Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 72:
Zach Sazaki sat in a terminal of Tokyo Southern Airport, or TSA, staring down at his phone with a hesitant look in his eyes. He was in a different terminal as Bakugo, and he doubted he would have been sitting with the spiky-haired blond anyway even if they were at the same gate. Sato's plane had left earlier too, so even though he saw the larger boy when he first made it through security, Sato was just about to start boarding his plane and they were only able to talk for a minute or two.
I can't do this, Zach thought. He clicked the power button on his phone and put it back in his pocket. He leaned back on his seat at his gate where more people were arriving at every few minutes. He had shown up pretty early as he was not used to using planes and did not know how early he should arrive to make sure he could get through security. He was also wondering if he might be considered a security risk, but the airport actually let him through easier if anything because of his provisional hero license.
"Excuse me," a voice said in front of him, and Zach opened his eyes he just closed for a moment in a tired way. He looked at the woman in front of him who had a small boy next to her playing a game on his phone. "Lifebringer?" She questioned, a smile on her face as she already knew she was right just from one look. Zach had a baseball cap on, but he was wearing his U.A. uniform, and his facial scars did not make it easy to hide who he was. Despite it being pretty hot already as it neared the end of May, Zach wore a long-sleeved white shirt and had thin black gloves over both hands so it would stick out less than having just one on. It was not obvious that he was trying to disguise himself, and he was not trying all that hard to do so, so he tried not to look disappointed as the woman called him out on it.
When I leaned back, Zach thought while smiling back at the woman with short black hair falling just down to her shoulders. Should have pushed the rim down a bit, or just slouched. Don't make a big deal of this please. He thought it hopefully at her, though he noticed a couple of other people sitting around him also looking over now. Those guys who already noticed and who I avoided their gazes are looking back. She's giving them the opportunity to talk to me if they jump in with her. That's why… "Would you like to sit?" Zach motioned next to him at an empty seat that had another on the other side for her son too.
He acted like it was why he thought she walked up to him, and she looked surprised for a second. She opened her mouth to just say that she wanted to speak to him, but then she nodded at the offer and stepped forward to take the seat. Oh shit, was that really a good move? I guess I could talk to her for a bit… Though, that's not what I was planning to do while I'm here. Zach's look got a little darker while the woman was sitting down, and when she glanced at him right after taking her seat she got a nervous look on her face. Crap! I really can't look like that in public now. People will just assume they know what I'm thinking about, even though he really has nothing to do with that. "Are you on the plane to Rukasu too?" Zach asked, as he had been there since before the previous plane left from the gate so there was the possibility this woman had just arrived early for the flight after too.
She nodded at him and steadied her expression at the boy's calm look. Zach smiled at her answer and opened his mouth to continue, but he froze and looked away for a second, tssking under his breath. I can't just put this off. I probably won't get a chance through the next week. If I do it from my phone though, which could be tapped… Even if it's paranoia, I should take precaution. "Sorry," Zach said as he looked back at the woman he knew must have looked confused. "It's just, I forgot my charger," Zach said with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "And I just remembered I needed to make a phone call before I-"
"Would you like to borrow mine?" The woman asked. She was surprised but also smiled at the opportunity to help him out, and Zach smiled more back that she was this eager to help him. It made the next part easier.
"Oh I couldn't bother you to use that until my phone is charged," Zach started. "Besides, I'll need it for my week-long internship anyway." He shook his head at her but with a thankful look on his face, and he started getting up and looking around the terminal nearby for a place selling chargers.
He had a somewhat rushed expression on his face as well as looking regretful that he had forgotten to make the phone call, and the woman next to him who also looked regretful that she could not help had an idea. "If you know the number," she began, and Zach turned back interestedly like he did not know why she started like that. She pulled out her phone and he opened his eyes a little wider, then he smiled like he understood and was totally grateful. "Then please, use my phone. If it takes you too long to get the charger and get your battery back up, well, I wouldn't want you to have to wait until after the flight," she said it and held her unlocked phone out for him to take.
Zach started lifting his left hand, and he said, "Thank you. I'll be really quick," he assured.
"Take your time," she replied, and Zach could see she was feeling good about what she was doing enough that she really meant it.
He nodded thankfully at her again, then he started walking while typing the number into the phone's keypad. Can't back out now. Have to make the call. Alright. Alright I can do this. Get into the mindset. You, are, Satan. Zach tapped the call button and his eyes widened for a second at his lack of hesitation, then the phone rang once, twice, and a third time before someone picked up. That was too slow. Who picks up to the devil that slowly? Is he questioning it? Don't give him any reason to.
"Hello?" The voice on the other side of the line questioned as if asking who this was.
You know who it is. I'm sure no one else has this number. Did you consider not picking up? Don't ask anything about it. "Eziano Mozcaccio," Zach said, stopping his pacing in a less crowded part of the gate area. He had not gone too far from his seat since he did not want the woman whose phone he was borrowing to have to look around for him if she wanted to know where her phone was. I can't speak in Nightmare's scary voice, but he knows what I sound like inside and outside of it. "Do you know him?" Zach asked.
There was a moment of hesitation on the other side of the line. That's a yes. I knew it. I almost forgot because Hunter was scared so shitless by me when I came for him to save Kaminari, but he's good. He's the one the League called when they couldn't find people. And, he knew of Webb. I remember despite the blood loss. I heard Hunter growl that night, "I know you."
"I, do," Hunter replied. Zach grinned for a second after hearing that response. He could not hear much fear in Hunter's voice, and the hitman asked after responding, "Why, do you want to know?"
Zach's eyes got darker and his teeth bared for a second. Fucking questioning me? How would the devil respond to that?! No, don't get angry. Calm is scarier. "Eziano is on my list," Zach replied in a calm, fearless voice without any hesitation in it. He lifted his tone a little after saying it as he heard Hunter's breath hitch on the other side of the phone, "Would you like to join him, Kiki-kun?" It's like I'm scolding him for questioning me without even-
"No, no of course not," Hunter's submissive voice responded on the other side. Zach did not grin this time as he heard the response though.
He lifted his left hand and ran it under his cap through his hair at the fear he heard in the hardened killer's tone. What am I doing? I should just tell him to turn himself in. Or, or if I do that, will people find out what I've been doing? I'd let down so many people if they knew this. Then, all I can do- no. No, he's a monster. I saw those pictures. He was going to kill me. Don't feel bad for a guy like this. He kills for hire. "Tell me everything. His rules, do you have to follow them?"
"Yes," Hunter replied. Zach's eyes widened and the hitman on the other side continued, "I am subject to Eziano's rules. As is anyone in my profession who knows of his existence."
So he really wouldn't have killed civilians that day. If people had come out of their New Year's parties. But, what could he have done to them? "The rules, Kiki-kun," Zach repeated in an annoyed voice as he had to say it again. Is he hesitating because he's as afraid of Eziano as he is of me? That's bad. He thinks I'm the devil, or he wouldn't be doing this. If only the people who know of Eziano's existence know his rules though… Yet, I told him I know Eziano. I also said I'm going to kill him, or at least he's on "my list."
"Of course," Hunter replied. Zach wanted to feel satisfied that Hunter was definitely more scared of him, but his expression just stayed dark as he listened to Hunter. The hitman started listing off the different rules to Zach, and Zach nodded along as he listened to them all. All Might, Zach thought while hearing about a certain rule concerning political assassinations having to look like accidents. What could cause you to allow something like this to keep existing? Why, does Hunter sound so, respectful? Zach frowned at the tone in Hunter's voice as he neared the end of the set of rules. "… any who are proficient enough in killing that Eziano Mozcaccio approaches them, know these rules. Luckily I knew of him from an associate before he appeared before me, so I knew not to defy him."
"What happens to those who defy him?" Zach asked.
Hunter hesitated again, then he replied, "Only death. He is not to be refused."
What the fuck is that?! How does he know? How is he so, afraid of this guy? I'm the devil! He should be so much more afraid of me, but, but he's scaring me shitless with the idea of a guy he actually fears on an equal level. Fears, but respects too. Zach hummed to himself, then he narrowed his eyes and looked straight ahead through the gate area while speaking in a lower voice. "Tell me, Hunter," I'm overusing the "Kiki-kun" thing. Treat him with a little respect when he responds to every question. I don't want him to hesitate to pick up the phone when I call. And I don't want to have to scare him whenever I'm on the phone, in case there are people listening. "Is there an organization?" Zach questioned.
"I have heard of one," Hunter replied right away. Zach smiled as that worked out better than he thought. Hunter continued quickly, "But it is invite only and I have not been invited."
Zach frowned again and he humphed in an annoyed way. "Disappointing," he said, and he pulled the phone from his head and ended the call. Alright, so it's not just rules for each individual assassin. If the top of that society got taken down, would those rules just vanish? I don't know. But the organization. Hunter would not know anything about it if he's not included, considering the secrecy of these kinds of people. Zach lowered his gaze down while lowering the phone, and he stared at the ground in a dark way. That organization, does All Might know something about it? Is there an ideology behind it? What would happen if the top was taken out? Eziano, Mozcaccio…
Zach lifted his left hand again and ran it up through his hair. He got a small grin on his face, but it lowered down right away even as he was feeling glad. Hunter's still scared of me. I thought after the Sports Festival, if he saw the same videos everyone else saw… But the boy in those videos isn't the same as the monster threatening him. Zach's face covered in regret instead of the smug feeling he was trying to feel at his success in getting info from Hunter. He turned to walk the phone back to the woman, and Zach's eyes widened as he stared past the chairs and towards a shop where he was considering going to buy a charger after this just to prove to the woman whose phone he borrowed.
I should have realized that, Zach thought while walking back. He looked down at the phone, dipping the rim of his baseball cap down over his face while he tapped quickly on the recent calls. He deleted the most recent call from that phone, Don't want her calling up Hunter on accident, or even having that number in this phone. Zach turned off the phone and he handed it to the woman as he reached her. He thanked her and mentioned going to buy the charger now since they were boarding soon, and she told him not to worry about it and that she was glad to have met him. There's no way he heard any of that, right?
Zach started walking towards the store across the wide walkway that cut between all the gates in the terminal. No, Midoriya wouldn't be able to hold back from saying 'hi' right away if he had seen me. Zach stopped at the edge of the store and he bent down to look at a shelf with chargers on it. " Oh Zach? Hi," Zach lifted his head and a smile already formed on his face as Midoriya said that to him. It should have been obvious. The internships start on the same day, and I narrowed mine down. Just a good thing he showed up this close to the flight.
"Hey Midoriya," Zach said. He lifted his eyebrows and glanced behind him for a second, then he looked back and said, "You going to Rukasu too?"
"Y-Yeah," Midoriya replied in a surprised tone. He smiled after a second though and then said, "Wonderlass' agency is in Yabino City. Bikergang's in, um Feruchia City, right?"
"You sure know your heroes," Zach said, grinning at the fanboy in front of him before walking towards the counter with a charger in his hand.
Midoriya had a small plastic bag with some snacks and a water bottle in it, and as Zach walked past he asked, "Oh, did you forget your charger in the dorms?"
"Yep," Zach replied, lifting a hand and scratching his head sheepishly at his slip of the mind. Just don't search my bag and call me out on lying. Having two chargers isn't a bad idea, I guess. Especially if I get a second phone again, if that ever becomes necessary… I don't know. I'm just trying to- oh yeah! The whole reason I called Hunter was to help you out. Zach looked back after putting the charger down to get scanned, and he saw Midoriya waiting for him with his backpack on as his carry-on just like Zach had.
Neither of them were holding their hero costumes as those had to be checked-in for flights, and Zach was a little surprised Midoriya had not spotted him considering the U.A. uniform he was wearing. Did he see me talking? No, Midoriya's not, he's not as manipulative as I am. Zach tried not to frown and he said, "What boarding group are you?" His friend pulled out his boarding pass while Zach paid for his charger and got his bag with it inside. Zach walked back towards him and looked down as Midoriya got the pass out, and Zach smiled at the sight of the group number. "Me too," he said. "Hopefully we can find two open seats near each other," Zach added since they were not in the first group and it was not a sure thing.
"Yeah," Midoriya agreed with a nod. "I don't think it'll be a problem. It doesn't look like the plane's going to be full," Midoriya said, and he looked around the gate at the other passengers.
Zach's eyes widened a bit as he looked around himself. I thought maybe more people were just going to show up later, but I wasn't lying when I said there wasn't a lot of time until boarding. If others don't show up for a flight this big… I guess, people might be afraid of villains attacking planes? Or they just, don't want to risk traveling away from home? Not that they probably feel any safer in their homes… "You said you picked Bikergang because of his fighting style?" Midoriya asked.
Zach turned and lifted his eyebrows for a second at Midoriya's look. Did he see my dark look? Zach started smiling, and he replied to his friend who he was actually glad was bringing the conversation off of what he had been thinking about. "Yeah. I didn't think about it too much before we got our offers, but there's something I've wanted-" A speaker turned on and the two boys walking towards the gate area turned to a desk with some airport staff standing behind it. They called out that they were starting the first part of boarding, and Zach shrugged while turning back to Midoriya. "Won't be a long flight, but I'll tell you all about it," Zach said and his friend nodded with an interested look on his face.
And during it at some point, I'll just casually bring up what I learned about Eziano. Can't bring it up now, in case you did see me on the phone. Just to be careful. If you saw me give that lady her phone back, you'd probably be able to figure out that I just did it. I'm pretty cautious of you, Midoriya. You and Momo are able to see through me better than anyone else can. Zach kept a smile on his face and got to talking about the Racing Hero some more since they still had a couple of minutes before it was their turn to getting on the plane. But I'm a pretty secretive guy. Nobody knows a thing about Hunter. It's too, too dark. It's a line I crossed to save Kaminari. Keeping it going like this is just as bad, as what I did that night. If it helps us stop villains though. If I can use it to help take down the League of Villains… Use everything.
Zach stared towards the right side of the room and his eyes practically sparkled at what he was looking at. There were desks in front of him and two young women each with long hair, one with blonde hair that fell straight and the other with a long black ponytail. Behind him were two wide metal doors that were currently closed, and the roof was over thirty feet above him in this building that looked to have multiple floors from the outside but was just one big garage in the interior. "My reason?" Zach asked, shifting his gaze from the right side of the room to the hero directly in front of him who had a pair of sidekicks behind him. "Well, I wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle from a hero, who I looked up actually fights from on top of a motorcycle sometimes. It's just-"
"You just want to do it, since it seems cool?" The hero before Zach asked. He wore a tight black outfit with orange highlights on the shoulders, sleeves, pant legs, and had a cool BG symbol in orange on the front right of his chest as well as a bigger one covering his back. He had an orange helmet on his head with the black visor up, and his light skinned face looked serious as he frowned at the boy in front of him.
"No! Well, not entirely," Zach admitted, not wanting to lie to the hero he just met. "But I want to learn how to fight on a motorcycle too. It'll make up for my lack of great mobility on foot," he started, and he had come up with more than enough reasons when going through the pros and cons of all the different agencies he could pick from. Plus, seeing Webb drive around on a motorcycle was so cool. I really wanted to try driving but he never let me. "And," Zach continued, "I could get to crime scenes farther away from my agency so I'd have a wider range… and, I also have to be able to get places fast. I have a time limit," Zach said.
The sidekicks behind Bikergang glanced at each other, while Bikergang himself got a more thoughtful look on his face. He was only five foot ten, whereas one of his sidekicks behind him and on his left from Zach's perspective was well over six foot tall and much larger. On Bikergang's other side was a smaller guy only a couple of inches taller than Zach, wearing a more similar outfit to the pro hero than the big guy who had his own unique costume on. The bigger guy nodded his head in understanding as Zach continued, but Zach noticed the guy just taller than him look his way and start frowning harder at him. "…I can only save people in a certain amount of time, so to get to hospitals, or even other nearby cities in time, I need something fast so that I could maneuver around cars if there's traffic. My mobility in a fight is one of my worst points too so I want to learn a new fighting style… and because it's cool," Zach finished since he had to admit that was a big part of it.
The smaller guy who was frowning at Zach lifted the corner of his lip for a second as Zach finished like that, but he brought it down fast again. Zach noticed him grin at what he said though, and he thought, Is he trying to dislike me? What'd I do to him? Did I not bring someone back who he knew? Or is it because I joined the villains? Could be a lot of things really.
Bikergang smiled at the kid and scratched his chin for a few seconds after hearing all that. "Huh, well you've sure got this thought out. Was surprised when your school called to say you were interested. I know a few others around town who sent you offers too," Chiko Hayate smirked as he was the one who got Lifebringer to come to him. The pro hero then regained a serious look on his face and said, "You have some pretty big goals you're looking to accomplish in this internship, but kid I've gotta tell you, might not be time for any of that." Zach lifted his eyebrows in some confusion, then Bikergang said, "We're in the middle of an operation right now. And villains attack every day. You're here to help, not for us to help you. That's not the main purpose at least, though I will see if I can fit some riding lessons in," he lifted the right corner of his lip as he said it and Zach smiled back as that kept him feeling hopeful towards his reasons for coming.
A beeping sound came from one of the computers behind Bikergang and his crew, and the three of them spun to the woman with long blonde hair who started typing away at her keyboard. "Car-jacking on East 34th, last seen heading north-"
"Alright!" Bikergang shouted in an excited voice. He jumped up in the air with a spring that bounced him all the way to the right side of the room. "Lifebringer, tag along! Bouncer Man, you're in charge. Roady, can it," Bikergang said before the smaller of the two sidekicks could even say what he had opened his mouth to complain about.
"Which bike should I take?" Zach asked while running towards Bikergang.
"Haha, nice try," Bikergang said while turning his bike's engine on and driving it forward to intercept Zach before he reached the wall. There were four motorcycles on the wall, and Zach felt disappointed that he was not getting one since the fact that there were four and seemingly only three guys to drive them had excited him. "Hop on," Bikergang said, as one of the garage doors was opening up fast in front of the bike he spun to face it. Zach ran up and climbed onto the bike behind Bikergang, putting on the helmet Bikergang had handed him the second he arrived at the agency and locking it on before grabbing hold of handles on the sides of the seat. "Don't lose your grip," the hero warned, right before twisting his wrist and making them fly out the opening garage door and screeching onto the street.
This is so, COOL! The motorcycle sped down the road with flashing orange lights coming off of it, and Bikergang sped between cars moving in and out without hesitation. Zach grabbed onto the bike tighter with a nervous yet excited look on his face as they passed between such a tight squeeze he thought they would hit another vehicle for sure. "Daisy, which way?" Bikergang asked.
"Traffic camera picked up a vehicle matching the stolen car's description rounding Skye Street. The license plate was replaced, but a person matching the car thief's description can be seen through the windshield. Eighty-six percent match on facial I.D.," the dark-haired woman in the support staff of Bikergang's agency spoke into the helmets of the two racing down the street. In the background Zach heard the blonde woman shout about a purse snatcher downtown, and he glanced over his shoulder at the sound of that.
"Focus Lifebringer," Bikergang said. "Leave that to the others," he said, and Zach nodded while turning back forward.
There's a reason he left them behind. We don't need everyone for everything. Those two seemed capable. They should be able to take a purse snatcher fine. Zach took a deep breath and then held on tighter as Bikergang suddenly pulled the bike to the right as they saw the red dot on their visors cut a different way on the translucent grid on their displays. This helmet is pretty cool too. I should get one for my hero costume.
Zach was wearing his fully white hero costume, though he had packed his black costume in his bag as well for his trip to Hokkaido. The school had not mentioned anything to him about giving that costume back even though he had "ordered it" outside of school. The white costume was made out of bone too, so if he used Nightmare form now his whole body would look white through the black veil around it, hiding his bone structure on the inside. With the motorcycle helmet too, he thought it might be thick enough that it would keep his skull covered on the inside. He had to take off his actual costume's helmet though since it did not protect enough for riding a dangerous vehicle like this, or so Bikergang had told him when he showed it off earlier.
They cut down another road, and Zach could see on his visor display that the dot they were chasing was just up ahead. It had just blinked brighter again to show another camera had picked it up, as while it was dimming that meant that their helmets were just showing them a projection of where the car was likely to be considering its last confirmed location. "Here we go," Bikergang said, and he sped the bike up while lowering his right hand down to his side. Zach took in a deep breath but lifted a hand from the side of the bike too, holding on with the other just like Bikergang was doing. I only need one to hold on. I watched a video of him fighting on a motorcycle. I want to learn how to do combat like this. I'm sure Webb would have been able to do it too… if he still had both arms. He does! There's no reason to think, he never got it fixed- FOCUS!
The stolen car was just up ahead which Zach knew since the make of the vehicle had shown up on the side of his visor right when they started speeding off. He reached for his grappling gun first, then he slid his hand past it and grabbed a knife instead. If I hook onto a moving vehicle I'll wind up getting us dragged. Probably crash the bike, Zach lifted his knife, and he asked, "How do we stop him?"
"It'd be easier to take out the tires now," Bikergang replied. "But we have to give the villain a chance first. Before we risk injuring him." Bikergang tapped on the side of his helmet to initiate a speaker, and he sped up his motorcycle in that moment while zipping to the edge of the road to race past all the cars between them and the stolen one. "Villain in the stolen Yissan Camoro! This is the pro hero, Bikergang!" Pedestrians on the sides of the road, people in their cars who slowed down and stopped their vehicles, and the criminal himself all spun towards the sound of that booming voice.
Bikergang's visor popped up and showed the hero smiling under the helmet as he sped down the road, and Zach saw a couple people on the sides of the road start cheering. The dark-haired boy also noticed others though, ones just staring towards the street with nervous expressions or even angry ones at what Bikergang had called out. "Pull over now. You are under arrest!"
VRRROOOM! Scrreeeech! The whir of an engine followed by tires skidding on pavement echoed through the street.
Bikergang tssked and lowered his visor back down while twisting up the accelerator more. "And now, we take out the tires. Can't risk a drawn-out chase, or more people could get dragged into it," he explained since taking the tires out on a moving vehicle was a dangerous thing in itself. Zach nodded his head in agreement with the hero, and he took a deep breath as their motorcycle sped up and gained on the car that was having a harder time maneuvering down the street than they were. It bumped into two different vehicles and dented them, and Bikergang shouted for civilians to move off the street.
Can't go Nightmare this close to Bikergang. And I'm not used to fighting on the back of a motorcycle. What am I supposed to do here? "Back me up, Lifebringer," Bikergang said it without turning off the speaker on his helmet. Zach saw everyone on the street around them spin towards the motorcycle with much bigger eyes as they wondered who was under the helmet on the bike with Bikergang.
"Here we go," Bikergang said it softer, aiming the gun in his right hand down towards the back right tire. He waited, waited, There! Bikergang fired and the back right tire of the villain's car popped. The metal rim of the tire slammed down on the road and sparks flew up from it. The car started swerving, and the motorcycle chasing it just sped down to the left side of the car that had slowed down without all its tires. They were nearing an intersection up ahead with no ability to go straight through it, and Bikergang yelled towards the driver's side door on their right. "Stop the car! Don't try turning or you're going to roll."
The villain on the inside of the car opened his eyes wide. He spun his head to look straight through the windshield, then left again at the motorcycle, then he spun the wheel desperately to the side. Bikergang pulled up and the front tire of his motorcycle popped off the ground. Zach brought his right hand back down and dropped his knife as he had to hold on for dear life not to slide off the back of the motorcycle which just rose on a seventy degree angle. The car on their right tried slamming into them, but the back of it went just beneath the front of Bikergang's motorcycle. As it was sliding under it though, Bikergang leaned forward and slammed the front tire of his bike on top of the car's trunk.
The pro hero smirked and pressed a button on the side of the accelerator on his motorcycle's left handle. The button made metal spikes come out of the front tire of the bike, and then he pulled on the brakes and yanked the car in front of them back. Their bike's back tire started spinning the opposite direction, and Zach just realized how fast he was breathing since they had been speeding towards an intersection with a red light, and cars driving to either side in it unsuspecting that a villain had almost sped right through them. The car slowed more and more even as smoke came up from its tires that were spinning faster to try and escape the hero's specialized motorcycle.
"You won't escape from my bike," Bikergang claimed out the speaker in his helmet. "Villain, cut off the engines now. I don't wish to damage this stolen car anymore than I already have." Zach sweatdropped at the sound of that, considering there were spikes through the back of the car and the entire vehicle was tilted to its back right from the popped tire. A little late for that. It makes sense that stopping the villain had to be the priority over- The front door of the car opened up and the villain dove out of it. The car was stopped completely but trying to drag itself out of Bikergang's hold, and the tires kept spinning even after the villain bailed out.
"He used something to weigh down the accelerator," Bikergang said with a grimace covering his face. "Lifebringer-" he began, but Zach jumped off their motorcycle that was also stuck in place too. He took a few steps towards the villain who tried running to the sidewalk and for an alleyway, and then Zach spun back to the vehicle in front of Bikergang's motorcycle. Zach grit his teeth behind the helmet while the pro hero with him looked at the boy in surprise at how fast he was reacting. Zach drew his grappling gun from his left side while running back to the vehicle in front of Bikergang. He turned his head as he reached the car to aim better for a moment, and he fired towards the villain's legs.
Zach turned as soon as he saw the wire wrap the villain's legs up, and he leaned inside the vehicle that was shaking and smoking. He grabbed the golf club that must have been in the car already that the villain used to keep the accelerator down and he pulled it from its lodged position with the seat. Zach then got right back out of the car and spun towards the sidewalk as he felt the tug on his left hand that he had kept the grappling gun in, and he ground his teeth as he saw the villain had snipped the wire using the black claws he had for hands. The villain spun, and then Bang! A splash of blood flew out of the villain's right leg and he dropped to the ground again yelling out in pain.
Zach turned his head around and saw Bikergang still sitting on his bike, though he hopped off as soon as the car in front of him fully stopped moving. He locked his own bike in place since he did not think Zach parked the stolen car, just stopped its acceleration. Bikergang jogged up to Zach and said, "Check on the villain." He slid his upper body into the car and then pulled a foot in too since he had to be pressing on the brakes to put the car in park and take out the keys the villain had stolen with the car when he jacked it right off the street.
The boy acting as the pro hero's sidekick responded affirmatively without hesitating and ran to the sidewalk where the villain was yelling in pain. Should I knock him out now? With everyone watching me? He noticed people down the sidewalk in front of him, behind him, and parked in the road or across the street all looking towards him. He's in pain- The villain spun towards Zach from on his hands and knees, and Zach's eyes opened wide as the villain rose a pistol in his right hand and pointed it at Zach's face. Zach stared in shock through the visor at the villain about to shoot him, he heard the shot, and then he watched the villain's gun and half a claw fly into the air as the villain yelled in even more pain.
"Lifebringer, you alright?" Bikergang called over, as the boy looked frozen to the spot. He started running over, and Zach turned his way for a second before looking down at the man who was grabbing at his free claw with one hand while cursing and shouting in pain.
"I'm fine," Zach said. What was I thinking about? In the middle of a fight. Villains never give up, even when it seems like they might be captured. I should have knocked him out right away, or restrained him, or something! "Sorry," Zach muttered, and then he dove down and slammed a knee into the villain's face as the man started leaning up again with a furious expression. Zach flipped the villain over after the hard knee that jumbled the villain's thoughts, and he pulled the villains' bloodier arm behind his back to lock in an arm-bar, one that Grappler had shown him a year earlier.
"Don't get worked up over it," Bikergang said, his voice just coming through Zach's helmet now and not echoing around them. "Just remember, villains are always thinking about escape. How can they kill, run, bargain, or hide to get out of their current situation? You have to remember that."
Zach nodded his head, and he kicked away the villain's gun with a foot since it had landed close to him and he did not know if it would still work or if Bikergang's shot had disabled it. It didn't sound like he hit the gun, though he was probably aiming for it. He broke half the villain's claw off. That's pretty brutal. Zach pushed down harder on the villain, and Bikergang bent down next to him and pulled out special capture zip-ties that he locked around the villain's other arm he pulled back and then the bloody one Zach was restraining already. "Nice job," Bikergang started to say, and then both of them heard a voice in their ears.
"Four blocks away there's a fire in an office building. First report called in to the police said it's a worker who got fired and started thrashing the place with her Quirk," Daisy explained the situation fast, then they heard Roady shout loudly in annoyance.
"We're still chasing the purse thief through alleyways, and the guy's Quirk is letting him bounce off the walls like a fu- like a pinball!"
"Send police to our current location," Bikergang started.
"Already done," Keiko's voice said, and the blonde typed into her keyboard and made the police cars' flashing blue and red symbols appear on the grid in Zach and Bikergang's helmets.
This is frantic! So much is happening and they're all this calm right now? Is there really this much crime just going on all over the place?! Zach glanced around at the people looking their way again, and he realized that none of them were looking at the villain as much as they were staring at him. They didn't really look surprised when Bikergang started shouting about the stolen car either. Most of them just look tired of it, or upset. Even though we're stopping the villains.
Some people started clapping as Zach and Bikergang both stood up next to the fully restrained villain. Zach felt a little better as they did so, but he kept his helmet on since he could not hide the frustrated look on his face from the feeling he had of all these crimes happening one after the other. "Busy day?" Zach asked, a bit of a hopeful tone in his voice.
"Yes," Bikergang replied. "But only petty crimes so far. Let's hope things stay this quiet," he said, and he started heading to the side of the sidewalk where a couple of men were standing closer than the others. "Can I leave watching him to you until the police arrive? We're needed somewhere else."
The men looked surprised, and Zach stared at Bikergang with huge eyes behind his visor too. One of them accepted after a second, and then the hero called to 'Lifebringer' that they needed to get to the fire. Zach ran back to the motorcycle, and he asked in a confused voice, "Is leaving that villain with them really okay?" Bikergang had grabbed the villain's gun and searched him for any others too while tying up his ankles, but Zach knew the villain was still conscious. "This is dangerous."
"The police are only a minute out," Bikergang replied. "And three heroes in Feruchia have been killed, or retired in the past month." Zach's eyes widened more while Bikergang pulled the bike's spiked tire out of the stolen car and slammed it onto the road on its side by yanking the handlebars away. Zach realized as Bikergang did that that neither of them had used their Quirks in that last fight, and the villain had only used his to cut Zach's grappling gun wire too. Need a new hook, Zach thought off-handedly, reminding himself to keep his grappling gun loaded. Bikergang continued and Zach tried focusing since it was a dark topic, "Citizens around here understand we have a larger workload. Especially after the SFI."
Sports Festival Invasion? Guess that's a faster way to say it, though I haven't heard anyone else use an acronym before. "Keiko, inform the police and have them contact the car's owner. Insurance will take care of the damage I did to the car."
"What did you do to-" Bikergang cut off the communications for a second and then spoke directly to Zach again. "This fired person sounds irritated and might be out of control. If they don't know how to use their Quirk well, they're as much of a danger to themselves as a general menace in the workplace. Be cautious."
Is he saying that because I let my guard down back there? I shouldn't have done- I don't do that! Not anymore. I'm focused. I act quickly. I just acted quickly, but was it the right move? "And nice job back there. It was quick thinking. We've been having a dangerous spike in the amount of guns on these streets though. Part of our current operation I'll tell you about, whenever we get a moment of rest, is in regards to that. Here we go though," Zach nodded along as he looked up and saw smoke coming out of the fifth story of a building up ahead. He calmed down a bit hearing that encouragement from Bikergang, and he regained a serious expression as he focused on the new task at hand. The life of a hero, is intense.
In the back room of Bikergang's agency, as there were only two rooms in the entire building, Zach sat at a white folding table eating dinner with the hero he was interning with. The building's main room that looked like a garage was much bigger than the back room, but the back room was just as tall and had a set of bunks going up the wall on Zach's left side that he glanced at occasionally while eating. There was just a ladder on the wall going up past four different beds indented into it, though all of them looked nicely made and rarely used.
"Thank you Daisy," Bigergang said as the dark-haired woman leaned down and put a plate in front of him. She pecked Bikergang on the cheek after she put it down, and Zach looked at her in surprise. "Daisy here's my wife, Lifebringer," Bikergang told the boy who nodded as he expected as much, though he had not noticed earlier in the day.
Zach nodded at him in response since he did not know how else to respond to learning that. Cool? Oh? That's, nice? "Um, so about the operation?" Zach started, lowering his fork and trying to start a conversation so it would not be awkward at the table. On his right side, Bouncer Man was eating quietly, and at the end of the table Keiko was on her phone and not eating like the rest of them.
"I'm heading out, boss," Keiko said after Zach asked and before Bikergang could speak. The pro hero glanced towards the wall and to the clock that had exactly 8:00 on it, and then he nodded towards her and said that she did good today. "Thanks, see you tomorrow," she replied. She looked towards Zach again, hesitated with her phone in her hand, then she turned and headed for the door. I bet she wants to take a picture of me, Zach thought when he saw that hesitation.
Zach watched her going, and he saw her walk right past Roady who was near the door to the main room with a cellphone up to his own ear. Who's he been talking to? He was pretty rude and sounded mad at me for most of the day, but I thought that was just his general personality. He's smiling a lot and talking in a calm- Roady lowered his phone and covered the receiver with one hand to snap something at Keiko who tried asking him something, and Zach nodded to himself. That's more like it-
"Our agency's current operation is a joint effort with a group of other heroes in this city and a hero in a smaller town twenty miles to the north," Bikergang started and got straight into it which made Zach spin to him fast. They had been so busy through the day that he had not been able to learn much about this, but he kept hearing the others talk about it over the headsets in their helmets. When it hit 7:30, Feisty Foursome took to the streets, a team of four female heroes who were also involved in the operation from what Zach had heard, and who Bikergang's agency was working with to split the hero workload in their section of Feruchia. "The Feisty Four girls, Team Canada, Gogogo, and Lobscar are all nearby heroes involved in this, and the local hero in Mosu Esupa is Underguard."
Oh! I know that name! He's in a small town? Thought he was a big time… "That's a lot of heroes," Zach remarked. "It must be a big operation."
Bouncer Man nodded his head and just took another bite of his food. Zach glanced at him but it did not seem like the large man was going to add anything. Bouncer Man was six foot eight and broad at the shoulders with large muscles that could be seen through his black clothes. He was not wearing necessarily tight clothing so seeing his muscles through it was impressive. He had a little tanner skin than the rest of the people working at the agency, and he had short black hair unlike his fellow heroes who had much brighter and spikier hair. Bikergang had spiky orange hair over his head, and Roady's was a slightly darker orange shade so it was almost red, though it was spiked in nearly the same style as the pro hero's.
Daisy had sat down right next to Bikergang across the table from Zach, and she explained to their intern, "It is. Although we already have a location for the warehouse we're planning on taking down, we're facing a lot of problems with getting a warrant. So far none of the surveillance has shown any illegal activity going on inside the building."
"What do you think is going on in there?" Zach wondered.
"We tracked back Trigger," Bikergang replied. Zach looked to him in surprise and with big eyes, and Bikergang continued, "It has become a large problem across the island recently, as it has in a lot of the country. Ever since the guns started spreading through the streets though, Trigger has made as big of an emergence if not more in the cities and towns around here. All the small-time drug dealers gave up their suppliers pretty easily, and a few of the suppliers cracked to get lighter sentences too. However we still could not get a location of a lab out of anyone, but Underguard made a move. The rest of us have continued to track drug dealers on a small time and arrest them whenever we catch them in the act, in order to keep those at the top of the criminal operation from thinking that we've already found them."
"Underguard followed one of the suppliers instead of going in for the arrest, and though it took over a week he said," Daisy said and started to smile as did Bikergang next to her who had a determined expression on his face behind it. "He found the lab. He had come to Feruchia to help us out with this, but it turned out the lab was in his own backyard."
"It might be," Bouncer Man said. The two across the table frowned at him, and Bouncer Man shrugged his shoulders and said, "Underguard saw him go in. Saw him leave with packages. If he had taken him down there and confirmed that the packages he left with were full of drugs then we could have gotten-"
"Then the villains would know we were on to them already," Bikergang said, shaking his head at the sidekick who frowned back but then rose a hand and scratched it over his dark hair. "Patience, is the key," Bikergang said, turning back to Zach who looked confused hearing that. "Underguard's last report was a few days ago, but he's working with his sidekick on secretly investigating the lab and nearby suspicious buildings. Once they have enough information to get a warrant, we're doing a full assault." Zach started breathing faster as Bouncer Man clenched his hands into fists and Bikergang's expression turned deadly serious. "The call could come at any time too. It's why I told you that we're in the middle of an operation."
A Trigger lab? I've been to one before. Those places are usually big. Is it going to be League of Villains? Probably. Most likely, actually. Zach nodded his head seriously back at the pro hero who just told him all of this. But what else goes on there? If the Trigger is coming from that place, could the guns be too? What about the other nearby buildings they mentioned that are "suspicious?" Who runs the place? Is it the main lab in Japan, or just a small one? It doesn't sound like they actually know all that much about it, and Underguard's keeping them in the dark too… Does he not trust the other heroes? Why keep them in the loop at all if he doesn't though? And to tell them he knows the villains are in his town, if he really didn't trust Bikergang and the others he wouldn't have risked that.
"Until we get that call to convene though," Bikergang said. "We'll continue on as per usual. While the Feisty girls are holding down the fort outside, I guess I could give you a lesson- you are sixteen, right?"
Zach nodded fast with a smile growing on his face and the serious look disappearing. "You won't learn how to ride in a week though," a voice said on Zach's right that made him sweatdrop at the condescending tone. "Not like we do," Roady said, looking down on the boy he was walking towards.
"I'm a fast learner," Zach replied, turning towards Roady with a confident look on his face that made the spikier-haired man stop where he was. Roady looked only a few years older than Zach just as he was only a couple of inches taller, and Zach heard earlier that he was only two years out of high school, twenty years old.
Roady opened his mouth with a more annoyed look on his face now, but Bikergang started, "How is Popfire?"
The young sidekick froze with his mouth open to retort at Zach, and then he smiled while turning to the pro hero who asked that. "She's doing great. Got in a fight against a couple of villains earlier, but she dealt with them easily. Like always," Roady bragged, even though it was not his own achievement.
"Who's Popfire?" Zach asked, making Roady turn back to him with a much more annoyed look on his face now.
"None of your-"
"Roady's girlfriend," Daisy replied, cutting off the boy who spun to her in annoyance. Bikergang gave Roady a stern look once he glared at Daisy though, making the younger spiky-haired hero ease back and get a bead of sweat on the side of his face. He turned away with a frustrated look as Daisy continued to Zach, "They graduated Shiketsu the same year. She's currently sidekicking for Ryukyu-"
"The Dragon Hero?!" Zach asked in surprise. He spun to Roady with wide eyes, and the older boy turned back to him with a smug grin on his face. "She must be amazing then," Zach said.
"Oh yeah, she's the best-" Roady paused with his mouth open, then he humphed and finally took a seat at the table where his food had been getting cold on Bouncer Man's other side. He had a semi-flustered look on his face that was full of annoyance, and Zach frowned again as the older boy intentionally started being passive-aggressive towards him.
Bikergang scratched the side of his head as the tension suddenly went up at the table right when he thought things might have been going well. "Alright Lifebringer, you done?" He asked the high schooler whose plate was almost empty. Zach shot up to his feet so fast after hearing the question that Bikergang chuckled and started getting up himself. "Then let's do this. I'm guessing there won't be any time to practice tomorrow morning. 7:30 AM sharp our agency's back on duty."
"Got it," Zach said and nodded at the hero. It was so busy today I was worried I wouldn't get any riding lessons in. This is great! Almost, great, Zach thought, as he walked behind Roady who continued eating his food without glancing back at him, but who darted his eyes after him once he was farther towards the door to the main garage. What is his deal?!
"Alright, was a nice quiet morning today," Bikergang said, his voice coming through the helmets of the other three on motorcycles with him on the street of his agency. Zach sat on the back of Bouncer Man's black bike behind Bikergang on his left while Roady was on the other side of the street on his brighter red motorcycle that had orange flames designed on the sides. Zach got a small nervous grin on his face at the sound of what Bikergang just said, thinking, Three incidents in four hours doesn't seem too quiet, though I guess there were more closer together yesterday.
The three motorcycles pulled into the open garage doors and into Bikergang's main agency room. They drove up the ramps just on the inside of the doors and then pulled towards the right side of the room, though they did not go all the way to it and park this time. They just left their motorcycles near the middle of the floor and got off them, putting the parking stands down on the sides of the wheels. Zach sighed and took his helmet off, letting out a deep breath as he got some air unobstructed by the helmet for the first time in a while. He shook his head around and then brought his left hand up and tried fixing his black hair that he could tell was really messy from the helmet.
As Zach was fixing his own hair, Roady took his helmet off and instantly lifted his hands to his hair and started re-spiking it. He turned his head a bit and saw Zach looking a bit frustrated by the way his hair kept returning to a messy state even as he tried pushing it down. "Takes a while to get-" Roady started with a grin, but he stopped himself when Zach turned and looked the older boy in the eyes. The twenty year old started frowning like he forgot he was not talking to Zach, and Zach started frowning right back at him in more annoyance than ever.
"Hey boss," Keiko called over from her computer. She had just arrived at work right before the heroes were returning for lunch, but she was already really into it or so Zach thought when he looked towards her. The young woman with long straight blonde hair stood from her computer while still typing fast on her keyboard, then she turned and lifted a remote that she pointed at the tv on the left side of the wall across from the racks the motorcycles stayed parked most of the time. The large flat-screen turned on and connected to the feed on Keiko's computer.
Bouncer Man was nearing the door to the back room, and Daisy opened the door and stepped back into the main room to mention what they had for lunch for the heroes. They both turned towards the tv too though as Keiko turned up the volume a lot. "What's the situation?" Bikergang asked as they saw a camera view from a helicopter shown on the screen. Zach lost his annoyed look from how Roady was acting towards him and just started walking closer to the screen with a nervous look in his eyes. There was a lot of smoke rising from the direction the cameraman in the helicopter was pointing, but Zach felt a small bit of relief at the label that just covered the bottom of the screen. Not Yabino City, he thought.
"Rukasu?" Roady muttered while walking up on Zach's right side. Zach heard the tone in his senpai's voice and glanced at him, then towards Bikergang with widening eyes as Roady was not just saying the name of the city aloud. He's asking…
Keiko had a headset on, and Daisy ran up to her computer after hearing Bikergang's question that Zach had not realized at first was something deeper than just wondering what was on the news. Rukasu's where I came in. The taxi took almost an hour, but on motorcycles!
"…And this is the location of G&K Bank in east Rukasu, but there are confirmed reports of two similar bank robberies going on in different…"
"Oh no," Keiko rose a hand and put it back through her blonde hair, then she spun towards Bikergang with a serious look on her face. "We've got a hero down on the scene of one of the robberies. Nordic Hero: The Viking is down at Japan Bank Company on West All Might Boulevard. The third robbery is surrounded by heroes but there are over a dozen hostages-"
"Three robberies at the same time," Bouncer Man began in a dark and booming voice as he marched back towards Bikergang. "That's gotta be coordinated. Someone's-"
"Get on your bikes," Bikergang said, spinning and jumping up in the air with a spring that dropped him right on top of his own motorcycle. "We're heading to JBC. Lifebringer, how long is that time limit of yours?!"
Zach's eyes shot open wide but he started sprinting back towards the bikes himself. "Roady, take him this time," Bikergang added as Zach was about to run by the red bike to Bouncer Man's black one. Zach got a more hesitant look on his face and Roady looked upset by it too, and Bikergang snapped, "Don't wait up for us. Take him straight there."
Is Roady the fastest of the three of them at- oh man! Zach realized why Bikergang would be trying to get them to work together at a time like this, and he nodded his head and started putting his helmet on before getting on the red motorcycle. "Around forty minutes is the top of my range, I think," Zach said.
"How long back did The Viking fall?" Bikergang called back towards the computer stations.
"I'm calling in now to ask!" Keiko called back.
"Letting the Feisty Foursome know we're leaving the city," Daisy announced too.
"Good- Roady, as fast as you can!" Bikergang cut himself off and called it to Roady as he rared on his bike's engine and spun it in a circle still in the garage. He left skid marks on the floor and put it into full throttle to send them flying out of the garage without hesitation.
"You got it!" Roady called out, as the motorcycle skid into the road and then flew down one way with people all around spinning in shock at how fast that bike just came out of the building.
"Whoa, whoa!" Zach held on tighter and tighter as they shot through an intersection and then onto the next road's sidewalk without Roady pausing for a moment to think about his route. "You're going to hit someone-" Zach started calling out, but he clenched his teeth shut behind his visor with a grimace as he had to try and trust this guy despite how much the sidekick seemed to dislike him.
"Bull!" Roady yelled back. "I never hit a thing! My Quirk's called Speedroute! In my vision I see a dozen lines coming out past me, some green, some orange, some red. The easiest path, the fastest path, the most dangerous!" The motorcyclist slammed on the brakes and spun the motorcycle right before an intersection that the light turned red on two seconds earlier. As he shot into an alleyway a building before the intersection, Zach saw that path they almost took get filled up by vehicles that had been waiting at the light and would not have seen him coming. They had to go more to the southeast anyway, and Roady's high-tech helmet along with the natural path-finding ability of his Quirk meant every route was one he could take. So even though the alley way full of trash cans and even a homeless man slumped against the wall, Roady's motorcycle sped in and out of obstacles without a hitch.
Zach started taking deeper and calmer breaths even as Roady sped just as fast across the rest of Feruchia. He still was not able to relax until they got on the highway, and although they started speeding over a hundred miles per hour, Zach calmed down enough to focus on the back of the head of the guy in front of him and not on the road. We're about to go into a fight together. I don't know if Bikergang or Bouncer Man will arrive near when we get there, though everyone should be rushing as fast as they can. I won't know anyone else there though. Roady will be my only real support. The Viking could be in the middle of the bank surrounded by villains, and the time limit is going to be near its end!
"Why-" Zach started, and he stopped himself just as quickly. Then he shook his head and he called out to the young hero sitting in front of him, "Why don't you like me?!"
"What?!" Roady shouted back.
"Why don't you like me?" Zach yelled again. He was not using the motorcycle's headset since he did not want the others hearing him, and he had to shout over the wind flying by them despite the wind-shield on the front of Roady's motorcycle. They were each hunched forward while speeding down the highway so the wind was flying over them and to their sides away from the orange-tinted windshield pushed back over the top of the handlebars. "It's like since I got here, you've been treating me like crap!"
Roady stayed silent for a few seconds, keeping his eyes forward and maneuvering the motorcycle around the highway perfectly whenever he had to change lanes to keep moving this fast. "Did I do something to you?" Zach called out.
"No," Roady replied, and Zach barely heard him since the older man did not shout. "But," he continued, then he stopped hesitating since it was a weird line of questioning Zach had started with while they were in the middle of a mission. "But you! I saw that court case!" Roady yelled. Zach's eyes widened a little, then they got bigger as Roady shouted, "The judge ordered you not to use your Quirk, and you ignored him and went and used it anyway!"
Zach stared at the hero's back in front of him and pulled his head back a few inches. "I-" he started. "I saved a lot of people doing-"
"Whatever the reason!" Roady shouted at the kid trying to defend himself. "You broke the rules, and the law! You never should have been able to become a hero." Zach's eyes stayed open wide as the man in front of him even darted him a glare back by turning his helmet sideways. Zach could not see the young man's eyes, but he knew Roady was glaring at him through the dark tint of his reddish-orange helmet. "They told you you couldn't, then you broke the rules and somehow that meant you could be a hero again?!" Roady turned his gaze back to the road even though it was still empty for another half mile down the lane in front of them. "It's not right! You used your Quirk when it was against the rules! You ignored the very laws heroes are sworn to protect! So yeah, I don't like you. The rules are absolute, kid!"
There were blinking blue lights on the front of his motorcycle though Roady still needed to maneuver when the road got too crowded. Zach started staring past Roady and down the highway in the direction of Rukasu, and he could see a green sign up ahead with the distance to Rukasu on it. It was approaching much faster than Zach imagined it would, and he started breathing heavier as they barreled towards it. He's not wrong, Zach thought, but his eyes narrowed behind his helmet and he started breathing calmer. I've broken the rules more times than I can count now. I broke the law just yesterday. Hunter, anti-heroes, Lifebringer, Spinner… But, you're wrong. You're not wrong that I have broken the rules… But the rules are not absolute. Not when, saving people- Saving people takes precedence. It's a difference in ideologies, but I don't need to argue that with you right now. Right now there is something I need though.
A car up ahead saw the blinking lights behind it and moved out of the way, and a greenish-yellow line in Roady's vision telling him to cross over two lanes vanished with a thick green line appearing on the road straight ahead again. "Lifebringer," a voice called out behind Roady. He kept staring down the highway though with a confused look on his face behind his tinted visor, and then his eyes widened as Zach shouted at him, "It's not 'kid!' We're fellow heroes on a mission together, I'm sure it's somewhere in the rules to call other heroes by their hero names, right?!" Zach shouted it in a pissed-off tone, and he glared harshly at Roady's back in front of him. I told Principal Nezu I was fine with changing it back. I'm Lifebringer again, and that's what you're going to call me. "Disagree with my pardon or the reversal I got in the retrial as much as you want, but the ones who make the rules you hold in such high regard said I could be a hero. Who are you, to argue with them?"
Zach got a smug look on his face behind his visor, then he made it serious again after a second of not hearing any response from the man in front of him. "When we get there, I'm not going to hesitate. I'm going to run right to The Viking and try reviving him. Can you get my back, or not? Roady!"
There were a few more seconds of nothing before the man in front of him yelled back. "Hmph, going to use what I said against me?!" Roady snapped in annoyance, though Zach's eyes widened as he thought he could hear a smile on his comrade's face. "Screw it then! I'll get your back, Lifebringer! The Viking's a great hero! Bring him back, and maybe I'll treat you more like a subordinate!"
Zach had started grinning there for a moment, but he sweatdropped at the end as he wondered if Roady thought that was supposed to sound good to him. How about just as your junior? Whatever. I'm going to bring him back anyway, what you think about it doesn't mean a thing to me.
Thirty miles east of Rukasu City, a car was stopped on the edge of a mountain where there was an outcrop from the mountain path for sightseeing. A man and his wife sat on the hood of the car, his arm around her shoulders and holding her close as they looked off to the north and the calm nature spreading for miles beyond them. "This is beautiful hon-" A couple of shadows passed over their heads and the two snapped their gazes up only to drop their jaws at the silhouettes moving between them and the sun.
"We're still far out from the city, move faster Deku!" Wonderlass shouted as she descended towards a tree on the western slope of the mountain they just leapt over. She landed on a branch and pressed her legs down hard, cracking sounds echoing through the woods as the branch was thick but just not thick enough. She leapt up and the branch snapped and broke off, while Midoriya Izuku dropped down between two trees and used the ground to jump back off of and into the sky again.
Midoriya was panting and had a nervous look on his face. He crossed his arms as he rose through the canopy and broke apart some small branches that he had to close his eyes to prevent getting poked in when he passed them. "Don't let your guard down!" Wonderlass yelled out to the boy rising up behind and below her. She did a front-flip and spread her arms out near the top of her arc, spreading the thin black wings of her costume from her arms to her sides and letting her dark blue cape flap behind her. She had a black earpiece in her right ear and a deep frown on her face from what she just heard reported. "A hero's already been marked as a casualty. We aren't moving fast enough!"
Deku nodded his head and he kicked his legs behind him to thrust himself faster forward. He threw his arms out to the sides and wobbled in the air, flipping over once as doing that was not something he was really used to. He curled his legs back in as he started descending back towards the trees again though, and he kicked out below him right at the end of one flip to send himself flying back up in the air and past the woman gliding forward fast with her wing-suit. Wonderlass nodded her head as the boy passed her, then she called out, "I am going to the Kirby robbery! The most hostages are there. Take G&K, we'll meet up at JBC to stop the third."
"What do you mean by 'take' the-"
"Save the hostages, capture the villains, it's not hard to figure out!" Wonderlass yelled while dropping back towards the ground herself. Midoriya gulped at those vague but intense instructions, then he heard his pro hero shout towards him, "You got that?!"
"Yes ma'am!" Deku yelled back towards her, while dropping down himself again towards a clearing. He swung his arms down when he was nearing the ground to slow his approach, then he bent his knees upon landing and filled his body with One For All. Twenty percent, Full Cowling! He sprang off the ground and high into the sky, so high that he was able to see the city nearing in the distance that he had arrived at the day before for his internship. Thinking about when he arrived made him picture for a moment his friend he landed with, and he remembered what Wonderlass just called out about the situation. Should I text Zach? Or, what if he's busy at his internship? He'll just be hurt knowing there was a hero he could have… If I'm not going to text him then, Midoriya's face got an even more serious look on it and his fists clenched at his sides as he soared through the sky in the direction of Rukasu. Then I won't let anyone else die!
A/N Thanks for reading. Zach starts up his internship this chapter, though first he makes his call to Hunter to try and find out more about the assassins. Hope you enjoyed that and his first day at the agency, and now we've got a triple bank robbery back down in Rukasu that has both him and Midoriya returning to the city their plane landed in the day before. We'll see how that goes, next time! Also, just wanted to add this in case anyone noticed the city names. Rukasu (Lucas, as in George Lucas), Yabino (Yavin, the planet the rebel base was on the moon of), Feruchia (Felucia, another Star Wars world). Thought that'd be fun since all the other places in BNHA have Star Wars names. Anyway, leave a review below telling me what you think about the chapter or predictions for the rest of the internship arc! Review responses:
D-Koy24 chapter 71 . 15h ago
Thank you
You're welcome!
Super Power Sensei chapter 71 . 11h ago
Two things...
One, remember how I was talking about a civil war/revolution building up? What if that's what All For One and Shigaraki want? What if the reason they haven't come after Izuku is because they are more focused on destroying the society Izuku is training to be a symbol for? Whenever someone mentions the public losing faith in heroes, I think of a saying..."the best way to destroy a civilization is get it to turn on itself".(I think that's what happened to Rome)
Two, Zach constantly talks about changing society for the better and helping educate people. Even going out of his way to take action towards those goals like with his confrontation with Gentle. But the moment Zach encounters a nonthreatening pretty stalker chick who says she's loyal to him, he takes off running?! Then he thinks about handing her over to the police like that's the only way to "help" her?! Zach has done so many things, good and bad, without relying on others or making it another's problem. ZACH, YOU'RE A HERO(IN EVERY SENCE OF THE WORD)! STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU SAY AND TAKE CARE OF THIS "PROBLEM"(I wouldn't call this a problem) YOURSELF!
Nice predictions in the first part. No spoilers though as to whether or not that's coming. 2, I don't know if I'd call someone who's been following you around for months "nonthreatening." Plus she didn't just pledge loyalty, she offered her body and soul... Zach's not that composed a guy that that's not gonna get to him. We still see him nervous when people see through him or find out secrets, and he's really nervous when it comes to Momo as we saw last chapter- Then again though, maybe he'll get to this soon and just needs some time to think over what he's doing? He did just meet her right before leaving for the internship. Not gonna spoil what he's thinking or if he even has her on his mind though. Thanks for the review!
RisinHope chapter 71 . 16h ago
Another great chapter, tmb1112! I love how Zach is opening up to Momo more and more, but it feels like a tragedy might happen to Zach/Momo.
I noticed, in the last chapter, how Zach's death quirk is spreading to his entire body because a of the death wisps coming from his left finger tips. This makes me believe that it could also spread to his lips as well, so if Zach/Momo gets a real fluffy scene, it will end up tragic coz Zach's got the good old kiss of death.
The trauma that results from the loss of Momo could either unlock a new ability or give him him better control over his quirk temporarily (like how mothers get super strength to protect their babies from danger) and might allow him to bring people back from the dead even if he caused their deaths, but it will leave him drained out of his wits (like a 2-3 day coma).
I can't wait to see what happens in the future.
RisinHope out!
That would be... so sad. ;) maybe it'll happen then, huh? Lol, no spoilers but I like the predictions. Thanks RisinHope for the review, and I hope you liked the new chapter!
Momozaki chapter 71 . 16h ago
The romance level...is over 9000!
YES! Just kiss damn it
Ahahaha in all honesty I liked this chapter. It was a great growing process for Zach. The internship arc has got me tense though...things are going too good
I've been re-reading through Death the last few days (as I often do while writing big stories to make sure I don't leave in big plot holes when foreshadowing stuff earlier, plus I just enjoy the story and wanted to read it myself). And while rereading my download which includes all the review responses, I saw someone had written back like 30 chapters ago that I'd be teasing this ship 'til chapter 70 won't I? Well, we're now at 72 and I can confidently say to whoever wrote that, yes. XD Anyway, I'm glad you liked that chapter, and not a bad idea to be cautious when things start to look good for Zach. We'll see how Zach handles himself this next week, in the upcoming chapters of Death!