To say that Team MNVW had left the Dust shop unimpressed with who had been, at least in part, behind the robberies was, perhaps, an understatement.
"I just... Junior? Junior of all people? His guys were at the scene of the crime! Mr. Buckland confirmed it! I just can't believe it!" Weiss nodded in agreement with Izuku, the girl's light blue eyes furrowed in frustration as she shook her head.
"It can't be right. I mean, not that Junior seemed like a stand-up guy, but I just can't believe anyone would be that much of an idiot! Honestly! Who sends out their goons in the same uniforms that they wear around 'your' club to commit crimes with the biggest crime boss in all of Vale! There's just no way this is as simple as it seems, no one's that stupid!"
"... Well be fair Weiss, it's not like he showed a lot of smarts to begin with. I mean, what smart person thinks that it's a good idea to try to grope The Invincible Girl of all people?" Nora said casually as she put her hands behind her head.
…
The entire street around the team suddenly went cold. Izuku felt the chill run through his veins and tried his best not to look directly at his teammate. He then looked to the side and noticed that a nearby manhole cover was shaking upward, and a dumpster in an alleyway was vibrating at an honestly frightening level. Izuku returned his gaze to his best friend and almost choked.
"... Thank you for bringing that back up Nora," Pyrrha muttered through clenched teeth as she shook her head, Weiss' eyes having gone completely wide.
"... By the Gods, he might just be that much of an idiot." Weiss shook her head again as Nora just gasped.
"Does this mean Melanie and Miltia are crooks too?! Oh man, they totally didn't earn getting introduced to Fearless Leader like that if they were! Only good people like Ochaco should be introduced to Fearless Leader like that!" Izuku sighed as he looked over at Nora.
"Nora, you shouldn't be throwing people at me at all... wait, who's Ochaco?" Nora waved you off.
"You were unconscious before you two could properly meet, don't worry about it." Izuku just sweated a bit at that as Weiss clapped her hands.
"Can we 'please' focus!" They all turn their gaze back to Weiss who just rubbed at her temples. "The point is that now we don't just have Torchwick to think of. If this is all right then Junior's involved at some level... and honestly, I don't think we'd have much of a problem getting him to talk." Nora nodded in agreement as she puffed out her chest slightly.
"Totally! I mean, did you see what we did in there when it was just me and Pyrrha and everything was an accident! We could take them on if we were all being serious!" They all nodded in general agreement.
"We might even be able to get him turned in... though... that does bring up a question; it shouldn't be hard for the police to figure out that it was Junior's men. They weren't conspicuous at all... why has it taken them so long?" They all paused at that, honestly curious, before Weiss sighed.
"We'll figure that out later. For now, let's settle on how we're going to deal with Junior..." Everyone looked over at Izuku as leader of Team MNVW for instruction. "Well Izuku, what do you think?" Izuku frowned slightly as he tilted his head down, reaching up to rub his chin as he gave it some honest-to-goodness thought. Nora wasn't wrong; between just her and Pyrrha, and by pure accident, they'd reduced Junior's Club to pure chaos before. Dealing with Junior wouldn't be a problem one way or the other...
'But what matters is if Junior knows that,' Izuku felt a tinge of stress slide under his skin. 'Will he be willing to settle for answering questions just by interrogating him, or will he try something once we're all in his club?' Izuku didn't think someone would honestly try anything with a whole Hunter team who, with half the members previously, managed to burn their club down... but then again Izuku, like Weiss, didn't think someone would be so stupid as to send their goons out in their uniforms.
'I guess it all just comes to how hot or how cold we are going in…' He continued to bury himself in thought for the next half dozen blocks, trying to plan for what was about to happen.
"Well... here we are again," Izuku muttered to himself as he scratched at his arm, Weiss, Pyrrha and Nora nodding in agreement as they all looked to the front of Junior's Club. Although the entire building had been set on fire not a few weeks ago... well, Junior's was looking pretty okay. It was obvious that it wasn't fully back up to where it used to be, the sign was much more standard than the one they'd seen previously, all lit up in neon as it had been, but it was clear that they were getting ready to set up some new lights to help advertise Junior's reopening. The four Hunters in training looked to each other and gave one solid nod before they all approached Junior's Club purposefully... just in case, they all had summoned your rocket lockers to a nearby location to get their weapons ready. While Izuku didn't want to necessarily start a fight here, he was pretty much throwing incriminating evidence in Junior's face. If he was guilty and if he wasn't inclined to talk, chances were things would heat up. Better to be prepared with their weapons than to be caught empty-handed.
As they approached the door Izuku took note of two of the goons, again still dead ringers for the description Mr. Buckland gave, as they looked to take the four of them in... upon spotting Nora and Pyrrha the two of them immediately panicked and quickly ducked back inside the club.
"Oh good, they remember us!" Nora chirped with a smile as Pyrrha just sighed and shook her head.
"Oh, good. They remember us..." The former tournament fighter sighed as the four of them kept walking. Izuku felt nervous seeing those two guys just sprint in but, again, he didn't exactly leave here with a great impression last time. As the four of them passed through the doors it's clear that the club was still getting set up for tonight; the DJ is up at his Stand getting set up, various grunts are hanging about watching over the place and setting up electronic and, while the Twins couldn't be immediately seen, Izuku could guess that they're probably somewhere around here.
The two grunts that they'd spooked at the opening immediately made a break for the counter of the bar and, sure enough, who stood there but Junior himself, the man listening to the two grunts as they spoke in a panicked tone before he took notice of the group of four.
"... Oh for fuck's sake..." Junior muttered underneath his breath as he shook his head. "What, you guys feel like setting another fire? Good timing, I'm still in the middle of my contract to repair some of the other damage that you Hunters have been causing at this club for the past few months now so hey, why not wreck it up a little more, right?" They all wilted a bit at that, admittedly feeling just ever so slightly guilty about the damage they'd done to Junior's Club, but that guilt passed when they all recalled exactly why they were here.
"Well, hopefully, we can get through today without causing any more trouble, Junior," Izuku spoke calmly despite Junior's aggressive tone, causing the club owner to arc an eyebrow.
"Hopefully huh? Shit, of course you're here to stir shit up. Same for all of you... just tell me what the Hell you want or whatever and then get out." They all looked at each other and nodded as Weiss stepped forward.
"Junior... uh... hmmm-"
"Just Junior, Ice Queen." The tall man muttered as Weiss frowned slightly.
"Very well then Junior. For your sake we'll cut to the chase; we know it was your goons that helped Roman Torchwick rob Dust Till Dawn several weeks ago... and I'm willing to make a wager that you were involved in more than just that beforehand too." The ambient noise in the club went silent as Weiss made her point, the grunts and goons scattered about the club paying careful attention to the four of you as Weiss continued to speak. "We have an eyewitness at the store, the man who got robbed, who linked one of your boys directly to a robbery in which Roman Torchwick participated. He had no doubt one of your men was there... and judging by how unmistakable the attire of your goons is, we're inclined to believe him."
"... So an old geezer says one of my boys-"
"Lots more than one, Junior," Pyrrha said, her tone chilly toward Junior. Whatever guilt she might have felt about shooting the man in front of her, her attitude clearly showed a deep and fierce dislike of Junior.
"... Right, so some of my boys he says. Alright, fair enough. If that's true then I'll gladly hand some of my boys over to the police to be interrogated. I don't have anything to hide." Junior intoned lightly as he picked up a nearby glass, the man looking over his selection of booze before Izuku continued to speak.
"It isn't just the police that'd be concerned with this... because the Dust your boys helped steal might have very well been involved in a Terrorist attack, Junior."
...
That seemed to give Junior some pause. His hand had previously been resting on a light brandy on one of the shelves, however, it soon shifted to something slightly harder.
"... That right?"
"Indeed it is. Roman Torchwick would know for certain of course but, well, given it was some of your boys there I'd wager that they... or whoever sent them along, would also know just where that Dust he's been stealing has been going." Junior rolled out his neck slightly at that, the man heading back over to the front counter of his bar as he set his glass and his drink down.
"That right... well, as I said, I'll be more than happy to hand some suspects over to the police if-"
"The police wouldn't be the only ones interested in learning more about this, Junior. Mountain Glenn's Hunters would also likely want a turn with your boys to figure out what they knew..."
If the atmosphere had been chilled before Weiss spoke up, it had gone 'ice cold' as the subject of Mountain Glenn's Hunters were brought up.
"... Well, nice little threat to throw in there but it's a bit of a bad threat. Mountain Glenn doesn't have authority here in Vale, so I don't see how-"
"Mountain Glenn doesn't have authority... but Hunters tend to be given a bit of flexibility when it comes to where they'll operate. Part of the job; Toshinori Yagi isn't limited to 'just' Mountain Glenn and Vale as far as dispensing justice is concerned, after all." Izuku spoke calmly and truly; Hunters essentially ignored borders when it came to doing their work. While a good many of them would settle down into specific communities and niches, all of them were essentially recognized by the Vytal Accords, and by tradition dating back to the founding of the profession, to be independent entities not aligned, or held strictly to the borders of, any Kingdom... or any city.
"Yeah, so I'm sure that Hunters from the city would be keen on figuring some stuff out if this is all true there, big guy," Nora commented herself, putting her hands on her hips as she puffed out her chest a bit, clearly trying to get into the mood.
"Besides, we're not stupid Junior. I doubt a club manager would fail to notice if some of 'his' uniformed goons walked out on their responsibilities at a time of night when his club would be active. Especially if they took their uniforms and gear with them." Weiss crossed her chest as she stared, along with the rest of the team, right at Junior. The man's jaw was locked tight as he stared back, pouring his liquor into his glass. "So acting coy is only going to get you so far." Izuku nodded at that before stepping forward.
"As we said, Junior, we don't want trouble for anyone here... we just want to know what you know. Just talk to us and... well, we'll see what comes of it." Izuku didn't want to fight here, not in a club that'd already seen so much trouble... but if Junior knew as much as they suspected he might, they 'needed' his information. Everyone needed his information.
Izuku narrowed his eyes as he crossed his arms, trying to strike as strong-willed a look as he could while being backed up by their whole Team.
"Hmmm... you don't want to cause any trouble, huh?" Junior muttered to himself as he took a long drink of his liquor. "Hmmm... interesting you put it this way. You see, a couple of months back a pair of tits with blonde hair walked into my Club asking about some red-eyed, black-haired bitch in a photo. She wasn't even a Huntress at that shit hole Academy up on the cliff there... and she tore my fucking club to pieces." Junior poured himself another glass of liquor. "You know, this used to be one of my favorite things to drink... though a lot of things lose their luster when you get shot in the gut." Pyrrha frowned as Junior took another drink of the hard stuff. "Agh... not to mention having your club burnt down and your two best henchmen thrown, literally 'thrown', at some little punk ass kid trying to 'help' tends to put a damper on your mood." They all frowned as Junior's tone got more and more aggressive, the man visibly shaking as he poured himself another glass.
"And now here's that same little punk with the two bitches in question with some fourth little princess wanna-be telling me how gracious they're being in not wanting to cause trouble, even when they're trying to pump me for more information... under the threat of what, exactly? That you'll break more of my things? All because of what I do on the side. Like that's your business or as if anyone gives a shit!" Finally Junior seemed to snap as he threw the glass, Pyrrha quickly brandishing her shield as glass shattered against it, Junior practically seething. "You know what? No. This entire situation is perfect! This is exactly what they're talking about! You Hunters are all a bunch of holier-than-thou pricks who think that just because you throw yourselves into an early grave in some backwater in the bum fuck middle of nowhere to kill a couple of wild animals that no one gives two shits about that you can go stomping around where you don't belong and cause trouble for anyone who doesn't tow your fucking line!"
"You helped to rob someone for Dust that might've gone on to kill an entire city full of people you psycho!" Weiss practically screamed back at Junior, the four of them having absolutely none of the attitude that the guy was throwing at them.
"I couldn't care less at this point! Anything to get you little shits off our backs!" At that, Junior threw up his hands. "You know what, screw it, I am one-hundred and ten percent done with having teenagers come around to stomp on my fucking balls! Boys, knock these shits out! Maybe if we tie them up in a nice bow we'll get a reward!" All four of them tensed up as they glanced around, noticing Junior's men pulling out a variety of hand axes and blades. While the twins still weren't immediately in their sight, it was almost beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're there somewhere... not to mention Junior himself. The DJ up top seemed conflicted, glancing around at the scene and seeming caught between wanting to hide and wanting to follow orders...
"Well... hey, at least we get to break their legs now!" Nora grinned as she pulled out Magnhild, Pyrrha and Weiss similarly pulling out their weapons... though Pyrrha seemed to be fiddling with her own somewhat, waiting for Izuku's instruction to choose out Miló's form. Her face was some kind of weird mix of anxious, relieved and...bored? Izuku just took a deep breath as he raised his fists, ready to brawl.
"Well, at least you're putting a positive spin on this Nora." He said, somewhat frustrated that a fight ended up breaking out anyway, as he quickly thought over a plan in his head.
"Weiss, remember the Tunnels? Speed me up!" Weiss just nodded as she quickly went about swinging Myrtenaster through the air, taking a deep breath as she drew Aura into herself. Izuku's eyes scanned the room, looking for any sign of the twins... and, by luck, he found them. A glance up gave Izuku line of sight on them; unbeknownst to him, catwalks had been above the floor of the dance hall the entire time and, sure enough, waiting in the wings above them all had been Melanie and Miltia, both looking down on the potential field of battle. They were waiting to make their move, as was Junior, Izuku was sure of that much... which just meant he had to act before them.
"I'm going to try and soften up as many of the Grunts as I can; the Twins are right above us, so I don't doubt that they'll try to jump in on the action once we try to break up. Nora, I want you to stay ready to try and intercept them when they do. Pyrrha, go after Junior after I'm done with what I'm about to do, Weiss, either help me with the goons or help Nora with the Twins depending on how this all shakes out. I'll finish up any remaining grunts if they're still standing after this."
"...Gods you're going to do it again, aren't you?" Weiss sounded exasperated as she sighed. "Fine... 3-1 odds don't sound appealing, I suppose." Pyrrha and Nora just nodded in agreement with Izuku's plan, Nora seemingly excited by the prospect of seeing his Semblance fully in action again while Pyrrha, similar to Weiss, seemed just a bit worried. Still, they were ready to follow through with his plan regardless. While he kept the safeties off on Emerald Gust to keep his hands exposed Weiss finished summoning her Glyphs. Immediately a surge of energy passed through him and he felt that all too familiar jolt of speed and power that he'd come to know during their battles in the Tunnels. Taking a deep breath, Izuku swung around and raised his hands, a finger on each pulled in as he pushed 100% of One For All into them.
He didn't even need to give the order for everyone else to duck.
"GLENN... SMAAAAAAAAAASH!"
A cacophonous sound of wind, furniture being thrown and destroyed, structures being wrecked and the screams of men suddenly filled his ears as he unleashed the power of One For All through his Smash. In one of the blasts, three men had gotten caught up in them, though they'd managed to mostly avoid crashing into anything. Their Auras had been pretty clearly pierced, the degree pretty severe for one of them as he could tell just from the way his chest caves ever so slightly that he'd have broken a few of his ribs just with the Smash alone. Still, that's the worst of it for them as they all land, groaning in pain.
It's four of the others that had Izuku wincing. Two guys had managed to avoid his Smash altogether, jumping off to the side of the shockwave, while five had been caught up in it. Immediately the shine of their Auras went dark, having shattered just from the force of the shockwave alone. Their bodies went immediately limp from the shock of it all and, while one of them safely slid through a nearby hole in the wall, the others weren't so lucky. A large column that Junior had been setting up was immediately broken again as one slammed right through it, another crashing into a stack of tables and chairs that were being placed through the room. Another just flatly hit one of the elevated sections of floor that separated the V.I.P. area of the dance floor from the rest while another hit a couch, flipped it over and then had it slam on top of him, leaving him groaning. Izuku heard the shattering of several bones as the four men aren't even shocked into stillness but are just flatly knocked unconscious, their breathing and groans of pain being the only sign that they were all still alive...
Okay, maybe that was a bit overkill...
"HOLY SMOKES FEARLESS LEADER, LOOK AT ALL THE LEGS YOU BROKE!"
Nora seemed hyped by it though.
Nora was probably the only person jumping in place and clapping at how much destruction he caused, the bubbly bomber pleased as punch to see it. Weiss and Pyrrha just stared, somewhat dumbly, in shock, knowing that Izuku's Smashes could do damage but never having seen it used on a human target less than Yang before. The other goons, the DJ, the Twins and, yes, even Junior all just stared in open-mouthed shock and horror as they absorbed the destruction he'd just caused... with 'two fingers'.
"... CHEESE IT!"
The four Hunters blanched as Junior yelled at the top of his lungs, immediately running the length of his bar at breakneck speeds before barging into his own office, slamming the door shut behind him. Those grunts who could still walk were conscious or hadn't gotten involved 'immediately' made a break for it, while the Malachite Twins ran as fast as they could across the catwalks, looking to make a quick escape.
"Uh! Uh! Uh!" Izuku did his best to quickly think through the situation as it happened, his mind putting together a new plan based on the old one. "Pyrrha, Weiss, go take care of the twins, Nora, mop up the rest of the goons and try to keep anyone from escaping! I'll handle Junior!"
"Aye aye captain!" Nora cried, sounding excited, as she twirled Magnhild around. "I'm gonna need to break as many legs as you did during this fight for it all to balance out, after all!" Pyrrha and Weiss didn't seem quite so excited as Nora but they both nodded in understanding of his order as they immediately ran off, looking to get up to the catwalks to pursue the Malachite Twins. Izuku on the other hand used the speed boost afforded to him by Weiss' Glyph to 'quickly' close the distance between himself and Junior's office door, arriving just in front of it as he heard the clinking of a rather heavy lock behind it.
"Come on, come on, come on... pick up! Of all the times for you to not pick up right away!" Junior growled from the other side of the office door as Izuku watched the shadow of his form dim, signaling that he was walking away from it. Realizing that Izuku had no time for... whatever it is that he has planned, Izuku reared his fist back and focused 5% of One For All into it.
"BEACON... SMAAAASH!" With a mighty punch, Izuku drove his fist into the door, immediately cracking and shattering the thick, solid wood and busting it off of its hinges, the shockwave of his blow sending it flying.
"GAAAAH!" The door slammed into Junior, sending the man sprawling flat onto the floor as something in his hand flew out and skittered across the floor. Before Junior could properly react, Izuku was right on top of that door, practically throwing himself on top of it to keep Junior from moving.
"Alright, enough's enough Junior! It didn't have to be this way, we just wanted some questions answered! This didn't have to lead to trouble, it didn't-"
"Ah, Junior. I wasn't expecting a call from you today... and I wasn't expecting to be greeted by the sight of your floor."
Junior stopped struggling under the door and Izuku stopped trying to force him down as the both of them looked up at the object... Izuku quickly realized that it was a rather high-end Scroll, the screen of which is facing face down on the wooden floor. Junior immediately snapped out of it, the man groaning and trying to push his way back up as he shouted.
"JUST GET OVER HERE AND GET ME OUT OF THIS, I HAVE TROUBLE! HUNTERS ARE HERE!" Izuku looked down at him and then back up to the Scroll; shoot, he was calling for reinforcements?!
...
"... I see. So, you've finally landed yourself in hot water, have you, Junior?" Both Izuku and Junior flinched at the tone on the other end of the Scroll, a mixture of disappointment and soft contempt alongside the sound of... glass? Being cleaned? "Honestly I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. First the incident with Miss Xiao Long busting down your bar, then you sent your men dressed in full uniform to assist Torchwick with his robberies and then Team MNVW burning down your bar... honestly, the fact that you've only just now been found out by some hunters either speaks to an unexpected shrewdness that you've been hiding from us or how utterly beneath their notice you've been."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, just stop fucking yapping and get me out of here!"
"... No."
"... Excuse me? What did you just-"
"No, Junior. I don't believe I'll be fishing you out of this. You've brought quite enough trouble upon yourself through your carelessness and your lack of ability to properly handle yourself. The fact that you've come to me to save you tells me that you have your back to the wall and this is your only option. Frankly, you're more trouble than you're worth at this point."
' This voice. It's familiar. Too familiar.'
"You... you motherfucking bastard! After all the men you grabbed from my bar, after all the work I did with Torchwick!? Roman won't stand for this, he'll-"
"Roman is the one who is the most fed up with your incompetence, Junior. That you honestly sent your guards in your bar's attire took no small amount of bribery to keep buried and Torchwick doesn't see much dividends in keeping those payments up for... well, someone who just isn't cut out for the game. The little one was much blunter: she said you were an idiot and needed to be dropped."
"H-HEY!" Izuku finally interjected, "Who are you! Why are you working with Junior?! What are you-"
"Oh? It seems you have company, Junior. Well, I won't keep you then. Whoever you are... first off, congratulations. Secondly, don't expect to get too much out of Junior. As furious as he might be right now he knows we have ways of getting to him later. Now, if you'll excuse me, Junior, I'll be taking this as a... parting gift. Farewell."
Izuku's eyes went wide as his mouth went bone dry... underneath Junior's Scroll a pool of black mist formed. Slowly but surely the Scroll sunk into it until, eventually, it disappeared completely from sight. After that the black hole closed up completely, leaving no mark that it had ever been there...
That... no. Izuku couldn't forget that. He knew exactly what that was.
Izuku 'immediately' stepped off of the door and then bodily threw it off of Junior, the man stunned by his abandonment and not reacting... up until he grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him onto his back and then pressed his knee against his chest, grabbing him by the collar as he looked him in the eye.
"I want my questions answered now Junior! You have a lot to answer for here!" Izuku's previous intimidation after having so casually scattered so many of Junior's grunts seems to have momentarily gotten Junior to play along, the man froze in fear as he looked at him, not challenging Izuku in the slightest just yet.