Chapter 17: Something Wicked This Way Comes
"I trust you'll all come quietly?"
Suneater's voice was a low growl, still distinct against the sound of his avian talons tearing apart the car's roof above them and his barbed tentacles slithering around every side of the vehicle, smashing through the windows with ease in a scene pulled straight from a monster film. His eyes wide and his heart racing, Gentle drew up a hasty semi-spherical barrier of elastic air around himself and La Brava beside him, just in time to prevent two tentacles from wrapping around the both of them in a death grip. In the passenger seat, Twice wasn't so lucky, and screamed in pain as the barbs dug into his skin and tore at his pristine white military uniform- they hadn't even had time to change back into their usual outfits yet, and Jin still didn't even have his tape dispensers equipped. Tobita would have shielded him as well, and everyone else, for that matter, but everything was happening so quickly, all in the span of a few short seconds- there was hardly time to react, and no time at all to think. On La Brava's other side, Atsuhiro had managed to re-compress Shinso before the tentacles reached them, and made short work of the appendages descending on him, using his quirk to reduce the tips to so many marbles in a spray of blue blood.
In the driver's seat, Monoma reached across and slapped the restrained Bubaigawara on the shoulder, then swiftly produced a clone on the other side of the shattered windshield, in an attempt to draw Tamaki's attention; the hero didn't take the bait, and sent the copy flying through the air and down onto the side of the road with a single swipe of a tentacle. Moments later, the entire car suddenly jerked to a halt with a metallic screech, and Danjuro realized that Suneater must have triggered the breaks manually on the undercarriage. Aiba looked up at him with terrified eyes as chaos continued to unfold around their protective bubble, her voice faded to a pitiful whimper.
"Are… are we gonna get caught?"
"No," Tobita replied, his eyes fixed on Monoma. "Not today."
Just as he predicted, the moment Amajiki's tentacles touched Neito, a demented smile spread across Chaudron's face, and spiked, reddish-grey armor sprung out from his skin, all across his arms and chest and back- they'd had crab for breakfast.
Suneater realized his mistake too late; by the time he began to retract the tentacles, one of Chaudron's arms was already a massive red claw, and he twisted around in his seat before giving Compress a swift nod; Sako raised up one gloved hand and compressed a wide, circular portion of the roof, stealing away Tamaki's perch. His tentacles receding as wings sprouted once more from his back, Amajiki tried to fly away before he fell through the resulting gap, kicking viciously at the villains with the talons on his birdlike feet. He was fast, his reaction time almost perfect, but Neito was faster still, and seized one of the hero's legs in his claw, then squeezed with all his strength. A sickening crack echoed through the air, coupled by the young hero's scream of agony, and even Tobita winced in discomfort when he glimpsed the mangled red ruin that remained of the hero's left knee. Still beating his wings furiously in an attempt to escape as rough, durable reptilian scales sprouted up across his legs, Tamaki reverted one arm back to normal and reached for one of the numerous pouches dotted across his hero costume, each of which contained a different type of preserved meat for his quirk. Not good, Danjuro knew, his eyes growing wide. Who knows what he has in there? We have to stop him before he gets to it. But he's too far away from Mr. Compress, and Monoma hasn't the mobility or speed to catch him…
Gentle started moving before he could even begin plan out an attack, elasticizing the seat and springing himself upward through the hole in the roof like a missile. His arm outstretched, he built up several layers of air around his fist, and proceeded to land a devastating blow across Suneater's face before the hero could defend himself, springing him straight into the ground. Tamaki tumbled several meters through the dust before falling still face-down on the side of the road, his cape and hood tattered and stained with dirt- his limbs all returned to normal in the process, and his wings gave one weak flap, then drew still and receded into his body. With luck, he's out cold, Gentle mused, and that'll be that. His hopes swiftly proved to be ill-founded, however, when the hero began to stir again after mere moments; a scowl on his face, Tobita adjusted himself midair, bounced off a platform of air for momentum, and streaked down towards his opponent, ready to deliver an even more powerful attack this time. In the end, he was half a beat too slow. Just before he could reach the injured hero, Amajiki's hand darted suddenly toward his mouth, and Gentle felt his jaw slackening in shock as a mass of spiny brown quills erupted from Suneater's back, long and sharp and thick. Porcupine?! Did that boy truly just eat porcupine?!
Faced with the possibility of being gored on the hero's spines, Danjuro only barely caught himself in time, bouncing up and over Tamaki on a series of small air platforms before landing semi-gracefully on the ground a few meters beyond him.
"Well played, young man. That wasn't a half-bad trick- but surely, you must realize when you're beaten. Your leg is broken, and you're surrounded: there are six of us, and only…" He trailed off midsentence, his eyes drifting upward and his eyes widening in horror as he finally realized the gravity of the error he had made when he knocked Suneater away from the car.
"Miscounted, huh?" Pushing himself back to one knee as a stream of blood tricked steadily down his face, Amajiki chuckled morbidly, his hands gradually shifting back to a writhing mass of tentacles as red, scaly armor descended over his face. "Now I understand why you flunked out of school."
Above them, a dull roar split the humid morning air as the American Osprey opened fire on the car with its primary machine gun, no longer concerned with the possibility of friendly fire now that Tamaki was safely away. A stream of Monoma clones erupted from within the vehicle at the same moment, and the sheer mass of their bodies managed to form enough of a momentary shield against the bullets for Compress to execute a dash-and-roll out of the door with La Brava under his arm and Monoma following close behind- Atsuhiro had already compressed Twice, by the looks of it, and as the hail of lead finally penetrated the barricade of clones and grey goop, the car erupted in a fiery explosion behind them.
Why didn't he compress her too?! He wondered frantically, even as he raised his defenses against another onslaught of tentacles from the front. It only took Tobita a moment to understand Sako's thinking. Her quirk, yes, of course. We might need Lover Mode to make it out of this yet…
While Danjuro contended with Suneater and Neito sent a pack of clones charging in to reinforce him, Mr. Compress hurled a marble up towards the helicopter before it could change its target, with thoroughly impressive speed and accuracy. When it was just a few short meters from the aircraft, Atsuhiro snapped his fingers, and the marble reverted to a heftily-sized chunk of rock, slamming full-on into the side of the cockpit and part of the fuselage. Damaged and knocked-off center but not quite downed, the Osprey began to wobble unsteadily in the air, smoke trailing from the point of impact.
"One more shot should finish it." Compress declared, just in time for Suneater to switch targets, abandoning Gentle and his nigh-impervious elastic shields for easier prey. While he held Neito and his duplicates at bay with one hand, he lashed out at Sako with the other; Atsuhiro severed the pair of tentacles that swept him off his feet with a flash of blue light before he even hit the ground, but the damage was done- a miss. There's not enough time for him to try again, Gentle knew, eyeing the aircraft cautiously- it was close to righting itself again already, and once it did, they'd all be mincemeat. I'll need to take it down with Lover Mode- one jump and a good punch should do it at full power. Moving his shield out of the way, he bounced off the ground, away from Tamaki and towards Aiba, who was still cowering where she'd fallen after the explosion of the car, her hands over her head and her eyes screwed shut in fear.
"La Brava!" He called, as he skidded to a landing a half dozen paces away from her. "Darling, I need you to say it!"
"Gentle!" Manami perked up the moment she heard his voice, pushing herself to her feet and starting off at a run towards him with her wide eyes full of relief. "I love you, my Gentle Criminal, I love you so-"
A steam of bullets raked across the ground and straight through La Brava before she could finish her declaration, and Tobita screamed in horror.
Two crimson blossoms slowly began to sprout on the pristine white fabric of Aiba's summer dress, just above her stomach. Her face contorted in pain and confusion, she glanced down at the wounds, then back up to where Danjuro was frozen in shock, his outstretched hand trembling.
"...so much," she finished, her voice already a soft murmur, then fell to the ground, her eyes fluttering shut.
There was no pleasure or satisfaction when her quirk's power filled him this time, no sensation of ease or oneness with the world. When he cried out again, it was a bellow of rage, not a cry of terror. The magenta fumes dancing around his hair and arms suddenly flared high and bright, and the ground split and cracked in a circle around him. After cutting down La Brava, the Osprey had moved on to attack Atsuhiro, who had compressed himself to evade its attack; now its gun swung back in Tobita's direction, its red laser sight zeroed in on his chest. The stream of bullets it fired next would never reach him, though. After sinking into five layers of elastic air, they bounced off uselessly, scattering back into the sky. The gunner opted for a missile next, sending a guided rocket streaking down in Danjuro's direction. It would be the last mistake he ever made.
His brows knit together in fury, Gentle sprang his layers outward and rebounded the missile with the precise aim of a soccer player redirecting an oncoming ball towards a looming goal. Spinning wildly through the air, it nearly missed as the Osprey attempted to swerve to the side at the last moment, but one of the rotors just barely grazed the rocket's tip, and it was all over in a ball of flaming shrapnel. Not a moment later, Tobita knelt down and cast a bubble shield over himself and La Brava, cradling her in his arms as fire and metal rained down around them. A quick glance down to her chest and a hand over her mouth confirmed that she was still breathing, but it was faint and halting. As long as Love remains active, I'll know she's alive, but she doesn't have long left. She needs to be taken to Overhaul, now.
"We need a medical evacuation." He turned to Compress the moment Sako sprang back into being, his voice harsh and unyielding. Aiba was cradled in his arms, and he could feel the blood leaking out of her wounds and onto his white military sleeves with every weak beat of her heart.
"I already contacted Kurogiri, he's on standby. But you know protocol," Atsuhiro straightened his officer's cap and pointed in Suneater's direction, then produced one of his numerous masks from a marble and affixed it to his face. "I'll compress her for you, keep her in stasis, but we have to finish off the enemies before anyone can be evacuated. "
A few dozen yards away, Chaudron and his clones were still keeping the hero tied down for the moment, but Tamaki was a clever opponent, and Neito had nearly reached the five minute limit on Twice's quirk. He likely still has some of the team's hair and skin samples from this morning, Gentle mused, but they've expired by now- it's been more than three hours. He's almost at the limit of his abilities.
"Just leave it to me," Gentle declared coolly, reminding himself to save the rage and pain threatening to boil over inside him for his foes. "I need a distraction to catch him off guard. You know what to do."
"Of course. And allow me to be the first to congratulate you, Danjuro, on crossing the bridge at last." He nodded towards the flaming wreck of the aircraft, his tone one of satisfaction and approval.
Stroking her cheek with one thumb, Tobita set Aiba down on a patch of grass as gently as he could manage, watching as Atsuhiro compressed her and slipped her into his coat pocket. Once he'd done the same to himself, Danjuro snatched up the marble and flung it towards Suneater without hesitation. His aim and throwing speed were enhanced exponentially, and the spherical blue projectile streaked through the air like a bullet towards the distant clash. Just as it sailed past Amajiki's shoulder, Compress released himself and stretched out his hand towards the young hero. His reflexes commendably quick, Tamaki managed to duck in time to avoid being compressed himself, but his attention was drawn away, and that was all Tobita had needed. He sprang off the ground at twice his normal speed, his appearance reduced to little more than a bright lavender streak as he closed in on Tamaki's back with an elastic bludgeon in his hands and death in his eyes. No doubt aware that he had exposed himself to an attack, Suneater once more sprouted massive porcupine quills on his back, but the sight of a hundred hardened spines was no longer enough to deter Gentle.
Putting all of his strength into his arm, he swung the compacted air layers in a brutal hook, striking Amajiki from enough of an angle to avoid hitting all of his defenses head on. With the additional power from Lover Mode, the blow landed with enough force to utterly shatter half of the hero's quills, and sent him flying with a sickening symphony of cracks that mingled with his cry of pain, blood trailing behind him from the wounds on his mangled back. A few stray spines had managed to slip around the edges of the attack and embed themselves in Danjuro's arm and chest, but he could hardly be bothered to notice them as he bounded after his prey, intent on finishing the job. Ahead of him, Suneater had grown wings again midair and managed to right himself, but with one leg broken, there was only so much he could do to defend himself while airborne- he made for the ground, but Gentle was faster, and slammed into the hero's side with a flying kick. His feet met hard scales rather than yielding flesh, the same type as the ones currently shielding his face. Whether they were from a fish, lizard, or crustacean, he had no clue, but it made no difference to the outcome. Against one of his standard attacks, such a defense might have sufficed, but no longer. The scales shattered just as easily as the quills when both men slammed into the ground with an earth-shaking thud, and when the dust cleared, Tobita was standing atop the hero's chest in the center of the shallow crater their impact had carved.
Amajiki's face was contorted in pain, and a fresh stream of blood was trickling from his open mouth, but his eyes still shone with defiant fury, and before Danjuro could even move to strike once more, tentacles were springing from both of his hands, larger than before, darting towards Tobita with raw malice and ferocity.
"Gentle Armor," he intoned, encasing his entire body in a super-dense layer of elastic air in the moment before impact. Once Suneater's initial attacks had bounced off the invisible barrier, he added two more layers around his arms before swinging them outward in an x-shaped chop. He watched with satisfaction as he clove easily through the writhing mass, rebounding away the blood and remnants as he cut. "Gentle Swords."
These two were his newest techniques, developed within the past few weeks; they were only effective when Lover Mode was active, and relied on the extra strength it provided. Gentle Swords, for instance, pushed his elastic energy to the limit by combining it with intense kinetic energy applied over a small surface area, to devastating effect. This was the first opportunity he'd had to field-test either of them, and thus far, the results were quite encouraging. A new batch of tentacles tried to target his footing, but he dodged nimbly before they could wrap around his legs, leaping upward and out of range before bouncing back down from a different angle.
"These are growing tiresome," he growled, bashing away the writhing appendages with a bludgeon of air while he raised one foot and brought it down on Tamaki's left arm. It snapped with ease, and half of the mass receded instantly out of pain, as he'd suspected it might. In the instant before he could move on the second, the rest of the tentacles vanished of their own accord, before being replaced by a three meter blue spike that punched a narrow hole his armor and skewered him through his side and back. Just as had been the case with the quills, though, Gentle hardly felt the pain, and let out a booming laugh when he peered down and realized that Amajiki had turned his hand into the head of a swordfish. Desperation was etched plain on the young man's face where moments before there had been only anger, and Tobita could see the gears turning in his head as he raced for a solution.
"Ah, whatever seems to be the matter, dear Suneater?" His voice had taken on a mocking tone, and he made sure to place one foot over the boy's heart as a threat in case he tried anything else. "Have you exhausted your menu of options? How tragic. Nonetheless, a commendable attempt." He snapped the spike off with one hand, then knelt down and brought the other down in a chop with every last ounce of power he could muster, releasing his quirk and relying purely on strength. As he expected, he was able to sever the arm in one stroke with ease- he couldn't help but marvel how sweet it felt to release the rage that had built up inside him as the blood spurted high. Just when Danjuro thought he was finished, though, his mind's eye turned once more to La Brava's limp body, to the way she'd looked at him in confusion before he fell to the ground. The image was seared into his memory, like a brand.
It's his fault. It's all his fault.
His body operating off pure instinct, Tobita stood and stamped down hard on the severed limb, taking care to ensure that Tamaki watched as he crushed it. Then his gaze turned to the hero's already mangled leg, and he slammed his other foot into Tamaki's broken and bloody knee, cutting off his lower leg entirely and sending it sailing through the air in a fountain of crimson. Next he wrapped both hands together for a double-fisted finishing blow, raising them high above his head like an executioner. When he gazed down to ask Suneater for any last words, though, his eyes widened, and he paused- Amajiki was crying, tears streaming down his cheeks and mixing with the blood.
"P-please," he stammered out, his voice full of fear. "Please, stop. I d-don't want to die."
A trick? Gentle's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Some ruse?
No.
All heroic pretenses had been utterly abandoned. There was no deceit or hidden malice left in Tamaki's eyes, only the primal terror of a young man who was at the mercy of his opponent, and didn't want to die. Blinking, Gentle gazed once more at his handiwork, at the two limbs he'd taken from Amajiki and the fist he'd made in order to smash the boy's skull. At his own white uniform, soaked up to the elbows and knees in blood.
Then he stumbled off to the side and retched, his every sense suddenly assaulted by an overwhelming sense of horror and nausea. Suneater didn't stir or follow when he stumbled back in the direction of the others, then broke into a run when he realized Lover Mode had faded away, primal fear welling up inside him. The others were gathered in a solemn semicircle around La Brava's fallen form- Kurogiri and Seraph were there as well, and when Gentle reached them, Midoriya looked up to meet his gaze.
"I'm sorry," Seraph declared coolly. "We were too late."
Tobita opened his mouth to cry out once more, but suddenly he found he had no voice- no sound came out when he tried to scream. He took a shaky step forward towards Aiba, but suddenly she and the others were receding into the distance, growing farther and farther away as the flames from the wreckage danced tall around him. Tears burned in his eyes as he drew them shut, sinking to the ground in despair.
"Manami."
When Tobita woke in a cold sweat and bolted upright, her name was the first word on his lips. His heart was pounding like a drum in his chest, and a probing touch to his cheeks proved that the tears were real as well. But she's alive, he reassured himself, glancing over to the bed where La Brava was still fast asleep beside him, hooked up to an IV as an EKG beeped steadily in the background. It was a lie.
Most of the dream had been true to life, up to the end. After slowing the progression of her wounds by compressing her, Atsuhiro had broken protocol and summoned Kurogiro for an emergency extraction while Gentle dealt with Suneater, only opening the warp gate long enough to pass the marble through so she could be brought to Overhaul without delay. Chisaki had held up his end of the bargain, repairing her damaged arteries and organs, though the lost blood was harder to replace. Midoriya hadn't been there, too busy with his own battle, nor had Kurogiri come in person- instead, Tobita had charged eagerly through the warp gate alongside Chaudron and Mr. Compress when he heard that La Brava was already on the other side. Kai had healed Gentle's injuries as well, once Manami's condition had stabilized; several of the puncture wounds from the quills and swordfish had proven quite severe once his adrenaline died down.
As for the soldiers he'd murdered, and the young hero he'd maimed and crippled, Danjuro still wasn't sure how to feel. After the conclusion of the mission, Atsuhiro had commended him once more for making it past his aversion to killing, and coming to peace with the nature of his role and duties in the Syndicate. But this has all been a step forward, no? I'm more useful now, to Seraph and to the entire organization. Half a day later, Tobita's heart was still filled with guilt and regret more often than not when he thought of Suneater's tear-stained face, but in the moments when he glanced over to watch La Brava's chest rise and fall and thought of what had almost come to pass, he felt differently.
If this is the price I must pay to keep her safe, then so be it.
Syndicate Cabin, 30 kilometers outside Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture
The night before U.A.'s final exams
Standing from the makeshift bed he'd prepared beside her own, Gentle stretched and made his way out of the improvised clinic and into the common room, where Chisaki Kai was sipping tea beside the roaring fireplace, his mask removed for the moment.
"I trust her condition is still stable?" He asked evenly, glancing up at Gentle with golden eyes devoid of emotion.
"Yes, quite so. May I?" He gestured tentatively to the steaming teapot.
"Only if you promise to buy more later. We're almost out."
"Ah, that won't be a problem. I have my own personal stash, I'm more than happy to share."
"Well isn't that just fine and dandy of you," Dabi remarked dryly, leaning in from the door to the cabin's kitchen with a butcher's knife in hand. "A true goddamn gentleman. You eating dinner or not, Gentle? I'm about to cook something up."
"Of course. What... goodness, what time is it?" A glance out the window proved it was already dusk outside, with only the faint orange and purple afterglow of the setting sun still visible beyond the slopes of the mountains and distant lights of Sapporo.
"Almost nine," Responded Mustard from the dining room- as far as Danjuro was concerned, his voice and appearance were still somewhat jarring without the mask. "You've been out since four in the afternoon."
"We thought it best not to wake you." Commented Monoma, emerging from the kitchen alongside Midoriya as Dabi retreated back inside. "Overhaul, did I hear an offer of tea? I hope you don't mind if I help myself as well."
Chisaki merely grunted in assent, and Tobita was left facing Seraph as Chaudron made his way toward the fireplace with a grin.
"How are you feeling?" Izuku inquired calmly, sipping at a cup of coffee as he waited for Danjuro's reply.
"Good. Much better than before, to say the least. Her condition is still stable, which means the greatest danger has likely passed. She-"
"I'm not talking about La Brava," Midoriya replied. "I'm talking about you. Compress told me about what happened. I share his sentiments of pride for your newfound dedication, but I just wanted to make sure that you're still handling it well."
Though it had the appearance a polite gesture of concern on the surface, Tobita could tell easily enough that there was another intent behind the question. Th[is is a test. He's watching my answers, to make sure I'm not having any doubts or second thoughts.
"I do admit that at first, I was... intimidated by my destructive potential." Danjuro chose his words carefully, referring to the nausea and panic that had ensued after his bloodlust toward Suneater faded- no doubt, Monoma and Atsuhiro would have informed Midoriya of that detail as well. "But I have someone to protect, and I will gladly dirty my hands as much as you ask me if she's better off for it in the end. You... understand, don't you, Seraph?"
"Naturally, Gentle." Izuku nodded toward the ceiling, a hint of a grin on his lips. "She's still asleep now, upstairs. You and La Brava weren't the only ones who were tired after this morning's mission."
"Come now Gentle, the tea's getting cold!" Monoma's summons pulled Tobita back towards the fireplace, and Midorya trailed behind as poured himself a cup and sank into one of the armchairs with a sigh.
"Speaking of Compress, where's he off to?" Gentle glanced around the room and to the stairwell. "And dear Pandora, for that matter?They'd hate to miss an opportunity for tea."
"On Honshu, with Kurogiri, Longshot, and Synapse." Midoriya leaned up against the brick of the fireplace and took another sip from his coffee. "I sent them back to the mainland to scout our old facilities and investigate potential locations for a new one, after the loss of Osaka. The time for laying low has almost come to an end- our next major operation is imminent."
"What I wanna know before we even start thinking about that," said Overhaul, "is what the hell happened down in Okinawa. "Now if you rememver, I was one of the ones who argued against moving on the military in the first place, and look what happened. The little girl almost gets killed, Twice and Gentle get torn to pieces, you break three friggin' fingers and scratch up your armor, all while we twiddle our thumbs up here in the snow, and for what? Two deadbeat American hostages?"
"Two strategically valuable assets," Midoriya corrected evenly, "including one of the most brilliant quirk scientists and support item designers in the world."
"Who needs that when we've got Longshot already?" Kai shrugged. "Whatever, I won't pretend to understand your motives. You've delivered before. But you can't defend the execution. You got busted the night before the operation, and now on top of that I hear we've got some sort of psycho hacker freak on our asses? What the hell's up with that?"
"Hatsume and Yaoyorozu already have a theory about the identity of that particular variable. Tell me, how familiar are you with the support company Detnerat?"
"Like... from the commercial?" Overhaul narrowed his eyes.
"I hate that goddamned commercial," growled a deep, guttural voice from the corner, and Gentle jumped in his seat before he glanced over and realized it was only Dark Shadow, lurking out of sight just as usual. "It's always on at three in the morning, sometimes twice in a row. That annoying CEO prick, and his annoying nose... What does Detnerat have to do with all this about a hacker?"
"Quite a bit, as it turns out. I'll spare you the technical jargon, but Pandora's been doing some research, and there are some interesting connections between the company and Deika City, the area our mysterious friend's signal seems to have originated from. It was founded there, and it's the only major entity in the area with anywhere near the technical capability to remotely hack into the same secure military server we were fishing for data in. Their subsidiary, Feel Good Inc., also happened to have a satellite in position precisely above Okinawa during the time of the operation, and the politician Hanabata Kouku, also born in Deika, was present as a speaker at the conference- Toga can confirm that he seemed personally interested in Doctor Shield, and even regarded her with unusual suspicion. Taken separately, these could all very well be coincidences, but together, they point to an interesting relationship between a network of powerful entities. We may have stumbled onto a highly sophisticated organized crime network, a or even a group to rival our own... the potential ramifications are concerning, to say the least. They don't seem to be either friendly or overtly hostile, but if our new 'friend' is to be believed, they had a part in alerting the heroes and military to our presence and location. Chaudron, what are your impressions from your interaction with the entity in question?"
"Initially, they seemed to be interested in making contact." Monoma frowned and sipped contemplatively at his tea before continuing. "To what end, I'm unsure. It was only after we cut off communications and failed to respond that they turned 'hostile'. While that action was certainly malicious, I wouldn't say that the window for negotiations has closed completely. If all the people and organizations you named are truly involved, then we should tread with caution, because their resources likely far outweigh our own. But if we do choose to contact them..."
"We can't show any weakness." Overhaul finished, strapping his mask back on. "That part's easy enough. We're the ones who killed All Might and Hawks, who took Tokyo PD by storm. Everyone in the country knows who we are. Who the hell are they? A bunch of B-class politicians and corporate big-wigs? What the hell have they done?"
"It's not about what they've done," countered Gentle, his tone steady and cautious- this was his first time arguing with a Yakuza capo, after all, and he found himself looking to Midoriya for support before he continued. "It's about what they could do, if they chose to. We've voluntarily exposed ourselves, but if they truly are the adversary we seek, then they've managed to fully integrate into society, and to keep their purpose secret for years or decades. Shinkyu is a major political party- Hanabata stands a decent chance of becoming prime minister after the next elections. Detnerat is a universally recognized brand name, their products are in a third of the homes in Japan. Feel Good Inc. has access to a quarter of the country's phones and computers. I'd go so far as to say that if they chose to enter the limelight and cast the dice as we did, then they'd cause just as much damage if not more."
"Potential and execution are two different things," argued Monoma with a frown. "It doesn't matter how much they have in terms of resources and finances if they don't know how to use them properly. At the end of the day, it's all a question of leadership."
"That's exactly right," Midoriya replied with a grin. "As expected of Monoma- you've cut to the heart of the matter. We can't judge the caliber or capacity of their leaders until we speak with them, so if you judge that to be a prudent course of action, then contact them we shall, after taking all necessary precautions. We'll begin once Hatsume and Yaoyorozu return tomorrow evening."
"Ah, don't tell me we're about to go making even more friends," Dabi stepped in from the kitchen with a scowl on his face. "It's enough of a pain in the ass dealing with you shitheels already, god forbid we get another troupe of lunatics to join up. Food's ready, by the way."
After a surprisingly delicious dinner of beef curry udon- though the meat was slightly charred on the edges, as expected when Dabi used his quirk to cook it- Gentle found himself burdened with the unenviable task of heading into town to retrieve a handful of necessary supplies and ingredients.
"The car's parked at the bottom of the hill," Dabi was saying in between bites of food, his mouth half-full as he gestured with his chopsticks. "Just go straight down the road and you'll hit the nearest suburb in a few minutes, the supermarket's on the left. Pretty quiet little place, you don't need to take too many precautions about identity or whatever. I doubt your little show has many viewers up here anyway."
"It's true that we never truly broke into the Hokkaido market," Tobita mused, stroking the ghost of his tragically shaved beard as he threw on his overcoat and started toward the door. "A pity, but I'm sure it can be remedied in due time. Well then, gentlemen, if you've nothing else to add, I'm off!"
"Could you throw in some more beef?" called Mustard, yawning as he stood from his place at the table. "Or even pork. I'm tired of eating charred meat, I think I'll do some cooking on my own tomorrow."
"I'd love to see you try, smartass," Dabi growled, kicking his feet up on the table. "You're like fifteen, you're not supposed to have standards for food yet. Just go eat some cup ramen like a normal goddamn high schooler. Get him some of that instead, Gentle."
"And grab some more soap while you're at it," added Chisaki; he was washing his hands vigorously at the sink, as was his tradition after every meal. "Antibacterial, maximum strength."
"Of course, consider it done."
Once he'd slipped his gloves on and wrapped a scarf around his neck, Tobita gave one last respectful nod to Seraph, who glanced up from his conversation with Chaudron with a grin on his face.
"Do be careful, Gentle."
Danjuro smiled appreciably in reply, but he couldn't help the chill that shot up his spine as he turned and started out the door and into the cold northern night. A layer of snow several centimeters thick still lay draped across the yard and the forest beyond; even by Hokkaido standards, the past week had been unseasonably cold for early April, dubbed a second winter by local weather forecasters. Not a moment after he took his first step out onto the path, another shiver rattled through his body, he felt a presence at his side- blinking in the dim light, he it took him a moment to recognize that Dark Shadow had slipped out the door behind him. Growing tall and large under the glow of the moon and stars, the sentient quirk regarded him bemusedly with blinking yellow eyes, and when it spoke its deep voice echoed in the quiet, frigid air.
"I hear you finally proved your worth today, Master Gentle. They say your bloodlust on the battlefield was a sight to behold- if Master Monoma speaks true, then it was a thing of beauty. To assert your power so boldly and ferociously… I didn't know you had it in you. I only wish I'd been there."
"I… thank you." He finally managed- he hadn't the heart to boast about his victory, or even properly accept Dark Shadow's praise. "It was… quite the experience."
"The first kill always is," purred the avian beast, its beak twisted in a smile of sorts. "I hope you'll have many more to come. It's my shift on watch, so sadly I can't chat for long. Stay safe, Master Gentle."
"Y-you as well."
At that, the quirk turned and slid gracefully into the pitch darkness of the forest, melting into the shadows of the trees with all twenty-odd feet of its towering nocturnal size.
His heartbeat slowly falling back to normal, Tobita continued down the path toward the road, though he stopped in his tracks when he heard the soft crunch of footsteps behind him. When he glanced back, Spinner was faintly visible in the distant glow of lights from the house, shivering in a hoodie and sweatpants and faded sneakers.
"Hey, you mind if I tag along? Heard you were heading out, I need to grab a few more beers from the store."
"Oh that's quite alright, I can get them for you! No need to trouble yourself. Besides, it's dreadfully cold out."
"I'll be fine, don't worry." Iguchi shoved his hands in his hoodie's pockets and gave Danjuro a grin. "Besides, I needed to get out of the house anyway, stretch my legs and all. Being around Overhaul and his gang kinda creeps me out, to be honest."
"I understand you quite well," Gentle chuckled, and soon the two men were making their way to the car in step, braced together against the biting wind. They ran into more shadowy figures at the ridge just before the the stairs to the driveway, a vantage point with a view of the entire valley, including the suburb in question and distant Sapporo. It was the rest of the perimeter patrol: Nemoto Shin, three black-masked Precepts henchmen, and Twice, his mask pulled halfway up so that he could puff on his Natural American Spirit as he gazed out over the quiet forest and faint city lights.
"Mind if I bum a light?" Spinner pulled a cigarette from his pocket as they approached the group, and Jin silently obliged as Gentle waited at the top of the steps, all too aware of the watchful eyes of the Yakuza men boring a hole into the side of his head. They still don't fully trust me, it seems. I can hardly blame them, given the stark contrast in our backgrounds. From the kings of the underworld to partnering with an internet personality… I must truly seem a joke to them.
"I trust you've made a speedy recovery from your injuries?" He forced himself to speak, lest his thoughts grow too distracting.
"Quick enough," Twice replied, cracking his neck as he pulled his mask back on and stamped out his own cigarette in the snow. "I was pretty torn up by those freaky barbs, but I took it like a champ- it hurt so bad! But Overhaul patched me right up when we got back. Guess I have you and Compress to thank that it wasn't worse, though." He trailed off and glanced down at his phone. "My shift's finally over, right? Guess I'll go grab some food- I'm not hungry! Good luck with the supply run."
"Don't be too long," Nemoto called as they started down the stairs. "We'll be watching for your return."
"You see what I mean?" Shuichi murmured, piling into the car with a grin on his face. "Let's get this over with quick, I don't wanna piss that weirdo off."
"My my, aren't you such a handsome young man!"
Gentle gave his most charming smile as the elderly woman behind the register leaned forward and pinched his cheek, throwing Spinner a brief, apologetic glance as he waited by the supermarket's doors.
"My most sincere thanks, madam- in all my days, seldom have I had the pleasure of meeting such a charming woman as you. But if you excuse me, I'll be needing to..." He reached for his bags, but she wouldn't be dissuaded- there was no one else in line, so it wasn't as if he could use that excuse to break free.
"And a perfect gentleman, too! If only I had a grandson just like you!"
"Would that it were so," Gentle chuckled- he always enjoyed attention, but this was growing dangerous- even with the shaved beard and gold hair dye, an old woman might recognize his face from the evening news if she looked long and hard enough. "My friend is waiting, though, and I mustn't keep him..."
"Oh don't worry about that, a nice man like you shouldn't bother himself with a mutant like him."
Tobita froze, and the smile on his face quickly died. His eyes darkening, he carefully took hold of the woman's arm, and eased it away from his face.
"I should go," he declared pointedly, gathering up his bags and plunging out into the dark parking lot alongside Spinner, who'd already stepped through the doors.
"Don't worry about it." Iguchi cut him off before he could even open his mouth to apologize, then lit another cigarette and cracked open a beer as they cautiously made their way back to their parking spot; half the lot was covered in slick black ice, so they'd been forced into a space at the far end. "We're only thirty kilos outside the city, but trust me, this is already hick country. I grew up in a town a lot like this. I'm used to it."
"But... but you shouldn't have to be!" Gentle protested. "Isn't that why you joined the League, after all? So you wouldn't have to tolerate this kind of treatment?"
"Well, that's part of it. What do you want me to do, though? Kick her ass? Kill her? Real brave of me, beating on a seventy year old woman, even if she does happen to be a racist piece of shit. Stand up for myself? Argue with her? I'm not gonna pretend like I'm gonna change her mind. Sometimes, it's just best to take it and move on. She'll be dead soon enough anyway."
He took a deep swig of his beer, and Danjuro fell silent, at a loss for what to say next. Perhaps saying nothing is better for the moment, he decided. As they pressed on together through the all-but empty lot, though, Tobita's hairs began to stand slowly on end, one-by-one, and an unmistakable sensation began to creep into his very veins- the feeling that he was being watched.
Above them, the nearest streetlamp began to flicker, and when he glanced to his left, Gentle noticed that Spinner was shivering even more intensely than usual; the air had grown unmistakably colder than before, despite the fact that only twenty minutes had passed at most.
"Spinner." Danjuro laid a gloved hand on Iguchi's shoulder, his eyes narrowed. "Is it just me, or do you get the feeling that..."
He trailed off when the next streetlamp flickered back to life, and his gaze drifted back in the direction of their parking spot. Just twenty-odd meters away, directly in front of the car, a dark figure stood beneath the dim yellow light, scarcely more than a black silhouette in the shape of a man. He was watching them with two glowing eyes.
Gentle and Spinner saw him almost simultaneously, and stumbled back in unison with muted cries on their lips. Bags and beer and cigarettes fell unceremoniously to the ground as Iguchi drew two daggers from inside his hoodie, and Tobita cast a protective circle of air in front of them. The figure seemed to find that amusing, and made a rasping sound that resembled a laugh. Dark Shadow? He wondered, but the size, shape, and voice were all wrong.
"W-who the hell do you think you are?!" Shouted Spinner, doing his best not to let the fear seep into his voice. "This better not be more of that stupid clown shit! Get lost, man, we're not fucking around!"
Gentle, on the other hand, couldn't think of anything clever to say, but squinted closer at the figure as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. All at once, he realized that the intruder wasn't an amorphous mass of humanoid shadow, as he'd initially feared- they were around his height, and wearing a heavy black parka, with the hood drawn tight around their face. The man took a step forward, his hands clasped behind his back, and finally spoke.
"You two, huh? Figures. I was hoping for more of a challenge, but you'll do."
"What was that?!" Shuiichi tightened his grip on his daggers, and pointed one in the man's direction. "We'll see if you're still talking shit after we beat your ass into the dirt! Come on, Gentle, let's take this punk!"
"Spinner, wait!" Gentle held up his hand, his eyes wide- for the past few moments, the faint sound of cracking and shifting ice had been steadily growing louder and louder in the darkness around them. "His quirk, I think it's-"
Iguchi had already hurled one dagger in the intruder's direction; before it had traveled even five meters, though, a sharp whoosh cut through the air, and in the stretch of darkness that separated them from the hooded man, something smashed into the blade, breaking it to pieces midair.
"What the-" Spinner scarcely had time to express his confusion before a second whoosh sounded, much closer, and a spherical chunk of ice no larger than a grapefruit hurtled out of the darkness and smashed into the back of his head. He toppled to the ground almost instantly, unconscious- his remaining blade slid from his grip as he fell and clattered across the asphalt.
"Dammit!" Tobita barely threw up the rest of his bubble-like elastic shield in time to rebound another ice projectile aimed at his own head. It was swiftly followed up by a barrage of identical missiles, but as Gentle focused his attention on reinforcing the barrier with more layers, he failed to notice the weblike strands of black ice creeping towards him across the pavement. By the time he glanced down and caught sight of them, it was already too late; in an instant, he was being encased in ice from the feet up.
Panicking, he reached down to elasticize his expanding prison, but before he could touch it, the ice around his legs shifted and changed its shape, dragging him off balance and throwing him to the ground. By then it had raced up his back all the way to his shoulders; when he tried to reach out a hand and touch the pavement, he found his own arm being wrenched in the other direction, so roughly he was almost sure it was dislocated. Before Danjuro could even cry out in pain, his head slammed hard into the asphalt, and his vision swiftly turned to black.
"I'm proud of you, Apocrypha. We only needed one, but you went above and beyond, and secured us two valuable hostages."
"It was nothing, sir. They were easy targets."
"So you say, but I've seen how dangerous this one can be when he has his little helper. Ah, he's waking up! Rise and shine, sleeping beauty."
When Tobita faded back into consciousness, the first sensation he was aware of was pain- throbbing and persistent, at the back of his head. His thoughts were a foggy blur, and voices were fading in and out; he tried to lift his hand and feel the spot in question, but found that he couldn't move his arms. His eyes blinked open, and he winced in the harsh glare of an overhead light, letting out a soft noise of pain. The world came into focus slowly, but when it did, the first thing he saw was a man's face, narrow and angular, with a receding hairline and a long, prominent nose. Vaguely familiar by appearance, he smiled when Danjuro looked up to meet his gaze.
"Ah, there he is. How are you feeling, Gentle Criminal? Or do you mostly go by Gentle these days?"
"I... what? Where am I?" Tobita winced once more at the harshness of the light above him, and turned his head briefly to either side. He was in a small chamber that resembled a hospital room, restrained by his wrists and ankles on some sort of operating table- Spinner was in the same situation to his right, still out cold, while the mysterious figure from before loomed near the room's entrance, his face and body still concealed by a massive black parka. "Who... who are you?"
"I'm Yotsubashi Rikiya," the hook-nose man proclaimed proudly, "but if you'd prefer, you can call me Re-Destro. Now, I know it may not seem like it at the moment, but believe me- I'm your new best friend."
"We seem to have lost contact with Gentle and Spinner. They left the premises approximately ninety minutes ago, and have failed to respond to all attempts to reach them by radio and cellphone. Their GPS signals have vanished. I recommend immediate investigation."
Nemoto Shin's report on the situation was so dry and clinical, so devoid of emotion, that Midoriya couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself, drawing a skeptical glance from Overhaul and an amused one from Monoma.
"Something funny about that?" Kai rasped, his brows knitted together in annoyance. "I mean, they're your guys, not mine, but unless you know something I don't, I'd say this merits the bare minimum amount of concern."
"No, no, not about the disappearances. I was just thinking of that old saying: 'speak of the devil and he shall appear'. It seems likely to me that we're being courted by Detnerat once more, even earlier than I'd expected. Their method is laughably clumsy, though. What do you make of it, Neito?"
"They're certainly taking considerable precautions for a first meeting," Chaudron commented, a smug grin spreading slowly across his face. "Taking two hostages in advance of our first meeting means one of two things: Either they lack sufficient confidence in their own capabilities, or they fear us enough to make such underhanded tactics necessary."
"Why not both?" Quipped Toga; laid across the couch next to Midoriya, she had her head in his lap, and had been twirling one of her knives while they spoke. "Maybe they're weak and afraid. Didn't think about that, did ya, Neito?"
"Ah, an excellent theory, Himiko. Corporate executives, politicians… they've been living the comfortable life for decades. They know they lack our survival instinct, our drive and willingness to act, and thus they feel they must compensate by presenting an ultimatum. How adorably quaint of them."
"Sorry to interrupt the little circle-jerk, but how do we even know this was Detnerat in the first place?" Overhaul closed his eyes and rubbed one temple in exasperation. "We're not even certain that they were the people who contacted us. And it's not like this hypothetical group of hypothetical secret criminal masterminds are the only ones who have it out for us. We made a lot of people's shitlists on the Black Day, if you'd somehow forgotten. Who's to say it wasn't some heroes or vigilantes, or even just the damn cops?"
"Oh, that's just a hunch of mine." Izuku smiled bashfully. "Do please forgive me for making assumptions. By all means, let's investigate the matter." Seraph reached for his phone and connected it to the wall-mounted study room television, then began to scroll through the numerous 'custom additions' that Hatsume and Aiba had made to their arsenal of software. Finally, he settled on an icon that opened to a map of the surrounding area, including the suburb where Gentle and Spinner had made their supply run. "Ah, here we are. Now that supermarket is just down the main road, correct?" Scrolling with his finger, he rapidly zoomed in on the exact location in question, then tapped on the grey outline of the building. After a brief delay punctuated by a loading bar, the view onscreen changed to a grainy black-and-white video of the store's parking lot, which Midoriya rapidly adjusted to the proper timestamp.
"And just like that, we have access to their exterior security feeds. Neito, remind me to thank La Brava for this little program of hers when she wakes up."
"Can't do that if she doesn't wake up," Himiko mumbled, fumbling with her knife a bit more ominously now- after shooting her an appropriately stern glance, Izuku continued.
"Now, if they left ninety minutes ago, and the drive there takes around fifteen minutes…"
It only took Seraph a few moments to reach the section of footage they were looking for, with two figures vaguely recognizable as Tobita and Iguchi emerging from the store and making their way towards the car. They all watched intently as the two confronted a shadowy figure at the edge of the lot, as all the ice and snow in the area twisted and shifted and began to attack them. Monoma let out a soft noise of disappointment when they were both soundly defeated in a matter of seconds, but leaned closer all the same as a second car pulled up moments later, black with tinted windows. The sea of shifting ice coalesced all at once, and proceeded to carry the two unconscious bodies into the waiting open door like a conveyor belt while the hooded figure climbed into the passenger seat. The car sped off and rapidly receded from view, and Midoriya paused the video with a satisfied expression, then reached for his notebook to jot down a few observations about the enemy's quirk. Ice control and production, perhaps? No, he wasn't making more, he was only using what was already present- it must be cryokinesis.
"Well then, I think that rules out the police, as well as most heroes and vigilantes- unless it's now common practice for them to spirit away captured criminals in mysterious, unmarked vehicles. Is that the case?"
"Not typically," Chisaki muttered, his arms crossed. "Okay, fine, so they probably were kidnapped, judging from this. What are you going to do about it?"
"We'll track the car, of course. The license plate was too grainy to make out with this camera's resolution, but La Brava's software is more than capable of following a given vehicle remotely by piggybacking on GPS satellites, given the proper information about its starting position and time. It's unlikely they're based in Hokkaido, so the car is almost certainly headed to an airport- I'll call Momo and have her follow up once they make it to the mainland. But as for us, right now? We don't need to do a single thing, as far as I'm concerned. Gentle and Spinner's safety is practically guaranteed. Whatever their identities may be, our new enemies won't be mysterious for much longer- they're doing us a favor, to be honest, leading us right to their door. And I can't deny, I'm so very curious to finally meet them."
A knock came at the door just moments later, and Overhaul nodded for Nemoto to open it. It was Twice who stepped through, his mask removed.
"Hey boss, Chaudron, just letting you know, there's a new message for you waiting downstairs from one of the, uh… recruits. Also, Todoroki apparently wants to talk, passing the message on from Mustard."
"Does he, now?" His curiosity piqued, Midoriya raised one eyebrow. As far as Overhaul's reports divulged, their prisoner had scarcely said a word for two weeks, even under interrogation. "How interesting. Did he say what about?"
"Nope, I'm not sure. By the way, where are Spinner and Gentle? They should've been back by now, right?"
Izuku exchanged a brief glance with Chisaki before speaking.
"They might be away for a while longer than planned. I'll explain the situation to everyone first thing tomorrow, but for now, let's deal with this recruit of ours first. Coldflame has been patient this long, he can wait a while longer." Pausing, he looked back to Neito and Himiko. "Shall we?"
"After you."
"Lead the way, baby!"
For the past year, Monoma and Toga had been charged with spearheading the initiative cryptically referred to as 'recruitment' in all Syndicate records. Rather than contacting other villains, however, which remained Midoriya's purview, Chaudron's task was to identify candidates among the hero community who might be receptive to their message and mission. Once a potential recruit was identified, the first step was a long-term surveillance operation to monitor their behavior and identify any unusual tendencies or habits that might affect the operation one way or another. First contact only came after at least a month's worth of preparation, and even then, it was always carried out via Toga and her quirk.
After a year of efforts, the Syndicate had identified a total of nine potential candidates. Seven cases had progressed to a first meeting, with two deemed unsuitable shortly after contact. Of the remaining five, though, every single one had demonstrated potential. Two cases were still in progress, meeting periodically with a disguised Himiko as she gradually eased them into the proper state of mind to readily accept their new life and purpose when the time came to reveal her identity. The other three recruits had already pledged loyalty to the Syndicate.
Presented with the first of these new assets half a year ago, Midoriya had made the decision to keep them embedded in hero society as sleeper agents, until the perfect moment presented itself to play the aces up his sleeve. He'd been tempted to show his hand on the day of Operation Brennus, adding a fourth strike to the three he already had planned, but in retrospect he was glad for his patience. The Black Day had been but a brief prelude compared to what was to come, and the longer he remained patient, the longer the Syndicate would continue to receive the invaluable inside intelligence that made many of their operations possible in the first place.
These three faithful recruits weren't the only weapons at their disposal among the ranks of the enemy, however. In the midst of their struggle to dethrone Shigaraki and break apart the League of Villains, they had stumbled across something infinitely more valuable than anything Tomura's steadily collapsing group of loyalists had to offer. Since the day of his first meeting with the League two years ago, Midoriya had known of the existence of a traitor somewhere at U.A., but he'd nearly given up hope of ever contacting them. That had remained the case until six months ago, when they found a working cellphone amid the ruins of the League's hideout in Kobe after their battle there. It rang just minutes later, and when Izuku answered, it had been a U.A. student's voice on the other end, asking about the time and location for his next meeting. After brief negotiations, an amicable arrangement was reached between them, and Shigaraki's secret weapon became the first of the Syndicate's sleepers.
By the time they made their way to the heavily modified laptop they used for most remote communications- phones were too easy to trace back to a source, after all- two red icons were flashing on the screen, indicating that a second recruit had contacted them in addition to the message Twice had reported, a rare occurrence in such a short timeframe. Something must have happened, Izuku surmised as Neito sat down and logged in, something important. It wasn't long before his suspicions were confirmed. The first message was from Shigaraki's original traitor, codenamed 'Emperor', and had been sent two hours ago.
'Something's up. Pieces are on the move in a major way. Colleagues and I have been summoned to a classified meeting at Best Jeanist's office, multiple top heroes en route, including #9 #10, #6, and #3. Several other student interns as well. Will be in touch again after the meeting ends.'
The second message was more recent, received just two minutes ago; it was from the recruit codenamed 'Temperance'.
'Big developments. Best Jeanist and Sir Nighteye have put together a huge task force of top heroes and interns, with the mission of ending the Syndicate. Apparently they have government permission to use lethal force if necessary. Battle Fist and Ground Zero are involved as well, they've been placed together in a unit that's going to take protective custody of all of your families the day after graduation. I'll write more soon, I've been in the bathroom too long, don't want to seem suspicious.'
"Took them long enough," Izuku cracked his knuckles methodically, then gave Neito a smile. "It seems we'll soon have a worthy challenge after all. Relay this information to Pandora and Synapse when you have the chance, their team needs to be aware."
"Of course." Monoma refreshed the inbox, frowning when nothing new appeared. "No word as of now from Tower or Hierophant. It seems they're likely not involved in this little team-up."
"We already have two aces in their ranks- let's not push our luck." Satisfied, Midoriya stood and wrapped one arm around Toga's side- she smiled giddily, bunching her hands up under her chin.
"I'm so excited to see my little baby recruits again! Can they finally join us soon, for real for real? This is such a good chance!"
"All in good time, darling. First, we'll need to decide what to do with this little team of theirs first. Thankfully, a group of heroes that large and powerful is just begging to be torn apart from within." He glanced at his watch, then laid his other hand on Neito's shoulder. "They've finally made their first real move against us- we'll begin planning our response in earnest tomorrow. For now, get some rest. I need to speak with our resident prisoner."
"Are you sure you don't need either of us to accompany you, Izuku?"
"I can give him another scar or two if he starts acting up!" Himiko added, drawing her knife once more in a flash as color began to creep onto her cheeks.
"That's quite alright, you two needn't bother yourselves. I've been looking forward to having some more alone time with Shoto."
"They tell me you'd like to speak."
Todoroki barely lifted his head in acknowledgement when Midoriya spoke, and didn't move it all from where he was laying on his bed, a book of old poetry in his hand. Let down from its bun, his bicolored hair flowed down to his shoulders now, and he had more red and white stubble than the last time Izuku had seen him. His dinner lay half-eaten on a tray at his side- flimsy paper, of course, to ensure it couldn't be used as a weapon. The shackles aren't even necessary this time. Ten of Mustard's gas canisters are connected to a vent in the ceiling- if he makes one aggressive move towards me, the whole room will be flooded in an instant.
"Yeah, that's right."
Glancing back behind his shoulder, Seraph gave Mustard a curt nod; his mask donned, the younger villain returned the gesture before closing the lead-lined door behind them with a hiss of air.
"That's good to hear. Poor Overhaul nearly thought you'd gone mute these past few weeks- you've been a horrid guest by all accounts, my dear Shoto. And how the time flies! It's been four weeks since we took you, did you know that? It's almost our one month anniv-"
"I want to join."
Midoriya trailed off, the joke dying on his lips. He raised one eyebrow, then took a step forward, his expression full of curiosity as he held one gloved hand to his ear.
"I'm sorry, could you say that again? You mumbled, and I just want to make sure that I heard you right."
"I want to join," Todoroki repeated, louder this time, looking up from his book and making eye contact. There was a ferocity in his eyes, but it quickly died away, replaced by pain. "I… I've been thinking a lot lately. About what Yaoyorozu said. About heroes, about the economy, about my father- about pretty much everything. Maybe I have been lying to myself- maybe we all are, back at U.A. and the other hero schools. If the old way isn't working… if the old system could ignore what happened to my family because of who my father was… then maybe your way is worth a try."
"Hmm." Midoriya began to pace about the room when Coldflame drew silent, his mechanical hand perched on his chin in contemplation. Finally, he stopped, and pointed one prosthetic finger in the prisoner's direction. "That's a very convincing speech. You even got the little pauses right, too. How long have you been rehearsing that?"
"What are you… no, it's not an act." Shoto scowled, pushing himself upright in bed. "I'm being serious, Midoriya."
"Ooh, that bit wasn't as good. You lost some of that realistic emotion."
Coldflame sighed, and cradled his head in both hands.
"Of course, it's natural that you wouldn't trust me. Just tell, me please- what can I do to convince you?"
"Oh, it's not me you need to convince. It's her." For a moment Todoroki's brows knit together in confusion- Midoriya watched bemusedly as the realization slowly spread across his face before continuing. "Yaoyorozu isn't here at the moment, but she'll be back soon. As the one here who knows you best, she'll be the one to test you. And believe me, I'm quite looking forward to the results."
He turned and waved to the camera; Shoto said nothing more as he took his leave. When Izuku emerged, Dabi was waiting outside the door alongside Mustard, watching the cell's security feed with tired eyes.
"I take it you still haven't spoken to him?"
"Nah, course not. What the hell's the point in that? I found out everything I need to know when we fought."
"It might go a long way in clearing some things up. I think you'd both benefit from it."
"I don't know about that." Dabi shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat, turned, and started off down the hall. "I think it'd probably just fuck up things even more. I can't stand being around him for too long."
"And why is that the case?" Seraph inquired calmly, keeping step with the taller villain.
Dabi was silent for a long moment before he replied.
"Bad memories."
For one reason or another, sleep didn't come easily to Midoriya that night. Toga slept like a doll at his side, but after a few hours' worth of tossing and turning without success, he rose as quietly as he could manage and made his way downstairs, straight to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. If you can't sleep, you might as well be productive, he told himself, borrowing an old quote from Hatsume.
She's probably awake as well at this hour, he realized as he settled down on an armchair with his laptop. Perhaps I'll give her a call. A quick check of her status revealed that she was 'away', though, and Izuku chuckled softly to himself. Probably with Shinso- I should've known. Wasting no time, he swiftly pulled open a new file and began a first draft of the Syndicate's response plan to the hero task force. How much time passed after that, he wasn't sure- the minutes and hours ticked by in a blur when Midoriya was working, and before he knew it, he had ten pages of possible courses of action and contingencies. Just when his eyelids were finally beginning to grow heavy, though, a faint beeping sounded across the room, and he stood and squinted in the direction of the source. It was the laptop Monoma used to contact the recruits, and judging from the blinking red notification at the corner of the screen, they had a new message.
What peculiar timing for a message. What could possibly be so pressing at four in the morning? He wondered, glancing down at his watch. A quick check indicated that the message was from the recruit codenamed 'Tower', sent five minutes ago.
'Looks like U.A.'s pulling some sort of surprise early morning final exam, a team-based hostage situation. I know this interferes with the plan, but the spike I planted in the Ground Beta cameras is still active if you want to monitor the situation.'
"Don't mind if I do," Izuku murmured, pressing a few keys to pull up a wide-angle view of the ongoing exam, direct from the same cameras U.A. teachers used to monitor the testing. Another keystroke and the footage was playing on the living room television, a tracking shot of Battle Fist as she leapt from building to building under a hail of bullets and projectiles, Jack Mantis in hand.
"Ah, we're getting right to the main event, it seems." He checked his watch once more, then glanced to the ticking timer counting down at the top of the screen- only twenty-odd minutes left. Not quite enough time to pull together the team necessary to execute our little surprise as planned, but no matter. Our next conversation will have to wait a while longer, it seems, dear Itsuka.
Two more blinking notifications had appeared at the top of the screen, from Emperor and Temperance, and Midoriya smiled broadly as he glanced over the contents before closing the laptop and turning back to the television.
"In the meantime, though, do please try your best. After all, I am your biggest fan."
And here we are again, another chapter just in time for the one year (!) anniversary of this story! When I started it last summer I had no idea it would go this far, and I'm so happy that I took the chance on the idea I had. I look forward to another amazing year of twists and turns ahead for Midoriya, Kendo, the Syndicate, and everyone else.
As far as this chapter goes, though, the MLA is finally here in force! I couldn't wait to get to them, and I welcome any and all thoughts or predictions for how Re-Destro and his gang might play into the story going forward. Gentle's really been through a rollercoaster this time around, and he and Spinner are in a bit of a jam at the moment. And did someone say traitors? Because there are plenty of those to go around- this was another reveal I was really looking forward to, and trust me when I say that the Recruits are going to be vitally important to the story going forward.
What do you think about Todoroki's request? What would you like to see next time? Let me know any and all of your thoughts down in the reviews, as always! Next chapter will be out by the end of the month.