"What the hell?..." Ronin grumbled as he examined a discarded poster.
(Valve Studio Orchestra - Dapper Cadaver plays)
The crumpled large piece of paper revealed itself to be a poster with numerous gradient stripes of red, white, and blue serving as the background for what appears to be a significant character. The person in question is quite huge, wide, and muscular, with a commanding smile and what appears to be his distinctive attitude. This person appeared to be larger than any Heavy he had previously encountered. The poster's bottom featured two enormous bolded words that Ronin couldn't make out due to their deteriorated state and filth. To see, he gently brushed the debris away with his spit.
"All Might…" the mercenary processed within his mind. "The fuck?..."
He pushed the paper aside and returned to the garbage, sifting through the rubbish to see what other resources he could find to tell him about this strange world he was in. There were discarded drinks, wet newspapers, cardboard boxes, and other used stuff near his feet. He didn't know what created the terrible stench, but he wasn't bothered by it because of his previous familiarity with deceased bodies. Anything with print on it is a good game. Sure, every single print was in poor shape, but it was enough to extract anything out of it. He meticulously uncrumpled and unfurled each piece. After an hour of scouring through a dumpster, the mercenary discovered about an inch thick worth of paper. Looking up to see whether anyone was observing him, he hopped out of the dumpster and raced farther into the alley, where he grabbed some discarded crates and built a little shelter for himself. He pushed the stacked papers to the side and grabbed the first page on top once inside the small dusty shelter. It was a local newspaper depicting what was going on in the city, with various photographs of figures he couldn't name and vast amounts of paragraphs beneath it. Fortunately, the mercenary can read and speak Japanese because he spent a significant period of time in Suijin, where he met and spoke with locals as well as other mercenaries of that ethnicity. Ronin examined one of the photographs and noticed an intriguing figure. He recognizes her as a small lady, based on the viewpoint and distance of the cheering onlookers behind her, who is dark-skinned and incredibly muscular, with her attire displaying her toned arms and legs. She had white hair and unusually tall rabbit ears connected to her head.
"What?" the mercenary mumbled.
At the bottom of the image, there were several persons who appeared to be delinquents on the ground with bruises, with several seen on stretchers in the distance. A little headline read, "She's done it again! Rabbit Hero: Mirko takes down multiple dangerous disturbances in one swoop!". He notices another image in the corner of his eye that appears to be a gigantic lady rising over skyscrapers, and he learns that such a behemoth is another so-called hero named Mt. Lady. Despite wearing goggles, the RED mercenary's countenance is filled with shock and uncertainty, with his eyes open as wide as inhumanly possible. He tosses the paper aside, revealing more images and texts that explain the context of such strange occurrences to him.
"Is that a fucking orca?" Ronin exclaimed as he saw a rather dapper figure presented.
He opens a page after reading several lines on what was going on in the city to see a pretty brightly colored poster-like image, similar to the All Might one, taking up the entire frame with three prominent people. The only difference between the two was that one was predominantly red and brunette, while the other was blue and blonde. The third one's outfit is similar to the previous two, but this was a man of comparable stature and strength to a Heavy. Large bolded golden words yelled at Ronin in front of them: Wild, Wild Pussycats.
"Wow, this is something else..." the mercenary chuckled gently as he flipped through the remaining pages of the newsletters. "Protagonist… you better be paying me triple to deal with this bullshit."
Everything he read led him to the conclusion that this world is not natural. It was a society that worshiped almost godlike people known as superheroes who defeated what they called villains on a daily basis. That would explain why he encountered so many strange individuals outside the H-shaped building and at the police station, as well as why the man with the abnormally long scarf, whose leg had been injured, was able to fight him hours later with no indication of a medkit. Because he is a superhuman, a godlike entity who cannot be slain, he reasoned. It was facing a Merasmus-filled planet.
"I have to get my stuff back," he thought. "But first."
Ronin grabbed a pretty moist wooden pallet and hastily affixed wheels from a retired office chair before going through all of the trash, removing only metal items. He selected metal sheets, scraps, fridge doors, soda cans, bikes, televisions, and anything else with metal in it or on it that he could put to good use. The mercenary remembers a period when he knew a Soldier who would always get into battles to prove he was the best, until later that year when he was defeated brutally and exiled by the wrong set of Soldiers he battled, notably those with unique headgear and very high kill counts. He returned with his wrath, causing a great massacre among the Soldier community, which became a legend because he was able to overcome such expert mercenaries with weapons that were practically created out of junk. He gained the moniker Dumpster Diver, and the weapon he created, which Ronin remembered as the Beggar's Bazooka, swiftly circulated and was manufactured among Soldiers. After a few hours of amassing such a vast amount of metal, his Gunslinger began to glow orange and the hand converted into a welding torch.
(Valve Studio Orchestra - Dapper Cadaver ends)
Laughter could be heard all around him. And it wasn't the normal Schadenfreude he'd heard; instead, it was strange laughter. Each laugh was washing over the previous one, reverberating in the darkness, and everywhere he turned, he could see millions of faces, each sporting the nine mercenaries' heads, laughing at him in different tones, each getting lower and lower. Their eyes were bloodshot, yet there were no pupils. Their jaws hung open from the continual laughter, as though they would never close again. He heard something breathe behind him and instantly whirled around to find Ronin, but there was something strange about him. His Texas Ten Gallon had been burned, his right eye had been removed, both of his arms had been severed, and his plate carrier appeared to be cracked in half. He was very silent, making no sounds and sported a small grin. The RED engineer took several steps back as the mutilated Ronin advanced.
"Wait, wait!" John cried as he reached his hand out.
Even though his arms were gone, the crazed mercenary lunged forward to tackle him. The mercenary awoke in a frenzy, clutching his chest and screaming. His perspiration appeared to have never stopped, as his attire remained stained. After five minutes of yelling, he turned around and noticed others, mostly students, staring at him strangely.
"John Conagher?" A voice spoke out as it tightened its grip on his shoulder.
"AAAH!"
"Calm down man, I'm here!"
"Oh, sorry…"
It was Present Mic.
"You don't look too good," he observed.
"I know...but I have to get going!" When John stood up from his chair and turned to face the opposite direction, he was halted by a small creature. A creature made out of multiple different animals, such as a dog, a bear, and a mouse.
"And where might you be going, Mr. Conagher?" Nezu questioned.
"I'm going…home."
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
"Why not?"
"Well because your friend, Ronin Conagher, has escaped our custody and is now on the loose."
"WHAT!?" John, concerned, exclaimed.
"Do not worry, we have contacted the police and other pro heroes to search for him."
John lowers his head, his anxious face remaining.
"Don't fret, you'll be safe! Despite your…former job…you have cooperated graciously with us hence the reason we have some trust in you!"
"How can I be safe?!" The mercenary yelled, prompting close students to take several steps back or walk away from the scene. "If Ronin contacted the Protagonist for help, then he'll send everyone to get me!"
"Calm down. It will be alright. We turned one of our empty classrooms into a room that you can stay in. As long as you follow guidelines you will be safe. Can you escort him, Mr. Hizashi?"
"Yeah, no problem!" Present Mic agreed. "Hey, Conagher."
"W-what?"
"Take a chill pill man, relax. Everything will be fine."
"I hope so." John wondered.
"I'm coming for you, John..." Ronin muttered creepily as he stood back and watched the police station.
(Valve Studio Orchestra - Right Behind You plays)
It's late at night. A time when everyone had walked or taken the train home, but also when crime was increasing and becoming more prevalent, which meant more heroes and police enforcement on patrol, but it didn't matter to him. Except for the buzzing dimmed lights from street lamps and houses, the streets are quiet, but the RED mercenary had to be quieter. To reclaim what had been taken from him, he would have to damage the police station. His Frontier Justice, handgun, revolver, and gear are all vital to him, just as having his children taken. Ronin wore the same attire as before, but with a few alterations. The mercenary removed his red armor plates, replaced his red work clothes with a black dress shirt, and wrapped his plate carrier in a shredded black tarp. He swapped his Texas Ten Gallon for a black ragged hoodie that was a larger size for him, allowing him to cover his head and body more, but he removed parts of the sleeves since they were too long. His bright yellow kneepads, as well as his belt, were covered in black electrical tape, as was his belt, which carried many soda cans that were explosives and smoke bombs. Another significant difference is how he wrapped his limbs and body with improvised armor he welded together from scrap metal. He couldn't locate enough black tape to cover them, but it was dirty silver enough that it wouldn't reflect light. Ronin chuckled softly and began his descent to the police station on the street. He reasoned that breaking down the front door would be a poor idea and decided to make his entrance elsewhere. The RED engineer approaches and takes cover behind a huge hedge, reaching for a little box on his belt and flipping a small switch on it. He stared at the camera, examining the station's front, which luckily was in its blind spot. The camera's red light flashed many times before going off altogether.
"What the hell?" As each camera turned static, one of the officers complained as he hit the computer monitor.
"Don't worry, the cameras aren't quite that good," one cop said as he approached the computer monitor with a cup of coffee. "They should be back up and running in a moment."
The lights turned off at that moment, leaving them both in full darkness.
"Damn, a power outage?" As he took out his radio, the cop grumbled. "Can anyone report what is going on o-what is that?"
The two officers in the lobby noticed a pair of blazing red eyes shifting up and down in the air, generating a little whirring noise like a drone. As they continued to stare in dread and confusion at the red eyes, it began flying towards them, causing the two to leap and pull out their nightsticks, but it was too late. The flying machines began severing their arms and bodies, causing them to yell in pain. One of the officers composed himself before swinging at the flying gyroscopic device, which dodged and returned to him, exacerbating the pain. Meanwhile, he was able to get a 3D scan of the area with the homemade Manhacks and blasted a hole past the main lobby desk with the Gunslinger. He dashed down the corridor, using the robot's hand flashlight to read the labels on each door. The doors he examined were largely offices for sergeants and lieutenants, with no mention of case evidence or storage facilities. Then he heard shuffling and several voices sweeping the dark halls behind him. When Ronin noticed that the brilliance of the spotlights they possessed was increasing, he pulled two drink cans off his belt and flung them as they were about to sweep the corner. Smoke quickly spread along the corridors, filling the officer's lungs with lungs. The second can exploded, spraying small metal fragments everywhere and penetrating the officers' legs. With the sounds of pain and confusion in the background, Ronin noticed a small white light protruding from the crack of a door through the smoke, through which he crept. As he opens the door, he notices the police chief waving a gun at him from behind his desk, which was outfitted with a portable flood light. The gun in question was the Australium Frontier Justice.
"I assume you came back for this?" the police chief jokes.
"Yes, as well as the other items that are mine," Ronin responded with a frightening grin and slowly raised his hands.
"I have to say, the things you had are really high quality. Now, get on the ground."
"Whatever you say."
The RED mercenary knelt down and lay his entire body on the ground, hands on his back. He double-checked that the Gunslinger was on top of his organic hand. The chief of police approached him carefully, one hand reaching for a pair of handcuffs on his desk. Ronin's grin widened as he approached closer, knowing that this officer had fallen straight into his trap. The chief started kneeling and cuffing the engineer's hands, only to be met by the Gunslinger rapidly whirring into an eagle claw posture.
"SHIT!" shouted the chief as the hand detached and grabbed onto his face, slowly crushing it.
With the diversion in play, Ronin used his hands to push his torso off the ground and launched a lightning-fast sweep kick, throwing the man off balance and landing on his face. Using the momentum of the sweep, he whirled and gripped the back of the chief's neck, knocking him unconscious with a series of rapid strikes to the back of the head. With him defeated, the RED mercenary grabbed the Frontier Justice and tossed it on his back before seeing another table containing his sidearms, knives, and ammo. He figured the chief would take these for himself later. With little room on his belt to spare, he raced out of the hallway and hurled all of the homemade explosives back into it, knowing that the newly rescued police officers would be subjected to another assault of gas. Ronin returned all of his possessions to their proper places and dashed along the dark corridor, turning each curve until he saw the light of the bright white moon illuminating the station lobby. He went back to the little box on his belt, only to flip another switch. The two guards in the lobby were asleep and bleeding, while the Manhacks flew for many more feet before exploding. He dashed out of the picture, dashing onto the streets before ducking into the shadowy alleyways.
(Valve Studio Orchestra - Right Behind You ends)
"...the man who attacked the station has been identified as Ronin Conagher, a criminal who escaped custody yesterday and is still at large for terrorism. Police officers note that the man sported a red robotic hand, brown overalls, and a large black hoodie. If you see such descriptions, please call your local authorities immediately as other law enforcement and heroes are on the search for him…"
With a remote protruding from his yellow sleeping bag, Aizawa hastily turned off the television.
"We're screwed!" John yelled, putting his hands on his head.
"As we said, you'll be safe," Aizawa sighed. "The security here is top of the line. No one can get through."
"But!.."
"You'll be fine here. I've already got someone getting your stuff from your house. You just need to do your job for now…"
"I see…" the former mercenary whispered. "How is your leg?"
"Recovery Girl looked at it, and it wasn't too horrible. "I just need to mend my scarf," the eraser hero wiggled slightly.
"I noticed that it is made out of steel wire supported by nanofibers."
"How did you know?"
"When I looked back and saw you fighting Ronin, I saw how you used your…scarf…to fight him. I got a little curious and slightly touched it when you weren't looking-sorry for the intrusion of personal space." John raised his hands in the air.
The scruffy man stared at him silently.
"I have a class starting. You should get going."
John found it strange that a grown man in a sleeping bag could slither and turn without making much movement down the school halls. A man of normal size walking with a yellow worm. He never took the time during his brief stay here to examine the architecture of this so-called high school. The halls were large, like asphalt roads, with stripes that mimicked lanes, glass panes that reached the blue color of the sky, and the ridiculousness of how tall it was when he glanced up at how thin the ceiling tiles were. Not to mention how neat and official everything was. Even the top universities in Texas were not as lovely, yet he was told that this was simply a high school. Though the walls were plain and empty, he believed they were elegant. I'm curious how many people were lost in such deception because every corridor looked the same like a maze and was symmetrical. Only staying on the path's glass boundary made any sense in terms of direction.
"Hey."
When John peered down at the floor, he saw Eraser Head on his back, his head poking out, staring at him.
"Go down two halls and down the stairs and make a right. You should see the electrical room. Your work clothes should be there." he grumbled.
The engineer nodded and continued to go past the scruffy hero, but not before pausing to inspect the massive brown door frame bearing the word: 1-A. This was also on a blue sign on top of the door frame, beneath which he noticed two students.
"Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends," Aizawa spoke as he slithered forward facing the duo.
John noticed a short, lean student with obvious rough, green hair and eyes standing next to a female with slender, yet curved, brunette hair that was bobbed and curved. He also saw a tall blue-haired man with glasses and a stern posture standing behind him. The group was visibly shocked as they looked at the yellow worm on the ground.
"This is the hero course."
The former mercenary followed the directions given to him, finding other electricians in the room who greeted him and handed him his white scruffed hardhat, packed belt with tools, light-gray stained gloves, a small portable radio, and a slightly, heavy, wrinkled blue jacket, which he was hesitant to wear because he had mostly worn red his entire life, so wearing anything the opposite color would feel strange. He was able to wear the jacket over his ordinary clothes because it was somewhat larger, and the helmet he received was little, which he could enlarge by rotating the wheel on the back. As he finished, he peered at himself through a mirror on one of the electrical panels. It was dim because it was mostly hazy and just showed a rough silhouette of himself. It was as faint as it was, but it was quite similar to what he wore as a mercenary, only it was now without the killing and the regular basic engineer clothing, which was the colorful shirt and overalls. He considered what he had done but soon rejected it in his thoughts.
"My name is John Conagher," he said, lifting a finger to indicate himself in the mirror. "And I am an electrical engineer."
"Hello."
John turned to see another man in the same uniform as him, but judging from his tone and appearance, he looked like an authority figure.
"You must be the new guy right? Mr. Conagher? Am I right?" the chief electrician happily asked. "I apologize that my English isn't that good."
"It's alright. I know Japanese well enough to understand."
"Good, good. Let's see…" the electrician mumbled as he flipped through several pages attached to his clipboard. "It says you have an unusual set of skills. Uhh…very vague, but I'm sure there's a reason why they put you in this position."
"Yeah…" John chuckled slightly.
"I guess for your first task, you can be stationed at an electrical room near the U.A. Barrier. Make sure that there aren't any malfunctions, okay?" the chief electrician gleefully smiled as he put a hand on the former mercenary's shoulder. "Now, go!"
He took his time walking to his destination, pausing to enjoy the magnificent architecture and gaze out the massive glass pane window at each and every structure from the base to the horizon. He puts his face against the window to see if he can see his apartment from wherever side of the building he is. He descended the corridor, glancing above to see if there were any directional signs or marks, even stopping to ask some of the kids who were aimlessly walking or hanging and gave him strange looks. He soon got outdoors, and the cleanliness of the concrete path shocked him, given how many people walked on the school's dirt and grass areas. He heard a noise close up, mostly grunts and shouts near the PE Grounds, where he saw the same green-haired boy from earlier, who didn't appear to be having fun.
"Boy must be quirkless," he thought. "What is he doing here?..."
After what felt like an eternity, he finally made his way toward the U.A. Barrier. It was very tall and a standard beige hue; it appeared to have a short glass-paned wall near the top.
"Hmm…some security" he scoffed.
John reached into his pocket and unfolded a scrap of paper, which revealed that there was more to the structure than he had initially realized. In the sketch, he could make out the slot through which the metal walls emerged, but otherwise, it was just a rough outline of what he knew to happen when the security system was engaged and the plain wall he saw suddenly became a fortress.
He grabbed the radio that was given to him. "Hey, this is John. If there is someone in the barrier electrical room, can you activate the security system? I want to do an inspection."
"John, this you?" There was a reply to the engineer, "Yeah sure."
Massive steel panels, each with its own distinctive ragged metal texture, poured out of the earth in rapid succession while an alarm wailed across the walls through which the slits opened. It towered over him, much bigger than he had imagined. He crossed the row of metal and looked at each piece closely, checking for corrosion and checking the base of the steel for signs of damage. He was satisfied with what he saw and marveled at the length of the wall and its fresh appearance, both of which left him impressed. After waiting for over forty minutes, he approached the barrier electrical room, where he was met by other electricians and technicians, and picked up a lengthy ladder. It was cumbersome and ridiculously lengthy, and the squeaking of metal on metal could be heard from far and wide as its bearer struggled to transport it. He re-approached the wall, and with a mighty thwack, he slapped the heavy ladder onto the hard steel surface, climbing to the very top. It was unremarkable, consisting mostly of decaying leaves and bugs. Perhaps, if he was truly concerned about his security, he could take steps to enhance the existing security measures, such as the wall and surveillance equipment. John pulled a pen and notepad out of the pocket of his blazer and set up shop at the top of the wall. It was a preliminary diagram of a possible plan to reinforce the wall and make it retractable, thereby eliminating the necessity for the single massive stone slab to be propped up in such a haphazard fashion. Perhaps the walls can move in unison, he reasoned, but U.A. is so vast that he has serious doubts.
He mentally smirked, "What are you talking about, it is possible," and kept writing.
It reminded him of sketching up the plan for the sentry, especially his own personalized version, and how much fun it was to build it.
"Exactly what are you up to?" The engineer was visibly shaken by the booming voice.
When John stared at her level, he saw a petite girl with a slim, muscular frame and a wide, toothy grin on her face. She sported dreadlocks of salmon pink hair and unusually wide eyes, the pupils of which bore a cross reminiscent of Sniper's crosshairs.
"I'm just sketching…about improvements on the wall."
"Improvements, eh? May I see?"
"Uh…no."
"Well, I'm going to have to look sometime. I'm no stranger to making such innovations."
"No, this is just for me!"
"I'll take a look as soon as you step down from there."
"Listen, it will be a while, so I think you can go."
"I'll wait then. You are clearly writing down something up there. I can see how much your arm is moving."
"Oh…well…"
"Wow, what are those babies up there!" Mei uttered awestruck. "I didn't know you already made security improvements, you could've told me! I could've helped!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Your drones!"
He raised his head to see what the weird lady was about. The sound was faint, like a propeller, but it was one he was familiar with. When John turned around, he saw many red mechanical eyes approaching him from both sides. It was too late for him to react. The little, fast-repeating blades sliced his entire body like a swarm of bees stinging a predator, with the former mercenary protecting himself by crossing his arms in front of his face. He lost control and slipped, falling several feet before striking the ground, which he was fortunate to avoid due to the integrity of his provided hardhat. In an attempt to recover from the fall, he felt two hands behind him reach under his arms and feel a pulling motion, but he was going rather quickly. He tilted his head slightly to notice that the pink-haired female was wearing some sort of hovering boots.
"What are those things?!"
"M-Manhacks…" John wheezed as he spat out blood.
She remarked, "They look electrical..." upon taking in the Manhacks' sloppy construction, which was evident by the profusion of wires and duct tape protruding from it. a few of them even emitted little sparks. "Just stay right where you are!"
She had gotten far enough away before she let go of John and flung him firmly into the wall. When she turned around, she saw that the Manhacks were rapidly approaching, but instead of arriving in a swarm, they were all lined up in a row. She removed a white pistol from her belt that had a strange funnel-shaped muzzle, took aim at the group, and waited for them to reach a point of intercept.
"H-hey! Watc-"
"Don't worry, look I got this!"
In a show of confidence, the support student opened fire on the Manhacks, ensnaring them in a wide net of bullets. The nylon net formed into a ball and slowly compressed, crushing all of the flying machines in the process until they were simply scrap parts.
"See! I got it! This baby here is my Capture gun, but it is only a prototype." she proudly displayed in her hands.
"Y-you're awfully gleeful talking to someone who is bleeding."
"Oh yeah! Where does it hurt?" she asked as she approached very close to him.
"It hurts everywhere…and you're too close!"
Mei grabbed a small radio and began asking for medical assistance until a somewhat familiar scary voice echoed through John's radio.
"Hello?"
The former mercenary opened his eyes in terror, his beaten slouched posture instantly postured.
"Hey, jackass. You can't hide in there forever you know."
"Who is that?" Mei asked but the engineer didn't answer her question and remained silent.
"Listen John. You would be doing the world you love a favor by surrendering yourself to die by my hands. You know this. Even if you somehow kill me, it won't even matter. The longer you live, the more mercenaries he will send, each wave larger and larger until you die." Ronin coldly stated, his voice slightly rattled in excitement.
"I-I will never surrender."
"Ah, ok, I'll see you fucking soon then. Sack of shit."
John Conagher sat with a thousand-yard stare, ignoring the girl who was chatting to him as well as the other U.A. employees who came up to him. He sat, unsure what he could do, for even in a world of superheroes, they weren't powerful enough to deal with the mercenary and their allies. They were up against all odds and had no idea. There was no use in fighting because the mercenaries would always return in immaculate condition no matter how much the superheroes killed if they reached that point. A completely unstoppable force will be led by the great Protagonist. He is skeptical that anybody he has released free will aid him in the upcoming conflict.