At the Headquarters of the Hero Public Safety Commission

The headquarters of the Hero Public Safety Commission tended to fluctuate between two extremes. Either the building tended to be intensely quiet as its already sparse staff worked away from the main building or it tended to be bustling as when certain activities had to be done immediately or in the aftermath of a major disaster. This situation certainly qualified as the later.

"Two and a half billion yen!" the head of the Public Safety Commission yelled as she threw down a thick set of documents. The bags under her eyes indicated that she had been severely lacking in sleep lately and she looked more wrinkled then ever as her voice resounded in the quiet room. "It's been a week and we still haven't got the slightest lead on any of the stolen equipment. This entire farce is making us look very bad and I shudder to think of the effect that this news is having on the public."

"We have got some leads," the stern faced Commissioner General said. "While we have busted one of the gambling dens run by this Living Tree we haven't managed to capture any of their core members although we have managed to acquire some information on them."

"Do tell then," a snowy upright standing mammalian creature in a fancy suit said as he leaned forward. "I've tried to do my own research into this group but all their loose strings are remarkably well-tied up. I gained very little."

"So did we frankly," the head of the Police Force said. "All of the highest ranked members are named after body parts. "Knees, Muscles, Nose, Ears, Sudor."

"Sudor?" one of the heroes who were sitting in on the meeting said.

"Latin for sweat I believe," the white furred mammal said. "Not really a body part but I suppose it does fit the theme if you squint."

"If I can continue without interruptions," the police chief said. "We have identified Knees as the young male in this picture," he said pulling out a photo from the stack showcasing a young adult fighting against the Pro Hero Kamui Woods. "He seems to have some form of forcefield Quirk that generates at the extremities of his body. We have preliminarily placed him as a B-Rank villain but that may be subject to change. He's very fast and strong with some backing in martial arts."

"I can confirm that," Ryukyu said from her place at one of the seats. She had been invited as she had briefly captured the aforementioned member of Living Tree. "He's rough but fast on his feet and he's got good reflexes. Those forcefields also hurt quite a bit if they manage to hit you."

"The second one that we've managed to identify is Nose," the police man said as he pulled out a picture of a dandy looking man. "Nose's power seems to revolve around the sense of smell but we weren't able to narrow it down. We believe that it may be similar in power to Aggrandize, a famous criminal from Australia. We have attached a brief description of his known Quirk here but there were still gaps by his time of death."

"The third one that we've identified is Muscles," the commissioner said as he placed down a picture of a young purple haired girl dressed in a form fitting green costume with a butterfly mask. "Her Quirk is very similar to that of the Yaoyorozu family. She seems to be able to transform her mass into various tools but the tools appear to convert back into flesh after a certain period of time and any other restrictions are not known at this time."

"Are we certain it's not an illegitimate child," the head of the Hero Public Safety Commission said. "The relative of a hero becoming a villain is something that could reflect most poorly on both the hero in question and us as a group."

"Do you want to go and ask the family if they have any illegitimate children," the Commissioner General said giving a steely look.

"Moving on the last one we know of is this Sudor," he said putting down a picture of the white haired amazon who was greeting the camera with middle finger upraised. "Her power appears to work through her body fluids causing her to freeze anything that touches them. She also appears to be able to discharge sweat from her body in a large radius allowing her to freeze certain areas. We believe that she may be a child of Hypotherm."

A collective wince spread throughout the table at that prospect. Hypotherm was an A-Rank criminal at his peak and while he was eventually killed by Endeavour the fallout had led to colossal amounts of damage and unacceptable losses of life. If the young girl turned out to be anything like her father then the consequences could be disastrous.

"The next one is called Tiny," the Commissioner General said ignoring the background noise. "It is actually a dog of which we have no recorded pictures. He appears to have some form of portal Quirk."

"You don't have to look at me like I know him," Nedzu spoke up causing the people around him who were doing just that to quickly avert their eyes. "While it is extremely rare for an animal to manifest a Quirk it is not unheard of. I do wonder how they got their hands on this Tiny though. A portal Quirk is a very valuable thing for any villain team."

"The last member we know of…" the Commissioner General started before suddenly the doors were flung open disrupting his speech and causing tensions to arise as every person in the room momentarily raised their guard before they realised who had arrived and lowered it. Standing in the doorway was the Rabbit Hero Mirko garbed in civilian gear with a set of high-tech headphones strapped around her ears.

"I heard you were having a meeting about that sneaky rogue without me," Mirko said, her voice a tad too high for the situation. "Shouldn't you invite somebody who actually fought him? I don't see All Might either."

"You are still recovering," the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission said.

"It's not any big deal you just need to speak up," Mirko said gesturing to her ears. "Guy is fast and can turn himself into some green slime creature. He also carries at least one flashbang and has a good sense of timing." She paused for a moment before she gave a bloodthirsty grin. "Of course the guy is a coward who breaks and runs at the first sight of a strong enemy."

"And that is the elephant in the room," Nedzu spoke up. "He has at least two unrelated Quirks and if that is the case then he may possibly have more."

"Could we have another Nine on our hands," the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission said only for Nedzu to shake his head.

"If he was really as strong as Nine then Mirko would be dead," Nedzu spoke up eliciting a growl from the Rabbit Hero. "He probably has a weaker Quirk that allows him to copy Quirks. Of course that means that there may be members in his gang with the same Quirk."

"That's quite a disconcerting thought," the Commissioner General said. "If he can copy the Quirk of this Sudor or Muscles he could cause quite a lot of damage. He well deserves that S-Rank."

"Is that all the information that you've received," Nedzu said as the Commissioner took back the files. "I couldn't help but notice that we haven't learned of any more members that we haven't already seen. I can't help but wonder if it is because that is all they have or all they will publicize."

"You think that they might have several hidden members," the Commissioner said. "Ones that even their own members may not know of."

"Or maybe just those specific members you've found," Nedzu said before shaking his head. "I was not able to get any more specific details but the way in which I was denied made me think that their might be some evil mastermind behind the group still."

"We have identified the boss though," one of the heroes who had remained quiet until now spoke up. "Wasn't that the guy with the mask?"

"He may just be the proxy," the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission said. "We should keep an open mind for now. "None of us know what they are planning next."

xxx

At the Headquarters of the Living Tree

The Living Tree headquarters were generally reasonably soundless. Technically speaking to call it a headquarters was a bit of a stretch considering very few people frequented the building for extensive periods of time and large portions of it were used for storing stuff. Most of the people who were aware of its existence had their own businesses and spheres of influence and thus would spend their workdays over there. If they were to meet up they would either do it at the arcade or over the internet having taken the appropriate precautions. In fact only Izuku and Ears had permanent rooms and only Muscles tended to spend any time in the guest room; all of whom were often quiet for long periods of time.

"Are you really going to just sit there all day, Boss," Sudor, who for the first time in a long time had set foot into the headquarters today, said out loud. "Don't you feel like going out for a spar so you can avenge your loss against Miss Myxomatosis?"

"Firstly," Izuku said as he lowered his laptop. "I didn't lose, I wisely retreated. Secondly I came up with that name and I thought it was funny. You using it all the time is causing it to start to wear on me. Thirdly, no I don't feel like getting my butt kicked today."

"Really what's in the laptop," Sudor said standing up and trying to look over Izuku's shoulder.

"It's nothing just studying for the high school entrance exam," Izuku said as he quickly closed the laptop.

"You're not a kid boss,' Sudor said teasingly. "Let me guess Brain gave you time off work to prepare and you're still doing company work." She chuckled to herself. "Weren't you the one who was adamant that people take time off all Living Tree work currently? We are all on vacation after all."

"I am free to give any of my members of my staff a vacation whenever I think it is necessary," Izuku said. "I don't have to be bound by the same pronouncements. I also never placed a limit on the ability to train."

"None of them are going to be training boss," Sudor said as she collapsed into the couch again. "Since Nose gave out that blanket invite to his cabana by the sea we lost most of our training members. Knees, Muscles and even that mooch Liver jumped right onto that invite."

"You were invited as well Sudor," Izuku said as he tapped a few keys on his laptop.

"If I wanted to get burned I would just go out and pick a fight with Endeavor," Sudor said rolling her eyes. "And why don't you go then. Oh that's right, because you hate the beach boss. You could have at least got Brain to take you on her foreign trip."

"A foreign business trip with an intern," Izuku said chuckling. "What are the chances they are going to believe that the two of us are doing the horizontal tango?"

"Going out with the young intern," Sudor said before smiling wickedly. "I could see it happening. Can you believe the scandal?"

"She's only a couple years older than you and you are only three years older than me," Izuku said firmly. "Before you ask Ears is spending some quality time with his sister. I don't wish to impose."

"We have more members than that," Sudor said. "Vein?"

"Never know with her," Izuku said. "That woman either doesn't answer her emails for days or literally lives on my doorstep. She's a tsundere of the highest order and right now I haven't heard a thing this week."

"That woman doesn't make much sense," Sudor agreed. "I heard Brain sacrificed a gambling den."

"It wasn't profitable," Izuku said. "Manager was skimming too much off the top. We let him take the fall to ease of some of the heat. Give out some safe information on already known members. In the meantime we will just lie low for a bit and let the heroes work themselves into frenzy while we relax."

"That's not really relaxing," Sudor said. "So what is on the laptop anyway?"

"It's an old scientific paper that our current associate directed me towards," Izuku said. "To be precise it is a seventy year old paper that is remarkably similar to the Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory of today."

"That wackjob theory," Sudor said after racking her brains for a moment. "Wasn't that disproved years ago?"

"It wasn't taken seriously enough to be disproved," Izuku said. "Still this guy was a true genius. With so few generations he has managed to create a compelling and logical argument and has gained a loyal supporter of this theory."

"You're getting rather chummy with All For One, Boss," Sudor said.

"We have a meeting once a week over the internet in which we mainly talk about Shigaraki and any continued cooperation between us," Izuku refuted. "I mentioned that I was learned in Quirk Theory and he sent me that paper. I will have to try and see if I can get more of these papers from him assuming I can't just get them off the internet."

"You think it will help you with your own Quirk?" Sudor asked with some hidden eagerness.

"I think that the Quirk Singularity Theory is the key to creating more merged Quirks without any drawbacks," Izuku said stoking Sudor's eagerness. "Since my Quirk grows stronger through knowledge I hope that by augmenting my own knowledge that I will improve both the Quirks that I use and those that I give out."

"You're sitting there all stoic, but I can see you practically fidgeting in excitement," Sudor teased before she stood up. "Alright if you are going to sit here and vegetate then I'm going to head out. Want me to grab you anything boss," she said.

"I'm heading out for Sushi with my mom tonight," Izuku said. "She's just gone through a nasty flu and I wanted to arrange a celebration."

"And you didn't invite me," Sudor said sticking out her tongue and getting a deadpan look from Izuku. "I know, I know. You don't drink where you crap. Half the reason you even wear that mask is to keep all of this from coming back to your mom. You're such a good little mother's boy, Boss."

"Continue Sudor, see what I am going to do," Izuku said flatly but there was a smile that showed he wasn't serious. While he would always be the Boss of Living Tree he was the second youngest member of the group and Sudor sometimes couldn't help but pull his leg.

"Alright then, I'm heading out Boss," Sudor said receiving a nod as Izuku returned to intensely studying the laptop screen. A minute later she found herself on the streets of Mustafu walking through the somewhat busy streets, or at least busier than they had any right to be at four in the afternoon. Shouldn't people be at home preparing supper at this point in time? Schools were currently out so it made sense that there would be more people on the streets. Suddenly there was a bustle ahead in the street and Sudor casually walked up to the location where a larger crowd was gathered.

Apparently judging by the crowd's susurrations a hero had stopped some criminal and the remaining crowd were gathered around the site of the incident while the cops were taking the criminal away. Sudor stood a bit taller, easily peeking her head over the tops of the crowd, and noticed that the hero was Death Arms who was posing for the cameras and signing autographs. For a brief moment bloodlust welled within Sudor and she contemplated simply moving forward and murdering the hero right there in front of the crowd causing the admiration and ululation to change to shock and horror in a second.

Then she calmed down. While she could kill the Pro Hero it would gain nothing for the gang and go against the Boss' specific instructions. Furthermore she couldn't be certain that there weren't more dangerous Pro Heroes that would be drawn out in the ensuing commotion. There was little to gain and much to lose and while Sudor hated heroes with a passion she would not betray the Boss' trust and endanger Living Tree. Besides as the strongest member what would they do without her?

Mood thoroughly ruined Sudor headed down the street watching as the crowds dwindled as she moved away from the city centre and into a quieter part of time where aging apartments were the order of the day instead of ever slick skyscrapers. Sudor spent some time looking at the crumbling infrastructure that she had grown up around before she shook it off. It had been so long since she had left home that she didn't even believe she would recognize it if she ran across it again. A few kids were playing soccer in one of the yards and Sudor stopped for a moment in nostalgic remembrance.

She had sucked at soccer, but they had always left a spot for her to play as the defender. That was when she was still a weak kid who stayed at home while her dad went to work. She remembered when her dad had gotten a job at the 'bank' and moving to a nicer neighbourhood before a year later she ended up in foster care. Her instincts flared at that moment and she took a step back before she lashed out with a kick towards the soccer ball that was barrelling towards her. The kick was dead on and the ball went soaring towards the top right of the plastic goalposts.

"Wow, that was amazing," one of the brown haired boys said as he ran up, a few of the other following behind.

"Eat your meat and vegetables and get plenty of sleep and you'll grow up strong just like me," Sudor said smiling at the young faces. She waved towards the lady who was surreptitiously peering out of the window, obviously making sure that she wouldn't cause trouble, and the lady waved back after a moment of embarrassment.

"Will that be enough to become a hero," one of the little bastards spoke up causing Sudor's grin to fade somewhat.

"Don't sell yourself so short," she said. "You can become something better like a doctor or a teacher."

"Toshi, can't become a hero," another one of the little monkeys said. "He hasn't even got a Quirk.

"Oh right I forgot," Sudor said to herself. "Kids are stupid." She looked back down to see the original brown-haired boy who was apparently called Toshi on the verge of tears before she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," she said. "Being a hero sucks anyway. All they do is go out and get their butt kicked day in and out by villains and other criminals. They can't even do anything fun with their powers otherwise the public yells at them. If I'm still around in ten years I'll introduce you to a much cooler career than heroism."

"Really," the boy said rubbing his eyes. "What is it?"

"No spoilers," Sudor said with a finger across her lips. "But you know what the best part of not being a hero is. You don't have to stand around and play nice when the public annoys you. You can just leave," she said as she turned around and left the crowd of children.

xxx

5 minutes later

"Man the GPS on this thing is just terrible," Sudor said as she tried to figure out what the hell street she was on now. Suddenly her eye caught something in one of the streets that she passed and she took a reflexive step back to get a better look at it. Sitting in the street looking as if nothing had changed was Ndoor's Nice Dream and Waffles, a dive that her Dad had taken her when she was much younger.

"I was in the mood for some ice cream right now," she said justifying it to herself. She hesitated for a bit more before she turned into the street and headed towards the brightly lit sign. The inside was clean if small with only two tables with half couches attached to the wall and half chairs. At one of the tables sat a family of four with two misbehaving young children and the other sat a single red-headed man. There was no queue and thus Sudor was able to easily obtain her dessert, a vanilla-chocolate sundae with grated chocolate and marshmallow bits. She took the couch seat without the crying children and without much preamble started to dig into the ice cream. The dish was sickeningly sweet to her mature tastebuds and she couldn't believe she had such fond memories of the treat.

"Would you like a handkerchief," the man opposite her said calmly and she looked up to see piercing blue eyes looking at her in concern while holding a handkerchief out towards. She raised her hand to her face and felt some wetness there before she took the handkerchief in a dignified manner and wiped the tears from her eyes. She then handed back the handkerchief to the man who put it back in his suit and replaced his earphones in his rightful place.

Suddenly Sudor didn't really feel like eating ice cream at all. She almost begrudgingly swallowed another spoonful before she pushed it away and walked out of the shop. She sighed feeling somewhat melancholy about the situation as she stared at the sign. Suddenly she felt a bump and a short black haired person with what looked to be an eight foot tall humanoid kangaroo. Sudor disbelievingly checked her pocket only to realise her wallet wasn't there.

"Did I just get pickpocketed?" she said dumbfounded before she laughed her bad mood fading at the absurdity of the situation. She took a deep breath as she counted down from five as the small time crook faded in the distance before she moved.

If anybody was watching at the moment they might have mistaken the strongest member of the Living Tree for some form of beast in human skin. While Sudor could never have been said to be the most delicate looking girl; now she resembled nothing more than some primordial predator. She appeared as a prehistoric monster hunting down its prey with efficiency unknown to man and it appeared the human kangaroo also felt that way too as the creature leapt from the floor and into a nearby alleyway.

Sudor let out a bestial chuckle as she turned into the alleyway in time to see it leap over a chain link fence that prevented the alley from becoming a thoroughfare. The man paused for a moment in apparent triumph and that was his mistake as Sudor leapt into the wall rebounding off and onto the top of the chain fence before casually dropping to the ground ten metres away from the small time criminal.

"Aren't you going to run some more," Sudor said with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Listen girl," the kangaroo said his voice harsh and threatening. "You really don't want to push me…"

"Halt," a new voice came from the alleyway and Sudor lamented that the fun was likely over. Standing blocking the entrance to the alleyway was some blonde haired hero in a red cape that looked as if he was barely out of hero school. Still to take down this level of villain he was more than enough and Sudor relaxed her stance. "Sutoshi Hiyenba you are wanted for the crime of theft and assault. Please surrender."

Well that was news to Sudor. Apparently the kangaroo could commit real crimes as well. Stealing her wallet must have been just messing about. The only reason why the hero wasn't advancing was likely because she was closer and he wanted this to end without the chance of him taking her hostage or attacking her. It truly was a pity…for him.

She could see it clearly as the kangaroo launched himself forward towards her and the blonde hero moved as well. It looked like he was trying to take her hostage rather than attack her with that nasty looking knife blade on his foot. How disappointing; but if he wouldn't kick then neither would she.

No fancy moves were required on her part and instead she leapt forward with a speed stretching out her arm and catching him on the neck before in one more movement she brought him down to the pavement with a crashing sound. When the dust had cleared she stood up and placed her foot on the defeated semiconscious body of her opponent.

"Would you like to give me a count," she asked Mr. Redcape.

"A what?" the hero said his large blue eyes staring aghast at her.

"You know," Sudor mimed. "1.2.3. Ding, ding, ding. How you know the match has ended."

"I think we can classify this as a ring out," blondie said. "My names Lemillion. Can you tell me how you met this guy?"

"Guy stole my wallet," Sudor said picking the discarded object off the ground.

"Could we have some proof that it is your wallet," another voice spoke and a slim blue skinned girl wearing a rather skimpy costume arrived in the alley. "My name is Bubble Girl by the way." She offered her hand. Sudor didn't take it. Instead she opened up her wallet and showed him her ID document.

"Suzuki Sato," she read out. "I should advise you that while you are lawfully allowed to try and reclaim your stolen property without Quirk usage it can be dangerous from both a safety and a legal perspective. Especially if you have a mutant Quirk or one related to strength."

"I've browsed the Quirk laws," Sudor said. "Don't worry and thank you for your help. Can I leave now? I've got way too many outstanding parking tickets to want to talk to the cops."

"I would advise against it but I can't stop you," Bubble Girl said. "He will be brought up on charges without your participation and you acted in clear self-defence. Have a nice day."

"Hmm," Sudor said. "I think if I will. Goodbye." She walked past the two of them and out of the alleyway." Sometime during the whole chase or maybe it was when she had her show down with the heroes, she had started to feel a bit better.

"Wait," the first hero Redcape said and he approached coming dangerously close to her effective fighting range. "I'm sorry," he said bowing deeply. "I was to slow and I put you in danger."

"Life's dangerous," Sudor said flippantly. "Whether you have a hundred heroes or a million that won't change. See you around slowpoke." She gave a jaunty wave as she walked back to her base, taking several detours to make sure she wasn't followed. It turns out the cure to her melancholia was just punching something and she knew at least one person that could take a good punch and dish one out, if he was sufficiently motivated.

Author Note: Bit of an odd chapter focusing a lot on a character that isn't the MC. Tell me what you think.
BTW bit of an aside but why do people follow completed stories. Are they just calling my bluff or something?