Chapter 11: Old Friends and New Enemies
Wolfheart
Marie and Francesca were standing in front of each other in the Frightening Five's gym at their main hideout. They were dressed in normal exercise gear, sports bras, sweatpants, and martial arts shoes. Marie noticed several scars on her old friend's body, what looked like bullet wounds, and that Francesca had a stronger stance now than she had years ago, honed by many fights. Francesca had trained in kickboxing, while Marie had learned Shaolin Kenpo Karate, Marie's style had more techniques, but Francesca's was more technical. "Use your Quirk, Marie, or I'll pound you to paste," Francesca said with a smile, and Marie transformed, her body was covered in dark violet, nearly black fur while her teeth turned into fangs and her nails into claws, and she ran at her larger friend.
Francesca blocked her first three kicks and went for a sweep that Marie jumped over. She grabbed Francesca's large head and tried a knee, only for her knee to be blocked and Francesca grabbed Marie's body and twisted her off like a bottle cap with her strength and tossed her aside. Marie landed on her feet and ran at her again, this time going for palm strikes to her body, but Francesca kept up a guard that wasn't going anywhere, before she surprised Marie with a sweep that knocked the werewolf woman on her on her back. Marie rolled back when Francesca tried to kick her, and then jumped up and landed a hard kick to Francesca's stomach.
The Frankenstein-like woman smiled through the pain and said, "That all you got?" She went on the offensive then, swinging her fists quick and precise, each hit would have been a knockout if it had landed, but Marie dodged every punch. "You got faster Frankie!" Marie said with a smile as she dodged another punch. "I've been practicing with Lilith, I'm no speedster, but my reflexes are razor sharp now," Francesca explained as she jumped back from a spinning back kick Marie tried. "Come on, Marie," Francesca said, "You kept on bragging that you mastered your 'Ultimate Technique' so show me!"
Marie gave a vicious smile and transformed further, her body grew several inches taller while sixty pounds of muscle grew on her while her nose and mouth jutted forward and transformed into a snout. Marie howled and ran at her friend, and they locked hands together, and fought against each other with nothing but brute strength. Both were soon sweating and smiling at each other the whole time, pushing against each other, but neither one budged. They were deadlocked like that for five entire minutes, before Marie's strength finally flagged, and Francesca pushed her down, Marie fighting the entire time. Two minutes later, Marie finally turned back into her regular form and said, "Uncle, you win, Frankie!"
"Whew," Francesca said as she went to grab her towel. "Man, you really got better, Marie. Last time we tried that, you barely lasted a minute!" Marie grabbed her own water bottle and took a long swig, "Yeah, but I really had to work hard. Plus, I didn't want to use up my power, in case I needed it tonight." They were interrupted when Marie heard her phone ringing. She quickly went to the lockers and pulled it out. On the other end was none other than her old U.A. classmate, Asui Tsuyu. "Tsu-chan, hi!" Marie greeted her in Japanese.
"Hi, Marie-chan," Tsuyu greeted, "Is this a good time?" Marie nodded, "It's fine, I was just sparring with one of my friends here." Tsuyu nodded and then said, "Well, I wish I could say this was a casual call, but it's not. There's something that you might be able to help with." Marie listened as Tsuyu explained how she, Eijuro, and Iida had worked together the night before to stop a smuggling operation, only for one fo the smugglers to blow themselves up before he was captured. "This sounds really serious, is Eijuro-kun alright?" Marie asked. Tsuyu nodded, "He's fine, but what we're worried about was what the smuggler said before he dropped the bomb. Does the phrase 'Occidere animalia' mean anything to you?"
Marie remembered Denki telling her about the man that had tried to shoot him and nodded, "Yeah, there was a guy that Denki stopped from killing a man, and the guy was yelling that as he was arrested. And one of my other friends here, Lilith, has been looking up cases involving the phrase, along with a tattoo." Tsuyu nodded, "Did the tattoo look like this?" and the image of a fist rising from a human skull appeared on the phone screen. "That's it exactly! On my first night here, I stopped a robbery, but it turned out that was a trap! The two guys that tried to kill me had a tattoo just like that!" Marie exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Marcus asked, he and Sammy had been fencing together when they heard Marie yelling in Japanese, while Lilith and Francesca walked over as well. Marie told them what she had just discussed in English, and Lilith said, "Bring your phone over to my computer, and act as translator Marie. This is no coincidence." Marie told Tsuyu what was going on, and the frog girl waited as Marie and her friends went to Lilith's computer room and she hooked up Marie's phone to the Main Computer so she could speak to everyone.
"Miss Tsuyu," Lilith said, "Do you have any more information on the smugglers?" Marie translated and Tsuyu's image on screen shook her head, "No. That's all I know. Iida-kun knew that the phrase was Latin, and the smugglers were American, that's why we thought to contact Marie-chan." Marie translated for Tsuyu, and Lilith quickly tapped on her Main Computer's keyboard, and multiple images cropped up on the screen of attackers who had the tattoo of a fist emerging from a human skull, as well as the phrase 'Occidere animalia'. In total, there were twenty-seven assaults, fifty-three robberies, and one-hundred and six murders connected to the phrase and tattoo across the United States of America.
"This is bad," Marcus said, "This is like…Ku Klux Klan, Proud Boys, Neo-Nazi, Humarise type terrorists! We need to tell the FBI about it, and if they're in another country, then INTERPOL needs to know too." Lilith immediately started typing and sent a message to an email address Marie didn't recognize. "Who's getting the data?" she asked. "Our assigned agent, Agent Harper. He's old, but he's solid," Marcus assured her. In America, Heroes were considered on equal ground to Federal Agents. They may usually stay only in their home states and cities, but when called upon they could go anywhere in the United States where they were needed. For every ten Heroes in a state, there was an assigned FBI Agent to help smooth the process over and coordinate between Heroes and the Federal Government.
"For now, we'll have to wait and see what the Feds think needs to be done," Lilith said, and Marie translated for Tsuyu. "This isn't how I'd hoped we'd work together again," Marie told Tsuyu, "But still, it was nice hearing from you again, Tsu-chan." Tsuyu nodded in agreement and said, "I look forward to working with you all again. Goodbye for now, and good luck." Marie translated and her American friends returned the sentiment before Tsuyu hung up. "Alright," Marcus said, "Until we get word from Agent Harper, let's head out on our usual beat. We got a city that needs us to keep it safe." Everyone agreed, and after taking quick showers they all changed into their Hero Costumes and headed out to protect Charleston.
"Alright everyone, same deal as usual," Marcus said as he put on his motorcycle helmet. His usual Hero Costume resembled a blue 19th cavalry officer's uniform, but it was tough leather and Kevlar armor to keep him safe as he rode his motorcycle and offer protection from bullets. "Same deal as usual, I watch the perimeter, Willow Wisp watches from above, Slither, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Wolfheart pick your streets and keep your eyes open. Mic's on?" Everyone checked, and their microphones were all in their ears and activated. "Let's ride!" The door of their base opened up, and Marcus, aka The Headless Rider, rode out first, followed by Lilith, aka Willow Wisp, turned into a ball of light and flew after him, while Marie, Francesca, and Sammy, aka Wolfheart, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Slither respectively, all followed on foot, or tail in Slither's case.
"I'll get King Street this time," Slither said, his Hero Costume looked like a simple sleeveless robe with torn sleeves, and four sheathes for swords he carried, one for each of his four arms. "I'll take Chalmers then," Wolfheart said. "I'll get Church Street," Frankenstein's Daughter said, and the three of them headed out on their respective routes. The sun had already set, and most of the businesses in Charleston were closed, except for the bars, nightclubs, and certain restaurants, and liquor stores. That said, crime never slept, and Marie kept her eyes open as she walked down the cobblestone Chalmer Street and walked past the Old Slave Market. It had been centuries since a slave had been in the Old Slave Market, but Charlestonians kept the name of the old Market to stay connected to their history.
Marie stopped a second and looked around. Charleston was one of the most important cities in South Carolina's history, through the Revolution and American Civil War and up to the present day, it had long memories, and was still known as the Most Haunted City in North America. She would keep it and its citizen's safe, no matter what; and if there was a new terrorist group out there, then she would face it head on.
Marie then smelled something; it smelled like C-4 explosive. She followed the scent and quietly said in her mic, "This is Wolfheart, I'm on Chalmer Street, and smell C-4 plastic explosive in the area. Converge now, Chalmer Street, near the Old Slave Market." Marie followed the scent and saw that the gate of the Old Slave Market was open. "They're in the Old Slave Market itself," Marie said into her mic, and then started running. Halfway through the Market, Marie spotted them, three similarly sized people dressed in dark hoodies and black pants. "Hold it right there!" Wolfheart yelled out as she ran at the three terrorists. "SHIT!" one of them yelled, and then drew a gun. Wolfheart kept on running at them, only deviating her course at the last second, barely avoiding being shot.
She reached the shooter before he could shoot again, and grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard enough to break his arm. The shooter screamed, then Wolfheart knocked him out with a knee to his stomach. The other two ran, both carrying backpacks. "Targets are heading out of the Market!" Wolfheart said into her mic, "One is incapacitated!" Wolfheart handcuffed the one she knocked out; and heard Headless Rider's motorcycle approaching.
Wolfheart went running down the empty Market, and heard as one other terrorist was captured, and the last one kept on running. The werewolf Hero caught up with the last one just as they got out of the Market, and she tackled them to the ground. This last one surprised her and twisted around and pulled out a needle. The last terrorist's hoodie moved enough to reveal a young African American woman with dreadlocks, before she jabbed the needle into her own neck. "Occidere animalia!" the young woman yelled, and then her body started to glow. "What the Hell did you do!?" Wolfheart yelled as the woman glowed brighter and stared at her with all the fury of a fanatic, "I'LL TAKE ALL OF YOU FREAKS WITH ME!"
"She's gonna blow!" Headless Rider yelled, and Wolfheart quickly transformed into her Ultimate Form and grabbed the insane woman by her legs, and with a mighty howl, threw her into the air. "NOOOOOOO!" the woman screamed as she realized what was happening, and barely two seconds after Wolfheart threw her, a massive explosion of light shook half the city of Charleston!
Frankenstein's Daughter, Slither, and Willow Wisp all arrived after the explosion, and asked, "What happened!? What was that!?" Marie sighed as she turned back into her normal form and the Police arrived. Marie looked at her hands, and though to herself, How many people have I killed now?
?
The hooded man watched from carefully placed cameras throughout the United States as various attacks proceeded. Most of them had failed so far, but several went off without a hitch in Austin, Texas; New York City, New York; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Seattle, Washington. Of those that couldn't place the C-4, three managed to use his Explosive Formula, wiping out Topeka, Kansas; Madison, Wisconsin; and Ann Arbor, Minnesota. He looked to multiple screens as even now, all the local and major news outlets reported the terrorist attacks. Rage and fear were running rampant now in the United States. So what if he hadn't been able to kill and destroy more?
All of it was merely a distraction from his real target. None of them would be able to realize his true goal in time. All of his people were absolutely loyal and would never reveal anything. For too long, the freaks had run the world. He would set right the world and restore True Humanity. The Hooded Man set to typing on his laptop, and once his manifesto was complete, he sent it through social media and to all the major news broadcasters as well. The word would be out now, and the Second Phase would begin. "Surge Humanitatum."