"This is fine," Takaga mocked in a high voice, unrestrained and unintimidated by the other agents in the room, not bothering to look up from where he was tapping away at his phone. "The League of Villains will take care of Chargebolt for us, just like they offed Hawks."
The agent he was quoting was sinking down in his seat, face reddening, eyes darting around, desperate for someone to jump in and defend him. No one did.
"Play it again," Nato demanded, eyes trailing up to the big screen as Takaga tapped on his screen, the projected screen following phantom touches of his fingertips against his own phone. Each time he watched the video, he saw something new, a new detail that he had missed the previous thousand watches.
The video was already viral on TikTok and started off by showing the profile of infamous villain Shigaraki, lounging on a couch, yelling into his headset as he pressed buttons on his controller, intensely involved in some kind of zombie fighting game on the screen in front of him. While the music said, "the first man's name was Kiki. He wore such little pants. His brother was the champion, but Kiki loved to dance," the text on the screen read, "the first man's name was High5UrDead. He's the leader of the League of Villains, but also loved to game."
It was a shocking start, catching anyone who saw it off-guard. Seeing a villain on TikTok was really rare. Even the ones who were confident that their technology couldn't be tracked were paranoid enough about what could be disconcerted from their backgrounds that they rarely risked it. When they did, it was a low-level villain; it was never as someone as well known as the leader of the League of Villains. Not until now.
Another thing that was sure to catch people off-guard was the music. The silly, up-beat music was not the tone that one would set to indicate that they were going to ransom off a hero they had just captured, or maybe announce that hero's demise, which was probably the point seeing as to where the rest of the video led.
The screen switched to show Chargebolt, playing the same game, also talking into his headset, very much alive and not tied up and gagged if the video was to be believed. While the music said, "the second man was Choo-Choo, a master of romance. He loved the damsel in distress, but not as much as dance," the text on the screen read, "the second man was P05itiv3R3volt, a hero student by chance. He loved to save the innocent, and unknowingly game with villains."
The screen switched to show the news broadcasts and newspaper articles of when Denki was taken from the training camp by the League of Villains. The music blared through the speakers, causing some of the agents near the front to wince. Served them right in Nato's mind. When Takaga didn't turn down the volume, he once again made a mental reminder to really push for a raise for him. "And then one day, it happened, they went off to the world, they went onto a journey, idolized by the boys and girls. They learned so many lessons, in all the foreign lands, but no matter where they wound up, they never stopped the dance," while the text on-screen read, "and then one day, it happened. The League kidnapped the wrong hero student and ended up with Chargebolt instead. An unsteady peace was accomplished when Chargebolt recognized one of the members, and a temporary truce was called."
The screen changed once again to show Shigaraki and Chargebolt gaming right next to each other. "One day inside the station, in Amsterdam, perchance, the men were dancing side-by-side by the man with the crooked glance. They turned to face each other, it was just happenstance, that these two men would meet that day, and do that fateful dance." The agents' eyes trailed across the screen to read, not for the first time, but still in disbelief, "one day in Shigaraki's room, playing videogames, perchance, Chargebolt offered to play a game to work out a deal to protect his friends. They played the game, the order came, and Chargebolt shot the enemy down. They turned to face each other, it was just happenstance, that these two men would game that day and play that fateful match."
"Wow, you can really dance. Wow, you can really dance," became, "wow! You can really game!" from Shigaraki to Chargebolt, then, "Wow! You can really game!" from Chargebolt back to Shigaraki.
"He went—" Shigaraki pushed buttons on the controller and looked over at Chargebolt. "He went—" Chargebolt also pushed buttons on his controller and looked back over at Shigaraki. The music said, "they said 'we've both been dancing all this time. What a coincidance!'" while Shigaraki and Chargebolt mouthed, "we've both been gaming all this time, what a coincidence!"
"And then they danced together, like no one's danced before. The diplomats were dancing. They cancelled all of the war," turned into "and then they gamed together, like no one's gamed before. The villains spread the word that Chargebolt was off limits."
Full Throttle popped up in the background to lip sync, "no more!" and a nice little "(lesson learned)" popped up on screen, complete with an arrow announcing him as Full Throttle for those who would not know otherwise.
"The whole world celebrated, with no more violence, and all because these men crossed paths. What a coincidance!" transformed into "society shifted with the rising people's hero being supported by literally everyone. And all because these men gamed together. What a coincidence!"
"Speaking of Hawks," Nato said, eyes tearing away from the screen. "Was that a red feather that Shigaraki was wearing on the cord around his neck?"
"Yes," Takaga confirmed without needing to double check, shooting another glare at the agent who had mentioned the League killing off Chargebolt like they must have with Hawks.
"It's probably nothing," that agent said. "A bluff! A tease to make us think that Hawks is still alive somewhere. He wouldn't have lasted this long being tortured all of this time! It's probably just a generic red feather—and even if it was really Hawks's feather, it doesn't mean he's still alive! And furthermore, we—"
"Corner," Nato demanded.
The screech of the chair echoed around the room as the agent did as he was told without any argument, knowing from experience that he wasn't getting out of it this time, just like he hadn't any of the other times.
Takaga pulled up the comments on the video and scrolled. Nato read various comments of disbelief. Some comments stated that there was no way that it was real because Shigaraki would never make a TikTok with anyone, let alone the human embodiment of sunshine. Others argued that anyone would obviously do anything for Chargebolt because "have you seen/met him?" and Shigaraki was obviously not immune. Others yet made a good point because they were skeptical that the Chargebolt in the video was actually Chargebolt. The League of Villains had a member who could turn into other people and a member who could make clones, so it was possible that they could have used this to take the heat off if the Hero Public Safety Commission was getting too close to finding them.
The Hero Public Safety Commission was not close to finding them.
Others argued against that saying that Shigaraki would not have gone along with such a silly video if someone other than charismatic Chargebolt had suggested it and wondered who else could have even had the idea, especially considering the song choice. The implications of if it was exactly what it looked like was discussed, including the ethics of a hero befriending villains and if it was dangerous or progressive.
People called out for the Hero Commission to track down the villains through the video and get their beloved hero back. Others chimed in, some tactfully and others less so, that obviously they wouldn't have posted the video in the first place if it was trackable, and obviously the Hero Commission would already be tracking it if it was able to be tracked.
Pro Heroes mostly stayed clear from the comment section, opting to just repost the video to help it spread like wildfire, as if it wouldn't have done that already without the extra help. People quickly noticed that Phantom Thief and Mindjack did not repost the video and started tagging them relentlessly, some just trying to be helpful and trying to keep them in the loop about their boyfriend just in case they did not already know, and others being nosy and asking for a response of some kind.
New trending tags developed rapidly.
#CharismaticChargebolt #SingingShigaraki #IWouldGame #HeroAndVillainFriendlies #ShigarakiIsKiki #ChargeboltIsChooChoo #IsChargeboltSafe #RedFeatherTheories #CreativeRansom #LOVCoinciGAME
Nato eyed the comment section, even as he felt a headache coming on, wondering if it would be unprofessional to send out some inquiries on some of the more tactful commentors who had some good ideas to see if they would want to send their resumes in to work for the Hero Public Safety Commission.
-.-.-
"Oh, fuck!" a woman exclaimed as Neito and Hitoshi dragged their feet as they entered Unit Delta, led in by a technician they had never met before.
"Maediri," one of the technicians groaned out. "Don't scare off the newbies on their first day!"
"I don't think anyone's scaring these two off," she responded, looking the heroes up and down with wild, calculating eyes.
The technician gave her a cautious look and hesitantly started to turn away from her, like he was nervous about turning his back on her. When he caught sight of Neito and Hitoshi, though, he seemed to have forgotten about his hesitancy.
"I'm back!" Neito sang, like it had been two days instead of six years. "Hi, Chizato! Long time, no see!"
"You made me lose a major bet, Neito!" the technician yelled, taking three big steps toward the two before wrapping Neito in a tight hug. "I'm glad I haven't seen you in so long."
"Hitoshi, right?" Chizato asked when he pulled away from Neito, just when Hitoshi was about to introduce himself again.
Hitoshi smiled, taken aback. "Yeah. How'd you remember?"
"I only met you and Denki once, but you two were the only ones who could keep this one out of trouble. Well, both of you plus Touya, right? Even though you had trouble with Touya before," he said to Neito, "you four all together seemed to be the magic combination."
"He remembers his favorites," Neito said to Hitoshi with a knowing smile and a shrug.
"You still getting into trouble, then?" Chizato asked, gesturing to indicate that he was talking about the fact that he ended up there again after all of those years.
"Maybe a little," Neito answered with a sheepish grin. "It's not my fault this time, though!" And well wasn't that déjà vu? "If the Hero Commission wasn't such a little bitch—"
"Back up," the technician stated. "The Hero Commission?"
"Can I get your autograph, or is that against the rules?" Maediri asked, sliding up beside the three and throwing her elbow onto the desk to lean against, shooting a glare at the technician, daring him to deny her. "You're my favorite heroes, you know. You make it easier to be polyamorous. It's even easier for me now because when I mention it, everyone always goes, 'well at least she doesn't have a soulmate along with the mess of relationships, like Phantom Thief, Mindjack, and Chargebolt.'"
"You're heroes?!" Chizato squawked. "You're heroes! Oh! I knew Touya's training was something special, and I knew you four were on another level, even back then! This is so exciting!"
"Don't ignore me," Maediri grumbled.
"We're here for three days," Hitoshi told her. "We'll catch you at group later. I'm sure we have a strip search in our near future—"
Hitoshi sighed at the guilty look the technician shot them, but it almost made up for it the way Maediri beamed at them before skipping off to the group room.
They had never been on Unit Gamma before, this being the adult unit, but it was the same layout as Unit Beta from what Hitoshi could see. Everything just seemed a little smaller, a little more claustrophobic.
Maediri did end up getting her autographs. And a conversation.
"You're distracted. You're worried," she said. "I can tell."
Neito was about to dismiss her before he thought better of it. "If you wanted to sing a song to your soulmate—"
"I don't have a soulmate."
"If you did, and you wanted to sing a song to your soulmate to let them know that you were here unexpectedly because they did not know that the Hero Commission abused their power to plant you here against your will, what song would you sing?"
"But your soulmate is right there," Maediri said, gesturing toward Hitoshi.
Hitoshi gave an easy smile before Neito could explode. "It's okay if you don't have any ideas," he said easily. "Not everyone is great at thinking about music they could use on the fly like that."
"Crazy Train," Maediri said then, quickly as if to prove to them and maybe herself that if she ever did find a soulmate, she would be able to think on her feet quick enough to be an asset to them.
The soulmates' eyes lit up. "That'll work. Thank you."
"Hey, Chizato," Hitoshi prompted. "We don't want our time here to be a waste, so how about a tour of the campus?"
"Oh, uh— Are you sure? I could probably arrange that, considering… but, people are bound to recognize you," Chizato warned.
"That's the idea!" Neito chirped, hopping up to seat himself on the main desk.
Chizato wasn't phased in the least.
Neito wondered if it was because it was him, because he was an adult now, or because he was a Pro Hero and not likely to hurt himself. Or maybe a combination of the three. Thinking back, though, Chizato was never one to scold him for the small things anyway, not in a serious way, at least.
"We were kind of hoping to meet the kids. Maybe explain how here is where we really got started on our path to becoming Pro Heroes in the first place if there's any interest."
Chizato inhaled sharply, his eyes switching between the two heroes to make intense eye contact.
"That would actually be really wonderful of you guys. With the colder season and getting outside less, less sunlight… it gets worse for everyone around this time of year. I'm sure they'd appreciate the attention from someone other than the same few technicians."