~ Detnerat Evil Incorporateeeed ~
"W-What was that?" Hana asked, as her and Hatsume entered the main building of Detnerat E… Detnerat and looked at the vast entrance hall, occupied by a number of desks and a large statue, of all things. For some reason, a jingle had played from the large speakers all over the room, the employees groaning.
Hatsume ignored it, just bouncing up and down in pure excitement at the idea of seeing Detnerat's labs, and Hana sighed. Why was she here?
"Welcome, welcome!" A voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked at a tall man with a long, pointy nose, red hair receding to show a vast forehead, and a physique that looked surprisingly well built for a CEO of a company- Wait that was the CEO of Detnerat!
"M-Mister Yo-Yotsubashi!" She said, bowing and trying to remember her father's words to calm down.
'This is excellent, Hana. The Green Valley Clan has been trying to infiltrate Detnerat from the underground for years, but they are unusually well guarded. So much so I suspect they might sell in the underworld. Make sure to report back on everything you find out."
Oh right, her father's words were a good cause of her anxiety.
"Please, Mister Yotsubashi was my glorious ancestor who was unfairly tried and punished despite fighting for the rights of all Meta-Ability users."
"What?"
"I said Mister Yotsubashi was my father. Please call me Rikiya."
"O-Oh. Of course." She nodded quickly, "And this is Mei Hatsu- Where did she go?"
"Sir, a crazy girl is trying to dismantle my computer!" An employee from a nearby entrance desk shouted, trying to keep his laptop from the reaching hands of a girl with pink hair.
"Hatsume no!"
"But the baby!"
Hana channeled her best Melissa, as she really wished her cousin was there with her, "You can make tons of babies later!"
"But I want to make a baby right now!"
"I'm flattered but not interested!" The employee shouted.
"Miss Hatsume, would you like to see our new support gear lab?" Rikiya asked, and Hatsume vanished from next the employee to all but teleport next to Detnerat's CEO.
"Can I?! Can I?! Why am I not down there yet?!"
"… How did you guess they are underground?" Rikiya asked.
"Oh I had a drone of mine scan this place yesterday, and it turns out you have ten whole underground floors, and I figured the large ones are either the company's servers or the labs."
"You did what?"
"Oh, but I'm supposed to keep that a secret. Please don't tell anyone." She quickly added, "Though if you'd like to buy my Floor Scanning Baby, ideal to find Villains hiding spots before a raid, I can provide it."
Rikiya blinked, "Miss Hatsume, you just violated our privacy, broke several laws and entered a private company without permission." His smile grew, "I believe you will fit in our company like a fish in the water."
"Sh-Should I be worried?" Hana asked.
"Miss Shindo, I assure you this is gonna be a great learning opportunity for all of us."
Hana nodded stiffly. In the end, she realized as Rikiya accompanied them to an elevator, no one had explained to them what the jingle that played while the entered actually meant.
Or why there was the statue of a platypus near the entrance, that was weird too.
-x-
"Here you are, you sneaky bastards." Miruko whispered, looking through her binoculars. Izuku, who had been handed another pair, looked too. A group of twenty or so people were moving around the facility, moving boxes from a truck to a warehouse.
"Are you sure they are Green Valley Clan members?" Izuku asked.
Of course it was a moot question, considering he could see one of the bodyguards from his family dinners, the guy with a bear Quirk that accompanied his cousin Isana.
"Of course!" Miruko shout-whispered, a tone Izuku didn't know existed before, "Look at that guy, the one leading the operation. That's some high-ranking member right there. Shikuma Tsugumi, also known as Bearhead."
"I thought Yakuza didn't use Villain names." Izuku muttered, thinking back to some of what his dad had told him during one of their talks. Those had become a lot more common since the Nagant incident, since Izuku was supposed to be one of the Clan's officials. He wondered what that actually meant. His dad had been vague about 'running operations' but in practice there had been no change in Izuku's life. "They think that those names attract too much attention."
"Uh, I'm surprised you'd know that." Miruko said, and Izuku froze.
"W-Well, I'm something of a Hero nerd, and I noticed Yakuza people always get listed without a Villain name in the news, so I did a search online once…"
"Good." Miruko nodded, "That means I can explain this." She pointed back to the warehouse, "See, the Green Valley Clan is clever. Officially, Shikuma Tsugumi is a Villain of the group known as Zoo Villains, allegedly planning to take over Japan or some shit like that. But I think that's a cover. I believe that the boss of the Zoo Villains is really some second-in-command of the leader of the Clan, and to keep suspicion away they masquerade their operations with some second-rate plan that fits better for the two-bit villains of an arcade game."
"That is very specific, but I get it." He replied. Izuku knew she was also right, "How did you figure this out?"
"Well, I looked into the operations of a couple of Villain groups that didn't add up. There is this gang called the Volcano Thieves, but they seem to suck as thieves. They always hit small places, but somehow they have top Quirks and brand-new gear." She grinned, "And the Zoo Villains? Have you ever heard of them doing anything on the news? Sometimes they make a hit on some business or attack some shipment at sea, but those are financial crimes. Not exactly 'take over the world' material. But they make an awful lot of sense if you are covering the tracks of Yakuza operations."
"Like burning down a store to get a portion of the insurance money, or 'attacking' a shipment when you are actually just smuggling stuff into the country." Izuku nodded again. "That's smart."
"Ah, you catch on fast!" Miruko nodded, "Alright, next, 'Operation: Valiant Inspection'."
"Why is this called Valiant Inspection?"
Miruko grinned.
-x-
Izuku kept his eyes the warehouse. The plan was really simple. They knew there was a back door, so he was supposed to enter, check the boxes in the warehouse, see what was in them, place a small tracker in one of them, and get out.
"This doesn't sound like a very thought-up plan..." He whispered.
"Hush, it's a great plan." Miruko whispered back, having walked behind a chimney for some reason while she explained her pln, "And anyway, no one will notice. They will be busy because a crazy vigilante is raiding their base."
"Who is the vigilaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"
Ok so, Izuku had a crush on Himiko. That was a fact. But his Hero crush was always for Miruko. That was also a fact. Narrowly beating Mandalay. It was, of course, the equivalent of any celebrity crush, something distant and unrealistic, even if the Sports Festival had decided to out the more… teenage opinions Izuku had on the matter.
None of that mattered as Miruko walked out from behind the chimney wearing a schoolgirl outfit that made her actually look a lot younger and a tiger mask that did nothing to hide her identity in virtue of the perfectly visible white rabbit ears. "Ta-dan! The Vigilante Tiger Bunny is ready to rumble!" She declared.
Izuku didn't answer, and Miruko sighed. "Kid? Kid!" She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, "Look, Miruko merchandise!" She shouted pointing to his right.
"Where?!" He promptly said, snapping out of his daze. "Uh… Sorry."
"Wow, Mic was right, that does work." Miruko grinned, "At least you have good taste in women." She ignored his wild stammering, "Either way, Tiger Bunny, the high schooler Vigilante, will attack their facility. Bearhead and his goons will prove too strong, and she will be chased off, but meanwhile, Valiant will sneak in the back and do what he has to."
Izuku blinked, "But… Wouldn't it be better if I played the Vigilante?"
"Kid, you are an Intern. Get that Provisional Hero License and I will take you in and send Tiger Bunny in retirement." A part of Izuku's brain told him he didn't want to get a Provisional Hero License, but he chased that thought with a bat until it was locked in the depths of horny jail. "Until then, the only fighting you can do is in self-defense or to protect other Heroes and civilians. And I mean actual self-defense, not 'I chased a Villain and he fought back'. Not to mention, Nedzu would have my head stuffed on a wall if I sent a first-year to fight Bearhead. Probably right next to Bearhead's if he managed to hurt you in any way."
"Alright." Izuku nodded.
"Good. Let's go, Valiant."
-x-
Valiant turned the handle of the back door. The handle didn't budge. He tried again. Nope.
He sighed. Well, there went subtlety then. Valiant could hear the shouts from the front of the warehouse as Miruko- no, Tiger Bunny had jumped in. Judging by all the screams of 'watch out, it's Miruko', it seemed Tiger Bunny wasn't exactly a successful cover. Then again, the point was more to give Miruko plausible deniability on why she hadn't arrested a Villain. The HPSC could get pretty angry at Heroes that let a Villain go unless there was a valid reason, and Miruko didn't have one, since apparently, no one believed her 'The Wild Villains are really Yakuza' claim.
Valiant shook his head, activated One for All, and pulled the door. The lock instantly cracked, giving way under even five percent of the Quirk's strength, and Izuku walked in… Only to find himself face to face with a large dolphin man.
They stared at each other for a second, and then the dolphin man turned around to call for help. Izuku immediately punched him, and the One for All powered punch sent him flying and then left him crumpled on the ground, knocked out.
Izuku smiled. Finally, he was doing actual Hero work. And even against the clan! Against… Well not directly against his dad, he figured, but still against some of his interests! Amazing!
The teen turned around and inspected the box. 'Guns or drugs? Let's find out.'
Box number one turned out to be guns, as did number two, three and four. With a grimace, Izuku slipped the tracker into the box and then continued checking the others. All guns. With a sigh, he quickly sneaked outside and then jumped on a roof nearby, before whistling. At the signal, Miruko disengaged and jumped off. As planned, they ran off for a while on the roofs of the area, making sure they weren't being followed, before meeting up on another building as agreed.
"So, how did it go?" The woman asked, now dressed again in her Hero suit.
"I had to knock someone out, but I managed to put the tracker in." Izuku replied.
"Good job kid! I especially liked the 'knock someone out' part! And now, we wait." She announced, pulling out from… somewhere the receiver of the tracker.
"Uh, but aren't we leaving the city in two days?"
"Yup. See, from my experience, if they don't move the stuff by tomorrow night, they are leaving it there long term. If that's the case, I can pass the receiver and the tip along to someone else investigating the Zoo Villains, have them keep up the stakeout for however long we need, and then… Well, move on to the next target." She smiled, "However, let it not be said we are going to stay idle. The receiver will beep if the tracker moves, so we don't need to constantly keep an eye on it. Come on kid, we have a city to patrol!"
-x-
"Sooo… What do we think of that?" Banjo asked.
"Eh, nothing much." Shinomori shrugged, "He did the right thing, I doubt anyone can argue with that."
Everyone turned to stare at the Second, who in turn stared at them. "What? I'm not angry with the Nineth this time. He finally did actual Hero work. He didn't hold back because he was facing a Yakuza from the same Clan." He nodded in approval.
"This is weird." The Third finally declared
"What?"
"Yeah you are kinda supposed to be the asshole here." Yoichi commented, "Please stick to it, otherwise I end up being the unlikeable one."
"Yeah it would kinda mess the whole dynamic."
"Yup."
"It's just a bit freaky to see a supportive Second."
The second gritted his teeth, and then glared at them all. "Shut the fuck up..."
"It's just weird, man..."
"It's not! Now shut up and go back to cheer for the Nineth or some shit like that."
"… Right." En nodded, turning around, "Go Izuku."
Several other Vestiges echoed the sentiment. The Second just grumbled.
-x-
It was weird to walk around at night, alone with a Hero. Himiko was much more used at running away from said Heroes. "Soooo… What are we doing?"
"Just patrolling." Kesagiri Man replied, his full-body black outfit with white stripes hiding his features entirely, save for his hands.
"But why in a dark alley? I mean, I know you are an Underground Hero, but…"
"Secrecy is important, but the real reason is that we Underground Heroes are the ones that collect information. You think All Might can walk up to a criminal and ask them what they know about ongoing criminal activities? That's our job."
"Not the police's?"
"There are legal distinctions between police and Heroes. But more importantly, a lot of criminals find having a Hero 'on their side' more attractive than having random contacts with a police officer. A lot of people that leak info to Underground Heroes do it because they believe that way we will let them go."
"Do you?"
"Sometimes. Depends on the crime, of course. If they are selling drugs, I might just take it to the police and let them slip away, and if they are stealing from someone I will take back what they stole, but if they are attacking someone physically in any way all bets are off." He explained, "In general if you can't forgive small-time criminals, I think you shouldn't try to become an Underground Hero. We usually deal with Vigilantes, drug dealers, or small-time thieves. I think Eraserhead a couple of years ago had a pretty good network of connections in Naruhata… But yeah, hope that isn't an issue."
"I don't think it will be." The ex-serial killer turned daughter of a super-Villain and w-w-w-wife-to-be of a future Yakuza boss replied.
"You are turning bright red." Kesagiri Man commented.
"I-I just had an embarrassing thought, that's all."
"Alright Carmilla, don't worry." He said with a chuckle. "Come on. I will start to show you how our job works."
She nodded, and walked behind him, wondering who they were going to meet. Finally, he stopped in the middle of an alley. A woman with grey hair and the skimpiest outfit Himiko had ever seen – and she had seen Momo and Midnight's Hero Costumes – walked forward. Her black domino mask hid her features… for all of two seconds, before Himiko realized who she was.
Izuku's cousin Konako Haizono stared at her just as she did, before blushing wildly and coughing in her fist. "Y-You didn't tell me you would bring someone else." Konako said, doing her best to not look at Himiko but clearly trying to hide the fact she was wearing black boots, a black utility belt with garters, purple panties, a black sports bra, and very little else.
It wasn't really working. Not that that Himiko had a problem with it, those were legs for days. She totally got Izuku right now, they really agreed on the argument of what to do with legs and abs. Maybe they really were soulmates after all.
"Something wrong?" Kesagiri Man asked, confused.
"N-No, it's just… Ohi, my eyes are up here, Shig-" she stopped, coughing "Shitty brat." She corrected herself.
"S-Sorry…" Himiko replied, her eyes doing their best to stay fixed on Konako's face. Damn, she wasn't wrong about her assessment, Izuku's family was made up of really attractive people, Himiko likey.
"Right…" Kesagiri Man coughed, "Your attempt at seducing my intern aside," He ignored the angry squeak the woman and the girl emitted, "What do you have?"
"Right. Right, right. Here, the stuff for this month." She turned right around, "See ya." She added, storming off.
"Uh, that's weird, Dusty Ash usually is a lot more… in your face."
"What do you mean?" Himiko asked.
"That's Dusty Ash, one of the Volcano Thieves. They are a small gang of thieves, and she sells me information in exchange for me not arresting her on sight." He sighed, "I always hope that she will commit a crime in front of me, but unfortunately she never does." He shook his head, "Either way, she is usually a lot bolder. I think she has fun seeing if the person she is talking to gets flustered." He shook his head, "Villains are weird. Anyway, we got what we wanted, so we can leave now. Come on Carmilla, stop staring at her butt."
"I-I'm not…!" Himiko stammered, pretending her eyes hadn't wandered in a very specific direction as Konako left.
Again, Izuku's family was made of very attractive people.
-x-
Izuku finished his shower, changed for the night and promptly collapsed on the bed. The hotel room he was using, right next to Miruko's own, was pretty fancy, but he was too tired to do anything that wasn't sleeping. He was about to do just that, letting his muscles rest after a whole day of jumping roof to roof, when his phone buzzed.
"Mghello?" He mumbled.
"Don't believe anything your girlfriend tells you!" A voice he somehow recognized as his cousin Konako even in his half-asleep state shouted.
"What?"
"Whatever she tells you, she is lying! Absolutely lying! I definitely don't wear only a pair of panties, a sports bra, a belt with garters and boots when I'm in my Villain persona."
"Ok." He mumbled, "Immasleep."
"Wait-"
Izuku snored gently ignoring the shouting from his phone.
-x-
"Alright, so," Edgeshot walked, Fogman and Invisible Girl following behind, "Today we are going to start working on reconnaissance. This is mostly Invisible Girl's territory, but Fogman, you will definitely learn something too."
The two both nodded – or at least Masutaro guessed Hagakure had nodded too, her Hero Costume didn't really allow him to tell since all she was wearing were… boots… and gloves… and she was naked besides that…
Masutaro brought his hand to his nose to make sure he wasn't bleeding. Once he confirmed he wasn't, in fact, in a romantic comedy, he shook his head. She was invisible, he was actively seeing less than usual. Also, she wouldn't appreciate her boyfriend gawking at her… Would she? Maybe? She would right?
"Fogman?" Edgeshot's call woke him up right on time, saving him from walking straight into a lamp post. He coughed.
"Sorry, was just… thinking of something, sir."
Edgeshot hummed. "Well, let's focus, alright? I get this is all new, but you will learn a lot."
"Understood." He nodded, "But if I can ask, sir, where are we going?"
"Ah, you noticed this isn't just a patrol?"
"Yeah." Hagakure answered first, "I mean, if it is that's cool, but we learned early on that Heroes on Patrol usually walk a bit more slowly on purpose."
"Correct. If there isn't an emergency, we are supposed to walk around slowly to make our presence felt. And maybe to sign autographs, shake hands…" He sighed, "Speaking of which…"
Walking around with the Number Five Hero meant a lot of people were more than happy to stop them and ask for an autograph. Edgeshot, Masutaro had noticed, was very firm with them, giving out a couple autographs at random, taking a couple selfies, but then kindly explaining he was in a hurry. Most people were fine with that, though a few pouted or tried to push forward. With those, Edgeshot was sterner, informing them that he wasn't about to give them autographs just because they pushed away others.
'Uh, I should get Izuku an autograph later.' He realized. He would probably love it.
Pushing a bit forward, they reached a small building. Above the entrance were the words 'Wild Wild Pussycats – Tokyo Headquarters', with four cat prints of different colors decorating the sides of the word.
"I thought the Wild Wild Pussycats worked in mountain rescues mostly." Hagakure commented.
"They do, but is not like they can spend their life acting like hermits. They are 32nd in the Hero ranking, and while a lot of it comes from the results they accomplish, they still have a presence in the city. They do patrols, film commercials for various environmental agencies, or offer to cooperate with other Heroes for various missions."
Masutaro nodded, "We are here for that?"
"More or less. See, Ragdoll and Mandalay are experts in reconnaissance, so I asked them if they were willing to help with a job. Since this lined up with what I wanted to teach you, I asked them if they would be fine with cooperating this week."
"Makes sense." Hagakure said.
"Yup. I think they also have a couple of interns themselves. Not sure how many, usually Tora and Pixie Bob take the bulk of Hero training, but I'm sure there are gonna be a couple. Maybe they will be from UA."
"Wait, there are Interns not from UA?" Hagakure asked, surprised.
Edgeshot chuckled. "Well, it's a common misunderstanding, but UA isn't the only school that holds internships. Next week it will be the Shiketsu kids' turn, and other Hero schools do it all around the year. UA is just the most famous because their Sports Festival means a lot of Interns end up working with high-ranking Pros."
They entered the building, that only had a small couch, an empty desk, some potted plants and stairs for the floor above. Clearly, the office didn't see that much use.
However, the two woman in cat outfits, accompanied by three more girls, welcomed them immediately.
"Hello!" They both said, "I'm Mandalay!" The dark-haired one declared.
"And I'm Ragdoll!"
"And we are… The Wild Wild Pussycats!" They finished by taking their iconic pose.
The girl with a monocle took a sip from her teacup. The girl with a visor chuckled lightly. The last one just waved at them. "Hi!" Setsuna Tokage said.
"Your interns for this turn?" Edgeshot asked.
"Yup!" Mandalay smiled, "Though, I'm only working with Intelligentsia, as a returning Intern after last year." She said, waving to the girl with a monocle, who bowed her head.
"I'm thankful to miss Mandalay for the chance to learn from her this year too." The girl said with a wry smile that made it clear she felt like she deserved the trust, "I'm Saiko Intelli, the future Leader Hero: Intelligentsia."
"Yeah, I invited Lizardy and took in Sensor Girl instead." Ragdoll said, "Sensor Girl is a shoe in for my type of operations, and Lizardy's Quirk has some good search applications."
"Nice to meet you." Sensor Girl said with a bow, "I'm Kashiko Sekigai, the Mapping Hero: Sensor Girl. I'm from Isamu High School."
"And I'm the Raptor Hero: Lizardy!" Setsuna Tokage added, putting an arm around Sekigai's shoulder, "Nice to see you guys too. And an Internship with Edgeshot? Lucky…"
"Expected of a UA student." Sensor Girl said, before sighing, "Isamu is pretty good, but we can't really show off our skills like UA does."
"Oh, don't worry!" Ragdoll smiled, "You kids are all very skilled, you will make waves in the Hero community in the future!"
"Indeed," Edgeshot nodded, "How many interns did you take in this year, all together?" He asked, curious.
"Fourteen." Ragdoll replied, "Tiger and Pixie Bob are back at the base taking care of the rest of them."
"Poor guys…" Sensor Girl muttered. Saiko shivered, and even Setsuna started sweating.
"Oh, I'm sure they are fine." Mandalay replied.
-x-
Koda panted as he kept running through the woods, the giant ground beasts running after them, the ground shaking under them.
That wasn't what him and the other interns were running from.
"Plus Ultra, kids!" A voice roared from behind them.
"I don't even go to UA!" A short girl wearing a white sports uniform shouted, before tripping. Koda turned around, extending his hand toward the downed girl.
"Leave her man, she is done for!" Sen Kaibara shouted, as the figure of Tiger emerged from the woods, Pixie Bob following with a smile on her face.
"Do one hundred push-ups!" Tiger shouted.
The girl screamed.
Koda felt the need to scream as well.
-x-
"Yeah, they are probably having fun." Ragdoll said, "Anyway, Edgeshot, I hear you are also involving Uwabami in this. I take the hunt is on."
"Yup. The recent failure to kill or cripple Ingenium proves Stain might be slipping, but the fact he wasn't captured means he has allies. I think he has to be stopped now, before those new allies of his start changing his Modus Operandi too drastically. So I'm putting together a team to find him. Uwabami is gonna help between her other obligations – she is still an Idol Hero and all that – but I also need to set up a constant tracking team and someone to handle communications. You two are ideal."
Mandalay frowned, "Just to confirm, we aren't expected to fight, right? I'm confident in my skills, but I think only Tiger of us four can take on the Hero Killer and do more than just stalling."
"Don't worry, I will take care of the combat. All I'm asking for is your support."
The two looked at each other, and then nodded, "Alright." They said as one, "Guess this means we are working together. When are we leaving for Hosu?"
"Later today." Edgeshot replied, "We will go there at night and sleep at my agency during the day."
Everyone nodded, and the Hagakure moved closer to the girls to talk with them. Masutaro followed her, wondering how Himiko and Izuku were doing today.
-x-
Izuku looked down at the large compound. Miruko had woken him up early in the morning to tell him the tracker was moving and so where they. Quietly ignoring she had apparently broken into his room, Izuku had changed in his Hero outfit and followed the Hero.
He looked down at the place. The truck was parked near the entrance of the place. "What is this place?" He asked, "Their base?"
"It's a base alright, but not the Wild Villains' main hideout. That one is somewhere near Osaka. Nope, this one will require some investigation, but it's a promising route."
"Is it?"
"Yup. The Wild Villains shouldn't have any real reason to deal with a Yakuza group, but the Green Valley Clan definitely does. I will check the Hero Network to see what they know about this group." She started typing, "Let's see… Shie Hassaikai…"
-x-
Nighteye paled as he stared at the message he had just received on the Hero Network.
"Something wrong sir? Your heartbeat is accelerating." Jiro asked. She was sitting with Lemillion, the blonde teen showing her how to write a proper report after a mission. Nighteye always started with that. No way one of his interns was going home with less than perfect report-writing skills.
"I fear my delicate operation has just run into a sledgehammer." He said. "A sledgehammer called Miruko."
"Uh, my bo- my friend is doing his internship with Miruko."
"I pray for the poor soul." Nighteye replied. Seriously, poor kid. Nighteye couldn't imagine what kind of stuff he was doing for the Pro. Probably getting sent out to fight wave after wave of criminal to be shaped into the next Bunny Hero. 'What kind of Hero would do that? Just grow a successor to be their mirror image? Or worse, the mirror image of someone else?'
"Sir..."
"Not now Lemillion." Sir Nighteye said, the irony flying past him despite his excellent sense of humor.
Maybe Nighteye was just dense sometimes.
(XX)
Ah, internship events, so much stuff to do, so much to see.
From Hana and Hatsume, to Hagakure and Masutaro, to of course Izuku and Himiko. So much to see, so much to do.
And no, the jingle for Detnerat doesn't canonize last week's Apocrypha.
Probably.
Anyway, time for the team to search and destroy to get into business. Find a Hero Killer, boys. Definitely the only important thing there.
By the way, if you don't know them, Saiko Intelli appeared in Season 3 of MHA, and Kashiko Sekigai is from the Training of the Dead OVA. Cool powers, both of them.
You know, I don't know if in canon other schools do Internships, but it would make sense, so I figured it worked.
Well, that's all, see you next week!