"Welcome back, Tomioka-chan!" Kaniko happily said to the new arrival.
"Long time no see, boss! I'm looking forward to getting started!" The man green greeted back.
Across the room, Togane let a faint sigh escape her lips. Doing her best not to show the obvious displeasure she felt breathing the same air as her insufferable teammate.
Noritaka Tomioka. The fifth and final member of Special Investigations Unit Nine. A tall man with a slim build, jet black hair and purple eyes hidden behind a pair of designer sunglasses. Along with a perpetual smile that showed off his almost impossibly white teeth.
A former hero student of Ketsubutsu Academy, he was recruited into the NPSC for his powers and skills. Although he has gained a stellar track record during his time as an Inspector. His exploits and accomplishments have been overshadowed by his reputation as a notorious "playboy".
"It's nice of you to finally show up!" Ishikawa waved at his teammate with a smile. "How was your vacation?"
"Oh man, Hawaii is just lovely this time of year!" Tomioka said as he approached the open desk next to Midoriya. "The beaches were fantastic, the girls were hot, the guys were cool, and I gorged myself on snow cones the whole time."
"Well, sounds like you had a good time!" Kaniko laughed.
"Speaking of a good time..." The black haired man instantly flashed a grin over to Midoriya. "What the hell's been going on with you? I got a text from Ishikawa with pictures of you out on a date with that hero, Vine. Good job, dude! Here I thought you were all work and no play. But now you're out here seducing heroes in your free time? I guess the boss has finally corrupted you!"
"Hey!" The crab themed woman protested.
'I'm so not in the mood for this shit.' Togane rubbed her temples. Contemplating whether or not she should throw herself out the nearest window.
"I can assure that it was all a misunderstanding. I wasn't out on a date, and that article was completely wrong." The greenette clarified. Hoping to stop Tomioka's oncoming jokes as soon as possible.
Before being put on the same team, Midoriya only ever encountered his raven haired colleague a handful of times. He definitely respected the guy for how good he was at his job. But their conflicting personalities made it hard to get along with him outside of work. There was also the fact that Tomioka thought it was a good idea to try and set him up with one of his former classmates. But that's a story for a different time.
"Seriously?" Tomioka raised an eyebrow with genuine surprise on his face. Only a moment before shooting a devious glance over to Togane. "Well, sorry about that. Although...I'm sure that certain people are glad to hear that you're still on the market."
"What are you-"
"Anyway..." Ishikawa quickly cut the green haired man off. Hoping to save both of his other teammates from a conversation that no one wanted to have right now. "Kaniko-san was in the middle of briefing us when you showed up."
Part of the Chief Inspector wanted to let Tomioka have his fun seeing as this was his first day back. But the responsible side of her decided to put that on hold. There was a high-priority mission that they needed to get started on. And the last thing she needed was to cause drama before she sent her team out to work.
"Ishi-chan is right, we have to get back to business. Luckily, I was able to give Tomioka-chan the rundown while we were in the elevator." The orange haired woman smiled before continuing her brief.. "Like I was saying before, we have a group of quirk traffickers that we need to track down and...take care of. But our job right now is mainly intel gathering."
"What do we have on these guys so far?" Midoriya asked.
"Alright, so here's what we know." Kaniko stated. "A few days ago, Team Six apprehended and arrested a gang of these guys that were working with a local hero in Chiba. After a bit of...questioning, we learned that one of these bastards was also facilitatin' operations here in Kanagawa. More specifically, on the north side of the city."
The crab-themed woman paused for a moment as she let her subordinates take in that information before continuing.
"As luck would have it, that same asshole set up a meeting with a local contact and some other small-time criminals to make a 'transaction'. Which will happen later tonight. Both of whom have already been arrested and questioned."
"Team Six finally did something right for once, huh?" Tomioka joked.
"From what we know, they're s'posed to deliver one individual with an unknown quirk to this contact and make the switch. Thankfully, the contact doesn't exactly know who they're s'posed to be meetin' up with. Only that it's two people with one victim."
The group pondered for a moment before Ishikawa spoke up. "What information do we have on the contact?"
"Only that it's one man and one woman."
"Location?" Midoriya was the next to ask.
"Two blocks away from the 'Koinatsu' nightclub. In the south end of a parking deck on the fourth level."
"Anything special that we're supposed to look out for?" Now it was Togane's turn.
"They want to see the victim before exchanging the cash. And they want to be subdued to avoid a hassle."
Another thirty seconds of silence passed as the Inspectors' minds began going over every detail of what they heard so far. Even if they didn't have a lot of information to go on, there was more than enough to work with. And the fact that all the involved parties chose to remain anonymous made it even easier. Since no one knew who they were, staging a sting operation wouldn't be difficult at all. Plus, there was all the information in the files that the Chief Inspector still had yet to pass around.
"So what's the objective here?"
"Capture and interrogation." Kaniko replied. "Lure 'em in, capture 'em, knock 'em out and then bring them to our usual spot. Once we're there, Tomioka-chan can work his magic."
"And after that?" Ishikawa then said.
The room went dead silent after the blue haired man said those words. And all Kaniko could do was give the man a cold stare. Which was pretty much the only answer that anyone needed. "Y'kno...I have no sympathy for people like this. If they comply, good for them. If not..."
"So..." Togane spoke up to fill in the brief moment of silence. "How are we going to do this, senpai?"
"Since this is more up his alley, I'll let Izu-chan come up with the plan." The orange haired woman gave her a smile. "I'm sure that he can cook up something lovely for these bastards."
As expected, the green haired man's mind was already flying through a list of possible strategies that they could implement. Compared to some of the other operations that they've done, this was practically a piece of cake. And now that they're team was complete, it made his job that much more easier. With all of their available quirks and skills, Team Nine was made specifically for quick and quiet operations. With intelligence gathering being their specialty.
Midoriya shot a glance at everyone in the room. All waiting to hear what their team strategist had to say. Thankfully, it didn't take long before the man knew exactly what they were going to do. "Alright, here's the plan..."
~Later That Night~
The streets of Kanagawa prefecture were brimming with life. Even though it was a weekday, there was no shortage of people roaming the streets looking to have a good time. And that was certainly the case when it came to the "Koinatsu Nightclub".
Although none of the members of Team Nine had ever been inside the place before, it was hard not to at least hear about how popular the place was. From what they knew, it was one of the most famous spots in the area. Everyone from local college students to celebrities frequented the establishment. And the stellar reviews it always got on blog sites and social media made sure that it was filled to capacity when it opened its doors for the night. However, that wasn't the full story.
It was an open secret that the owners had dealings in various drug trades all across the prefecture. And it was estimated that a couple of hundred million yen illegally passed through its walls every year. In spite of that, the owners made sure to keep their hands clean as much as possible. Mainly to keep the authorities from shutting the place down and throwing them all in jail.
Ironically though, that was only the tip of the iceberg. There were at least twelve government informants working among the staff, including one of the owners. But you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would admit to that outside of a courtroom. There was a standing agreement between the club and the local police that as long as they provided them with the information that they needed, then the club would continue to operate and rake in the cash. Thankfully, one of the bartenders working the counter was under Kaniko's thumb. And they agreed to keep an eye out for any suspicious activities.
"Man, I wouldn't mind going down there and checking the place out." Tomioka said with a grin as he looked at the nightclub from their spot inside the parking deck.
"I never understood the appeal of these places." Togane responded while looking at the ridiculously long line of people waiting to get in. "Why would you want to pack yourself into a building with a bunch of drunk and drugged out pricks who're just trying to get laid?"
"That's half the appeal!" The shades wearing man chuckled.
"No thanks."
"Aww, c'mon! Don't tell me you've been to a club before? Maybe we should all head somewhere as a group? I'm sure that the boss would be up for it."
"I'm good."
"Think about it." He then threw his arm over her shoulder. His black shades completely hiding his eyes from her. "Wouldn't it be nice to cut loose, pound down a few drinks and hit the dance floor with Midoriya? I'm sure that we can convince him to go."
Togane's eye twitched at the unwanted physical contact. Although her exterior remained passive and completely professional, she was silently cursing her green haired partner inside of her head. Sure she understood the plan. But having to spend an extended period of time with the one person on their team that she disliked was absolute torture. Especially since he knew just how to push her buttons.
"Doubt it." She stated in a neutral tone. "He isn't into that kind of thing."
"Oh? You sure do know a lot about the kind of stuff he's into, huh?"
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
All Tomioka could do was give the brunette a devious smirk. "Don't act all cute with me! Everyone on the team knows that you-"
"Shades, Quickdraw, this is Ghost. Can you guys hear me?" The timely voice of Midoriya cut in over their ear pieces. Stopping Tomioka from finishing what he was about to say.
"This is Quickdraw. We hear you loud and clear." Togane was the first one to respond. "What do you have?"
"I got two people heading your way. One's a man with blue skin and a red mohawk. The other's a woman with brown hair and cat ears. Both look pretty shady. They're pulling up a black SUV with fake plates. You have about three minutes until they're at your location. I'll be there in five."
"Got it!" Tomioka replied. "Everything is ready to go. But we'll stall them and wait until you're up here."
"No problem. Good luck." Was the last thing that Midoriya said before ending their communications.
"Alright, let's get this over with." Togane sighed as she removed Tomioka's arm from around her shoulder and walked towards the black sedan that they obtained for this job. Hoping to make this entire process as quick and painless as possible. But not before making sure that her pistol was properly concealed under her jacket.
'Yeah...she totally hates me.' Tomioka thought before getting into position.
-(o)-
A few minutes later, the previously mentioned SUV pulled into the fourth floor of the parking deck. Parking directly across from where the Inspectors staged their car. After a few seconds, out walked the two individuals that Midoriya warned Togane and Tomioka about before. The man was tall and had an aquatic appearance. While the woman was letting her long brown tail wave around behind her.
"Lovely night out isn't it?" The cat-girl said in an oddly cheery tone.
"Not really. I'd rather be at home." Togane replied. Speaking the coded phrase that they were told to give to the criminals to make sure that they knew this was the right place.
"You guys got the package?" The blue skinned man spoke up in a no-nonsense tone.
"Depends, you got the payment." Tomioka folded his arms in a cool manner.
"Let's see the merchandise first."
With a quick nod, Togane motioned for them to approach the car. And the two criminals instantly complied. The brunette then popped the trunk of the vehicle to reveal a very uncomfortable looking Ishikawa. The blue haired man was blindfolded and gagged with his hands and legs tied up.
'Midoriya-kun, I swear I'm gonna crash your computer the next time you make me play hostage!' The 'technopath' quirk user said to himself. Out of everyone in their group, he always somehow ended up being the one to be thrown into these awkward positions.
"He seems pretty docile for being tied up." The cat-girl sneered.
"We pumped him with enough drugs to put a full grown horse on his ass. He won't be giving you guys any trouble for at least the next twelve hours."
"What's his quirk anyway? Our boss didn't bother telling us before we came out here." The blue-skinned one followed up. Togane had decided to give him the title of "Fish-boy" in their short interaction so far.
"It's listed as 'energy conversion'." The brunette quickly answered. "Apparently, this guy can convert everything from kinetic energy to electricity into raw strength, speed and stamina."
"Which means that the client asking for him or more than likely a woman."
"How can you tell?" Tomioka asked with genuine curiosity.
"You see a trend when you've been doing this for a while." The cat-girl smirked. "You'll be surprised at how many rich women in their thirties with weird fetishes are looking to have powerful kids. It helps that he's good looking too. Poor bastard, they're probably gonna chain him to a wall and milk him dry before putting a bullet in his head."
It took quite a bit of effort for Togane not to outwardly cringe at that. How could someone say something so disgusting with a smile on their face? She had half a mind to knock this girl's teeth out right there on the spot. But for the sake of their job, she kept her emotions under control.
"Sucks to suck." Tomioka shrugged. Somehow able to keep his composure despite hearing that tidbit of information. "Anyways, you got the cash? We don't exactly have all day to stand around and shoot the shit."
The cat-girl waved her hand towards her partner and the blue skinned man stepped away to go back to their car. After a few seconds, he came back with a metal briefcase and what looked to be an anti-quirk collar. The kind that you could only find in maximum security prisons like Tartarus.
'Great...these guys have high-grade illegal tech too.'
Fish-boy handed the briefcase over to Togane and wasted no time in securing the device around Ishikawa's neck. The brunette making sure to spend a few seconds to pretend like she was counting all of the money. While she was going through the motions, the woman felt a tugging sensation on the sleeve of her jacket. And a few seconds later, Tomioka felt the same. Signalling that their other teammate was finally in place.
The two exchanged a brief look with one another and all Togane did was nod. With everything now ready, it was finally time to end this little game of theirs.
"It's all here." The 'trueshot' user said.
"Well then, I guess our business here is done! Well pack this one up in the car and get going. We're moving locations soon. But the Mistress will be in contact with you boss once we're back up and running." Cat-girl smiled at them.
"Actually...there's one more thing that we need to take care of." Tomioka replied with an evil smirk.
"What do you mean?"
*Whack!*
Out of the corner of her eye, all that the cat-girl saw was her blue skinned partner drop to the ground. She quickly turned her head to find Midoriya, who was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, standing over the man with a cold expression on his face and a pistol in his left hand.
"What the-"
*Pow!*
Togane wasted no time closing the distance between her and the woman before giving her a furious right uppercut. One that was powerful enough to knock her off her feet. The criminal didn't even get a chance to defend herself before the 'trueshot' user whipped out her pistol and shot two tranquilizer rounds into her chest. And then proceeded to finish her off with a sneaker to the face.
"Geez..." Tomioka whistled. "You think you got her?"
"It's more than what this waste of space deserves." The brunette replied in what could be construed as an annoyed tone.
"You guys alright?" Midoriya finally spoke up as he put a pair of handcuffs on the other quirk traffickers' wrists.
"Yup!"
"What about you, Ishikawa-kun?"
All he got in response was a muffled groan from inside the trunk of the car. Seeing as the first part of their job was now over, the green haired man saw no reason to keep his teammate in such an uncomfortable position. So without a moment's hesitation, the 'mirage' quirk user quickly undid the bindings that left the blue haired man immobilized.
"Alright, next time I vote that Tomioka-kun is the one who has to be the hostage!" Ishikawa frowned at his three colleges.
All Tomioka could do was chuckle. "But you look so cute all tied up and vulnerable like that."
"Whatever..."
"Save the jokes for later." Midoriya interjected while putting his pistol back in it's holster. "Let's hurry and get to the safe house. These guys won't be out for long and we need to start probing them for information. Tomioka-kun, you and Ishikawa-kun take the girl in the sedan. Me and Togane-san will take the man in the SUV."
Togane let out a small sigh of relief that wasn't going to have to ride back to their safe house with Midoriya and not her annoying teammate.
"Let's hurry up and get this done." Ishikawa groaned. Gliding his hands over the device that was currently locked around his neck. "I want to get this damn anti-quirk collar off of me as fast as possible." Thankfully, the device wasn't activated, so he could still use his quirk just fine.
With nothing else needing to be said, the group of four packed up the two criminals and made the journey over to their next destination. Despite everything going pretty well so far, Midoriya had a feeling that they were going to be in for a rough night.
~Unknown Location, About Two Hours Later~
As is the case with all teams of NSPC's Special Investigations Division, Unit Nine had a variety of safe houses and unmarked locations all across the prefecture at their disposal. Although the majority of these places were used for storing vehicles, tools and other items, such as most of Togane's weapons. A couple of them had other purposes to suit their needs at any given time. Just like the one that the crew currently found themselves in.
Inside a building that looked suspiciously like an ordinary garage on the outside, the two previously captured criminals were handcuffed and tied up to a set of matching chairs. Peacefully sleeping and unaware of the world around them. Unfortunately for them, their short respite came to a swift end.
"Wake up!"
*SPLASH!*
The cat-girl along with her blue skinned companion were jolted awake by the sensation of a bucket of freezing cold water being thrown into their faces.
"What the hell?" Fish-boy managed to get out after a brief cough.
The two quickly opened their eyes and took a moment to gauge their surroundings. There was barely any light minus the two fluorescent lamps directly overhead. And the air was painfully dry. Dust particles were flying all over the place and they could hear the sound of cars passing over what they assumed to be a nearby freeway.
"Greetings!" The two criminals finally got their wits about them just in time to look at the person sitting across from them. "I'm Chief Inspector Monika Kaniyashiki of the Special Investigations Division Unit Nine."
"The what?" Fish-boy raised his eyebrows. His head was pounding and his vision was still a bit blurry.
"I've never heard of any Special Investigations-whatever before. What are you, a cop?" The cat-girl spoke up in a more coherent tone of voice.
Kaniko decided to play it cool for the moment and simply placed her right hand on her cheek. "Really? Well that's kind of surprisin'. And here I thought our group was pretty famous."
"What do you want? And where the hell are we!"
The Chief Inspector stayed silent for a moment as she gave the two quirk traffickers an obviously fake smile. Making sure to build up the suspense and uneasiness that the two were obviously feeling right about now. Neither of them chose to say anything in this time and it was only then did the thugs finally notice Togane standing right behind her boss. The brunette not even bothering to look in their direction.
"Don't worry about where we are." Kaniko finally answered. "As for what we want, well that's pretty simple. The two of you are gonna to answer a few questions that I have. If all goes well, then I promise that no further harm will come to either of you."
"Piss of, bitch!" The cat-girl yelled. "I don't know what the hell your game is. But once our boss finds out what you've done to us, she'll skin your ugly ass alive!"
*Slap!*
The sound of a hand colliding with the cat-girl's face echoed throughout the room. The woman looked around to try and figure out who the hell just hit her. But to her surprise, no one was there. That wasn't right. She definitely just felt someone slap her. But as far as she could tell, there were only the four of them in the room.
"I suggest you refrain from anymore outbursts like that if you know what's good for you." Kaniko kept up her facade. "I'm not exactly known for my patience. So it would be in your best interests to cooperate."
"What do you want?" Fish-boy said in a surprisingly calm tone. Apparently this one was the most reasonable out of the two.
"Like I said, I want you to answer a few questions."
"Okay..."
"Obviously you two were just caught trying to purchase a kidnapped person. So let's just skip over the obvious. Now...I already know that you guys weren't working alone. And that you have some sort of supervisor or over-boss calling the shots. What I want to know is who you're workin' for. Includin' the details of your operation."
The two criminals stayed silent as a look of nervousness crossed their faces. From what either of the Inspectors could tell, there was definitely a bit of fear there. Enough to make them second guess outright telling the name of their boss. Things like that were common. Lower-level thugs were usually slow to give up that kind of information. Be it out of loyalty or fear of insubordination.
"We...we can't tell you." Cat-girl said somewhat confidently.
All Kaniko did was giggle at the woman's defiance before snapping her fingers.
In that moment, two things happened. Both in the blink of an eye. First, the blue skinned man's head was slammed against the table with enough force to echo to elicit a pain grounded from his mouth. The next, was Midoriya materializing into existence right next to the feline woman. The cat-girl froze as she felt something press up against her sternum. Only to look down and see the green haired man's hand holding a pistol right next to her heart.
Unbeknownst to the now distressed criminal, the weapon wasn't loaded. But no one in the room needed to tell her that. As much as Midoriya hated doing things like these, it was best to scare the person as much as possible in a short amount of time. That was usually the best way to get them talking without too much fuss.
"We-we can't tell you!" The woman repeated in a now shaky tone. "She has dirt on all of us! And she knows where our families are! If we tell you then she'll kill us and sell off our relatives! P-please, I-I have a little brother. The only reason why I'm doing this is to keep him from being sold off!"
Kaniko eyed the girl for what felt like an eternity before letting out a rather exhausted sigh. Years of training allowed the former undercover cop to discern that the young woman was more than likely telling the truth. But that didn't matter at the moment, as much as she hated to admit it. Once they were done here, she would be sure to address that as soon as possible. Especially if it was a common trend among this group. But right now, there were more pressing matters that they had to deal with.
"I was hoping to get the information out of you willingly. But it looks like that's not going to be the case. Shades, we'll start with the girl since she seems to be in a talkative mood."
"No problem, boss!" Tomioka gave her a thumbs up as he walked around the chairs and sat on top of the wooden table. Positioning himself right in front of the woman.
"I suggest you stay quiet for the time being. If you know what's good for you..." Togane finally spoke up. Directing her words to the blue skinned man who seemed to have no problem complying with her orders.
"Hold her still, Ghost."
All Midoriya did was nod before placing his hands at either side of the girl's face and pointing it directly at Tomioka. Making sure to avert his gaze from his teammate's eyes. As expected, the girl tried to resist out of fear for what was about to happen to her. But her struggles proved to be in vain.
Tomioka let out a quick breath as he removed the designer shades from his face. Revealing a pair of purple eyes that instantly shifted to red as he activated his quirk.
Out of everyone in Unit Nine, Noritaka Tomioka probably had the most terrifying power out of the entire group. 'Mind Control' is the name he chose to give his quirk. A power that allowed him complete and total control over a person's mind and actions for a short period of time. Although the effect wasn't permanent, and depended on the willpower of the person he used it on, it was a quirk that was proven to be quite an effective tool for any situation. As long as he could make eye contact with the intended target, then there wasn't much anyone could do to stop it.
This power was the main reason why he was recruited into the NPSC right after graduating from the Ketsubutsu Academy hero course. Yet, his uncanny knack for charming people with his almost infectious charisma certainly helped make him one of the most dangerous men in the entire NPSC. Aside from Midoriya, he was the one that Kaniko had the most trouble getting assigned to her team.
"Now, look into my eyes!" The 'mind control' user commanded. All it took was a split second for the cat-girl to be locked under the control of his power. When this happened, her body relaxed and she adopted a far away look.
"Ghost, you take over." Kaniko looked at her assistant as she pulled a pen and notepad seemingly from out of nowhere. "I'll write down everything she says."
"Yes, ma'am." The green haired Inspector nodded before beginning his interrogation. Even though he wouldn't say so in front of the others. He knew that the main reason why Kaniko left this kind of stuff to him was because she had a habit of getting sidetracked.
"I can hold her for about five minutes." Tomioka quickly said as turned his gaze back to the woman. "You will answer every question that my partner asks you. To the best of your ability and with the utmost honesty."
"Yes, sir..." The now stoic feline woman said blankly.
"Alright..." Midoriya began. "Who do you work for?"
"Her name is Mistress Koyonagi-sama. I don't know if that's her real name or not."
"How many people does she have under her employment?"
"Twenty-five, as far as I'm aware."
"Does she work for anyone else?"
"Yes." Cat-girl said. "However, I don't know that person's identity."
"Where is your base of operations?"
"An abandoned office building on the north side of the city. The address is..."
The line of questioning went on for a good four minutes. The feline woman answered every question in as much detail as she could. All while her partner looked on in horror as she was completely at the mercy of the people who captured them. The only thing halting their progress was the fact that Tomioka began feeling the grip on his quirk begin to fade.
"Ghost, ask her about what she said earlier." Kaniko ordered the green haired Inspector.
Midoriya gave the crab-themed woman a quick nod before continuing. "Do you have any family?"
"Yes." Cat-girl stated blankly. "My aunt and my little brother. Both live with me."
"Why did you choose to work for Koyonagi?"
"I didn't. She came after me and my little brother last year. To stop either of us from being captured and sold off, she agreed to let me work for her in exchange for his safety."
"And how old is he?"
"Seven."
"Shit." Togane cursed under her breath. She may not have had any sympathy for any of these quirk-traffickers. But the fact that children as young as that were being targeted for kidnappings made her sick to her stomach. As much as she didn't want to put herself in any of these people's shoes, she could definitely understand why they would agree to join this group if it meant keeping their families safe.
"That's it." Tomioka said before his 'mind control' finally timed out. The moment this happened, Cat-girl fell unconscious. Her limp body slouching in the chair.
The main side effect to the raven haired man's quirk was that whoever he used it on would be rendered unconscious for a few hours. The duration of this depending on how long they were subject to his control. Although it didn't seem like a big deal, it made things harder when they needed to extract information out of person later on.
"Now then..." Kaniko then turned the group's attention over to Fish-boy. Who had been sitting quietly this entire time. "Are we going to have to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"
"I-I'll talk." The man said without missing a beat. He just witnessed his partner have her mind taken over and pass out. The last thing he wanted to be on the opposite end of quirk that dangerous. Especially since he didn't know what the side effects actually were.
"Excellent!" She smiled. "Now then, your coworker here mentioned you moving locations soon because another branch of yours was recently raided. Why haven't you done so already?"
"We were waiting to get transportation sorted out, as far as I know. We have a few...victims currently being housed. About ten of them. And we needed to arrange for special trucks to transport all of them. But it was also because a last minute job came in. One that the Mistress didn't want to refuse."
"Why couldn't you refuse?" Midoriya questioned.
"The client was offering too much money to turn down. I don't know who it is or what the exact number was."
"When did this offer come in?"
"Around last night."
"Did you already capture them?" Togane was next to speak. Secretly dreading the response.
"Yes. Earlier this afternoon." Fish-boy nodded.
"What made this target so special?"
The blue skinned man fidgeted in his seat for a moment. "It was a hero. We usually don't take on jobs with that level of risk. But the client offered the Mistress a pretty penny for her."
Kaniko could already feel a headache coming on after hearing that. This was just perfect. Not only did they have to worry about regular civilians being caught up in this mess. But these clowns somehow managed to get their hands on a hero. If they went about this the wrong way, then the news would get out to the public. She only hoped that the poor soul wasn't too popular. At least that way they could find a way to keep it under wraps for as long as possible.
"Who was the target?" Were the next words out of the green haired man's mouth.
"The pro hero...Vine."
Silence instantly fell over the entire group. Followed by a long, painful pause that only got more tense with each passing second. After shaking off the initial shock, almost all the eyes in the room instantly darted over to Midoriya.
It was pretty easy to gauge what the others were thinking at this moment. But as far as Midoriya was concerned, it took him a little longer than the others to process the information he just heard. Shiozaki was captured? How? He knew the vine haired heroine was pretty strong. He had seen her in action with his own eyes. How did these clowns manage to get a hold of her?
A weird, almost nauseating feeling welled up in his chest. A kind that he wasn't all too familiar with. It was one thing to hear about other people getting kidnapped and taken hostage. But when it was somebody that you knew, it just hit a certain way that made it extremely difficult to rationalize. Out of all the thoughts that began swirling around in that green head of his, there was only one thing that managed to slip past the young Inspector's lips.
"What the fuck..."
~Unknown Location, North Side of the City~
When Shiozaki woke up. The first thing she noticed was a pounding headache along with a mouth as dry as a desert.
'What happened?' The young heroine asked herself as she tried to take in her surroundings.
There were three things that immediately caught her attention.
The first thing she noticed was that it was dark. There was absolutely no light whatsoever aside from a small, rectangular sliver directly across from her. The next was that she couldn't move her arms or legs. Which appeared to be bound behind her back and shackled together. And finally, was the uncomfortable sensation of something heavy around her neck.
'Where am I?' She asked herself. Trying to recall everything that happened prior to falling unconscious.
It only took a few seconds before the events of what she assumed to be the previous day came flooding back into memories.
The last thing she remembered was patrolling her newly assigned area. About thirty minutes into her shift, she spotted a group of suspicious looking individuals shoving a young man into a dark alley in between two large buildings. And naturally, she went to investigate. Upon her arrival, the thugs scattered like roaches into the shadows. Leaving the young man on the ground. The moment she tried to tend to the obviously wounded victim, he shouted at her to run away.
Before she even had a chance to think, one of the men reappeared with a handgun pointed directly at her. But thanks to her many years of training and experience, she quickly dispatched the evildoer. Sending him flying into a nearby wall. Instantly knocking him unconscious.
But that was when it all went wrong.
At first it had been almost laughably easy. The group of thugs tried to overwhelm her with numbers, but they were no match for Shiozaki and her vines. They fell just as quickly as they came. Each one making an attempt to get the better of her. And each one being taken down with the precision and finesse that only a seasoned hero could achieve. However, that was when things took a turn for the worst.
Without warning, a bright flame nailed her from behind with enough power to incinerate the vines that were covering her back. The young heroine quickly turned around and was met with the sight of a short man and two others. All three possessing fire quirks. And neither of them wasted any time in sending a massive wave of flames her way. Seeing that she was now at a disadvantage, the vine haired woman quickly grabbed the injured civilian and tried to put some distance between them. Which she succeeded in doing by carrying herself all the way up to the rooftop with her quirk.
"Are you alright? What going on-"
Shiozaki's inquiry was cut short when she felt something pierce her left thigh.
"I swear, you heroes are always too quick to save a person in need." The "victim" looked up with a devious grin as he pulled a syringe out of her leg.
The realization of what just happened hit her like a ton of bricks. Without missing a beat, the vine haired heroine tossed the man across the roof into the nearby water tank and made the decision that she needed to get away from this group as soon as possible.
However, It was all in vain. Whatever that man had injected her with immediately took effect. And Shiozaki could feel her consciousness fading with each passing second. As she tried to make her escape, another person appeared. A woman with blue hair and yellow eyes. In her weakened state, all the newcomer had to do was sprint to her before she was able to touch her hand to her face. And that was when Shiozaki felt the last of her remaining stamina escape her body.
The last thing she saw before blacking out was a man with scales on his face approach her. Giving her a wicked smile before wishing her "sweet dreams".
That was all she could remember before waking up here in this cold, dark room.
It was all so disorienting. The young heroine quickly remembered her training and took stock of all her person. Her body felt completely fine aside from her head and throat. There were no other aches and pains as far as she could tell. Which was odd considering the situation she found herself in. But the one thing that stood out to her the most was her hair. Not only could she tell that all the vines of her head had been cut. But she couldn't manipulate them at all. She tried several times to force them to expand, but to no avail. Even in her obviously dehydrated state, she should've been able to work her quirk. However something was wrong.
While she was doing this, Shiozaki heard a lock rattle. The creak of metal doors opening along with a sudden beam of light nearly blinded her.
"Well, well, well...our fair 'maiden' has finally decided to wake up, huh?" A female voice said in an amused tone.
After allowing her eyes to adjust, Shiozaki was able to get a good look at who was talking. It was a woman with blonde hair and lavender eyes sporting an expensive looking white suit. Behind her was the same scale-faced guy and blue haired woman from before.
"Who are you? Where am I?!" Were the first word's out of the young heroines mouth.
"You don't need to worry about all that, my dear. Just listen to what I have to say."
"What do you want?!"
"First things first." The blonde said. "Don't even worry about trying to use your quirk. You won't be able to. We put an anti-quirk collar around your neck and cut off all your hair. So there's no way for you to escape."
Shiozaki chose to remain silent for a moment as she absorbed the woman's words.
"As for who we are, well...we're a group of individuals who make a living selling valuable merchandise to very rich people. I guess you call us 'quirk traffickers'."
Those words were enough to make Shiozaki's heart freeze. Quirk traffickers? Like the ones she heard all those horrible stories about? This couldn't be happening. Of all the groups that you didn't want to come across in this world, these kinds of criminals were near the top of the list.
"Anyway...a client offered us a pretty hefty reward for capturing you. And now that you're here, we're going to be sending you to him pretty soon. Don't worry though, we're under strict orders to keep in pristine condition. So you don't have to worry about any of my subordinates defiling you. You should be happy to receive such favorable treatment."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Why not?" The blonde shrugged with a smile. "It's not like you can do anything about it anyway. Besides, it's not everyday I get to chat with such a famous hero like you. Y'know...I saw those photos of you and boyfriend that came out recently. He's a pretty handsome guy, huh? Good job!"
A pit was beginning to form in Shiozaki's gut. She had no clue where this blonde lunatic was going with this, but she had a feeling that wasn't going to like it. In a few steps, the mystery blonde closed the distance between the two of them. Then proceeded to kneel down and grab the vine haired heroine's face with what looked to be a prosthetic arm. Shiozaki wasn't well versed in precious metals. That kind of thing was more up Tetsutetsu and Yaoyorozu's alley. But whatever her arm was made out of looked to be rather expensive.
"Here's a thought! If you tell me what his quirk is and where he lives, I promise to get a hold of him too. I can throw him in as a bonus to our client. That way, the two of you can be together while you're being shipped off. If he has a strong enough quirk that the client likes, then he'll probably be turned into breeding stock. If not, then they'll just kill him as soon as you two arrive."
There were two things that Shiozaki was able to piece together from this interaction so far. One, was that this woman was absolutely out of her mind. And two, was that she was obviously trying to get some sort of reaction out of her. If this lunatic thought she was going to give up any information on Midoriya, then she was wrong. The vine haired woman may have been in what some would call a "hopeless situation" at the moment. But there was no way she was going to sell someone out. Especially not a friend.
"The silent treatment, huh?" The blonde frowned. "You're lucky that our client wants you in good condition, otherwise I would've kicked your teeth on for being so difficult."
That appeared to be the end of whatever the woman had to say. So she released her hold on Shiozaki's face before standing up and dusting herself off. "Anyway, you'll be in here for the next couple of days before it's time to ship you off. Don't expect a lot of food. But we'll be sure to give you some water whenever we have the time. See you later, hero!"
Once the woman and her two subordinates all stepped out, the door to the room closed. Leaving Shiozaki alone to think about everything that just occurred. Was this really happening? Was she really captured by a group of quirk-traffickers? Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine ending up in a situation like this. She was no stranger to all the rumors that floated around about how people like this operated. And that fact that she was still in one piece was nothing short of a miracle.
But that only forced even more questions to the front of her mind. Who was the "client" that wanted her? And why? Whoever it was obviously had some sort of unholy plan for her if she was meant to be kept in "good condition". Which meant that they specifically told her kidnappers to leave her...untouched.
After once again taking stock of her situation, Shiozaki immediately began formulating her strategy. Somehow managing to stay calm despite the current circumstances. As sad as it was to say this, female heroes were trained for situations such as this. Well, males were too. But she didn't have time to ponder over that little detail.
In her mind, her best chance at escaping would be when they began the process of moving her to whatever location they meant to ship her off to. Her chances for calling for help were effectively zero. Her phone was gone, probably confiscated the moment she was captured. And she doubted that she could persuade anyone inside this building to help her. On top of that, she would no doubt be physically exhausted since she wasn't likely to get any food in the near future.
'I'll only get one shot at this. So I need to make sure that I'm ready.' She told herself before using every ounce of brainpower that she had to come up with a plan.
After a few minutes, the vine haired heroine ceased her ruminations. Already concocting several decent ideas to ensure her safety.
With nothing else to do but sit and wait for her time to come, the woman simply readjusted herself to a more comfortable position. Laying herself out across the floor in a way that wouldn't cause her arms and legs to begin cramping up. With that, all there was left to do was the only thing could in her position. Pray.
'Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil. For you are with me...'
A/N: Sorry for being gone for so long. But I had to spend some time reading/cross-reference a few different stories to get a clue on how I wanted that interrogation/operation to go. Like I've said before, I've never written a story like this one before. So I find myself having to spend a lot of time getting inspiration and ideas from other sources. Plus, life….
1. The final member of the team has been revealed! And he's kind of a douchebag. Someone asked me a while ago where I get the inspiration for my Characters/OC's. So just to clarify, here's the characters from other anime/manga that loosely inspired the members from Team Nine:
-Togane: Takehisa Hinawa from "Fire Force"
-Ishikawa: Khun Hatchling from "Tower of God"
-Tomioka: Lelouch from "Code Geass"
-Midoriya: Kusanagi from "Ghost in the Shell"
2. Like I said before, this story is going to be a bit more "adult" than all of my previous fics. And it's going to touch on a lot more mature themes that all of us find uncomfortable. But as I've already stated, there is a certain line that I will not cross. And I'm sticking to that.
3. Originally this was going to be two separate chapters. But after being away for a while, I decided to just merge them both together. So you guys get an extra-long chapter from me this time around.
4. Things are going to get pretty crazy in the next few chapters. But after this whole fiasco is out of the way, we're going to slow it down and bet and get into the "fluffy" stuff. So I hope you all enjoy it.
5. I really hate "damsel in distress" type characters. It's on my top 10 "Most hated anime tropes" list. So for anyone who thinks that Shiozaki isn't going to "turn up" in this arc, don't worry. She's a capable person and pretty damn strong in my opinion. So I don't see any reason for her not to get her payback. I have no intention of simply having her be rescued by Midoriya.
Like always, thanks for reading and don't be afraid to leave a comment/review. And have a wonderful day.