Author's Note: More hero stuff! With Jin! Hawks! And Dabi getting arrested!...you heard me. Still looking for a Beta Reader. Always open to ideas or suggestions for short stories of story arcs! Thank you for the continued support!
Chapter 62 - Heroics
Hawks Hero Agency opened the Spring following Keigo's 18th birthday. The news was all over it with pictures, interviews and a small tour. Sasha had her own office in his agency for when she was working with Keigo since she was still mainly a Commission Employee. She had insisted the public didn't need to see anything more than the first floor, after all, villains watched the news as well. Echo was the first sidekick on the books. Keigo's grandfather, Matsumoto Nakamura, claimed he would handle the agency's legal paperwork for the first year. There were a number of insurances and claims to file, as well as making sure the agency got its payroll and Commission files handled. If anyone could make the Commission back down, it was Keigo's grandfather.
They hired a number of civilians with animal quirks for the administrative side. Something Sasha was so happy over because she loved walking through the agency and seeing all the diversity. More and more of Keigo's decisions were publicity gold for her. Keigo had had years to plan out every detail of what he wanted. Pieces had been handed to him as he got older, and he certainly had the money to get everything he wanted and more. From unrated heroes and sidekicks signed up for single year terms, to administrative workers that he knew he could trust because he had taken the time to meet every single one of them. The first thirty minutes of every day for Hawks was walking through and saying hello to each person, asking how their family was, or what their latest scores were in whatever college courses they were taking.
By the end of the first month there were three heroes and six sidekicks at the agency. Sidekicks traded week long hours with each hero to get used to working with each other, including Echo. Patrols were evenly split, and it was hard to tell such a well running agency was only a month old. Hawks was careful not to only pick flying quirks when he hired on people. His time with the Commission had taught him what quirks worked with others, and he had a diverse group from manifesting quirks to full body affected quirks. Some that were emotion or mental based like his parents, and some that were animal based like his own. Everyone needed to be able to work with everyone else, that was the only requirement.
It was early on a warm day in June, and today's pairing was Hawks and Echo patrolling the south business and entertainment district. They overlapped with another agency, so their radios were set to a mutual channel to not step on each other's toes. Hawks was perched on top of a curved lamp post , wings curled around him to shade his face from the morning sun. Echo was hanging by his feet from a neighboring lamp post, yawning as he curled his arms around to fold over his head and make him look every bit the giant bat he shared his quirk with. "Why are we doing a morning patrol after a late night patrol?" Echo whined, synthesizer around his neck but not turned on. Hawks didn't demand he wear or use it unless Echo thought he needed it.
"Because we both want off for the weekend for Mila's birthday, and to do that we needed to switch with someone for the time off." Hawks grinned and waved to a group of teenagers that were huddled nearby pointing and giggling at the two teenage heroes. Echo's ears swiveled hearing the giggles and he whispered into his earpiece. "Hey, are they cute?" Hawks grinned wider and waved them over as he spoke quietly. "For girls, sure." Echo groaned and shifted a bit, but remained wrapped up and hanging. "I know you like guyth, but if they were guyth would they be cute?" The girls scooted closer, still giggling as Hawks tilted his head. "Yeah. I'd say so. One of them might be your type, she's all gothic and black makeup."
The girls were close enough they could reach up and touch Echo if they tried, Hawks resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his elbows, a grin still plastered on his face as the girls took pictures on their phones talking to each other.
"It's Hawks and Echo!"
"They look so cute up close!"
"Aw, Echo looks adorable!"
"He's sleeping because it's daytime!"
"My mom is never going to believe this!"
"I want to get a selfie with them!"
Echo couldn't see them, but he sounded excited hearing there was a gothic dressed teenage girl below him. "Really? Oh, are they clothe? I'm gonna thtretch my wingth out and thow manly phythique." Hawks had an idea and pointed at one of the girls, making a tickling motion with his fingers as he pointed to Echo. "I'm sure that's exactly what you should do, Echo. Sweep them off their feet." One of the more daring and confident girls tucked her phone away and crept up to right below Echo, standing on her tiptoes to reach his sides. She started tickling his sides as he was trying to talk to Hawks and Hawks laughed when he saw Echo wriggling and squirming as he tried not to fall from his hanging position.
"Let me know when-haha- oh they-hahaha-wait a minute! Hehehe thtop! Thtop! Hahah!" Echo unfolded his wings and the girls laughed as he tried to pull himself up to get away from the tickling. He had just managed to climb up and cling to the top of the lamp post when a call came through the radio about a group of villains destroying vendor kiosks and pop up vendors in the business district. Hawks gave the girls a salute as he flapped his wings to lift off and away. "Come on Echo!" Echo grinned at the girls and waved, getting waves and goodbyes as he flew after Hawks. "I'm gonna get you for that." Echo threatened as he steered a different direction to get a different view on what they were heading for.
Hawks grinned and called in their ETA as he put the sun to his back so he could hide in it as he looked down at the wide street that was full of small businesses and restaurants. A series of small kiosks and booths were run down the middle leading to a large square with a stage for performances and announcements. Right now, a number of villains were trashing the place. They all looked the same, making it hard to really count them, but Hawks had to guess it was about eight, all dressed in tactical gear and vests with masks over their faces. They were touching and pointing at things, and whatever they targeted was collapsing or falling apart. It wasn't the same as decaying what they touched, but it was breaking it apart. Wood, metal even glass was shattering under their attacks.
Hawks dove to get closer, seeing civilians in the crossfire as heroes who had been patrolling from another agency were trying to subdue the villains. He sent out feathers to pull them to another street as he came down feet first into one of the villains. Once he had the guy on the ground, he rolled to pin him down and cuff his hands behind his back. Hawk's agency was using a series of quirk nullifying cuffs that used sonic pulses, so Hawks wasn't certain how well these would work. Still, he heard Echo radio on the headphones. "They're uthing thonic vibrathons to dethtroy thingth!" Hawks glanced to the stage and saw Echo had just cuffed a villain and hung him from one of the overhanging scaffolds of the stage to keep him from using his quirk again, before flapping off after another villain.
Hawks hoisted his prisoner up as feathers returned from evacuating civilians and were sent back out to try and help as he looked at the guy's masked face. "What are you doing here? Why attack these small businesses?" The villain grinned through the ski mask. "Wow, even you showed up for this. You weren't the target but taking you out would be a bonus." He tried to headbutt Hawks, only to have Hawks twist him around and flap his shortened wings to hang the guy from a nearby lamp post. "Chill there for awhile!" Hawks flapped his wings quickly before banking left to see another hero with the ability to create ice had locked down a third villain.
"Echo! How are we looking at civilian evacs?" Hawks spoke on the radio and dodged a potential attack. One of the villains had tried to break down a light post to fall onto Hawks, but the winged hero was able to back flap his wings and avoid it. "I got two detained. Freethe hath two and you got one. Only three to go." Hawks nodded and went to turn but felt heavy vibrations overtake him and shook him in the air so badly, he stumbled and flipped midair before slamming into the side of a wooden stand that had a canopy overhang. He heard Echo yelling in his headphones but his ears were ringing too much for him to understand what was said. His wings twitched, and Hawks slowly sat up with a hand to his head. His feathers were rigid and unmoving as if stunned, and he couldn't blame them because it had been a shock how quickly those vibrations had struck him.
Before Hawks could get himself coordinated he saw one of the dark dressed villains running at him. Thinking quickly, Hawks grabbed one of the stools at the wooden bar in front of the stand, where the customer would sit and be covered up top, sides and back wind. It reminded him vaguely of a Ramen stand, but as he slammed the stool into the side of the villain, he heard the owner yelling. "Hey, catch!" Hawks turned and caught an iron grilling rack which he held in his hands and swung at the villain who was trying to grab him with a hand. The villain was pushing Hawks back into the employee area where the cook was, and Hawks glanced around quickly as his ears kept ringing. He saw raw and cooked chicken, sauces in bowls and knocked over storage and cooking supplies.
He stepped back and out of the now recognizable Yakitori Stand and his wings perked as the villain charged from the inside towards Hawks. Thinking fast, Hawks held up the giant grill rack he had been handed and slammed it right into the villain's chin and watched the guy sag backwards to the ground, out cold. The cook inside the stand who had been hiding under the steel tub that was full of unlit charcoal got the nerve to peer out as Hawks handed him back the grill. "Thanks. Do you mind if I cuff this guy here for a short bit?" The cook shook his head no, awestruck that he had helped a hero, and that the same hero was cuffing and hanging the villain from the privacy canopy hooks near the top of the booth.
"Gotta get back to hero work, but I will be back later for lunch. Yakitori is one of my favorites!" Hawks gave him a salute and jogged away as Echo was swearing and yelling over the headphones. "Come in Hawkth! I thaw you go down, are you ok? Pleathe report!" Hawks flapped his wings and a shock ran through his system from his back, causing him to spasm and grab a bench to not end up on his knees. "Shit. I can't fly. I got hit by one of those vibrations and my wings are burning." One of the villains ran towards him with a collapsing baton and Hawks pulled hks largest primaries to form swords, flinching at the pain it caused when he tried to harden them. "Hardening them hurts but works."
He swung to defend himself from the melee attack, keeping the villain at a distance as Echo dropped on the back of the distracted assailant and snapped another set of cuffs on their hands before they could do anything. Hawks let out a breath and looked around as the tell tale a finished fight took over the area. It wasn't until the applaud hit that he flinched and moved to get one of the hung villains and lead them to the police van that was already gathering up the other villains. Between the two agencies there was less damage than expected, but a number of stands and kiosks had been wrecked. To avoid the overwhelming noises of the crowd, Echo called in a media unit to look at Hawks.
Hawks begrudgingly agreed as he tried a test flap and found his wings and felt the electric burn on his back again. "I don't know what this is but I can't seem to get airborne if I can't flap more than once." Echo nodded agreement and they both waved as Echo led him into the back of the Ambulance. He seemed to hurry with helping his friend into the back and getting the doors closed. Hawks let out a deep sigh as he lifted his glasses, looking at the medic. She was short, dark hair and heavily tanned skin with tribal tattoos peeking out from under her uniform. Her eyes were a bright green, giving her an exotic look with the silver studded jewelry she was wearing. Raising an eyebrow, he watched as she started checking him over for obvious injuries before checking his vitals.
"Hello Pro Hero Hawks. I'm Nui, looks like you're alright from a quick glance. Echo says you can't take off right now?" Hawks tilted his head and his wings fluttered a bit in the cramped space. "I did get targeted by one of their quirk attacks and since, it feels like electricity running down my back when I try to take off." She motioned for him to turn around. "I'm thankful you're not fighting me on medical care right now. I can't tell you how many times I have to pull files and rank on heroes who are hurt." Hawks turned to sit with his back to her and felt her remove the panel on his jacket to see where his wings connected to his back. "I trust my sidekicks. If they say I need medical attention, I won't fight it." She raised an eyebrow, poking and moving his right wing, watching his face for the flinch he made before glancing outside.
"That's good. You know that cute one, Echo, he called in a few from your agency I think. They're taking care of cleanup and reporting right now." Hawks glanced back to see and winced, a pained trill leaving his throat. "Ow, that hurt." Nui noticed he was making a fist, gripping a small wooden handle in his hand. "Your quirk, your feathers are telepathically controlled?" Hawks nodded and manipulated a few to fly around before hardening, softening and going back to his wings. "Doing that hurts though. Not as bad as trying to fly." Hawks admitted as she fully removed his jacket and frowned.
"Well, you got hit with a sonic pulse. It's like putting someone on an amusement park ride all day and then asking them to walk. Let me try something." Nui pulled out a needle and injected it right in the muscles of his shoulder blades before massaging the area with plastic gloves hands. "There, let's give that a moment." Hawks grinned and turned to look at her. "So, Echo is cute, huh?' Nui blushed and started putting things away as Hawks moved his wings a little and experimented by moving some of his feathers. The pain was gone and he perked as she smiled filling out a form on a clipboard. "So I gave you an injected anti-inflammatory and I'm prescribing some more you can take if the pain returns only until there's no more issue. Aside I'll clear you back to the field."
He grinned and accepted the paper with instructions and prescription from her. "Thank you! You are the hero who saved this hero." Hawks smiled wide and opened the back of the ambulance to hop out. Echo walked over and Hawks gave him a silent nod as he pocketed his paperwork. "Are we good to go?" Echo nodded, his goggles and synthesizer active. "All set here. Back to the office?" Hawks nodded and flexed his wings before taking off, waving and winking to fans that were cheering for him when they realized he had still been around. Echo followed, keeping an eye on Hawks as he headed towards the office nearby.
/
Dabi stood in a crowd of people outside the district courthouse, a large black hood and medical mask hiding most of his features. He was with almost twenty other individuals spread out among the large crowds of civilians waiting to see what the verdict was on Pro Hero Snatch. Stain had informed them all Snatch, who could turn parts of himself into sand and create sand manifestations, had been accused of reckless endangerment of two minors and misappropriation of funds from his own agency. Everything that Stain had been claiming was wrong with hero society was being broadcast on TV and could be revealed if Snatch was found guilty.
Stain's followers were in the crowd to react in case Snatch were acquitted. It was possible because the only way to hold a pro hero accountable is bring them up on charges. Those charges go through the court first, and then the Heroes Public Safety Commission as far as license suspension or fines. In Stain's philosophy, a hero who did such things wrong shouldn't be acting as a hero and treated like a hero. So when the jury finished deciding his guilt or innocence, he would come out with the assistant district attorney, Snatch and his lawyers and everyone would be told what the verdict was.
If he was found guilty, there would be a sentencing hearing. If he was found not guilty, Stain wanted his followers there to react and follow his lead. Dabi believed in what Stain said, the man had spent numerous evenings talking to Dabi about his father, Endeavor. The two had compared theories and philosophy late into the hours of the early morning. Dabi had followed Stain all across Japan, to rallies, speak outs, group meetings and more. Yes, Dabi continued to stay in communication with Keigo and Jin, but his work allowed him to see the villains and heroes that Stain spoke about. It made Dabi feel included when Stain would actually acknowledge and thank the twenty year old tall dark haired pyromaniac. As far as Dabi was concerned, if Stain wanted a riot right now, he would get it going.
The doors opened, the news began to record, people asking questions and cameras going off as Snatch walked out with his lawyers, his blue pirate style bandana mask on, and wearing a suit for court. The assistant district attorney stepped out and walked to the podium where microphones were sitting ready to pick up the announcement of the verdict. The assistant district attorney adjusted his tie and waited for the questions to die down. Dabi took a quick look up on the steps to make sure there was no one he knew up there, looking for Stain, who had not shown himself yet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today, a panel of judges listened to testimony and evidence in regards to allegations against the Pro Hero, Snatch. After much deliberation and difficult debate, the court system has found Pro Hero Snatch to be Not Guilty of all charges brought against him." Dabi blinked with wide eyes as the crowd exploded with cheers and questions. Dabi balled his hands into fists, trying to keep himself from unleashing a fiery explosion in the crowd. He was angry. Lovid, beyond pjssed off. Heroes get away with everything because they're heroes! They never take accountability for their actions! The sound of the assistant district attorney speaking had cut out, the deep voice of Stain taking over the PA system.
"What a poor excuse you call justice. This hero is so guilty that he hides behind lawyers and steals money from his own agency to fund bad habits. No conviction to do right, only caring about his own reputation. He doesn't even care about the reputation or well being of those children. A false hero if I've ever seen one. I will correct these mistakes of society and bring balance to the world of heroes!" The sound of gunfire erupted through the air and the lawyers next to Snatch fell to the ground bleeding. Snatch created a shield of sand in front of the assistant district attorney as security and police began trying to disperse and check the crowd, looking for shooters. Dabi spotted Stain running through the crowd for the hero on the steps, trying to avoid security as he looked to be targeting Snatch. Dabi and the others of their group began to get in the way of security, one member starting to yell riot as they encited a fight to break out and keep the police busy.
Stain only got to the bottom of the steps before a few sidekicks who worked for Snatch got in his way and tried to fight him off. With his long blade out, Stain forced them back as Dabi helped encourage the riot. Hoping to give Stain the extra time to get to the hero. Dabi was unable to focus on Stain anymore because police had identified him as helping to stir up the growing riot. Two police tried to corner him as he looked between them. "I don't want to make you guys sorry." He spoke with a raspy voice as his arms and shoulders lit up with blue flames. A distracted glance towards the steps gave Dabi the sight of two sidekicks bleeding from stab wounds, but Stain was gone. Snatch was moving among the crowd trying to calm the riot, and Dabi missed the third officer who slammed a nightstick into his gut.
Doubled over, Dabi was pushed to the ground face down, his hands yanked behind his back, and a shiver ran up his spine as quirk suppressing cuffs went around both wrists. He tried to flare up his flames, but nothing happened, causing him to growl. Dabi tried to yank and struggle as he was lifted by police, the riot police on sight with a few heroes who specialize in crowd control. He was taken to a large van and pushed in to sit down. Other supporters of Stain, as well as a number of civilians who had helped to start and encourage the riot were cuffed in van as well, a few beaten up a bit from their brawling.
One of the other followers of Stain leaned towards Dabi and whispered. "He got away. Killed two sidekicks. What do we do now? You think they'll let us call someone?" Dabi looked at the guy and shook his head as he leaned back, trying to relax with the steady burning sensation crawling up his skin from the cuffs. "I don't know about you, but I'm calling a lawyer." The fellow supporter shook his head and sat back frustrated. "What lawyer would want to bail out rioters?" Dabi smirked as he kept his eyes closed.
"One of the best in Fukuoka."
