if they were willing to pay cold hard cash to get plastered.

"Haha, so you hear bout last night?" one of the men said after taking a swig from his beer "the boss went and hospitalized that bitch who ratted us out to the cops."

Serena stiffened, clenching her fist and gripping her glass tightly as she pulled a hood over her eyes, trying to suppress her anger. Takahashi looked to her cautiously, she was keeping herself in line for now, but how long would that last? He considered using his quirk to turn off her sense of hearing, but he hadn't told her about his quirk yet and doing so out of the blue might cause her to freak out. It would be risky, but was it more risky than waiting to see how long she could control her temper?

"Oh, that private investigator chick right?" the other man said "no kidding? She's down for the count?"

"Yeah, heard about it from him when he got back last night, it was awesome. They broke down the front door all badass-like, and she was just sitting in the kitchen making herself dinner. Never saw em coming until they were inside." The first man rambled "she tried fightin em all off, but the bitch was totally outmatched. She used some kitchen knives to hold her own for a bit before one of our guys used his quirk on them and made them stab her a bunch."

"Nice, then what?" the second man laughed.

The glass in Serena's hand began to crack from the force of her grip as her breathing grew heavier.

"Stay calm Serena, you've got to keep your cool" Takahashi said, reaching out to touch her shoulder, then drawing his hand back when she shot him a glare.

"I…Know…" she growled through gritted teeth "shut up… and let me focus…"

"So then she tries running through the living room, throwing whatever she can at our guys. The boss was still hangin back for this, so our boys decided to have some fun with her too. Course we couldn't go all the way with her, cause then she might get a kid if she survived and pass on her filthy genes" the first man laughed "but they got a nice good feel of her, chick had a nice bod ya know, even if she is just trash. Wouldn't have minded being there myself."

"Damn, we missed out on some good fun." The second man chuckled "we still got the pictures of her from beforehand right? Maybe tonight I'll have some fun with them."

The glass shattered in Serena's hands, the loud cracking of the glass echoing through the bar and leaving behind only silence. Her body was trembling with barely contained rage as she scrunched her eyes shut and ground her teeth so hard her gums began to bleed. Takahashi internally cursed as the first man who'd been telling his story strolled over, cockily leaning over Serena at her table.

"Eh? You got a problem with my story girlie?" the man sneered, leering down at Serena's body

Serena inhaled deeply through her nose "not at all…" she grunted, trying her hardest not to let her anger show "just… a nasty drink… I'm sure your friends had lots of fun…"

Takahashi sighed in relief, making sure to keep it quiet so it wouldn't be noticed by the drunk thug, it seemed Serena was still in control of herself after all.

"Aw, that's too bad babe" the man said, his initial suspicions defused, but his gaze still lingered on Serena's body, his drunken eyes hungrily eating up the view. "Tell ya what, come over with me and me buddy there… we'll get you some good booze, top shelf, then maybe later we can head in back and show ya just how much fun they had in person huh?"

Takahashi stiffened, alarm bells going off in his head as he saw the man reaching out to grab Serena by the shoulder. He raised his arm and opened his mouth to intervene, but he was too slow. The moment the drunkard grabbed Serena, she snapped. Grabbing the broken shards of glass from the shattered mug, she smashed them into the man's face with all her might. Blood splattered across the table as the man staggered back and tripped over another table, sending two more men's food crashing to the ground.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Serena shouted, the air around her turning ice cold as she began pulling in heat from around her with her quirk.

The man stood up with a snarl, pulling chunks of glass out of his face as he began to lumber back towards Serena, a curse forming on his lips before a fist crashed into the side of his jaw and sent him reeling. One of the men whose meals he'd destroyed had joined the brawl now, and sent him crashing into another table, spilling the drinks of several more patrons and soaking the uniform of one of the staff members.

From there things only escalated, as each lowlife in the bar was dragged into the barroom brawl one by one. Soon it was impossible to tell who was responsible for what, with everyone shouting and grunting as they brawled with each other using anything they could get their hands on. Broken bottles and glasses, furniture, and more flew around the room as melee weapons or projectiles as the bar descended into chaos.

"Damn it Serena!" Takahashi cursed, turning his attention from the chaos to look at her, but she was gone, "oh no, where did she…?" He looked around, frantically searching the room for where the young woman had gone, he caught a glimpse of her knocking out the second thug with a well placed punch, and beginning to drag him away into a back room before a table-leg crashed into his skull and Takahashi was forced to join the brawl just to defend himself from his attacker.

- 6th Hell bar, present time-

Takahashi heard a scream of pain from one of the back rooms and ran to investigate, it took some searching to locate the source, but he soon found a storage room where Serena had brought the thug she'd captured. There was blood on the floor, and a significant amount of it at that as she knelt on top of a battered and bloody man. Splatters of blood on her face and a lack of injuries on her person indicated she was the reason for the man's current state.

The man on the ground was sobbing with pain, all of his limbs were bent at several unnatural angles, and he was bleeding profusely from several crudely made stab and cut wounds that could only have been made by a dull knife Serena must've found in the storeroom.

"No more, I'll talk, please!" the man sobbed

"I thought you might come to see things my way" Serena said, a false sweetness in her voice that was quickly replaced with venom as she leaned down and asked her question "now tell me… Where. Is. Darwin?"

"Serena! What have you done?" Takahashi exclaimed in horror

Serena didn't respond right away, first listening to the barely intelligible sobs of her interrogation target as he spilled the beans. "And you're sure that's it? Because that's not a long trip, and it'll probably be a while before someone makes it back here to bring you to the hospital" Serena warned the man "and you're not going anywhere on your own with those legs. If I find out that you've been lying to me, I know exactly where to find you."

"I'm not lying! I swear! Please stop!" the man screamed

"SERENA!" Takahashi shouted, rushing over and pulling the girl off her victim "ENOUGH! This was NOT the plan! I never gave you permission to use torture! This is breaking multiple laws and you know it!"

Serena shook off Takahashi's grip easily and began walking towards the exit. "So now you're concerned with the laws I'm breaking Mr. Takahashi?" she asked coldly "after you already agreed to help me find Darwin knowing fully well what my intentions were?"

Takahashi reached out for Serena again, but she looked back at him and he froze, his blood running cold. The look in her eyes was one he recognized from his times undercover as a villain, if he challenged her here, there was no guarantee he'd be safe from her wrath.

"I promised not to blow your cover, and I haven't, all that happened here was a simple bar brawl that broke out when a drunk man assaulted a woman and she fought back." Serena said "it happens all the time in crappy bars like this. Hardly a week goes by where you can't find at least a handful of brawls like these going on. Your cover is as airtight as ever, and I got the information I needed. I thank you for your assistance Mr. Takahashi, but here is where we part ways."

Takahashi lowered his hand and looked down at the broken man behind him, then back to Serena as she stood in the doorway. "If your mother could see you now… what would she think?" he asked quietly

Serena paused for a moment, clenching her fists, then opening them again slowly. "She can't see me now… that's why I'm here." She said quietly, then she left.