Hello crazy, beautiful world, happy holidays and happy Mercenary day! I hope you are all home safe and ready to spend the season of merry with those who you care about.

But Scribe, you're asking, what are you doing here?

Thanks for asking random person! This is a little side story I wrote up for the hell of it, thought it would be fun! Consider this my Mercenary day present to you all! I will be posting the first 3 chapters today and continue writing through the holidays! If you include my other new story pilot, For Balance, For Honor, that's a bunch of more content for you all! Check out that other story by the way, it's my first try at medieval fantasy combat! But now, I hope you enjoy! Time for some pirate shenanigans!

Sidenote, these chapters are going to be a bit shorter than my usual fare, so updates will be more frequent.

As for the timing, this story takes place towards the end of the internship arc, specifically focused on the filler episode with Tsuyu. I thought, "Why not spice things up a bit?" That being said, the first two parts are mostly going to be nothing new, but stick through them to the third chapter, that's when the new stuff comes in!

That's it! Happy holidays!

Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.

Please rate and review!

"This means someone is talking."

'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'

This means it's a flashback.

*This means it's a sound effect!*

{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}

Froppy's Swashbuckling Adventure

The sun was shining, casting it's radiance and heat upon the Earth as the air began to shift from spring to summer. The sky was as blue as the sea, with seagulls squawking as they patrolled the coast, in search of something to eat. There was barely a breeze right now, the whole world feeling balmy and bright, a perfect day to spend at that beach.

But while some may be enjoying the weather to the fullest, others were hard at work.

A fair distance from the recreational beaches was the marina. Sleek, white patrol boats and other vessels were diligently moored at their docks, a slight current making them softly rub up against the pier.

All was quiet, save for the lapping of the waves against the shore and the scratching of a fine bristle broom, running up and down the deck of the Oki Mariner, a small patrol boat. The individual, a young girl with long green hair dressed in a matching green, skin tight bodysuit and a large pair of goggles gave the floor a couple more scrubs, then dumped her broom into the washbucket.

"Kero…" Tsuyu Asui stood up and wiped the sweat from her brow, the insulation from her hero suit making her breath heavy.

"Froppy!"

"Kero?" A female voice called out, making her turn her head with a ribbit.

Climbing down the steps was one of the pro heroes she had been working with, Sirius. A young, blue haired woman, she was dressed in the female navy uniform, a classic sailor attire complete with a cute hat and a red scarf. Peeking out from behind her bangs were two, wide, blue fins.

She held up a pair of canned drinks and smiled. "Time for a break, no?"

"Thank you Sirius-san." Tsuyu answered, taking the offered apple juice, cracking it open and taking a deep sip, relishing the refreshing cold.

"No problem. It's getting hot really quick isn't it?" Sirius said, sitting down on the stairs and patting the spot next to her in invitation. Tsuyu took it and sat down and they both drank in silence for a while.

"So, tell the truth." The hero started after a minute. "Doing chores and training all the time isn't exactly what you had in mind, is it?"

Tsuyu paused. It was true. Today was the fifth day of the Yūei internships and she was feeling a little restless. While the rest of her class had signed up for placements in the big cities, she had decided to play to her strengths as an amphibious mutant and picked an aquatic based hero agency in partnership with the coast guard.

As her superiors, the pro heroes responsible for her experience had warned her, it has been a lot of tough work. Every morning, she'd wake up to a blaring trumpet and run exercises with the rest of the crews and marine personnel, things like runs and push up sets. Then she'd join the daily duties of maintaining and cleaning the fleet while also learning about the chain of command and other important information. Every so often, they'd also run drills, starting up and checking the ships and taking them on small courses not far from shore, practice for the eventuality that they would be summoned to deal with an ocean based disaster or crime.

But that was it so far. All practice and cleaning, but no action. Tsuyu wasn't feeling ungrateful for all of the work and training, far from it, but there was only so long she could go without taking part in the real thing before impatience would start to creep in.

The feeling was exacerbated the other night when she caught word of the incident in Hosu. Compared to her classmates, Midoriya, Todoroki and Iida, who had a run in with the Hero Killer of all people, her internship thus far definitely felt very dull. Not that she was looking for a fight (who was she, Bakugo?), but she wouldn't mind a little excitement before this whole thing ended. Swabbing decks and running drills didn't make for fun stories to tell back at school.

"Yeah." She admitted.

"I was just like you when I was a student." Sirius sighed whimsically. "I always imagined hero work being more glamorous, but that got thrown out my first week here. Now I know it's just a routine of drudgery most of the time. Doing the crew's laundry is not what I thought I'd be doing, nor dreamed of." She complained, propping her head in her hands.

Tsuyu blinked. "Did you ever think of quitting?"

Sirius smiled. "A little bit when I started. But after I got assigned to work under the captain, I learned something important about being a hero."

"Really?" Tsuyu leaned in, her curiosity piqued. "What is it?"

Sirius only gave her a coy smile. "You'll have to learn that yourself."

Before she could have a moment to process her senior's words, a pair of heavy footfalls thumped off the deck.

"Hey, you two aren't slacking off are you?" A loud voice demanded, in a playful sort of way as the captain rounded the corner and leaned on the railing.

When looking at Captain Selkie of the Oki Mariner, the first word that would come to mind is big, the second would be seal. In truth, that would be accurate, the tall, muscular man's quirk making him a human-seal hybrid, down to the grey coat of fine, water repellent fur and the whiskered muzzle. Every contour of his sculpted physique was on display thanks to his blue wetsuit, designed to reduce drag when swimming.

"I'd hate to find out I hired a couple of layabouts. Have you finished cleaning Froppy?" He continued.

"Yes sir." She promptly answered before being pulled into a hug by Sirius. "See sir? I'm supervising her just like I promised!"

"Oh? I see!" The captain leaned back, humming in approval. Then he gave a goofy smile. "Good job!" He tittered in a childish voice.

Tsuyu only looked up at him in disbelief, while Sirius sighed.

"Gahaha! I'm so cute, I stunned you speechless, didn't I?" He laughed.

"She's speechless because she doesn't know what else to do sir! You're too macho to try pulling that stuff!" Sirius shook her head.

"What?! But the kids always like it when I do these faces!" Selkie protested.

"Yeah, because they find it funny and weird!" The woman teased her superior, the two of them coming off more as a pair of old friends then pro heroes, which wouldn't be too far off.

'He's kinda cute.'Tsuyu voted in her head.

"Captain!" They all turned to see one of the crewmen calling out from inside the ship's cabin. "We got a call! We're needed up North!"

The captain and his sidekick's expressions hardened immediately.

"I'm on my way!" Selkie replied, climbing the stairs.

"Froppy, you're going to help me release the ship! Come on!" Sirius ordered her and led her along the side. Despite the turn of events, Tsuyu couldn't help the small tremor of excitement that ran through her.

Looks like things were picking up after all!

Inside the ship's cabin, the captain, crew and intern stood in a circle around a digital map, illuminated by the now setting sun.

"Stowaways?" Sirius asked, to which Selkie nodded.

"Yes. The trade ship Nysan reported goods missing from the cargo hold. The coast guard investigation uncovered signs of some unaccounted passengers, but they were nowhere to be seen. What do you think happened Froppy?" He turned to the intern.

"Kero." She ribbited in thought, rubbing her cheek. "I think… that means that the stowaways already took the stolen goods somewhere else. Maybe another ship? Now they might be looking for a place to hide."

"Good!" Selkie gave her a goofy grin. "Right on the money! Teehee!"

'So not cute.' The crew groaned.

Except for Tsuyu, who still thought it was.

"Like I said, that's all correct! Thus, it is our job to find these smugglers, their ill gotten gains and bring them in!" Selkie continued undeterred, his fingers dancing on the digital map which displayed an image of the nearby sea. "We are coordinating our search with the coast guard and other aquatic heros. We will be responsible for this sector." He said, the map highlighting the specific square.

"You all will stay on the ship and search by radar, I'll search the ocean myself. Are we clear?!" He demanded!

"Aye aye sir!" The crew chorused, all of them snapping into a salute.

And so they pressed on. Tsuyu, Sirius and the rest of the crew patrolled the top of the sea, while the captain dove under the surface, probing the depths with his built in sonar. They were all so focused however, that they failed to notice the shape soaring high above them. Even if one of them just so happened to glance up, they would just assume it was a somewhat large bird.

Unfortunately for them, it wasn't the case.

Seeing all they needed, the figure clad in bright red flapped their feathered arms before reaching for their radio on their shoulder.

Miles away, there was a dimly lit room. The only light came from the bulbs affixed to the edges of a large mirror on a vanity table. Sitting in front of said mirror was a lone woman, the top of the table covered with cases of makeup and a jewelry box, the latter of which was currently overflowing with glittering necklaces, gems and rings. She cheerfully hummed as she ran a small cloth along a curved piece of silver, taking great care to wipe away any impurities or grime.

"Captain!" A hoarse voice crackled from the small radio transceiver. Setting down her cloth, she grabbed up the corded microphone and held it up to her mouth.

"Hoffman, report!" She ordered.

"We've got trouble sir. There's a hero ship getting reaaallly close to the spot for the handoff. Should we warn the sellers?" The man on the other end asked.

"Hm, no. We can deal with the heroes ourselves. Keep us posted." She replied in an uncaring tone, leaving the channel open as she placed the mic back on the mount.

"'Sides," She picked up the now clean, silver hook and slotted it onto the stump on her left arm, twisting it in with a click. She held it up, admiring how it glinted in the light. "The crew's been getting a bit disorderly. We've been due for a little fun, aye?" She asked her reflection, giving herself a devilish grin.

To be continued...