Chapter 32: The Meeting
Hey howdy hey hello, welcome to the show! Enigma's back!
It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that! I'll stop wasting your time, and we can just jump into this.
Feel free to review, but don't just rip into me. I'm doing this for fun, not excessive criticism.
"Hey, Kirishima! I saw your name on the hero watch this morning!" Moxie bounced in place next to Kirishima, laughing, "Your hero name! They mentioned you!"
"Yeah, your name came up on some news articles too!" Kaminari showed Kirishima his phone excitedly.
"Tsuyu, Uraraka, look! Your names are on here too!" Ashido told the two girls, "You too, Hiryu!"
"Wow! It is really?" Uraraka asked.
"Wh-Why was I mentioned…?" Hiryu pondered.
"Cause of that big incident!" Moxie told her, "I was there too, but I just ran suppression, so I think I blended into the crowd!"
"But schoolwork comes first!" Iida butted in, "Don't go nodding off during class!"
"Yeah, you got it Iida!" Kirishima nodded.
"Like I could ever nod off!" Moxie grinned.
"Aren't you two in hot water for your grades?" Kaminari asked.
"Yeah, but we're working on it!" Moxie nodded, "Aizawa's preparing supplementary lessons for us!"
A Few Days Later
Moxie slung his backpack over his shoulder and barreled down the stairs, whipping by Ashido and out the door.
"Hey, Moxie! You're headed out as we-" Kirishima went to ask, standing by the gate with Midoriya, but Moxie was gone too fast, "Ah… I guess that's a yes."
"K-Kirishima?" Hiryu spoke, coming up behind with Uraraka and Tsuyu, "Y-You… have it today too?"
"Yep!" Kirishima grinned.
A Hero was quick to escort them to the station, where they learned they were going to the same station… and then heading in the same direction… and turning the same corner…
It was only after they saw the big three all together that they truly began to question what was going on.
Moxie was already waiting with Ms. Joke, alongside a plethora of Heroes, including Eraserhead.
"Gran Torino?!" Midoriya exclaimed, "And Mr. Aizawa!"
"Moxie, you're here too?" Tsuyu asked.
"Yep! Ms. Joke told me to meet her here." Moxie laughed, offering Tsuyu a chocolate bar, "Said if I got here early I'd get chocolate! Want some?"
"Thanks." Tsuyu took the bar, as Nejire tried to get answers out of Ryukyu.
"You'll know soon enough." Ryukyu assured her, "Sir Nighteye, I think it's about time to start."
A tall, lanky man in a suit with glasses stepped forward, addressing everyone.
"By virtue of the information everyone provided me with, I was able to make substantial progress with my investigation." Nighteye told everybody, a serious aura about him, "I have called this meeting for none other than to share information, as well as to discuss how we'll proceed in dealing with the plots of a certain small organization named the 'Eight Precepts of Death'."
Inside
"I will explain this step-by-step." Nighteye told everyone, taking his seat at one end of the meeting table.
"Ms. Joke, why the sudden request?" Moxie asked as he took his seat.
"They called us out of the blue, and I figured I'd bring you!" Ms. Joke explained.
"Wh-What's the Eight Precepts of Death?" Hiryu asked Ryukyu quietly.
"Nighteye will explain." Ryukyu assured her.
"Well then, let's begin." Bubble Girl stood up, "Since about two weeks prior, we at the Nighteye office… have been independently observing… a certain group of Villains… known as the Shie Hassaikai!"
"What was the hook?" One of the local Heroes asked.
"There was an accident involving the thief gang known as the reservoir dogs." Bubble Girl explained, "The police cleaned everything up as just an accident, but there were many points that made no sense and we began to track them."
"I am a Sidekick, Centipeder. I have been conducting the tracking and observation as per the put forth by Nighteye." One of the Sidekicks explained, "Within this one-year period that I have been investigating, there has been a rapid increase in contact, both between members of the underground organization, as well as people outside of the group. They appear to be an organization moving with the intent to expand and accumulate funds. Also, shortly after the commencement of investigation… he made contact with on Bubaigawara Jin. Villain name, Twice. They were particularly cautious of being followed and I was unable to continue tracking them, but here I was able to cooperate with the police. They were able to confirm that during this meeting some kind of skirmish had occurred."
"So it's related to the Villain alliance… that's why you called me and Tsukauchi." Gran Torino remarked.
"And where is Tsukauchi?"
"There was other information from witnesses, so he's checking on that." Gran Torino turned his attention to Midoriya, "Listen, boy. I never thought it would come to this… you've been dragged into quite an annoying situation…"
"I don't think any part of this is annoying!" Midoriya responded.
"So you know each other?!" Uraraka asked.
"From my workplace experience." Midoriya explained.
"Continuing on." Nighteye interrupted.
"Uh, we have this kind of process! We wanted to request everyone's cooperation on HN." Bubble Girl continued.
"You can skip that." Centipeder informed her.
"Okay!" Bubble Girl nodded.
"HN?" Ururaka repeated.
"That's short for the Hero Network!" Nejire explained, "It's an internet service that only people with a Pro license can use. They say you can see activity reports and apply for help from Heroes with useful Quirks nationwide!"
"Hey, even if they're U.A. students, what's with the brats? Can't talk with them around." One of the Heroes complained, "We're burnin' daylight just getting to the real issue of what they're plotting."
"H-He's… not incorrect." Hiryu admits quietly, being heard by almost no one.
"Enough outta you! These two 'ere are super important witnesses!" Fatgum stood up rapidly, sending his chair flying.
"The two… of us?" Kirishima repeated, confused.
"Enthusiasm… smothering…" Amajiki groaned.
"Besides, I think there's a ton o' people who're meetin' here for the first time, so better get to it! The name's Fatgum, pleasure to meet y'all!"
"So round and cute!" Ururaka and Tsuyu remarked at the same time.
"Oh! Here's some candy!" Fatgum offered.
"We have reason to believe that the Eight Precepts of Death have made the dispersal of unlicensed goods part of their livelihood. As such I have requested help from Heroes familiar with that line of work." Nighteye explained.
"Long ago we smashed those kinda things to pieces! Then, yesterday, in Red Riot's debut battle! Tamaki was shot by somethin' new, the likes we ain't never seen!" Fatgum crushed the candy in his hand, letting it fall to the ground dramatically, "A drug… that erases Quirks."
"Erases Quirks?!" One of the Heroes repeated, as a wave of shock fell over the attendees of the meeting.
"What?! Tamaki, you're okay, right?!" Midoriya asked.
"Yeah… after sleeping it came back. Just look at this splendid cow hoof." Amajiki assured him.
"If it recovers, no need to worry. Nothin' fatal." The Pro Hero from before spoke up.
"Now hang on!" Moxie interrupts, "If someone took my Quirk during a high Bounce, I'd go splat! If a Hero loses their Quirk in a fight, that could be curtains for them!"
"It's worse than that… I'll leave the explanation to Eraserhead." Nighteye shook his head.
"It's a bit different from my Erasure. That's because I'm not attacking the Quirk itself." Aizawa explained, "A special mechanism, 'Plus Alpha', it added to a basic human body. That is a Quirk. These 'Plus Alpha' are collectively called the Quirk-Factor. Ultimately, I can only temporarily halt that Quirk-Factor. I can't cause damage to it."
"Right after Tamaki got shot we took him to the hospital to get a look-see and found that the Quirk Factor had taken damage! Luckily, it recovered naturally and has returned to normal now." Fatgum explained, "And the analysis of the thing he was shot with? There were no other abnormalities in Tamaki's body! It was only, I mean only, the Quirk that was attacked! Not a peep from the gang that shot 'im! The gun's in pieces too! Plus they didn't have no other bullets in their possession sides the ones they fired! However… thanks to Kirishima riskin' 'is life to deflect the bullet, we were able ta' obtain da' contents of that one shot!"
"Wha- I did? That came outta nowhere!" Kirishima exclaimed.
"That's an amazing feat, Kirishima!" Midoriya complimented.
"You're so cool!" Moxie nodded.
"As for what was inside… something truly sickening came out…" Fatgum continued, "It contained human blood, and human cells."
"What?!" Hiryu found herself exclaiming against her will.
"It feels like a story from some other world…" Uraraka looked like she was going to be sick.
"In other words… that effect is derived from a person… or, a Quirk. A Quirk to destroy other Quirks…" Ryukyu summed it up.
"Uh… I'm afraid I've not really been seeing it for a while now, but how is this linked to the Eight Precepts of Death exactly?" Another Hero asked.
"The guy Kirishima captured! And the illegal substance he was usin'." Fatgum explained, "That drug's distribution web's real complicated. It's gotten curtailed heavily nowadays, but it's sold wholesale across all levels by many different people, groups and organizations. And now we can finally reach the source of it all! There's no evidence the Eight Precepts of Death themselves are dealing the stuff, but there's been contact between them and a middleman organization selling it."
"That's it?!" The Hero shouted.
"Recall the clash between Villain groups that Ryukyu and her team cleaned up a few days ago. The boss of one of those gangs was with one of those middleman groups." Nighteye told them.
"One of the Villains who Gigantified only maintained it for a short while. They must have been inferior goods." Ryukyu added.
"I guess that, of the acts of organized crime that have been on the rise lately, the lion's share… seem to be traceable back to the Eight Precepts if you think about them in that light." One of the Heroes realized, "The connection's still a little hazy, though… it can maybe be construed that we're twisting things to make the Eight Precepts the culprits at any cost. I wonder if there's anything more conclusive to clinch the link?"
"The Quirk of the capo, Chisaki, is named Overhaul. It's a power that can disassemble and reassemble any target." Nighteye told them, "A Quirk that can dismantle… to destroy and repair at once. That, along with these bullets that can destroy Quirks."
Midoriya and Mirio responded to Nighteye's statement with shock and horror, something that didn't pass unnoticed by Hiryu.
"Chisaki has a daughter… though one without a birth certificate, so the particulars aren't clear. When these two encountered her, her arms and legs were wrapped in a great many bandages."
"It can't be… to do something so hideous…" Ryukyu blanched.
"Whaddya expect of this would of super-humans? All it takes is the thought and any son of a b*tch can do anything." Gran Torino glared.
"How could someone do something like that…?!" Hiryu gripped her knees tightly, looking as though she was going to be sick.
"What are you all talking about…?!" Kirishima asked, confused and concerned, "Hiryu? What's going on?"
"See? We don't need any d*mn kids around. Slow on the uptake much? Put it simply, we're saying that they're prolly making the bullets out of her body." Rock Lock spat.
"We don't know if they're trafficking them for profit. At their current stage of development, they're not very close to completion." Bubble Girl explained.
"Be that as it may… if, hypothetically, they were using them as a testing phase." The Heroes went on discussing amongst themselves,
"And using them as samples for presentations to gather comrades…"
"There's no definitive proof. However, say they gathered allies all across the country, and amassed the funds-"
"What if the completed bullets could take Quirks themselves and completely eradicate them…? Many dark, dark ideas spring to one's mind."
"Just imagin' it's gonna make my bowels seethe with rage! C'mon, we gotta search their hideout!" Fatgum shook his fist.
"So you're saying that if these dudes had been able to take the girl under protection, then this whole problem would've been resolved right then and there?" Rock Lock asked.
"I take responsibility for all of it, so I'd appreciate if you didn't put the blame on them. Even though they didn't know about her predicament… they both tried their best to saver her." Nighteye argued, "The ones who are most frustrated here and now… are these two."
"We don't fail her this time!" Midoriya shot up with Mirio.
"We'll protect her!" They declared at the same time.
"Yes, and that… will be our goal." Nighteye nodded.
And there you have it! What'd you think?
Not a lot in this chapter, but the next chapter will have more, and will hopefully be going up tomorrow! See you then.
Enigma, signing off.