And I am back after I took last week off to work on another story, which I highly encourage you to check out, as its debut chapter is crazy long. However, it's not up for early readers. The reason for that is simple: I didn't feel comfortable doing that since I don't have a fixed schedule for it; as I explained before I uploaded it, my week is already booked up, so I don't want to squeeze in another project as that'll just stretch me far too thin.

This one took a little longer than I expected to get something done, partly because this chapter is longer than average. Still, I'm happy with the final project. As for comments on this, I'm delighted with what I'm getting as a lot of you both appreciate this and understand what I'm trying to do with this, which makes me happy as I was concerned that using Nine's group instead of the League would be poorly received.

Chapter 15: Money and Diamonds.

Izuku hummed a temple mantra to himself as he sat in front of the TV, watching the news and taking notes as he went whenever they talked about a hero, Koharu lazily wrapped around his shoulders. It had been 3 weeks since they left for their training and a week since they returned from the trip out to the wilderness, and he felt that they had got a lot done. He even managed to get two notebooks filled up with observations and notes on his friends, which was always a plus.

It wasn't as cold as it could have been, with it being close to the end of January, which meant that snow had already started to melt, which made the outside look less like a winter wonderland and more like a dirty pit of mud and trash, what he had seen when he was out earlier, he shivered and longed to return to the mountains, it was certainly much cleaner.

A thought which had him recalling that they could move at the drop of a hat as his stuff, all his belongings of worth, were never outside of the duffel bag in his room. It was the same with the others as Nine and Makihara had been clear that a safe house was only safe until it wasn't. Hisaki was still bitter that her home had been lost along with most of her stuff because some idiots thought it was abandoned. But when you had Kon's beastly nose and hearing, they had something of an early warning system, at least a stop-gap version for now.

Getting back to his notes, which he kept in 'Crook Analysis for the Future Vol. 3', he paid less attention to costumes and quirks of the heroes he saw and more to patrol routes and response times. After all, if they were going to come into conflict with heroes as much as he thought, it would pay to know who was when and how long it took said pro to get from point A to point B. As he wrote down some information on Mirko, who had stopped some hostage crisis hours prior, Makihara walked over to him from the kitchen.

The man saw the notebook and only rolled his eyes, as he had told the kid not to name his stuff 'Crook Analysis', but Izuku just looked at him, back at the book and then back at him again before saying he liked it and ended the conversation there. Hisaki, who was also present reading a book, looked up to him as he approached. "How'd the call go?"

"It did, but the guy wants a down payment before we agree," Makihara replied as he had called a broker called Giran to get their hands on supplies. Still, the guy hadn't budged on the issue unless they paid him 30% upfront, 'liability cost,' he called it.

"Then it's a good thing we have a job lined up." Nine spoke up, the man on the floor as he meditated. His statement drew all their eyes, including Kon's, from the kitchen, where he made himself something to eat.

"Really?" The heteromorph asked as Nine nodded, getting up and dusting off his legs.

"Yes. It is a bit cliché, but from what I've learned on the underground, it would be lucrative if we pull it off." He walked over to the table and unrolled a map of the city, taking out a marker as he did so.

"And what would that be?" Hisaki asked as the man circled a corner of a city block on the other side of town.

"We're robbing a bank." At that, the group raised their eyebrows as Midoriya recalled seeing plots like this on All Might cartoons all the time and hadn't thought that they were that common as the last he heard of a bank robbery was 3-4 years ago? He didn't recall details on the villains, only that Best Jeanist had been the one that apprehended them.

"You're right, that is cliché." Makihara snorted, but Nine didn't argue with it. He agreed with the sentiment as Midoriya looked the man over, his mind adding the known patrol routes he had been studying. He could tell that only a few pros had a direct route down that street, with a few more being close enough to act should the place have one of those silent alarms like in the movies.

Koharu also saw it and asked if those pros would be an issue, and he shook his head, as the worst was a pro with a wing quirk, but it wouldn't be too strong for them, and Nine could create entire storms, so power wasn't the issue here. "Okay, that's what we're doing, but how will we carry enough money to make it worth it? Does a bank even house that kind of cash anyway?"

Nine nodded at him, pleased that he was asking sensible questions as it meant he was learning. "It's possible on the first question, unlikely on the second, but we're not only after the physical bills. That's only to serve as a diversion from our real goal." He explained to them, their attention firmly on him as he continued.

"Tonight, I'll receive a special flash drive which, when we assault the bank, one of us will plug into one of their computers. It'll bypass the bank's security and load off as much cash from their wealthiest clients to an offshore account Giran already set up in Nigeria, one that it will only reach after being routed through half a dozen other countries with less than reputable banking regulations."

With that explanation, the man started to make more sense as, with their hands, they could make off with what, a couple hundred million? But if they could access the accounts, they could make off with billions before anyone even realized it was missing. "What about the money, the stuff we're walking out of the bank with?" Makihara asked.

"It's the secondary objective, so don't worry too much about it, but it will be important that we act like that's the main reason, so don't skimp and pretend to grab as much as you can." Nine explained, as they even had spare duffel bags that could be used for that exact purpose.

However, going after hard cash served another purpose: to help their immediate finances as his funds nearly dried up. "We'll launder the money through underground middle groups, I know; that way, we'll have clean, untraceable cash on hand in a few days, as it will take at least a week for the real cash to reach its final destination." Nine stated that, as with that, they could afford to be a little looser with their cash and pay Giran his downpayment for their gear.

Hisaki nodded as the plan seemed simple enough. Still, the issue was that such a bank, even if it was just a branch or a larger one, would be significant and have a lot of staff and customers in it. "Will this job be something we need others for? There'll be a lot of people there to keep in line."

Nine shook his head. "Just us will be enough, more than enough, so it will only be 3 people to hit the bank. Myself, Makihara and Kon." Hisaki narrowed her eyes at him.

"And what will we do? Act as look-outs?" He best not be benching her after they spent 2 weeks in the frozen ass middle of nowhere training. Sensing that she might be a little upset with him, Nine was quick to dissuade those thoughts.

"You and Midoriya will have another target, an armoured car my sources assure me will drive down this street tomorrow, carrying diamonds." He tapped the map again, pulling out a picture of an armoured car and tossing it onto the table in the same action.

"Oh, I've never seen a real diamond before. Mom never wore her ring…" Midoriya didn't say more, as she used to wear it when he was younger, but after his quirk came in, she didn't want to risk him forgetting the rules when she had a metal ring on her finger.

Kon could pick up on his downed mood; they all could, so he moved the conversation along. "Those two things would cancel each other out as if we hit the bank, the armoured car might be delayed or cancelled. But if we hit the car, the bank heist becomes harder than it already is. Pros might just flock to the area before we even get there."

"Which is why we'll be hitting them simultaneously." Nine replied as he picked up a tac on the table and placed it on a large road, then he took a small box and put it where the bank sat. "The truck will be passing through town far away from the bank, but not too far that the same heroes that would respond to one can't respond to the other."

"We're going to force them to split their numbers, making it easier for each group?" Hasaki asked though it seemed like a foregone conclusion and an intelligent way to keep the heat down for them.

"Correct, though I'm sure that the bank will get the lion's share of attention if for no other reason than the fact it is a hostage situation from the jump." Nine confirmed, but he didn't think the hostages would be much of an issue with Makihara there, so long as they wore clothes, he could restrain them with ease. At the same time, Kon's presence was intimidating, keeping any brave or foolish bystanders in check.

Turning his attention to the youngest pair there, Izuku and Koharu, Nine continued. "The Car heist, on the other hand, is a smash-and-grab. I trust you, Midoriya, to ensure you're not followed." Midoriya pumped his fist.

"You got it? They won't know what hit them!" If it was a road, he could set a few cars on fire to keep them too busy or just be unable to chase them after ensuring that no one would get hurt, as not everyone could appreciate the flames like he did. Even Makihara was warming up to the idea. He giggled at that inside pun.

"Any strong pros to worry about?" Somehow, the bandaged man could tell that Midoriya was making a joke at his expense as he asked for more details.

Rather than Nine, Midoriya replied that this was his area of expertise. "Nope! This area doesn't have anyone in the top 200s to worry about. Mirko would be the most likely outlier, but she just finished a job in Fukai. She will probably head down to Tokyo or Kyoto as she does." Taking a moment to think, he supposed there was another rising stat that could, in theory, arrive, but it wouldn't be likely.

"There's Kamui Woods, but he's not in the prefecture while a local hero, Bamboo…well if he goes for the car, he'll get a chance to experience the joy that is fire." He not so secretly wished that the pro did try and stop them, as he wouldn't get the chance to test how Kamui Woods would burn, but bamboo…well, he was a good substitute for the moment. Just the thought of seeing him catch fire made him feel fuzzy in excitement.

"You have notes for those that might show up?" Nine smiled as he felt he knew where the young pyro-lover's thoughts were, and Nine wouldn't stop that as it was how he expressed himself. Besides, when he set them on fire during training, he healed them and let them keep going.

"Yup! One second," Midoriya got up and raced up the stairs to his room, rummaging through his stuff for a minute while Kon asked what he was up to. He raced down with several papers and handed them to one, each getting 5. "Here we are! These are the patrol routes, response times and quirk information on the 10 most troublesome pros we could meet." Midoriya was proud of himself as they read through them, each packed full of information he could gain from a solid week of watching the news and reading up on them via Nine's laptop. Also, he needed to get his own laptop.

"Excellent work, Midoriya." Nine praised him as he looked through the papers he had been given, nodding as he read.

"It would be great if we could get a printer, as writing all that stuff 5 times wasn't fun." Midoriya had to rip out pages of his new notebook and use those, and while it's fun to write down your thoughts once, it loses its punch when you have to do that same thing multiple times.

"This is why you've been glued to the screen for the past week," Hisaki asked as Midoriya watched hero-related content. At the same time, they went off to bed, leaving him alone with just the TV's glow. And because of that, he was even able to put in notes on unlikely arrivals and possible complications that could arise. It was hard, not just that Nine asked him to do it out of the blue, but it was worth it.

"Hero otaku," Kon muttered as Midoriya gave him a big thumbs up.

"And proud!" He replied without a hint of shame. He was who he was, and he wouldn't apologize for that.

"Our plans needed such detailed information to fight off the heroes for a while. It benefits us to avoid that as I would rather not be down the wrath of the skies." Nine told them as he dismissed them for the evening to read over what they got and relax as they would be out of there before 10am.

The following morning, things were pretty standard in the bank branch as clients spoke with employees, handling their money and other financials, such as parents making sure they paid for school fees, the elderly handling their pensions, younger people applying for loans, etc. Upstairs, they handled internal issues at their desks or spoke with one another about what they were having for lunch. Most were still wearing warmer clothes as it was cold out, but with Spring just a few weeks away, folk had plans to go out and have fun.

It was a pleasant scene which was rudely broken when the two security guards that had been outside were thrown through the glass doors, landing with pained groans on the floor while people screamed in shock and panic. Stepping through the destroyed doors, Makihara quickly handled the 4 remaining guards, his wraps grabbing into their arms that reached for their pistols, restraining them before they found themselves turned into living mummies, a fate shared by the two he had already handled just to be on the safe side.

Then, as if someone had snapped their fingers, a gust of wind blew into the building and knocked them all to their backs and butts. It wasn't as violent as what the guards were put through. Still, it was far from gentle either, as the wind even passed through the wall separating the room in two, which meant that the floor manager couldn't reach the silent alarm button. With the situation firmly in control, Nine and Kon watched into the bank, the two additional men scaring the people further as Kon glared at any that met his gaze.

Stepping up, Nine addressed the room of newly acquired hostages. "Good morning; unfortunately, you're now our hostages, but not for long, as we're only here for the money. But if any of you act offline, if we have reason to think that the alarm has been sounded, someone will die. Is that understood?" His storm grey made it clear that he was as serious as possible, which got the people to shake their heads hurriedly.

"Good, then hand over your phones. We don't want anyone feeling tempted." He ordered as the two went around, people handing over their phones with shaky hands as none wished to test the man with what they believed was a strong wind-based quirk or the walking beast of a man that looked like he could bend any of them in two without so much as breaking a sweat. With that done, he had them open the door to the other side where most of the employees were, the ones upstairs hiding from them.

"You're the branch manager?" Nine asked, directing his question to a more petite man nearly drenched in sweat, his balding head speaking to his age.

"Y-yes, that's me." The 40-something replied, doing his best not to collapse as he had been trained for this. All bankers had as the chance of being held up when they held large amounts of cash was always there, but there was something about this guy. It wasn't his stance, which was relaxed; it wasn't his build, as it wasn't anything too special; it wasn't even his quirk, as he had seen stronger.

It was his eyes. It was like looking into a fierce storm that spanned a city, tearing trees out of the ground and tossing people into the air like pieces of paper in a breeze. A force of nature that destroyed and killed with absolute impartiality, he knew then he and everyone else in this building could be struck down by him, and he would do so without hesitation or remorse.

Nine, for his part, kept his gaze on the man for a moment longer before he gestured to his taller, bulkier comrade. "Direct Chimera here to the vault."

"I-I can't-not because I don't want to, I swear!" The banker added, fearful that they'd kill him for disobedience, as he quickly explained why he couldn't help. "It's a security measure; I don't have authorization to open it unless someone from the company that transports the funds is present; I only have one code."

"It's fine." As Nine told him to just do as he was told and how they'll handle the rest, this served as a good distraction as Makihara covered up any cameras he could see, if not ripping them out, an act most assumed was their way of trying to hinder the investigation into who they were. With that done, a subtle nod to Chimera had the man act out, getting angry with the man and making him near break down from fear as he spluttered out pleas. This put the attention on them and allowed him to sneak into the manager's office and plug the flash into the computer.

Once in, the flash did its job, turning the computer on and hacking through the computer and the bank's security. Trusting the thing they spent over 500K on to do its job, Makihara went back to keep an eye on the hostages.

With Nine and Chimera, they were led down some stairs to the vault door, a massive door made from explosive-resistant steel/tungsten. The size meant that the door, not just the frame, could weigh as much as 2 tons and be thicker than most walls. As the bank manager did what he said he would and put in his code, the keypad to the side dinged, accepting the code, but then requested the second one with a time limit to put that in being less than 20 seconds.

"See, I can't access it." The manager squeaked as Nine looked towards Chimera.

"Chimera." The man nodded as he brushed the manager aside, looking the door over. He came to the same conclusion as Nine that it was pretty intense, but pretty strong didn't mean impervious.

"Step back," Nine pulled the scared manager back a few steps as Chimera took a breath and pulled back his fist, slamming into the door, which cracked and buckled but didn't break. His second blow broke the camel's back as the door bent, and he was sent flying into the vault, smashing into shelves and other items that happened to be inside. "I was expecting that to be harder." Chimera cracked his neck as he stepped inside, followed by the other two as he reached into his coat and pulled out 3 empty duffle bags.

"You," He glared at the bank manager over his shoulder, tossing one of the bags while he handed one to Nine. "Fill up that bag while we do the others, and don't you dare skimp on it, else we'll come back for you." He threatened as he went to the first shelf and started throwing in all the banknotes he could, the heteromorph being pleased that most were 5,000-yen bills.

"Y-yes, sir, whatever you want." The man was clever, as he picked up the bag and started to fill it up. Soon, they were almost done as Nine reached for his earpiece, one connected to the entire group.

"Mummy, any issues up atop?" He asked; above them, Makihara kept a close eye on the hostages while counting down the time they were told it would take for the flash to do its job.

"None, the guests are behaving pretty well." He replied, his gaze making people whimper as they looked away from him and his 6 puppets that floated in the air. The guards within tried to yell and scream, but all of it came out as muffled.

"Just be sure to keep things that way." Nine replied as they almost finished. At that exact moment, Makihara heard a commotion outside, quickly followed by police sirens.

"It's about damn time, Pyre's notes said it would take them 4 minutes to get here, it's been nearly 6." He said to himself. Outside the bank, the police were already setting up a blockade, keeping people away from the scene, getting eyes into the building and coordinating with local heroes who arrived to help. With all this in place, they felt incredibly confident that this would end quickly as one of the policemen held up a megaphone.

"This is the police! We have the building surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"

"What an annoying bunch they are," Nine stated as he, Chimera and their unwilling and terrified accomplice returned from the vault.

"You have the money?" Mummy asked as Chimera tossed him his bag and grabbed the bank manager's. Mummy unzipped the bag and smiled when he saw it was filled. There had to be at least 13 million here.

"Payday," He swung them onto his shoulders as the police made another announcement, demanding they surrender.

Nine saw it as the perfect cover for them to handle the second part of the mission as he looked towards Mummy. "Go check; we need to be sure." Understanding this, he walked over to the manager's office, which so happened to have a view of the street and using his body as a cover, he acted like he was observing them for any faults or holes in their perimeter as he glanced towards the screen, looking back out the window, he grabbed the flash and walked out.

"It's true, I saw some heroes in the other building." He replied as the two nodded, as it looked like things were going to plan.

"Annoying, but not something we didn't expect. Let's handle them and go." Nine lifted his hand as Mummy walked forward, his puppets moving with him.

Outside, the police were getting a little nervous as attempts to contact them via the phone had gone unanswered. Nor could they get a good picture of what was happening inside after that man covered with red bandages peeked out the window. "I repeat, the building is surrounded! You have no way out! Surrender immedi-!" An object came flying out the destroyed doors to the bank, heading right towards them.

A pro with a sword saw how bandages controlled it and immediately acted, slicing them, which freed the guard from the wraps. With a yelp, he crossed his arms as he nearly crashed into a police cruiser, but he was saved by another pro, a heroine who got him down safely.

"What the heck?! Was that a person?!" Someone asked as the guard was taken away, shaken after that near-death experience.

"Bastards are using human shields!" Someone yelled as they prepared to storm the place, but then they noticed the wind picking up as the sky darkened. Looking up, they saw that clouds were gathering insanely fast as they darkened, filling with moisture, which shouldn't have been possible; rains didn't happen in late Winter, especially thunderstorms if those clouds were any indication.

"What the?"

"The weather is changing?"

"Must be a quirk-look out!" Someone yelled as a lightning bolt came down, striking a police car and destroying it. This was followed by another and then another. Each one took out a vehicle and sowed chaos as the onlookers, who, like always, had refused to stay back, now fled in terror, causing more confusion, which the police had to handle as they dodged lighting bolts, the wind picking up further in a localized storm.

"Incoming!" Then, as if their problems weren't enough, Chimera came barrelling out of the building, nearly running over anyone who didn't get out of his way before he grabbed one of the police cars not yet destroyed and threw it at some pros, forcing them back. When one tried to get the jump on him, he backhanded them into the wall, where they slumped to their ass, out like a light.

He was soon joined by Mummy, who stepped out and used his quirk on the bodies of those already taken out, adding to the battle as the pros found that the numbers of 3 shot up to 15, most being their own, which forced them to pull their punches. At the same time, the villains had no such handicap. It wasn't even 5 minutes before the area was covered in craters and fires from the explosions and lighting. Still, the police and pros weren't a problem as Nine pulled back the storm.

Stepping over the body of a pro that got hit by his lighting, he coughed into his hand, the strain of his quirk getting to him. Making a note to have Izuku check up on him, he approached his two comrades as they surveyed what they had just done. "That wasn't nearly as fun as I wanted it to be." Chimera snorted

"Then we'll be sure to pick our next fight close to where a top 100 pro would be," Mummy replied as he dropped the last of the bodies he had been using, not caring for how the woman let out a groan of pain, even while knocked out.

"Maybe." Chimera laughed as the trio fled the area, using the alleys to avoid being on the scene for a couple blocks, only stopping once they were clear. They had put at least 5 blocks between them and the perimeter the cops had set up. Calmly, they walked into another alley with a nondescript blue van parked; its plates were copies of another legit car's but not stolen, so it'll be a while before anyone realizes that.

As Nine and Chimera put the bags into the back, they tossed Mummy another smaller one with a change of clothes. Handing them his money bag, his bandages fell away from his body to reveal that he was an incredibly handsome young man. This type one assumed would be in music videos and boy bands that girls would swoon over. With that done, he, without a hint of shame, changed from his villainous clothing into some standard stuff.

Putting the cap onto his head, he nodded towards them as he got into the driver's seat while the other two got into the back, closing the door behind him. As he started up the van, in the back, Nine coughed into his hand again, getting Chimera to turn a worried eye again.

"You good?" Kon asked as the man pulled a tissue from his pocket to wipe away the blood.

Looking at the tissue, Nine saw that there was more than just blood in it, but what looked like pieces of his lungs as he narrowed his eyes. "I'll live. This is nothing new." How ironic that someone with a quirk as powerful as his own has such a crippling drawback. Kon raised an eyebrow as he could smell that it was more blood than normal but decided to leave him be for now.

"How much do you think we got here?" He asked as Nine leaned into his seat, the van's windowless rear keeping them hidden from anyone who could be on the look-out for them.

"I filled my bag with 1 and 5,000 notes, so I grabbed maybe 9 million." Nine replied, though he needed to keep an accurate count.

"Over 11 million in mine," Kon replied, mentioning that the other bag had at least 10 million in it, as he made sure that a banker didn't try to play them by putting in only 1,000 yen notes.

Nine hummed at that. "So it's fair to say we grabbed a little under 33 million then? Not a bad sum, definitely something that would appear to be a big deal." It would keep the authorities from realizing anything else happened, but that wouldn't last long.

"This, however," Makihara opened the little window between them, holding up the flash drive in his hand, which he passed to Nine. "Is the real prize."

"If all went well, there could be well over 500 million on this," Makihara stated, hoping that they didn't get punked by whoever Giran got to program the flash.

"We just need to get it to Giran so the transfer can be complete," Kon replied, as the money wasn't actually on the card as that wasn't its job. Instead, it was to rewrite the bank's security and other transfer programs to allow them to transfer a pre-set amount from several accounts to another without needing consent from the bank or the account holders. However, banks were known for their security, so it was only a matter of time before someone or the system picked up the holes they made and plugged them up.

"That's right," Nine pulled out his phone, a secure one to contact the others. "Slice, Pyre. Did you manage to complete your side of things?"

At the same time as the bank job was meant to start, Midoriya and Hasaki were watching the highway from the rooftop of a nearby building. The roadway was pretty busy for a morning commute, but they were concerned about something else. Izuku, sitting on the guard rails, swung his feet as he hummed a song before he saw something in the distance. Hisaki saw it as well. She stepped up, and sure enough, it was their target.

Around the large black armoured car were 4 police cruisers, one out front, two at the flanks and another in the rear. Koharu still found the idea of valuing shiny stones, calling that crow behaviour as Izuku pet her head. "It's more than that, but what's important is we get our hands on those rocks," Izuku replied to her question as the two got ready.

Once the truck was close enough, both jumped off the building. As they fell, Hisaki's hair shifted into bladed tendrils while Izuku went straight into Hachimantai. Her blades cleanly sliced through the lead car's engine, causing it to explode as the cops inside of it didn't even have time to scream before the remains of their vehicle crashed. Meanwhile, Izuku handled the armoured car, landing on its hood even as it sped up to try and escape, while Slice handled one of the cars on the flanks.

The driver and the guard next to him both screamed in terror at his form, steam billowing out of him while his body looked like he was inside a pressure cooker; he flashed them a smile as he pulled his fist back, slamming it into the reinforced glass, the glass cracked, before another strike pierced through as his bloodied, cut up hand grasped the steering wheel, easily overpowering the driver and making the car serve.

This extreme turn was too much for the car, which, at its speed, kept moving forward even as it was turning, leading to a predictable roll as Izuku jumped off it. It tumbled onto its side, the boy landing on another car that came to a stop, the same as others when the attack started. Koharu glared at the driver, who screamed in terror before they exited the car and fled, soon joined by others. The last police car zoomed right for him, the boy leaning his head to the side as he assumed they were trying to ram him.

Seeing that Slice was still dealing with the other one, he looked to the freshly abandoned car to his side before he ripped its door clean off and threw it like a frisbee towards the incoming police, the officers inside gawking at the incoming projectile before they did the smart thing and ducked, letting the door crash through their windscreen and into their car. Had their heads still been up, they might have lost them as the car tumbled out the back as the car crashed.

Slice then landed next to her; the glance at where she came from showed that she had handled her part of the thing. "Sorry about that; bugger stepped on the gas before I could handle them, well, without killing them." She apologized as he waved it off. It's not like those guys hurt him.

"Nay, I handled them pretty easily. Good instincts on those two," He replied as he looked at the cops he handled. They seemed alive, but he couldn't imagine crashing into the concrete side of the road was good when your head was done. "They're probably fine." At least, he hoped so, but if not, he could heal them before they left.

"Let's just get what we came for," Slice replied as the two walked towards the armoured car that now rested on its side with most of the road abandoned, with only a few stranglers around, hiding from them until the heroes arrived.

Melting the lock from the outside, Midoriya opened the door, expecting the occupants to be injured or at least willing to lay down their arms. "Alight, let's do th-!" But he wasn't expecting a rather painful blast of water right to the chest that knocked him back, the water rapidly cooling him as he cried out in pain.

The culprit, a hero, got out of the crashed vehicle, his head bleeding from where he knocked it earlier, but the surfer-themed pro was more than ready to fight as he continued to blast Midoriya with jets of water from his hands. "Damn villains, today of all days." They had just got word that a bank in the area was hit and were about to take the off-ramp for their alternative route, then these two came out of nowhere. No way this was just random.

"Dammit, you can't just douse people in water, you jerk!" Only out of the way of the water, both Pyre and Koharu were cold, wet and pissed as they growled at the man, or in Koharu's case, hissed at him.

"You're insane!" The pro yelled back but was stopped when Slice, who had jumped back, re-entered the picture and landed a heavy gash to his chest, not enough to kill him but more than enough to stop him. When he looked up, she stood over him with her hair, ready to turn him into a pin cushion.

"Trust me, better me than him. He hates when people cool him off." She pointed towards her teammate, who looked ready to roast him for that but took a quick breath to calm himself down. He frowned at the man, walking back up as he let his body heat up, evaporating the water off him.

"Hydros!" One of the other occupants, a security guard, cried but was silenced when Midoriya buried a fist in his gut, bending the taller man before he retracted it and let him fall over, grasping at the struck area.

"Let's keep things from getting lethal. You already had a car accident. I'll heal you all when we're done, just don't think about following us." He told them as he entered the truck and quickly cleared out the rest, including the driver and guard up front. With Slice keeping an eye on them, he re-entered the vehicle to look for their prize. As he did so, he heard the pro that had the gall to douse him curse them, even as he bled pretty severely.

Hearing that made Koharu hiss his way as the boy nodded. "You're right, Koharu. So ungrateful." Midoriya said as he finally found the safe, as the truck at 6 of them. Melting through its lock was easy enough, revealing a small briefcase which made him smile.

"I got it!" He called out to Slice as he opened the case, which was locked, but when you increased strength, you didn't need keys. The inside was filled with diamonds, seemingly polished to perfection, as they sparkled even in the low light of the car's interior. "And they're all here, too." He stated as he stepped out, the case closed and in hand.

"Good, now let's get out of here before more heroes appear." Slice suggested as Midoriya nodded. Pressed for time, he bathed the worst in a fire to heal them of their wounds, even if their screams and pleas for mercy confused him as he was helping them. Nine and the others never complained when he healed them, and he wasn't even that hot a fire he was using.

Strange.

This took some time, enough that they could see heroes rushing towards them, jumping or running on the cars that filled the highway to reach them. He took a deep breath to keep them back and said, "Serpent's Fire Scales!" The massive ball of fire from his mouth raced towards the pros before exploding into 2 dozen smaller ones in a bright flash. It was hard to control so many, but Izuku didn't need to do much, as he merely wanted to use an attack that worked like a shit gun as the many fires exploded when they hit the road and barriers or caused the cars themselves to explode, creating a wall of fire and wreckage between the two forces.

This did the trick, as they could hear the heroes on the side of the destruction yelling about fire suppression and needing a different team to go after them. Still, they doubted they were any to be found, not if Nine and the others were handling their part of the plan. Before they jumped off the road to escape, Midoriya turned to yell something after someone was so rude as to call him a murderer. "I didn't kill anyone. I healed them, you jerks!"

Landing on the ground, the two made their way off, but they were spotted by a pro who called them out. "I see them-Dammit!" And for that, Slice fired off a dozen hair needles at him, a few managing to get him in the arms, which he used to block. Not pausing for a second, the two continued to flee the area. Sticking to the shadows and narrow alleys, the sounds of the fires and the approaching cop cars and firefighters start to peter out, with the two stopping after they managed to put at least 16 blocks between them and the attack site.

Hisaki, in her excitement over their first successful job as a team, raised her hand for a high-five, which Midoriya was more than happy to give as the two cheered about it. "Here, let me see what we got." She asked as Midoriya handed her the case.

"Here you go." He said as she opened it up, her eyes flashing with joy at their haul as this would be worth more money than they had ever seen.

"Oh, say to Mama, we could get half a billion for this?" Hisaki guessed, though she didn't know the first thing about the diamond trade, that stones this beautiful would be worth a ton on the black market; Giran would have a field day finding them willing clients. As she closed the case and the two continued to move, needing to get to where they were meant to meet with the others, she got a call.

Whipping her phone out, she saw the caller and answered. "Slice, Pyre. Did you manage to complete your side of things?" Nine got straight to the point.

"It went smoothly, though I would say that Pyre got a little too excited," Hisaki replied as Midoriya's jaw dropped in shock at such a statement.

"I did not!" He yelled to ensure that Nine heard it as Hisaki laughed at his expression, pocking his side with a small piece of her hair.

"No fatalities, which I hope is the same on your end." She continued, as while she wasn't what one would call squeamish about the idea that she could kill, she didn't want to make that a habit. None of them did.

"None that we're aware of, but I can imagine a few of them will stay in the hospital for a while." Nine replied, with some sounds in the background before he added. "The money is secured on our side."

"Looks like we both managed to get what we wanted?" She replied as she lifted the briefcase with a smile, recalling how pretty the diamonds looked. "Why don't we keep a bit of the loot? A girl always needs a little diamond in her wardrobe." It wasn't like they had a buyer already. What would be a few missing stones?

"So long as you don't crazy." Nine replied, the woman knowing she could hear him almost roll his eyes, but in a fond way.

"Thank you. We'll meet up at the primary spot." She asked.

"Just be there in an hour. We need to be gone before nightfall. The pros expect us to try and get out under the cover of night." Looking at the time in the corner of her phone's screen, she saw it was almost 11am. They had plenty of time.

"Understood. It was a good thing we packed everything before we left," Hisaki noted before they hung up as Midoriya got up from where he had been leaning on the wall.

"Everything set?" He asked her as the two started to move again.

"Yeah, looks like we have to get out of town." Her sentence was punctuated by the sound of an engine on pull blast, along with the crumbling of paper and gravel as someone appeared in front of them, the sight of which immediately put the two on guard.

"Looks like it," The figure, masculine if that voice was to be trusted, started. The two were able to see more of the figure as the dust of their quick arrived, clearing up, both being shocked by what they saw. "But you're going to make it that far." The figure's white-coated frame became more evident to them as Midoriya felt like cursing.

"What the?" Hisaki asked, her brow furrowed as her hair shifted into weapons while she kept her tracked the ING on the person's sleek armoured shoulder, the rest of their body aside from their legs covered in a similar white.

"How…how are you even here?" Midoriya asked, heating up even as his eyes didn't leave the engine mufflers from the person's elbows before moving up to their helmet.

"A hero is always where they're needed." The number 56 hero, the Turbo Hero: Ingenium, replied as he got into a readied stance. Neither thought that they could run from him. "So why don't you put those stolen diamonds down and surrender before I need to use force." He suggested, which had Midoriya gulp.

They just had to jinx it, didn't they?

When writing this, 33 million yen is over $219,000 US dollars. As for the real prize, 500 million yen would be $3,329,000 US dollars. Altogether, this is a little, as the 10th most successful heist in History managed to steal 18.9 million US dollars. Still, for a team of 5 people, this is nothing to scoff at. There is also the fact that this is All Might's Japan, so to manage this after they've already escaped Hawks makes it all the more impressive.

Next chapter will be posted March 6th.

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