Chapter 18: Clear Up!
Here it is! A super-chapter in my absence. I am aware that it is past New Year's and this is a bit late even for me. Sorry about that. College vacations and all. I've tried though. And Now, this chapter will be aiming to set up the coming conflict. So if this chapter doesn't fill you in, nothing will. This will be my biggest chapter yet. I hope you won't be bored, as I wasn't when I filled this in. It has been a blast writing this. Though I feel lethargic as I have finished writing segments that make up the whole.
Seriously, though. I am sorry that it's take this long to write to you all. Hopefully, schedules will let me write this story whenever and wherever I want again.
It's been too long. Far too long for you. Longer for Sokudo Satoshi. He's been under the ice for four years. Making him 32 years old. And he didn't even get to taste apple pie back then.
But he had to take care of Peter and hopefully, not disappear again.
In a throwaway drinking bar, the lights had been a soft dark red, enveloping the bar in a flirty tone. The music was slow jazz, with skimpy female performers in the front. Their singing sets the people inside to a slow, depressing tone. Others, tone in a bitter tone as they drink their 11th shot.
One, looks at his shot glass and stares at it with a bitter face. He breathes out as he listens the piano chime into the performance, and the entire bar rejoices satisfyingly. The mysterious man looks at the performance before looking back at the shot glass.
The bartender glances by the mysterious man and tilts her head. "Hey~. Why the long face?"
"… I have failed numerously… I uhhh… let children get missing… and for some vigilante…" Tsukauchi slurs his words, his eyes becoming depressed.
"Awww~. Don't worry. I'm sure that one more shot will get you better in no time."
The failure breathes, taking his hat off to rake back his hair. "sure." With that, the bartender goes to the back to get a refill. The failure sighs in his seat, drooping his shoulders to the high table. The piano's tone slows down to a relaxing tone.
… A chair skids beside him and a man in a black cap sits beside him, elbows on the table, facing behind him. He looks to glance at him, only to see his hair flowing down the side of his face. His vision began to blur, and his eyes begin to drop with his shoulders to the table.
"It's been a long time, Tsukauchi."
The stranger's voice cuts through to his ears. Then, he shambles his body to face up to him, not rising up though. He squints his eyes to sharpen his vision. Only to see a familiar face. Through the beer and dizziness, he could only see his face, and he widens his eyes in surprise. A shocking surprise, enough to get his heartrate beating up.
"S-Sok-"
"I know. Don't say." Sokudo interrupts Tsukauchi before he could say his name. It was important that no one mutters his name. Someone could be listening in. Tsukauchi looks at his brown eyes before his message zipping through their sights. He could see the urgency in his eyes. Or he was too drunk to see anything.
Tsukauchi breathes to clear his mind of anything before asking, "So you're back… I suppose that you are here to talk about something."
"… Yeah, man. There's going to be a big party," Sokudo says before glancing at the bartender. ", His brother's going to be married!"
"Oh? Then, congratulations sir!" The bartender says, smiling at Tsukauchi giddily in front of him. Tsukauchi drowsily looks up at her then to Sokudo, chuckling down to Tsukauchi.
"You've gotta be in your best suit, man. Everyone's gonna be there. Peter, Takumi, even that party-guy."
Tsukauchi hears him slur his words, making him sound fake…
Maybe he was doing it on purpose… he was telling him something… the names. They were the names of the suspects they were looking for… who the replacement team is looking for.
"… did anybody say where?" Tsukauchi says as he looks at him seriously, his vision began to steady. Sokudo looks with a chuckling smile. In response, he pulls out a folded piece of paper from his coat. Tsukauchi's drunken eyes begin to droop down to look at it, and Sokudo waves it around.
"It'll tell you where you need to go, ok bro?" Sokudo says as he pats Tsukauchi's shoulder with his free hand. "Now, I'mma head out," Sokudo looks at the bartender, making her jump. ", Can you make sure he gets a cab?"
"Oh, u-uh Sure thing, sir."
"Great… Tsukauchi, I hope you can be sober to understand what's written on there." Sokudo says to Tsukauchi, sending a flirty wink to the bartender before he leaves. His wink makes the bartender's ears flash red, and she stares at Sokudo as he steps through the door.
"Wow, what a nice man, your friend is."
She looks a Tsukauchi reading on the map, Musutafu Eastern Freeway Section, August 25, 20XX, 9 AM. He shakily flips it to see an encircled part of the city's freeway, one way in and one way out. A good place for a meet-up. Tsukauchi groans before he lazily picks himself up the table.
The bartender then scurries to Tsukauchi. "Y-You need help sir?" she asks hastily. "Le-Let me get you a cab."
The suggestion makes him sit down again, still drunk. He silently nods at the bartender and she walks out, dittering as she goes out the door. Tsukauchi gazes at the shot glass, then to the map. He stares at the place and the date… it was two days from now! Which meant he had to act fast.
In a secluded alley, three people and a sneak are astonished by what the stranger had been saying. Ryusake Tahashi, Connor Smith-Sanders, Ikari and Kirishima listening in. Ryusake looks at Ikari, growling his thoughts to her.
'Ask him how he knows.'
"… How do you know who that guy is?"
The stranger then lightly grips on his necklace, putting it into his pocket.
"… He's done dishonorable things to my people… I've been tracking him since then…" He says as he looks at the three of them, awkwardly as he can. "I-I want to take him back to my home!"
The three runaways look at each other then back to him. "I don't see why not." Connor says, making Ryu, Ikari and the hooded stranger stagger. "All we need is introductions. My name is-"
"Connor Smith-Sanders, Ryusake Tahashi and some girl I do not know." The stranger says, pointing to the three of them as he cuts Connor off, making the three of them shut their mouths in surprise and shock and awe. Connor furrows his brows as to how accurate he got it.
Ryu outwardly growls before stomping toward the stranger, eliciting gasps as he is lifted up on his collar and from the ground. The stranger looks down to Ryu, seeing his glaring golden eyes looking up to his silvery pearls.
"TALK!" Ryu barks at him, using his coarse voice. The stranger gasp and trembles in Ryu's claws. Connor and Ikari are astonished by Ryu's commanding tone.
"A-Alright! Let me down, please!" He pleads at Ryu, and he mulls it over with a low growl. With that, Ryu drops him down to the cement on his rear. He pants as he backs up, leaning himself up to the dumpster. The three before him walk closer to hear him out.
"… what should I do?" Ryu hears whispers from him, and his pocket chimes lightly in his pocket in answer. Ryu glares down at him, squinting in question. The hooded stranger looks at the three of them. "M-My name is K-KouRan, I was sent to find Peter." He stutters, flashing his eyes at the three of them. He then turns to Ryu, growling and scowling down at him. Made him uneasy.
"… There is this prophecy… that Japan will face a turning point…. Something about overthrowing something… But all I know is that you are important to stopping that from happening." He says before pointing to Ryu. Ikari and Connor, along with KouRan, look at Ryu. Their staring makes Ryu flash his eyes at them.
"So this prophecy… do people die?" Connor cuts in, and KouRan's eyes shoot up to him.
"… I'm not sure… That's all I know." KouRan pleads with his hands up. The three runaways look at each other and Connor sighs before lending KouRan a hand to get up. The hooded Chinese grips it and stands on his feet.
He meekly stands and puts his hands in his pockets. He looks at Ryu, still glaring at him and quickly looks away. Ryu sneers and walks off to the edge of the alley. Behind him, they continue to discuss to themselves.
"You should not know too much, it might ruin my clan's prophecy."
Ryu forgets about eavesdropping that prophecy, then. He hears a slipping noise near him, outside the alleyway and into the street. Ryu looks around the bend and sniffs out for anyone.
Eijiro Kirishima and Kyoka Jiro, Red Riot and Earjack, hide behind the wall, holding their breath in hopes of not being seen. Their hands grasp and grip onto each other while the both of them tremble by the bend.
Ryu steps closer to where the smell is coming from. It's no doubt that someone is there.
"Ryu!" Ikari exclaims, making Ryu look at her. "C'mon." Ikari says, grabbing hold of his hand, dragging Ryu back. The scaled vigilante looks back to the alley before is yanked to Ikari's direction.
Kirishima and Jiro exhale a massive sigh of relief in silence, looking at each other then down to their hands, still holding onto one another. They quickly whip their hands away. Jiro taps onto his shoulder to look at her, making a shushing face. Kirishima nods in agreement, and they continue to eavesdrop with Jiro's Earphone Jack.
"SO where do we go now?" Connor asks, and they all look to KouRan for his answer. KouRan sweats a drop rolling down his neck, and his necklace glows green with a soft whirring sound.
"… We go to the Kashikku Industrial District. We will find him there."
Ryu balls his hands into fists, letting them tremble with his deprived rage. He needed to scratch him off the earth's face. He looks at Connor and nods at him in signal.
Connor sighs and says, "Alright, KouRan. Lead the way." With a chipper attitude and a smile on his face. The group then proceeds to walk out of the alley and onward to the suburban streets. Ikari looks back at Ryu, lagging behind the group. She slows down to walk beside him. She had to find out if she was more than a friend.
"Hey, Ryu…." Ikari chimes in with a ghost of a smile, walking beside Ryu. He looks at Ikari as they walk, delving into her plain black eyes, looking unsure of herself. "I-I've been thinking… about once all this is over."
'what about it?' He sends her his softly thoughts.
"Well… I think that we need to have a…. what's it called? …" Ikari stammers before coming up short and begins to stutter and "Uhhhhhmmmm…"
'A rest?' Ryu answers for her.
"Yes! Yeah. I just…." Ikari then places her arm on her shoulder, becoming a nervous wreck as she goes on.
'Ikari.' Ryu cuts her stumbling train of thought.
"H-Hmm?" She lightly hums in question.
'I cannot rest until I have beaten any villain that comes my way..'
Ikari's shoulders begin to droop as what he says is setting in. Her eyes begin to water and she sniffles her nose and her shoulders shudder slightly. Her sniffling start to grab Ryu's attention, making his golden eyes grow concern for her.
'H-Hey… stop.'
"So y-you… don't care about me?" She says between sobs.
'Nonono, I-I do care about you…' Ryu sends, draping his arm over her shivering shoulders. She turns her attention to Ryu's face, looking worried for her instead of his usual scowl and glaring stare. '… Why would I protect you if I didn't?'
"T-That's the thing, Sakii…. I want you to be there for me."
Her words hit him like a truck. He did not expect those words to be spoken back to him. Much less have effect on him. Why was this so?
'… what are you talking about?'
Ikari sniffles as they lag behind, out of their hearing. Connor looks at them both and shrugs off their business.
"We-I wanted to stay away from bad people, and for us to have peace."
'… that's something I can never have.'
"I know, but haven't you tri-"
'Ikari, I cannot stop to rest. If I do, then we will regret it later.' Ryu cuts Ikari mid-sentence, shutting her down. Ikari continues to stare with gloom, at his soft scowl but powerful tone, as if he's sure of himself.
'I'm sorry, Ikari… but that's just how it is.' Ryu's tone softens, and Ikari's shoulders begin to droop once more. Her sobbing silences and her shuddering stops as they walk. Ikari lags behind when, suddenly, she feels a tug on her hand, pulling her forward. She looks down to her hand, seeing Ryu's smooth hand, gripping onto hers coldly. She looks up to her to hear him send, 'You are still important, Whether or not you can help.'
His words send down some comfort in her nerves, making her feel gush and giddy inside. Her shoulders begin to rise with a smile tugging on the corners of her mouth. Her heart feels giddy inside her chest, shoulders feeling lighter than before.
"T-Th…" Ikari starts but mutters. Her muttering makes Ryu turn to her, being astonished by the soft smile at her face. "Thank you, Ryu." She sincerely thanks him with a serene smile on her face. Ryu's momentum staggers for a moment before he keeps on walking. The group walks out of the suburban district and stand by the edge of the abandoned industrial district of Kasshiku.
In the halls of Tartarus, a cackling laugh comes from a single room. A dark room with a single faint light. The laughing starts up again from the restrained man. This man had been plastering a wicked grin on his face as if it was some game. That the millions of innocents will die.
Slam! A hand slams on the table, grabbing the man's attention.
"WHY DID YOU STEAL THOSE CHILDREN?!"
"heheheheHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA!"
The psychopath Stele cackles and laughs in his seat. Since Peter's passing, he's been stuck here. Marooned. His mind is not in the right place. From another room, through the glass, Harumi Sakatoshi and her niece, Kimiko Sakatoshi, survey him for anything that would give away Peter's position.
Kimiko fiddles with her fishnet stockings under her skirt.
"This is driving me nuts!" Kimiko barks under her breath as she listens to Stele's cackling through the speakers, making her ears ring.
"Patience, Kimi-dear. It's only been half an hour. When my sidekicks come here, they'll see how they can alleviate our situation." Harumi says from her chair, fiddling with her Quirk in her hand. A small puffy cloud forms on her moist hand, drip-dropping drops of water on her palm.
Then, the door opens to a mannequin, Fat-gum and Ryukyu pass through the door.
"Ahh. Weather Girl. Looker. Pleased to see ya here." Fat-gum speaks up, shaking both of their hands, and Ryukyu follows suit.
"So, you think that we're dealing with a small-time flunkie?" Ryukyu asks.
"I don't think so. This was too organized to be some breakout. They knew where Tartarus was, how it works. I think we're dealing with something more."
"So you think that we got some brainy bad guys? Some big lord?" Fat-gum asks out of the blue.
Harumi's brain turns to mush from thinking so much in seconds. Her eyes linger over to Stele behind the glass.
"… Why don't we just ask him?" Harumi asks them, making Fat-gum chuckle before picking out some chocolate. He bites onto the bar and chews it.
"So we interrogate him." He says with food in his mouth.
"Uhhh that guy has several screws loose. We'd have to be a hell of a psychologist to understand him." Ryukyu points out.
"Den, where he come from? He musta com from somewhere."
Fat-gum's question makes Harumi speculate.
"He was arrested in one of the abandoned industrial districts of Southern Musutafu. We picked up the equipment there and we found that he was using those machines to somehow steal the missing children's' Quirks." Harumi informs, making the entire room speechless.
Like All for One, they thought.
"… so if they have the means to steal other Quirks-."
"then they can get any Quirk they want…"
After Ryukyu and Fat-gum's small speculation, their ears catch Stele's chuckling, and they turn to look at him through the glass. Harumi sees their faces grow from scornful to shocked as the chuckling intensifies into cackling. Harumi turns to the glass and her and Harumi jump back from what Stele's hands striking the glass.
"He-He can't see us, there's no way." Kimiko says to reassure. Stele laughs, breathing down to the glass, his twitching eyes never lingering at Harumi's.
Despite being criminally insane, Stele sees them through the glass. Very clearly.
"Ohhh, I can see you three bitches! Plus one fag! Yeahhhh HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Stele insults and barks at them, cackling behind the glass with his spitting breath. Harumi can't move, stricken with fear as her shoulders tremble.
Stele grins as he fiddles with his claws as they tap onto the glass. The scratching sound shrieks into their ears, making the four inside annoyed and wince from the glass. Stele cackles from the sight of them. Out of annoyance, Kimiko removes her contacts to confuse him.
"Wait!..." Harumi holds Kimiko's hands from removing her contacts, then glaring at Stele, as Stele flashes his teeth in a wide grin. "… What did you do with those children's Quirks you stole?"
"No telling." Stele smiles down at her, wagging her finger.
Harumi activates her Quirk in response. She forms small clouds in the palms of her hands and controls the air inside to form small thin clouds at the ceiling. Stele sees the air forming above him. His smile dissipates as he sees the eye forming, making it rain in his face. Rain drops drip and sink into his hair, turning his head cold and moist.
He looks back down at Harumi, repeating her question. "What did you do with those children's Quirks you stole?" This time, slowly. Stele grins up to answer her with nothing, but he would not answer with a lie. Stele then aims his claws at the glass, but something would not let him do that either. His face comes up with the realization that he's being controlled. Harumi fills in the gaps by sending him wagging brows of affirmation, implying, 'Yeah. I am.'
"I ask again… What. Did you do. With those Quirks?"
Stele is frozen in place after hearing her question. The ringing in his ears intensifies as he tries to hold back the truth. He locks his jaws shut, his mouth reinforcing it, showing his gums of the lower teeth.
"ngH… NGHH!" Stele forces his neck down. Harumi glares at him, manipulating the storm inside the room to drip harder. The clouds turn into a light storm, drenching the room into a soft darkness. Stele stops himself from speaking, but he is peaking. "… GRRRR…" Stele grunts from speaking actual words.
He can't hold it much longer and he knows it. Stele whips his arm up to slash the chords in his neck. Suddenly, his eyes then open. wide-eyed at another pair of eyes. Harumi looks at Kimiko, glaring at Stele just before his claws could pierce through his neck. Harumi looks back at Stele and asks again.
"What. Did you do. With those Quirks?"
His eyes are dazed as he forms his back straight like a soldier.
"We put them into individual vials, labeled them and gave them of to my friend, Peter in the Kasshiku District."
Ryukyu immediately pulls out her phone to search up that district.. Harumi looks at Kimiko, focused on glaring at the psychopath behind the glass. Harumi has to find out more about this Peter character.
"What are you going to do with those Quirks?"
"I do not know."
Harumi manipulates the storm inside to rain harder above Stele's head. The rain drips at a faster pace, making Stele's entire being wet. His face turns from grunting sneer to submissive droop.
"What are you going to do with those Quirks?"
"I do not know."
Harumi raises a brow at him and asks another question.
"For who are those Quirks, Stele?"
"… For the Mighty Republic."
The moment Stele had muttered those words, the entire room staggers and gasps and trembles in shock, looking at one another in realization. The name of the organization even being namedropped in a conversation. But it can't be them. Their organization had dissolved long ago. So how are they still alive?
Kimiko can feel her eyes flooding with water and she closes her eyes to rub them. Harumi turns to Ryukyu and Fat-gum, looking back at her with concern. Harumi focuses back to the dazed Stele and manipulates the storm to make him sleep.
She whips her arm to the side, making Stele's head sway to the side and he groans before he finally drops to the puddle below him. Harumi then lets go of the storm in her hands, making it dissipate into harmless air.
"… Hmmm…" Harumi hums in question of this Republic. Just what is this Republic, she thought. "… We shall gather more info on this. We need to know what's messing with us.
"Y-You seem to know what you're doing, Weathergirl. Have you handled this before?"
Harumi fiddles with her fingers as he looks at the mannequin in the room. Its wooden head nods at her with agreement that they should go together.
"I just use my woman's intuition, that's all." Harumi says, unfazed by what Stele said.
Sokudo Satoshi, Alice Smith and Akihiro Tachibana (and his Shadow Snake Quirk, Stella) move to Sokudo's prophesized spot. The luxurious districts of Nallahatta.
"Really?! WE are going to Mob Boss Corleone?" Akihiro exclaims as he heard what their next target was from the back seat.
"And just why would we go to them?" Alice asks, looking over to Sokudo with a confident smile on his face. Akihiro looks with concern, however.
"We'll need their help, and the Police's to thwart the Republic's hand in this."
The entire van goes silent from the namedrop.
"Uhhh, What's that, sir?" Akihiro says dumbly, and Alice stays silent, sending Sokudo a raised brow, expecting an answer.
"I'm not sure. I only know that Peter is connected with them, and they are many." Sokudo answers vaguely, and the van goes silent again. Sokudo looks at them, only to gaze at squinting eyes that pierce his soul for his vague answer. "The future doesn't exactly come in cookies, okay? I'm filling in the gaps as I go along."
"Huh… Alright then." Alice says, moving onto gazing at the outside.
Akihiro still looks on to Sokudo, and Stella interrupts his thoughts, peeping her head through his forehead and looking down at him.
"How are you, Akki~?" Stella asks sweetly and mockingly.
"I told you not to call me that." Akihiro shrugs Stella off.
"Just how exactly are we going to ask for their help?" Alice pushes to clarify, and Akihiro and Stella lean closer to Sokudo.
"… I have worked with the Corleone Mob Family in jobs for most of my time in Japan. Info and such. Not to worry. They'll aid us with help and info we will need."
"… Alright, then. You are the fortune-teller, Alan." Alice says, waving her hand at him. Akihiro sighs as he slumps in the back. Stella slithers down to slackly wrap around Akihiro's neck. Alice had focused her eyes on only Sokudo, how he had not been dropping a sweat. "You seem to be taking this well, Alan."
Alice's callout had made Sokudo's eyes dart over to her. "Of course. I can't have my persona broken now. And I shall not be broken." Sokudo answers seriously, making Alice lightly giggle.
"Then you haven't changed at all." Alice chimes as they draw near to their destination. They see an enclosed area of the city. A gateway that connects to the roads and is the way into the small streets of Nallahatta.
It had been so long since Sokudo had intermingled with the Corleone Family. And he had to think fast if he wanted his help.
Harumi and Kimiko Sakatoshi knock on a door to see if he is still working on weeknights.
"You think this guy will help?" Kimiko asks with a concerned look, making Harumi send back a curious look.
"Y-Yeah." Harumi stammers, causing unsurety in her niece. "Don't worry. I've worked with him before. He'll be able to give us with the info that we'll need."
"… If you say so." Kimiko says sighing, scratching the back of her neck. Not long when the door locks unlatch and open up to a faceless wooden mannequin. Harumi smiles at the mannequin.
"Hey, Fukuda. May we come in?" Harumi asks and the door widens, and the mannequin gestures them inside.
Harumi walks in, and she widens her eyes to see an at least five busybody mannequins. Most of them had been doing paperwork for the past three weeks. Since the fall of All Might, they've been working like crazy. Putting more strain to Fukuda's well-being and of his Quirk: Puppetry.
Then, Harumi puts a palm in front of Kimiko before she could enter the office. "This is one of my personal friends, so you can wait here." Harumi advises. Kimiko opens her mouth in protest, but lets it go. Harumi walks inside Fukuda's office, and Kimiko sits just by the door.
The mannequin steps lightly and opens the door to the office in the back. Harumi steps first to see Fukuda using his Quirk.
It was not long until Kimiko sees a friendly looking mannequin waves at her. She waves back at it with a smile, and the mannequin fidgets as if it was blushing. Kimiko holds back a giggle as it covers its face away and back to its business.
'How adorable.' She thought of that mannequin.
Fukuda Watari. Ever since he gained his Quirk at the age of eight, everything already complicated had been amped up to a hundred. Yet, here he was. A simple man with iron white hair, sporting corporate top and street pants and shoes. Just a social worker.
Yet, everything seems so much harder.
The orphanages need this and that, and the Musutafu police need help in transports, and everyday, while his mannequins, or he, has to thwart off a criminal with those mannequins. Like a hive mind, he controls them with sheer will and perseverance. As if each mannequin is him. Once he accepted that, everything was less hard.
"… …" The real Fukuda Watari sits behind a desk, exhausting his entire being to his work. Harumi walks silently in Fukuda's presence and down to a chair in front of his desk.
"Fukuda, I'm sorry I haven't been able to fill in any work, but I'll hand over the documents about the orphanages as soon as I come back." Harumi apologizes to her partner, not even getting to him. Until she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns to look at one of Fukuda's mannequins bearing a note.
[It's okay, Harumi. I'm almost done handling our shifts.]
Harumi gasps at Fukuda before he turns to the mannequin. "Still. I am so sorry." Harumi continues to apologize. The mannequin takes out a pen to write down another note. The mannequin writes fast and shows it to her.
[It is good to see you, but I feel that you came here for something.(͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)]
"Y-Yes. I'll make sure to repay you later when I get back. But right now, can you search up something about The Republic?" Harumi asks, feeling a pang of guilt she didn't come back to their house. They have a solid relationship since they graduated.
Fukuda's mannequin strokes his hand on its wooden chin before it snaps its fingers and walks to a file cabinet. He rolls back the drawer and peeks between the files of ancient documents, gathering dust for years. The mannequin perks up having found a file about this Republic.
The mannequin hands the file to Harumi, and she grabs it and opens it. Only to be shocked by what she saw. Chinese characters…
… She was beginning to feel a lightening mashing on her shoulders. She tries to read the rest but is distracted by the mannequin's broad, rough hands as they massaged and kneaded her shoulders. She heats up, and her ears grow warmer and down to her cheeks. Harumi places a hand on the mannequin's, making Fukuda and his mannequin's stagger from her touch.
"D-Darling, It's sweet of you to… alleviate my stress, but can we save it for later?" Harumi pleads with a sweet smile, with Fukuda at her mercy. The mannequin draws back its wooden chinked hands. "Thank you." She says retaining the smile. She proceeds to read the rest of the text. Only to find out that…
[***FOR YOUR EYES ONLY***
The Mighty Republic of China has been the political body of Communist China for generations. They had ruled with constitutionalized dictatorship, legalized murder and worldwide anarchy, all of which had inspired the African Terror Groups, the North-American Pike-men and the Bloody Huks of the Philippines to mobilize not long after. The four superpowers had reserved their rights to rule in their respective regions. It was only until 20XX, by the contesting of the U.N., that it had been dissolved and disbanded, along with the three other superpowers…]
She finished translated summaries and looks at pictures of criminals from Africa, America, and the Philippines. She squints hard to see a familiar face. Peter. He may have been part of these superpower's somehow, or worse, caused them.
[… The former Republic's agents are now dead, missing or put into federal confinement by the U.N. Because of their absence, the U.N. had risen to new heights and had gained new focus. From external advisory to internal politics.]
Harumi then turns to the next page, and sees many articles concerning conflicts around the world. What she found next shocked her entire being.
The Crusades in the Tehran Plane. The Seizing of the Blood Diamond. The Tribal Philippine Wars. The Battle for the Pacific. The Arctic Awakening. The Ten-Year Chinese Skirmish. The Hokkaido Fire. The Burning of the American Plate.
Each one had been the failings of the U.N. to contain terrorism. The most recent ones seemed to be their biggest. And their bloodiest.
Harumi sees the article's images, with a dirty-blonde man in iron-clad armor beneath a coat, with a sword in scabbard, held with his left and a bulky bag on his right, coined by the U.N. as - The Lone Knight;
and a man with a Kevlar vest, spray-painted with red splatters, and on his arms were Gun Bracers, with a strapped assault rifle around his shoulders that had golden accents on it. The U.N. had coined him – The Golden-Eye.
"Peter." She mutters his name and she and the mannequin look at one another with a worried tone.
She turns her gaze at the picture again and wonders. What could they have with the Republic of China? Why were they here? and What master did they serve? Good? Or Bad?
An hour later
In the rich part of the suburban district, Ryusake Tahashi, Connor Smith-Sanders, Ikari follow KouRan through, walking on the cold streets in the shadows with the moon shining down upon them. The three of them have been staring at KouRan for the exact reason that they've been enamored with him. How did he even know who Peter was? How did they even know where they were? Why was he even here? Connor catches up to KouRan to talk to him.
"Hey, man." Connor starts, and KouRan looks his way as he catches up beside him. "Besides your name… Where did you come from?" KouRan hears him making small talk, and he entertains him as he tucks the necklace back into his shirt. He opens his mouth to speak but sees a glance of the other two, Ryu and Ikari.
KouRan breathes and sighs before he starts to give them the details. "… All of China were in hard-won peace, finally taking back our lands from terrorists and murderers. We were battling them for almost ten years."
The number had made their mouths shut in unbelief.
"It was not long until our clans wanted justice for our fallen. Peter was one of them, so~ mine sent me to get them… before the others could."
KouRan's info that summed up his existence finally sunk in, and Connor winces at that last part.
"O-Others? What do you mean?"
"… Meaning I am not the only one that wants him alive." Ryu scowls down at the path at the mention, hardening himself for more details KouRan will tell. "They will not eat. Nor sleep. And they will never stop."
Sokudo softly steps on the brakes, coming up on the Corleone Estate. They park in front of a massive gate, behind which Alice and Akihiro assume shields a massive mansion, with quartz pillars and everything shiny in one room.
Sokudo unlatches the door before saying, "Wait here." before he steps out. Sokudo walks around the front of the van and onto the gate. He eyes it up and down before he stops in front of it. He sighs one breath of optimism and holds it in his chest and with every strand of will in him, he knocks a cheerful pace on the gate.
Suddenly, a thin plank of wood slides to the side, revealing suspicious eyes of a foreigner. Sokudo widens his eyes, scrunching his lips to smile as best he can.
"What do you want?" He asks with venom in his voice, but Sokudo is unfazed by it. Sokudo then takes hero costume's helmet out of his bag and shows its cowl to the gate keeper. He squints as he analyzes its form. Its small, glaring slits for eyes, the black lightning bolts for ear appendages, the breather mask that looked like a knight's. It was too real to be a dream, he thought.
The plank of wood slides back and the gate keeper disappears, leaving Sokudo in an awkward silence. Then, the gate slowly opens to Sokudo, and the gate keeper, who was dressed in a gray suit, removes his hat and holds it just above his chest.
Sokudo eyes the gate keeper in ceremony in his presence.
"I-It's been a long time, Mr. Sinclair… You look – well." He says with drooped shoulders. With that, he puts back his helm into his bag.
Sokudo smiles earnestly at his old friend. Four years ago, he had a young face. Now, he had earned himself a grizzly beard. Seeing him now, he remembers about the occasional jobs he took with the Corleones.
"… Hello, Virgil. Nice to see you again. May my associates and I come in?" Sokudo asks gently, gesturing to the van. Virgil looks behind him and sees Alice and Akihiro looking at them. Virgil smiles before he puts a hand on his shoulders.
"Of course, buon amico (good friend in Italian)" Virgil says with watery eyes. He slowly closes in, and Sokudo welcomes it with open arms and they hug. The scene makes Alice and Akihiro look on curiously.
Virgil and Sokudo retract their arms and friendly nod at each other. "You came just in time for Mario's Pizza and for our crepes." Virgil offers with enthusiasm and good ol' Italian hospitality
"Ahh~, I would not like to eat them all." Sokudo shares an inside-joke, making him laugh in Italian. Sokudo laughs as they walk away from one another. Sokudo walks back inside the van and into the driver's seat. He calmly looks forward, relishing the moments he's had with the Corleones, the friendliness that they exchanged. Then, he looks at Alice and Akihiro, who hace been staring at him with curious looks since he came inside.
"… What?"
Inside the mansion had been a celebration that had been going on for three hours. Inside were housewives gossiping, men in rolled-up sleeved collars bantering, different crime bosses here and there and the young men and women in their twenties dance with one another with wine and smiles on their faces.
On a small podium, there lay three chairs, two elders sat upon them. In the middle had been the proud Daniel Corleone, to his right, his wife. They sat upon there, having reached the 50th anniversary being married to one another.
As they oversaw the celebration, the sight of their children and their in-laws had filled their faces with a smile. How their presence in a room had filled dominance in every room. The people invited did not dare to destroy the tranquility of the atmosphere, won with the Corleone Elders' dealings with different heroes and police stations.
The door opened to Virgil, slowly coming in, with his hat back down to his chest in respect. The breadwinner Corleone stood up from his chair, and all music stopped, and the dancing seized.
"Ah. Virgil. Just in time. And what news have you for me?" Daniel announces.
"… I think you should come see for yourself, il padrone. (master in Italian)" Virgil meekly advises.
"Il Nonsenso, amico. (Nonsense, my friend.) I want there to be transparency between me and my partners, so bring the guest inside." Daniel orders, and Vigil stands aside. The sight of Sokudo Satoshi makes Daniel Corleone's smile wither away, and gasps had been sounded in the room, and murmuring had started between the different crime lords.
Alice and Akihiro quietly follow suit behind Sokudo, and they slowly walk to the middle. Daniel's eyes focused on Sokudo, never lingering or leaving his line of vision. How was he here? in this night? After… it's been so long since he did not comfort them in this very mansion.
Sokudo stops and stands in front of Daniel Corleone and his wife. Sokudo looks at him with sympathetic eyes, or with a humbled spirit, in hopes that he would be forgiven for disappearing.
Daniel slowly stands and walks slowly to Sokudo. On the edge of the podium, Sokudo readies himself to bear him when he falls. The elderly Corleone studs and steps onward to Sokudo, with a scowl on his face. His heel slip down the podium straight down, and the room gasps as he falls. Suddenly, Sokudo supports his fall and saves him from falling.
Daniel regains his footing and Sokudo backs away.
"… … …" Silence had stricken the entire room, but between Corleone and Sokudo, they had been exchanging looks. Sokudo's calm and depressed look combatting against Mr. Corleone's glaring and scornful scowl. In seconds, Mr. Corleone's look grows from anger to that of a teary-eyed father, wanting to embrace a son.
Sokudo walks up to the Corleone Mob Boss and embraces him, and the mob boss embraces back. The people looking onto them smile at the sight, along with Alice and Akihiro, sighing relief that this didn't end badly.
"… It's good to see you again, boy." Mr. Corleone says as he pats onto Sokudo's shoulders. Sokudo smiles at the Corleone Mob Boss and they exchange their looks. "… Keep on playing. The night is young." Mr. Corleone announces, and the room bursts back into laughter and celebration. Mr. Corleone signals the crime lords and advisors to come with him. And they walk over to him. "Come. Let us talk in my study."
Sokudo chuckles in his throat. "We have a lot to talk about."
"I have time. Anything for my boys."
Thirty minutes ago
Kimiko Sakatoshi sits in the back of a simple car. Though Harumi's friend, Fukuda Watari, strictly remained to be utilitarian, she did not mind having a blank face with one of his mannequins to keep her company. What she had been thinking and racking up in her head was more important than her
Harumi drives up front, frantically thinking about what's to come. This tactic of Peter's had happened before. First, a skirmish of some kind. Then, signs of human trafficking. Lastly, a fire that will burn the entire city. The fires had mainly been distractions for Peter's escape.
Sokudo mentioned Hokkaido being burned to the ground, and there had been a massacre of heroes and villains alike. It was almost time for him to strike. Harumi can't allow that to happen. Hokkaido cannot be repeated again. Most especially now, with All Might gone, anarchy will spread.
The mannequin beside her types up a detailed chain text on his phone to Musutafu Police Stations and Hero Organizations, enough hands for a battle here in Musutafu.
The car drives to a halt at a criss-cross, and Harumi waits for the red light to turn green. Then, Fukuda/his mannequin shows a question, and Harumi glances at it.
[What's going on?]
"… You want the long version?"
The mannequin types swiftly and shows it to Harumi again.
[The short one, please. (^̮ ^)]
Fukuda's use of the textface makes Harumi lighten up a bit. "Basically, there are human traffickers that want to cause anarchy like they did before. And we, the good guys, have to go find them before they'll burn the city, like they did in Hokkaido."
The mannequin quickly types again.
[… and do you have a plan, exactly? ◉_◉]
The textface makes Harumi choke a giggle from her chest.
"Not to worry. We've been in worse situations than this."
[You're winging it. Aren't you? ఠ ͟ಠ]
"… Maybe." Harumi says, with a slight hint that she maybe was. The mannequin staggers in his seat, seeing the confident smirk on Harumi's face.
Green light.
Harumi drives forward and turns right, and she drives straight down to the east side of the City, through the Aomori park. The trees and branches weakly blocked the moonlight as they drove through the forest and round the closed-off large lake. Kimiko's magenta pupils gaze at the moon's tranquil light that its graces down to the park, making it seem like a peaceful night.
To Harumi, there is no peace until Peter is stopped. Or else, Anarchy will rule.
Twenty-five minutes ago
Ryusake Tahashi's legs look like they are going to give out on any moment, and Ikari can see that. She catches up to him and walks on par with him. And Connor Smith-Sanders optimistically walks to wherever KouRan was going. That did not mean that he did not care about anything.
Was he going to die? Definitely.
Will he live? Hopefully.
Will his parents be mad at him? Absolutely.
Will Alice be mad at him? He didn't need to answer that.
He's lived by heroism throughout his life, and he had concluded in his head. Life is going to be hard, heroism included. So why spend all your energy in stopping it if you can get it done?
That sounded like a crappy fortune cookie, but he was proud of being a simpleton with no anchors to anything. All he could do was hope for the best and make his actions count.
Connor sees KouRan stumbling from a dash. "Whoa! You okay?" He says going to his side. Both him and KouRan looked right to see what passed by, to see what passed them by was looking back. A girl with legs that of a large bird, black talons that could cut. Her almost-flat torso had been covered with a green shirt and bomber jacket, her feathered arms had been wings. Her cute face had turned into an angry one once she catches wind of who she made stumble.
"… She doesn't look happy to see you." Connor nervously mutters to KouRan. The harpy sneers before she sprints at them both. Full-speed ahead with the intent to kill an enemy clan.
Connor holds his fists up, ready to punch her. He did not know that Ryu had been doing that as well. They both land a punch directly to her chest, making her flip and halt suddenly. They both push her down to the ground and they hold her there.
She struggles to get free from their hold, grunting and growling at them both. Ryu scowls down at her and growls down at her, baring the inside of his mouth. Connor looks at her and sees how her complexion could double her good looks.
"W-What are you doing?" Connor asks, but the harpy continues to growl at them both. KouRan looks at her and notices her build to be that in South Yunnan. Meaning, She came from the Imperial Clans. KouRan's necklace releases its arms and stretches over to the harpy.
She struggles in the white gloved arms, but is then spun around, the arms holding her in place with a constricting embrace. She looks at KouRan, already knowing what he was. The Scum of Taiwanese Clans.
"Táiwān rén zhā! (Taiwanese scum!)" She spits at him in her mother-tongue. And three of them squint their eyes at how harsh of a whip her voice has.
Suddenly, Ryu is hoisted up. He glares at the back, seeing one more of those humanoid birds, this time, male. He roars as he throws Ryu to the sky. "RYU!" Ikari shouts, and Ryu skids on the concrete and lands hard on the wall.
Ikari looks at the he-Harpy, before his sharp talons latch onto her and throws her to the sky. Her flailing body had been the go-signal for Connor to shift into his Werewolf form. The he-Harpy sees Connor's size changing, and his face growing a canine snout. His hair grew and his clothes tore off, turning into a real Werewolf. Ikari growls before she unsheathes her claws and prepares to scratch.
The sight makes her opponent sneer, mocking at her. He lunges at Ikari, but dodges, opening her claws to his back, and she shreds through to his back. He annoyingly grunts before he kicks Ikari with his bird-legs, pushing her back. Ikari sees she is up thrown to the side, and hardens herself for impact.
It came, but it was soft. She looks to see a black shirt and gray scales that smelled like her. "Oh. Thanks, Saki." She says, almost trembling at how good he was at catching her.
The restrained she-Harpy sees KouRan being distracted. KouRan's face suddenly gets latched with her bird legs. She tightens her grip on her face, and KouRan lets out a muffled scream from his head being squished like a pimple.
Then, her legs are then bitten by a werewolf. She gasps before Connor locks and bites into her leg, emitting a piercing scream that makes her legs give out, setting KouRan's face free. Connor feels the other Harpy's hands grasping onto his shoulders, but he will not budge out of pure hunger. It's been a long time since he bit on someo-
'What are you doing!' Connor comes back from dipping into his animalistic senses, and lessens his bite on the she-Harpy. Everytime he would think that way, he would beat himself up. He did not even feel the he-Harpy's battering on his Wolf face. His head followed the directions of his opponent's punches.
Then, the he-Harpy is turned to a scowling, growling and glaring Ryu, slashing his claws at him. The he-Harpy grunts in pain from the sharp pain Ryu's claws inflict, slashing his chest open. He grabs onto Ryu's shirts, piercing onto Ryu's shoulders and throws him away and behind him. Ryu grinds onto the concrete, but he shrugs it off and opens his jaws, with saliva dripping off before its inside is lit with white fire.
The sight makes him nostalgic, remembering something.
Ryu then lets out his Dragonbreath, creating a wall of white fire. The he-Harpy staggers away from the fire. It was not long until he sees his partner, the she-Harpy, tossed over the fire. She screams as she flies over the fire. He sprints over and jumps overhead, catching her and landing on the ground flat on his feet, still carrying her in a fetal position.
"Nǐ hái hǎo ma? (Are you OK?)" He asks her in their mother-tongue, and she nods weakly, and they look over to the fire, seeing the prophecy behind the fire. Ryu glares at them both, with his glaring golden eyes and his bare crocodilian teeth sending them chills up their spine. As if their superior Emperor had come from China.
That look was a sight that they have seen only in their dreams. That very same look is the tell-tale sign for them that their future rolls along the edge of a knife.
… They must be away, he thought. They must conceal themselves again. One thing for sure was that they will see Ryu again. Hopefully on good conditions.
He walks away, carrying his partner away from the white fire. "N-nǐ zài zuò shénme? Tāmen jiànguò wǒmen! (W-What are you doing? They've seen us!)" She exclaims, her shoulders trembling to break loose.
"Bù, wǒ xiāngxìn tā duìyú qǔdé fēngshuò de chéngguǒ zhì guān zhòngyào. (No. I believe that he will be essential to great fruit.)" He says calmly. This was not the end yet.
The Corleone Estate - Present
Akihiro Tachibana sits outside of a room, basically fiddling with Stella, a.k.a. annoying her. He cheekily grins as he lightly pokes Stella on her back. Stella continues to ignore his light finger prodding her head. And she was getting sick of it for the past three dozen taps ago.
Then, his taps began to slow down, eliciting a questioning "Hmm?" from Stella. She looks up to her master, looking down at her with his idiotic cheeky grin that made some part of Stella feel light and innocent and nervous inside.
She staggers at the sudden touch of his palm, and Akihiro only smoothly swerves his palm up and down Stella's serpentine body. She draws her head up and lets herself soften. Akihiro softly carries Stella on her shoulder, and she snakes around his shoulders and down his right arm. Stella cuddles against his palm, making Akihiro gush from how cute Stella is being.
Meanwhile, inside a luxurious living room, Mr. Corleone sits opposite of Sokudo Satoshi and Alice Smith on couches, internalizing Sokudo's story and prophecy.
The Musutafu Fire. The Reaping of Quirks. The involvement of Peter and his posse. It all seemed unreal to him. Yet, expected with everything that's happened lately to his crime syndicate. He aims his obsidian eyes at Sokudo and sighs softly.
"… So I understand the urgency. But what's this got to do with me?" Mr. Corleone says in his raspy elderly voice. Alice looks to him, intent to hear why they are here exactly.
"… In my prophecy, there is this great battle. Between All of Musutafu. Cops and criminals. Beasts too. The conflict will destroy everything and anything in the city. And I intend to stop that." Sokudo says, and Mr. Corleone sighs before contemplating with his hands locked together, placing his chin on it.
Silence had dread upon the room, with such an intense vibe and aura that the room has taken. The possibility of war happening in Musutafu was impossible. Sokudo looks onto the esteemed crime boss and friend before him, with serious eyes of need.
"Sir. You must answer the call."
Silence had dread the room once again, and the Corleone Crime Boss looked on to Sokudo's eyes, feeling the seriousness in his pleading stare and voice. Corleone feels a slight pang of unreadiness for what he will do next. His hands twitch as he looks back at Sokudo.
Alice notices his finger twitching. She only shrugged it off for his old age. But there was something off about how he was looking at Sokudo. A quivering lip. The twitching eye and brows. Her brows slightly twitch in unrecognized suspicion.
He clears his throat before he whips his hand to his guards to follow him. "… First things first…" He lets his hands free before standing up, buttoning his shirt with his ringed fingers. Sokudo's and Alice's eyes perk up as he stands. ", I have something to show you, my boy." The tone of his voice had taken a rather serious tone, Alice notices.
Sokudo and Alice look at each other, not sure of what to do, Sokudo most of all. Alice gestures with her brows to follow, making Sokudo stand and walk suit of Mr. Corleone.
Mr. Corleone steps outside, passing by some child. Sokudo and Alice step out, and Alice was the first one to notice that Akihiro had been fast asleep, with Stella still coiled around the dirty-blonde's shoulders. She giggles at a cute situation before she elbows Sokudo, and he looks at Akihiro, earning back his smile.
He goes near him and pokes his face. The sheer cold finger of Sokudo bolts Akihiro back into consciousness.
"Wh-Wha?" Akihiro unconsciously mutters out of his sleep, Stella still asleep on his shoulders. Sokudo smiles down at him, before he regains memory of what happened. He looks up to Sokudo and Alice, staring back at him with a cheeky grin, finding his playfulness adorable. "… I'll just go back to the van." Akihiro gives in to defeat from their staring. He shoves his hands into his pockets in a gruff, eliciting more inward cooing from Sokudo and Alice.
"… That was adorable." Alice mutters as they go back to following Mr. Corleone to wherever he was leading them. But Alice just can't trust Mr. Corleone.
"Alice." Sokudo calls, and Alice looks at Sokudo's eyes. ", He is an old friend. Don't worry." Sokudo assures, patting the back of her waist and making her shudder slightly from his touch.
"W-Who said I was worried?" Alice puts up a front, smiling at her friend. Sokudo smiles back. His smiling at her makes her heart skip a beat. '… Geez! Get it together, girl!' Alice inwardly shouts to herself, getting her back in the situation at hand.
Mr. Corleone looks back to Sokudo, lagging behind, and he adjusts his ring as he comes up on a door. He unlocks the door, and it unlatches. He holds on the knob before going in, looking at Sokudo with eyes of regret. Sokudo staggers at its familiarity. "… I am sorry, old friend." Mr. Corleone says with furrowed and depressed brows as he pushes the door.
With that, Sokudo uses his Quirk, speeds off to Mr. Corleone. Mr. Corleone squeezes an exclaim from his throat, and Alice's wrist grow out diamonds, and a hilt and blade start to form in her palm.
Then, Suddenly, they feel as if they're in a hold. Sokudo has been stopped mid-speed-run and Alice in a defense position, sword in hand. Sokudo has felt this feeling before. He tries to move once more, but is unable. It is no doubt that they are here. The door swings as it reveals figures slinking in the dark.
Footsteps start to boot towards them, and they see a gloved hand coming out. Then, a man in a suit comes out. Sokudo recognized it to be Kabe but something had changed about him.
Sokudo looks at his face to be covered with a black mask that covered most of his face. Only his right eye hadn't been covered, and Kabe looked angry. It looked like he was having a bad time in the last 8 hours.
"Ng. Ng!" Sokudo grunts through his teeth. Kabe shrugs it off and stands by the side. Then, a wide grin at come through the door.
"What? You didn't expect to see me?" It was Peter, shrugging freely at Sokudo, with a swish of his coat. He was still flaring with his white Kevlar suit inside his usual coat.
Takumi Oshido comes out next and he wastes no time to knee-kick Sokudo until he was on his knees. Then, Alice perks up how badly the situation was looking. Sokudo was now on his knees, with Kabe, Peter and Takumi looking and grinning down at him, with Takumi's Gun Bracers aimed down to his face.
Sokudo sneers at the coldness of Takumi's guns as the Golden-Eye prods his face with them. "So, this is the rat." Takumi says, those prods becoming fleshed with the intent to kill as he drives them into his face. "I should kill you right now!"
"Uppupupup!" Peter stops Takumi, dragging him back with a pat. "Not yet. We have to listen to what he has to say first." Peter reminds and refers to Mr. Corleone, and Takumi sharply exhales frustration out and downs his Gun Bracers and backs up.
Peter looks at Mr. Corleone beside him, glaring at the bounty hunter scum before him. "So~? What did he say?" Peter says as friendly as possible, and Corleone sighs before he talks.
"You heard. The prophecy and all that jazz." Mr. Corleone reminds with his arms crossed. Peter puts his hands on his chin and strokes it with a smile.
"hmmm…" Peter hums before he snaps his finger to the sky. "That's right! You with the premonition that I will burn Musutafu and Ryu fighting me." Peter mocks as he walks over to Sokudo.
The Speedster Hero stares at Peter as he kneels down and tilts his head to look at him.
Peter happily says, "I'm sorry, but that will indeed happen."
Sokudo's throat staggers at how stark Peter's statement was, and he feels a pang of rage as his skin tingles, struggling to be let loose.
Peter stands back up and grins down at Sokudo. Sokudo did not expect this. Peter carrying him into the room like some prop. Peter hears some muffled grunting in Sokudo's lips. "Oh, don't worry. We'll get your meds and everything will be fine~."
Alice grunts behind her lips at surprise and sees Takumi walking over to her to do the same thing. Takumi grabs her waist and puts Alice over on his shoulders. Takumi feels indifferent as Alice grunts in anger, wanting to be let loose too.
"Hmph. Yeah, it'll all be over soon." Takumi mutters before Alice's sights go from the hallway and into the room's gray ceiling. Kabe follows suit after scratching his new mask, feeling annoyed by it as he closes the door.
This was not good, they thought. This was definitely not good. They are about to be interrogated, and possibly killed before the prophecy can even get to the good part. Sokudo sweats a drop as he is put on the floor and Alice is stood beside him.
Peter and company go down a flight of stairs, being revealed to Sokudo and Alice that they were in Peter's base of operations.
"So, see, I came here to Japan all those years ago to get the best superpowers I can get. Hokkaido had been my most embarrassing moment." Peter says as he places Sokudo on the floor, and Takumi places Alice beside him.
Kabe whips his hand at them both, and Sokudo and Alice fall to the floor and gasp for much-needed air. Peter smiles before he continues. "Now, I intend to do that and more." Peter says before he walks to Sokudo and suddenly grabs his collar and hoists the exhausted speedster up.
Sokudo sneers before he is thrown against the wall. With that, Peter backs up and lets Sokudo slump his back on the wall as he skids to the floor. Peter flares his coat before he sighs. He looks at Takumi and nods. He nods back, seeing that as the signal. He grabs Mr. Corleone's back and throws his face to the table. Alice stands up to knock him off him, but Kabe stops her from forming anything as he sits down.
Sokudo's shoulders droop and his face glares at Peter as he struggles to get out of the drug's effects, his face is dazed as the lights swirl.
"Now then," Peter starts as he walks to Mr. Corleone and restrains him, dragging him to Sokudo's front. Sokudo sees his cooperating partner-in-crime to be in pain from Peter's hold over him. Alice tries to struggle, but can only make grunting and wheezing sounds. ", Where is Ryusake Tahashi?"
Peter's question makes Sokudo's jaw lock and seals his lips. The mere seconds of silence was enough to make Peter's signature smile fold away, and two more seconds, he was getting pissed off. Even though he asked his nemesis nicely, with his old friend as leverage, he still would not do the "right" thing.
Peter's face turns from indifferent to a face of annoyance, furrowed brows and scrunched mouth. "So be it!" He shouts before he pulls out his Trusty Sword. He whips his sword from his pocket and it whirrs as it emanates its light from his palm, as if he was powering something.
The suspense and tension had been rising, and even worse, Sokudo was held down by Kabe's Quirk: Stop. This was not good. Peter raises his Trusty Sword, ready to slice through his neck with the . Corleone's face and unrelenting hands were clearly begging for mercy.
"That won't be necessary, ranger-guy." The voice slinks from the only door in and out. Everyone turns their eyes to the door. Hearing clanking as a young, scruffy man clanks and tinks his shoes on the barred platform. "I must say, I thank you for releasing him from that ." That voice and condescending smile had been all too familiar, and the face and his appearance said it all.
Peter huffs a chuckling remark up to him before retracting the sword's blade into the hilt and into the grip. "Sure, Shigaraki Tomura."
The room's intensity had now been amped up to 11, for everyone in the room knew who he was. His descension down the flight of steps had made the heroes tremble with each step he made. Meanwhile, Alice, having no idea who the f*ck she's looking at, continues to glare daggers at the presumably bad guy.
"Alright, boss. Here's the deal." Peter slickly says, annoyingly clinging onto Shigaraki some dealer. "I need an escape, and your little League needs All for One, right?" Peter probes, toning Shigaraki's destroy down.
"That is right."
'This is very bad.' Sokudo shouts at himself tries to get up, but Kabe still has his watchful eye on them both. Peter unhands Shigaraki to glide to the table they were using, and Takumi tinkers away on his Gun Bracers.
"Why don't we work together on this? Since we both want to destroy. Mindlessly, to add." Peter says, piquing Shigaraki's interest. "To destroy the pillars of hero society, to bring them tumbling down and into the never-ending pit of failure." Peter rants as he brags his appearance. Shigaraki looks at Peter as he scratches the corners of his jaw.
He grows bored by the seconds. "What's your point, side character?"
"… We are going to burn Musutafu to the ground."
Sokudo staggers at the statement, and everyone, including Takumi had been shocked with those words, with him stopping mid-assembly. Shigaraki turns his head to him, lending his ears to him.
2 minutes earlier
When Peter had arrived, the entire mansion had been under the control of the Axe Clans of Musutafu. They came in full force, and they peacefully came inside. When Akihiro Tachibana was only watching from his seat, he saw them just walking in. He immediately got out of the van and tried to hide inside the mansion.
Akihiro Tachibana had been through a close call with the thugs that stormed in the mansion, and he had to hide through the vents. Like a snake.
Two thugs on guard carrying axes scouted by the vent Akihiro came through and pants by it, unnoticing that Akihiro has been inside. Akihiro, wasting no time, crawls through the vents and away from the thugs. The bumping inside the vents, he's tried to keep a minimum as he crawled through. Thankfully, the vents were growing wider, so he's resulted to crouch-walking.
Stella pops out of Akihiro's shoulders and snakes to enters Akihiro's vision. "So, Akki~. How should we do this?"
Akihiro shrugs off Stella's use of her nickname at home. "We are going to Mr. Satoshi and regroup." Akihiro whispers at a stop, then continues after.
"What if they've cornered him?"
The question puts Akihiro into a staggering halt, glumly looking down to the silver of the vents, contemplating about what he should do then. Avoiding his pang of depression, he says "… Well we'll just have to see." Ambiguously. Stella felt his depression and nods to take his mind off it, and they both trudge on.
Then, he hears talking ahead, as if unfazed by the breach. In preparation, Akihiro lets out more snakes, or Stellas, out of his back. They quietly hiss as they slither and coil to his arms.
Above a secluded room, on the barred platform overlooking the room, Akihiro pops out and steps to the platform. His sneaker shoes clank tapping noises, as he surveys his surroundings. His eyes glance down to the room, seeing a base of sorts. And his master.
His senses skyrocket and looks down to the predicament he's caught in. He looks to see Sokudo and Alice not moving. They must've been held down by somebody, he thought. His eyes move to the two standing up, a blonde wearing Kevlar under a coat, a man in a regular black shirt and cargo pants tinkering on something.
But his eyes perk up at the cyan haired man with severed hands all over him. Including his face. Shigaraki Tomura. A villain. Akihiro never thought that he had to fight a villain. But that was not what scared him.
"… We are going to burn Musutafu to the ground."
Peter's statement made Akihiro freeze, as well for Stella. Seconds go by until he hears Shigaraki's creepy voice speak up. "And just how are we going to do that?"
Peter walks over to the blueprints and circles Musutafu with his finger. "I have Fire bombs all over the city, along with its neighbors. Lefurani and Gesutufad." Peter finishes partly, and grabs the blueprints for Japan's train system. "I also have bombs on the bullet trains that will incinerate northern and southern Japan." He says trailing the tracks up and down. He then takes out some pen and encircles his estimate of how big the fire would be.
Shigaraki looked to be mildly impressed, but he was greatly impressed by Peter's ambitious vision. If he was right about this, then the fire would have spread from the Shiga to most of the Nagano and Okayama districts. And those two districts were only cities situated with forests, full of green. It would spread over to the other districts.
Shigaraki and Peter can see it now. A Japan with the night skies dreaded with smoky red, and an orange around the densely populated areas. Peter is filled with goosebumps just talking about it, feeling excited about how those U.N. asshats were going to feel about this.
'… this is definitely a big one.' Akihiro thinks before he analyzes the situation. After thinking deeply, he was facing a choice. Leave his master to tell the police stations about his plan or stop Peter and effectively gain Sokudo's praise? This was a tough one, especially the praising part.
But he had to make a call. He walks over back to the vents and glances one last look to Sokudo, then, he realizes that Sokudo was actually staring back, his head unmoved. Akihiro freezes, just staring back at him awkwardly.
Sokudo does not need words to understand what he's doing. He ticks his head to the side, urging him to get out. Akihiro silently says "oh." Before nodding, getting inside the vent shaft. But not without a glance that said, "Don't worry. I'll definitely get you out. I promise."
Below, Shigaraki and Peter had become buddy-buddy with one another real quick. This was going to be big. After the Burning of the American Plate, Peter's ambitions slunk back to getting more money. But now, after his latest scuffle with the U.N. he's had to result to pissing them off as they did with him.
Though his was more unorthodox and random. But he knew that the silly U.N. Fighters would come to Japan and make the Japanese fall to its knees, as did with the other nations. And he was even paid to start the fires and disasters of the past, which were eventually cleaned up by the U.N.
"So it is settled! There will be a grand fire and it's going to be glorious!"
5 hours later
In a police conference room, two captains and drabbles of heroes have gathered here to discuss the plans on securing Musutafu City. On Harumi Sakatoshi's hunch, she plots out the points in Musutafu that are the most flammable, and makes a sphere from those points.
Ryukyu's underlings, Froppy, Uravity and Nejire Chan sit by Ryukyu with six other hero companies. Ryukyu sits by Fat-gum and notices that he is alone.
"Hey, Fat-gum. Where's your sidekick?" Ryukyu asks, referring to Suneater, Tamaki Amajiki.
Fat-gum laughs lightly, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
"Well, we got complications cuz the hero orgs got mad at me for getting him into such a big thing. All cuz he in school."
Froppy's and Uravity's ears sneak in to their conversation. Froppy jumps on her seat, her shoulder tenses up at the sudden touch of cold on it. Froppy and Uravity looks up at a wooden mannequin.
The mannequin tilts his head as he extends his notes for the frog to read.
[W-Would you gals sign here? (*≧∀≦*)]
Froppy and Uravity look up from the note to see the mannequin twiddling his index fingers together. It seemed like the mannequin had been blushing. The two newly Pro heroes' hearts feel fluffy at how cute it was being. Naturally, they signed it.
The mannequin takes it to see their signatures with a small heart in between. The mannequin giddily hops at the sight of hearts, which proceeds to make the two girls' hearts grow even fluffier.
"Are you a pro, mister?" Froppy asks, and the mannequin stops hopping lightly and writes on his notes. Froppy and Uravity look down at it again.
[No. I just want to help. (・`ω´・ ●)]
The doddle on the note had finished the two Pro heroes through the heart, seeing how cute it was.
In Harumi's eyes, they were so wide, the entire city is engulfed in it. And that was not even counting underground sewage that are flammable. But those points can only be accessed through one point. The abandoned Kasshiku District.
"So we search the entire Kasshiku District, all the warehouses. Then what?" A pro hero asks from his seat, and Harumi takes out a file, with Peter's and Takumi's pictures inside.
"We sourced out these two to be here, with confirmation that they have been here in Musutafu." She says, saying over the video of the breakout in Tartarus. "Without eyewitnesses of their escape, we've had to result to interrogation of their accomplice, Stele. After which, we had the hunch that he's hiding in the Kasshiku District. Specifically, the abandoned factory sectors. We've been reading some activity being used in Va'Diru Factory." Harumi explains, encircling one factory in particular.
"… Now that you've mentioned it, Weather-Girl, your hunch might not be so outlandish." Ryukyu says and pans.
Harumi chuckles to herself as she prepares for the next slides. "According to our sources," As she starts, Fukuda focuses his four mannequins to pass the folders about Peter's movements, most especially about All for One's escape. "Peter has had the time to sway governments, defeat heroes in foreign countries in the last fifteen years. The U.N. even set their sights on him for those fifteen years, but he slips out of their hands.
He is also known to leave the countries he's been to with a scar. And the Hokkaido Fire had been his most recent. The conflict resulted with a burning of the entire island of Hokkaido, as we all know. And I can only fear for the worst."
Ryukyu and Fat-gum furrow their brows, and Fat-gum can only continue to snack on chocolates as they look at Harumi.
"What is it?" Ryukyu says out of curiosity. Harumi sighs before she passes some folders to the heroes, all with the same content. Expose about All for One's escape. Before she elaborates, she plays the video recordings that were inside the Tartarus.
"According to the videotapes inside Tartarus, Peter had breached inside the Tartarus and left with a handful of villains. The most notorious out of them had been All for One."
Harumi's video and explanation over it had silenced their thoughts and ebbed them with worry and shuddering legs. Froppy and Uravity stay still, looking down from their seats with torment sketched into their hearts. That same feeling came again. A feeling of powerlessness and fear. When they saw him in the news, they have feared for All Might, thought that he was going to die. Now, there was no All Might, no hero that can singlehandedly defeat him. The disaster in Kamino seemed to be repeating itself here, again, in Musutafu.
"S-So what's da play?" Fat-gum asks.
"We need to find Peter, recapture All for One and send Peter to the U.N. for their decisions with him to be made."
On cue, Fukuda Watari only sitting beside Harumi, controls two wooden mannequins to distribute the assigned jobs to each of the 7 Pro Hero companies.
Fat-gum and Ryukyu, along with her three underlings, shuffle their chairs together to read what their note was. Both of them had been assigned to the Va'diru factory itself.
"There will be three teams assigned to our offense, and four teams will be circling the perimeter, making sure that Peter and his thugs won't be escaping. And do not hesitate. According to what we know, Peter and his partner, Takumi Oshido, have experience in wreaking havoc. So be aware of their power." Harumi summarizes, leaning her hands on the table with serious eyes.
"We will end this with one swift strike to their hiding place and quietly dismantle the problem. And hopefully, we all not die trying." Harumi says, and turns to Fukuda. "Seems simple, right?" Harumi whispers to Fukuda's ear.
The raven-haired man with white hairs slicked on the side, opens his eyes and unfocusing his Quirk. His wooden mannequins shudder and stagger, becoming limp for a moment. Fukuda looks up to Harumi only to write on his notes to her.
[It was good, Harumi. (*￣▽￣)d]
The doodle spears into her heart, becoming fluffy at how cute he was.
"We start the operation at midnight. Set your clocks to it and meet at the rendezvous point." Harumi finishes and the heroes set their watches to it. The time right now had been 10 PM. The Prophesied Time had been growing near.
Sokudo's and Alice's capture. Akihiro's retreat to find Ryusake and company. The Republic's meddling with Ryu's destiny.
To change the world. To dip the world in ethereal fire.
All they had to follow had been their hearts. With every passing second, the prophecy comes true. Will Ryusake be awashed with glory? Or will he suffer in torment?
And that is that. A super-long chapter done! It may as well be super-hard to read cuz I did this over the course of a month and a half. College has been real hard. I might even push my next chapter on July, if I am lucky.
And, seriously, guys. I need to know if you are impressed by my story. I need a review until I can continue this story.
But, it is getting late. I should be hurrying to my bed. I hope you guys are entertained in reading as I am of writing. Hope you guys have a good year. I thank you guys for reading up till now.
Oh, and before I go, I need to do this.
Ko-Fi is a website that lets its users, mostly writers, join together in a community around the world and can be what rewards them for their writing. We can accept money and donations from around the world and we can profit from it, just like s on Youtube.
You can donate money in the site down below.
k-o-f-i-.-c-o-m /chaotic triad
Remove the dashes and that is the site. This site likes to remove site URLs.
If you please. A small payment is roughly equal to that for coffee. Even a small amount can be enough. Heed my call and thank you for reaching this far. Please enjoy from what I do for a pastime, away from the reality, have kindness in our hearts, be strong, and keep enjoying life. We all need it.
Keep Safe.