Chapter 51:
"I can't fucking believe this keeps happening to me." Katsuki sighed to himself while hanging upside down and tied up by a villain. How did this happen? Well, there was a kid watching the fight too close and it all went downhill from there. Trish and Mirko were too busy laughing at him while the villain, who lacks self-awareness, continues to demand some shit like money or gold or something that Katsuki himself doesn't really care about. "Okay, fuck this."
With an explosion, he easily broke out of the villain's hold and kicked her at the back of the head. Trish capitalized on it and sent an arrow to the villain's forehead. The blunt tip hit the villain and instantly knocked her out cold.
"Oh, now you decided to help me, Lady Rage." Katsuki walked over to Trish and smacked her lightly. Trish only needs to touch him once to send him kneeling to the ground. It was a good thing he took Hound Dog's anger management to heart, needing only a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down and trivializing the effects of Trish's quirk.
"Huh. I didn't expect ya to calm yer tits and break outta it." Trish was surprised to see him actually get up when her quirk's timer wasn't reached yet. She was already busy tying up the villain while Mirko was busy being interviewed by the press. Katsuki sat down, still feeling a bit angry, but not enough for Trish's quirk to incapacitate him.
"You're not gonna be expecting a lot of things from me from now on." Katsuki spat at the ground near Trish, which only pissed her off, attacking him to no effect with punches to the shoulder. After realizing this, she simply flipped him off and went back to tying up the villain.
"How's yer shit with wankstain?" Trish finished tying up the villain and sat on the ground, waiting for Mirko to finish up the interview with the press. At least the hero is giving them credit where it's due. "Ya still in the shits with him?"
"He's still an asshole." Katsuki didn't say anything else. Everything with Izuku is still complicated. Apologizing to each other wasn't really the end. That's just the start. They're making progress by actively not wanting each other dead. He's still trying to find a way to make up for beating up Fubuki.
"Eh, so are you. Yer the bigger one of the two, at least." She sneered at him. He already knew what she was going to say, but he allowed it. Truth still hurts. "Yer still the one willing ta hurt a kid. Where did that get ya? Some other dead kid."
"Tch." He felt himself get a little heavier. Trish's quirk timer didn't run out yet. It pissed him off that she was still spot on with what she said. He shouldn't have involved the kid in their petty grudge. Katsuki looked down at the ground, thinking how the hell he could ever make up for what he did. Even if it had happened long ago, it still disturbed him how he let himself stoop that low. Perhaps that translated to his inability to tell Ib-
"Ooh, seen ya struggle to stand a wee bit there. Hit a nerve, did I?" She stood up again and lightly nudged him with her elbow. Katsuki didn't give her any answers, but she could tell that it did worse than piss him off. She frowned at this. Okay, this time she really thought she went too far. "Uuhh…"
"Uuhh what?" Katsuki raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say something. Trish was struggling to say something, which was odd compared to her usual motormouth filled with nothing but venomous insults. This is different, and he was feeling suspicious. "Well? Come on, spit it out already."
"Well. I- uuh…" Trish was having a hard time trying to say it. It was easier when she said it to Himiko after the licensing exam. Not that she allowed to bitch to tell anyone that she actually apologized to someone, of course.
"All right, you two. Interview's over and both of you are the star of the show." Mirko approached them cheerfully before jumping away. She always does that without warning, making them patrol the city just after a villain is secured. There was combat involved that Mirko made Katsuki do alone for his training, and some more mundane 'help the lady cross the street' missions that Mirko made Trish do for her to not act like such a big bitch all the time. It's mostly working out for them. She's a surprisingly decent teacher.
"There she goes again." Trish aimed her new gauntlet, which had a grappling hook in it at the closest building. She was inspired to rip-off Izuku's nanomachine webs and decided she also wants to swing around. Months of practice out of anyone's sight other than Gran Torino made her perfect her own version of moving around. This had made it easy for her to keep up with her more mobile allies. Katsuki rolled his eyes and followed them with his explosions, easily overtaking Mirko with his new technique of condensing his explosion first before letting it rip, allowing him to go faster than he did before.
He was still surprised back when Trish first kept up with them by jumping on building to building. The Scot credited the skill to having to deal with Izuku anytime they had to fight each other in battle training and her days back in Scotland when she went hunting mutant quirk bears with her uncle. Mirko had already booked her flight to Scotland two weeks from now to get in a fight with the mutant quirk bears infesting the forests of the country.
It's been a few hours since they started patrolling. News about some raid happening to a Yakuza group got told around the place they were eating at. Something about a big dragon crashing to the ground. Katsuki could only guess that it was Ryukyu fighting something big. Since they started early in the morning, it's only an hour past noon. He refused to go to Starducks, which Mirko and Trish agreed to, disliking the taste of coffee there and they went to another small cafe in Musutafu. Unfortunately for him, he's trying his best to ignore the glares of someone he's actually afraid of.
"Oi, Burst Damage, why is Tornado glaring at you?" Mirko whispered to him while glancing at the rather pissed off hero behind them. The rabbit knew that Tornado rarely smiles, but the glare was outright hateful.
"I bullied her younger brother. Now, shut the fuck up. You already knew about it." Katsuki toned down his voice, hoping that she wouldn't hear him. He knew Tatsumaki knew he knew she knew he beat up her little sister as well. He'd understand if she turned him into nothing more than a red painting on the wall, but that doesn't make him any less afraid.
"Wait, that was her brother?" Mirko was surprised.
"How the fuck did ya not connect the dots, ya dumb cunt?!" Trish was surprised by Mirko not catching on that Izuku and Tatsumaki were related. They were interrupted by the sudden entrance of Hawks, who silently nodded at Mirko. She returned the gesture with a grin. The hero sat down with Tatsumaki, who was still glaring at Katsuki. "Those two are datin'?"
"Yeah, biggest scandal in the hero biz. Well, only if you kept up with that load of crap." Mirko rolled her eyes on all the tabloids about her somehow having a boyfriend, just because she talked to a man. "Seriously, those tabloids can't understand that a guy and a gal could just be friends. Buncha brainless assholes. Lemme tell you that."
It's a good thing this cafe is a haven for heroes to rest in. It's not too popular to be recognized by the public but not too obscure for other heroes to not know about. It's one of their biggest secrets. While Katsuki continued to try to ignore Tatsumaki's glare, Mirko and Trish watched subtly at what's happening between her and Hawks. He said something that only Mirko could hear, which made the rabbit hero cringe. Whatever it was, it wasn't good as the entire cafe mildly shook when Tatsumaki's face turned red, a little more pissed off. Hawks was quick to calm the situation then when he said something else, which made Mirko chuckle a bit. Instead of being red with anger, Tatsumaki's expression softened a bit and blushed at whatever Hawks said.
"Those two are definitely going out. I have no doubts about it now." Mirko plugged her ears, making sure she didn't hear more of the two flirting. Trish was curious, but Mirko and Katsuki stopped her from escalating a relatively calm situation.
"Are you two fucking done?! I want to leave right now before she decides that there aren't enough witnesses to speak for me in this place." Katsuki gritted his teeth with every word that came out of his mouth. The trio stood up and made their way to the door. It only got worse from there. Just as Katsuki opened the door, there they were. Hisashi was carrying Fubuki, and he was about to open the door. Katsuki froze while Hisashi looked at him.
"Oh hey, Katsuki!" Hisashi greeted him enthusiastically. Even Mirko was backing away while keeping her hands on Trish's mouth and shoulders. Katsuki could not move in fear and shame. He glanced at Fubuki, who was now trying her best to hide her head on her father's shoulders. That is not a good sign. "You seem to be panicking right now…"
Hisashi glanced behind Katsuki and saw his daughter. He glared at Hawks, but he never gave Katsuki anything more than a soft smile. "Ah, I see. Tatsumaki can be quite scary to you sometimes, I gather? I wonder why…"
Okay, now Katsuki knew the man in front of him was messing with him. Everyone in the Midoriya family knew what he did. Only three of them acted in rage. Hisashi was not one of them. The hero-in-training could feel the man inspecting him with just his eyes. "Is he sizing me up?"
"Hmm, you've grown, haven't you?" Hisashi smiled sincerely again. Katsuki audibly gulped. Hisashi reached out his hand, causing him to flinch, only to realize that the man simply tapped his shoulder. "We all make mistakes, big or small. Some are harder to make up for than others. I'll be rooting for you, kid."
After that gesture, Hisashi walked past him while still carrying Fubuki. He wasn't finished, however. He said one last thing to Katsuki. "Otherwise…"
He didn't say anything else after that, leaving Mirko and Katsuki afraid and confused. "Otherwise what?!"
"Burst Damage, what the hell did you do?" Mirko waited at least after they were 500 meters away, and made sure that none of them were bugged for listening devices before asking her question.
"I already told you, you dumb rabbit! You wouldn't want me as your intern because I beat up a kid. HIS kid!" Katsuki was not having a good time right now, considering the two near-death experiences he just went through today.
"Eh, I've seen worse death threats back in Scotland. Most of the boys back at me home country actually follow through with it, unlike the pansies here." Trish brushed the entire event off, seeing as how she did not have a target on her back.
"Would you prefer I follow through with my desire to beat the shit out of you?" Katsuki smacked her upside the head for saying some tall claims at a time like this.
"Well, yeah. Keep me on my guard now, wouldn't it?" Trish was looking at them all, confused about what she said wrong. This only made Mirko more excited to take a vacation at that place and it only made Katsuki question his own sanity.
"Okay, we can worry about all that, and UA can handle all the bullshit you did, Burst Damage. Seeing your attitude now, you've been better, but no bullshit during your work study with me. Am I understood? If not, I'll kick your teeth in." And to demonstrate, Mirko easily kicked a tree so hard she uprooted it.
"Yeah." Katsuki and Trish answered at the same time.
"Okay, good. Back at the patro-"
*KABOOOOOOOOMMMM*
"HA! Looks like we don't need to look around for trouble after all! To the explosion!" As per usual in their now increasingly ridiculous work study, Mirko has once again hopped away without warning, forcing the two to catch up. At best, it's another robbery gone wrong. Unfortunately, it was not the best situation. The three of them have arrived at a destroyed location. An entire city block was blown to smithereens.
"Shit. Okay, you two, find any civilians in this area and get them outta here. Once some other hero gets to the scene, come find me. I'll be hunting down the ones who did this." Mirko jumped away after giving her order to Katsuki and Trish. The two went to work quickly, running around and looking at the rubble for any civilians.
"This is more of a terrorist attack, isn't it?" Trish inspected the debris and smelled some leftover powder of some sort. "This explosion didn't seem to come from a quirk."
"How'd you know about that?" Katsuki inspected another pile of debris for potential civilians, but he was curious about what Trish had to say.
"Yours smell a little like burnt sugar." Trish walked over, dragged her finger around his neck and then had a taste of his sweat. "Tastes a little too sweet."
"You disgust me sometimes."
"I'm surprised it's not all the ti-"
"...help…gghk…" The two of them heard a voice coming from the rubble near them. Following the sound, they came across an arm sticking out of it. Katsuki dug them out easily, revealing a gravely injured old man. He clicked his tongue and pulled out his phone to call for nearby help. Anyone will do. The old man stopped him. "...no time… one of them… nnggh…"
"Save your energy, old geezer. I'll make sure you make it."
"...no… time… one of them… nngh… masked…" The dying old man coughed violently, vomiting blood as he did. Katsuki took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the dying man's blood. "...get… them…"
The old man's arm went limp. Katsuki cursed under his breath. The description doesn't narrow it down, and they were too late to save him.
"Shit." Trish grumbled, feeling uneasy to see someone die in front of her. This is the first time she witnessed death on the job.
"Over there!" Katsuki heard a familiar voice. The two of them turned around to see Vlad King and his intern walking over to them. "Burst Damage? You're here as well. That means Mirko is nearby."
"Trish, my good bitch, what the motherfuck just happened?" Chifu was looking at the fresh corpse, not really liking where this was going.
"It's a terrorist attack. The explosion didn't come from a bloody quirk. It all seems planned for days based on how much damage it caused. The old man told us about masked people before he died." Trish gave Vlad King the gist of it, though it was mostly an educated guess from her.
"An explosion, and in this specific district?" Vlad King placed his hand under his chin, deep in thought. "If my theory proves correct, this must be the work of a domestic terrorist group."
"Why would they attack this place?" Chifu looked around to see why. Not that there was much to look for, since most of the place was debris and broken buildings.
"This specific district is a local place for the people with Mutant-type quirks." Vlad King said. Katsuki and Trish noticed Chifu squirming uncomfortably. "This must be the work of the Creature Rejection Clan."
"Th-they're here?!" Chifu was not having a good time. "Oh messiah save me…"
"Calm down, Hokus Pokus." Vlad King patted her shoulder. This was the first time Katsuki saw the big clown as anything but happy.
"Oi, you're like a big muscle woman with a deadly quirk. What the hell are you so worried about? You can handle them just fine." Katsuki really should work on his pep talk skills. That look on her face looks more hurt than motivated. "Shit. Sorry. I was trying to motivate you."
"Oh." Chifu finally lightened up a little. Trish snickered at his attempt and failure to give a pep talk.
"I should tell Hound Dog that you at least tried to be encouraging." Vlad King nodded in approval of Katsuki's failed attempt at giving a pep talk. "Go ahead and find your hero. Chifu and I will handle the rubble. After all, back up has just reached us."
Vlad King pointed behind them. The two turned and saw another hero and intern duo already searching the area for more civilians.
"Oh, shit! That's Riku. Hey my good bitch! Enjoying your time? Wait, no, that's a bad question to ask right now." Chifu had to rethink her words. Uwabami and Riku came to them and Vlad King explained the situation. Uwabami did not like the situation since she herself was a mutant.
"And to think that I would have my schedule interrupted by something unpleasant?" Uwabami sighed to herself. Her body language betrayed her words, seeing that the snakes on her hair are now leaking with venom. Riku was a little intimidated, but took out a handkerchief to gently wipe it off. This told Katsuki that it wasn't the first time this happened. "StarLight, consider this as one of the more extreme of your social skill training. In times of emergency, you can't afford to stay reserved, my dear intern."
"... all right…"
"What was that?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"Better." Uwabami patted Riku while handing out more pointers to her on how to deal with these situations. Katsuki and Trish were too long gone to hear what she had to say. They eventually spotted Mirko talking with the police. Unfortunately for them, or Katsuki, Hawks and Tatsumaki were with her as well.
"Oh, fuck me." He rested his face on his hands, not really wanting to go near now. Good thing Trish was there to push him along. Worst-case scenario, she can always use her quirk on Tatsumaki. That is, if the hero even lets her near.
"Oi. Some other heroes just got here to take care of the other rescue stuff. When are we huntin' down the wankers responsible?" Trish tapped Mirko on the shoulder to get her attention. The rabbit held her hand up to quiet down Trish.
"Don't worry about it. Vlad King just called to give me a heads up. I guess those CRC freaks haven't died out yet, have they?" Hawks had his hands on Tatsumaki's shoulders because he noticed her still glaring at Katsuki. "Okay, seriously, Tornado. You should stop glaring at the poor kid."
"I have fifteen good reasons to glare at him, and ten other reasons to fling him all the way to the Pacific Ocean with a single flick." Tatsumaki's eyes glowed green for a moment, putting fear into Katsuki's soul. Usually, he'd respond with "fight", but he's very much leaning for "flight" in this situation. Not that either of the two would work.
"Okay, I'm just gonna be on the-"
"I've had fuckin' enough o' this." Trish has had enough of it. She stomped over to Katsuki and slapped him in the face. She then stomped over to Tatsumaki and head-butted her. Since her skin technically made contact with Tatsumaki, it still counted for her quirk. This instantly sent the hero down on her knees. "I don't care what the fuck happened, but I am not dealin' with the trauma of you wankers. I've had my coffee ruined because one of you is glarin' at the other and the other is shakin' like a pussy."
"Why you-"
"Oh man, this is rich." Mirko amusingly facepalmed at the sight of her intern putting Tatsumaki on her knees because of a mild inconvenience. She made a note to also knock the pettiness out of Trish's head, among other things that might get her intern killed.
"The hell are you doing, you idiot?" Katsuki was the first to smack Trish at the back of the head. It didn't knock her out, but it certainly pissed her off.
"LISTEN HERE YOU WANKING COCKSUCKER!" She pointed aggressively at Katsuki while Hawks, who was also about to smack her, stepped back from shock. It was a good thing the police had already left and the only ones here were the heroes. "AND YOU AS WELL, WANKSTAIN'S BITCH SISTER."
"Mirko, you're seriously not gonna stop her." Hawks asked his friend. He wasn't amused by Trish's antics, like Mirko usually is.
"What? I'm gonna let her say her piece."
"WE BOTH KNOW WHAT YOU DID, YA MORON. SHE KNOWS WHAT YOU DID, YA MORON." After screaming at Katsuki, she then faced Tatsumaki. "WE BOTH KNOW WHAT HE DID. HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID. BUT EVEN I KNOW THAT IS THE LEAST OF OUR PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW. SO BOTH O' YA BETTER HOLD THAT DRAMA OFF BEFORE I MAKE YA HOLD THAT DRAMA OFF."
Neither of the two were intimidated one bit by another one of Trish's temper tantrums, but they would rather not go through this annoyance again. Katsuki sighed and told Tatsumaki the secret of countering Trish's quirk, which was to simply calm down.
"... I don't know how to say sorry." Katsuki awkwardly scratched his head while avoiding Tatsumaki's gaze. Her glare didn't disappear, but it did visibly soften.
"Well, while you four were busy doing some clown work, I actually found us a lead." Hawks showed a piece of the bomb used to them. It still somehow had a few wires intact and not completely destroyed. "I'll be calling my intern over, and I think I might know a guy."
Hisashi's Shop…
"Fubuki, will you pass me that wrench? Oh, and try to avoid Hatsume there. I don't want anything to explode on you." Hisashi reached out his hand as his daughter passed the tool to him. His intern was busy cooking up another one of her ideas, and he's only the type to interfere if it might completely destroy his shop or hurt anyone. "Thank you."
"Oh, come on, sir! Things exploding on us are a benchmark of what a support engineer is!" Mei tried to reason with him while handing Fubuki a homemade game console, which she knew would not explode. She quadruple-checked it under the threat that Hisashi would kick her out and force her to take a bath if it explodes on Fubuki.
"My inventions only blow up 4 times a week. Yours explode 4 times a day." Hisashi initially took her in as his intern when he watched the UA Sports Festival. Her audacity to use the tournament of the Sports Festival to advertise her stuff was great to watch. However, as soon as she stepped foot in his shop, he chastised her for throwing the match. He pointed out that any future investors would have been more interested if she actually used it to win the entire tournament. Which has now led to this. He heard the door open, and he immediately got to the counter, ready to welcome them.
"Ah! Tatsumaki, here for a visit? Hawks." His expression turned mildly contemptuous the moment he saw Hawks.
"Dad, just let it go. I slept wi-"
"NAH NAH NAH! NOT ANOTHER WORD FROM YOU, YOUNG LADY!" Hisashi covered his ears, not interested in finding out the next words she was about to say. "Oh hey, Katsuki! Welcome to my shop, Ikari! Your father does great wonders in not getting me sued! I take it that this might be a serious situation. I've seen the news, of course. Tragic explosion."
"Oi, old man, can you tell us what bomb this came from?" Mirko's hand went into Hawks's pocket and immediately took the evidence without asking him, much to Tatsumaki's annoyance. She placed it on the counter, making Hisashi inspect it a little.
"Are you sure this is from a bomb?" Hisashi asked them the question. The piece seems a little too big and intact to come from a bomb that recently fulfilled its purpose. "This seems a little too intact."
"I thought that as well, sir, but comparing it to the other surroundings, this one has traces of the common ingredients used to make the exploding part of a bomb." Hawks added. Hisashi narrowed his eyes on the piece and smelled it. The hero wasn't lying.
"Whoever made this must be an amateur. The point of bombing something is to make the bomb out of something that could easily be destroyed in the blast. This material is tough enough to at least be somewhat intact and contain some of the explosion." The mechanic looked up to see everyone's expression. "Or they used it to make sure the bomb only hit certain parts of the town. Where did it explode again?"
"The Mutant District." Mirko answered his question.
"Ah, the work of the Creature Rejection Clan, or, as I call them, Moronic Primitives." Hisashi sighed as he handed the bomb piece back to them. "As for the material itself, it only gets processed and manufactured by a certain factory in the country. If you can't find any leads there, then they must have gotten it internationally."
"Shit." Hawks was not amused by a weak lead.
"You do not swear while Fubuki is in the shop, punk." Hisashi let out a bit of his fire breath as a warning to Hawks. Fubuki may not swear until she's thirteen to not grow bad habits, of course. Hawks immediately backed away, not really interested in tempting fate. He's already dating Hisashi's daughter, and he's not willing to piss the man off even more.
"Okay, okay, we get it. Yer protective of yer children. Blah blah blah. And I-" Trish's mouth was instantly covered by a weirdly nervous Mirko and Katsuki. They chuckled nervously while pulling her away, stopping her from getting closer to Hisashi.
"OKAY! That's enough from you, Lady Rage." Katsuki ignored the fact that Trish was now licking his palm, which was covering her mouth. "He's still a freaking dragon. You know, Ryukyu's older brother. Family man. Calmest of the Midoriya family. Still as dangerous as all of them? I- uh…"
"No worries, Katsuki. No need to see me as a threat. I wasn't going to burn Trish over a joke."
"THAT WASN'T A J-" Trish managed to get another piece in before Mirko covered her mouth this time.
"Well, I wish I could be of more help to you and your friends, Tatsumaki, but that's all I know." Hisashi bowed his head in apology to his daughter. Tatsumaki waved it off, not blaming him for anything. They found a small lead, which is better than nothing. "Anyway, Katsuki."
Katsuki immediately paid attention to the Midoriya Patriarch. Hisashi's soft smile never left him. "Do you want to have a talk with Fubuki?"
"Dad, that is not-!"
"Perhaps he realised it eventually, but I do believe he regrets doing what he did. If he didn't, he would not have been trying to change and apologise to Izuku." He turned to look at the teenager in question. "Well, do you think you're ready?"
"Hold on there, old man." Mirko stood in front of her intern. She understood what Hisashi was trying to do, and despite the good intent… "I don't think this is the best time for my intern over here. Not with many people around."
"Maybe when this is all over." Katsuki answered Hisashi while spotting Fubuki and Mei peeking out of the corner. Mei narrowed her eyes at him while hiding Fubuki behind her back. Hisashi noticed this as well.
"Oh right, everyone, before you go, I would like to introduce you to Mei Hatsume. Hey, Hatsume, come over here!" Hisashi waved at his intern and she walked right up to them. He looked weirdly proud of her. "I present to you my favourite daughter!"
"FAVOURITE?!" Tatsumaki was not amused by the revelation. "I thought you said you don't have favourites! She's not even your kid!"
"She's like my own kid if one of you was interested in what I do!"
"WE GET IT! CAN WE START HUNTIN' THESE PEOPLE DOWN FER…" Trish noticed Fubuki and Izuku and Camie's willingness to follow through with their respective threats. "Can we hunt these baddies down now?"
"I agree with my favourite intern." Mirko said.
"Favourite?!" Katsuki exclaimed.
The Manufactorum…
"Well, this is the motherfuckin' place that Vlad King told me to look into when he got a call from Hawks. Do any of you motherfuckers know about why it's called the Manufactorum? In Japan?" Chifu was hoping to get an answer from either Tokoyami or Riku. Neither of them knew. "Ay, Tsukuyomi, who you internin' for, anyway? You kinda just appeared outta nowhere."
"Hawks."
"Really now? He hard to keep up with cause of all the flyin'?"
"At first, yes, but I have learned a few techniques to keep up. The current issue is his dedication to his girlfriend. Admirable, but not the correct time for it." Tokoyami explained the plights of Hawks' relationship with Tatsumaki. While the romance was not Tokoyami's area of interest, he could tell that Hawks is incredibly whipped as of now. "Still, I am glad that he could trust me with this investigation, but it is not my area of expertise. Perhaps we were sent to merely scout the area for suspicious dealings?"
"What do you think of all this, Riku?" Chifu asked her friend. The big clown wanted to include her in the conversation. The girl seems hesitant. "Come on now, it's just the three of us. You can be yourself, girl."
"Oh… Well, I, uh… I've read a book about something like this. This seems too easy." Riku starts, pausing for a while to choose the words she wants to say. She could tell that Chifu and Tokoyami were listening intently to what she had to say. "We may be walking into something bigger than a normal terrorist attack. If mutants are targeted, well, uh… I'm not good at this… I think you two should be careful."
"Heh, not just us." Chifu lightly tapped the crystals on Riku's body. "You got your shiny miracle stuff for electrical magics and shit right here. You be careful, too."
"So long as the three of us watch each other's back in this area, we shall prevail at our task. Dark Shadow, monitor our blind spot, okay?"
"You got it, boss!"
"Revelry in the dark."
"Oh shit. That was some cool shit you just said. Can I say it too?"
"...Very well."
"Revelry in the motherfuckin' dark! You gotta say it too, Riku!"
"...Revelry in the... dark?"
"Yeah, he's been saying that since we were kids."
"Dark Shadow!"
"Hahaha! Yeah, we should get in now."
Entering the factory and presenting their provisional hero licence, the three were unnerved by the advanced technology in the Manufactorum compared to what was presented outside. They asked a few questions to the workers and some managers of its different departments. Dark Shadow and Tokoyami noticed a few workers giving them disgusted looks, which Chifu and Riku noted.
"...I really don't like this place." Riku whispered while walking closer to Chifu.
"Yeah, I'm not really into this place either, StarLight." The three of them were checking around. Chifu wished she paid more attention to the investigations class they had back in Shiketsu. None of these are part of her expertise, with her's being a big target as her expertise. Or maybe one of these people is eyeing her as a target. She could only hope that she's wrong about it.
"And this is where the said material from the bomb came from." The manager presented the machine processing the metal. Very few workers were stationed here, as this part was mostly automatic. "Security is tight in this part, seeing as how this metal is extremely useful and valuable. We also confirm any records of our customers to make sure they won't do anything questionable with it."
"Hmm…" Riku looked at the machine, trying to find anything that might seem off. Her brother worked in a place similar to this, having brought her to his work from time to time. What she noticed was Dark Shadow snooping around while Chifu and Tokoyami were conversing with the manager of this sector of the Manufactorum.
"Hey boss! Take a look at this!" Dark Shadow called out to Tokoyami from inside the machine.
"Whoa, your quirk shouldn't be there."
"Calm down, he probably saw something inside. Can't we take a look?"
"Okay, then, but I'm telling you, the metal just passes through there." The manager was immediately lowered from their list of suspicious individuals and took out his screwdriver. He unscrewed some parts and opened up the part of the machine. What is inside shocked even him. "Wait, a small hole? That isn't supposed to be there."
"Dark Shadow, can you shrink and see what is beyond?" Tokoyami requested his quirk. Dark Shadow did as he was told to do, shrinking in size and investigating what is inside the hole. After doing so, he explained to the four what was happening.
"So, a hole small enough to get a portion of the metal, which is then passed to a hidden conveyor belt… This does not bode well. I should report this to the higher ups and-"
*SHNNG*
A blade of water passed through the manager's head, instantly killing him. The three immediately turned around, looking at the killer. The woman was wearing the same uniform as the other factory workers. The only difference being her cross and skull necklace now revealing itself. Other people walked over and stood next to her.
"What a shame. He was a good man. If only he hadn't involved himself with freaks like you." The woman put on her skull mask, now identical to that of the Creature Rejection Clan. "We almost got away with it, but it looks like there are a few freaks we have to kill young."
"Tsukuyomi, how long til the heroes get here?" Chifu was already on her battle stance. To her sides, Riku was nervous and Tokoyami was being covered by Dark Shadow.
"About a few more minutes. 10, give or take." Tokoyami was now on his guard while sizing up every worker that is about to be all over them in the next few seconds.
"You think we haven't kept an eye on you, birdbrain? Lights!" The woman yelled and one of the rogue factory workers directed a gaslight at Tokoyami, weakening Dark Shadow enough to weaken the hero's makeshift armour. The CRC member then used her quirk again, extending another water spike aimed for his head.
"Shit!" Chifu tried to reach out and block it, but Riku was faster. She held the water spike and stopped it just barely to save Tokoyami. She took a deep breath and released her bioelectricity.
"CYAN OVERDRIVE!" It travelled through the water spike, quickly shocking the woman in question, knocking her out. Everyone stood there silently. Everything just happened in less than ten seconds. It didn't take long for the other CRC members to snap out of it and start attacking them as well. One tried to punch Riku, but she leaned to the side, almost dancing. Chifu grabbed the man, lifted him, and threw him at the gaslight weakening Dark Shadow. It destroyed the thing, allowing Tokoyami to power up again.
"RAVEN GUARD!" Tokoyami quickly moved in front of Chifu and Riku, blocking spikes that were about to hit them. Riku didn't waste any time flowing and dancing ballet between each enemy and shocking them long enough to let Chifu and Tokoyami get in for the knockout blow. "An elegant display of movement coming from your friend, Hokus Pokus."
"Oh, yeah, we were all shocked that she could just dance to some ballet shit. I mean, looked at that!" Chifu pointed at Riku, surrounded by a bunch of CRC members. The girl took a deep breath and did a pirouette and unleashed a torrent of electricity on everyone unlucky enough to be around her. "Elegant shit indeed. Ay, overhead."
Tokoyami ducked while Chifu held out her hand, grabbing the attacker from the air. His arms turned into blades, stabbing Chifu in the forearm. She grunted in pain, but chokeslammed the man anyway, his body digging deep into the concrete. "Forgive my request, but it would be the best time to use your quirk."
"Yeah." Chifu stared at the blood tentacles forming from her forearms. These people calling her a freak did not help either. She gulped nervously, but didn't hesitate unleashing it on the CRC members. The tendrils quickly latched on and entangled every threat in the area.
"YOU MONSTER!" One of them cried out to her. Tokoyami placed his hand on Chifu's shoulder and shook his head. She was confused for a bit, but smiled when she realised what he meant. She used her other hand to grab a bottle of Faygo from her bandolier and drank from it. It's just enough fuel to make sure she doesn't get knocked out from blood loss.
"Riku, my good bitch, do your thing." Chifu called out to Riku while detaching the blood tendrils from her forearms. Tokoyami was quick to start bandaging her wounds. She gave the root of the tendril to Riku. Since blood still has iron in it…
"Cyan Overdrive." Electricity flowed through the entire liquid horror, shocking every member of the CRC into unconsciousness.
"For a buncha villains and dickheads, they're not good with teamwork."
"While they may be united in an abhorrent ideology, no doubt they are too reliant on their numbers. Possibly years of undercover work here and no practice of coordination at all." Tokoyami mused at the possibilities that lead to the enemy's defeat. "Still, this is merely one sect of them. You recognize those skulls and cross necklaces as well?"
"The Genocidia Sect. No wonder they bombed the place. They want us all dead."
"Genocidia Sect?" Riku has heard of the CRC, but not of its sects before.
"A Sect of the CRC of which they wish to kill off all mutants, StarLight. The horrors they've done…" Chifu remembered the days when the Grand Priest and the clown cult had to fight off an infestation of CRC members away from Okinawa. The things the CRC had done to innocent people was nothing short of disgusting and horrifying.
Shortly after the wait, the arriving heroes immediately had the entire place yellow-taped for investigation of its workers.
"And once Tsukuyomi and Dark Shadow noticed a few holes inside the machine, we got the manager to check it. Well, at least we were supposed to get it checked, but the bitch over there killed him." Chifu was retelling the entire incident to a police officer assigned to get a debriefing from them. Uwabami was busy checking Riku for injuries while Hawks was having a conversation with Tokoyami.
"You did good today, Riku. I never knew you were so elegant in combat, even with the blindfold on your eyes most of the time." Uwabami had been more focused on building Riku's confidence. Combat was never the hero's specialty, doing better in rescue and investigation. It seems this new development might help her understand what her intern needs.
"Ya shoulda at least saved some for us, birdbrai- ow!" Trish was interrupted by Hawks bonking her with a plastic mallet that he picked up along the way. "THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
"I know you're Mirko's intern, but I'm not letting you talk shit to my intern." Hawks was being stern right now. Trish looked at Tatsumaki but similar to what Izuku would've done, simply stuck her tongue at the hero student. "That being said, I'm gonna have my best guys interrogate these cult members. He has a knack for making them tell the truth. This investigation might take weeks even if we want to take out the roots of this CRC sect."
"That means you can go and enjoy your Cultural Festival for now while us pros handle the boring stuff." Mirko slapped her intern's back in amusement. Katsuki was not against taking a break from these two idiots. There is still that festival they have to worry about, but he and Mineta already handled the research behind the Botany Club's presentation. Nothing much was really done, as Ibara said that she would prefer that all the club members enjoy the festival instead of having to present something all day.
"Oh right. A Cultural Festival. Does Shiketsu have one?" Trish turned to Katsuki.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know? You're the one who goes there."
"Yes, my good bitch, we have one. Because Camie and Toga were horny ass bitches, they somehow convinced the entire class to do a Butler Cafe, remember?" It looks like Chifu was done giving her report of the entire mess.
Katsuki chuckled. Knowing Deku, it will be embarrassing. He might even come and visit since Shiketsu's Cultural Festival happens one week after UA's.
"That being said, you don't mind seeing us at your festival, motherfucker?"
"I don't care. Do what you want." Katsuki really couldn't care less at what the Shiketsu students do so long as it didn't interrupt his plans.
"Oh okay, cool. Murry's kinda just messaged me and said he wanted to bring his little sister. Something about making her happy or something? I don't know. He also wanted to see the play Juzo and Yui is a part of."
"He wants to see my class's play?!" Vlad King joined in the conversation at the mere implication of Class 1B. This had totally not inspired a few of his students in a 1A rivalry.
"Oh god not this shit again." And with that, Katsuki walked away from the conversation. He was ready to head back to the hotel suite and then go back to the dorms to relax.
Camiesode: The Shaman
The walk down the street was surprisingly tense. A few residents of this area were glaring at her for some reason that she couldn't fathom. After getting uncomfortable enough, Camie finally turned left in an alleyway and used her quirk on herself to appear invisible for the rest of the walk. The agency building itself does not look that appealing. It was more normal than she had expected. Camie hoped she wasn't too late in getting to this place. She was distracted by the awesome dragon that appeared earlier in the news. The hero student wondered if Izubro was involved in that tomfoolery.
The door opened before she could knock. A man a little taller than Murry stood in front of her. He had a rather casual look to him and he looked nothing like a hero. "Oh. Sorry, fams. Wrong building, I guess."
"Ms. Illusions?"
"Huh. Yeah. Why?"
"You're definitely in the right building." The man wore an undershirt with the words 'The Shaman' on it. He had jogging pants on and mismatched socks with crappy crocs. His hair was unkempt, done in a half-assed manbun.
"How do I know you're The Shaman and not some rapist?" Camie narrowed her eyes while slowly backing away from him. The man's eyes widened before he threw his head back laughing.
"WAHAHAAHAH! That's the funniest shit I heard all day. But yeah, I am The Shaman. See?" He pulled his licence out of his pocket. "Anyway, it's more dangerous outside than inside. Those glares you got on the way here? They don't like people like us around these parts."
Camie punched him. Or tried to, at least. He conveniently moved his head out of the way just as she pulled her fist back to punch him. He backed away from a kick and finally grappled her onto the ground with little effort.
"Okay, seriously, kid. You want to intern in this agency or what?" The Shaman immediately let go of her. She was about to ask him how he did it, but he already answered. "Future Vision."
Toshihiro (Given Name) Hachifuku (Family Name)
The Shaman
Quirk: Misfortune Sight
Can see into 8 possible futures in which all involve him dying or being injured. Though it may seem like one is guaranteed to happen, Toshihiro has been shown at a young age that one can change their future through one's effort or acceptance of fate.
Note: He saw at least 3 versions of Camie snapping his neck, Camie punching him in the throat, 2 versions of Camie paralysing him with a kick, 1 which she stabs him with a nearby glass shard, and one where an aeroplane falls on him.
"I'm just gonna walk ahead and I trust you won't try to hit me again. At least until we reached my office?" The Shaman asked her politely. Camie stared at the strange hero before nodding slowly. "Okay, go- oh, here are the other guys joining up with me."
Camie looked around and saw nobody but the two of them. She caught on to what he meant. "You foresaw them?"
"I foresee their attempts to harm me, yes, but the future is anything but certain. That being said, welcome, you two!" The Shaman spread his arms as Camie turned around, seeing who was the two also interning for The Shaman.
"Oh. Hey." Mashirao Ojiro and Itsuka Kendo were at the front door. "Nice to see a familiar face."
{- To Be Continued...
Rappa sat alone in his cell. It wasn't Tartarus, which he felt a little insulted. Then again, it's better than being in the lower parts of Tartarus, where he heard that the only thing anyone can do is sit on their ass all day. Still, without much fighting right now, he had time to start really thinking. He hoped all his work wasn't in vain, that the two was finally out of Overhaul's hands. That includes the real boss, not Overhaul. The old man was still a criminal, that is true, but Rappa preferred him over that germaphobic twat. His only regret was not having one last game of Uno with Eri and Murry before he gets his eventual sentence. Still, he is excited over the fights he can pick in prison, good behaviour be damned.
The fighter was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when his cell door opens. The woman in front of him was not the police, but someone that might pass for a secretary. "Are you my lawyer?"
"No, I have a better proposal for your special situation than a lawyer would have any chances in getting you a not guilty." The woman told him, before continuing. "And trust me, you'll love my proposal."
"Okay. What's the catch? I get free and then what?"
"I point you towards a target and you beat them up for me. Kill, if you have to. Most of them are usually large threats." The woman explained her proposal, which Rappa is beginning to like. "The catch is that you're gonna have to do this until it was deemed that you have served the sentence you would have gotten if you choose to stay in prison. That, and you get paid for this. We don't do slave work."
"Deal."
"Wait, what?" The woman was caught off guard by Rappa's sudden agreement to her proposal. "Here I had an entire speech prepared to convince you."
"Nah. Probably a boring ass speech anyway. When do I start?"
"After we have completed the rest of the team. You are working as the muscle of the team."
"Ah, who am I working with?"
"You will know them when you meet them. For now, my name is Sho Hakken."
Bakugou: This chapter is unusually long
Yeah, I kinda went overboard. The rest of the work study arc will happen in the next chapter. The CRC arc that doesn't involve Izuku will happen after the Cultural Festival Arc. I'm not saying it's gonna be a big one, but I want to focus more on my OCs. Murry was already accounted for in the Overhaul arc and a little bit of my OC police students got a bit of screen time last chapter. Now I want to focus on my other guys after the Cultural Festival.