January 21 – Day 40
Chitose, clad in thick winter clothing and once more trembling in fear and worry, sat on the left side of the lavish back seats of a sleek crimson-colored futuristic VTOL jet aircraft - one that's currently flying above the clouds at over 800 miles per hour (supposedly) towards the Japanese mainland. To her right is a tall sharply-dressed man who looks like in his early fifties – with his most distinct feature being his cybernetic right eye that seems to glow a faint red. To her front is Nezu, who's occupying the pilot's seat yet not really holding onto any controls. And beside him on the 'co-pilot seat', is Lady Nagant, who's just minding her own business tinkering with her phone.
Taking one deep breath and quietly letting them out through her scarf, Chitose's trembling then intensified for a noticeable bit. Needless to say, being surrounded by people from a rival faction, in a flying aircraft no less, with no effective means of escape, is making her feel extremely vulnerable, and if anything it's just making her more nervous – even more so on said aircaft's supposed eventual destination: Is Nezu really true to his word? Is he really taking her to a Tartarus parade? Or said parade is actually just nothing more than a jail cell in Tartarus? Chitose took a nervous gulp. As much as the UA principal's story four days ago about Japan's high-security prison is indeed very intriguing (at first that is), she eventually found herself not believing any of it. By all means she's probably just being tricked again.
"Hmm… even a few weeks later you still don't seem to be the slightest bit relaxed, Miss Kizuki…" said a gentle voice from her right – it's from the man with the cybernetic eye. But still, despite the low tone, it still somewhat startled Chitose and made her almost jump out of her seat, as well as causing more sweat to form on her forehead; slightly drenching the bottommost part of her winter beanie. "Are you alright?"
Chitose just took a quick glance at him before turning her gaze downwards once more. She's very nervous already, and the sudden question just ramped it up even further, making her instinctively grip her gloved hands onto something – in this case, the edge of her seat.
"Miss Kizuki, it's really been quite some time now. If we wanted to be done with you, we would have already done that," Nezu said alongside a few chuckles. It's then followed by the sound of a cooler being opened, but Chitose didn't really see what it is to truly confirm anything. "Don't worry, this is really just a harmless little Tartarus parade."
"You're valuable to us, and therefore we want you to have these new experiences…" added the old man to her right.
Chitose, who's still just keeping to herself on her seat, couldn't help but instinctively narrow her eyes upon hearing those, feeling her current nervousness and depression slightly diminish to make way for irritation and frustration to surface through. It's those words again – about how she's apparently family, and special, and important… and so on and so forth. Nezu's only been the one so far who's been saying those things to her, but now apparently the old man with the strange eye is now uttering it as well?
'Part of the family…' If Chitose could roll her eyes she would have already done that. What she heard is just simply unbelievable. In fact she could still clearly remember the impact of Hawks's baseball bat to her face, and how Nagant called her a pathetic excuse of a person, among other similar things – clearly nothing of those speaks like she's supposed to be part of a family unit. And furthermore on Nagant, (and by extension her house workers), she's been also noticing how the Rifle Heroine's constant passive-aggressiveness to her just coincidentally disappears whenever Nezu is nearby, just like now where she's just oddly quiet…
'It's fake. Always has, and always will be…' Chitose instinctively gripped down further, feeling her right hand now pulling onto something metal-like. She could tell Nezu is just ordering people around to be nice to her when in reality those people can barely stand her presence. It's obvious. At this point she just couldn't help but ask herself, 'What's even the point of faking all this? Why bother pretending? What's the end goal?''
Chitose's irritation surges further, hearing more and more of those stupid 'family' words – which are now just continuously being spouted out by the man to her right, making her tighten her grip on whatever she's holding onto her right hand and pull further. She doesn't even know what she's even pulling there in the first place, but one thing is certain: The more she pulls, the more harder it is to breathe, although she somehow doesn't feel like she's suffocating at all.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of you…'
'And there it is again…' Chitose could almost taste the lies due to how blatant they were. It's obvious that it's never about caring about her, just like the case with the MLA and Shoowaysha. It's just once again all about how people find her useful, and that's it. Even though she doesn't even have the slightest bit of an idea what's so useful about her to the heroes in the first place, she just knew it. 'All this stupid pretending and yet they'll just easily toss me out the moment I stop being useful…' Chitose grit her teeth in annoyance. 'Do these people seriously think that I'm that stupid enough to easily believe them? Is this supposed to be the sick prank I'm expecting since 4 days ago? Is this really just it?
Chitose thought some more, her brows furrowing further. With all this, she just had to ask another: Why are they even setting up elaborate pranks in the first place? Don't the heroes have anything else better to do?
'Is me being pathetic just too funny for everyone? Is that it? That's their entire motivation on bringing me in and pretending I'm part of their group?' Chitose could feel her eyes welling up with tears, yet she tried her best to not let a single one make its way down her cheek. 'IS THAT IT?! Is my entire life REALLY just a joke for everyone to make fun of?!'
"Miss Kizuki, you're pulling your seat belt too tight…" said the man to her right, coupled with a gentle gesture towards her right hand - that's currently pulling the seat belt and tightening it further around her chest. "If you pull that thing enough you wouldn't be able to breathe."
"Tone down the stress, Miss Kizuki," Nezu added. "This aircraft we're on is state-of-the-art, and with multiple 'anti-error' systems to boot. We're not going to crash, that's for sure. But if you really want to see how advanced this design is, well you'll see that in a few moments."
Chitose shrunk further in her seat, refusing to even look or even glance at them. She felt extremely pathetic. But still, she managed to hold on and not indirectly expose her current feelings on the matter. She's already feeling an entire vortex of negative emotions, and it would just amplify her uneasiness even further if she's ever found out about them and is forced to answer.
She'd really rather not be an even bigger laughing stock right now.
Luckily for her however; making matters a bit easier, both Nezu and the man just somehow finally stopped talking. It's just silence for the next few moments. No more stupid and idiotic 'family' comments, no more anything. Good.
Now feeling a bit relieved with the newfound relative peace and quiet, Chitose then leaned on the nearby circular window to her left and decided to just observe the gigantic turbofan engine visible outside for a while. She's hoping to make herself curious enough on such complex machinery to hopefully get her mind focused on some other things for once, and away from the current depressive thoughts plaguing it. After a few minutes, she found the attempt quite successful to an extent – she actually managed to calm down enough and stop her eyes from further watering.
Around this time, she also noticed that the engines are now slowly pitching downward; the aircraft seems to be beginning its descent. And while she had already calmed herself down, she could once more feel nervousness slowly rising once more, especially on the things that could happen next once landed. But before it could fully strike, she then heard a sudden strange sound she's never heard before, completely startling her.
Said sound is continuous, very indescribable, and seemed to be coming from outside the aircraft – specifically all over its entire exterior. Chitose couldn't help but freeze still in terror, but quickly loosened up as she noticed that the sound seemed to be tied to the plane's engines slowly turning invisible, as if it's being cloaked by an invisible cloth creeping up from its front side. She just watched it all happen, and in a matter of a few more seconds, both engines are now fully unseen. Light is now completely just bending around them, although they're still visibly generating faint smoke trails.
'Cloaking tech-?'
"Cloaking technology. The first one in Japan. Not a lot of people had seen this one in action yet – pun intended, let alone ride the aircraft capable of it in the first place," came Nezu's voice from the pilot's seat. "You'd think a developing nation like us could never afford to have one? Hah! Think again!"
"The new system sure benefited everyone, right?" The sharply-dressed man with the cybernetic right eye chuckled, before leaning forward to the back of Nagant's seat. "How about you, Pavlichenko? You're being awfully quiet the entire time, what do you think of this new system?"
Chitose, amidst her nervousness, felt rather curious as to what the man just called Nagant. 'Pavlichenko…?' He even strangely emphasized it as well.
"Y-yes sir… the system benefited us all." Nagant replied, stammering evident in her voice, and not even looking back.
"Good. I'm glad you know the correct answer."
Chitose just kept quiet to herself. But while she's definitely finding herself more curious as their conversation went on, she eventually just decided to ignore it and instead just lean upon the window to her left once more. She can barely understand what they're talking about anyways, but the good thing at least is that she's not the main focus of that conversation, and that's more than enough for her.
After a few more minutes of descending flight, land soon became visible. Up ahead Chitose could immediately see a small yet adequately-walled airstrip near the coast, surrounded on both sides by rows upon rows of empty medium-sized hangars, and a far bigger one at the end of it. There's also a massive city just beyond it, with its dozens of skyscrapers easily noticeable from her current location. But the one thing that stood out among it all is the presence of an enormous crowd of people lining up a particular stretch of road connected to said airstrip. There also seemed to be numerous banners with Tartarus bots printed onto them hanging from the nearby buildings.
"Looks like everyone's ready for the show! After all, this is gonna be the first time Tartarus bots were ever going to be paraded out! This is going to be historic!" Nezu paused a bit before chuckling to himself. "Surely that annoying hacker will see this and finally back off."
Chitose found Nezu's statement very odd, especially the part about the parade supposedly affecting a 'hacking attempt at Tartarus'. But in the end she just brushed it off. If anything she's quite relieved that Nezu isn't lying on what he said about a Tartarus parade.
"A Tartarus parade is nice and all, but we'd like to show you something first, Miss Kizuki. We're in one team now after all."
Chitose mentally rolled her eyes on what the man on her right said. The 'supposedly comforting words' are just so unbelievable as always. But instead of being irritated and depressed by it once more, she unusually found herself shrugging it easily. Perhaps it's from the fact that nothing serious has happened yet? Or maybe because there is in fact a real Tartarus parade and not just some sick joke? Either way it's a good thing.
The aircraft kept flying further in. But after just a short while, there is a sudden series of small beeps which emanated out from the speakers on the pilot's seat. Almost immediately, the jet then considerably slowed down, at the same time swiveling its still-invisible turbofan engines upwards - entering a hovering type of flight. It kept flying forwards still, but now descending at an even more noticeable rate, until it eventually made contact with the ground – specifically on an area behind one of the empty hangars furthest from the airstrip gate entrance.
Chitose was about to wonder what's about to happen next when she abruptly heard multiple loud metallic clicks from outside the aircraft, as if several massive metal hinges unlocked themselves. Just a second later, the aircraft then started descending underground in a manner as if being transported by an elevator. Soon it's dark, with only the rows of small green lights lining up the walls illuminating the outside. Chitose felt uneasy on it all, her nervousness slowly rising and indirectly making her pull upon her seat belt once more.
In a few moments, the aircraft elevator soon reached its end.
Immediately observable up ahead is a massive underground area, looking like a gigantic warehouse the size of a commercial airliner's hangar; complete with a paved floor, tons of boxes stacked about, uniformed workers, and forklifts everywhere. Their arrival seemed to have an effect on the nearby people, and out they waved in response.
"Ah we're finally here!" Nezu pressed something on the pilot's seat controls and unlocked the aircraft's doors as well as decloaking it. He then excitedly exited, followed closely by Nagant behind him. The old man with the strange eye soon did so as well.
As for Chitose, she just found herself unable to move; paralyzed, and her gloved hands just gripping tightly on the edge of her seat and not letting go. Her nervousness has skyrocketed further at this point, and a thought is just going in circles inside her head, repeatedly telling her whatever's going to happen next is not going to be good. Better to stay inside and just not watch the parade anymore-
"Miss Kizuki?" asked a sudden voice to her left, startling her. It's Nezu, who's now clinging onto Nagant's back in an almost comical fashion. "You can go down now..."
Chitose froze for a few seconds, utterly conflicted. But realizing that she technically has no other choice but to comply, she just pushed herself to let go of her seat. Surprisingly, she actually eventually managed to get her hands off their nervous grip, and with a noticeable tremble, then successfully exited the aircraft. She stumbled along the way and almost lost balance, but she quickly regained control. In a brief moment after that she noticed a small amused grin tug on Nagant's lips but her expression quickly went back to neutral, as if she's trying to maintain composure. If anything it just made it even more obvious how Nezu is just ordering the heroine around to be nice.
"Calm down, Miss Kizuki, no harm will befall you here…" in came the gentle voice of the man with the strange eye – the one who hasn't introduced himself to her yet for some reason.
Chitose just glanced towards him in response, and then set her gaze down again. She could feel her nervousness still rising further the more time goes on in this-
She let out a loud startled gasp upon feeling the man suddenly pat her back in an attempt to usher her out of the aircraft elevator pad and into the underground warehouse. She felt extremely embarrassed for a few seconds, but luckily (as to her that is), no one reacted to it any further.
"Come along now, Miss Kizuki. New sights await us all," the man added, followed closely by a gesture for her to follow them.
Taking in a nervous gulp, Chitose then walked along behind them, just barely maintaining her composure and trying the best she can as to not embarrassingly stumble once again - which is certainly made a bit difficult because of her tight clothes. But still, she managed to walk on (albeit trembling) and closely follow the three, but just generally keeping her head down and her gaze pinned on the ground.
Soon after a short while, the three in front of her suddenly stopped. Chitose immediately took a deep breath before slowly looking up, her uneasiness rising quickly, expecting the worst. But despite all that, she eventually found out that all three are just apparently looking at something to the right, which made her glance in that direction as well.
There are three jets, parked parallel to each other. Each of them looked slightly different from from one another, yet all share the same general build of a conventional-looking military aircraft with nose-mounted air intakes, and sporting none of the sleekness and futuristic look of the invisible jet from earlier. All three are also painted in a unique, and visually-pleasing red-and-white color scheme.
"Tanchozuru," Nezu, who's now somehow on top of a nearby stack of boxes, spoke out as he eyed the jets in front of them. "Next generation general all-purpose aircraft…" he then turned to the man with the strange eye. "Mr. President, how far are they already in terms of testing?"
'Mr. President…?' Chitose thought to herself, but still she just kept quiet as she stood at the back.
"Just a few weeks."
"So are these your chosen designs? Or just the ones your son picked?" Nezu asked with one exaggerated raised eyebrow. "Tell me the truth."
"It doesn't matter if whether Hawks picked all these designs or not. The main point is that all can fly; all can effectively carry and deploy various payloads; and all – once modded – can transform."
'Son? Hawks…? He doesn't seem to have any resemblance with Hawks…' Chitose wondered again as he heard Nezu and the 'President' continued to converse with each other. 'And transform? What do jets have to do with transformation?' she added, at the same time finding her sudden curiosity on the strangeness going on unusually overriding her scared and depressive thoughts.
"Enough with these, let's just move on…" The old man, the so-called President, waved a hand and began walking onwards to his left. "Miss Kizuki, can you keep up?" he asked, alongside a quick head gesture for Nagant to follow on.
Chitose's eyes widened upon being called and made her instinctively set her gaze back down on the ground, but not before doing a quick nod. She then followed afterwards.
As they continued to walk on, she noticed some of the nearby workers giving her odd looks – although they mostly just lasted for a second before their attention automatically switched over towards Nagant. If anything it made her quite relieved to have the normally-obnoxious heroine nearby to take the looks off of her, lowering her stress further.
After a few more minutes of walking through the massive warehouse-like structure, the three people in front of her abruptly stopped once again, this time in front of a huge metal door that's currently open. Visible within is a high-tech control room of some sort, circular in shape, and with rows upon rows of screens that all seem to be displaying various data. There's also a small scale model of a city mounted on top a wooden table at the center, and around it are three people in which Chitose immediately recognized as Hawks, Ragdoll, and Mr. Compress-
'?!' Chitose, amidst her nervousness, is instantly confused at the sight, specifically at the masked magician wearing a top hat and bright orange trenchcoat. How is he here? Why is he here? As far as she can remember (even with her fragmented memory and all), Compress is caught after the Kamino incident some months ago. By all means he shouldn't even be here-!
Chitose paused again, her mind now suddenly shifting to be confused with Ragdoll's presence. This time, however, she couldn't exactly tell what is making her confused with Ragdoll in the first place, but she could feel something's off with her. She tried to figure it out for a moment and find an answer, but eventually just decided to shake the thoughts off on the assumption that her confusions are probably just brought about by her now-fragmented memory.
She then discreetly glanced back at the three people in front of her, who are just continuing to converse with each other about topics she doesn't really know anything about. But one thing is for certain - her nervousness is once more rising steadily. Hawks is there. Chitose can feel her legs slightly trembling, her heart beginning to pound ever harder, and her breathing picking up the pace, as memories of the extremely painful baseball bat hit he did to her face began resurfacing once more.
While her injuries and bruises related to it are now long since gone, but still…
'So much for all the family-talk…'
After a short while, she then noticed Nezu walking into the room, followed closely by Nagant, and then the 'President'. Naturally of course, she moved in as well, but as she went closer and closer inside the room, she couldn't help but tremble further. And before she knew it, her legs had automatically moved her to a spot behind the tall (although still slightly shorter than her) sharply-dressed old man with the strange eye, as if just to get Hawks out of her vision-
"So here we are… Since Yamato is still under discussion, why not let's have a gander first at our current progress and plans, yes? It's never too bad to keep the ideas fresh within our heads," the man suddenly spoke, slightly startling the scared young woman behind him but he didn't seem to mind. "Alright, so here's the UA Fortress…"
'UA Fortress…?' Chitose slowly peeked out from behind the man, suddenly feeling intrigued by the situation, but still making sure Hawks is not within her field of vision. 'What does he mean by-' she abruptly stopped upon realizing that the scale model of a city on the table in front of them is actually a scale model of an entire walled fortress, with UA High right at the very center. 'What's that for…?'
"This here heavily-defended fort is what we're definitely going to need in the upcoming war…" the man spoke again before holding up a remote and pointing it a large currently-off TV screen just up front (located behind Mr. Compress, who then of course moved off to one side to make way), and then pressing the power button.
'War…?'
The screen went to static for a brief moment upon powering on, but eventually fixed itself. From there, what Chitose could see in the display is unmistakeable – it's the underground hall of the Gunga mansion! Her eyes widened for a bit in surprise and made her analyze it even further: It's currently focused on the main stage (and basing off the looks of things, the whole thing seems to be being recorded entirely through a hidden device). Meanwhile up on said stage is Re-Destro, who seems to be sitting on spherical wheelchair-thing of sorts. Beside him are Trumpet, Geten, and Skeptic – who's currently leaning forward with his hands planted on a chair, and on that particular chair is-
'Is that Tomura Shigaraki wearing MY jacket…?'
Chitose had to do a double-take at what she just saw. Apparently, she's not wrong at what caught her eye. It is Tomura Shigaraki wearing her jacket. What is he even doing there? How did he even get there?
"-And with that, ITS SECOND COMING! As we walk down a deeper path of LIBERATION…" suddenly came in the loud voice of Re-Destro through the speakers, which then continued for quite a while. "…The Metahuman Liberation Army and the League of Villains will UNITE under a NEW NAME! The PARANORMAL LIBERATION FRONT!"
Chitose just watched the entire thing, utterly confused. 'The MLA and the LoV actually UNITED into the PLF? I supposedly died and this is HOW it went on? Just how worthless am I to them, really?' Almost immediately, she felt her throat constricting, a depressive spiral of thoughts resurging through her head once more. One part of her briefly remembered how Nagant is ranting about some 'PLF' four days ago, so this may be it, but that thought almost immediately went out of her mind as quickly as it appeared.
"Ah indeed! The PLF, Paranormal Liberation Front. The eventual name for the ultimate merging of the Metahuman Liberation Army terrorist group, and the League of Villains - all six of them." Nezu, who's now standing on a tall chair nearby, spoke out as the man with the strange eye paused the video. "So they're planning to launch a full-scale attack in four months, right? That's what your agents told me."
"Right you are, they are indeed planning to attack in four months' time. But that's not an important thing we should be too concerned with for now." The man paused a bit, adjusting his suit. "The MLA, or the PLF rather, barely matters yet in this point in time. Although if anything we're already more than equipped to deal with them anyways: We heroes are faster, stronger, better, more technologically advanced… In fact, with all we have as of this current moment, we can already theoretically finish them right here, right now. We can literally end this within seconds. They wouldn't even know what hit them… But that's not the point…" He paused again, an amused grin now etched on his face, as he slowly leaned forward on the UA fortress scale model and planted his hands on its sides. "This right here is our top priority… the construction of the UA bastion."
"Question?" Hawks spoke out, raising his right hand as he did so. "Why do we even need a walled fortress in the first place if we heroes are already supposedly more than enough to deal with them?"
"Hawks… this fortress is the prime component of the massive re-ordering and centralization programs we will be conducting soon. We absolutely need this fortress. This will be the symbol that the heroes will always be there. Ever present, and ever the savior…"
Chitose couldn't help but raise an eyebrow despite her mind currently flowing with depressive thoughts. 'The PLF will attack in four months? Heroes are already more than ready but somehow won't attack yet? Re-ordering programs? What is he even talking about…?'
"Another question?" This time it's Mr. Compress's turn to ask something. "If the good guys can already theoretically beat the PLF within minutes, then why not we just attack now? Why do we need to spend time and resources to build a fortress?"
"Mr. Compress… you're getting this all wrong… we need them to attack… If we attack them now, then how are we able to show the public our heroic acts in flying colors?" The man replied with a rather nonchalant manner, in which Nezu just added a chuckle.
As for Chitose, she's just getting more and more confused. 'He needs the terrorists to attack…? To show off…? What the hell does that mean…?'
"Um, I have something to ask too…" Ragdoll cleared her throat before pressing a blue button nearby her, causing four one-foot long gray rods to rise up on all corners of the scale model and immediately project a hologram one meter above it: It's of the UA Building sitting on top of a floating semi-circular platform, and surrounded with a gigantic electric barrier. "What's this for? Is this part of the plan too?"
"Ragdoll you are indeed correct. This floating platform will act as the 'final stage' for the 'ultimate battle' against Shigaraki. It's going to be equipped with just enough to allow uninterrupted video-streaming. We're going to be relaying the battle as is, live, nationwide, to show the people how the heroes are always there to protect and save them. And then after that, in then comes the re-ordering programs to bring forth a new era of true everlasting peace."
Chitose felt herself just being more and more confused the more she listened to the man with the strange eye. 'Is this person literally planning to let loose an ENTIRE terrorist organization they can already supposedly defeat right from the get-go JUST so he could show off how heroic the heroes are? Seriously? And what the hell is that final stage for Shigaraki supposed to be? I'm not getting anything-'
Chitose suddenly narrowed her eyes, pulling up her scarf along the way.
She noticed something…
The plan, or whatever the old man calls it as, is just simply extremely and ridiculously nonsensical. Obviously no sane person would ever think like that, let alone talk like it's an actual plausible plan. It all really made her think – is this all just an elaborate prank on her? Are they trying to get her to believe the utter garbage they're talking about right now? 'Do they really think I'm THAT stupid? Did they really even set up an ENTIRE room just for this? Is messing with me just really THAT funny to them-?'
A loud banging is suddenly heard from behind them, as if someone is smacking his fist onto metal.
And indeed there's a person on the entrance, leaning onto one to left side of the metal door.
Giran.
Chitose instinctively took a step back as both Nezu and the 'President' moved forwards. But still, she discreetly observed the familiar newcomer: As it turns out, Giran looks almost exactly the same way as she's seen him before, back then when Re-Destro first revealed him to them; he's still wearing the same purple-themed outfit, he's still with his cigars, and he's still sporting the same droopy look. Although, one thing that stood out now is that he seems to have quite visible signs of bruising around his face – but already mostly healed up. 'What's he doing here? Isn't he supposedly part of the League...?'
"You're late, Mr. Okuta…" The 'President' spoke out alongside crossing his arms. "I've been trying to contact you for days now…"
"Fashionably late, heh… I'm a busy man… Gotta keep my reputation up, lots of young folks in the information broker business these days…" Giran lazily straightened himself up in a standing position, although his general mannerism is still looking rather laid back. "You say you need some extra information on the League, Mr. President?"
"While I already mostly had what I need, I could definitely use some extras. After all, the more informants telling me the same information, the more accurate the big picture becomes." The 'President' spoke out as he clasped his hands behind his back. "But first thing's first… so one thing that we just managed to dig up a few days ago is that you're one of the main reasons for the Deika City incident, is that correct?"
"I am only human, Mr. President. I forgot my real gun that day and got captured like a moron… But anyways I can certainly say that I could have easily escaped, if it weren't for my burning curiosity on how it would all go down between the MLA and the LoV. I'm not disappointed, to say at least."
"That's not the point… I was actually referring to you being supposedly 'important' to the League."
"Hmmph. I haven't given those bozos any new members nor any information for a long time now, but you're quite correct on that… I do seem to be important to them for some reason I don't know, nor would I want to know. So what about it then?"
"If you're supposedly important to them, then how come you've been out of Gunga for a long time now without them noticing your absence? According to my own informants, not one of them ever wondered about your missing status…"
"Mr. President…" Giran slowly shook his head as he once more non-chalantly leaned upon the gate, crossing his arms along the way. "You asked for my services one time… Told me to use my great underground knowledge to assemble the most incompetent imbeciles the country has to offer… And then neatly place them in one clean package to be used as a general scapegoat for almost anything…" Giran shook his head again. "…And now you're asking me how did they even forget their sole reason as to how the Deika incident happened in the first place? You're kidding right? Is that even a question?"
Chitose couldn't help but furrow her brows at what she just heard. 'General scapegoat? Most incompetent imbeciles? What is he talking about?' It all just doesn't make any logical sense at all, even though technically there are an unusually high amount of League-related events ever since their first appearance (hence the 'general scapegoat'). But still, despite her swirling thoughts, in the end she just brushed it all off. It's all just simply too stupid to be even worth analyzing-
'Wait a minute…'
Chitose blanked out for a bit; something just clicked inside her mind. She then tried to listen in on the still-ongoing chat, and only then she fully realized: Everyone's been talking in a weird manner ever since the moment they all entered the 'Control Room' – it's as if they're all trying to discreetly explain things to her while just masking it as normal conversation. It's just so full of unusual expositions and other similar strangeness. Why is this the case? Are they really trying to tell her something? Why not just be up-front about it? Is it for a sick joke perhaps?
Chitose abruptly stopped her thoughts as she noticed Nagant suddenly walk up the 'President', immediately saying something to him entirely in Russian. The heroine then quickly left the room after receiving a small nod in response from the man.
"I'm gona keep it real with you people," Giran spoke out as he just stared upon the leaving form of Lady Nagant, especially at her backside. "She's even more captivating up close… And here I am thinking that calendar photo is already something…" his voice trailed off as he turned his attention back to them. "Also, I didn't understand a single word she just said… but do know this, hearing sexy women speak Italian? Sexy as hell."
"She didn't even speak a single ounce of Italian…"
Chitose, currently with her head down and back into trying to figure out the true possible reason as to why everyone just speaks so strange, suddenly heard a couple of footsteps getting closer to her. And before she knew it, Giran is already right in front of her.
"Oh look who we have here? So you DID become a lot younger huh? And also a lot taller for some reason." Giran took a step back, taking notice on how heavily covered in winter attire the former MLA lieutenant is - with only half of her face visible. "You know, I've never seen a villain organization as pathetic as the MLA. Imagine being beaten by a bunch of dumbasses and then instantly ditching and forgetting their publisher of over twenty years, before removing all traces of her existence. Ouch! Right in the feels huh? You must be so sad."
"Giran-" The 'President' spoke out but is quickly interrupted by Giran continuing.
"But as for me, I didn't even felt bad for you for a second there, not even a little bit. You Quirk supremacist bastards deserve every single ounce of misery that comes your way. Pathetic drooling freaks-"
The 'President' quickly grabbed Giran's shoulder and shoved him out, with armed guards immediately escorting him away.
"He fired off a little too many shots there. Must've only agreed to come over just so he could do that. He needs a lesson in humility…" Nezu spoke out, shaking his head. He's then followed by agreeing comments from the 'President'.
As for Chitose, she's completely stunned and immediately found herself just barely hanging on – legs trembling, and with tears already threatening to break out of her eyes. And seemingly to take things further, she could hear faint snickers coming from behind her, in the general direction of Hawks. 'Why must everyone constantly remind me of how useless and pathetic I am?' She felt her fingers clasping the sides of her winter suit, combined irritation and depression surging through within her. So is that the entire joke then? For them to pretend that she's part of a team and then suddenly hammer in a 'You're Useless' nail on her head out of nowhere?
'I get it…'
She soon felt a hand pat her back and push her forward. It's the 'President's'. "I do apologize on Giran's behavior. He can get a little messy at times. He didn't mean it." He kept going. "Now let's go see the Tartarus parade."
Chitose had no choice but to follow on and walk the steps. What choice does she have anyway? She's completely surrounded by heroes, and there's no way she could ever escape from it. And even if she does manage to escape, Skeptic would surely soon find her and assassinate her again. She has nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. She's trapped here as a punching bag and a laughing stock for everyone.
'I miss Midoriya…'
A random thought went through her head. While yes the kid did technically describe her in a very unorthodox way once, but what followed with him has undeniably got to be the nicest treatment she's ever gotten from a person – in years – up to the point that he literally stuck with her though a literal assassination attempt, not to mention indirectly saving her from another. No one else would've done that. But unfortunately, he's gone now. No more chance of ever seeing him ever again.
"Alright everybody! Make way!"
The loud voice of Nezu clearing a path out of a crowd of people ahead snapped her out of her thoughts. But still, she couldn't help but feel how everyone's eyes are on her, as if judging her very existence.
The trip took a while, but they eventually reached an elevator of sorts, and with another arm to the back, the 'President' guided Chitose inside, before closing the door. It's also only now it became evident to her that the others are now gone. No more Hawks, Ragdoll, nor Compress. It's only Nezu, her, and of course, the strange man with the strange plans whom everyone calls as the 'President'.
"We'll have Giran taught a few lessons on the way out. What he did is outright disrespectful." Nezu spoke out in a low tone. "Rest assured it won't happen again."
'Yeah right…' Chitose just kept quiet, very well already knowing that once they return her back to Nagant's so-called private island, the heroine would waste no second in making fun of her on what happened just now. But before she could go into detail of what Nagant may also do, the 'President' reached out and pressed a nearby button, which caused the elevator to move up.
The trip took an awfully long time, for an elevator that is, until the door eventually opened.
It's a small room, with one side filled with high-tech computers quite similar to the Control Room's from earlier, and the other just filled with piles of random metal crates, some of which aren't even placed properly. Chitose took a while of observing, but only after being gently nudged out of the elevator she eventually knew that they're actually in the airstrip's control tower, overlooking the tarmac. From there she could also see the hundreds upon hundreds of people just cheering beyond the walls, eager to see the parade.
"Keep your eyes trained on the huge hangar at the back, everything will come out from there. And from there, the entire parade will then go through the entire city, before going back again." The 'President' paused a bit, gesturing for a while towards the biggest hangar visible on the scene – located way back on the end of the tarmac itself. "We are very well aware of the traffic jam this will cause, that's why we designated this day as a non-working holiday beforehand." He then turned to Nezu, who's now somehow standing on a nearby pile of metal crates. "Nezu, open the gates."
Nezu responded with a quick nod and, holding up a small black device on his paws, spoke into it. "We're at the control tower, open the gates. Start the show."
Almost immediately, loud music began blaring through the entirety of the airstrip (even though there are no visible speakers around), causing the crowd to cheer even further. A few seconds later, the hatch of the massive hangar at the back opened, and out came a line of color guards twirling Japanese flags, followed closely by a marching band, and eventually the Tartarus robots everybody seemed to love.
But as for Chitose, she found herself just too tired to even be interested in anything anymore. All the events so far - the nervousness, the fear, the fake words, the staring, the overly-complicated joke plan that doesn't even make sense, and then there's also the one with Giran suddenly hurling insults at her; it's all just exhausting. If anything she'd just rather go back to her room and lock her doors in. It's her only safe space – especially now in an era of her life where she now knew how much everyone despises her very existence.
But since of course she knew she couldn't complain, lest trigger some more embarrassment and humiliation her way, she just stayed put and pretended to watch. But after just a short while, despite her tiredness, she then suddenly felt some shivers going up her spine, subsequently skyrocketing her nervousness and irritation as she remembered the fireworks show that happened right before Nagant gave her the news.
'What else did I even NOT know at this point?' She asked herself, fully expecting that if there are any other news about to be sent her way, it'll most likely once again involve about how everyone hates her so much. 'Is there no end to all this?'
"Hmmm, the grand event is about to arrive…"
Chitose heard Nezu mutter, which made her turn her attention to the giant hangar. There's now the gigantic Zero-Pointer robot (which apparently came from a specialized underground elevator beside the hangar instead from in it), joining the parade - slowly trundling along the tarmac on its huge truck-sized tank treads. It's painted in a color scheme of whites and reds, very much like the jets she saw earlier – which literally just flew by above it, leaving colored smoke trails from their tails.
"Colossal yet light, an utter disgrace to the square-cube law, and yet here we are…" Nezu muttered again as the enormous robot drove past them. And indeed, the description is right on track. Despite the Zero-Pointer (the name just carried over by its popularity for being used in UA's entrance exam just months ago) being almost the size of a seven-storey building, it barely makes any vibrations expected for its size as it moves along the ground.
Chitose found it really odd. She'd never been this close to a Zero Pointer robot and she could definitely say that the vibrations don't match its size. In fact she could feel more of the thunderous metallic footsteps of the second-most largest walker robot, which is a strange model she'd never seen before – it's an extremely top-heavy and heavily-armored bulky robot being supported by two relatively short yet sturdy legs; It also walks in a strange wobbly manner, quite unlike the smooth motion of the others. Chitose just continued observing, now lightly curious about the particular second biggest walker's existence, but then just quickly dismissed the thoughts as she has probably already seen it before and just forgot about it because of her fragmented memory-
She felt her legs tremble further, fear rapidly rising up within her and (unusually) easily overtaking her current curiosity to become the dominant emotion. She could feel something bad's about to happen... After all, there's literally no reason why would they even invite her to here. A million thoughts swirled inside her mind: Are those robots suddenly going to turn around and aim their weapons towards her? It'll be too absurd, and even she knew that, but anything can literally happen at this point.
…
But despite her fears and expectations, nothing really happened. And now at half an hour since then, still nothing. And even after the massive Zero Pointer robot exited the airstrip and now going onto the main road as the parade kept marching on, still nothing.
"Miss Kizuki? Do place your attention on that jewelry store right there. We'll show you a preview of how we do things around here."
It's Nezu, and he's pointing towards a large building just some distance up front, easily visible from their location. Almost immediately right after he spoke, a bright green SUV parked several buildings away then suddenly drove off and went straight to the front side of the jewelry shop, crashing through the front door and shattering the glass windows. The passengers immediately exited and wasted no time in beginning to loot the place. Naturally, nearby people were startled and started running off.
"Not too many people there, chances of stampede is very low to non-existent." This time it's the man with the strange eye who spoke up.
Chitose, on the other hand, just stayed put and observed, although fear is still overwhelming her. But still, she managed to hold on and not pass out.
The jewelry store soon blared out alarm signals in the form of repetitive loud screeches from the multiple speakers situated on its roof, yet the robbers inside just continued, who're seemingly just enjoying whatever they're doing and even laughing all over.
'Why are they making me watch a robbery? And how come Nezu already seems to know of it beforehand? What's going on? Are they trying to confuse me? Are they going to frame me for it? What?'
"Miss Kizuki, watch as our Tartarus robots deal with the threat. Observe." Nezu, who's now standing on an even taller pile of metal crates to get a better look, spoke out, accompanied with another pointing gesture. "Those criminals won't know what they're in for."
Chitose, still noticeably fearful, slowly turned her attention back to the (strange) ongoing robbery. It continued on for a short while, but then she noticed that a sizeable group of small Tartarus robots split off from the main parade and are now hastily making their way to the crime scene. The end result, as obvious as it is, is the apprehension of the criminals. All in all Chitose just got confused even further. 'They didn't frame me? What's that even supposed to mean?'
The cheering of people at this point had further intensified, it's like the crime never even happened, and now a lot of them are taking pictures of the 'heroic' robots, even including the ones that panicked from earlier. Meanwhile, the criminals are now placed into an armored truck and drove off.
"Ah, heroism has never been better. Look at all the smiling people, Miss Kizuki. This is the good life. The new system is truly a benefit to us all…" The 'President' spoke out, his hands clasped on his back and his gaze just focused upon the Zero Pointer moving beyond. "It's the only thing that's truly reduced crime rate to less than 6%. It's never from All Might's efforts…"
'What?' Chitose, still confused and trembling, asked in her mind. At this point her confusion is now at ridiculous levels. What system is this guy even talking about? Is it even real? Or just a joke?
"Mr. President? The owner of the shop just called," came in a sudden comment from Nezu. "He's very pleased."
"Indeed. Probability of sales will surely get higher for the Jewelry shop saved by Tartarus robots. Everybody wins."
'What…?" Chitose asked again in her mind. 'What's going on-?'
There's suddenly an eerie whirring sound, followed closely by the loud smacking of boots and casual laughter.
Startled, Chitose then suddenly turned around. Behind her, and standing in front of the elevator entrance of the control tower, are Compress and Hawks, both are dressed up in rags and holding small pouches that contain – judging off of the sounds they make as they were shook – a plethora of small metallic objects.
"Great job, now go return your loot. You already know where to meet up, yes?" Nezu jumped down from the metal crates he's standing on and walked up to the two newcomers, giving them a congratulatory handshake once he reached them. "I've already contacted the owner, he said he's already there."
"You two did well out there. Now go." The 'President' spoke out, accompanied with a small nod, before gesturing towards the elevator, in which both Hawks and Compress immediately went inside, the door closing behind them. He then turned to the still-trembling Chitose and gently placed a hand on her back. "Miss Kizuki… that's a prelude of what we really do around here."
Chitose, on the other hand, could only nervously furrow her eyebrows. She didn't really understand a thing. Was he referring to the parade? Or the crime? Or Hawks and Compress?
"I know it's hard to decipher it all in one go, nor even believe. But you'll know soon enough." He paused a bit. "In fact we'll be flying you out of Nagant's property time and time again in the next few days to observe some more. Hopefully you eventually figure out things on your own. But if not, then that's fine, I'll just have someone explain it to you properly."
"Miss Kizuki, welcome to the inner workings of the clockwork that binds it all together." Nezu added, nodding. "Welcome to the system."
Chitose could only turn her gaze back down. Whatever they're trying to say, whether it's a prank or actually serious, she really just can't understand a thing.
'What is even happening…?'