Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy :)
Neo Infinity - No problem, glad that you liked it. It would be interesting to see Stain realise that just because a hero has unheroic intentions (example: Mt Lady) doesn't mean they can't learn how to be more heroic. I think that would be great turning moment. Thanks for reading.
FreakyFreek - Oh they'll will, definitely. Although maybe in the next chapter which is set a few days after the Hosu incident. I think that's when the video about Stain was made. Thanks for reading.
wellingtonlucas282 - No problem. Thanks for reading.
djinn - Thanks so much. I've been thinking for a while what would happened if somebody actually stopped Stain from injuring himself instead of being scared of his bloodlust. It shows that Lewis really does care about everyone's wellbeing no matter who they are. We will see the effects of the Nomu attack on Lewis in this chapter and his reaction to finding out what they are. Thanks for reading.
Lelouch of Zero - Thanks so much. I feel like I'm putting Lewis through trauma after trauma. He is definitely the most battle worn of all my OCs. I just had to blame Endeavour for giving Lewis permission to fight the Nomu. It's just another reason for him to hate Lewis. Imagine how he'll react when he finds out about his relationship with his daughter. It will take a miracle to help Lewis deal with Nighteye. I guess you will have to see. Thanks for reading.
RubixJr - Thank you so much. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter as well.
Guest - I guess all it takes is a little encouragement from Lewis to help her improve her quirk. I can see why Stain would see him as a friendly rival or possibly a protégé. Thanks for reading.
Blaze1992 - I suppose so. I think Nighteye was more angry at the fact that Lewis put his life in danger and went against his orders. You can see why since Lewis is still a child who was put under his care. Thanks for reading.
Lustlara52 - Wow, that's... quite an opinion. Just because somebody is tall doesn't mean they can't have social anxiety. I doubt that making him short would be an improvement though, so I guess you just have to use your imagination. Hope this helps.
Thanks for reviews. Enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 22: First Mission
Nighteye Agency
"I'm so glad you were to worm your way out of being arrested, I really am," Nighteye darkly said, his eyes glowing with rage as he stared down a quivering Lewis, "But if you thought for one second that you would escape my wrath then you are sadly mistaken."
Lewis gulped as he stared up at the tall man towering over him, "I am so sorry, Sir Nighteye, sir."
The ride back to the agency was by far the worst he had ever had. Bubble Girl basically shouted at him the entire journey as she drove, which he actually found impressive if it wasn't for the fact that she was beyond furious with him. It's better not to go through all she...lectured, but the gist of it was (in this order):
1) You could have been killed
2) Don't disobey orders
3) You had one job
4) You could have been killed (she really emphasised that point)
5) Why didn't you contact the agency as soon as possible
6) How could you be so irresponsible
7) YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED
8) Don't make me worry like that ever again
As soon as they arrived at the agency, she hugged him, whispered that she's glad that he's alright, punched his shoulder for good measure and stormed off to find a throat lozenge.
Centipeder was slightly better. He led him wordlessly to Nighteye's office as if he was going to show him his own funeral. Although by the stern, grim expression on Nighteye's face, Lewis wished he was actually going to his own funeral.
"Sorry is not going to help you much here," Nighteye told him, "I trusted you with one job, a job that you said will be easy for you to complete, but instead you ended up in the middle of a catastrophe involving four murderous Nomus and the Hero Killer himself. What were you thinking? You dismissed all appropriate procedure, ignored your superiors and almost got arrested for vigilantism. Not only could you have gotten yourself injured, or worse killed, but you put this agency in danger. I already told you that my agency could close down if the government knew that one of our employees were being reckless. You could have lost mine and my sidekicks jobs and marred our reputation. I have every right to terminate this work study right now and send you back to U.A."
Lewis bowed his head sadly. He wasn't really think at the time about the long term consequences. It wasn't as if he regretted helping and saving those people, but he should have thought thing through a bit better. He really needed to apologise to Bubble Girl and Centipeder.
"However," Nighteye continued with a sigh, his expression becoming softer, "running headfirst into danger in order to protect the public is one of the key aspects of what makes a great hero. You didn't boast or did it for selfish reasons, but out of the kindness of your heart and because of that a lot of people are still alive and are thankful for your courage. That is why I won't stop your work study," he said pushing up his glasses with a single finger, "And my sidekicks and I would like it if you continued working for this agency."
Lewis eyes widened in shock before he bowed deeply before him, "Thank you so much, Sir."
"No need for your thanks," Nighteye said as he waved his hand dismissively, "I'm sure the whole ordeal was...hard on you. If you like you can take the day off to recover."
Lewis sat up and smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Sir, but I'm fine. Really."
"That's good to hear," Nighteye said with a small smile on his face, "That way we you can get your punishment out of the way."
The smile dropped from Lewis face, "Punishment?"
He heard the door lock behind him, causing him to gulp in fear.
"Of course. You didn't think you'd get off completely scot free did you," Nighteye maliciously told him as he made his way to the 'Tickle Hell' machine to the side of his office, "It was actually Bubble Girl's idea. Since you made us worry, she thought they we needed cheering up," he lifted a lever on the side of the machine so it was at its extreme setting, "And what better way to lighten the mood but with sound of laughter throughout the whole building."
Lewis cowered away, "W-wait hold on. I'm actually not that ticklish so it wouldn't work on me...maybe I can watch an old episode of 'Only Fools And Horses' that always makes me laugh. The one with the chandelier is one of my favourites."
Nighteye looked over his shoulder, his glasses lighting up eerily, "I'm afraid that this is the only way. Get in, Fleetwood. You cannot postpone your punishment."
Lewis thought he was doomed until the door to Nighteye's office unlocked itself and Bubble Girl came rushing.
"Sir, the Shinpi Gang have appeared," she hurriedly informed.
"We need to postpone your punishment," Nighteye said as he followed his sidekick out the door, "Prepare yourself, Cheshire. Your going on your first mission."
Lewis quickly followed, sighing in relief, 'Thank God for crime.'
Local Bank
The police were already at the scene by the time they got there. The forensic team were investigating the interior while other officers were interviewing witnesses outside.
Nighteye had driven Cheshire and Bubble Girl to the scene while Centipeder was ordered to stay at the agency. The sidekick had briefed Cheshire of what was happening. Apparently a gang, dubbed the Shinpi Gang by the police due to the members being unknown, has been targeting small banks in the area and robbing the vault and the clients who happen to be inside. This shouldn't be too troublesome for the police to work out if it wasn't for the lack of evidence.
And by lack of evidence they mean none whatsoever.
Five times this has happened already and nobody had reported it to the police or the heroes until after the gang had left. When questioned why by the police. they had said they were not able to due to all electrical equipment, like mobile phones, simultaneously failing. Even the silence alarms did go off until they had left.
They got out of the car and approached the police tape which sectioned off the bank from onlookers, but were stopped by a policeman.
"Sorry, you have to move along," the officer told them.
"I'm Sir Nighteye. My agency is assisting their series of thefts," the pro hero told them.
The officer looked sceptical at first but somebody called out behind him, "They're fine. Let them through."
The person who called out to them, much to Cheshire's surprise, was detective Tsukauchi who waved to them as they ducked under the police tape. He was standing by a portable table leaning over a laptop which seemed to be playing television static. Cheshire lowered his mask and gave him a small wave.
"Detective Tsukauchi," he greeted.
"Fleetwood," the detective replied, "It's been a while. Keeping out of trouble I hope."
"Well-"
"No," Nighteye and Bubble Girl answered simultaneously in a deadpanned tone, earning a sheepish look from Cheshire and a raised eyebrow from Tsukauchi.
Cheshire cleared his throat, "I wasn't expecting you to be out here though."
"Detective Tsukauchi has been consulted on this case by the local police. He has even allowed our agency to to contribute," Nighteye explained before turning back to the other man, "I assume it's the same thing as the last five times.
Tsukauchi sighed and rubbed his forehead irritably, "Yes. A small bank with little security was robbed by four masked men with two of them armed with handguns. No evidence what so ever. Not a single fingerprint or strand of hair anywhere. And I'm not just talking about the robbers.
"You mean..." Cheshire started.
"That's right. It's almost as if the entire place and everything was washed with bleach," Tsukauchi said, "It may not be a large bank but there were six people in there and three employees. Forensics are coming up with nothing about them."
"What about CCTV?" Bubble Girl asked.
Tsukauchi pointed to the laptop showing the tv static, "You're watching it. Here let me roll it back."
He pressed rewind on the laptop and pressed play when the inside of the bank before the robbery took place. A few seconds the footage started to get distorted before it turned into static. Tsukauchi fast forwarded the footage until it showed the bank once more, but this time right after the robbery.
"It's the same with the cameras on the street," the detective explained, pointing out the other CCTV cameras, "Our best guess is that the men not holding guns were using their quirks."
"They seem like very distinctive quirks. One to remove evidence and one to disrupt cameras. Are they not on the system or anything?" Cheshire asked.
"Nothing's come up," Tsukauchi said.
Bubble Girl hummed, "So, that would mean their quirks have not been registered or they managed to develop their quirks from something mundane that we happened to overlook."
"Is it possible that they come from abroad?" Cheshire suggested, "Like they somehow snuck into the country."
"That's a possibility," Tsukauchi murmured, "we may need to broaden our search. For now, we have no other leads to work on."
"We do have one," Nighteye said, making Tsukauchi frown uncertainly.
"I told you. That drawing is not going to convince any judge for a search warrant," he told them, "we need hard evidence."
"That is one of the reasons why I employed Cheshire here," Nighteye told them much to Lewis's and Tsukauchi's surprise.
'Oh so this is the case Nighteye wanted me to work on,' he realised.
"Nighteye can I talk to you in private for a moment," the detective requested, frowning deeply at the hero.
Tsukauchi led Nighteye a few meters away from everybody else to discuss his preposition. Meanwhile Cheshire turned to Bubble Girl, curious about something.
"How was Sir able to get a drawing of the inside of gang's base if we known nothing about them?" he asked.
"He used his quirk on somebody we suspected to be associated with them," Bubble Girl explained, "Sir's quirk is called Foresight. It allows him to see a person's future just by staring into their eyes. He saw that the suspect was apparently meeting with the gang and was able to not have their location but the inside of their hideout," she sighed, "However, it turns out the suspect was not as associated with them as we first thought. They wore balaclavas the whole time during the meeting and once the police eventually arrested him after the meeting, he claimed that he didn't know any of their identities. Nighteye had drawn what the inside of the hideout looked like the best he could to show the police that there was evidence of criminal activity, but, as you can see, it's not going to convince any judge," she lightly jabbed him in the shoulder and smiled at him, "We would have hit a dead end if it wasn't for you, kid. I've never seen Nighteye so happy when he saw you at the Sports Festival."
Cheshire chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the shoulder she hit, "Well, I'll try my best to help out in any way," he said followed by a small yawn.
Bubble Girl frowned in concern, "Are you sure you don't want the day off. I'm sure Sir wouldn't mind if we do the mission in a few days."
"Don't worry. I'm fine," Cheshire reassured her, "I'm sure whatever is going to happen won't be too difficult."
"Well...if you sure," Bubble Girl said unsurely.
Meanwhile Nighteye and Tsukauchi were discussing the mission the hero had planned. It was safe to say that the detective had his doubts.
"Nighteye, I can't allow a high school student to do this."
"It is nothing dangerous. Cheshire only needs to use his quirk to teleport into their hideout and find evidence of any criminal activity. He will then report back what he found and we can finally get a warrant," Nighteye explained.
"I thought he couldn't use his quirk on places he hasn't already seen?"
"He has much improved his quirk since then," Nighteye reassured, "He is the most likely to be able to accomplish this mission. I, Bubble Girl and Centipeder do not specialise in stealth."
"What about your intern, Lemillion?"
"He's unavailable. I also do not wish to take more time away from his studies."
"And if something goes wrong?"
"He can then teleport out. I trust Cheshire to do the right thing."
Tsukauchi shook his head, "This is really risky."
"I know, but I know how to prevent any of those risks from happening," Nighteye told him.
Outside The Hideout
Near an isolated warehouse in the suburbs of the city, the heroes and police sat in undercover vans and cars, staking out the place. Cheshire, Nighteye, Bubble Girl and Tsukauchi sat in the van with two other plain clothes officers.
Cheshire peeked out the window at the large building in the distance, trying to calm his nerves before his first ever mission. The warehouse was a plain. looking building, something you would walk past every day and never notice it. The red bricks it was made of were dirty and covered in moss, its windows (the ones that weren't broken) were painted over and the concrete grounds were full of potholes and discarded rubbish that people had thrown over the fence. The was no sign of human life in the place, the owners must have deserted the place long ago.
"Cheshire," Nighteye called out from the other side of the van, "Are you ready to begin?"
The teen pulled himself away from the window and nodded confidently, "Yes sir."
"Remember what you have to do?"
Cheshire nodded.
"Good. In the likely event that it was one of their quirks blocking the communication device in your headset then write the information down in this," he handed him a notebook, "and use your quirk to send them back here. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," Cheshire repeated.
"Then I wish you luck," Nighteye said with a serious nod.
Bubble Girl gave him a thumbs up and the detective gave him a reassuring smile.
Cheshire took another deep breath, 'Okay, here I go,' he thought to himself before focusing on the warehouse Nighteye had provided for him, 'What senses can I find in a warehouse. Well, I should probably hide somewhere up in the rafters, so I can feel cold metal. It probably hasn't been cleaned in a while so, maybe rot or damp smells...'
He continued to imagine what he could feel, hear, smell and touch inside that warehouse until he slowly started to fade away. It was much more difficult then the other times due to it being a drawing instead of a photograph, but he was soon able to completely fade away his eyes until he could finally see into the warehouse. Now that he knew where he was going, he disappeared and reappeared into the building.
He found himself on one the steel rafters holding the roof up, looking down on piles and piles of wooden crates stacked up high. They were arranged in a maze like pattern, twisting, turning and stopping at dead ends. It was probably done on purpose just in case the police storm in. From his vantage position, he could see that the warehouse was a rectangle shaped room and he was on the rafter near the far wall.
Spotting nobody in sight, he crept along the rafter towards the centre where there was a large open area where the gang were most likely at. He checked his cat ears and turned on his communication device.
"I'm in. I'm making my way to the centre."
"Roger," the voice of Tsukauchi said on the other end, "Try and not make a sound. Speak only when you have to."
"Right," Cheshire replied.
He made his way to the centre and looked down at the open area between the walls of crates. He saw three men, wearing matching blue boiler suits and black boots, doing various jobs. One man, who looked to be in his forties with receding hair, fair skin and stubble beard, was sat at a portable table repairing something with a set of tools set neatly on the table. He was by far the most muscular of the three men and it was clear that he has had combat training in the past.
The other two were sat at another table. One was a skinny man in his fifties, his short, light blue hair was turning grey and he had a pair of spectacles perched on his sharp nose. On his right on the ground next to the table was a duffel bag full of Yen notes, which he took of wad of ever so often. He would then hold the wad out in front of him as if he was feeling its weight, muttered to himself, noted something down on a notepad, before putting the wad to his left and repeated.
The third man was different ethnically then the other two. He didn't look Japanese, but Cheshire wasn't quite sure where he could be from. He was a short, heavyset man with short spiky black hair who looked to be also in his thirties. He was taking the wads of Yen that skinny man set down and placed both hands on it as if he was squeezing it. The wad of money glowed for few seconds before he set it down to his right and repeated the process.
Cheshire frowned curiously as he watched the three men do their individual tasks. None of them looked like criminals in the traditional sense. The skinny man looks more like an accountant then an actual robber. He crouched down and made a camera appear in his hand, taking a few pictures of what they were doing.
The skinny man looked at the pile of money he had already held and looked up at the his partner in annoyance.
"Will you hurry up already," he scolded, "It's starting to pile up."
The heavyset man responded with a glare of his own, "I'm going as fast as I can. Stop for a moment if you're worried about it piling. 너무 조급해," he muttered, speaking in another language in the end.
He didn't know what he said, but it sounded like Korean to him.
"Your quirk takes way too long," the skinny man complained.
"Why are we in a rush!"
"Will you two stop it," the muscular man ordered, looking up from his tinkering, "Can I at least have one day when you're not at each other's throats. Kachi, how much do we have so far?"
The skinny man, now known as Kachi looked over his notebook, "¥160,000 so far."
"Well, keep going," the first told them, "these pellets are getting expensive."
Now that the muscular man was no longer leaning over the table, Cheshire could now see that the thing he was repairing was some sort of handgun. However, it didn't like the sort that would fire bullets, but something smaller. Cheshire made sure to take a photo of it as well.
"I don't see why we need anymore," the heavyset man said as he pressed another wad of cash, "We barely used them."
"The police are getting smart, they're involving heroes into it now," he replied as he tinkered with the handgun again, "Not only that but we've also got a routine."
"And that's bad?"
"Routine means leaving a pattern and if you leave a pattern then people can follow it. Where's Mijimena? He should be here."
"Probably sulking somewhere. Miserable bastard," Kachi muttered in reply.
"Leave him alone," the heavyset man said, "His had a rough life because of his quirk."
Kachi adjusted his glasses before he picked another wad of money, "Don't defend him, Kim. We've all had it rough. And besides, you've told him to go away more times then we have."
"Just because I don't like his presence, doesn't mean we have to be mean to him," Kim retorted.
The muscular man sighed, "Can we just get back to work so we can end for the day."
The other two muttered in agreement and continued their individual tasks.
Cheshire hummed in interest before disappearing onto the rafters at the far end of warehouse so he could talk to the detective.
"Tsukauchi. I've found the money they stole and I think I've got enough information to identify some of the members," he whispered through his headphones.
Police Van
"Great work, Cheshire," Tsukauchi replied back through the radio as Nighteye and Bubble Girl smiled proudly, "What can you tell me."
Cheshire began to describe Kachi to them while one of the officers typed in their information into their system. It was long until Kachi was found.
"We found him sir," the officer said as he showed the others the laptop, "he's currently wanted for embezzlement."
The heroes and the detective looked over Kachi's criminal record. His full name was Mitsumori Kachi and his quirk was:
Value: He has the ability to know the exact value of any object he holds as long he keeps up to date with the global market. A very useful skill for wanting to know how much money there is or whether an artefact is fake or real.
Cheshire then began to describe the Kim, but unfortunately, nothing had come up on their system. Kim was a popular Korean family name after all.
"What can you say about his quirk?" Nighteye asked.
"I think he may be the one responsible for the lack of evidence," Cheshire said through the radio, "he holds the money in his hands, it glows for a few seconds, and its completely clean."
"That's quite a unique quirk. Maybe it'll be worth contacting the Korean authorities to see if they know of him," Bubble Girl suggested.
Tsukauchi turned to the other officer, "Can I trust you with that."
The officer nodded, found another laptop and got to work on it.
"What about the last man?" Tsukauchi asked.
"I don't know his name, but he looks like an ex-soldier or something. He also seems to know how the police work. He wants to buy more pellets just in case the authorities or the heroes catch onto him. Here I took a photo of them. I'm sending it over the camera to you now."
Nighteye looked back at where Cheshire was sitting and found a digital camera that wasn't there a moment ago. He picked it up and handed it to Tsukauchi so he could look through the pictures Cheshire took. The detective hummed as he saw the three men, but he didn't recognise any of them. However, the officer who had the laptop opened happened to look over, his eyes widening when he saw the muscular man.
"Hey I know him," he said, "His used to be a cop in the city I used to patrol...one moment," he began typing into the police database, bringing up the man's information, "here, Mokuhyō Rokku. He was laid off the force a year ago."
According to the database, Mokuhyō's quirk was:
Lock On: Enables him to track a person anywhere in the world after staring at them for three seconds.
Tsukauchi was a little disturbed by the fact that an ex-police officer had turned to crime, but tried to not think about it too much. He turned back to the radio, "Do you known anything about the last suspect?"
"His name's Mijimena, but I haven't seen him," Cheshire said, allowing the officer to start looking him up, "But I guess, with process of elimination, that he has a quirk that disturbs electrical equipment."
The officer frowned at the laptop, "I can't find him, Sir. In fact, I can't seem to find him anywhere."
"Really? Not even in the governmental records?" Bubble Girl asked, making the officer shake his head.
Nighteye leaned in close to the radio, "Cheshire are you sure that you got the name right?"
"Very sure."
"Let's forget about him now. Have you found the Korean suspect?" Tsukauchi asked the other officer.
The officer nodded and turned his laptop to show a criminal record of the man Cheshire described, "His name's Kim Cheong So and he has been involved with organised crime gangs in Seoul. He escaped the country when a rival gang threatened him."
According to the database, his quirk was:
Decontamination: He is able to remove every single piece of DNA from any object.
"Great work," Tsukauchi told him, "we just need to find the last suspect."
"Cheshire, see if you can find Mijimena and find out what they meant about the pellets," Nighteye ordered, "Go on radio silence until then."
Warehouse
"Right," Cheshire said as he switched off his communication device, 'If I wanted to hide some expensive pellets, then where would I put them,' he thought to himself, 'Well probably close to me.'
He disappeared back to the rafters above the gang and searched the area. He spotted a green storage case underneath the table Mokuhyō was occupying and suspected that that was where he kept the pellets, but there was no way of getting it without the other two noticing him or seeing it gone.
'I can distract them for long enough, but how can I take the case. I wonder...' he thought, taking off his hat and rummaging through it for a moment. He eventually found what he needed and pulled out a similar-looking case that he uses to store things in his supply room. It was a little smaller and it was a deeper shade of green then the one under the desk, but Cheshire was hoping that weren't paying too close attention to it, 'It would have to do,' he thought to himself, putting his hat back on.
He made a pebble appear in his hand, and threw it at a window behind the two man.
SMASH!
"헐! What was that!?"
"One of the windows broke," Kachi uttered in shock and confusion.
Once the three men were distracted, Cheshire disappeared to under the table, replaced the cases and disappeared once again.
Mokuhyō grunted in annoyance, "Just some punks throwing rocks at the windows."
"Should I scare them away?" Kim asked.
"Nah, better not. They'll probably call the police that somebody in an abandoned warehouse. They'll leave eventually," he told them as he went back to their tinkering.
The other two shrugged as well and got on with their jobs as Cheshire disappeared to a safe distance.
He reappeared on the rafters on the far side of the warehouse, placed the case down on and opened it. Inside the case there was a tray containing small darts like the ones used for tranquillising wild animals. He inspected one of them and saw that it contained a red fluid in them.
'Are these the things they talking about? They don't look much,' he thought as he turned on his communication device, 'I better repor-'
He stopped when he heard nothing but radio static. At first, he thought that they had switched off the radio, but the reality finally dawned on him...
...It was Mijimena
He was about to disappear when something stung his neck, causing him to shout in surprise and to lose his balance. He fell of the rafter, grabbing onto the top of the crates before he could fall any further. He must have accidentally kicked the case off the rafter as it too dropped. He gritted his teeth in agony and tried to disappear...
...but he couldn't.
He was quite high up so he doubted that Mijimena would be able to see him, so why wouldn't it work. Seeing no choice and not wanting to break his legs, he jumped off the crate to the opposite wall, grabbing on to the next leaves of crates. He jumped again onto the first wall and the pushed off it again, landing onto the floor roughly. He grunted in pain and reached for what was stuck in his neck, pulled it out and examined it. Much to his shock, it was the same dart pellets he found in the case, but this one didn't have the red liquid in it.
He heard footsteps coming towards him and looked up to the fourth member of the Shinpi Gang, holding the case in his arms and a handgun in a holster on his belt. He was dressed in the same uniform as the others. He must have been in his late twenties with long messy grey hair, big dull eyes and his face was pull down into a deep frown. His facial hair was unkempt and scraggly and he had bags under his eyes. It was clear that Mijimena was not pleased to see him.
"That's dangerous, you know," he droned unenthusiastically.
...
...
...
"I'm sorry?" Cheshire asked.
"That's dangerous," he repeated, "Staying up in those rafters. But I reckon young people don't care about those things do they. Always throwing yourselves head first into danger. Do you do it on purpose? Trying to mock my miserable existence with your youth. Even something like catching this case," he said, gesturing to the case full of darts in his arms, "I bet I'm going to have bruises for months. Although, thinking about it, I've been getting random bruises since I was twenty five, so maybe they'll mix in with the other bruises. I doubt it though."
Cheshire blinked in confusion. Mijimena didn't so much as talk but sigh everything he said as if he had first hand experience of everything wrong with the world. He decided to try and ignore it for now.
"What did you do to my quirk?" he questioned furiously.
"No need to panic, it only lasts five minutes," Mijimena said, "Another of life mockeries. The ability to take away someone's quirk away for short while. How absolutely abysmal."
"Well I-"
"Do you know what my quirk is? I bet you already know, don't you."
"You have the ability to disrupt technology."
"Yes it's called Electromagnetic. Do you know how much technology there is in the world?" he questioned.
"Quite a bit."
"Quite a bit, indeed," he sighed, hanging his head, "I can't walk two steps without a piece of technology going wrong. I can't use phones, watch television, I can't even register my quirk because I need access to a computer. I wanted to study computing at university, but you can imagine how well that went. Do you know how hard it is to do study how to program with a notepad in the middle of a park?"
"I can only imagine."
"Please don't, it's honestly depressing. I have to live like a hermit in the countryside otherwise I'm inconveniencing somebody."
Cheshire stood to his feet and offered him a supportive smile, "Come on, there has to be some sort of benefit."
"... I have a cat."
"That's the spirit."
"Well, I say it's my cat, but it's more like a stray that likes to eat my food. I prefer dogs anyway."
"Oh right," Cheshire uttered.
"Anyway, that's enough chitchat. I guess I have to report you," he sighed as he turned around and began walking away with the case, "Another thing I have to do. This day is just getting worse and worse."
Cheshire watched him leave, looked around before giving Mijimena a puzzled look, "Are you not going to do anything else."
He stopped and looked over his shoulder, "The way see I see it, hero, is that you got in two ways. You either snuck and got yourself lost in this labyrinth or you have a quirk which allowed you to get in. If it's the first, then you are still stuck in this labyrinth or if it's the second then you can't use your quirk to get out again. You have about three minutes until you're ready to use your quirk. Meanwhile I'll alert the rest and they capture you again," he told him before continuing his way to the centre.
"Can't you just capture me now?" Cheshire asked, not quite sure why he's asking that question.
"Do I look like A guard dog," he muttered as he turned in corner, "Bothersome hero. Do I have to his job as well."
Cheshire couldn't help but sweat drop, 'Huh, he's even more depressed then Tamaki,' he thought to himself, 'three minutes. I need to run and hide until then."
"Damn it, Mijimena! Why didn't you bring him here!" Kachi shouted at the depressed man as he and the other loaded their handguns full of pellets.
Mijimena sighed as he laid face down on the ground, not bothering to find a seat, "Bring him here, go get the lunch, stand in the middle of the bank and do nothing. What's the point."
"The point is so he doesn't escape and gets us arrested," Kim angrily told him.
"Such a pointless point. I don't know why I bother."
"You're getting paid."
"Oh good, pieces of paper that are somehow so important to everything. Maybe, I'll be able to upgrade my tent that I call a home into a wooden shack."
Mokuhyō rolled his eyes, "Stop wasting time and let's find this hero. He's lost in the maze and he practically quirkless for a couple more minutes. Let's go!"
The three members ran out of the open area in search for Cheshire while Mijimena still laid on the floor.
"Oh yes, don't worry about me," he muttered sarcastically, "I'm fine. Don't be too surprise if you find me dead or anything. Honestly, what a bother."
The three men split up and searched through the maze of crates, trying to find the hero. They handguns were loaded with the red darts since they didn't want to kill him, but they couldn't let him escape either. Mokuhyō grunted in annoyance at the thought that they were running out of time when, from around the corner, Cheshire stepped out. By his raised eyebrows, he could tell that the hero was just as surprised to see him and turned to run away.
But it was too late, Mokuhyō had already used his quirk Lock On so he'll be able to track him. He ran after him, twisting and turning knowing exactly that the hero was starting to panic and was going to hit a dead end. He turned a corner and saw the frustration in the hero's movement as he almost collided with the dead end. He turned around to face Mokuhyō, but that is when the thief shot him in the bicep. The hero cried out and his hand grasped the area he was shot, pulling out the empty pellet from his arm and letting it drop to the floor with a clang.
When he was distracted, Mokuhyō walked up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, "I think you should come with us, hero."
The gang were quite surprised that the hero was so easy to capture, but after revealing that he was actually much younger then they first thought, they just thought he was too scared to fight back. They had led him back to the open area and tied him to a chair with a rope that was left over when the warehouse was abandoned. They had taken off his hat and his cat ears headphones and set them on a crate to the side, Kachi had even commented how much they could get for a headphones. They instantly guessed that it contained a communication device, but as long as Mejimena was around, it was almost useless. It was Kim who volunteered to administered to give Cheshire a second dose of the anti-quirk serum, making sure to keep his eyes on the countdown as they ticked away.
"Hey kid," Kim said as he sat in the chair next to him, "Those ropes aren't too tight, are they? Sorry, it's the only thing we have."
"No, they're fine. Thanks for asking."
"No problem."
"Damn it, what are we going to do?" Kachi muttered, holding his head in hands, "We didn't plan on the heroes catching onto us so soon."
"How do you know he isn't a vigilante?" Kim asked, "I don't recognise him from the billboards."
Mokuhyō shook his head, "He is. I saw him at the Sports Festival."
'For goodness' sake,' Cheshire thought distastefully.
"You watched the Sports Festival?" Mijimena moaned from his place from the floor.
"The kids made me. It's like a tradition we do every year. He's got some sort of teleporting quirk so be ready with that serum, Kim."
"Right."
"We're going to prison," Kachi said in a panicked tone, "We're all going to prison because of him. Oh God, I can't go there!"
Mokuhyō grabbed his shoulder and made him look at him, "Hey, we're not going to prison, okay."
"I wouldn't mind," Mijimena muttered, "Might be a nice change of scenery."
Kachi was about to shout at him, but Mokuhyō stopped him before he could get a word out, "Don't listen to him. None of us are going to get arrested or go to prison. It's likely that the police are surrounding the place, but we have planned for this," this peaked Cheshire's interest, "We make are escape and head out of the city where I can use my contacts. The last thing we need is you to start panicking, okay," he said calmly.
Kachi gulped, but nervously nodded his head, "Okay. But what should we do with him?" he asked pointing to Cheshire, "maybe we can like...I don't know-"
"Hey, I'm ain't killing nobody," Kim complained furiously.
"I wasn't going to say that," Kachi snapped back, "I thought we could hold him as a hostage or something."
"I don't feel comfortable with that either. I mean, come on, his only a kid."
Cheshire cleared his throat to get their attention, "Sorry to interrupt, but I can't help but notice that none of you are...what I expect bank robbers to be."
"Got a problem with that?" Mijimena muttered.
"Not at all. You're much more organised then your average smash and grab thieves, you're using your quirks effectively, you have been built this entire maze complex around us just so police can't storm in. I'm also guessing you have an escape route somewhere. Maybe..." he looked around, his eyes falling on a crate that wasn't piled up, "oh an underground escape route. It will probably take you down to the sewers, very cleaver. I guess I'm just confused how you guys have turned to crime."
Mokuhyō sighed and crouched down in front, "Alright fine. You got us. We're not your average criminals. Kim snuck into the country and hasn't been able to get a work permit, Kachi was forced to embezzle from his company because they lowered his salary, Mijimena...well you can see he hasn't had a great life."
"Life," the depressed man sighed, "don't talk to me about life."
"And I was made redundant," Mokuhyō continued with a sad sigh, "with two children and a wife to support."
"I'm guessing they don't know what you're doing," Cheshire said in a sympathetic tone.
Mokuhyō shook his head with sad smile.
"I'm sorry."
He chuckled, "Don't sweat it, hero."
"Mokuhyō," Kachi hissed, "he's just playing for time. Let's just get out of here."
He sighed and took the handgun from Kim, "You two start moving the money into the escape route. I keep an eye on him."
As they began carrying out his orders, removing the crate Cheshire pointed out which hid the exit and throwing down the duffel bags for of money, Mokuhyō took the seat that Kim was and saw that the five minuets were almost up, "I've met a lot of heroes when I had a job. They're always the run into danger type of people, who punch first and ask questions later. You're quite different."
"I guess not all heroes are the same," Cheshire said with a shrug.
"I suppose. But that would mean you understand why we have to do this. I don't to want rob banks and neither do the others. It's not like we're hurting anybody."
Cheshire looked at the handgun, "What about the darts?"
"Got them from the black market, I made sure they were harmless. I even designed the handgun which fires them," Mokuhyō told him, "my point is that if you know about our situation then maybe you should let us go. It's not like we're going back to this city and let us live our lives."
Cheshire sighed sadly, "I understand that you have to what you have to do, but so do I. Just because I'm sympathetic doesn't make less of a crime. It's my duty to stop people from breaking the law and so by letting you go then I can't call myself a hero. I'm sorry, but I can't."
Mokuhyō nodded, "Alright, I get it," he raised the gun to his arm, "this might sting for a moment," he fired another dart into Cheshire's arm, causing him to hiss in pain, "Sorry about that. I guess we'll have to see you later then."
"Hey, we're almost done," Kachi called out, lowering the last duffel bag to Kim who was done in the hole.
Mokuhyō grunted and got to his feet, patting Cheshire' shoulder, "Thanks hero," he said.
He made his way over to Kachi who was now about to lower the case full of the anti-quirk serum darts to Kim. He glanced over at Mijimena and rolled his eyes as he had barely moved.
"Come on," he urged, causing the grey haired man to sigh.
He began to stand to his feet, "Alright, I suppose I have to be useful-"
TING!
The sound of a glass being struck echoed across the warehouse. All three members, looked down and saw one of the anti-quirk darts had fallen of Mijimena as he stood up. Mildly confused, he felt felt the place on body where it fell off from and found a small puncture on his upper arm.
"Strange," he murmured, "How did that get there."
To explain what just happened, let's go back to just before Cheshire entered the warehouse.
-Flashback A Few Hours Ago -
Local Bank
Nighteye pulled his head away from Cheshire, having just used his quirk on him. The hero hummed thoughtfully as Charles placed his goggles back on. They were just about to set off to where the gangs hideout should be, when Nighteye had told Cheshire that he was going to use his Foresight on him. The results didn't seem to please the hero.
"So what's going to happen?" Cheshire asked.
Nighteye sighed, "You're going to be discovered," he told him firmly.
"What!" Cheshire exclaimed, "But how?"
"I'm not quite sure. Somehow you have been subdued and you won't be able to use your quirk. This has made things more difficult."
Cheshire was astonished by that fact, 'Won't be able to use my quirk!? I...I can't believe that,' he looked up at Nighteye, "Well, maybe you should see more of my future. It will probably-"
"I would prefer not to," Nighteye sharply interrupted, surprising Cheshire by his forceful tone.
"Um...right, sorry. Well, what can we do? If that is definitely going to happen and we prepare an escape for myself then it will raise the alarm and they'll escape," Cheshire pointed out.
Nighteye hummed, "We need to make sure that they're all in one place."
"Well, why don't I get caught?"
"What?"
"They'll take me back to their base of operations and I'll distract them. I'll say that I'm a vigilante so they'll probably won't be expecting any police and then the police can storm the place."
"Absolutely not," Nighteye firmly denied, "that is way too risky."
"I thought you trusted me."
"It is not about trust, it is about safety, Cheshire."
"I don't know what else we can do," he said, "This is only way we can assure that they remain together. We won't have another chance."
Nighteye stared at him for a few more seconds before he sighed reluctantly, "Fine, but you will have to find a way to convince them that you're not acting. Otherwise, they'll clock on to what we are doing."
Cheshire frowned thoughtfully, "I'll think of something."
Warehouse
After his run in with Mijimena, Cheshire made sure he was out of his quirk's range, darting left and right between the crate walls, before he was able to contact Tsukauchi.
"I've been discovered," he told them through his cat ears.
"Right," Tsukauchi said, having been informed of the plan he and Nighteye had cooked up, "I'll give the officers to prepare themselves."
"Wait. We can't do that. This place is a literal maze. I'm having trouble navigating it and I've been above it," Cheshire told them as he turned left down another passage.
"Is there any other way of getting in?" Bubble Girl asked.
Cheshire looked around, but he couldn't see anything, "No I don't think so."
"What's the condition of the ceiling?" Nighteye questioned, much to Cheshire's confusion.
"The ceiling?" he looked up and saw that it was made from thin metal sheets, "It looks like it's seen better days. It looks pretty weak. Why?"
"I have an idea," Nighteye told him, "make sure you are able to give a clear signal when to strike. Have you come up with a plan for when you're captured."
Cheshire looked down at the darts in his hand, one filled with the serum that he took from the case and the other empty that he was shot with, "I've got one."
Cheshire had found a dead end and hid in preparation for one of the members of the gang. Hearing somebody coming around the corner, he stepped out and pretended that he was taken by a surprise before running back the way he came. He began running left and right down corridors of crates, making sure he didn't run too fast or else he will lose him.
He finally made it to the dead end and turned around to see Mokuhyō raise his handgun at him, 'Now's the tricky part,' he thought to himself.
As he was about to shoot, Cheshire subtly faded away, taking use of the poor lighting in the area and allowed the dart to past through his body and hit the wall behind him. He cried out in shock to cover the sound of the dart breaking and clutched where the dart would have hit him. In the hand that clutched his arm, he hid the empty dart and dropped it on the floor as if he just pulled it out.
Mokuhyō walked up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, "I think you should come with us, hero."
'Gladly,' Cheshire thought, his smile hidden behind his mask.
- Flashback End -
The rest was pretty simple. Now that they thought that his quirk was gone and they were distracted by arguing what to do. Cheshire had faded his hand away, along with the dart still filled with the serum, and injected it into Mijimena, making him unable to use his quirk and the technology around him useable.
Mokuhyō realised this, his eyes snapping towards the headphones still on the crate in shock and seeing that the communication device was working the whole time.
"Oh I see," he uttered.
Cheshire frowned apologetically, "Sorry, I was playing for time," he said before turning to the device, "Now!"
Suddenly the ceiling caved in as something very big crashed through it. Cheshire wasn't quite sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, because dropping from the ceiling of the warehouse was a giant, silver scaled dragon. It had large pointed wings, large feet that ended with vicious claws, and a long tail. The most peculiar thing about it was that its pointed face had fair skin instead of silver scales, the blond spiky hair on top of its head and it seemed to be wearing a very large red qipao. It took Cheshire a few seconds to realise that this was the Dragoon hero: Ryukyu in her dragon form. This has got to be the first time Cheshire has ever had a fanboy moment in his life and he was internally freaking out.
'NO WAY! That's Ryukyu! I don't believe this!' he screamed in his head.
Ryukyu dropped down to the floor slamming Mokuhyō and Kachi to the floor with her two front claws, making Kachi accidently drop the case full of the darts into the tunnel. Kim, who was confused by what was happening above them, had to move back so the case wouldn't drop on his head, causing it to smash on the tunnel floor and breaking the glass darts and the serum to leak out. Kim cursed and was going to run away when suddenly-
"Don't move!"
A dozen police officers came up from both sides of the tunnel, aiming their tasers at him. Kim was so shocked by their appearance, that he tripped on one of the duffel bags of money and landing in the puddle of the anti-quirk serum. His laid his hands on the serum and accidently activated his quirk, causing the serum to glow brightly and, after a few seconds, the puddle disappeared.
This confused him. His quirk only works on DNA so why did the serum disappear? Before he could think about it anymore the police were already making the arrest.
Above ground, Nighteye and Bubble Girl leaped off the dragon's back. While Bubble Girl tackled Mijimena to the ground, Nighteye ran up to Cheshire and began to untie him.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, but I can't use my quirk," he told him as he was set free, "there's something in those darts that stops it. Luckily it's only temporary."
Nighteye pulled the empty dart from Cheshire's arm and inspected it closely, "Probably a numbing agent, but we may need to investigate further."
From under Ryukyu's dragon claw, Kachi shot an angry look at Mijimena who was being detained by Bubble Girl, "Hey, why didn't you say anything about the dart!?"
Mijimena shrugged, "I always get pangs of pain ever so often. It's life's way of reminding me of this terrible mortal coil that I am trapped in."
Kachi sighed and looked up at Bubble Girl, "I give in. Just please don't put me in the same prison as him."
The hero gave him an odd look while Mokuhyō rolled his eyes.
Outside The Warehouse
The members of the Shinpi Gang were all detained and transported to the nearest police station. Their trial will follow shortly but, judging by how easily they gave themselves in, everyone reckoned that it won't be long until they were given sentences. Meanwhile, Cheshire was taken to the paramedics who wanted to check him over if they was any lasting damage after being shot by the anti-quirk serum. However, after a few minutes, the serum had worn off and he was able to use his quirk again. The paramedics gave him a clean bill of health, but they still insisted for a blood sample just in case.
Now he, Nighteye, Bubble Girl had met up with Tsukauchi as the detective was about to leave.
"Well, thanks for all your help," he told them, "especially you, Cheshire. But next time can we not use the bait tactic. If your uncle knew I agreed to that then-"
"Oh yeah, there's no way I'm mentioning that to him," Cheshire said.
"Have you found anything about the darts they had bought?" Nighteye inquired, "Something like that could be considered devastating if others get hold of it."
Tsukauchi frowned slightly, "Unfortunately not, if what they said to Cheshire is true then it might be harder to track down. We barely have enough samples to get a proper analysis. We'll interrogate them more and see who they bought them from and I'll definitely bring it up to my superiors. Otherwise keep an eye open for anymore and inform the police," he said as he stepped into his car.
"We'll stay in touch," Bubble Girl said before he closed the car door, waved goodbye and drove away, "So, how was your first mission," she asked Cheshire, "you know despite everything that went wrong."
Cheshire chuckled, "It was not that bad. They were actually quite nice people who just had no choice. It could have been worse."
"Don't jinx yourself," a feminine voice called out. They turned and saw Ryukyu back in her human form, smiling elegantly as she approached them, "Not all villains are as considerate."
"Ryukyu, thank you for your assistance," Nighteye said, "I'm sorry about the late notice."
The hero smiled and waved his thanks off, "Don't worry yourself. I was in the area," she turned her yellow reptilian eyes to Cheshire, making him blush under his mask, "You're Fleetwood right? I requested you for the Work Study. I'm glad to finally meet you."
Cheshire cleared his throat. She was way cooler in person.
"I'm g- yeah it's- great to meet you as well, Ryukyu," he awkwardly said, "sorry for not accepting your request because- well it's not as if I didn't want to. You and Sir Knighteye were my two main choices and it um... I don't really know how to explain it."
"Smooth," Bubble Girl teasingly whispered.
Ryukyu chuckled, "You don't have to say sorry. Maybe you can intern at my agency next time."
"Y-yeah, of course," Cheshire stammered, "It'll be a honour work under you."
"Glad to hear it. If you need anything else in the meantime then don't hesitate to ask," she said with a small smile.
Cheshire leaned in eagerly, "Can I have your autograph?"
Ryukyu sweat dropped, "I meant in terms of your heroic studies or finding connections in the hero community."
"Can I still get an autograph?"
"It might not be entirely appropriate at a crime scene."
"You're right. I'm sorry," Cheshire said, leaning away in defeat, earning a small chuckle from Ryukyu and Bubble Girl.
Nighteye cleared his throat and bowed slightly at the Dragoon hero, "Thank you again, Ryukyu, but my sidekicks and I have to leave now. We have a lot of paper work to get through and Cheshire has to face his punishment for his actions yesterday."
The colour drained from Cheshire's face, "Wait! But I-"
"You didn't think we forget," Bubble Girl said with a smirk, "Let's get you back."
The two heroes began to lead Cheshire away much to his distress, "I change my mind. I want to do my Work Study with Ryukyu."
"Too late," Nighteye told him, a small malicious smile on his lips.
Nighteye Agency
It was nearing the end of the day and Lewis felt as if his stomach was going to burst by how much he laughed at the hands of the Tickle Hell.
He really didn't want to talk about.
He had already got changed and was preparing himself to go back to the hotel when his phone rang in his pocket. Taking it out and seeing that it was from an unknown number, he ducked into an unoccupied meeting room and took the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey kid," the voice on the other end grumbled, "It's Gran Torino. Hope you don't mind, I got your number from Midoryia."
"No not at all. How can I help?"
"You wanted to know about the Nomu, right? Well, I just got word from my contacts from the police and well… you might want to sit down."
Lewis frowned and sat down on one of the chairs under the conference table. Something about the way he said that unsettled him.
"That was quick. It's barely been a day," Lewis observed.
"They already done the test on the thing that attacked the USJ," Gran Torino said, "results say that the reason why it holds multiple quirks is because…there's really no easy way of saying it, but they used to be human. Their DNA showed up on the police files so its likely that they were made from low ranking criminals and petty thieves but… Kid, are you still there?"
Lewis had stopped listening a while ago.
The fact that they used to be human echoed through his mind.
'I killed that Nomu.'
His heart began to beat faster and his mind became fuzzy as if he overused his quirk way too much.
'How many quirks did he have? Four was it? Four separate people. I killed four people.'
Lewis began to hyperventilate. He pulled at the collar of shirt away from his throat as he felt it seize up as sweat poured down his face.
'I killed them! I'm a murderer! Oh God, Oh God! I can't breath!'
"Fleetwood," Gran Torino called out from his phone, "Fleetwood! Are you okay?"
"W-well no," he choked out, slightly delirious, "I think- I think - I think I'm having a panic attack. Never had one before- ha ha - but all the signs are there. I can't remember how to stop it so please give me a moment to work…everything out, okay? Okay?"
"Fleetwood slow down," Gran Torino ordered, "put me on speakerphone and get your breath back. If you can, count down from 10 to 1 or, if you have water on your person, splash your face with it."
Lewis did just that. He put his mobile on speakerphone, placed on the table and focused on his breathing. To help him calm down his took of his glasses, made a bottle of water appear and poured some of it on his face, making sure his face cools down.
After a few minutes of breathing, Gran Torino finally spoke again.
"Are you okay?"
"No," Lewis muttered back, "I'm a murderer."
"Kid you're not-"
"I am! I didn't have to kill that Nomu but I-"
"They were already dead to begin with," Gran Torino interrupted, "The quirks were taken and they were left as nothing but a puppet programmed to cause chaos by the League of Villains. There is no way anybody could survive a procedure like that and if they did then what you did was a mercy. Don't think of it as killing people, but letting those poor souls free from their prison. You did what you have to do as a hero."
Lewis sniffed sadly, wiping the tears from his eyes, 'I guess he's right,' he thought to himself but he was still very upset about it.
"Fleetwood, you feeling any better?" Gran Torino asked in concern.
"Yeah, I suppose. Sorry, I've have had a rough couple of days."
Gran Torino grunted, "Don't apologise. If you have anymore questions then-"
"Do you know who they are?" Lewis asked, "I quite like to pay my respects to them.
The elderly hero sighed, "If you want to. I'll ask around and get back to you as soon as I can. Sorry, I wish I could have lied to you about all of this but…I thought you would appreciate the truth."
"Thanks Gran Torino. I do appreciate it," he gently said, "goodbye."
"Goodbye," Gran Torino said as they both ended the call.
Lewis put his head in hands and took a few deep breaths. It he was still feeling nauseous, but he was slowly recovering.
'At least its the end of the day. I'm just going back to my room, sleep, and tomorrow will be hopefully better. Yeah, I'm fine.' he convinced himself.
He stood up, picked up his stuff and left the room, heading down the stairs to say goodbye to Centipeder and Bubble Girl before he leaves. He didn't notice Sir Nighteye hiding around the corner, his inquisitive eyes watching as the teen went out of sight. He had only noticed that Lewis was in there when he heard his panicked voice saying that he had killed the Nomu. He would have checked in on him, but it would seem that Gran Torino had sorted it out.
The hero hummed worriedly. He feared that Lewis was going through so much trauma and hardships and forcing himself to act completely okay and not ask for help. All because that's what hero does. It probably didn't help with what happened today and he regretted not forcing Lewis to take a break.
This is a problem. A problem that, as his mentor, he needed to remedy.
First he needed a rest. A few days where nothing could go wrong. Secondly, he needed to learn how to communicate and talk to others who could help him. He needed to work on as a team and not as a lonely hero.
And Nighteye knew exactly what he could work on
And that's it. Hope you enjoyed it.
First of all, I honestly tried my best with the names of the gang members. Please do correct me if I did anything wrong. Since MHA characters' names are puns of their quirks I went with Mokuhyō Rokku (which literally translates to target and lock), Mitsumori Kachi (translates to estimate and worth), Kim Cheong So (Kim is a common Korean family name while his given names come from the Korean for cleaning 'cheongso' which I split up) and finally Mijimena (by far the laziest attempt, translates to miserable). For people who are fans of Douglas Adams, I based Mijimena entirely on Marvin the paranoid robot from the Hitchhiker series.
Secondly, the darts are the one Overhaul had made from Eri which is Kim was able to make the serum disappear. I think in the manga they said that prototypes of the serum were passed to smaller gangs so I took advantage of that.
Thirdly, I tried my best to clear up as many plot holes in this chapter so I hope everything makes sense. If not then...use your imagination, I guess.
Thanks for reading :)