(Cover Story, Sniper's Redemption part 4, the cloaked figure managed to get to a window that shows a prison warden monitoring the prisoners on CCTV.)
Flashback a few days prior
Rayleigh was sitting on the couch in the teacher's lounge with a Den Den Mushi wearing a yellow domino mask. The only sound to be heard was ringing from said snail.
Click
"Yo, Rayleigh," answered the snail in an elderly man's voice.
"Glad you finally found the Den Den Mushi, Sora," replied Rayleigh.
"It took me a while to find the little runt, but it all worked out."
"Yeah, some Den Dens can get stir-crazy and go into hiding sometimes. Anyway, what's your idea for messing with Toshi's successor?"
"Eh, I figured I'll spill some ketchup and sausages on the ground and make it look like a murder scene," the snail answered with a smirk.
Rayleigh thought for a moment before he gave the snail a smirk of his own. "Care if I help spice it up?"
"I'm listening,"
Present day, Yamanashi Prefecture
After getting off the train and a short walk, Rayleigh and Izuku were outside of a rundown apartment complex. The inherent of One for All had a skeptical expression on his face as he looked at the building. "Silver-sensei, this place looks really uhhh…sketchy."
"Sorahiko's been out of the Hero business for a while and is officially retired unless he's absolutely needed. Retirement for some heroes is not as glamorous as you think, Green," Rayleigh told him, walking up the steps.
"Is he struggling to pay the rent?" asked Izuku worriedly, following his teacher.
"He has enough for utilities and to pay the bills." The old man shrugged before ringing the doorbell.
After a minute, nobody answered the door. "Huh, must have not heard me," he muttered, before turning the doorknob. He raised an eyebrow at the door being unlocked. "Weird, he rarely leaves it unlocked." Without a second thought, the old Haki user let himself in, Izuku following behind.
Inside, the room was almost completely dark except for the light from the fridge. Izuku started to feel around for the light switch and turned it on. "Silver-sensei, I found the li-GAHHHHHHHHH!" Izuku screamed at the sight before him. In front of them, a short older man lay on the ground, seemingly dead with a pool of blood spreading from beneath him.
Rayleigh had an unreadable expression as he walked over to the body.
Meanwhile, Izuku was hyperventilating and was trying his best to calm down. 'Okay, Izuku, maybe Gran Torino is fine,' the green-haired boy thought hopefully.
Rayleigh then looked at Izuku with a grim expression. "He's dead and now, there is one thing left to do."
"Report the death to the police?" asked Izuku hopefully.
"Nope, we have to dispose of the body."
"What do you mean by 'we' in this case!?" he screamed hysterically.
Rayleigh stood up and turned away from his student. "You are now an accomplice to the scene of the crime. I want you to drag the body to the bathtub, I'll go to the back closet to get the chainsaw. Hopefully, there should be enough fuel to keep it run-"
THUD!
Rayleigh turned around and saw that Izuku passed out from the sheer shock of the whole scenario.
…
…
…
"Yeah, I think I overdid it." Behind Rayleigh, Gran stood up, brushing off some ketchup with a sigh. "I'll go get an ice pack for the brat. In the meantime, just lay him down on the couch."
"Yeah, we can catch up later once we get him comfortable." Rayleigh then scooped up Izuku's unconscious body and brought him over to the couch. Gran came in not long after, carrying a blue ice pack and putting it on the green-haired boy's forehead.
"You were careless, you know?" remarked Gran, glancing at his longtime friend, "Normally I'd expect the lug to make a boneheaded move, but I'm never letting you live down leaving Devil Fruits out in the open."
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," groaned Rayleigh, grabbing a blanket for Izuku and throwing it over him. "So who told you?"
"Nezu."
"Figured as much," he muttered under his breath, "Did he mention who ate which fruit?"
Gran nodded. "Yeah, though some fruits those kids ate made me worried. Especially if we consider who some of the previous users were."
"Was it the Gasha Gasha no Mi that made you worried? I would be to since he took the new user under his wing for the week" Rayliegh then thought about what the furry printable would most likely do with the eccentric Support class student as his intern. 'He'll probably have her make a replica of Gundam to either test that fruit's limits, get a rise out of everyone, scare the shit out of the staff, or all of the above.'
"It's the Mythical Zoan fruits." Gran corrected him, hobbling over to a bookshelf and pulling an old article. Rayleigh saw that the article was titled 'Bittersweet Victory' which depicted a large muscular man who was heavily wounded in a crater. "The previous user of the Ifrit Fruit ended up fighting all of the top 10 heroes of Spain to a standstill until the bastard finally croaked."
"Right, the media called it 'Fachnan's Final Stand', Spain's greatest villain was killed for good but not before he took the top 10 heroes of Spain with him."
"Which is why Devil Fruits puts me on edge," Gran stated firmly, while not taking his eyes off the article. "You know the old saying better than anyone."
Rayleigh then glanced over at Izuku. "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely; I'll be doing everything I can so that they don't let their new powers go to their heads if it's the last thing I do."
Esuha City, Fat Gum's Agency
Momo and Kendou stood before an average-sized building with Fat Gum's likeness: domino mask-style window, windows in the pattern of his smile, and [FAT GUM] on the front end.
"Well, here we are," commented Kendou, gazing upon the building.
The pair walked up the steps to the front door and before they could ring the bell, the door slammed up as a boisterous laugh was heard. "Welcome, newbies!" exclaimed the voice as a pair of large arms dragged Kendou and Momo into the building with a startled yelp. The girls were dragged through the lobby by an incredibly large and bulky individual with an orange hoodie and black mask. "How was the ol' Fat Gum bear hug?" The large man asked the exasperated girls, as they were having difficulty breathing from the tight hug.
"C-cann't…breathe…" Momo squeaked out as her face was turning red.
Smack!
A paper fan then smacked the large mam upside the head. "They can't respond if they aren't breathing, Toyomitsu!" scolded a thin man wearing a dark jumpsuit with a pattern based on the cracks on the ground.
"Ah...sorry, Recoil." Fat Gum replied sheepishly, dropping the girls to the ground with an unceremonious thud who started gasping for air.
"Why...did you...smack your boss?!" coughed Kendou, trying to catch her breath with Momo.
"Eh, boss gets too enthusiastic, most of the time with newbies." replied the sidekick with a shrug. "Plus he needs help with practicing Manzai for charity, so I'm helping him by being his straight man."
Both girls glanced at each other in confusion before dusting themselves off and standing up. "Why are you practicing a comedy routine?" asked Momo.
"It was for a charity event," replied Fat Gum. "Besides, we already have one routine set up. Want to see it?"
"Sure?" she replied, a bit unsure on why their doing a comedy routine right now..
Both Fat Gum and Recoil then got ready for their comedy routine. "So, Kenji, I got this letter from a fan this morning," stated Fat Gum.
"You did?" replied Recoil.
"Yeah, I did. I opened the letter and I was stunned by how well made it was!"
"Sounds like they put a lot of work into it."
"Oh, they did! The handwriting was beautifully written, the words were finely crafted, and the colors grabbed my attention."
"What did the letter say?"
"It read out in English, 'Go to hell, jackass,' the cursive was a nice touch."
"That's a threat letter!" exclaimed Recoil before smacking Fat Gum in the head with the paper fan, again, before the pair spread out their arms after finishing their quick routine. Both Momo and Kendou stood there looking at the pair of Heroes for a solid minute. "I think we tried too hard, boss. Maybe, we should just get down to business."
"Errr, right," added Fat Gum, now taking a different approach, now becoming slightly more serious. "Rayleigh mentioned that both of you ate Devil Fruits, so we can start by experimenting with them for day one and patrolling the streets on day two."
Both girls brightened up at this. "So what do you have in mind for practice?" Momo asked her temporary mentor.
"We're making takoyaki!" answered Fat Gum enthusiastically. Only for Recoil to smack him in the head with the paper fan for the third time.
"Why are you thinking with your damn stomach now!?" Recoil scolded his boss.
"Oi, there's a method to my madness," The rounded hero argued. "Momo-chan can create multiple arms to pour and flip the takoyaki as it cooks while Itsuka-chan learns fire control to heat the pans."
Recoil could only groan in response at how his boss was able to help train his new interns and get a meal out of this at the same time. Meanwhile, both Momo and Kendou just shrugged their shoulders at the rather unorthodox training plan. "Well, I do see the merits of Fat Gum's suggestion," admitted Momo.
"Let's do this, as weird as this is," added Kendou.
"Alrighty then, follow me girls!" exclaimed Fat Gum, who dragged Recoil with him to the backhall with a surprising amount of speed for a man of his size. Momo and Kendou then ran after them, so they can begin their training. Not far behind, Tamarindo peered out while holding a paper fan of his own.
Yokohama
Iida slowly walked to the agency he was forced to be assigned to. Looking down at the address, the agency belonged to a Pro-Hero called the Calming Hero, Twilight, who doesn't usually make it in the headline news. "Is this the right one?" He muttered to himself, as he looked at a rather small two-story building with a dark blue star pattern painted on the outside. "Right, nothing else to do but to come in."
He went through the front door and looked at the inside. The entrance room was dimly lit with the walls and ceiling being decorated with an astronomical pattern. Iida smelled a strong scent of lavender incense lingering in the room. "Why the lavender incense?" he commented out loud.
"It's to help new interns who enter my agency to feel more comfortable," replied a soft male voice. He looked over near the couch and saw a man sitting on it. The man had pale skin, short dark blue hair that's wavy, but his most noticeable feature was his eyes. They had no visible pupils or irises. He also wore a dark blue robe that had a consolation pattern on it but had a white crescent moon on his back.
"Are you Twilight?" Iida asked the man to which he nodded.
"I am." Twilight then got up and approached the young man. "I was informed about the circumstances and I want to send my blessings to you and your family for Tensei."
"Thank you... Thank you…" It dawned on the young man that Twilight was referring to his brother by his given name. "Wait, how did you know my brother?"
"He was once my mentor before I decided to go off on my own." answered the Calming Hero, with a melancholy tone. "However, I do want to repay him by helping you."
Iida raised an eyebrow at this comment. "Me?"
"Rayleigh has told me about what your initial plan was before he caught on to what you were going to do." Twilight stated firmly. Iida remained silent, while the guilt started to come back to him until Twilight spoke again. "Which is why I wanted you to talk it out with me."
"Right…" replied Iida, hesitantly as he walked with Twilight to his back office. Maybe this was something he needed.
"What's the first thing you would like to get off your chest?" offered Twilight.
Kyoto
Gang Orca was sitting at his desk in his personal office at the top floor of his agency. On his walls were hand-painted portraits of orcas coming out of the water and multiple award plaques from Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise. Behind the scary-looking hero was a giant aquarium that had a multitude of brightly colored fish swimming around. Across from him was Bakugo, still in his school uniform, sitting in another chair with his arms crossed and glaring at the Orca hero.
"I'm going to be straight with you, I don't like you." stated Gang Orca firmly. "And to be more precise, I don't like your attitude."
"The hell is wrong with my attitude?" Bakugo grumbled, under his breath.
"You know I can hear you." Gang then took a deep breath. "However, despite your obvious flaw, you do have many admirable qualities that would make you a good candidate as a Pro-Hero. Sharp, intelligent, and highly ambitious, just to name a few examples." He then gets up from his desk and starts to walk towards Bakugo. "So in for now, I will make you understand that your attitude is completely unacceptable, lest anyone want another Endeavor stand-in being present for the next generation." Then Gang Orca got really close to Bakugo's face. The latter could smell the Orca Hero's breath and felt a chill run down from the intense glare from the pro-hero. "Welcome to hell, Katsuki Bakugo,"
The explosive blonde's eyes widened for a moment, wondering what he exactly meant by that. Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse, Gang spoke again. "So, Bakugo, let's see if you can back up your claims. We spar in my personal training room in 5 minutes in a no hold barred match."
Bakugo kept a defiant glare, despite the slow increase of fear. "I'm not afraid." he said in an eerily calm voice.
"You will be, boy. You will be."
Tokyo
In a back alley behind one of the many buildings of the capital city, a black portal appeared as Kurogiri stepped through. "Giran has stated that he was recently spotted around this block. His information better be accurate or else the young master will most likely kill him." The villainous bartender muttered to himself.
Looking around, he noticed a couple feet away was the dead body of a male Pro-Hero, who was dressed in a blue jumpsuit that unfortunately had a noticeable bulge around his crotch, a yellow cape, and a crest that held his cape by a letter 'H' around his neck. But the condition of the body was what shocked the bartender.
Claw marks covered the body, with some marks cutting deep enough to show some of the bone under the muscles. The left arm was mangled entirely and on closer expectation the fingers of the dead hero were bitten off, judging from the bite marks around where his fingers should be. However, the killing blows were from the hero's neck having a huge chunk of his throat ripped out and five small holes around where his heart was that were relatively close together. The dead hero's face however showed a frozen expression of fright as he died.
Kurogiri quickly recovered and scoffed at the sight but soon noticed a pigeon with a red necktie around its neck roosting on a dumpster that was near the body. The bird was giving Kurogiri an analytical look as he observed him. "You look too nicely dressed to be crawling around the back of an alley, whooo." commented the bird.
"I'm simply the messenger," replied Kurogiri, keeping his composure. "An informant has mentioned that you are the pet of the person my master is interested in."
The pigeon tilted its head before straightening it back up. "Oh right, he'll drop by once he's taken care of an intern that was working with this scumbag, whoo," A wet thud from behind Kurogiri caused him to jump. "Never mind, he's here, whooo."
When the bartender turned around, he was face to face with the hitman that beat Stain. Dark black eyes stared into Kurogiri's eyes as the latter looked down to see that under the assassin was a dead teen who was wearing a stereotypical superhero costume. The pigeon left the dumpster and soon perched himself on to his owner's shoulder. "Now, how can we be of service to you, whooo?"
"My master wants someone dead, he wishes to give you the details in person, Rob Hikaru."
Hikaru smirked as his pet pigeon cooed. "Show us the way, whooo."
AN: Hello, I want to apologize for the rather short chapter. I will start to re-edit a few bits here and there to help improve the quality. If there is a chapter I need to really need to remake, please DM me or and let me know. Also feel free to leave a review since I'm also willing to hear any criticism people have for me, Fave, Follow and I'll see you next time.