The doors swung open under their touch and Chisaki was immediately stunned by the sheer chaos that lay before her.

A deep base thundered through her chest, reverberating from the massive speakers that towered at the ends of the room and stretched into the smoggy ceiling. Lights flashed down through that same haze in varying shades of pink and purple and red; accosting her eyes and forcing her gaze down to the dance floor. Where dancers wrapped themselves around or hung off of poles and people crowded around their raised platforms. A few steps below her, a convulsing wave of bodies stretched from wall to wall, their chatter and movement adding to the pervading noise. The ones that weren't dancing were at a bar, downing drinks or leaning over each other in a merry mess.

With every inhale her nose stung with the pervading density of smoke, as it mixed with the scent of something vaguely sweet and the unmistakable sour stench of sweat.

For a few beats, Chisaki was overwhelmed as she looked out across it all.

She felt small here, like an insignificant burr clinging to the world. She'd expected chaos, but this seemed absolutely untamable.

So many people. So little space.

Her eyes fell on the main exit, the set of double doors across the ocean of bodies. Such a small escape route.

As soon as the lights went off, this chaotic energy would twist in panic. They'd trample each other. It'd be a stampede of death-

No. No. She couldn't falter here. She'd only just gotten her feet on the ground.

If she failed here, everything was over. Her life would collapse. She'd have to leave behind everything that she was. She couldn't afford to lose this bet. She was getting these people out of here, even if she had to scare them to hell and back to do it. Sure, a few more people might come out bruised and battered, but they'd survive. She had to make sure of that.

They were currently standing at a service entrance, beside a bar. It was all on a raise platform, a few steps above the writhing crowd. This was still the best vantage point. Just as she'd planned.

Take a deep breath. Just focus.

She shrugged off the backpack and turned to Cricket, ready to hand it to him while she reached into a side pocket of the backpack and wrangled out a bulky handgun looking thing. A flare.

She'd only fired one once for practice; and she'd found that this brand didn't fly too high and had a short detonation time. She eyed the high ceilings above them while her heart thudded away.

This had to work out perfectly.

She'd handed off the backpack, and was taking a moment to breathe. For one brief moment she tuned in to the chaos around them, the lights and the music and the chatter. She felt how her nerves fired and the adrenaline pumped in anticipation. She was ready.

Then it all went dark.

High pitched screams and exclamation erupted across the room, nails on a chalkboard to her strained ears.

Chisaki launched herself to action.

Her hands grappled for a perch on a nearby bar top and she heaved herself up. By the time she'd pulled herself to her feet, some sort of night vision had automatically activated in her mask and she was watching faces shift before her, the indomitable wave from before momentarily quelled.

It wouldn't be that way for much longer.

Chisaki's arm raised, pointing the barrel of the flare skywards.

The faintest pop broke the silence when she pulled the trigger. For a few beats the projectile whistled through the air while the world remained dark. Chisaki's heart thudded in her ears and adrenaline poured through her. Her head felt light but her eyes were heavily trained on what was before her and her muscles coiled, ready to move.— Then the world exploded in light, everything was stained red as the projectile fell through the air.

A second row of screams echoes in the crowd. Bodies flung to the ground. Eyes darted to her and her raised arm, to her figure basking in the haunting light.

For one terrible moment the world held its breath. Fear, anxiety, and panic thickened in the air.

Then the colored lights flickered back to life and music crackled into the speakers. But the eyes stayed on her.

Hundreds of eyes on her. Scared, accusing, waiting.

She wanted to melt away.

But no.

This was Malice on this stage.

Not Chisaki Midoriya. Not worthless Deku.

Malice.

"Good night my dear citizens!" Her voice thundered through the space; amplified with Cricket's aid. She threw her arms wide as she made her declaration, going all in with a reckless confidence she'd adopted practiced in reference to Shigaraki and the smattering of other villains she'd studied. "I have an announcement for you all! While I'm sure that each and every one of you would much rather go back to your mindless fun, you see, my friends and I are here to have some fun of our own… And that unfortunately means that you all are in the way!" The front doors across from her were thrown open with a slam, as if to accentuate her words. Shotgun and Medusa's unmistakable silhouettes stepped through, clearing the doorway, ducking to the side and setting their hard eyes on the shell-shocked crowd. "So unless your name is Jerry, I need you out! Now."

This seemed to jolt the ones by the door to life, their eyes flashing between her and the villains by the door as they broke off from the crowd, staggering to their feet and scrambling out into the street.

Ok. Good. Now they were getting somewhere-

A spark of movement in her peripheral drew her attention: a flash of metal in the blaring lights, a long narrow barrel peeking up at her from behind the bar, a hand pumping the loading mechanism on the underside; a shotgun, held up by one of the servers ducked behind the bar.

Bang.

Immediately chaos rang out behind her as people cried out in fear and panic. The crowd jolted to life as people redirected towards the exit, now scrambling away from the gunshot.

Chisaki grinned behind her mask, now watching her attacker in admiration.

That was a nice shot. It would have hit her full in the stomach if she still had one.

But she'd evaporated, much to her attacker's confusion.

The young woman scrambled to her feet, eyes darting through the cloudy air for a moment before she stumbled up to the empty bar top, searching for her victim's body. The gun was pressed under her hands as she leaned across, as if she expected to find a honeycombed corpse on the other side.

Instead, her would-be victim calmly solidified behind her, pulled a knife from her belt, and slipped it up to her throat. The woman tensed under the blade, realization playing across her face as she raised his hands. Chisaki deftly took the opportunity to maneuver her backwards, away from the bar top and the gun she'd left there.

"So…" She purred, eyes roaming to the chaos on the other side of the bar. Thankfully that gunshot had given the crowd just the kick they needed to pick up some momentum and rush towards the doors. "I assume that you know where Jerry is."

"Fuck off." The young woman snarled, her eyes falling stubbornly on the gun that lay barely out of reach. "I don't care who sent you, but neither you nor your friends on the roof are getting out of here alive."

Friends on the roof? That must have been Shigaraki and his team. So they'd made contact. Good to know.

Chisaki tilted her head with a chuckle. "Oh?" Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper as she pulled the knife closer to his skin. "You know, you don't sound like a normal staff member. Maybe you could tell me where the big boss is. Huh?"

"I'm not saying shit."

"What a pity… Well I suppose that I'll just have to dispose of you then-"

"Die you son of a bitch!" A cry of outrage interrupted her from down at the end of the bar.

A burly man, another staff member, was charging her from six feet away with an icepick in hand, his mouth still agape in his mangled warcry.

Following not too far behind him stood another man, this one obviously a gangster, who had a gun leveled shakily at Chisaki's head.

She barely needed to register the approaching threat before her training kicked in.

With the pummel of her blade, she swiftly delivered a blow to the back of the bar-woman's neck and then dissolved; leaving her unconscious body to tumble onto the floor behind her as she shot forwards, quick to close the ground between her and her second assailant.

Fury burned in his frantic eyes as she approached, and he began slashing the empty air in a fruitless attempt to maim her smokey form. Chisaki was hardly hindered by his pointless struggle as she curled around him, now rising above his beefy shoulders and into the air. When she'd risen as high as her screaming lungs would let her, she materialized and launched herself into gravity, barreling down in a deadly tackle. Her feet landed first, laying her full body weight and her momentum onto his upper back. The startled man toppled forwards, slamming face first into the floor with a resounding thud, unmoving.

The violent ringing of a gunshot struck her ears next, as something burrowed into the tile next to her and her fallen attacker. The gangster from before stood a few feet behind her, eyes fixed on her in bitter fury.

She wasted no time dissolving and cutting through the air towards him too, only to find that her lungs screamed once again; warning her that she wouldn't hold out for any more fancy stunts. So she made it something simple, a move that Giran had drilled into her, and she swiftly re-appeared before the gangster, just below his outstretched arm.

She met his stricken eyes as she wrenching the gun from his hands and in the same fluid motion slammed the base of it into his jugular. The man let out a sputtered cry in agony as he stumbled back, clutching his throat.

His bleary eyes followed her as she kept stride with him. His fury drilled into her until he tripped over his own feet and fell back onto his ass. The deadly look on his face cracked as he looked up at her.

Fear and despair poured through.

"P-please don't k-kill me-" He squeaked out, only to be interrupted by her raised foot colliding with the side of his head and slamming it into the base of the bar. His eyes rolled back and his body went slack, leaving him slumped over and unconscious— At least that was all she hoped she'd done to him.

Chisaki stood there for a moment, breathing hard in exertion and assessing her string of victims as they lay strewn about the backside of the bar.

She finally let loose a sigh of relief.

That was three men down.

Three men still breathing.

Two of them were probably concussed; but, hey, living was living. She couldn't complain.

Now she just had to survive the rest of them.

On the other side of the bar —where most of the civilians had filed out and left a half toppelled, empty, club in their wake— a swarm of gangsters were spilling out from behind the DJ's stage and they were now trudging rather angrily in her direction.

Chisaki felt unnaturally calm as they approached, things were going to plan and the civilians were finally clear. Yet these gangsters appeared to have every intention of stopping her. Which really worked just fine with her, she'd just deal with them like she had the other three. It didn't matter that there were more than four times as many of them- or that they were all armed, which was rather alarming now that they were pointing an assortment of rifles in her direction.

Weird, she thought distantly. It kind of looks like they're getting ready to gun me down-

Oh fuck!

Just enough sense struck Chisaki in that moment to drop behind the bar, only to hear a deafening roar of gunfire cut through the air where she'd just stood.

Shot glasses shattered and wood splintered under the barrage, raining down across the stretch of space between the bar and the wall opposite, with its counter and its mounted rack of alcohol. Then, like miniature grenades, those same colorful bottles began to explode as the bullets pierced them, bursting in a shower of liquid and glass.

Chisaki resisted the urge to scream behind her mask. Panic sent her heart hammering and legs shaking against her chest.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

How many people was that? Fifteen? Twenty? And they were all armed! She couldn't fight this many people- Definitely not when they had her pinned in place and kept a distance.

What had she been thinking? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She needed to get out. How? Go out the sides of the bar? No. They'd see her just as soon. Try and go up over? Her lungs wouldn't hold long, what then? She'd just end up full of holes.

Maybe she could just wait this out until her personal firing squad ran out of ammo? No. No. This wooden bar at her back wouldn't hold forever. It was only a matter of time until it gave out and the wood imploded, either skewering her instantly or leaving her riddled with holes not a second later.

Shit. Fuck. Shit!

Her plan was in the dirt. She couldn't find this Jerry guy, and much less the Boss, if she was full of bullet holes. She'd be too dead to even dream of it. God, this was it, she was going to die here!

She hadn't expected this -Why hadn't she prepared for this?- hadn't prepared for something so messy.

She was an idiot. A fool: shaking like a leaf, and about to get murdered on her first expedition as anything other than the useless, dumb, coward who lived under Bakugo's heel. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she shouldn't be a villain. Maybe she should have just stayed home.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't-

Suddenly the whole rack of bottles gave out under the onslaught and it collapsed, spilling a flood of glass and drink across the counter and the floor below it.

Chisaki barely managed to muffle the cry in her throat as she whipped her head away in fear.

Then her eyes settled on the unconscious man slumped beside her.

His eyes were closed rather peacefully, his lined face relaxed and folding slightly into his bright blue button down as his body slumped loosely against the bar. He was defenseless and utterly unaware of the death that pounded down him.

This man would die too if she gave up now.

It wasn't just her life in her hands. There was his, and that server woman's and the hulking man who'd charged at her. They were all people with lives, loved ones, dreams, and aspirations. Those would all end if she didn't find a way to get them out of here.

The open ends of the bar were just starting to look rather promising when Shotgun's voice rasped like thunder in her ear, sending her hairs on end and her shoulders tensing in surprise.

"Malice, 'you still alive back there?"

Chisaki sat there for a second, mind buzzing in panic as her lips stumbled for an answer. Was she alive? That felt entirely debatable. She was still shaking. Her mind ran in frenzied circles. Her heart hammered in her ears; never quite succeeding in outdoing the chaos that sounded around her.

She looked back to the man she'd put here, helpless and bound for death if she left things be.

He needed her. Her team needed her. The many many people in the League's future needed her.

She wasn't dead yet- She was alive and kicking, and she still had a raid to finish and a bet to win.

An exhausted laugh escaped her turned lips.

"It appears so." She rasped quietly.

An unnamed sigh of relief sounded from someone in their team.

Cricket gave an awkward cough. "So… What's our move?"

"Do I finally get to cut someone?" Toga interjected.

Chisaki laughed dryly, something shallow and vaguely desperate.

"Well, we'll see about that one…" Chisaki grinned hollowly at the unconscious man at her side. The other two victims were sprawled a safer distance from the assault, but there was no way she'd be able to drag all of them to safety.

She needed a plan.

What would Sensei do in this situation? —Hell, he probably wouldn't have gotten himself here in the first place.— But if he were, theoretically, he'd probably maneuver his enemies into a disadvantageous position, confuse them, and then use whatever tools at his disposal to kill them. In this case, she didn't need them dead; she just needed to get out of here and find that Jerry guy that the guard had mentioned. The team could do the heavy lifting for the latter part of that strategy, but she was on her own for the former. She needed to turn the tables- to take hold of the situation, and manipulate her enemies. But before that, how was she going to get her victims out of the way?

All Might would have carried them up into the air, to safety. But she couldn't carry them. She wasn't strong enough… But up? Her eyes traced the swimming lights up to the catwalk that they hung from and she smiled.

"Team A. What's your current position and status?" She said, her gears turning.

"We're safe. We've got about ten feet between us and the gang members. I don't think that they've noticed us yet."

"Good. Can you get a good look at them without getting caught?"

"Sure."

"How many do you see?" There was a pause.

"Thirteen. Twelve have guns and are wearing some kind of uniform. One in the back is dressed in a floral yellow shirt. He's a skinny type, nervous looking."

Bingo.

"Okay. That's probably our man. Cricket, what's your status? Can you get close to the back wall?"

"Yeah. I guess so. Why?"

"I'm going to cause a distraction. When I do, I need you to sneak around the back and grab the man in yellow, I'm thinking that's Jerry. Can you silence his cries when you drag him off?"
"Yeah, I should be able to, but there's no guarantee that others won't notice me."

"Don't worry, that's what Team A is for. -If the enemy sees Cricket and his package, you two will be the ones to provide cover fire. Once he's removed the target successfully, seen or unseen, you will be helping me subdue the twelve gunmen. Remember not to kill. Shoot them in the foot or the leg if you have to, but aim to knock them unconscious or disarm them."

"Got it." Shotgun said back.

A faint, "Mhm," sounded from Medusa's end.

"What about me? What about me?" Toga's voice bounced in anticipation.
"You're going to be our second pair of eyes."

Not a minute later, Chisaki sighed and centered herself. Everything was set.

Shots still flew and debri still scattered through the air as the rounds buried into the wall across from her. Dust and splinters rained through the air and for once she was glad that her gas mask was fully functional. Unfortunately, her victim's didn't have that luxury so there was no time to waste.

With her eyes set on her goal, she took one last deep breath and dissolved.

Her great plume of smoke climbed through the air. Once she was a few feet in the air the shots paused, interrupted by a shout and she twisted in her assent to find an array of surprised pointing. Then the guns were leveled to follow her and the shots resumed, this time abandoning the crumbling bar and messily tracing her path along the far wall. Plaster rained in deafening explosions as the bullets fazed uselessly through her and into the wall. Still, even though she was unharmed, reflexive anxiety hitched in her quickly emptying lungs and Chisaki fought the urge to let go of her quirk and drop back into a scared ball of deep fear.

When she'd finally made it to her destination not a minute later, Chisaki's lungs screamed and her head spun as she stumbled onto the catwalk gasping for breath. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to fall to her knees and let her lungs recover, but the resounding PING of a bullet hitting the underside of her metal perch urged her forwards. Theoretically the bullets would hit with less accuracy up here, not to mention that the lights would be rather blinding from below. But there were still a dozen guns pointed her way and she wasn't going to sit and wait for a lucky shot.

Even if she was just the distraction.

Far below her, the real key to their plan was already in place. While the shooter's had their eyes turned upwards, Cricket's tiny form slid carefully along the far wall. The target, with his yellow sleeve raised to look up at her through the lights, was none the wiser. Ten heart hammering seconds passed uneventfully as she dragged herself messily back and forth across the catwalk, and she forced her lungs to recover from their journey skyward. Far below her, Cricket's miniature silhouette had his hands wrapped around the scrambling man in yellow, Jerry, and was dragging him aside.

Then –Fuck!– one of the guards had turned around, pausing to reload, and his eyes fell on the two of them.

Even Chisaki could hear the impressive cry of alarm that tore itself from that man's throat.

She threw herself at the railing and watched on in panic as the crowd shifted their attention away from her and down to the defenseless Cricket.

Off to the left, Shotgun was drawing a gun and preparing to rise from his hiding spot, while Medusa was already up and leaping over the overturned couch in a charge towards their assailants. But they were going to be too slow. The guns were already aimed at their encumbered teammate.

Chisaki's frenzied mind lept dizzyingly for a solution, a tool, a weapon- a light was suspended right in front of her, it was a chunky piece of metal, heavy and dangerous. Her body moved on its own, her heel raising and slamming down with numbing force, until she heard a resounding crack and something broke. The fixture swung crookedly and by the time she realized what she was doing, she'd already kicked the ficture loose and it was plummeting through the air below her.

It collided with a violent crash, spraying glass and crushed metal between the startled gangsters and their unhindered quarry. The gangsters recoiled in surprise and their beady eyes flashed up to her in anger. She simply returned their animosity with a friendly wave, watching with relief as her teammates took these extra seconds of distraction to close the ground between them.

Shotgun rushed up and immediately swept out a man's legs from out from under him, and when another turned back towards him in surprise, he whacked him in the face with the butt of his gun.

Medusa, meanwhile, already had a man entangled in her hair, and was launching him through the air. He crashed against a raised platform and crumbled to the ground. Before Chisaki could assess if that same man was still alive, Medusa was already reaching for the four men nearest her, now violently wrenching the guns from their hands and tossing them out of reach.

Seeing that those two had the situation handled, Chisaki turned her attention to the very man that they had launched into the frey for.

Cricket had safely cleared Jerry off to the side and was leaning over him, with one hand clutching tightly to the man's obnoxious shirt and giving him a violent shake.

Chisaki found herself breathing a sigh of relief. Good.

If things continued as they were they would be done here soon, and they'd be able to move on to hunt down the boss.

Speaking of which...

She tapped into the coms.

"Toga, how are things on your end?"

"Ummmm, good." She drawled. "I've already made it past the third floor and I haven't seen anyone important yet. I mean there was this one guy that I practically ran into- Oh, but he's alive, don't worry. He's just unconscious and sitting in the stairwell. Anyways, there's really no security. I'm sure that they can't have all gone to the first floor to meet you, but the place looks empty… Actually wait a second." There was a pause before her voice came back. "Ok. So, scratch that. I think that I've found something. On the fourth floor there's this long hallway on the west side, with some cool door and a whole squad of these gangster guys right outside. Aw, and look, they're just sitting there in tiny little chairs, playing tiny little cards… "

"Toga. Focus."

"Ahem. Right. So, what should I do? Stab them? Keep climbing?"

The fourth flour… what was on the fourth floor again? The schematics had allotted the space to "staff accommodations" but there had been something rather strange about it when she'd looked it over. There was a large space opposite the elevators, just behind a foyer, facing the outside of the building. It was a suspicious place for an ordinary office space, it had to be something important; especially if there were still guards there after so many threats had been identified.

"No… Stay hidden for now. We'll come find you soon."

"Are you sure that you don't want me to stab them?" The other girl pressed, disappointment creeping into her voice. Chisaki simply rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure."

She gave a distressed huff.

"Fine. I'll just chill out in the stairwell then."

Chisaki sighed in relief and leaned her head against the catwalk's, cool, metal railing. "Thank you."

The tossed club shifted dizzyingly under the flashing colored lights. Down on the ground, Medusa had the last gunman by the throat and Shotgun stood beside her, craning his neck upwards to shoot Chisaki a thumbs up.

A distant part of her remarked on the sight. Something was thoroughly striking in this friendly gesture from an otherwise sinister man ringed by countless bodies. On an ordinary day, the sight probably would have had her shaking in fear. She had just witnessed a massacre under those hands, and yet she was only thankful that Sensei had vetted her a team with such skill; that and —judging by Kurogiri's lack of an announcement rescinding her legitimacy in their competition— the fact that none of those men below her were actually dead.

Chisaki set her shoulders and leaned into her comms unit.

"Cricket? How are things with our new friend?"

"He's not cooperating." His voice twisted in frustration, "The guy's just unexpectedly tight lipped- I mean, that or he's just delirious from the fear and pain. He just keeps babbling about useless stuff-"

She straightened in alarm. "Wait, fear and pain? Why is the man in pain, Cricket?"

"Oh well, he's not in any physical danger, nothing life threatening. He's just hearing some very disquieting frequencies-"

"Turn it off!" She ground out, "I'm coming down.", before evaporating into the air. Her cloud coalesced on solid ground a minute later and Chisaki appeared mid stride, sucking in deep breaths to fill her aching lungs as she approached where Cricket had pinned Jerry against a pillar.

Her lanky teammate watched her approach with a raised eyebrow.

The man at his feet was curled against the ground in obvious agony, still thrashing and shoving his palms against the sides of his head in a fruitless attempt to ward off whatever hell he'd been exposed to.

"Cricket. Turn. It. Off." She hissed pointedly, Cricket's puzzlement turned to shock. "Now!" He blinked furiously for a moment, his eyes darting between Chisaki and Jerry in a frenzied dash to understand. Evidently missing any meaningful conclusion, he balled his fists and turned away from his victim; fuming, but otherwise backing off. The poor man relaxed immediately, slumping feebly against the pillar at his back while his hands slid down his tear streaked face to the ground. Chisaki blood boiled at the sight of his torment, but she held herself steady. The clock was ticking, she needed to stay on track.

"Now then, Jerry." She dropped into a crouch, trying to catch his gaze. "Tell me where I can find the boss." His eyes just slipped away, unfocused and unyielding. She set her jaw and pushed a little harder, her tone clipped as she leaned in. Her gloved hand darted out to grip the man's stubbly chin, wrenching it up so that he was forced to face her. His eyes flew wide and his breath hitched in a gasp. "Where. Is. He?" She grated out.

Jerry's shoulders shook and he swallowed thickly. "I-" His voice broke. "I c-can't say."

She eyed him for a moment before sighing begrudgingly. "Fine." She rose to stand and crossed her arms bitterly. "Cricket, do your thing."

Her villain grinned, and the alarm on the other man's face increased tenfold.

"No! Not the noises again! Anything but that, please!"

"Then tell us what we need to know." Chisaki bit back coldly.

Jerry's brown eyes darted between the two of them, indecision and fear passing behind them. They settled on Chisaki and his voice hitched in distress. "You don't understand! He- He'll kill me!"

"So, what? Are you telling me that you would rather have my friend here do his job?" The man blanched, silent. "Well, come on. Pick one. I don't have all night to waste on someone like you. If you'd prefer to keep your lips sealed, I have no objection to prying it from you." Jerry's jaw went slack, and he opened and closed his mouth in distress. Chisaki dropped back into a crouch and peered deeply into his shaky eyes, her tone sympathetic behind its haunting distortion. "Look, I understand your predicament. You've got two threats cornering you in. There's us, an immediate danger that guarantees you immense pain, and then there's your boss, who will undoubtedly make your execution just as entertaining. But if we have our way, then your boss won't be able to hurt you, now will he? So help us and we'll help you." She cocked her head and lowered her voice conspiratorially, as if this were some deep secret. "I certainly know which option I would choose."

Jerry floundered for a response, indecision in his eyes as they moved to study the floor. Then the moment passed and he shifted; his brow furrowed, his shoulders rose defensively, and the words struggled shakily from his lips. "The fourth floor- his private suite is on the fourth floor. You can't miss it. He's got guards posted right outside and everything."

That sounded awfully familiar.

She leaned in. "How many?"

"Three, they're his personal guard. But…" The man curled in on himself, his eyes suddenly haunted by something only he could see. "they're not normal. There's rumors about them. The people who go to see them never come back. The Boss is the only one who can control them."

A chill of trepidation ran down her spine and Chisaki stiffened.

"How?"

Jerry pursed his lips. "He's their supplier for this weird trial drug that they shoot up on. Without it they go completely berserk, randomly smashing things and massacring anyone they come across."

Definitely not good.

And Toga was on the same floor as them. She'd been close enough to see them.

Chisaki tapped into the coms, rising to her feet in a rush of urgency. "Toga. Do not engage the guards. Do you hear me? Stay far away from them. We're coming up to help you."

"Um, okay…?" The girl's airy voice came back, "What? Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Just stay where you are. I'll explain when we meet up." Chisaki closed the line and chewed her lip anxiously.

This fucked so many things up. So, so, many things. Not only were they a new obstacle between them and the target, if Toga got too close and they found her, she'd be overwhelmed. They'd kill her. Just like those men in the warehouse. Chisaki's stomach turned over at the thought. She wouldn't let that happen.

"Wrap it up team, we have a suite to raid and a man to find." She declared, turning towards her two furthest teammates, who promptly abandoned their unconscious victims in their splay across the floor. Cricket meanwhile stepped towards her with suspicion in his eyes. She didn't have time to address it, and instead said: "Cricket, I'll take the backpack back now. I have one last thing to resolve before we go." He narrowed his eyes at her in further confusion but did as asked and unslung it from over his shoulder. She took it from his hands and began flipping through one of the smaller pockets. Eventually she pulled out a dense, folded, black, phone, and turned back to the man they'd left curled on the floor. Jerry's wide eyes followed her in horror as she turned back to him. "Thank you so much for your help tonight Jerry, I really do appreciate it, but I'm afraid that there is one last thing that you can do for us before we leave." She tossed the phone into his lap. "I'm going to need you to make a very important call for us."


A/N

Hey everyone, its the author.

Wow, its been a while since I've left a note, huh? Well here I am, alive and here to break your immersion.

I just thought that I'd say something after MIAing for so long and then spontaneously posting. Its kind of embarrassing to say, but as a writer I am an amateur and not very good about writing in a timely fashion. So as my life gets busy I just cant keep up with updates. However this doesn't mean that I have forgotten this story in the least. I fully plan to carry this project to completion, it just might take me a while. However, I am always looking to improve and check my posts often enough to see if anyone has advice. So feel free to comment, criticize, and theorize how you wish. I'll try to be better about addressing reviews at the end of my updates so that you guys know that I see you (Which I do, and it never fails to bring me a smile and an indispensable reminder to sit down and pump out some pages.) So thank you to those of you who have left reviews or PMed me so far, I really appreciate it.

Anyways, I'm hyped as hell to share the rest of this arc with you all. And I will see you all again in a few weeks. Stay safe, do what you enjoy, and live fully.

-OptionA