Chapter 3: The Forge
Every good villain needs a supplier and every smart villain buys from Catalogue. Whatever you need or want, Catalogue gets it for you. Weapons, equipment, even men. Everything Catalogue delivers is guaranteed to be of good quality, but if you're willing to pay extra, you can have something handmade by The Forge.
The Forge works directly for Catalogue and their equipment is unrivalled in the underworld. Nothing of his is ever pre-made, not even the parts. They make sure to make everything from the ground up. From the plating to the motors, even the casing for anything radioactive. Nothing is pre-made and everything is supreme in quality.
Creating equipment isn't the only thing they do. They also do sneaky business for clients. No target is too small for The Forge. Government building or Might Tower, they'll do them both. After all, they already have. Secret files on a government weapon and evidence on a criminal All Might had captured. In and out with no one the wiser.
The Forge is a legend, among both the criminals and heroes. No one but the owners of Catalogue know who they are or what their quirk is. All they know is that he places a mark on everyone of his creations, a hammer radiating a godly golden glow.
Some say they're a 15ft godlike creature with a hammer forged by the gods themselves. Others believe they're a relic of the past from when quirks first knowledge and skills come from centuries of practice. No one must ever know the truth of The Forge. For if they do, then their whole life might come crashing down in front of them.
Dexter awoke in his bed. A king size bed with a dark wooden frame. He moved the covers off of him and climbed out of bed. His eyes throbbed with pain, as if he looked directly into the sun for 30 seconds. He rubbed his eyes and opened them, everything was somewhat blurry. Nothing new for him, just a downside of his quirk. He grabbed the yellow rimmed glasses which sat on his bedside table and put them on. With his vision restored he moved on over to the shower to wash the night sweat away.
He re-entered his room, now wet and with his lower half covered by a towel. He used a separate towel to dry his hair. As he dried his hair, he noticed something off about his dark wood desk. His Chain Gore figurine's head was at a slight turn. He knew what this meant. He threw the towel he used for his head on to his bed, then walked over to the figurine. He lifted Chain Gore up and underneath the figure was a small memory card like object.
He picked up the card and picked up his phone which also rested on his desk. He then inserted the card into the bottom of his phone. Red shapes then started to form on his phone's screen. At first glance it would make sense, but to Dexter it was a simple decryption. After decrypting it, it became instructions.
They wanted him to infiltrate the U.A. and retrieve All Might's teaching schedule. A client wanted it and was paying decently. Method didn't matter, just as long as the heroes didn't catch on to what was stolen. He removed the chip and crushed it in his hand, an angry look adorned his face. He sighed and went to get dressed. He won't be going to school today, at least not as Dexter Certex.
It had only been a week since class started and already they wanted him to steal from U.A. He really should have expected this, but he hoped they would have waited a little longer before sending him out for a mission.
exter made sure to call into school sick. He wished he could have gone today but the client is impatient and wants it by 3. Next he had to call Hagakure and let her know that he won't be meeting up with her before school.
He hovered his thumb over Hagakure's call button. He coughed to get into character and pressed the green call button. The phone rang a few times before he heard the click signifying she picked up.
~"Hello!"~ Her cheery voice came through the phone.
"Hey Hagakure. Just thought I should let you know I won't be going to school today. I've gained this roaring headache. It's got me bed ridden and nauseous…" It hurt to lie to his best and only friend, but he had no choice in the matter.
~"That's terrible. Are you ok? Do you have someone looking after you?"~ He loved that caring side of her.
"My parent's work late and Selia's going to school herself. I'll probably just sleep the day away." He made sure to keep his voice down to keep up the act.
~"Would you like me to come and take care of you after school?"~ That was a nice thought. Him in bed ill and Hagakure taking care of him. He smiled at the fake scenario and swiped it away.
"No no. There's no need. Like I said, I'll probably just sleep. But thanks for the thought."
~"Well… If you say so. Get well soon Certex."~ With a beep she hung up.
He laid back in his chair with a sigh, letting his arms dangle behind him. The moment he read the mission, he knew it would be difficult for him. Not physically difficult, but mentally speaking. He always hated going on missions for them. He had thought about turning them in but each time he thinks about it, he remembers their deal. As long as he does their bidding, they won't bring his sister into this. He had to go through with this, for Seliana's sake.
He sat back up and readjusted his glasses, only to realise his sight had gotten better. So he removed them and placed them back in their box on his desk. He turned on his monitor and brought up blueprints of the U.A. campus, he had managed to obtain via his underground connections. He then began to formulate a plan.
Sure he could have just gone to school, found an excuse to enter the staffroom and took a photo of the schedule. However, Dexter promised himself that he'd keep his personal life separate from his criminal life. It would be so easy to use his student persona but he refused to let Dexter Stagland Certex turn criminal. He would be donning The Forge persona for this.
He would strike at 12:40. There, the halls would be at their most empty as the students would be in the cafeteria for lunch. Next he had to deal with the heroes. They still roam the halls, getting ready for the next lessons. Dexter would have to cause a panic or set of the alarm and draw the heroes to 1 or 2 spots.
He stopped to think and snapped his fingers when it hit him. The press has been hounding U.A. for entry to see All Might and would constantly mob outside of the entrance. He would hack open the doors for the press to then invade the school. With their invasion, not only will the alarm sound but the heroes would be forced to both go to the press and protect the students, splitting them in 2.
During the commotion, Dexter would then send in the S.P.I.D.E.R as he calls it. It stands for Sneaky Penetrating Infiltration Droid for Entering and Reconnaissance. Naming things was never his strong suit. The S.P.I.D.E.R is a robot used in infiltration. It comes equipped with a helicopter mode for extraction. It's mainly used for taking data off of servers that cannot be handled from afar.
The S.P.I.D.E.R can be used from a distance away, so Dexter would sit at a cafe while he worked. He chose that spot because it's not too far from the objective and it's quite unknown as it looks like nothing more than an old house. He also likes tea and the cafe in question sells Gold Tips Imperial, something he's wanted to try for a while now.
From there he would control the S.P.I.D.E.R and infiltrate U.A. make a copy of the schedule and leave with no one the wiser and the heroes thinking it was just a malfunction of the gate. If all goes well, he'll have the info and the dead drop by 1:30 at the latest.
With a plan formulated, he stood up and stretched. As he did, he remembered that he was still only in a towel, as it had fallen from his person. "Oops"
Everything was set. He made sure to dress in a casual outfit not to draw attention. His hair was done up in a pony tail and he wore fake red rimmed glasses and green contacts. Hanging from his shoulder was a brown laptop bag. The device he would use to control the S.P.I.D.E.R. which he had set placed in a bush nearby U.A. before heading to the cafe.
Once in the cafe, he ordered the Gold Tips Imperial tea and sat down in a corner booth away from the only other customer there. He opened his bag and placed the laptop on the table, opening it once set down. He opened up a word document to carry the illusion of a student even more. The document was already written halfway and was on flora and how the existence of quirks affect them. He had written it earlier.
The owner came and delivered the tea himself. He was old, roughly 70. The Forge thanked him and got to work when he left. He took a sip of the tea, it was surprisingly good, well worth the expense.
The Forge activated the S.P.I.D.E.R and stealthily moved it to the wall around the back of the campus and began the hack to open the gate. Within 1 minute the gate was open and the press invaded and the alarm was sounded, just as planned. He waited a few more minutes to allow the heroes to assemble.
A few heroes rushed outside to try and contain the hoard or reporters but they couldn't do much but hold them back. The Forge made his move and turned the S.P.I.D.E.R into helicopter mode. The 8 legs moved to the top of the frame and began rotating like rotor blades. It then lifted off the floor and over the wall. Once over, it transformed back into spider mode and scuttled over to the building. If the plans were correct, there should be a small vent that would allow access to the building.
Sure enough, behind some plants there was a vent. The S.P.I.D.E.R stuck a leg into a screw and unscrewed the vent cover then entered. It was small but large enough for it to move. As it moved through the vents, it went past the cafeteria, and saw through a vent cover students panicking. He reconsized a few of them from his class, more specifically Mei Hatsume who he sat next to. She was panicking because of the alarm but mostly because her "baby" was in danger. She held it above her head, desperately trying to save it. He also managed to spot Hagakure getting squished between students. He felt guilty but had to continue on.
Eventually the scuttering robot came to a vertical shaft, too compact to use the helicopter mode. The Forge pressed a button on the laptop and the S.P.I.D.E.R's legs gained a magnetic feature. He used these magnetic legs to climb up the shaft. He climbed a few floors up to the floor the servers were kept on. Once on the floor, he scuttled through the vents quietly once more.
He came across the server room's access vent and peered through it. To his surprise a hero was still in there. He recognized the hero as Firewall. His quirk granted him full access to any tech he plugs himself into. 'This is going to be more difficult than expected,' He thought to himself. 'I can only hide my presence for a short time. With him jacked in, I'll have even less time… Guess I'll just have to be quick.'
The S.P.I.D.E.R unscrewed the vent, making sure to leave one screw in and stuck to the walls. With Firewall in the room, this will be difficult. It scuttered along the roof, out of sight. The room was a decent size, bigger than most schools as U.A. has a lot of defences. There were 3 long racks of servers. Forge needed to find the correct one. He could use his quirk for that though. He scanned each and every server while staying hidden from the hero. Eventually he found the one he was looking for.
He jumped from the ceiling onto the rack and slowly descended down to the right server. Once there the S.P.I.D.E.R pulled out a usb from its underside and plugged it into the server. He began to search through the server for the schedule. He assumed he had 30 seconds before Firewall spotted him, so he rushed, skimming through files. Until he found All Might's schedule. He quickly copied it and unplugged with 5 seconds to spare. He wasn't out yet though, he suspected the heroes would be done soon so he had to hurry.
The S.P.I.D.E.R scuttled back up the wall and entered the vent, making sure to screw it back on. He then scuttled through the vents and down the shaft. As he went back across the cafeteria he noticed that the commotion had died down, making him fear that they had dealt with the press after all.
As he made it outside he saw police escorting the press out of the premises and the heroes thanking them. He quickly screwed the vent back on and flew over the wall into the bush where he started. Now all that was left was to get the S.P.I.D.E.R and deliver the data.
Forge shut the laptop and breathed a sigh of relief. Before leaving, he finished the little bit of tea left in the cup and thanked the owner. He then made his way to the S.P.I.D.E.R and picked it up. He removed a memory stick from the underside of the S.P.I.D.E.R and stuck it in his pocket. The S.P.I.D.E.R climbed onto his back, underneath his thick hoodie to hide.
Before he went home, The Forge went to the dead drop. An alley behind some apartments. Once there, he placed the memory stick in a pipe and left before alerting the client 20 minutes later.
Everything had died down now. Students were back in class and the press had been removed. 4 teachers stood at the entrance to the campus.
"How did ordinary members of the press manage to bypass our security system?" Asked Nezu looking at the gate. "Our security systems have never glitch out like that. These are top of the line."
Firewall crouched down in front of the gate's access panel. He opened it and plugged himself in via his hair of various wires. "You're right. This was no glitch. This was remotely hacked. There's little trace, even I'm having trouble piecing it together but this was definitely hacked. I never even noticed."
"Is that so?" Despite his calm exterior, Nezu was furious. "Was this just a show of strength, or something more? I wonder…" Who even this was, they put his students in danger and he will not stand for it.
Meanwhile at the dead drop. A smoky purple portal opened up and outstepped a man in a hoodie. The man reached into the pipe and pulled out the memory stick. "Well whaddya know. They came through after all." He held the memory stick up and looked at it. "This will help us greatly." A creepy smile grew over his chapped lips, his eyes speaking bloody murder.
"Shigaraki, we cannot stay here." Spoke the portal.
"Right right." The man waved off the portal and stepped on through. "It's game over for you All Might. HAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed maniacally as he stepped through.
A shiver went down All Might's spine. "I didn't like the feel of that… Perhaps I just need to rest."
The clock ticks on U.A. as very soon will have to face something they have never faced before.