CH3

"A countdown? What kind of bullshit is that? Atleast give us more than 9 days!" Tucker blanched.

"A countdown to the end of the world! I knew it! We're all gonna die!" Sarge exclaimed. "We should celebrate our final days by doing what we love! Like shooting Grif…"

"Seriously, what's your obsession with killing Grif?" Wash visorpalmed. "Did we see anything recognisable or something that could help us get Carolina back?"

"Well, they're speaking Japanese and the signs are all in Japanese too." Tucker observed.

"Ah, look at the time." Grif finally got back from the toilet. "We should all take a nap and forget about this. The problem will fix itself eventually."

"Wait, what happened to Higgins and the gods? They might know how to fix this." Wash asked.

"No clue." Grif answered stoutly. With that, he shoved Caboose off the couch and promptly fell asleep.

"He's got a point about sleep. It's pretty late." Simmons yawned. He crashed on the couch unoccupied by Grif.

"The day certainly was eventful." Wash remarked. "Sarge, you should go back to your building. There might be intruders while you are gone."

"Intruders? They might steal the flag! Excellent point Agent Washington, even though you're the enemy, you certainly are smart!" Sarge panicked and ran back to his house.

"G'night Wash." Tucker headed upstairs. Caboose followed close behind, leaving Wash the only one awake in the main room. He checked his watch and soon fell under the lure of sleep as well.

They had been in the new world for a few days now. Conveniently, Carolina was fluent in 16 different languages, with Japanese being one of them. This allowed one of the AI to be free most of the time, so they could research the area around them and figure out how they were transported here in the first place. They had found a derelict and abandoned apartment building that was damaged in a "villain" attack, Church had said, and they set up base there. In order to pay for food and other necessities, Carolina was working as a personal fitness trainer at a nearby gym, and York found someone hiring construction workers. Both were extremely fit and worked their jobs efficiently. At night they practiced with their weapons deep inside the building where no one could hear them. One day, York realized something important.

"Didn't you say Church died or something? Fragmented into other AI? How is he still here then?" He asked one night.

"When we changed worlds, we also changed ages. Or at least, went back in time." Carolina answered as she munched on a sandwich. "I thought you already knew? I'm 25 right now, and I certainly wasn't a year before."

"I had run diagnostics on your physical body, and I have concluded you are 25 as well, Agent York." Delta chirped in his ear.

"Damn, we got a free few extra years." York grinned. "Although with these anime faces, I can't really tell age that well."

The next morning went routine. They both woke up early, serviced their gear first, and split up to work. York immediately headed off to the construction site and Carolina did a bit of PT herself. She went on her usual morning jog, but was rudely interrupted by someone violently slamming into her. On reflex, she sweeped their legs out from under them and yanked their arm back, dislocating the shoulder. The target wailed in pain, and she slightly panicked, fearing that she had accidentally hurt an innocent person.

"Excuse me, are you ok?" A voice asked behind her. She turned around and came face to face with a scarf clad man. He had messy, dark hair and bloodshot eyes.

"I'm sorry, this guy-" She pointed down to the perpetrator, which she realized had dog-like ears and a snout.

"No problem. Actually some trouble for the pro heroes." Aizawa Shouta noted that this woman was different from the average citizen as he lifted the criminal over his shoulder. He couldn't place it at first, but realized it was something quite funny. It was her abs. It was summer, so she dressed accordingly, wearing only an exercise bra and workout shorts. The normal person didn't have as defined abs as she did, and if she was wearing a hero costume he could easily mistake her for one.

"Is there a problem?" She spoke. She also had a voice that sounded like it was used to yelling. Shouta kept a mental note to look out for this woman. "Did I break a law or something?"

"Did you use your quirk?" He asked.

"No." She responded with a definitive term.

"Then there should be nothing wrong. Self-defence is allowed as long as you don't use your quirk unauthorized." Shouta turned and headed towards a gathering of other pro heroes. "A citizen managed to apprehend Hyena."

"No way!" Rumi Usagiyama, aka the Rabbit Hero: Mirko, yelled. "I was tracking that bugger down for weeks, and some random Joe snatches him?"

"Calm down Mirko." Fatgum warned. "There's no need to get competitive about villain catching."

"What about our hero rankings?" Mirko snapped.

"Anyways, Eraserhead," Fatgum addressed Shouta while ignoring Mirko, "How is the citizen doing? I'm sure Hyena wouldn't have gone down with a fight, so I'm interested in the guy who took him down."

"It was a woman actually." Shouta responded in a dull voice. "And she managed to take him down within 3 seconds. I timed it." This statement shocked the heroes around him, which included the aforementioned Fatgum and Mirko, as well as notorious heroes such as the rising star Kamui Woods and Snatch, and the sand hero Snatch. While strong female heroes aren't unusual, taking down a career criminal criminal like Hyena was no easy task. Hyena was responsible for at least a dozen murders, a quarter of which were pro heroes, and multiple bank heists. After a bit of silence, Mirko spoke up.

"Got leads on the Golem case?"

"The Golem case?" Shouta pulled a blank on that.

"Y'know, the two armored people? Committed a jailbreak not too long ago."

"No, but Hyena here might.. The criminal underworld is wide and interconnected so he could've gotten a sniff of it." Aizawa cracked a smile, but everyone else had a stone cold face. "Did you not get the pun?"

"Anything eventful happened today?" York asked later that day.

"Accidentally took down a criminal." Carolina cringed. "Rest of the day was fine though."

"You what?" Church shouted. "You want this place to be raided? I spent the past week renovating this hell hole's electrical grid just so we can get running water."

"We would also lose valuable data I have collected in the building's abandoned electronics." Delta piped in.

"Thank you D." Church gave him the thumbs up. "Why the hell are you so reckless?"

"Says the dead AI." Carolina rolled her eyes. "And it was an accident. He just ran into me." she answered frustratedly.

"Just be a bit more careful next time babe." York patted her on the back, and they went to their temporary gun-range for a little bit of practice.

As it turns out, shooting hundreds of rounds per day spends a lot of bullets. They were almost out of ammo for their pistols and rifles, and since their weapons were far advanced than the current world's, they couldn't find suitable magazines. However, after they shot their final rounds, they found an entire room full of rifle and pistol mags. While they were confused how cartloads of 9.5x40mm bullets found their way here, they accepted the ammunition readily.

"Heading out to the gym, York." Carolina pecked him on the cheek and left early. She smiled internally inside. It was almost like they were living normal lives. No more world ending events, no more having to deal with the past. The only thing they could worry about now was the future. Of course, the whole idea of heroes was still new to them, but as long as they stayed on the sidelines they were fine.

As she ran her daily run, her soldierly instincts told her she was being watched. She took a few more steps before leaning against a wall and faux-tying her shoes. She straightened up and took a wide glance while drinking from her water bottle. She spotted a large man with his face hidden, and remembered seeing someone of a similar size in the group with the pro hero the other day.

Bingo.

"Uh Mirko? I don't think I'm the best person to choose for this job…" Fatgum said worriedly into his phone.

"Relax mate. She's just a normal civilian, so she won't be trained in counter surveillance." Mirko assured Fatgum over the call. "Just trail her and you should be good."

"Eraserhead would be so much better at this." Fatgum complained.

"He's out teaching at U.A. Y'know, the choice is either finish the job or I kick your ass again." She playfully threatened.

"I used to be a pro boxer back in the day." Fatgum reminisced. "I doubt even you could get past my quirk."

"You wanna bet?" Mirko said aggressively.

"She's moving, I'll keep you updated through text." Fatgum noticed Carolina continuing her run.

"Nah, you can talk and run, can't you?"

"Fine." He grumbled.

"What's she look like?" Mirko questioned.

"Red head, lean and muscular." Fatgum squinted. "And lots of scars. I seriously doubt she's just a civilian."

"Eraserhead checked her out in the city's database, and it said she's completely normal." Unbeknownst to them, Church had taken some of his free time to give them alias' to use. Carolina was known as Akako Tanaka, and York was given the name of Shunichi Fukuda (I googled Japanese names, don't me for something wrong, I'm not well versed in Japanese naming).

Akako Tanaka entered the gym where she worked. Her boss told her there was someone who wanted to partner with the gym, and it was her job to try and convince them through a rigorous workout. She did the customary grumbling and complaining, but ultimately took the job. The businessman who wanted to partner with the gym looked ordinary, just a simple suit and tie with silver hair, and as Carolina would find out, he was ordinary. Within 5 minutes of running, he was completely out of breath. He told her to hold up, to which she complied. Much to her surprise, the moment she stopped she felt large, burly hands clasp around her neck and mouth and drag her into a nearby alleyway.

"Holy shit, there's a kidnap attempt!" Fatgum's eyes widened.

"Tch, we'll deal with it later. Your focus is on Tanaka."

"Tanakas-san is the kidnapee." Fatgum deadpanned.

"Why didn't you say so? We'll be right there." Fatgum heard Mirko yelling to some other heroes, and a vehicle starting up. He made to go in the dark corridor himself, but his hero instincts told him it could be a trap. Inside the dark alley, Carolina was bound and gagged, although her feet were left unrestrained.

Rookie mistake boys. She thought, although the snatch was anything but. It was done so quickly and at the perfect time where no one was watching, nobody had the slightest clue she was missing. She was shoved behind a dumpster, and the businessman she was running with earlier approached her.

"Akako Tanaka, a pleasure to meet you." Instead of wheezing like he was earlier, he stood firm and wasn't sweating at all. "My name isn't important, but you can just call me Chronostasis." He pulled out a mobile device and swiped a few times. He held out the phone so Carolina could clearly see what was on the screen. It was a side-by-side image of her fight against the slime monster, and her taking down Hyena.

"Just a few days after this armored vigilante appeared-" He pointed to the picture on the left, which showed a person in cyan armor stabbing a brownish-green goop "-you showed up in front of a store owned by my group asking for a job. The person managing the shop informed me of your unusual stature, and we placed you under surveillance. The next day, he recorded your altercation with Hyena. Your fighting styles are awfully similar, and the height as well…"

"I'm not here to kill you, but rather give you an offer." Chronostasis straightened up and the brute that had kidnapped Carolina handed him a dark object with gold outlines. Chronostasis placed it on his head, and his goon followed suit with his own mask. When they removed their hands, the masks were revealed to be the shape of a bird's beak. "Join the Yakuza, and you will be rewarded greatly." He took the gag out of her mouth so she could answer.

Why the hell are you so reckless? She remembered what Church said. They already had enough money to live normally, and she had learned from Delta the Yakuza is a very harsh world. They kill on the slightest disobedience, and they often had street battles with police and local law enforcement. If she said no, they would probably kill her on the spot, or at a later date. She had no doubt that she could defeat these two, but her hands were tied behind her back so it might take a second too long. However, she thought that no one would come and help, so there were no other options.

"Hm." She thought out loud. "I think I'll pass." She cut through the rope using a rusty piece of metal sticking out of the dumpster, and swept Chronostasis' legs out from under him. Taking a page from South Dakota's book, before the muscled henchman could react, she stomped hard on his knee, bending it the wrong way and breaking it. He howled, but his pained yells were cut short by Carolina stomping on his face.

"I'll give you one more chance to rethink that." Chronostasis wheezed from the ground. "During your execution!" White spikes burst from his hair and sped at Carolina at incredible speeds, all aiming for her face. She braced for the hit, but it never came. She squeezed open an eye, and noticed that the spikes had slowed down to a crawl. She looked behind her and saw that the cars were moving in centimeters per hour, not kilometers, and people were barely moving at all. She could move normally however, and quickly dodged out of the way. She ran towards Chronostasis and struck him 3 times, once at the back of the head, the face, and stomach, rendering him unconscious.

"Put your hands where I can see them!" Time had resumed normally again, and Carolina spun around and saw a shadowy outline with rabbit ears yelling at her. She shifted into a fighting stance, but was interrupted by a loud crash. Another Yakuza member, this one wearing metallic gauntlets and a tunic wrapped around his waist, burst through the wall behind Carolina.

"Mirko! Are you back for another round?" He asked intimidatingly.

"Like hell! You three bird heads are under arrest for attempted kidnapping!" Mirko yelled through a megaphone. Fatgum and a few squads of police exited the hole the Yakuza member had just made, effectively trapping them. The larger Yakuza member scanned his surroundings, before charging Fatgum. Right before they made contact, a large whole opened up beneath their feet, swallowing up the three Yakuza and almost Carolina too, but she was grabbed by Mirko right before she slipped in.

Shit. Carolina swallowed heavily. She saw the familiar police car, but, like everything else that day, their "reunion" was cut short by something. A burst of bullets lanced close to Mirko's ears, causing her to jump and let go of Carolina. Time slowed again, and she recovered while looking around. And of course, there was York in full armor, holding a smoking gun, standing in the middle of the road. She walked up to him, and time resumed.

"How did you…" York looked back and forth from where Carolina was next to the heroes, and where she stood next to him. Carolina shrugged, and York pointed to a bag sitting on the ground next to him. "Church saw you get nabbed by those assholes on a security cam, and he called me in the middle of work. Your armor is in there." Carolina quickly suited up, while York swung his barrel at anyone who tried coming close.

"One step and the next burst goes in between your eyes!" He warned. The crowd of police officers suddenly parted to reveal a short, mouse-like humanoid striding up to them. York was about to pull the trigger when it spoke in a shrill voice.

"Greetings, Akako Tanaka and Shunichi Fukuda!" It yelled. "My name is Principle Nezu, and I am head of UA Academy." He introduced himself.

"Principle Nezu? As in first name Principle last name Nezu?" Carolina asked confusedly.

"My name is Nezu, and I am Principle of UA Academy." Nezu clarified. "I would like to ask you something."

"What do you want?" Carolina groaned. Again? she asked herself internally.

"Would you like to-" Another large hole opened up beneath Carolina and York, sending them tumbling underground. "Rats, they got away again."

"Why us?" York groaned as he got off the ground. They appeared to be in a tunnel connected to the sewer system beneath the ground, knee deep in murky water. "This is gonna take forever to clean off."

"On the contrary, I believe using the suit's self-cleaning mechanism could effectively be spotless within a few days." Delta corrected.

"Goddammit, here is Chrono and Rappa?" A small figure sat in the corner, it's arms blended into the wall. "I can't keep opening holes for their mistakes!"

"You there." Carolina pointed her gun at the child-sized man. "Let us out of here or you die." It turned around to reveal a beak-like mask, just like all the other Yakuza. The small Yakuza stood up and jumped into the wall. Carolina sniped it in the shoulder but it didn't seem to faze him at all. It phased completely into the sewer, and another whole opened up, this time to their left. The muscular Yakuza staggered through.

"Truly, a worthy opponent!" He yelled gleefully. Carolina and York could hear shouting and gunshots ringing out from where he just exited, and from the hole rushed a white blur, instantly blinding the two ex-Freelancers with its shininess. The Yakuza threw a hard punch, which was reciprocated by the streak, and the two started trading blows. The grime swept up by their battle covered the white blur, and the ex-Freelancers could see again.

"Maine?" Carolina said incredulously.

"Meta! Get back here!"

~~And that's a wrap-~~ Blitz knocked on the screen. ~~Are you guys sleeping?~~ He pulled out a whistle on his end and blew hard into it. Grif and Simmons were instantly woken, being the closest, but Wash was a bit harder to wake up. It took the three's combined shouting to stir him, which also woke up Caboose and Tucker in the process.

"Why the fuck are you guys yelling?" Tucker asked blearily. "It's fucking 2 am."

"Are we having a sleepover in the living room?" Caboose yelled excitedly. "I've always wanted to do this with my friends!"

"No, dumbass." Grif visorpalmed. "This asshole wanted to talk to us." He pointed to the monitor.

~~Uh new video?~~

"Shit, we missed it!"

A/N hey hey CH3 is done