09/07/2024
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 35 - Prepare for the Future
Shunin sat quietly across the table as JBQC's representative fidgeted. They were unaccountably nervous and he couldn't work out why. JBQC was his client, they kept him on retainer! So they shouldn't be nervous around him. That was for whoever he was up against. Unless…
He sighed. "What have you done?" he asked pointedly. Nervous people were usually guilty people, especially when talking to a lawyer. Since he was paid to defend them, they shouldn't be nervous around him unless they figured they didn't have much of a case. Or had done something very bad.
That was one of the reasons he was here. JBQC had a legal department. They had lawyers who worked for them but they mostly focused on corporate law. Contracts and the like. He was kept on retainer for when they wanted to get vicious. Not that he minded that. Looking at contracts, day after day would bore him. He much preferred the excitement of court.
"Nothing, yet," the man replied.
Shunin raised one eyebrow. It told them to get on with it and tell him.
"There's been a patent violation," came the follow up.
That made no sense. If there was a patent violation then something had happened. "We thought it was against us," the man continued. "But it turns out to be against our parent company," he explained.
That was interesting. Shunin wasn't aware that JBQC had a parent company but then he didn't closely follow business news that much. But it didn't explain why he was here. The man looked uncomfortable. "Our parent company doesn't maintain the resources JBQC does, and there was a standing order from our old owner, who reiterated it at time of sale to our parent company, that we at JBQC, were to take care of the parent company's owners."
Shunin digested the sentence for a few moments but it still made no sense. He knew who JBQC's old owner was and that was not the type of instruction he'd give. On the other hand, Shunin didn't think he'd sell JBQC either so there had to be something else going on here. "Who is the parent company?" he asked pointedly.
"Mi Enterprises," the representative answered immediately.
The lawyer had never heard of them and he waved one hand to ask for further explanation.
"It is a small private company, jointly owned by JBQC's former owner's son and his business partner."
Now things made a bit more sense. Not complete sense but more. It made JBQC suddenly having a parent company make complete sense. No doubt Watanabe would be able to explain everything and had probably at least partially written the sale contract. There were rules about gifting things to your children but Watanabe knew how to get around those rules and more importantly, how to minimise any payments required by those rules.
"So why am I here?" Shunin asked.
"As Mi Enterprises does not retain legal services, JBQC was hoping you would take the case."
Oh, that's what they were concerned about. Shunin put his elbows on the table and closed his eyes as he rested his chin on his hands. The man could sweat for a bit on his answer while he pretended to think. He would be taking the case. It would be stupid for him not to. JBQC retained him and while the parent company's owners may not have a lot to do with JBQC, they were the owners, which meant he worked for them, through retainer anyway. That was without even considering how stupid it would be to go against the former owner. If he'd made his instructions so clear that this representative knew, then he had been very firm and… He was one of the legal alliance's prime customers so he would be serviced well.
Shunin smiled as he opened his eyes. "Of course I will take the case," he said expansively. "Mi Enterprises may not retain me but they do retain JBQC," he explained, playing with the words, "and I would not be doing my duty if I let them down."
The man was visibly relieved and actually seemed to slump in his chair at the news.
"So," Shunin said intently, "tell me everything."
-ted-
It had become a bit of a habit to meet in the bar about lunch time. They'd only been here a little while but it did make things easier to talk when everyone was present. Even Yakuni managed to get here some days.
Izuku looked around. The villains were comfortable with each other and that was a good thing. They didn't trust each other completely yet but they were comfortable. That was a start.
"Did everyone give Yakuni a genetic sample?" Izuku asked.
"Yep!" Himiko chirped as she came through the door from the back kitchen. She was dressed as she usually did and was half skipping.
"It's hardly worth it," Dabi observed. "It's gonna take months to be ready."
Izuku gave him a look. "Long term insurance," he murmured. There was no need to elaborate further, the villain was intelligent.
Dabi huffed but didn't object and Izuku turned his gaze to Mr Compress. The magician nodded and today Whisper was sitting with him. She gave him a nod too.
"Twice?" Izuku prompted.
"Yeah, I did. No way!" came the response.
Izuku had learned with Twice that the answer he meant was almost always the first reply. It was not 100% reliable but it was consistently that way. "Thank you," he said. "I think the next thing we need to do is work on some more long term plans," he announced.
That got attention. "You've decided what to do?" Dabi asked.
"Not exactly," Izuku admitted. "Or rather, I realised that what I want isn't going to be something that can be achieved in a few months." He held up one hand to forestall arguments. "Not if it's going to be meaningful," Izuku added. He was pretty sure he could come up with a way of toppling the government in a few months but that wasn't what he wanted, not really. He wanted a new system put in, a better one, and that would take longer.
Oh, he could just take control and force changes through and some of them might even be accepted but that just opened him up to being deposed by the next tyrannt. Or open to attack by international forces. Meaningful change had to be embraced by the people and the people then had to be willing to fight to keep that change. That was the current problem. The people were asleep. They thought the heroes were representing them, when the truth was the heroes were representing themselves or the HPSC. The people were the last of the Hero's concerns.
Dabi looked at him suspiciously. "So what do you want us to do?" he asked. The other's gave gestures to show they agreed with the question.
Izuku sighed. "I want you to think about ways you can get stronger, even if it involves another quirk and I want information on Tartarus."
"What?"
Izuku wasn't sure who yelled the question. "Which bit?" he asked calmly.
"Both! Tartarus! All of it!" The response came from Whisper who appeared confused but the others seemed to back up her questions.
"The easy one first," Izuku replied. "Tartarus. I want information on it," he said. "Not the usual rumours. I want cold, hard facts about it."
"Why?" Mr Compress asked.
He gave them a mocking smile. "Because there is a very good chance that sometime in the future, I'm going to have to raid it."
"You?" Dabi picked up on the singular pronoun use.
"Us maybe," Izuku corrected and then shrugged. "With the way things are likely to go, I suspect that raiding Tartarus will be something that could be a plan for the future. I am aware of how much innuendo about it is out there, so I figured it's best to start collecting the information now. Then we can determine if any plan has a chance or if it's something to be avoided at all costs."
"It's something to be avoided at all costs!" Dabi snapped.
"Is it?" Izuku challenged. "What do we know about Tartarus, really?" he asked.
"It's one of the most heavily guarded locations on the planet," Mr Compress told him.
"Is it?" He asked again. "How? Give me details!" Izuku requested, shaking his head. "I have no doubt that Tartarus is heavily guarded but I'd like to know the reality. There are a lot of rumours about Tartarus and I want to know which ones are true, and which ones are just made up to scare villains."
The magician gave him a hard look but Izuku just stared back. Finally Atsuhiro nodded.
"It's not like I expect us to be raiding it in a month," Izuku said. "I just want to know."
"We can ask our contacts," Atsuhiro allowed.
Izuku nodded. "I will be asking the brokers for information as well," he indicated before taking a deep breath. "Now, getting stronger," he said the words as a heading. "The offer to take on a secondary quirk stands but I understand if you don't want to do that," Izuku told them. "If that's the case, then I want you to think of other ways to use your current quirks. I'm not going to say some bullshit about how all quirks are equal but someone who can use their quirk in imaginative ways, can seem to be a whole lot more powerful than someone who just plays by the book."
"I know you already think about this," Izuku said before they could object. They were villains. How to gain an advantage was something they always thought about but he wanted them to go further. "But I would like you to think about it some more, and think about how your quirk can be used in conjunction with everyone else's here," he added.
"What do you mean?" Whisper asked.
"How can you use your quirk to complement something someone else is doing," Izuku replied easily. "We know your quirk Whisper, can be used from within one of Mr Compress' pearls but could he store Dabi's fire?" Izuku asked and was pleased to see the two villains twitch slightly at the thought. They hadn't considered that and he was pretty sure that they would now see if it was possible. "Test it outside," he advised.
Mr Compress nodded. "Can I test regeneration?" Himiko asked.
"If you want," Izuku gave in. So far, he'd managed to keep her from cutting herself too much but he also knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Himiko did something more. "But don't damage your head," he advised. "And make sure you have lots of energy," Izuku added.
"What's she talking about?" Twice demanded.
The question was remarkably straightforward.
"The stupid Yakuza used a permanent quirk destroying bullet," Izuku said unnecessarily, "so until I either get a better handle on the quirk they based it off, or Yakuni can grow a new quirk for Himiko, I gave her another quirk."
"Didn't the bullet destroy her quirk factor?" Dabi asked, frowning at something as he thought.
"Yeah," Izuku replied.
"So how does the new quirk work? There's no factor for it to activate," the fire villain pointed out.
That was completely true. But it was also true that Himiko's borrowed regeneration quirk was working fine. "No idea," Izuku said honestly but he hoped his tone conveyed some level of agreement.
"Meh, it works!" Himiko said and held up one hand. She had a knife and gripped the blade. They all saw red pool between her fingers before she let the knife go and the cut healed before their eyes.
"It works," Izuku said as Himiko licked her hand clean.
"A new quirk must reactivate the quirk factor," Mr Compress mused, but Izuku got the impression it was for Dabi's sake. He was happy though because the question showed that Dabi was thinking. That was important. And he got the impression they were impressed by the speed of regeneration.
"I want you to think about how you can work together," Izuku went back to the original topic. "And that includes how to work with me," he added with a smile. "I could work with Dabi to see what happens to his fire when more oxygen is applied."
The way the villain grinned told him that he already had a good idea.
"Or I could work with Twice to figure out why his clones can have quirks but don't show that to my quirk!" Izuku added another potential thing to be worked out.
"What do you mean, Izu?" Himiko asked.
He cocked his head slightly. "Exactly what I said," Izuku replied. "When we were getting out of the Shie Hassaikai compound, Twice's clones could use some of my quirks. One lot of clones flew! But when I looked at them with Dragon's Hoard, none of them had a quirk," he explained.
Twice gasped and while he had his mask on, it was easy to see he was stricken by the information.
"You had a quirk," Izuku told him. "None of the clones did, even though some of them could clearly use them!" he added.
Twice took an audible breath. "What do you mean?" he demanded but it almost sounded like he was going to pass out.
Izuku cocked his head again, frowning to indicate he didn't fully understand but then he shrugged. "My quirk, Dragon's Hoard, can see other quirks," he told the villain. "I can't tell what they do, or anything like that but quirks appear almost like points of light and that's what I grab when I take a quirk," he explained. "When you made those clones, I was using my quirk. I gave Gunhead back his and I could see that only you had that glow of a quirk. And I could see that Himiko didn't have hers," he added sadly.
Twice exhaled audibly and closed his eyes. He trembled but didn't say anything.
Izuku cocked his head back the other way but there was still no answer forthcoming. He decided to let it go. Twice would talk about it when he was ready.
"Is everyone okay with things? Collect information on Tartarus and think of new ways of using your quirk and working with each other."
"So what will you be doing?" Whisper asked.
He gave her a smile to indicate he didn't mind being challenged. "I'm going to be practising with my new quirks and working with each of you," Izuku replied. "I want to get a handle on how to use the Shie Hassaikai's girl's quirk soon. It has potential."
"In combat?" Dabi pressed.
"Just in general," Izuku replied, "but maybe in combat too," he allowed. If you could rewind injuries then that would almost be as good as regeneration. Maybe better if the person got their energy or stamina back too.
"And the overall plan?" Mr Compress asked.
"I'll be thinking about that," Izuku admitted. "I want to get at least a few steps on the path worked out and then I'll let you guys poke holes in it. And come up with alternatives and back up plans."
That seemed to satisfy the magician but Izuku knew it wouldn't satisfy him. He knew what he wanted but he had no idea how to get there. Not in a way that would make the changes stay. Izuku wasn't stupid. He knew that there was never any guarantee that the changes he wanted would remain. Society could be stupid but they could be guided. He just had to figure out how to guide.
"The first part will be to show heroes for the frauds they are. That was what Tomura was working on and it has to be done because it establishes doubt in the current system. That's the bit I think you all want to do," Izuku said with a grin, and wasn't surprised to see the nods. "The bit that will be really hard is making a new system, and then making the people want that system," he added the qualification.
Dabi looked at him. "Why do you care?" the villain asked.
From the way the others stilled and looked at him, Izuku knew they were interested in the answer. It was a question he'd been expecting for a while. It was something he had asked himself as well.
When his father sent him to make his choice, it wasn't just between being a hero or a villain or even on one or other of the sides. It was about what he truly wanted to do. And while his decision had been forced by All Might's fight with his father, Izuku knew that he still really wanted to help people. It was just that he would help his father first and then…
Izuku sighed. "The world we live in is one of extremes, of black and white but we know it's not. There is black and white, but there is also every shade of grey. The current system doesn't see that, doesn't acknowledge it and certainly doesn't allow for it. Mr Compress knows that I've made a study of history. The past knew that everything wasn't just right or wrong and they allowed for it. What we have now is absolutes and I suppose if that's all it was, then it wouldn't be too bad.
"Except it's not. Those who are meant to be white, are often black, and they bend and break the rules they are meant to uphold. And yet, when others do that, it's bad. What they see as flexibility is actually corruption." Izuku gave a cold chuckle.
"When my friend was attacked in her own home, they searched for those responsible but only charged them with common assault. That means nothing in the face of her injuries! The system was prepared to charge the one who used their quirk on her with a more serious charge but only because All Might offered to request it."
Izuku shook his head, grateful that the villains weren't interrupting. "That's not justice. It's corruption and I think All Might knew it but he also knew it was the only thing he could offer me.
"That's what I want to change. I want the rules to be applied to everyone. But more than that, I want the artificial labels to be destroyed. The system only works because some are branded, sometimes very young, as villains, all because of their quirk. Others are heroic, because of the genetic lottery. That's not right, and that just perpetuates the system."
"So why do you care?" Dabi repeated his question.
Izuku gave him a smile. "A couple of months ago, I could have just joined the system. I could have been very powerful within it but-" He huffed. "I would have been controlled by the system. I couldn't have truly done what I wanted, I couldn't have saved people, truly saved them, unless they were those the system deemed 'good'. So that's why I care. I want to help people. I want to help all people, not just those the system thinks are worthy. I want to save those I think are worthy and to do that, to truly do that, the system needs to change.
"And there's the longevity reason," he added with a smirk.
"Longevity?"
"Mr Compress knows I made a study of history. Societies that are as divided as ours have seldom lasted long. Eventually something has to give. Sometimes they collapse but usually, someone takes over. They sound good, they might even seem good but they eventually become a tyrant."
"And we will be what gives?" Dabi asked.
"Oh no," Izuku grinned at him. "We will be the ones making everything give before us. At least… Until they see things our way."
The fire villain snorted and nodded. The others did as well and for the moment, Izuku thought things were okay. There was a lot to work out but…
They were on the path. That was enough for now.
-ted-
Well, time to get Shunin involved with the patent challenge :D He should have fun at least, and it makes sense for JBQC to protect their new owners. It will make them much more friendly to the company.
And as for Izuku, well, he's still trying to come up with a plan but he's recognised that Tartarus is in the future but while Tartarus will be a certainty, the change the system might change as Izuku gets into it some more. Why does he owe it to anyone to change the system?
Discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.
-ted-
Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!