"…this is the newest sidekick at our agency: Makoto Nijima, alias Queen."
Ren bowed and introduced himself. Makoto had made quite an entrance, but something stood out to him.
"You're a sidekick? But you're about my age."
"And what does that say about you?" She said.
Ren arched an eyebrow.
"Queen." Gang Orca said to placate her. "But you're correct, Amamiya. Until this March, Nijima was a second-year student at U.A.—she even won the Sports Festival last year, much like yourself. Thanks to her academic excellence and outstanding performance in her work studies, she was allowed to graduate early and take the Hero licensing exam, which she passed with flying colours."
Makoto remained in a standoffish posture, staring him down with those red eyes of hers. The situation felt weirdly familiar to Ren. Wait a second. Nijima? That name was also familiar…
"You're Sae's sister!" He said.
She didn't seem pleased at the mention of her sister. "What of it?"
Her reaction left him tongue-tied. "Oh, er, I didn't mean—"
A large, black vehicle pulled up near them. Reminiscent of a police van, but more imposing. A riot van worthy of a pro Hero. The door opened and out came three people wearing dark bodysuits; like Queen's, except for the spiky shoulder pads. More sidekicks, Ren assumed.
"Reporting for duty, boss." One of them said.
"Stay out of my way and watch closely, rookie; you may learn a thing or two." Makoto said before getting into the van.
"Suit up and hop in, Amamiya." Gang Orca said.
"We're going somewhere else?"
"What better way to welcome you into our ranks than with a mission? It surely won't be a problem for you, right?"
Ren smiled. "I've been waiting for this."
"Oh, and by the way…you're going to be needing this."
He handed Ren two items. One was a small and discreet earpiece, but he was much more interested in the other; it was some sort of bracelet? more like bracer, actually. It was rather heavy, and its design over-engineered. From its centre peeped some sort of clasp. He pulled back his wrist and the clasp unfolded into an anchor.
A jolt of excitement hit Ren. He had seen a device like this before in a support item catalogue—a grappling hook.
"This is the best day of my life."
Roppongi, Tokyo; Five months ago
Gang Orca finally arrived at the scene after being stuck in the insurmountable Tokyo traffic, which only added to his already growing frustration. This was not the way he wanted to spend Christmas.
It was an uncharacteristically snowy evening for Tokyo. The streets were congested with piling up snow and young couples out on Christmas dates; the tumult of the crowd melted with blaring sirens into a disorienting cacophony.
He pushed through the throng of civilians and reporters that had surrounded the perimeter of police tape around the Junes department store to sneak a peek at the cause of the commotion. On the other side of the tape, a myriad of police officers and his own sidekicks were already on standby.
"Alright, alright, alright… someone care to tell me what the hell is going on here? And I need a coffee, stat!" He said. "I was just about to enjoy a delicious cake with my girl; there better be a good reason why I was called in at the last minute."
A policeman came to receive him. "Orca! I never thought I'd be so happy to see your ugly mug."
"Merry Christmas to you too, chief. How's the wife?"
"Not happy. I forgot to get her something for Christmas again, you see." The chief inspector said. "I dashed over here to buy a last-minute present when I stumbled upon this mess."
"Must be weird for you. Stumbling into a mess rather than causing it." Gang Orca said. "So, what's the story?"
"It looks like we got ourselves a hostage situation inside the store." The chief said. "When I saw it, I immediately called for backup and requested your agency."
"I'm glad to know you keep me in your thoughts, but next time go bother Endeavour instead. That guy lives to work."
"You know you're the man for this job."
"Hmm, I can't refute that. Don't worry, chief; the cavalry will take it from here. Tell your officers to focus on enforcing the perimeter and crowd control."
"You got it."
The chief inspector went off to command the rest of the present agents, leaving the situation in the hands of Gang Orca and his sidekicks.
"Here's your coffee boss." A sidekick offered him.
"Ah, just what I needed. Now, fill me in on the details."
"Four individuals with offensive Quirks entered the store and forcefully gathered up all the shoppers at the central Christmas display before sacking the jewellery section on the ground floor. They also disabled all surveillance systems; we have no eyes on the inside."
"Have they issued any demands?"
"Only that the police stay out. They seem out of their depth, to be honest. This was supposed to be a normal robbery, but a clerk rang the silent alarm and when the police came, they were cornered inside."
Orca frowned. "This is bad. If they feel threatened they may end up hurting the hostages. We need to end this quickly." He knocked back the rest of his coffee. "Alright, gang. Get in position; we're going in."
This wasn't the first hostage situation for Gang Orca's team. They were quick to mobilise and act, and knew exactly what to do to secure the hostages and apprehend the robbers without shedding any blood. They moved up to the main entrance ready to execute the operation.
"We go in on three. One… Two…Thr—"
Before he could finish the count, the gates flew open, and scores of people began pouring from Junes.
"What in the…?"
The hostages escaped the store with relief on their faces. Some were even shedding tears of joy.
Gang Orca stopped one of the escapees to question her. "What happened in there?"
"It was so scary!" The woman exclaimed. "I was so sure we were going to die, but he saved us!"
"Who did?"
People stopped coming out, and it seemed like the inside was fully evacuated. Orca signalled for his team to move forward. The entire store was empty and disarrayed, as if the gods themselves had conjured a typhoon limited to its confines. And yet, none of the hostages were harmed. Just what in the world had transpired here?
They advanced to the centre underneath the giant decorative Christmas tree, where the four robbers laid unconscious and tied up, and over them loomed a mysterious figure clad in black. Though he had never seen him with his own eyes, Gang Orca had read enough police reports to know who it was.
"Joker..."
"The one and only." Joker said.
The evening had just taken an interesting turn.
"Fancy seeing you here, Joker. To what do we owe the pleasure?" He said.
"I was in the neighbourhood delivering presents, and these four rascals were on my naughty list."
Orca's sidekicks stood still, unsure of how to proceed.
"That's the wanted vigilante, Joker?!"
"What do we do, boss?"
"Don't mind me, I was just leaving." Joker said. "You can have this collar—consider it a Christmas gift from me to you." He patted one of the robbers on the head.
Orca didn't react, but was tempted by the vigilante's proposition. He could just take the robbers in and let Joker go. There would be a lot less paperwork, and then he could get back to his own Christmas celebration… oh, what the hell! He could make a temporary truce in the spirit of the holidays.
Gang orca was about to tell his men to retreat when his eyes caught a glimpse of something shining on Joker's wrist.
"Not so fast." He said. "Whatcha got there?"
"Oh, this old thing?" Joker asked, pulling up the sleeve of his coat. "It's just a step counter. My new year's resolution is to be more active."
"Really? Cause that looks a lot like the Yaoyorozu Polaris Deluxe."
"Good eye, Mr. Orca. I wouldn't have pegged you for a watch connoisseur."
"What a coincidence. That's the same luxury watch that was on display in the jewellery section."
Joker chuckled and scratched the back of his neck like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Well… consider it a Christmas gift from you to me." He said. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
Joker turned to leave, but before he could take a step, Gang Orca paralysed him with a hypersonic wave.
"You're not going anywhere." He said. "They always push their luck, don't they? Go get him, boys."
The sidekicks moved to arrest the now downed Joker. As they pulled him up, they heard him mutter something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"…Succubus. Marin Karin."
Joker manifested the female demon, who blew a kiss towards Gang Orca's sidekicks. Compelled by Succubus' devilish charm, they began fighting each other. Joker managed to slip away from his distracted captors as they tangled in a flurry of friendly punches and kicks.
"Stop, you idiots! He's getting away." Gang Orca used another hypersonic wave, this time just strong enough to shock his subordinates back to their senses. "You lot, block all the exits. The rest of you, go catch him."
Orca and his men stood on the way to the main exit, so Joker ran towards the escalators up to the highest floor.
"He's going up! He'll try to escape through the roof."
The Heroes used their grappling hooks to scale up to the top floor and cut Joker off, cornering him against the glass balustrade.
"I hate to do this on Christmas, Joker, but you're coming with us. There's nowhere else to run."
"Who said anything about running?"
He hopped on the railing and leapt to the ostentatious chandelier that hanged over the store's atrium.
"If this is how you catch criminals, those people are lucky I was here to save them. You better step up your game next time, sharkface. See ya." He held a calling card between his fingers and threw it at Gang Orca.
As he perused the top hat and a blazing mask on the card, Joker jumped through the massive stained-glass window at the end of the store.
Kawasaki, Tokyo; Present Day
"No way, he actually said that?"
"The balls on this kid."
They were now inside the moving van, arranged in two parallel rows of seats facing each other.
The sidekick to his right patted Ren on the back, having a hearty laugh at Gang Orca's recount of his fortuitous first meeting with Joker. "Hey, boss. Were you so desperate for a Christmas date that you had to chase this poor boy?"
"Only because your mother cancelled at the last minute." Orca said from the passenger seat. "By the way, Amamiya. Do you still have the watch?"
"I actually ended up pawning it off to buy food." Ren said.
"You used a million-yen watch to buy food?"
"I may have also spent some time at the arcade."
The occupants of the van erupted in laughter once more. Ren couldn't help but laugh as well. He had been worrying himself sick about how the day was going to go, but the members of Gang Orca's agency turned out to be a lot more relaxed than expected. Joking and laughing around on the way to a mission, even with the boss himself partaking in the tomfoolery.
Ren's peripheral vision spotted a red dot on the rear-view mirror. From the driver seat, Nijima was furtively shooting him a death glare with those haunting crimson eyes. She definitely took after her sister, Ren thought. At least she seemed as fond of him as Sae. Was this just sisterly empathy or had he personally offender her somehow?
Makoto turned her eyes back on the road. "We're almost there, boss."
"About that. Where are we going?" Ren asked.
"According to our sources, there's a shipping warehouse that serves as a front for a clandestine sweatshop." Gang Orca explained. "This'll be our third raid this month. There's been a surge in activity from organised crime syndicates recently."
"We take one down, two more pop up." A sidekick said.
"It's a couple blocks away. Stop here, we'll get closer on foot."
They had wandered far from the glamorous centre of Shibuya, into an industrial hub at the shores of the Tokyo Bay. Their destination turned out to be an inconspicuous, detached two-storey building in a compact street. The façade was well kept, if a bit boring; no one walking by would slow down to look twice at it.
"Doesn't really exude secret villain lair energy…" Ren thought.
"This is the place." Orca lead his five underlings to the side of the building. "Eraserhead told me you've got a gift for scouting. Mind giving us a demonstration, Joker?"
Right, Joker. He was now wearing his Hero outfit, addressed by his Hero name, for this was a real Hero mission. He aimed his new grappling hook at the fire escape and climbed the warehouse to snoop through the window of the second level with his Third Eye.
"Pray tell, Joker. What do your magic eyes see?" The voice of Gang Orca called from the earpiece.
"Two dozen guards. Eight of them armed with guns and patrolling the perimeter from the upper level, the rest are scattered around the main floor." Ren said.
It wasn't hard to spot a mobster. He'd seen plenty in his day, and they all dressed in the same ill-fitting designer suits mismatched with tacky jewellery. However, something else caught his attention. Those who weren't standing guard were standing along rows of shelves, packing boxes and passing them along for sorting.
"ooh, this definitely smells like crime."
He put and to his earpiece. "There's also a bunch of them working on some sort of assembly line; I can't see exactly whatever it is, but they're putting in crates and loading them into a truck."
"It appears our tip was correct." Gang Orca sounded quite content. "Listen up, gang. This is the plan…"
He quickly devised an action plan. Queen surmised that the armed lookouts were probably Quirkless or had non-combat Quirks, so they would send a sidekick to go with Joker and take them out on his signal. Queen and Orca himself would go in through the front and neutralise the guards on the floor. The other two will be behind them to offer cover and make sure no one got away.
The sidekicks followed the instruction promptly and assumed positions. In stark contrast with the atmosphere inside the van, they prepared for the mission with solemn rigour. The fact they were outnumbered 4 to 1 didn't seem to deter any of them in the slightest. It brought Ren back to his encounter with them last Christmas. Gang Orca's agency specialised in emergency response and tactical operations—a sort of super-powered SWAT team for high-risk situations. He could see why they were the one they called for those types of jobs. The Pro Hero didn't raise to the number 10 spot on his menacing demeanour and imposing physique alone. He was a cunning strategist, and a charismatic leader, and under his command, the team moved like a precise machine, honed to execute orders with microscopic accuracy.
"So this is how the Pros roll, huh? Not bad."
"Everyone ready?" Gang Orca asked.
A chorus of confirmations rang on the comm device.
"Queen, would you do the honours?"
Makoto cracked her knuckles. "Gladly."
She put her hands together and took a deep breath. She moved her body into a fighting stance while maintaining a firm control of her breathwork. An iridescent glow gradually engulfed her fists, and in one swift strike, she punched a hole through the metal gates.
"Go!"
Ren burst through the window, dropping his full weight on one of the guards.
"Sorry to drop by unannounced."
The other guards began shooting. Ren took cover returned fire to disarm them with his own gun. On the ground floor, hypersonic waves from Gang Orca left most of the henchmen stunned, making them easy targets for his sidekicks. They cleaned up the aisles between the shelves before the criminals could realise what was happening.
The guards at the far end of the warehouse managed to evade the initial assault and were hurrying to counterattack.
"They're mine!" Makoto yelled before charging on her own.
Despite the strength of numbers, they easily fell to Queen's fists. Her martial arts experience was clear. Her moves were calculated and methodical; effortlessly dodging attacks and taking out an enemy with each hit. She was so focused on the battle that she missed a thug sneaking on her blind spot with knife in hand.
When she noticed, it was too late. He raised his hand, ready to strike her down, but a flying bullet disarmed him. Queen seized the opportunity and with a supercharged punch she blasted him against the shelves that came toppling down like dominoes.
The threat was subdued, and she took a moment to catch her breath. Joker approached, twirling his smoking gun.
"You missed one." He said.
"I didn't need your help!" Makoto snapped at him.
"Really? From where I was, it kinda looked like you did."
"You little—"
"Queen." Gang Orca interrupted. The rest of the sidekicks had put the downed criminals in handcuffs and regrouped. "That was a hell of a shot, Joker. May I?" He gestured towards Joker's pistol. He handed it over for Gang. Orca to inspect.
"Quite the exquisite piece." He said. "I've always wondered, how come your shots don't kill the target?"
"It doesn't shoot bullets—well, I guess you could say it shoots cognitive bullets." Ren said. "This isn't really a pistol; it's more like a miniature persona."
He took back the gun and pointed it at the temple of one of the tied-up enforcers, drawing gasps from the Heroes.
"W-what are you doing?! No, don't, please!" The thug pleaded, but Ren pulled the trigger in cold blood. "Ouch! That stings."
His forehead remained intact, bar for a bit of redness. Gang Orca and the sidekicks stared dumbstruck.
"I channel my inner energy, and the gun acts as a conduit. I visualise the bullet hitting its target with varying levels of force; from a light flick on the forehead to a concussive blow. The stronger the bullet, the more energy consumed." Ren explained.
"Does that mean you could use lethal force if you shoot with the intent to kill?" Gang Orca asked.
"I assume so, but I've never tried it on a person before."
"interesting stuff…" He said. "Say, Queen. Doesn't this whole 'energy hocus-pocus' remind you of your own Quirk?"
Makoto blinked. "I beg your pardon, boss?"
"You know how you've been experimenting with releasing the energy of your Quirk as a projectile? maybe Joker could teach you."
"What?!"
"It's decided! You and Joker will train together starting tomorrow."
"B-but boss! This isn't how it's supposed to be! He is the intern; I should be the one teaching him!"
"And you will. It'll be a good chance for the both of you to learn from each other."
"But I—"
"That's an order, Queen."
"Argh!" She uttered in extreme frustration before walking away to punch another hole in the gate, out of which she stormed off the warehouse.
"What's her deal?" Ren asked.
"She can be a bit headstrong, but don't worry, she'll warm up to you eventually… hopefully." Orca said. "Now, let's see what sort of contraband these scoundrels were moving. Place your bets, people."
"Drugs!"
"Firearms!"
"Bootleg anime figures!"
He pried the wooden crate open with his claws. "And the winner is…. Spare parts?"
All the sidekicks looked confused. They came closer to inspect the contents of the box, and sure enough, there were no illicit goods to be found, but a cornucopia of mechanical and electronic components. From gears and springs to more elaborate mechanisms.
Ren passed his hand through the junk. "Why would the mafia want a bunch of spare parts? Are they in the car repair business now?"
"It wouldn't be unheard of. They're known to take any enterprise they can get into and turn it into a racket." Gang Orca said. "Either way, we'll find out for sure after interrogating them. Call the police to process them and file everything here as evidence. Good job team."
The sidekicks and Gang Orca left through the holes on the gate with the satisfaction of a hard day's work, but Ren stopped to look at the mangled metal. Queen sure had a temper.
It seemed things wouldn't be as easy after all. Just when he'd made peace with his classmates, he was back again working closely with someone that hated him.
He sighed. It was going to be a very long week.
Under the guise of night, a lonesome magpie flied over the city streets. Its feet clutched a small canvas pouch, nearly as heavy as the bird itself, full of lustrous curiosities found along the way. For years, magpies have born a reputation for stealing shiny things, but this unfounded infatuation had long been scientifically disproven. No, this magpie had a far more nefarious motive.
The magpie sought refuge in a desolate alley. It didn't want witnesses for this part. Its bones cracked, its feathers shed, its wings grew into limbs; with horrific metamorphosis, the once-bird was now man. The man hunched down to inspect the contents of the pouch. Tonight's work had been fruitful—a smart phone, a bit of cash… hold up, was that a diamond ring? Jackpot!
He broke in a joyful dance to celebrate his haul, but the celebration was short-lived. From the shadows, a white flash wrapped around his torso and pulled, causing him to fall flat on his stomach. He flailed about to escape from the binding grasp, but the more he struggled, the more it tightened.
A force from the other end reeled him in like a fish, and the fisherman was a fearful apparition. With a severe face snugged between long, black hair and the cloth that currently bound him. He tried to transform to fly away, but his Quirk was unresponsive. Why wasn't it working?! Transform, dammit! What was happening to his Quirk? This was just like the stories he heard about—
"You're that eraser dude!"
"Good. Looks like introductions are not needed." Eraserhead said. "I'm also well aware of who you are, Tori Kasasagi. According to your record, you've already been arrested twice. Still haven't learned your lesson, eh?" He glanced at the stash of stolen goods.
"Those aren't mine! I just found them there. I was going to leave them at the police box, I swear—"
"I don't give a damn about your petty theft. I have more important business than some stolen trinkets." He said. "I want info, and word around the streets is that you know all about the comings and goings of the city's underground."
"I may know a thing or two, but if you want this little birdie to sing, you'll have to ease off."
Eraserhead loosened the cloth just enough to let him breathe.
"Much better." Tori sat back upright. "Now, what important business brings a big shot Hero like you to ask the help of a humble man like me?"
"A group calling themselves the League of Villains were recruiting muscle for a big job a few months back. What do you know?"
Tori tilted his head pensively. "League of Villains…? Yeah, that rings a bell. Some buddies of mine said the pay was good, and all we had to do was look tough and scare a bunch of kids. It sounded like a sweet gig, but you know me, I'm a cautious fella, and this League of Villains seemed very dodgy. Gotta look after myself first, you know?"
"So you didn't meet with them?"
"No. No one ever met with the League directly, actually. They got a head-hunter to bring in new recruits. Lucky for you, I used my Quirk to eavesdrop on one of such meetings."
"A recruiter? Tell me about them."
"I wanted to test the waters before committing to anything, so I transformed and followed some guys that were going for the job. They went to some dive bar where he was waiting for them. Yeah, that old geezer gave me the creeps. Gray hair, tacky suit, nerdy glasses. You could probably fit a quarter between the gap of his teeth."
"I'm not interested in his damn teeth! Give me something better."
"It's not like we sat to get to know each other over tea! All I know is he goes by Giran."
"Giran? where can I find him?"
"Nobody knows. Man's a hypnotist or something; anyone that meets with him forgets all about him right after. I only know as much as I do thanks to my nifty Quirk.
Eraserhead went through the information again in his head. A name wasn't much, but it was a start.
"I guess this is as useful as you'll be." He released the hold of the capture weapon on Tori. "Go on, scram."
"You don't have to tell me twice!"
Tori was considering asking if he could keep his loot, but decided it was a fair trade for liberty. He exited the alley, but when he turned the corner, he was blinded by the headlights of two cars. Before he could even realise what was happening, he felt a cold, metallic ring wrap around his wrists.
"Tori Kasasagi, you're under arrest for theft, counterfeiting, and fraud."
As a uniformed cop with the head of a cat put the cuffs on him, Eraserhead came out of the alley.
"What?! But you said—"
"I said I didn't care about your petty theft. My friend here, on the other hand, really frowns upon all types of crime." He said, walking over to Sae and Tsukauchi, who were waiting next to the second vehicle.
"Take him down to the station, Tamakawa. We'll debrief Eraserhead and then report back to HQ." Tsukauchi said.
Tori was waiting for the moment Eraserhead took his eyes off him to use his Quirk and escape, but as if reading his mind, Tamakawa cut him off.
"Go ahead, turn into a bird. Make my day, punk." The feline officer taunted.
Tori gulped and boarded inside the police car without protesting, and the cop and robber drove off.
Sae turned to Eraserhead. "Did you get anything useful?"
"Well, since you ask so nicely, I just so happen to find a new lead." He said. "The recruitment for the USJ attack was done by someone named Giran; he's some sort of scout for the League of Villains."
Sae briefly pondered what to do with this new lead. "It's late; tomorrow we'll check the investigation files again and see if the name turns up any results. In the meantime, I'll get in touch with our CIs; maybe someone else has heard of this 'Giran'."
"Great work, Eraser." Tsukauchi said. "We're driving back downtown; need a lift?"
Eraserhead hesitated for a second, but he was too tired to walk. "Thanks."
Tsukauchi hopped in the driver's seat, and Sae took the passenger seat, leaving Eraserhead on the back.
"Should I turn on the radio?" Tsukauchi asked.
"No, leave it." Sae said.
The car started and Aizawa looked back at the events that had led him to be sitting in that car. When the week of internships came and all his students went away, he was looking forward to catching up on missing sleep. But Principal Nezu had the brilliant idea of volunteering him to help the PSC taskforce investigate the case of the League of Villains. And now he was spending his vacation in the most torturous way imaginable—stuck working with Sae Nijima.
Though they had agreed to keep a modicum of civility, having to take orders from her nearly pushed him to his limits. He began to wonder if he made a mistake not joining Present Mic on that singles cruise around Okinawa.
The awkwardness inside the car was palpable, and with a long ride ahead of them, the silence only grew heavier on Aizawa. That's why he always preferred to work solo. Beating up criminals was much easier than navigating social situations. Perhaps a bit of levity could ease the tension?
"So… you both have a younger sister named Makoto. That's pretty crazy, right?" He said.
Sae sighed. "On a second thought, let's hear what's on the radio."
Eraserhead sunk into the car's backseat. This was going to be a very long week…