Yet another walk in the park and still no signs of Mariko. He hoped the others were having much better luck than he was. Last time he tried, he had to scare off a couple.

As he walked around, the idea of searching for any silver haired people that could be Mariko sort of vanished for a while. Sometimes you needed to take a break!

That's what he did. He found a spot to sit at for a while and people watch. The man codenamed Shuten watched as people walked by. The only problem was the older generation with their naturally grey hair.

So he looked elsewhere for the time being.

He looked right at a hospital. It wasn't just any hospital though, it was a hospital owned by the Helping Hand company. Sagimaru's business.

Helping Hand was really a helping hand.

Multiple hospitals treating the injured, multiple pharmacies working on new medicine, support studios creating new and improved gear for hero work and of course, the Helping Hand orphanages around the country.

The company really got around the place, there wasn't a place that didn't at least hear of them by now. Expanding from a small little orphanage to medical and gadget work. It made you wonder what they'll do next! Some might say robotics, but Dion knew.

He had the fortune of knowing what comes next.

The start of an overseas branch. Spread the wings far and wide.

"He should be visiting soon," he mumbled to himself, wanting to grab one of the bottles hidden under his jacket. "I can't wait to see it go overseas. Ah well, got to get back to work I guess..."

Instead of getting up, he leaned back, looking back at the passing people.

He was still working! He was just doing it the easy way that allowed him to keep his energy for when he really needed it!

Shuten yawned as he tapped away on his phone. "I wonder if there are any new articles?" he paused for a moment. "I am near a cafe, perhaps I'll just get something to eat..."

What to get, what to get?

"I might need to go at any moment, so something small. There's one of those big cookies, but is really one cookie worth it? I could just get a drink, but running with one is bothersome. Ah screw it, I'll just get one of those packed sandwiches."

After an intense mind battle, Dion had managed to acquire his packed sandwich! Now the undercover guard sat, eating said sandwich in hand as he scrolled through the daily events...but most importantly...

"Finally, what a dumb level."

Uh...

Dion looked up occasionally as he swapped from some game to watching random videos on the internet. Always keeping his eyes peeled for that one person with silver hair in hopes that it could be the missing inmate.

Hell, for all he knew, she might have passed him when he wasn't looking. Something he didn't want to think about much as he continued his sandwich until it was all gone.

He was however glad for his getup. Sunglasses plus looking at a phone, people wouldn't notice him watching them as much. It was great for people watching...too bad that he was more focused on his phone.

With a stretch, Dion decided to take his search a little more seriously. It would be bad if he was caught slacking...

"I really wonder how they're doing?" The hero and the rookie must be hard at work looking for the escapee. "Makes me want to go back to Styx and just sleep, at least I could slack off more without this burdening feeling."

"As long as everything runs smoothly when it all goes back to normal, it should be fine." tossing his trash into the nearby bin, for the sake of an easy workflow, Dion prepared himself after checking the different labelled bottles he had on him.

Suddenly his phone vibrated. "If this is Myrmex again, I'll-" looking down at the phone, his body instantly shot up as he noticed the sender and the message. "What?!"

It was the hero sidekick!

"Shit! This might be our only chance!" At first power walking through the busy street, he soon broke into a sprint towards the destination.

He'll have to meet up with the hero there before anything could go down, but from the sounds of it, things were already getting hectic. "Just the norm, really." he uttered to himself, racing and weaving through the street.

If it wasn't for what she sent him, they might be looking for a while. It was really good that some people just uploaded any old villain attack for views.

Right now, he just needed to get there before she used her quirk. It was one chance they couldn't let slip them by, otherwise they'd have more trouble on their hands!

"You did it rookie. Don't worry, I'm on my way."

"We need to go!" the bushy tailed guard shouted as he grabbed the silver haired woman's wrist. It was a sudden reaction on his part as the thrown police car slammed where they (once) stood!

For Hokori, there was still the matter of double checking whether or not this silver haired woman was Mariko Tsujihara, and maybe he would have right now.

Right now however, the situation was different. First, they had to survive. He had no time to double check the woman's features!

That moray faced villain was already on the move, swinging their large arms all around wildly!

All the while charging at them!

Police officers were knocked away, cars were flung into the air as everyone who was in the line of fire ran away. Hokori and his forced tag-along too.

"Why is he chasing us?" Hokori couldn't shake the feeling that it was chasing them, sure they attacked anyone who got in their way. They even stopped to toss an heavily armed officer over their shoulder! "Did they see through me?! I must have looked suspicious!"

He had no time to think about it for long, he needed to get to safety!

"Quick, this way!" He pulled the woman down a narrow alleyway. As they ran down the alleyway, a quick look over their shoulders revealed the villain from before. Coming to a stop and trying to force their way into the small space to no avail.

"We should be safe here...for now.." the two came to a stop. "Sorry for dragging you away like that, it was instinct I guess."

"..." she didn't say a word, but as he followed where she was looking, the moray faced criminal removed themselves from the narrow passage, walking away.

Hokori took this time to inspect the woman before him.

She did indeed have silver hair...though it was much shorter and in some hasty bob cut than the picture he remembered seeing. Dion mentioned it could be possibly for her to have a hair cut, so for now, silver hair was checked off his mental list.

Following on that was her eyes. Amber. If he recalled, Mariko was mentioned to have amber eyes. Lastly was her physical appearance without her hair and eyes. Sadly, that was something he needed to double check.

"Damn it," thought the rookie guard, he could not tell whether her face matched the photo he looked at yesterday. He was way too focused on two key details: silver hair and amber eyes.

He really needed to check his phone, but there was a chance she could escape him when he pulled it out IF she was the missing inmate. Deciding to do it now, that purple moray-faced criminal that left screamed.

"We got to move." he heard the silver haired woman softly mutter as he looked up at the sudden shadow.

Moray face was right above them!

Forget about checking! There was no way to check with this guy on their trail!

As she ran ahead, Hokori was already on her tail, grabbing her wrist as he pulled her to the side, right as the moray villain crashed into the ground. "Thankfully no one else is in this street right now!" the young man thought, already on the move.

Moray was already getting up as the fennec fox guard dragged the woman around once more. He couldn't risk letting her go right now. So far she matched two details of Styx's missing inmate.

The two spotted a police car barrelling down the street right into the villain they would simply refer to as: Moray.

Moray leaned up, unblinkingly watching the police car rush him. Leaning down to where he was on all fours, Moray opened his mouth.

With a loud shriek, the windscreen of the car shattered so easily, causing it to swerve. It was easily flipped by Moray, tossing the car to the side. It caused Hokori to stop.

Yet, he couldn't act. Something that tore him up.

If that hero sidekick was here, then maybe he would help out. But right now? He'd just be committing a crime. Using his quirk in public (if he used his tail) and fighting a villain. However, saving those in the car wouldn't count...but it meant letting go of the silver haired woman.

Letting the possible Mariko escape once more...

"We need to help them!" he shouted despite Moray's approach.

"Let go then," the woman pulled, trying to free herself without pulling too hard. Yet Hokori bit his lips as he saw those within the police car. His grip didn't even change.

"No time, we better run!"

His plan was to just loop around and come back for them. He didn't even glance at the amber eyed woman he dragged around. "I must be looking pretty suspicious now..." so he loosened his grip a bit. "Can you run?"

"...yes."

Hokori slowed down, letting her get in front as they ran from the ever approaching Moray. "Quick, to your left!" he shouted out, following his potential suspect turn into a larger alleyway that had another turn coming up.

He couldn't let her out of his sight for a second, but Moray was in arm's reach now. So he turned slightly as the large hand lashed out, ready to grab.

That's when Hokori acted with the soon-to-be remnants of Sagimaru's boost. He could catch up.

Landing on the villain's hand, he quickly ran up the chaser's arm and landed a strong kick into the man's eye! It staggered the villain for a bit, thought it kept charging despite it.

Jumping away to avoid being hit, Hokori quickly caught up with the running woman, grabbed her wrist once again and pulled her aside. "Quiet. Let him pass." he whispered out as Moray came rushing out from the alleyway, holding his kicked eye.

He soon convinced the woman to run back into the alleyway as quiet as they could. Moray shot his head around trying to find them both and when he couldn't, a loud scream caused everyone on that street to flee as the ground shook around them.

...

Mariko was not having a good day. Well, it started off very well, but now? Unwanted attention. Now she was being dragged through the city by some short, sandy haired fox.

Now that the moray faced criminal was chasing the both of them, she had no doubt that this person, the moray villain, recognized her to some degree. "Is he after a bounty on me?"

There were some villains out in the world that focused on collecting bounties of other villains. Of course, this would just land the villain in jail if they caught said bounty if they took them to the police. Sometimes it was a bounty issued by some other villain which was extremely rare for the simple fact of: why waste money when you can do it yourself? Minions aside of course. Though, there was a way around the bounty problem for villains.

Just use someone else who isn't a well known criminal to collect the bounty.

A wanted villain that was hunted down could capture another, give them to a minion or partner that wasn't a villain or well known like them and then cash in on the prize.

Still, Mariko wasn't one hundred percent sure, she was about eighty-seven percent sure that the villain was targeting her. This guy who dragged her around could have also been the target for the moray faced villain. Or he was after her too.

So...who was he?

...

...It didn't matter. She needed to get out of here quickly. It was a hard decision, whether to leave right now or to stay until she had a much safer place to escape from. There was always the possibility of her leaving now that the villain would just chase after her, confirming for real her worst thoughts.

Though...all she really needed to do was use her quirk...

...somehow though, they had managed to give their chaser the slip by going back into the alleyway. She gave the little fox who let go of her wrist a look. He clearly did something to that guy, did he fight back?

It was best not to let her guard down around this unknown fox.

"I'm sorry about that!" the short little bushy tailed fox bowed suddenly. "Is your wrist okay?"

It wasn't like he gripped down on her wrist that hard. It was just very secure. "It's...fine." she said slowly, cautiously.

This fox was still an unknown factor to her after all.

"Phew, I'm glad!" he smiled, checking the alley to make sure that chasing brute wasn't coming back as the screams grew distant, but still heard. "We should be fine if we go back now!"

Go back? "Where?"

"To that flipped-over police car. Those people might be hurt!"

Her amber eyes widened only a little, but one thing was clear. She was NOT going back there.

"No. There's no 'we' here," her tone was cold as she stepped back. "That villain is probably waiting back there if we show up."

The young fox who she didn't even know looked down. "You might be right, but those people need help! They could be greatly injured!"

"And what does that have to do with me going with you?" she asked, narrowing her amber eyes on the fennec-eared man who was only a few years younger than her. "I'm not going back out there, you can go alone if you want, but they probably already got help."

She watched as the young man's droop right as she turned away. "Please, at least keep an eye out for me then?"

"No." she began to trod away in her boots. "I'm heading for somewhere safe. Goodbye."

Little did she know, the fox named Hokori silently sighed to himself. He couldn't risk leaving her. "I guess you're right and the fact that the screaming is gone now, that's...dangerous." he uttered, "we gotta play it carefully here for a bit."

She refused to turn back around. Then she heard, "so, what's your name?"

"What's yours?" she quickly mumbled back, taken slightly back. Oh no. "I need a fake name, but what?" her eyes looked around for something or maybe her memories recalled a person?

"Huh?" the young man blinked, tail slowly wagging behind him.

"It's a bit rude to ask that without giving yours first," she bit her lip, she was stuck now as she ignored the following fox. Time to fake a name, she supposed.

"Oh! I'm sorry, you can call me Hokori!"

A few seconds passed and she could feel his eyes waiting for a response, "well, Hokori. My name's-" she uttered the first thing she thought of, "Tomari."

"Nice to meet you, Tomari!"

"...yes. Now, if you excuse me, I must be off."

Hokori was about to reach out to stop her from walking off, but then in front of both of them, the grinning face of Moray popped back in front of them.

"...found...you...!"

For the first time since he chased them, he spoke!

When that moray eel faced villain popped back into the alleyway, Hokori almost bit his lip. This wasn't good. He was already running out of juice, back when he kicked the big guy in the eye, he felt the power of Sagimaru's quirk leaving him.

It definitely wasn't strong as it was earlier in the morning and that was weaker to when he got the boost yesterday!

If the rookie guard had to guess, he only had a few minutes left to use the power of the boost. Maybe half an hour. It was really hard to tell, but the way he could smell, see and hear were all fading. Going back to normal.

"Did we draw his attention? Or was he retracing his steps?!" Either way, it was a bad situation to be in. He could only hope for a hero to arrive and draw the persistent man's attention off them both!

"We gotta go Tomari!" he shouted as Moray lunged his arm forward.

Quickly acting, Hokori had leaped forward, kicking the larger man's chin, effectively closing it, but it still reached forward as the woman in the black pea coat escaped.

Tickling moray's nostrils with his tail, Moray began to rub his nose, right as Hokori caught up with 'Tomari', "Tomari, he's stunned so let's run!"

Mariko just stared, he was fast. Fast to the point where she couldn't use her quirk without giving herself away if he knew her. It was troubling to say the least.

She watched him from the corner of her eye as they continued right as a loud sneeze boomed through the street.

The sneeze was followed by a yell.

The yell was followed by a thrown dumpster that was in the alleyway.

"Uh oh."

Mariko turned to see what had Hokori so worried, only for the mid-air dumpster to be dropped on both of them! She was just thankful that Hokori at least helped her dodge said dumpster from actually crashing down on them.

"Tomari," the sandy haired fox called out, getting the amber eyed woman's attention. "I have no idea why that moray faced guy is chasing us and it might be me, I don't know, but we need to enter the crowd."

That was true. "We're both suspicious if he's only chasing us. It doesn't matter if the target is me or him, it'll draw the attention of the heroes on both of us..." while she did not trust this strange fox-featured man that just kept so close to her side, she eventually sighed. It was worth the gamble. "...okay."

Quickly shooting into a street where people walked on by, sending the occasional looks towards the screaming AND most of the attention was drawn to the dumpster that popped into the air, most continued cautiously. Ready to run when a villain appeared.

That's when Hokori and 'Tomari' made their appearance.

Ever so casually, the pair wormed their way into the smaller crowd as to not draw attention to themselves. Of course, Mariko felt the eyes of someone watching her. "..." something was off about the younger man with the fox ears. Something.

Their plan didn't last long as the purple screaming villain returned as everyone panicked.

Looking every which way for the prey that escaped him twice, Moray shouted. "SHOW...YOURSELF!"

People were knocked off their feet from the force of the shouting. People scrambled when he charged at them, looking for those he was chasing.

They ran with Mariko and Hokori hidden in the fleeing mass as the extremely tall shrieker saw at least one of them. Going in for the attack, Hokori bit his lips, already seeing the people in danger. He cursed his inability to really do something, everyone was in trouble.

With Tomari, Hokori watched as the villain attacked...but nothing came. Someone had stopped the moray eel faced attacker in their tracks!

"Stop!" Moray turned his head to see someone suited up, ready for battle. It was enough to get the bystanders to cheer!

Mariko had already taken this chance to run and so did Hokori, always right behind her. "Not right now," she told herself. "Wait until you're safe to deal with him."

She was starting to get a bad feeling.

Moray outright ignored the hero as he gave chase to the fleeing pair. "Get back...here!"

When Hokori looked back, he recognized who it was now that the jacket was taken off. "She's here! Oh thank god!"

Leaping in front of Moray, the hero sidekick landed a flying kick like some masked grasshopper! Moray crashed into the side of the building due to the kick. Hokori had no time to be in awe however as he turned his attention back to Tomari.

He had to get her to safety, whether she was the escaped inmate or not. "If Dion is close, he'll be able to help confirm who this is!" Hokori smiled, now it was a matter of getting out of there.

"Get...back here!" Moray had called out before flailing his arms wildly in all directions, hoping to smash the jumping hero into the dirt.

Moray let loose a loud shriek. Louder than any other he let loose before!

For now, Moray was completely occupied with the hero sidekick before him. Punching the ground, the hero sidekick dodged with a big jump. By the time she came back down, she spun around and around, landing a powerful kick that sent Moray crashing into the ground.

The hero sidekick gave a single glance back to wherever Hokori went and hoped everything would be okay. As Moray leaned himself up, immediately going for a sneak attack, the hero turned around and kicked the extremely tall man to the side with amazing speed.

"Stand down."

Meanwhile with Hokori, he slowed down now that the hero sidekick dealt with the villain.

"Phew! We're safe Tomari!" the small fox panted as he felt the burn from all the running while he took a second to fix up his special-made headphones. "It's a good thing that a hero showed up...Tomari?"

As he looked back at the woman in the pea coat, he watched as she walked off. "I'm heading home. Goodbye."

Of course, she had no home to return to. It wasn't like she could return home to her family after what she did, after all this time. She was still a criminal and will always be.

She however didn't get too far however as she was followed by the fox who just kept talking to the point where she wasn't even hearing him anymore. Completely tuned out.

She was about to do something, anything, but the two of them stopped dead in their tracks as their path was blocked.

It was a group, all of them had a bandana that they wore around the lower half of their face though all their outfits were their own. However, the most striking thing was what a few of them were on.

Motorhorses.

Grey robots that looked identical to horses. They acted similarly to motorcycles, but they ran or rather galloped like real horses. Riding one made you feel like you were on a horse that just ran on fuel, electricity, etc. Very popular with horse lovers, cowboy fanatics and many others.

Unlike regular horses, motorhorses could also keep up with any modern day vehicle such as motorcycles and cars, believe it or not.

However, despite all the uses of Motorhorses from simple transport, races, events and whatever else you can fit a horse and vehicle in. It was also very popular with a certain group of outlaws.

The Mares of Diomedes!

Similar to a biker gang, they were known as a motorhorse gang. A group of criminals that engaged in all sorts of crimes from different types of robbery, public use of quirks, sometimes murder, etc. They were a true gang of cowboy-like outlaws.

It was not the best situation to be in...

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Well, well! What do we have here?" one of the mares wondered out loud, looking down at the two.

"It seems Moray is stuck fighting a hero." another commented. "Seems he was after them..."

A third had crouched, looking up at the odd pair. "...what the hell was Moray doing?"

"Do they know that guy?" the short fennec fox wondered, news of a tall member of the gang like these would have at least been known...right?

One of the members crossed her arms. "Didn't we tell him to get something useful for us? So why the hell did he go after these two?"

Before the two could even walk away, one of the mares raised their fist. "Oi! You two aren't going anywhere. Since you're here, you might as well hand over everything you got!"

Great. What a wonderful situation they were in now.

"Hey, hold on!" the crouching one shouted, "what about Moray?"

One of the others shook their head. "It doesn't matter. It's his fault for being captured twice in a row. We're just lucky he was a free gift."

Back with Hokori and Mariko, one of the mares had walked closer, holding out their hands, one armed with a small blade. Mariko had looked around the entire area for an out while Hokori kept himself ready to disarm the man should he get too close.

Suddenly, one of the mares in the back put her hand in her pocket, immediately halting the mugging.

"Wait a minute!" one of the Mares of Diomedes coughed, pulling some old piece of paper from her pocket. "Ain't that that Mariko lady?"

"The one that escaped Styx?" a second looked back at his fellow mare.

"Is it?" another asked, looking back at the silver haired 'Tomari'. "Well shit, if it is then Bariki will be impressed when we get a nice hefty bounty."

"Big if true."

As all this was going on with the Mares of Diomedes, Mariko however was in the worst situation. Now her identity had been revealed, not outright confirmed by the group as they still wondered about it, but now Hokori knew that she was most likely Mariko.

That bad feeling got worse while Hokori just stared. Not at her, just at the mares.

"It would explain why he stayed so close to me despite everything..."

In his own mind however, "Tomari...she's...Mariko Tsujihara?!" sure she had silver hair and amber eyes that he was looking for, but he still wasn't completely sure due to the chaos that unfolded around them.

But to think he was with Mariko all this time...but, now he was under suspicion. He noticed from the corner of his eye that she looked at him. It wasn't good for him, his actions might be seen differently now.

He kept his eyes on the mares. If Tomari...or Mariko suspected him, everything he did to stay with her must have been fishy and now...he couldn't risk to let her go. He was most likely an enemy the same as the mares before them.

"What are you saying?" the newest guard of Styx asked. "Who's Mariko? Do you mean Tomari?"

He could still feel the amber eyes on him briefly as one of the mares scoffed. "It doesn't matter."

The lady with the photo narrowed her eyes. "She has to be it. You're coming with us. The boss will want a word with you anyways."

One of the mares that were off the horses took a step and that was enough for Hokori to leap into action. Slapping the motorhorse gang member with his tail, he shouted at Mariko.

"Quick! Let's get out of here, Tomari!"

Upon Hokori's shout, Mariko already started to run. "It's better dealing with one person than a whole group."

"GET THEM! THE BOUNTY WILL BE OURS BOYS!" one of the mares hollered.

The Mares of Diomedes gave chase as soon as the two put some distance between them.

"So she really is Mariko!" Hokori couldn't believe it! He managed to find the escaped convict of Styx! This must have been pure luck, or perhaps the villain was the cause of it all? It didn't matter, he found her!

As soon as one of those villains from the Mares of Diomedes uttered that it was her, he couldn't really believe it.

That would have to wait however, they were now being chased by a group that wanted her as much as Styx did. It'd cause problems if he fought. A lot of problems unless the hero sidekick came back to lend a hand. She was practically his jail free card.

Right now however, she was busy dealing with the larger villain and if she was still fighting, if he was caught before she had the chance to issue the right for requesting civilian aid in an emergency...

"Come on, Hokori. Act now, act!" the young fox bit his lips, glancing from 'Tomari' to the mares behind them. Was it really worth the risk? It was starting to irritate him.

Slowing down a bit, Hokori bent down slightly, baring his own fangs. He wouldn't let them herd them like some sheep! There was a reason he became a guard. "If I don't act now, it will all be for nothing!"

Out of everything Hokori could have chosen to be. He chose to become a prison guard. So many options were laid out before him, but in the end, he chose the one he held great respect for.

Hokori Arashi was a rather simple child. He grew up in a simple, average home with his parents and two older siblings. An older brother and an older sister. You could almost point and say that it was one of those typical average families you could hear about and for the most part, that was true.

There was one small problem when Hokori was younger though.

Hokori surprisingly had some issues with his temper. Quick to fly into anger and while it never went as far as harming someone else, it did cause some problems.

Underestimated based on his appearance, patronized for his height, clear lack of respect and breaking past his boundaries where the line in the sand was. All these and then some caused Hokori to lash out in anger.

It was pretty bad when he was younger.

The tiny fennec fox Arashi drove others way in his fits of anger as it got slowly worse. It started as angry fox yips, then harsh words (thankfully without swears as the young child knew none), it even got to the point where he did on the very rare occasion smash something! He could still count in on one hand if he had too. It was mostly just angry words.

It wasn't even limited to strangers, it even reached out to his own family...

As his parents looked at one another, they both came to a decision. To help their son before it got worse. Whenever this happened, his parents would always be there to help, when they were around of course.

In school and elsewhere it would be a problem and his parents could only help out so much. So his parents did try to help him the best they could, they got therapy for him, but it was soon that he discovered something that he really enjoyed when he was young, after taking notice of it. While his older siblings loved watching heroes and hero-related shows, Hokori had the thought of, "the villains keep coming back in this show...why is that?"

Yet the villains he watched on the news when heroes took them out practically vanished and had yet to return to a life of crime. So he asked, "where do the villains go?"

"Eh? Hokori, they take them to prison! You know, like that show we watched." his older sibling ruffled his hair.

"But...they break out so easily on TV..." the small fennec fox pouted. "They must be pretty bad at their job..."

Sighing now, his older sibling waved their hand. "Unlike the shows, real villains don't just get out that easily!" the sibling laughed. "Don't worry about it! Those villains are very secure."

'If they were secure, then that meant that someone was keeping them in line.'

Upon learning that, it was a thought that stayed with him for years as he watched villains get taken out by the hero. Strong heroes taking out strong villains only for someone else who was just as strong to keep those strong villains in check.

He had nothing but utter respect for those prison guards!

"A local serial killer has been caught thanks to the efforts of local heroes." the news anchor revealed on the TV. The young fox's perked up, eyes wide. "He will be sent to Styx."

Hokori had great respect for the prison guards that kept the captured villains at bay. He watched a pair of guards take hold of the response villain, the pair looked...strong!

The villain tried to break loose, only for the prison guard to quickly apprehend the villain by slamming them into the ground. "WHOA!" he inched closer to the screen. It was much faster than what that hero did!

"Man, if heroes are strong enough to take out the villains, imagine how strong the guards are to keep them in there!" the teen was glued to the screen as he watched the take down. They were heroes too, unsung compared to the pro ones.

Sure, Hokori did like heroes like everyone else his age, but he was always drawn to news that involved prison guards to some degree.

They were the ones that kept the criminals in check after they were captured. Heroes dealt with villains (usually) once and that was it. Prison guards always dealt with them and prevented any more chaos or harm from those villains.

Just what else did you need to respect someone like that?

In today's age where quirks and superheroes were the norm, a group of people being strong enough to keep those villains down the same way the heroes did was something worth the respect!

He would eventually meet someone in Styx who had a similar thought about prison guards. Though, their version was not kind to heroes at all.

While all his classmates said that they wanted to be heroes, the only one who didn't agree was the fennec fox, Hokori. As he got older, he was the only one who had a goal that didn't change (in his group at least).

Many in his classes changed what they wanted to be. Some still thought of heroes, but it wavered. Some doctors, teachers and other wonderful professionals that changed year after year. Yet, Hokori was the only one to stand firm in his decision (among his peers at least).

"I want to be a prison guard. I want to help prevent those villains from hurting others or causing chaos ever again!"

Throughout high school he practiced, trained and studied and out of great respect, he dedicated his life to following that dream and continued the therapy for his emotional outbursts.

It was the sole goal that drove him to make a change for himself!

Graduating from high school, he searched around for the best university that he could apply for and helped him follow his dream. In the end, he found one and his real training began.

Hokori huffed and panted as he finished his final lap around the campus grounds. While he wasn't the first to finish, he was far from the last. The instructor of the class huffed, "when we're done with this warm up, we will begin on the obstacle course!"

Hokori swiped his head as the instructor shouted, "you all have three minutes to refresh yourselves for those that just finished! Those of you that already finished first will begin right now!"

"Understood!" Hokori was just one of many who shouted out.

When he joined the university, he wasn't sure what to expect when he signed up for this specific class.

It was a class that wasn't available for first years and it was even taught by a former prison guard of a famous prison. However, the lessons weren't what he'd thought they'd be...

They were allowed to use their quirks in SOME lessons for starters...

"Sometimes obstacles will get in your way that you need to avoid! You need to have the energy for your goal!" the instructor shouted as he watched the students go. "It's not just you putting your life on the line, you will be working with others! Remember that fact! There is no burden that must be carried alone!"

Rushing through the obstacle course, Hokori honed his own reflexes. When it got tougher, he sometimes used fox-like movements to progress through the obstacles that stood in his way.

"Remember! Should something happen, you always need to be ready to react! Some prisons allow you to use your quirks, so this class is fine! Arashi, an inmate is escaping!" the instructor called out, pointing to a man in a striped jumpsuit.

As soon as his eyes made contact with the running inmate, the fennec fox eared guard gave chase. The running 'inmate' was faster, no matter what Hokori did, he couldn't keep up enough.

So he slipped into a four-legged style like a fox. Using his quirk wasn't really like the others. His quirk was a mutant type, so in a way. He was generally faster that normal and now on all fours, he was even faster, but it wasn't enough.

The man pretending to be a running inmate was faster.

"The instructor said that we're allowed to use our quirks...and to be ready to react to anything..." he mumbled to himself as he suddenly turned away. Getting back onto his two feet, Hokori ran faster than before. He could feel the heat now.

If obstacles got in his way, then he'd just have to make his own path. The slower he went, the slower the runner in front moved. Yet, the runner was always looking back at him.

"If what the instructor said was true, during something like this, we would need to work together...right?" slowing down and turning, he realised that the 'inmate' turned where he wanted him to.

It was like herding a sheep!

While he still looked back at him, Hokori yipped loudly as his tail began to wag. "Quick! Do it now!" he called out to the classmate closest to him. He was out of breath from chasing another 'inmate' but he still slammed his foot down when he saw the approaching inmate right as the inmate turned their head to see the other student.

The other classmate moved in suddenly, causing dirt to shoot up into the sky to form a pillar or wall right where the 'inmate' was fleeing too. Turning another direction caused the wall to follow.

By the time the inmate turned again, Hokori tackled the 'inmate' to the floor.

"Catching an inmate via improvised teamwork by herding them into another." the instructor mused, walking over. "Very good work. Improvised as it was, it was a decent idea. Just don't expect that to work every time out in the real world, but for that? That's a pass on this test."

Hokori laid on the grass for a solid minute just grinning to himself.

The instructor's class was something more lined up with more physical classes, seeing as where the instructor came from previously. Quirks, reactions, self-defence, first aid and so much more.

The way it was taught was hard and grueling. Still, Hokori persisted in his efforts to become a prison guard.

By the time it came to graduating, Hokori took all the lessons from the former prison guard who told them their story. The instructor retired and came to teach future guards on how to act during certain situations and how to handle themselves, etc. Though most guards they taught would go on to regular prisons (if they didn't drop out of the class that is).

Their instructor at the age of fifty-seven went around prodding and telling the college students to pick a prison in mind and go for it. By the time graduation came around, for Hokori, it was a matter of where to go.

So the instructor asked, "do you have a prison you want to work at?"

"I have a fair idea of where I want to go."

"And where's that?"

"Styx."

The instructor could only smirk, "then what are you waiting for, brat?"

Now, at the gates of Styx, he was ready to meet one of the wardens. He felt a little nervous about the whole thing, but he was ready to give a helping hand! It was time for his first day on the job!

Dropping to all fours, Hokori began to move like a fox and at great speed thanks to the lingering quirk boost given to him by Sagimaru. He could feel it running out, he didn't have much time. His senses were getting weaker, back to normal.

"I don't have any time left! It's all fading away!"

This was it. The last chance to use all that extra power he was given! Consequences be damned. He only hoped that the hero's request for civilian aid would get him out of this mess if he was caught.

With movements like a real fennec fox to some degree, the newest guard at Styx turned towards the Mares of Diomedes.

There were times that the only option was to fight.

"There might be more up ahead Tomari, stay close!" he called out, hoping she heard him as he jumped right at the closest motorhorse gang member.

As he punched a mare, he used his own reflexes coupled with the boost from Sagimaru to easily dodge another attack from a taller member of the gang. It gave him ample time to headbutt the man's stomach.

The young fox was thankful that the current members of the Mares of Diomedes were only a small recon sized group.

It would have been a lot more difficult if the whole gang was here. "Better not jinx myself right now." the sandy haired young man thought, focusing on the mares around him.

Right now, at this very second, Hokori had the upper hand. He easily dodged the mares within the narrow confinements of their current location, striking them each differently. Punches, kicks, scratches, etc.

Sadly, this didn't last long however. That extra oomph he had to his entire body and quirk was drawing to a close, like the flame of a candle being blown out.

It was over.

Sagimaru's boost...ended. Hokori was back to his normal senses. Yet, despite the boost running out, he could still fight!

"Boost or no boost, I need to make sure they don't get Tomari- er Mariko!"

It was a shame that his boost was mostly wasted until its final moments, but now wasn't the time to be thinking while he was now back to normal. He had to survive.

Right now, Hokori was surrounded.

Slapping one right in the face with his tail, another mare jumped in. Arashi began to claw his way as one of the mares landed a hit on him.

It was one of many however as he fought off the mares, slowly but surely trading blows with one another. He wasn't quite used to the downgrade (well he was, but he was readjusting to how he usually was), but he put up a fight!

Meanwhile in the back, one of the mares pulled out a familiar vial of purple liquid from their pouch, angled in a way that made it seem more like a holster for some sort of gun.

As she pulled out the vial, she guzzled down the entire liquid, throwing the empty vial to the side, regardless of any purple droplets remaining. She immediately dash forward and slammed Hokori into the wall. He had no time to react.

"They had a vial of boost on them?!" as he was slammed into the wall, he suddenly kicked his attacker away as quick as he could.

"Hey, don't just drink it right away! We were only given a small dosage for recon!" one shouted.

He was ignored however. "It doesn't matter. Shut up."

One good, strong attack was all that was really needed in order to change the tide of battle. Any battle really.

One attack, one counter, one opening.

Slip up and you'll be on the defensive side of the battle. Many battles of heroes and villains were the same, whether one-on-one or a group battle to some degree.

Including right now.

The strong attack from the boost powered Mare of Diomedes, Hokori was suddenly on the receiving end of the attacks. The tide had changed as he was hit more and more to the point he was slammed into the ground.

As Hokori laid on the ground, he noticed a floating shadow. He wasn't the only one that noticed an extra addition to the party.

It was then that a bubble appeared. A large one at that. The owner of the mysterious floating shadow was this bubble!

"Huh?" one of the mares looked up at the large bubble. "What the hell-"

Then the oddly light blue (almost white) coloured bubble popped!

As it popped, the standing mares screamed out in pain as the popped bubble splashed all of them. "Hurry it up and move, rookie." the familiar voice called out, causing Hokori to scramble away while he could as the mares staggered around in pain at the water splashed all over them.

Looking up, that's when Hokori bore witness to a red haired man holding a beer bottle, or rather, a man in a wig.

"Di- Shuten?" he managed to conceal the name just in time as 'Shuten' pulled his aviators down, revealing those red eyes of his.

"You okay, Hokori?"

Slowly nodding, the rookie grabbed hold of the extended hand. "Was that-"

"Yep, that was me. Now we better get a move on out of here." he muttered, kicking one of the mares down for good measure. It was time to get the hell out of dodge.

Mistical: Dion can create different types of bubbles of anything he 'drinks'. Depending on what he drank, the bubbles sprayed will have different effects that act immediately on the target, especially when they pop, releasing the contents out! Hate to be on the receiving end of any dangerous ones. Additionally, the user is immune to whatever they drink!

As Hokori followed his senior guard, he took a better look at the bottle, having a look at the label 'HOT H2O'. It made him gulp when he thought back on the motorhorse gang members.

He now understood what happened with the mares back there. "Boiling water..." It made him wonder just what other types of 'drinks' he had on him. Remembering back when the got on the bus, Dion had a lot more differently labelled bottles on him.

With a quick shove from Dion, they quickly climbed some staircase besides a building. Giving them a quick break for the moment.

"So...where's Mariko?" 'Shuten' asked as he glanced around. Hokori sprang up as he too looked around.

...

Uh oh...