20.04.2020
After running my mouth before the chapters a few times in a row I seem to have run out of stuff to talk about so...
Comments!:
GunBlade2020 - Yup, there's something that stops her from controlling Midoriya's 'Quirk', but let's put it aside for now ;D
RiceCakePlayz - first of all, you are one dedicated reader xD How long did it take you to read it all in one sitting? Just curious. I'm glad you like it and didn't just waste time on reading this fic ;D The original plan was to make this a harem with smut, but since then it transformed more times than Optimus Prime in the whole Transformers series, so... I may put some smut? Never wrote it so... It would be fun to try! xD
RandomReader867 - Okay, are you like, reading my mind, because you seem to guess too many plot points ahead of time! Or maybe you are a detective. Are you a detective? Cause this is some serious Sherlock Holmes stuff that you are doing ;D Never change xD
Nabe-Chan - I like to imagine that my Midoriya really doesn't know how to slow down and totally devotes himself to anything that he has to do, like he is going Plus Ultra with every step he makes. In my eyes, he wanted to guarantee Shinso a place in the Hero Course, so he made him stand out as much as possible. Also, Midoriya had Richards, his parents and staff to support his goal of becoming a hero without a Quirk. I probably should've written it somewhere, but this Shinso has been labeled as a Villain too. So he had the entire world turned against him. I like to imagine Midoriya being a ray of light that saved Shinso from the darkness and guided towards the goal they share - become a hero no matter what. On the sidenote - how did Hagakure pass the entrance exam? And wasn't there really anyone better than a guy with sticky hair? Seems like plot holes if you ask me ;D
And now, let's get in some well deserved action!:
Blackout stayed true to his word and devoted himself to really training Midoriya instead of leaving it for his sister to have to deal with. On Tuesday they didn't leave the gym until dinner and after that it was just another patrol, though this time Izuku went out with Kairo, who showed him the more chill part of their city. Not many people and not much action, but it was important to show up there, so that potential troublemakers knew that it was to stay that way.
Wednesday was the day that Midoriya anticipated the most. He finally was assigned to the mall squad. Kairo instructed him to wake up even earlier than yesterday and get to the lobby before 6.00 AM.
The greenette had no problem with adjusting his sleep schedule and even managed to be the second one to arrive on the ground floor of the agency. It was really weird, seeing the normally bustling with life room so quiet and empty. Empty if not for the man in white costume standing near the entrance.
Midoriya crossed paths with him a few times already, but this was the first occasion that he was just standing still and not going anywhere.
The color scheme of his costume was very vivid, which seemed to be Blackout's Agency's trademark, with Kairo and Kuse being the best examples. The man wore some light armor over his torso and had lightly armored pants on. Reinforced gauntlets were poking from under the bright cloak around his shoulders that left only the center part of his body exposed. His face was protected by a white helmet with a purple visor and what seemed to be a retractable mouth guard.
"I was half expecting you to be late, rookie", the man commented almost as soon as Midoriya stepped out of the elevator.
"Sorry to disappoint you sir", the intern shot back in serious tone.
"Don't be, I'm expecting you to disappoint me like this all the time, so make sure you give it your best today. The Mall is not a kind place for kids", he explained and didn't say anything else as Izuku made his way over to him.
"I'm Cybrex", the Augmented Hero introduced himself when he walked up to the Pro.
"Huh, guess Blackout managed to teach you a thing or two about acting like a Hero", the not-so-intimidating-anymore man said with a visible smirk. "You can call me The Retracing Hero: Retro", he introduced himself and extended a hand for Midoriya to shake.
"Actually, it was Kuse that talked me through this", he admitted and shook the man's hand.
"Should have seen it coming", Retro chuckled and turned his attention to the top of the stairs.
Midoriya followed the Pro's gaze and spotted Kairo trying his best to sneak down the stairs, trying being the key word there.
"Damn, your spacial awareness is something else truly", Blackout commented. He shifted into his normal stance and casually strolled up to the duo. (If anyone was wondering, his hero costume is also the suit from Tron: Legacy, the same blue color and no helmet. It's basically Kuse's but black and blue).
"Sir Nighteye made sure that I honed this skill to perfection. It's pretty easy to lose track of your surroundings when you are watching the past refold in front of your eyes", Retro spoke back and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Nonetheless, you are still trying to sneak up on me"
"Can't fault a guy for trying", Blackout retorted as he joined them near the exit. "So, Cybrex, since this is your first day in The Mall we will explain everything to you on our way there", he stated and headed towards the door.
"Are we the only ones coming?", Midoriya questioned as they made their way outside.
"Most people prefer to do their shopping on the weekends, but some of them have nothing better to do so they hang out in The Mall. That's why the security needs to be on alert twenty four seven. At any given moment in the day, there are at least three heroes from our agency on site", Shihai started his explanation as they headed towards their destination.
"However, a second group joins us later in the day. Since there are many offices in the vicinity, the rush hours start around 4 PM and last all the way up to 9 PM. That's when the security needs to be reinforced. And don't get me started on the weekends! Especially if any holidays are approaching!", Retro got a little bit energetic as he continued his boss' explanation.
"Retro here is a Mall Veteran. He spends most of his shifts there since his Quirk is helpful in
tracking the criminals", Kairo spoke up as the mall came into view.
"What is your Quirk then?", Midoriya asked and looked at the Pro beside him, waiting for an answer.
"I call it Retrospection. It allows me to see everything that happened in a place up to twenty four hours backwards. I can also move while the Quirk is activated and follow the path that let's say a pickpocketer took from his home to the mall so that we can arrest him when he comes back", Retro explained with pride.
"Oh, so it's very similar to Nighteye's, but works backwards?", the greenette noted after a few seconds of thinking.
"Yes, that's why I was interning under him back when I was in Shiketsu", he commented as they approached the lone guard standing in front of the mall.
"Phew, seems like an easy day for us since you two are here", the man joked as he took a good look at Blackout and Retro. "But I haven't seen the third guy before"
"It's my intern, The Augmented Hero: Cybrex", Kairo introduced the teen and the boy in questioned bowed politely.
"Oh my… Only an intern and already thrown into deep water?", the guard laughed and the two Pros smirked slightly.
"It's my job to show him that being a Pro is not about glamour and glory", he answered and the man opened the door for them.
"Good luck out there kid"
The mall definitely looked different without all the people walking around. Only the personnel and security were present, going about their duties before opening for the day.
Midoriya followed the two Pros closely, but stopped for a second to take a mental picture of the mall's map. It could be useful at some point in the day. Unknowingly to him, his supervisors noticed his short pause and if they had to score him, then he would be off to a good start with bonus points before the exercise even started.
"How competent do you think yourself to be?", Retro questioned suddenly and Midoriya froze in place.
"W-what?"
"I asked how competent you think yourself to be? Do you think you can handle yourself?", the man pushed further with his questions.
"I think that I'm pretty competent even if I lack all the training and experience that you both have", he answered to the best of his ability and hoped it was the right thing to say.
"You're young but seem to know your limits very well. If you ask me it's a green light", the second sentence was directed at Blackout who had a thoughtful look on his face; Midoriya as confused as never before.
"If you say so… Cybrex, on behalf of the Pro Hero Blackout you are authorised to act independently if you spot a crime being committed", the blue haired man recited and smiled. "We will split up. You stay here, in the main area, while Retro and I take care of the east and west wings, we will come by to check up on you every hour or so. If you engage a suspect contact us immediately, understood?"
"Yes!", the fact that a Pro Hero just gave him freedom in going about his day made Midoriya stand a little bit straighter than usually.
"Glad to hear that", Blackout answered and walked away with Retro going the opposite direction.
"I have a good feeling about today!", the greenette thought excitingly and started familiarizing himself with the area he was assigned to.
"I don't have a good feeling about today anymore!", he panicked internally once he saw how many people were already under his watch.
The front door was constantly opened due to people leaving or coming in and it wasn't even noon! He had to remind himself not to let his nervousness show on the outside. Heroes should make people feel safe and one couldn't spread an aura of safety while doubting themselves.
Midoriya was thankful that a few other Heroes appeared not long after the mall opened and were stalking through the crowd. He tried not to get close to them to make sure that they covered as much ground as possible but he did cross paths with some of them, be it on an escalator or just passing by on the same floor.
They usually only shook hands and introduced themselves before resuming their duties. If Aizawa was here, then he definitely would've commented how their actions were very rational and so on. The thought made Midoriya smiled. But his face quickly fell as his mind wandered to a certain problem that was waiting to arise.
Iida.
The strict teen did respond in the chat that he was okay and that his first day was very informative. He also seemed to get a lot of field experience under Manual, which everyone thought to be a good thing. Call Izuku paranoid, but the longer iida stayed in the streets, the bigger the risk of him running into Stain.
A forceful shove brought him down to the situation at hand. He cursed himself for such irresponsible behaviour and turned around to see who he stumbled upon. The person must've vanished in the crowd, but he spotted a black hood in the sea of heads.
Again, call him paranoid, but not many people in the mall wore hoods. Most opted to wear ballcaps, shades or just put up with the light that shone through the massive, glazed roof. Something didn't sit right with Midoriya so he decided to tail the suspicious person for a while and see where it gets him.
"This is Cybrex. I've spotted someone in a black hood, I'll follow him to make sure it's a false call", he spoke to the earpiece provided by Blackout and headed after his suspected… suspect.
"Your location?", a voice answered his call. It belonged to a freelancer that loved mall duty, The Spying Hero: Big Brother.
"Second floor, east side, near Starbucks, the person is wearing a black hood, no other details from my angle, can you tag him?"
"Copy that. Suspect tagged, stay nearby just in case Cybrex, but be on the lookout. I'll monitor our guy", the Pro instructed and Midoriya slowed down, scanning the floor beneath him.
"This is Jet Lee, I have a guy that fits your description on the ground floor Cybrex"
"I have two more emerging from the carpark"
"One more on the third floor"
"Spotted two more below Cybrex"
"Slow the fuck down! I can't scroll through the feeds that fast!", an irritated and straining Big Brother shouted through the earpiece making most of the present Pros flinch at his volume.
"I have update on a suspect! The perp is wearing a surgical mask!", another Hero shouted after a few moments.
"Shit! Big Brother confirm that the suspects are wearing surgical masks!", the command came from Blackout himself. Since his agency was the closest to the mall, his employee's became unofficial leaders of the Mall Security Team.
"On it!", he responded and went silent for a few moments. "Five tagged individuals with surgical masks. Looks like they are starting to converge"
"I need a location BB!"
"It looks like… Got it! Second floor, north side, Banque Internationale"
"All Pros, we have a possible armed robbery on our hands, the suspects have covered faces and black hoodies, move in to intercept. Cybrex, keep tabs on your guy and don't engage without backup unless necessary!"
"Now I definitely don't have a good about today", the greenette though to himself, but obeyed the command and shortened the distance to the suspect.
Blackout was panicking. Of all three hundred and sixty five days in a year, an armed robbery had to take place on the day that he decided to show his intern what The Mall is all about! And of course it has to be the Shie Hassaikai!
So many questions were spinning wildly in the Pro's head. Why here? Why Banque? Why now? All remaining Yakuza clans were sitting on their asses for the past few years, why start acting now?
Questions aside, he had places to be. And an intern to protect.
He quickly met up with Big Brother that spent his shifts in the quiet security office in the east wing. The duo picked a sidekick from some smaller agency on their way and made it to the main lobby.
Just in time for a gunshot to make everyone freeze in place.
Midoriya watched a few videos of Snipe in his prime and had to immediately confirm one thing - guns were way louder in person then on the internet or TV. He flinched out of reflex, but quickly got a grip of himself and hid behind a nearby structural beam.
"This is Cybrex, the suspects have opened fire, probably a warning shot to scare the civilians away, permission to engage?", the greenette tried to stay as professional as he could in all this chaos.
"Negative, observe and wait for backup", Blackout ordered and Midoriya had no choice but stand down.
It took three minutes for reinforcements to appear. In total, they had ten Pros against at least five armed suspects. It may have looked like an easy fight, but there was a catch. Hostages.
The main way to stall time during a robbery is to take hostages, human shields to limit Heroes' movements. It was common knowledge back in the day before Quirks appeared and has been a good strategy up to this day.
"They're stupid! We have them surrounded!", Rock Lock whisper shouted amongst fellow Pros.
"It won't matter if they have a Quirk that could aid them in their escape", pointed out Big Brother from behind his digital mask.
"What's the plan boss?", asked Retro, the question directed at Blackout.
"We go in. Cybrex, stay here and make sure that no stragglers escape", the Pro commanded and his companions quickly spread themselves out, taking positions all around the bank.
Midoriya was slightly disappointed that he won't get to participate in the attack, but he understood that it had to be perfectly executed and his inexperience could results in someone's death.
He felt nervous as the Pros sprung into action in one, well coordinated strike. Five suspects in the bank were incapacitated within seconds, only two of them being able to take a shot at the Heroes. Rock Lock and Retro led the charge into the vault, with a few more shots being taken, before silence reigned once again.
"Cybrex, come in", Midoriya heard Blackout's voice in his earpiece.
"This is Cybrex", he answered and Kairo started laughing like a maniac.
"He meant 'walk into the bank'", Retro explained and chuckled as well.
The greenette facepalmed, but walked in anyways.
"Good one", his mentor had his thumbs up and a grin on his face.
"Hey, it's my first time being in a scenario like that!", he snapped, though a smile that formed on his face betrayed his real feelings. He was just glad that it was over.
"Still, you acted less like a kid than I expected", Rock Lock commented with a small scoff.
"Unfortunately, they acted quickly enough to ransack the vault and escape", Big Brother commented as he walked out of the secure room.
"Must've been a Warp Quirk of some kind", stated Blackout and the rest agreed.
Police arrived on the scene not too long after that and their statements were taken. After the interrogation, most of the Heroes were dismissed from the scene. Blackout started the investigation immediately after and Retro began working his magic moments later. It would take some time to track down all the suspects, but there was something that the press published on the same day.
"Technocracy and Shie Hassaikai join forces in a heist in Yamanashi", Momo read while in bed. Interning under Uwabami was proving to be… different, than she had imagined it to be.
"Midoriya gets involved in shootouts, while we are doing photo shoots", Kendo groaned from her bed.
The heroines shared a single room and usually spend their free time in there. The third day was probably their least favorite so far, but tomorrow may be even worse! Uwabami wanted them to partake in a TV commercial. A TV commercial!.
"Yamanashi is a big place, maybe it was a different city?", the heiress provided, but wasn't as sure as she would like to be.
"Why not call him and ask about that?", the orange haired girl stood up from her bed and made her way over to Momo's.
"Good idea", she said and looked through her contacts. It took several seconds to find the number and several more for the call to be answered.
"What can I do for you, Momo?", Midoriya sounded a little tired, but they chucked it up to training initially.
"Um, Kendo and I saw the report about Yamanashi and were wondering if you know anything about it", they were curious about any details, but mostly worried about his status, seeing as he was offline since morning.
"Oh, uh, hi Kendo!", he quickly greeted the orange haired heroine. "I was there when the heist started, but I can't go into any details for now, sorry", the greenette chuckled sheepishly and Momo was sure that he was scratching his head or neck or cheek.
"You alright?", Itsuka asked as she moved to be closer to the phone.
"Y-yeah, I'm just tired mentally", he answered and a loud yawn escaped his throat. "Excuse me"
"You probably should get some sleep then. You still have to get up tomorrow", Yaoyorozu provided politely.
"I just came out of the shower and was about to hit the hay but you called", Midoriya laughed and the girls joined in.
"Looks like we chose the right time to call you", Kendo joked.
"A perfect one"
"Well, we won't be stopping you any longer, bye Midoriya"
"See you at the dorms on the weekend!"
"Goodnight Momo, Kendo", the greenette hung up and a few minutes later was out like a light.
He did train for a few hours after he returned to the agency, so that helped.
Yaoyorozu however had a few less than decent thought about her crush in the shower, provided by her traitorous imagination. Kendo may have had it a little easier, but she still was a girl and couldn't deny that Midoriya was easy on the eyes.
So... I may have had something else planned for today's chapter. Like, several different things. At first it was, fuck it, Hosu time! But then I thought, how about the mall? And let's have Midoriya do something amazing like jump from the third floor to the ground floor and catch a shoplifter or something. And we ended up with The Technocracy and Shie Hassaikai teaming up on a heist in Yamanashi... don't try to understand how my brain came up with a plan like this.
Still, I think it showed that Midoriya is an intern and has next to no experience, so it would be normal for him to act as a rear guard in such a serious situation.
So... next time we will try to see if my brain screams 'fuck it, Hosu time!', maybe take care of the man standing behind me that has threatened to incinarate me a few times already and see if Izuku can safe Iida from himself... and the blade weilding hero killer... yeah, that looks like a more severe threat.
Anyway, I'll catch you next time! ;D