Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 197:
Wonder if Lemillion's going to tell anyone what my living arrangements are, Zach wondered while flying upside-down through the sky. He was looking up at the next cloud level above him from between it and the lower one that was much darker and raining cold rain on Japan below. Not much to do today. I should get to work early then. School this week's going to be busy, for real, with the tough five-day practical training and daily report presentations. Finishing mine is hard with no real end to how much I could delve into. It's been-
Zach lifted his phone up more to his face and flapped his wings again below him to keep shooting north over the skies of Japan. He smiled at the message he received, having hoped for something like it considering the other messages he had gotten from Entilla Oarn not long ago. Some good news. Hopefully. Zach lowered the smile that started to rise, reminding himself to be cautious. Roady doesn't sound as apprehensive as before though. Could be nice. Considering how it went with Grappler… Roady had been pissed at me before I got to Bikergang's agency though. Just what I did with the League was enough to piss him right off, and then I went and did what I did the first time times like a million. Can't be as easy as giving him a leg.
Urukio Endo texted Lifebringer to meet him in Rairosu City, making Zach's eyes open wide as he read that message a couple of times. No way. He couldn't have found it. Zach shook his head and then rolled himself over so his stomach was facing the planet's surface now as he continued to fly. He pocketed his phone, then turned his body to the right and arced himself around to head for Rairosu.
Zach flew for the city closest to the prison island where he had spent the second half of the previous year. It did not take him long to arrive, but he did not fly for any hospital to give himself an excuse to be using his Quirk. He just dropped down through the rain in an instant, dropping between two buildings and then tossing his backpack at a dumpster in front of him. After he released it off his right hand that the strap slid down, a long black arm extended out of that hand faster than the backpack was moving. The black arm's hand widened and claws opened up that wrapped around the end of the dumpster closest to him. Zach pulled that side of the dumpster outwards into the alley, then he slammed it back and pinned his backpack against the wall of the building behind the dumpster. He slowed the dumpster down once he pressed it into his backpack, as there were valuables inside it, though he was not too worried considering how much those electronics had survived through as of late.
The hero known as Roady sat at the counter of an American lunch joint off Rairosu's boardwalk, giving him a view over the water south of Tartaros' island as he ate. He checked his phone and lifted his eyebrows up, He's already here? What are the chances- slim. Did he just fly out here? Fucking- Roady started typing into his message, but then he backspaced it all with his deep frown lifting up into just a slightly peeved one. Whatever. I don't have to wait very long then. Planned on having more time to get ready for this though…
Roady pulled out his wallet, and when he opened it up he hesitated before pulling out his money. He stared at the front of his wallet and a picture of himself on his hero license. Fully reinstated. An active hero. Roady lowered his right hand down to his right thigh and slid it down towards his knee, before realizing what he was doing and taking it away to pull money out of his wallet instead. When the check for his food arrived though, Roady turned to his waitress in a little surprise then put away some of the cash he had taken out. Didn't say anything, so I didn't think I'd get a hero discount. I haven't done anything in so long, I didn't know people still remembered me.
He left the joint and left a sizable tip on the table. It was not custom to do in Japan, but his server at the American place had looked like a foreigner too and Roady was thankful for the discount she had given him. Urukio started down the boardwalk outside of the restaurant and reached up for his hood, but he glanced up as he walked and noticed that the dark clouds were not raining down on them anymore. He lowered his head and saw a woman up ahead of him closing her transparent umbrella and shaking it off before tying it up with the strap. Hope it stays this way. Would be weird if we start talking and a storm starts. Thunder and lightning would probably make our talk turn into some, I don't know, something weird.
The twenty-two year old with spiky reddish-orange hair took in a deep breath of moist cold air. He walked over wet planks of wood, then turned left and headed onto the sidewalk and across the street that ran closest to the water. Sazaki better not fuck with me today. I'm not, in the mood, Roady let out a sigh and grumbled under his breath. This leg is too nice to even be angry. I can't let him see that though. Have to stay accusatory, if I'm going to get anything out of this… What am I even, trying to do here?
Zach rounded a corner and looked towards Roady who stared at him with wide eyes for a moment at the taller kid's sudden appearance. Shit, Roady thought, as Zach was well over his height now compared to when the kid was sixteen years old. Zach's height became less of what Roady focused on as Zach walked towards the older man who had once been his senpai at the same agency. Roady focused on Zach's scarred neck, and then more on the large scar under his left chin all the way up to the middle of his cheek, taking up most of the bottom left side of his face with the discolored skin matching the scar under his right eye that Roady was already familiar with. The hell happened to you out there? Roady thought, unable to keep an antagonistic look on his face even as Lifebringer walked right up to him.
"Hey, Roady," Zach greeted. "How's the leg?"
"You-" Roady began. He frowned, and then he looked down at his right leg and patted his right hand down on it. "It feels… great." He looked back up and saw a relieved smile on Sazaki's face, and Roady's eyes shot wide for a second. Did he- "You know, it wasn't on you that I lost…" Holy shit! Grappler? He was with Grappler when he lost his arms. And Power Loader lost his arm at the Sports Festival, the one where they blasted all those videos of him. Like it was his fault-
"I know that," Zach said, countering all of what Roady started thinking right there. "That's not why, I did that," Zach said, responding slowly as he did not know how to say that without taking credit for giving Roady back his leg. "I just got you in contact with them, after all. They were the ones already doing it-"
"You got me my leg back," Roady snapped. "Don't be humble-" Roady ground his teeth at what he was saying, but he finished quickly instead of beating around the bush any longer, "Thanks. I guess."
Zach sighed and he nodded back with a smile at the man before him who started frowning deeper as he looked up at the taller boy's relieved face. Now that's some bullshit. Roady glared at Zach and made the younger man lose that look to instead get a more serious one at how Roady was staring at him. "So, what have you been up to?" Roady asked. His voice was not asking for Zach to tell him how he had been lately. It was not questioning about Zach's public affairs, or his activities at school. The question clearly implied Roady was asking what Zach was doing now that no one knew about, as it was a certainty to him that Zach had things like that going on.
Zach hesitated at the question though, lowering his lips down at the corners and his eyes shifting to the right away from Roady who he stood in front of on that sidewalk. He turned his head more and glanced behind him, back through Rairosu, before glancing back forward at Roady in an even more hesitant manner. You're asking me that, knowing that it's secret stuff I don't tell people. You're asking what I'm hiding in a tone like you know I am, and the way I've paused here I clearly do have those things, so I couldn't bs my way out of this if I tried. I could just tell you I'm not telling… and then you'll rant about me doing shit again-
"What are your plans?" Roady asked the teen much too thoughtful about his question. "What have you been doing?"
Roady's, a friend. I think. He gave me his bike, which Kaminari stole. I gave him a new leg. We fought side by side. Why not? "You want to see?" Zach asked.
Urukio stared at Zach confusedly for a couple seconds, then his eyes grew much wider at the offer that he was in no way expecting. He nodded his head slowly, and Zach turned around and motioned for Roady to follow him. Maybe he already was in the city? Roady thought, for the first time seriously pondering if that could actually have been the case. The way Zach turned and started walking made it out like whatever he had been doing was inside of this very city, and Roady sped-walked up to Zach's right side and glanced in at the younger hero who had a casual but intense look on his face as he walked forward, clearly deep in thought about something.
It's better than a confrontation over me lying, Zach admitted to himself. I'd rather just show him. He knows anyway, but at least if I tell him it's better than if he just investigates on his own and calls me out on it. I've got enough of that going on already. "It's across the city," Zach started. "So we should probably take the metro. Unless you're down for a forty-five minute walk?"
"Lead the way," Roady said with a shake of his head, confused as to what Sazaki was doing but letting him lead the way if he was actually going to show him something here. He wouldn't just tell me what he's up to. Showing me, seems even more unlikely though. I have no idea what you're pulling. You probably have something set up though for cases like these. I won't let you pull my leg. I'll see through it.
Zach brought them to the closest subway, and they hopped on the train that was pretty empty on a rainy Sunday morning. No tails today, Zach thought as they stood on the subway together in an awkward silence, as Roady was still trying to be accusatory towards him. Except I thought so yesterday too. Too many people turn their heads already when they see me, that if they're dedicated enough to use resources to track me, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between normal pedestrians and police. I'll have to memorize all the cops in every city- except, that's a ridiculous idea. How large is the Police Force? I don't even know all the heroes in the country to be able to do something like that.
What's he thinking about? Is he coming up with a way to get away with… "Where are we going?" Roady asked, tired of just asking himself all these questions that he did not have any answers for.
"Industrial district of Rairosu. There's an abandoned building out there I've been using," Zach replied, making Roady look at him in an even odder way at the response.
"Why?" Roady asked him.
"It's big," Zach replied, slowly and with his lip furling like he knew it was not a good response. He glanced at Roady and shook his head though, "Better if I just show you. I was thinking about coming here today anyway to do some work."
What kind of work? Roady thought it but decided to just hold off until he saw this place Sazaki was talking about.
They got off at the station Zach said was closest to the place he was talking about. Then it was a short six minute walk to their destination, and Zach turned right down an alleyway between two warehouses in an industrial district of Rairosu that Roady looked around for the first time.
Urukio headed down the alley aversely, narrowing his gaze on Sazaki's back for a moment before just following after him to a side door that Zach grabbed the doorknob of and opened it right up. "You just leave it unlocked?" Roady asked in annoyance as he stepped right up behind the taller boy who was opening the door. Zach glanced back wondering what the problem was, and Roady said, "People could just go inside-"
"I know," Zach responded with a knowing nod. He headed inside and then called out as Roady walked in behind him, "It's me!"
Roady looked at Zach's back in an even more confused way, then he turned and closed the door behind them as Zach gave him a look telling him to do so. He frowned afterwards that he did that without Zach saying so much as a word, but he looked back forward and then headed up the two steps to the ground floor of the industrial warehouse. The building looked abandoned, though like it had been given up on pretty recently as there was not much degradation inside. Zach explained as Roady started to examine his surroundings, "The place is for sale, but there were some workplace accidents here that resulted in deaths. I think potential buyers are hesitant because they know they'll have to do a lot to remodel and restructure the place before they'd get it passed to have any employees start working here. Too much trouble," Zach said at the end with a shrug.
"But you're using the place?" Roady wondered back. "And other people are here?" he added louder, in more annoyance that Zach was putting those people in danger too.
"I marked the areas that are dangerous. Check it," Zach nodded up and to the right, and Roady turned as they walked through a doorway into a much wider room. He stared towards a ladder that had a piece of paper on the wall next to it marked in big red katakana letters, 'DANGER.' Zach continued explaining, "The place is safer than it seems. The previous owner already had to do a lot of repairs after the accidents, but the lawsuits bankrupted them anyway."
"Zach! How's it-" a ten foot tall man in a black hoodie with a dark blue beanie on under the hood stopped walking towards Zach when he saw the other person who came in with him. The large man in a black hoodie also wore a heavier winter jacket over it with its red hood down and bunched up behind his neck. He had on fingerless gloves and had a skull on the front of his navy blue beanie, as well as skulls and bones designing his long sweatpants that had some rips on the knees.
"Hey Choze," Zach said, nodding at the bigger man who looked back towards the teen he had started calling out to in a voice higher than one would expect for a man his side. The muscular man broad at the shoulders lost his apprehensive look as Zach nodded his head to his side and said, "This is Roady, a hero. He wanted to know what I've been up to."
"Ahh," Choze said, and the big man smiled in a big way revealing several missing teeth in his mouth and a much friendlier expression than Roady first thought that large man could manage. "Well we've kept a good eye on it. I tell you, Shio was messing around with-"
"Hey, don't be a snitch," Zach said as he walked forward, and he gave a quick smile to his side at the man who went wide-eyed for a moment there. "Kidding. She didn't mess with anything though?"
Roady looked at Zach's back in annoyance at what the younger man just joked about. It's not snitching- Snitching is good for us! We're supposed to encourage it… What is even going on here?
Zach led Roady through the main room and towards the next one down that had a lower roof indicating a floor above it. The main room they had been in had a high ceiling all the way to the roof where there were windows on the slanted ceiling showing the gray sky above through the wet drops still coating the glass. As they walked into the next room though, Zach motioned to an open door leading upstairs, and Roady started to him as they headed towards it with that Choze guy following behind him, "Alright already, you going to explain what you've been doing here to me? Who's that guy behind us? One of yours?"
"My what?" Zach asked, glancing at Roady with a confused look. He rolled his eyes at Roady's look like Roady was going to roll his eyes back, and he said in slight annoyance, "If you're asking if he's Army of Death, I have to remind you that I'm not Death."
"You think I'm-" Choze started, stopping at the bottom of the stairs those two heroes were walking up together. Roady glanced back, and Choze's brown eyes grew even wider at the look showing Roady really did consider it. "Haha, that's awesome," Choze said, and Roady sweatdropped as the big man turned away and scratched the back of his head while blushing in embarrassment. "No no no, I couldn't be. I just work at the hundred yen store on Kambaro Street."
"So what are you doing here?" Roady asked, looking back forward for a moment as there was a turn in the stairs, but glancing back as Choze rushed up the stairs to that middle platform before the second floor.
"Rent's a little high in Rairosu, and I need to eat a lot more than normal people," Choze replied as he came right up behind Roady and then onto his left side with both of them following Zach now. "My Quirk, Hypermetabolism, is like the disease but ten times worse. Doesn't help me with anything, just makes it so I can never get full no matter how much I'm eating. And I'm always hungry. Have to use all the money I'd spend on rent just keeping myself fed."
Roady's eyes widened at the response, and after the man in front of him finished, Roady lowered his eyes down to the big guy's stomach that chose that exact second to growl. "Head's up," Zach said, and both of the others looked forward with Choze smiling wide and snapping both hands up quickly to catch the thick protein/vitamin bar Zach just tossed over his shoulder.
"Yes!" Choze said as he turned it and saw his favorite flavor he remembered mentioning to Zach last time he had seen the teen who had given him a different flavor of that same brand. "You're the best, mm, Lifebringer, mmm," Choze unwrapped it and devoured the bar in seconds, before pocketing the wrapper and rushing up the last couple of steps to reach the second floor before Roady who stared up with his eyes still wide at what just happened.
That was, pretty cool, Roady thought. He shook his head around and then headed up the last couple steps himself before stepping into the second floor room of the warehouse. Roady's eyes that just went back to normal size shot open huge, and his jaw dropped as he walked a few feet further into the room and then turned his head left and right. He did a full turn and looked around all four walls with his jaw still dropped, and the other two shady guys in the building who were already in the room laughed at the spiky-haired man's reaction to what he was seeing.
"Hey Lifebringer."
"Zach! Eyyyy! Ohhh!"
Zach walked farther into the room and clapped his left hand into the left of the chubby Italian-Japanese man who had tracked him down through the other homeless guy up there in the room who had called him 'Lifebringer' instead of Zach. "R.J., how's the gout?" Zach asked with a look down at R.J's right foot that was not in a shoe but a thick wool sock over another that extended higher up his right leg under his pants.
"I'm fine! No need to kill me and bring me back just to get rid of it," R.J. assured with a wave of his hands in front of him and a suddenly really nervous look on his face. Zach frowned at him, and R.J. looked past him and over at Roady who spun to the two of them with his eyes huge at what that guy just said to Zach. Roady started frowning even more at the look he saw on the Italian guy's face a second later, and R.J. held up his hands even more defensively and backed up from both Roady and Lifebringer who were upset about the joke. "Kidding. Kidding!"
Zach glanced back at Roady, and he relaxed a bit as Roady realized what the guy was doing as well. "Asshole," Zach said with a glance back forward at the man he had greeted in such a friendly way.
"You sure it's alright for us to be here?" Randall James Cabrera questioned the kid in front of him, speaking Italian this time without looking behind Lifebringer at the guy he was referencing in his question. "This is trespassing, you know?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Zach responded in Japanese, making R.J. a little more nervous as Zach gave away what he was worried about. Zach smirked though at that nervous look on R.J.'s face, and the fat Italian-Japanese man pointed back at him with another loud 'Ohhh' as he saw what Zach did there getting him back.
Roady had started looking around the room again while they were talking, and he walked over to the right side from the entrance and looked over a white folding table pressed up against the wall. He glanced down at some manila folders labeled on the side borders, then he opened one up and looked at the papers inside that all looked to be photocopied or printed by Zach himself. Roady then lifted his head up from the open folder and stared at the news article pinned to the wall, on plywood that had been nailed to the wall in a line five feet off the ground to seven feet up, and wrapping around the entire square of a room. Roady stared at the article, then followed the red string from it up to a name that had a question mark on the side, then followed that string over to a photo of the back of a man's head with two others next to him who had black strings connecting them to other papers going along the wall.
Roady turned his head back towards Zach who he noticed stepping up behind him. "The hell is all this?" The older hero questioned, his voice trying to stay accusatory though he was more just very confused at everything he was seeing. He glanced back towards the three homeless guys who were all looking their way but staying out of it, with one of them going back to the couch near the edge of the room he had been sitting on with a file in his hands himself like he was doing research on the stuff Zach had pinned everywhere. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for the League," Zach replied. The man with spikier dark orange hair stared at Zach with his eyes opening wide again. "And the Radians," Zach continued, nodding his head to his left and a different wall. "The Jazz. Splodo. Meta. Kaibo Eee… Eziano," Zach ended with more of a frown, and a nod straight back behind him. Roady turned and looked across the room from where he and Zach were standing, to an oddly empty section of the wall compared to how much information Zach had pinned everywhere else.
After Zach replied, he turned back around and headed more for the middle of the room. "No Rebo? Kallahan?"
"They both got jobs. Just started renting a place together too," Choze added, and Zach smiled at the response. "I've been taking those online classes, but I get so hungry at the library and the librarians keep getting mad I get crumbs on the keyboard-"
"Then stop getting crumbs on the keyboard," Zach replied. "Don't make excuses. You'll never get a job that pays enough for food and rent on less than a high school diploma, and no discernible trade."
"I still think entering in food-eating contests is the move for him-"
"They'd never let him! Not with that super gut of his," R.J. argued back towards Arubo who shrugged admitting that was probably true.
"Could always keep that bit to yourself," Arubo mentioned towards Choze with a smirk.
"Cheating?" Zach wondered, glancing Arubo's way and making the guy on the couch go wide-eyed at the annoyed look on Lifebringer's face. "For money, that's pretty fucked up-"
"Hey Zach," Roady started, snapping the words back towards the teenager behind him who had started talking to his homeless buddies.
Zach continued frowning at Arubo for another second, then he turned to Roady and headed towards where the hero had walked down along the wall to stop in front of a blown-up picture of Iscariot. There was a before and after picture there too showing Iscariot's former costume and how it looked now, which was not much different. Roady looked back and forth down the wall, then glanced back at the homeless guys who had been hanging out in here seemingly watching Zach's stuff and making sure no one messed with it from what he could tell. "Is this, really…" Roady started when Zach came up to him.
"What?" Zach wondered, lifting his eyebrows to let Roady finish his question here.
"Is this, how you're-"
"Hey boss," Arubo called out, and Zach rolled his eyes and turned his head a bit like Roady did to look towards that guy who both the others had gone to and started whisper-arguing with for the past twenty seconds. "I was kidding about, what I said before."
"It's all good," Zach said, waving it off like he did not believe it in the first place. Arubo looked back at the others with a humph and they both stopped how they were scolding him for making Lifebringer annoyed at them.
"'Boss?'" Roady muttered, his annoyance somewhat clear in his voice though he just gave Zach a semi-upset look showing he was not really sure how he felt here, though it was not angry.
"It's just a pet name, some of them call me," Zach replied. "Because I give them money sometimes, like paying them, they call me that. Some I just give food though, money really just on occasions I think they really need it," he said this quietly to Roady while the others talked more towards the middle of the room and would not be able to hear him over their own conversation.
Some "of them?" You're… "So this is it? What you're up to?" He asked it incredulously, though Zach could also see the doubt was not really there in Roady's eyes.
"Pretty much," Zach replied with a nod. "I can't do much with my investigations considering my status," he continued. "And I'm not trying to be the 'boss' of the homeless or anything. I think they just stay because they hope I'll keep helping them out." Which I always do. "Though I'm hoping I can help all of them back on their feet, until I can come in and there not be any homeless here anymore."
This is what he's been doing. He's even talking about helping the homeless like it's what he's been doing more than investigating. I guess, it's something he can do even without a hero license. All of this though? Roady looked around the room again, at more information and research splayed out than he had seen put like this in his life. I mean, Roady turned away from Zach who had responded in too wholesome a way for him to look at him in any angry kind of way. He just started walking around the outside of the room with his eyes scanning over everything Zach had up there.
Should have brought my backpack. Didn't want Roady to get suspicious though. And even if I go grab it just to get my laptop for the new stuff, he could notice the clothes and food I've got in the bag. Good thing I've printed hard copies of most everything I had saved. Only the real important shit I've kept hidden, and the traps for if the League ever finds this place. I have the perfect fake trail of information hidden in here only Kaminari would be able to figure out, though it's a fifty-fifty on whether or not he realizes that I meant for him to realize it. I have contingencies for that too though…
This kid… He's been going hard since he came back, Roady let out a heavy breath and shook his head around in amazement at all the dozens of papers stapled into the wooden board around Bitchess 'n Cream's photo. He finally turned back towards Zach who walked up behind him, and Roady frowned for a moment before asking, "What are you doing with all of this? You say you can't do much, but you shouldn't be working at all without a hero license. Without a pro to intern under, or anything," Roady added, his voice lower and more like he was upset that Zach was showing him this knowing that it was illegal rather than mad that Zach was doing it in the first place.
"I'm not doing anything with it, really," Zach replied, frowning himself at the illegality of it in agreement with Roady. The older hero was surprised by the response and expression, Zach showing a look of frustration he could understand while looking at a room so prepared to be a regular hero agency. "If I think I get anything out of my investigations, all I can really do is call in a tip-"
"A tip?" Roady wondered, raising his voice and giving Zach an odd look at the phrasing.
Zach shrugged and glanced away for a moment, then turned back and replied, "Anonymously. I'll, call in and say, 'Hey I have a lead on so-and-so.' I tell them what I think I know, and I hang up."
"So you don't go after any of them yourself?" Roady asked, his voice skeptical though he was holding back a different expression from forming. Zach shook his head back at him, and then Roady nodded in understanding and with a look showing he didn't think there was anything wrong with this then.
"I'm not working. This is more, just a hobby," Zach explained in a low voice as he started looking all around the room he was in again. He stepped towards a wall close to them, glanced nearby at an empty space he frowned a little more at, then shifted his eyes back to photos of villains in front of him he thought he had connected some different incidents to that other heroes may not have already figured out. He looked down at a folder he had left open last time he was here, and he continued, "I've got all these unclosed cases, information on villain groups, and I'm just trying to connect things that others might not have already. If they haven't seen it yet, and I could have seen it, and I didn't do anything, then it's on me if something happens I could have prevented. So I tell them what I think-"
"If you said it was coming from Lifebringer they'd probably take it more seriously," Roady admitted while stepping up behind the younger man.
"I know how to make the tip sound convincing, even if they think the tip is anonymous," Zach replied, like what Roady was suggesting was not a problem he had.
Roady nodded while staring at the younger man's broader back. Of course you do.
9 Months Ago…
"And you've got nothing for over a month now?" Roady wondered, crutching back into his bedroom from the bathroom he had continued to talk to his wife from as he went to take a leak. He did not put back on his prosthetic leg just for that, since he had already taken it off for the night when he got into bed. When he stepped back into the bedroom he paused at the look Popfire gave him from the bed. "Not that I blame you. They've practically vanished since the Villain Summit. I bet they've already disbanded or something."
"That's not going to happen, Endo," Popfire said with a small shake of her head. "If you want to come out of the country with me though," she continued as she saw her husband start frowning at the response she had ready for him like it was not even a question, which he would not argue with being out of the loop as he was. "You can ask Ryukyu-"
"There are a dozen guys there already trying just that," Roady argued, dropping back on the bed and reaching for his book. The two of them were sitting on their bed and reading after a quiet day at the office together, with Popfire going out on one two-hour patrol early on before just doing paperwork with her husband who had switched firms to be closer to his wife. Ryukyu had welcomed him openly, but Roady did not take that as special treatment and did not want anyone else to think he was receiving it. He continued, "Guys who've been at the agency for years, and who actually want to be a part of the ADTF." Roady finished that with a deeper frown and added, "I know some other sidekicks there who'd like to take your place too-"
"I've told you," Popfire started, keeping her voice low as she did not want to raise it and have an argument about this. Roady sighed before she could finish as he knew he would not win against this reasoning, but Popfire reminded him anyway, "It's not about catching the ADTF for me anymore, but whenever we go out there we always wind up facing something very bad. Ryukyu needs someone to watch her back, as strong as she is."
"I know," Roady admitted, though he was nodding at her in a way like he was arguing for that reason anyway. She lifted her lips into a soft smile at the caring way he looked at her, but Roady then smiled himself and leaned back on his side of the bed's headboard again with a look of relief. "Either way though, this lowered activity's a good thing. You'll be around more, the less they act-"
"I'm telling you, they haven't disbanded," Popfire replied.
"Well I haven't heard much about them-"
"Yes you have," Popfire retorted just as fast, a knowing smirk on her face as she chuckled with her eyes back down on her book again. The young woman rolled her eyes as Roady gave her an expectant look from the side, but then her smile started to lower down a little too as she kept reading. I sit here, while they're… "They don't, get the credit for what they're doing. They are fighting villains though. Even right at this moment, they're probably facing off against some of the worst villains in the world."
"Huh?" Roady rose his tone and gave her a confused look at what she just said. He lifted his tone and said skeptically, "And I bet tomorrow, they'll have somehow swept it under the rug?"
"Most likely," Popfire replied even softer, and Roady's eyes grew wider at the completely serious way she said that. The fact that her voice got softer too, like what she was saying was not a joke but a secret, shook Roady all the more with the expression she had while staring down past her book and more at her lap. She turned her head a little to the side and mentioned in a quiet voice to Roady, "That's how they operate. That's always how they operate. They fight, they take down their villains, and then they call in a tip on where the villains they've defeated are all laying unconscious."
"Even if they do that," Roady started, shaking his head at the surprising turn of this conversation and lowering his book down to rest on his left thigh. "What makes you think it's happening right now?"
"Because stuff like that happens a dozen times a day, every day," Popfire replied. She said it, and she turned her head and looked into Roady's eyes that started growing huge at the serious look she gave him. "So spread out that no one puts it together, except for those of us watching out for signs of them in every country at once. It happens every day, and it's continued happening without slowing down one bit since the Villain Summit. Their patterns are easy to see, once they're already gone. And the local heroes might not even know they ever passed through, but I do. I see it clear as day."
Popfire looked back away from Roady and turned the other way off the bed, a conflicted expression spreading over her face. And I know that those sparse "fake" reports of what happened at the Villain Summit, are the real truth too. Because different villains from different countries who never met each other, had the same story. They don't know what turned their villain groups against each other, but they were there for the sole purpose of stopping Death… And they got wiped out.
"You really think, they're still out there then? With Death leading them?"
Roady watched Popfire look back towards him, and the frown on her face lifted back up in a knowing smile that made Roady roll his eyes. He snapped his book back up in front of his chest, and muttered to her under his breath, "Don't say a word…"
Present
I stopped being so sure you were him since you came back, Roady thought while watching the back of Lifebringer's head. You sure act like… except, I can't even say that. You were just like this back then. You hid it when you came to intern with Bikergang, but then you knew all that shit about the Chemist and Dandy you found out through some sketchy moves like this. And you probably saved a lot of us that night with the knowledge only you had.
Roady hummed to himself and walked right up on Zach's side in front of a long folding table that had some chipped edges on the side of it though looked to have been cleaned fairly recently. "And what are you looking at now?" Roady asked. He saw the names of a few villains he did not recognize, then one he did and looked below his picture and name to see an index card with the strengths and weaknesses of his Quirk on it. Next to that index card thumbtacked to the wall, there was a map that some of the villains' faces had strings connecting to different incidents. "Triangulating their base's location, using former incidents?"
"Any villain worth their salt goes in every direction from their base of operations," Zach replied with a nod. "It's not exact, but if they're willing to pull their stunts from let's say a 'safe' distance of fifty miles from their base, and they try to hit all over to stay hidden," Zach reached down and picked up a meterstick from under the table he rose to the map. Roady nodded though as Zach put the stick up right where he had already drawn a line connecting the incidents, and an inner circle in a black marker that he had narrowed the base's probable location to.
"Is there anything, I could do?" Roady wondered as Zach lowered the meterstick seeing his nod. Zach froze, and he turned more fully to the older boy who frowned while shifting his eyes back and forth along this wall so detailed with information. "To help," Roady specified, frowning more at the look the kid was giving him on his side in so much surprise at the question.
Zach replied though in that surprised and also hesitant voice, "Do you, want to?"
Roady's eyes opened wide this time and he glanced back at the boy next to him. I wasn't, expecting that, Roady stared into Sazaki's eyes and paused for a few seconds. "Do you, want me to?" Roady wondered back. Zach hesitated at the question in response, and Roady was floored as he darted his eyes all over the room again. Did he want me to ask that, the whole time? Or- or maybe he's not manipulating anything here. Maybe, Roady curled his lips down at the right corner at the sight of the teen's face looking conflicted and unsure as he tried to think on what Roady just asked him. Maybe Sazaki's just telling the truth, and he doesn't know what- or because I didn't answer right away, when he asked if I wanted to help!
"Because yeah, I do," Roady went back and answered Zach's question instead of asking back the question he did. "If you're fine with it," Roady added, wondering if maybe Zach's hesitation was for a different reason now of not wanting him to help.
Zach nodded back at him though, "It's not much of an agency, but the location's great." He said that a little louder, and two of the guys in the room who were pretending not to look over grinned big with R.J. even letting out a laugh. Roady cracked a small grin too a second later, and then Zach added to him, "But if we are doing this, could you, keep quiet about it? I'm supposed to just be going to school until I get my full license, but I need this. Need, something else to do." Roady stared at him for a couple of seconds, then nodded his head in understanding at what Zach was saying that made a relieved expression flash over the younger boy's face.
"In that case," Zach started with his head nodding, a brief smile appearing before he made it serious like he was ready to start working. "I do need to go grab some things. You caught me by surprise before, and- I'll be right back. I just need- I'll be right back."
Zach's body spiraled into a wind of Death that shot back towards the doorway and vanished in two seconds. Roady's jaw dropped, and he blinked a few times while trying to process what he just saw. The kid's body turned completely black, twisting into a shape of a funnel that shot away in a blur with it turning horizontally parallel to the floor near the end as he was rounding the corner. He lost all physical form there! What the hell- wait! He's not allowed… Well, he shouldn't be doing this either. He better not have taken my acceptance of this though as just a broad stroke, Roady turned back from the door and started pacing to get his mind off what he just saw. There are still a lot of things I'm pissed at him for. I've got to take this chance though to stick by him and see what he's really up to, how he fights, all of it. I just went all the way to America to investigate him for God's sake! If I can do that and can't do this, then it's on me for being a pussy and not wanting to face him.
Roady frowned deeply and walked down the length of the room towards the wall that had a wide spread of Jazz members along it. He stopped and stared at Duke Dread, then down to the left side of him at one of the executives of the group who caught his eye because of where the person operated out of. Ricky said they're after Miss Management, but I don't like these numbers, Roady's eyes darkened as Zach had written something underneath her name and some cities he listed in Hokkaido where she was suspected to be operating out of: 'Number 1000+. Note: based on these projected numbers for her, the Jazz likely have more than the upper estimates heroes currently have for their entire operation. Won't mean a thing if Dread's down though.' The final part Roady read made him shake his head with a smirk cracking on his face at the optimistic tone in the note like Sazaki was hoping to be able to take down Duke Dread and finish all of the Jazz on his own.
Thinking of what Bouncer Man had told him about Miss Management made his eyes narrow again though in a darker way. Wish I was up there to help the agency out. They got two new U.A. grads up there though. Bikergang said that the Smiling Devil: Herobro was pretty good, but they're saying that Jelloman's the real hit of the agency.
"Oi, what're you looking at, Hero?" R.J. popped up behind Roady and leaned forward to check the wall of villains. "Jazz eh? Sure Zach's got 'em handled. If he took down the third worst gang here, he can crush the fourth like it's nothing!" R.J. crossed his arms and swiped them across the front of his body out to the sides.
"'Third?' 'Fourth?' You're getting them mixed up," Roady started at the tan-skinned man behind him who sounded like a native Japanese speaker despite his over-the-top Italian mannerisms.
"Nahh, it's you all who've got it backwards. Kid's got the right idea, knowing who's still the most dangerous around here," R.J. turned and pointed back towards the wall that Roady had seen stretched the longest with information all on the same group, with articles and data dating back farther than most of the others under investigation throughout the room. "League's still around. He knows it, even if they've been quiet for a bit-"
"Years," Roady corrected.
"Thanks to him," R.J. added right back though, making Roady frown and fully turn towards the big man behind him. The man looking at Roady had such a smug look on his face, like he was personally proud of what he had just said as if he had a part in it somehow just by knowing Lifebringer. "We're having quite a time of it these days thanks to him."
"Yeah, you look like you're having a great time," Roady remarked back sarcastically. He turned to the board behind him again, only to roll his eyes at the retort of the man behind him.
"I've got no clue what you mean by that. Don't lump me in with these vagabondi." Roady's expression shifted at the tone in that retort near the end, and he turned his head to glance back again in a way asking what R.J. meant by that. "I'm not homeless, Mr. Hero. I have a place of my own," R.J. smirked and added in that triumphant tone, "Probably a nicer place than yours."
"So, what are you doing here?" Roady asked. Are these not just bums? He doesn't look any different from them, but if he's not homeless then did he dress like this on purpose? Does Sazaki even know he's not homeless? The interrogative look forming stronger on Roady's face each second made R.J. ease backwards and then take a step back as Roady fully turned to him.
"Hey hey, be cool," R.J. started and held up his hands defensively to show he was no threat.
"What'd you do Randy?" Arubo started, leaning back over the couch he had dropped onto to look R.J.'s way with a big smirk over his face. "Get 'im Roady."
He knew me? Roady thought, somewhat surprised as Arubo said his hero name right there. R.J. looked back too in surprise then turned to Roady again even more nervously as the hero was apparently good enough to be recognized. "Why are you here? Who told you to be here?" Roady asked, and in his vision appeared green lines for all of R.J.'s possible escapes or attacks. Don't know his Quirk, but telling from all the green he's not much of a threat. The paths he saw R.J. making were not ones he would even need Speedroute to counter with, and he realized his normal fighting skills as a hero could take care of him alone. That gout would slow him down. Haven't fought using this new leg yet though, other than a light spar when Ingenium asked if I wanted to. He'd been out even longer than I was, but damn I was not expecting to get my ass handed to me so readily.
"I'm, not no snitch," R.J. started, though by his uneasy tone and barely hesitant expression it also looked like he wanted to tell Roady.
He's not a mastermind, Roady thought. It was the only thing he had to be wary of, in case R.J. was faking every reaction and expression to convince him that whatever he was going to say was the truth when it was all going to be some elaborate facade. He just wants to tell me. Shouldn't be bad enough then that it'll cause me to arrest the kid… probably. "I promise not to arrest you," Roady said, rolling his eyes and relaxing his shoulders like he realized he must have been giving off too much of a heroic posture. "Just seemed like it could've been a cool story-"
"Oh it is," R.J. said, stepping back closer to Roady. His smirk reappeared and he started saying things that should not have come out of his mouth with that look, "My wife took the kids to Italy when she divorced me. Going to live with her mother she said," R.J. shrugged like it was whatever, and Roady frowned more at the man who did not seem to care he had been separated from his kids. Roady's look of annoyance shifted a bit as R.J. went on, "So I hit up a couple guys I knew from grade school back in Firenze. Got Sammi Short and Tino 'Macaroni' Manzoni keeping eyes out on them, make sure the boys stay out of trouble."
Roady started nodding, wondering what the immigrant was bringing up his life story here for. R.J. lowered his voice though and then continued while still smirking like the story he was telling and that he even knew about was the coolest thing he had ever heard. "Don't hear much from the guys for a while. Check-up here, the down-low there, a call about my old bag's new hubby and that he's good to them. Shit like that. Then, news breaks that Zach's getting out of jail." The smirk on R.J.'s face was extra cocky as he used Zach's first name again, and he finished, "And they tell me I've got to take good care of Lifebringer."
R.J. shrugged his shoulders up high at the look Roady gave him, like when he had heard it he had felt the same confusion Roady felt now. Roady got more hesitant at that knowing shrug like R.J. had no idea what it was for, as Roady was about to ask him what the reason for that was. R.J. continued his story though with his voice lowering down and his head shaking, "After he got shot though, the boys got me on the phone with one of the Dons who was not happy that I let Zach get shot." Roady's eyes grew wider, and R.J. continued with a knowing look of disbelief on his face too, "I didn't know what I was supposed to do about it, but I told him I'd help out Lifebringer best I can. As good as my bros are, it's always a good thing having the Dons on your side."
"'Dons?'" Roady repeated, finally saying the word again to check if he had this right. "As in, mafia dons? Like, crime bosses-"
R.J.'s eyes grew huge and he swung his arms up in a mild panic. "Whoa! No no," he shook his head around, then chuckled as he realized some of the hero's confusion must have been for why he was confessing to crimes right there. "Nah, you got to look into it before making such broad accusations, Mr. He- Roady," R.J. corrected himself to say the hero name Arubo had mentioned before. Roady's upset expression regarding Zach's mafia contacts in Italy lost a bit of the anger in it, though it was still very confused because of this conversation. Then R.J. finished though, "Mob's a hundred percent legit now, thanks to Lifebringer."
"What are you-"
R.J. looked like he could not hold back the excitement that he could tell someone this, and he said in a faster voice but hushed tone, "All the worst Dons are gone, and the ones left are down with the new program apparently. No more crime. I just heard about it from Macaroni Manzoni, but he did some time in Roma Max, missed out on the whole Age of Villains. Says when he got out, the whole system was upside-down. Like, he started helping cops! Helping 'em like, keep kids off drugs or something-"
"And this buddy of yours-"
"Macaroni," R.J. said, looking at Roady expectantly afterwards.
I'm not calling him that. "He's in one of the, Italian mafias?" Roady wondered it, though he asked himself afterwards, What do I even know about the Italian mobs? Most of it is from movies. I'm sure Italians know more about it, but R.J. seems like a liar.
"Eyy, like I said, I won't snitch…" R.J. continued, though he smirked again like he had one more thing he had not revealed yet that was as juicy as the rest. "As I said I wasn't there though to verify this, so I couldn't say for sure- but when Don Gino called me personally? You should've heard him. I realized right there in that call, Zach's loved by the whole mob. I'm not a part of it myself, of course," R.J. said with a hold up of his palms in a defensive way again. "But from what I heard, he's practically an honorary mafia Don himself."
I have no idea what you're talking about, Roady thought. He thought it and just lost his interested and confused look. R.J. leaned back at the shift in the hero's expression so suddenly like that, and he backed up a couple steps before saying that he 'had to do… something.' Roady watched as R.J. went over to the couch and started muttering to the other guys next to it, but he just turned back to the closest wall to him before letting his thoughts wander. I couldn't follow much of that. Sounds like a bunch of… but he didn't sound like he was lying. It's pretty absurd, but he at least looked like he believed it. As exaggerated as he was being though…
The kid's not Death. Roady realized it and shook his head in annoyance, mostly at himself. He had been telling his wife that he was for over a year, and despite Zach coming back and going to school while Death was still out there reviving people, Roady still held onto the belief that he felt many did. He grimaced at how confidently he had believed in that though, as he thought, He must have been in Italy for a long time to have done what R.J.'s suggesting. Even if he managed to do just a bit of that- that absurdity, it would've taken him months to get in with the mob. The mob. Like that's such an easy thing to join. And if he is "loved" by their guys, he must have really become a member… How'd he do that, without being disguised?
They must have known that he was Lifebringer while he was with them? How did he convince them to let him join… And even if he spent most of his time there, then how does he have the power he has in Virtucorp? Roady frowned even deeper, though he shook his head as that mystery solved itself pretty easily in his head. He was in America for a while too, so there are possibilities there. He just, kept doing shit the way he always does it. It's pretty fucking annoying, especially when he gets results. Something like this though? This is barely even out of line, Roady turned his head as he heard noise behind him of surprise from the three slumming it in the abandoned building.
Zach was back in the room, and R.J. anxiously glanced back towards Roady and then to Zach again. Zach just walked right towards the empty space on the wall he had been looking at before when Roady had wondered about helping him, and Roady walked over to where Zach put his laptop down next to some papers he had on him. No backpack, Zach thought as he glanced to the left at Roady's approaching form. Rather not have to have that conversation, with anyone. Lemillion better keep it from Midoriya. Don't need him pitying me. I could use that- no. No if he feels the need to come after me, I need to accept that… I could use the pity though. I could use it, and if I could, and that could prevent him from- I don't need anyone's pity.
"You get what you needed?" Roady wondered, relieving Zach who hoped Roady would not mention anything about his Quirk use. As Zach looked towards Roady though, he did not notice the older man's true thoughts as Roady kept his expression clear of what he was currently seeing. Roady stared at Zach though with his heart racing even as he kept his expression flat and stern and questioning. In Roady's vision, the number of arrows was countless. They were all dark red or black. He had never once in his life seen Speedroute act like this against someone not prepared in the least to fight him. The worst part though, was that the arrows were shaking and moving around like snakes, as if every second they stood there, the next second meant Sazaki would have reacted differently to any move he could have made on the boy.
No use fooling myself, Roady thought. It was something he did not want to admit, nor something he had really thought too hard about before. It was just the two of them there though. He was a hero, with someone who had the power to be very dangerous, and who he might have to stop. Yet he did not try to deceive himself despite what he knew he might have to do, I wouldn't stand a chance. I don't know if I could've beat him back when he interned with Bikergang… Doesn't matter though now, I guess.
Roady just looked down at the papers Zach nodded at after the older boy's question. "Had some stuff related to these cases," Zach started. He opened up his computer though while lifting the papers in his other hand. "Filled in some gaps, and I'm pretty sure Intanzo was using Camoflora from the start based on…" Zach spoke only half-focused on the cases he had new information on. He had a new case he was more interested on that he scrolled to on his computer while putting up the other papers at the same time using two black arms that came out of his shoulders and took other thumbtacks out of the wall to pin up the papers he handed to his black hands.
"Sure, improved that Quirk," Roady mentioned. Doesn't have to touch himself with his right hand. Can create arms without even focusing on them, like they're whole new appendages. "Pretty useful, even if you shouldn't be using it right now," Roady added.
"Like you didn't just use yours," Zach jokingly remarked back with a small grin, still looking at his computer.
"How did you-"
Thought he might have right there. Got you, Zach did not really know for sure, but he grinned more at the confirmation he got from Roady's response. He just kept going with what he was doing though, somewhat annoying Roady though also just making the older man humph and move on as Zach was not getting all smug about it or anything.
Must have been why all the arrows got so dark. He could tell and prepared much better than I was when I wasn't even serious, Roady reasoned away some of the anxiety he had felt after seeing his Quirk react like that before. "What's this case then?" Roady wondered, as Zach moved a little to the side and slid his computer towards Roady to show him what he was looking at.
"Nothing to do with villain organizations," Zach replied. "But that's what's got me hooked on it. The big shots in Japan don't leave much of a trail, and they have big enough enterprises that anywhere I could track down would likely already be abandoned by the time I- or any heroes I'd call, would get there."
"Suicide," Roady muttered as he read the article. "So, what's the case?"
"I don't think it's suicide," Zach countered, and Roady looked back at the tiny article that was not very big news. Zach looked back at the screen himself, Suicides in Japan are highest in the world. Not by rate, but by total number, I think. People wouldn't question an old Japanese man killing himself, especially dying in such a way. It's open and shut. "I think it's murder."
"You do?" Roady repeated, saying it with the lift of his right eyebrow and a glance to his side to see if the kid was serious about this.
"I do," Zach said, nodding seriously back at Roady who he turned to so he could show that look. "Nakahara Hiroto, was a rather wealthy man. Worked hard his whole life and made a small fortune-"
"Money doesn't buy happiness, and working too hard is the largest factor experts say people in Japan kill themselves. Kids, salarymen-"
"Heroes," Zach added.
"It's not common, with heroes," Roady countered, hesitating for a second before finishing. He gave the taller but younger teen a stranger look at Zach's reaction to hearing that, but Zach just nodded his head aimlessly before refocusing on his computer.
"You're making good points," Zach started. "But you could at least listen to this first before-"
"Alright, then tell me your reasoning," Roady snapped back instead of letting Zach be condescending for another moment.
"This," Zach opened up a completely different window from the tab he was just on. Roady darted his eyes up to the black address bar of the website, then he pulled back from the screen a little and got a darker look over his whole face. His eyes shifted around the laptop he suddenly noticed looked thick and hard to lug around, which combined with the person who was using it, and the off-brand internet that Zach just opened up looking like nothing Roady had seen before, freaked him out. He leaned back forward though as Zach pulled open a tab on this strange website that was beyond just an 'Incognito' tab to being something Roady felt was illegal just to look at.
"You on the dark web, or something?" Roady wondered.
"Or something," Zach replied with a nod. "Not as simple as that, but you see this?" Zach asked it and nodded at the picture of a very, very nice looking car. "Apparently, this is what Nakahara spent the majority of his fortune on. Fixing up, and buying new parts for that sometimes had to be made completely from scratch by pros whose sole jobs are to make that specific car piece for ancient models like these."
"It's a nice car," Roady said, though he was looking below the picture himself and already narrowing his eyes. He did not need to ask what the picture had to do with Zach's reasoning. "And it's for sale."
"Someone got the car in his will. They're selling it rather quickly too."
"An auction- Today?" Roady asked that in surprise with his eyes widening and darting to his side again.
"All priceless cars like these. The people going there," Zach paused and he frowned deeper for a moment. Then he lifted the frown and said calmly, "Some are for-sure just car enthusiasts. Eccentric rich guys like Nakahara who love their cars… Loved, in Nakahara's case." Zach glared at the screen and then shifted his eyes back to Roady who turned to face him at the glint he suddenly saw in Sazaki's eyes. With Roady here, I think I could loophole my way into this…
I, have a bad feeling about that look, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of Roady's neck as Zach's expression became much more serious.
Zach stood up straight and looked somewhat down into Roady's eyes, but in a way like he was facing him on equal level. "You said you want to help me out, right?"
Don't regret this later, Roady told himself. "Yeah. What're we doing?"
A smirk much too similar to R.J.'s that Roady saw earlier spread over Zach's face. And he started to feel that regret already that he just told himself not to feel, as Zach started, "First, we'll need disguises…"
A/N Thanks for reading! Tried to get this out this morning before I left to hang with my Grandpa again, but overslept 'cause of the coffee I drank to get the last chapter out last night. Trying to still post this before Wednesday is over, though I only have 14 minutes left as I write this sentence. Going to do a couple review responses too so don't know if that'll work out... Anyway though! (Had some Starbucks tn too to keep me going right now), Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Zach and Roady meet up, and Zach shows off to him (and to us) some of the extra stuff he's been doing since he got back. Zach's got a case he wants to work on now too, and with Roady's help he's got an idea... Gonna be a fun arc I had an idea for a while back, though there's more going on at the same time based on what Lemillion was thinking about last chapter too, and the timeframe the League's given for when they're making their move... A lot coming to a head, and yet Zach's investigating into a suicide that doesn't sit right with him. We'll see what he and Roady do next chapter! Leave a review letting me know what you think, what you predict is coming, and any questions you have for the story!
QuestingforBitches chapter 196 . 23h ago
'nother lovely chapter about our favourite sad lad, Zach.
Can't wait to see what's up next even though when this story eventually I'm going to be super depressed about it like the end of a favourite animes.
I'm dreading that day myself lad. Can y'all even imagine how into this story I am to have written nearly 3 mil words in this much time? Cried a solid hour straight imagining/planning one of the future chapters I haven't written yet just a little while ago today... I'm real into Zach's mindset, and when Zach's pretty much lost it... but I still need to think like him to be able to accurately represent what someone in his shoes would be saying/thinking, it is super depressing. Yet I also love the fact that I got this into this character too, and so I'm keeping this going for a while longer! Just gotta admit how much this story means to me though. Anyway thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
Celestia chapter 196 . 16h ago
Chapter. 196
Just as I was about to start worrying about your lack of updates, you update twice. I cannot even begin to imagine how fast you must type to be able to update so fast. It's also unbelievable that you actually have a life outside writing fanfiction. I can't survive on my current schedule, and it's not even that busy.
Kudos to you! You've managed to impress me with your writing every single time.
-Celestia
Awesome! Thanks a ton, glad you liked the chapters and the update speeds as I keep trying to keep this up! On a coffee rush right now so I'm managing- 11:55 BUT I'M STILL GETTING THIS OUT BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON THURSDAY MORNING! Thanks for the review XD
LOGARGON chapter 196 . 12h ago
YOU FOOL ANY FASTER AND YOU'LL RISK BREAK THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM. NEAR 3MILLION WORKS IN LESS THEN A YEAR! YOU'L DOOM IS ALL!
Haha you're the reason I tried to get the chapter out this morning instead of right now. Had too much to do today, but it's 11:58 right now and I can get it out in the NEXT MINUTE! I WILL! XD So hyped up on the beer and coffee I'm slamming right now that I spend 11:57 taking a quick piss but I'mma get this chapter out in time I swear it! XD SCREW THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM!