Chapter 22: Planning
In the meeting room of the Commission building there was, again, much agitation on the part of those present.
Some Heroes had been called again by the Commission, and considering that just the day before they had been called back to talk about the vigilante known as Venom, they suspected this new meeting might be about him.
The Heroes present there were Fat Gum, Fourth Kind, Shishido, Gang Orca, Gunhead and Mr Brave and were awaiting the arrival of the President.
Fat Gum looked around "Uh. Curious that we are the only ones here.".
"True" nodded Mr Brave "If this sudden reunion had to do with Honda, then why aren't all the Heroes in there? Why only us?".
"Maybe it's not about Honda at all" pondered Gang Orca "Maybe it's something else, also explaining why it's just us here."
"It would make sense." Fourth Kind pondered, bringing one of his four hands to his chin.
"But if it's not Honda" said Gunhead confused "Then what is the reason why we were called here?".
It was then that the door of the room was opened, attracting the attention of those present who saw the President enter accompanied by three other Pro Heroes and one who had recently retired: Mandalay, Pixie Bob, Tiger and Ragdoll, the Wild, Wild Pussycats.
But they weren't the only ones.
Together with them was detective Naomasa and a man in handcuffs: it was Konishi.
The Pro Heroes there immediately noticed the black dragon tattoo on his right arm.
"What the hell…?!" said Fourth Kind standing up abruptly, immediately recognizing that symbol.
"A member of the Black Dragon!" Mr Brave then continued.
The President raised her hand saying "Calm down. I know you have a lot of questions, but let us explain. " She continued as she made her way to the head of the table, followed by the group of the four Heroes, the detective and the handcuffed criminal.
"Well," the President began. "I guess you are wondering why this sudden call, just the day after we had another meeting."
The five heroes nodded.
"Good. I called you here because today he came here" she pointed to Konishi, who was nervously observing the new Heroes in the room "His name is Ayumu Konishi and, as you have already understood, he is a member of the Black Dragon. ".
"Have you arrested him?" Gang Orca asked.
"No" replied the President "He came here on his own. He wanted to give a confession.".
"A confession?" Fat Gum repeated, moving his gaze to Konishi.
"Yes" this time it was Konishi who replied "The gang I belong to... the Black Dragon... is here in Musutafu."
"WHAT?!" The six newly arrived Heroes exclaimed.
"That's right" replied Naomasa this time " Konishi has come here to reveal why the Black Dragon is here... and not only that" he shifted his gaze to Konishi "Start talking.".
"Yes, detective" Konishi nodded, shifting his gaze to the six Heroes "As you well know, we of the Black Dragon, in recent months, have had problems with a Vigilante that you know very well...".
"Ryo Honda." Shishido said with a serious expression.
"Venom." Konishi nodded as if to confirm "Our boss, Herman Schultz also known as the Shocker, has decided to come here to Musutafu with most of his men to kill him once and for all.".
"Shocker you say?" Fat Gum said, arching an eyebrow. "I heard about him. Isn't he the Villain who, years ago, has…" he stopped remembering that the Pussycats were with them and with a sorrowful look he said "... sorry, maybe it's better if I don't say anything.".
"Don't worry Fat Gum." Mandalay shook her head. "You didn't offend us, if that's what you're worried about. Anyway, yes, we are talking about the same Shocker who caused that accident eleven years ago. ".
"If I remember correctly he was a little fish" said Mr Brave "How did he get to have a gang of his own?".
"I don't know. He never went into detail on that" Konishi explained. "But he's certainly changed from how he was in the past, becoming more cruel than ever. And this is also connected with what... we of the Black Dragon do with our criminal activities...".
This caught the attention of all six Heroes.
Konishi heaved a sigh.
He knew how the Pussycats had reacted.
The new six would certainly not have taken it better.
"Schultz ended up making contact and having an agreement with the old leader of the League of Villains... All For One."
Those present were crossed by a shiver at hearing the name of the Villain.
"They… well… they came to an agreement. You know the Nomus, right? ".
"Who doesn't know them..." Gunhead said.
"Well… this deal is really about them. I think you know about the Black Dragon's bad reputation for kidnappings, right? " He sighed again "Well ... the agreement was about this: we kidnap people and children and then sell them to the League of Villains... which then uses them to transform them into Nomus.".
There was a gasp from the six Heroes there.
Fat Gum clenched her fists as a furious expression appeared on his face.
He hadn't felt such anger since he learned what was being done to little Eri by the Shie Hassaikai.
"Are you saying… all those people… all those kids… you sold them to those bastards of the League to turn into monsters?! Just to earn some money?! ".
"I'm not proud of what I did" Konishi replied immediately "There is no day I'm not ashamed of what I did. There is no day I do not feel guilty of all the lives I have ruined by being part of this gang ... I decided to come here to confess all this because I was fed up with this sense of guilt. It won't erase everything I've done, I know, but revealing all of this… and seeing the Black Dragon being stopped once for all, will at least give me some peace.".
A few seconds of silence passed, with Fat Gum still glaring at Konishi. The silence was then broken by Tiger who said "When Konishi revealed this to us, we Pussycats decided to step in and stop Schultz once and for all. And the President then decided to call you... to give us a hand. ".
"Mmmm I understand..." Fourth Kind said "And I think I also understand why only the six of us were called.".
"True," Gunhead nodded. "With just the six of us and the three active members of teh Pussycats we will attract little attention."
"And we will also prevent the other Heroes from stopping Honda's research" Mr Barve continued. "After all, he's still a top priority."
"Exactly" the President nodded "Also, thanks to Detective Naomasa, we will receive help from the police forces for the capture of Schultz and his accomplices.".
"But will that be enough?" Shishido asked. "After all, Konishi just said that Schultz came here to Musutafu with the majority of his men. Will the nine of us and the police force be enough? ".
"Of course" Konishi replied this time. "The rest of the Pro Heroes aren't the only ones chasing Honda. Schultz ordered all of his men, including me, to go in search of Honda, even day and night if necessary. The base he is taking refuge in will be defenseless, only he and his five seconds in command will remain. With you nine and the police you will be able to beat them and arrest them. With Schultz defeated along with his seconds in command, it will only be a matter of time before the Black Dragon is dismantled forever."
"What will you do, though?" Fourth Kind asked Ragdoll "No offense Ragdoll, but... you don't have a Quirk anymore."
"It doesn't mean that I won't be able to help from the Pussycats' office" replied the woman "I will help all of you to defeat Schultz and put him behind bars once and for all."
Pixie Bob nodded resolutely "Yes! We will not let him escape us as he did years ago. "
"So the plan is this. In the next few days we will attack the base where Schultz is located and we will take him by surprise" said the President to the six newly arrived Heroes "Obviously if you agree to be part of this operation.".
"Of course President" Fat Gum replied immediately "I will gladly help with this operation!".
"I agree!" Mr Brave nodded "I think I speak on behalf of all those present that we will help with the operation!".
All the Heroes nodded.
Both the President and Naomasa couldn't help but let out a smile "Perfect" the detective said. "I will notify the police immediately about this operation. We will then notify you of the day it will happen in the next… ".
The detective was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone "Excuse me a second." He apologized, taking his cell phone from his pocket, answering it and putting it to his ear "Hello?".
The detective nodded as he heard the words of whoever was speaking on the other side of the phone, while the other people present looked at him curiously.
Naomasa's gaze suddenly became much more serious while her eyes narrowed slightly. "I see. I'll be right there." He simply said as he ended the call.
"I humbly apologize, but I have to go." He said as he headed for the hall door to leave.
"Uh? And why?" Ragdoll asked, confused.
"Detective, is it by any chance about Honda? Or the Black Dragon? " The President asked in a serious tone.
Naomasa paused for a second to look at the woman "Neither, president. This is a completely different case. Nothing serious enough to require your attention, don't worry. The police will take care of it. I will also talk to them about Schultz's capture operation and let you know."
The President simply nodded. "Very good detective. You can go.".
"Thank you very much, president." thanked the detective, and then left the room under the confused eyes of the Heroes.
In the middle of Musutafu a car was parked near a curb, with its five occupants arguing among themselves as they watched the road around them.
There was one thing that accumulated them: the tattoo of a black dragon on their right arms.
"Christ, it's a total bore to look for this Honda guy..." said one of them with a snort, a man with acid green hair.
"You can say it, Morishita" echoed one of the companions, a man with black hair and long to the shoulders "With all our men who are out there looking for him I would have expected that we would have found him at this point...".
"We will find him Nakai, don't worry" answered another companion in the driver's seat, a man with no hair and with a horizontal scar crossing his forehead. "I'm sure we'll find him soon."
Another white-haired companion standing next to him snorted "Easy to say, Takeda. We've been looking for it for a whole day, and I'm already fed up.".
"Shirai is right, Takeda" continued the fifth companion, a man with blond hair "it's like looking for a needle in a hays..." The man stopped when his eyes pointed out of the car.
"Shibuya? What's the problem, man? Why did you stop? " Morishita asked worriedly.
"Ohhhh, it looks like our prayers have been answered guys" Shibuya replied with a predatory smile as he pointed a finger out of the car "Look over there!".
His four companions turned their gaze to where Shibuya was pointing, and their eyes widened.
They saw a boy with purple hair, spiked and shot in the air wearing a black leather jacket, walking with his hands in his pockets.
There was no doubt.
It was Ryo Honda.
"It's really him!" Nakai said with a smile "I can't believe we found him!"
"Quick Takeda, follow him! But without attracting too much attention.".
Takeda nodded and turned on the car, starting to follow the boy who continued to walk.
They intended to follow him at a safe distance until they saw where he would go, if he was a hiding place for him and whatnot. And then they would call for reinforcements and their leader.
Who knows what reward they would be given?
They followed Ryo for nearly five minutes, almost surprised that he hadn't even noticed them.
Eventually they arrived in an isolated area of the city full of abandoned warehouses, not very different from the area where their base was located. They stopped at a safe distance, seeing Ryo enter one of the warehouses.
"Is that his hiding place?" Shirai wondered.
"Likely. Speaking of hiding places, the tastes of the boss and of this kid are not that different." Shibuya joked.
"If the boss had heard you he would have smashed your head..." Nakai murmured.
The five criminals got out of the car and took their weapons with them, looking like small silver cannons. They began to approach cautiously towards the warehouse, while Takeda took with his free hand a walkie talkie that he kept attached to his pocket. It had been designated to contact Schultz himself, and each of them had been given to the leaders of each group of the gang that was conducting Honda research.
Once they arrived in front of the warehouse door, they opened it cautiously and entered.
They began to look around. The afternoon sunlight came in from the windows illuminating, albeit slightly, the interior of the warehouse and giving the armed criminals a chance to see.
"Where the hell is he?" Morishita whispered.
"I don't know," Takeda replied. "But it will be better to warn the boss. After all, he told us to warn him once we found Honda.".
He started to activate the walkie talkie but the sound of a door being slammed shut made the five turn. They saw the door closed and surrounded by a black substance, probably to block it and prevent escape.
"What the hell..." Takeda tried to say but was interrupted when a black tentacle took his walkie talkie and brought it to the rightful owner of the aforementioned tentacle: Ryo.
He stepped out of the shadows with an almost amused smile as the tentacle, which came out of his back, placed the walkie talkie on his hand.
"Tsk tsk, I'm sorry but you can't call for help here." The purple-haired boy said arrogantly, as the tentacle re-entered his back.
His hand was enveloped in that black substance and he crushed the walkie talkie, destroying it.
"NO!" It was what the five criminals screamed at the same time.
"Did you think I didn't notice you following me?" Ryo said in an amused tone. "I mean, I had to be such an idiot if I didn't notice you. But I still have to thank my partner for letting me know about you. ".
Ryo cocked his head, noting the tattoos on the right arms of the criminals "Ohhhh you are members of the Black Dragon. I haven't seen you in a while." He said as he stepped forward.
The five criminals pointed their weapons at him "Stop where you are, you ugly bastard! Don't come any nearer!" Takeda yelled.
"Ohhh but I'm getting closer anyway" Ryo replied amused, as his body began to be surrounded by a black substance.
By his symbiote.
By V.
"You know, if you're here I have to imagine that the rest of your gang is here too." Ryo kept talking as he began to gain height.
The five backed away.
"So I have to imagine... that your boss is here too." Ryo continued as his voice began to have two tones.
Eventually the criminals widened their eyes in terror as they saw Ryo complete his transformation.
Ryo had now become... Venom.
"So we hope you don't mind if you tell us exactly who he is and where his base is." Venom smiled showing off his fangs.
Naomasa arrived at the crime scene which was located in an alley where there were many police cars. Waiting for him was a cat-headed policeman, Sansa Tamakawa.
"Detective" Tamakawa greeted "Welcome."
"Agent Tamakawa" Naomasa returned the greeting and then entered the alley followed by the agent.
"Sorry if I called you suddenly..."
"No problem. But we'll have to talk about that later. Some Heroes will need the help of the police force for a vital operation."
"Absolutely, detective. But first we have to take a look at this." Tamakwa said, pointing in front of him.
There was a corpse there, a corpse of a woman. Her throat had been slit and she was stabbed multiple times in the stomach, and her empty eyes of hers were staring at the sky as forensics took pictures and searched for evidence.
Naomasa could not help but clench his fists in front of that spectacle.
He then turned his gaze to the wall near which the corpse was "So it's really him...".
"Yes, sir. I can't believe he's started killing again after all this time. Some even thought he was a legend after his disappearance. "
"Yet here he is again... he starts killing again after such a long time... also leaving his unmistakable signature.".
"I'm just wondering why no Hero has captured him yet. Like… you cannot leave such a monster on the loose.".
"I agree, Tamakawa. But this killer doesn't have a Quirk. He has no special powers, so it is the police's responsibility to deal with him. Sure, there are some Heroes who have tried to capture him, but in the end it is us in the police who have to stop him and capture him… once and for all. " The detective finished, observing the signature left by the killer on the wall.
A signature written in the blood of his victim.
A signature that read: C.K.