As the evening approached the busy streets of Shizuoka, the sportive shadows nimbly frolicked against the high rises as the sun prepared for the tenuous hours ahead; while many arranged to unwind from their busy days, others had plans for debauchery even before the streetlights illuminated. While the absurdity of vices commenced, criminal activity was making headway in the most flamboyant of ways.
Just outside of a popular fashion store were a couple of police cars causing a stir for civilians passing by on the opposite side of the road, soon gathering cautiously around behind police lines to catch a glimpse of what was occurring. While the officers were standing by behind their car doors, bystanders whispered to exchange information about what they were hearing and seeing;
"Does anyone know what's going on?" Timidly inquired an older girl.
"Yeah, looks like there's been a series of robberies going on these past few nights but they can't seem to catch the guy." Said the middle-aged man standing in front of her.
"Yes sir, it looks like we've managed to corner him again," the officer spoke into his transmitter, "no doubt he's going to give us the slip again- requesting backup."
Suddenly, kicking through the double glass doors, was a lanky, colorfully gaudy man with bold patterns and unfashionably outdated clothing. He peered over his sunglasses with his odd mechanical eyes and observed his surroundings, a wide grin stretching across his face, "Well, look who's decided to come and ruin my fun again. You pigs aren't gonna give up, are you?"
"It's over, Funk Mustang. You're not getting away this time!" Shouted one of the police officers.
"Get away with what? I haven't done anything." His smooth, auto-tuned voice elevated his crisp pop-and-locking, "Besides, I told you, if you want a piece of me, you're gonna have to win me over with your moves."
"We don't have time for this," mumbled one officer to the other as two more police vehicles pulled up and surrounded the storefront, "he's pulling the same stunt as last time, and no Pro Hero even wants to bother dealing with him!"
"What's the matter, pigs? Got cold feet? Two left-feet? You know you don't have what it takes to beat me!"
From a different view of the commotion, "Man, what's this guy's deal?" Questioned the young man locked arms with another man, "He robs stores just to look for people to dance with him?"
"I guess Funk Mustang isn't the brightest criminal." Lightly chuckled the other young man.
"You're really gonna leave me hanging like this?" Asked Funk Mustang, bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet, "Isn't there anyone out there who can out-groove me?"
Just then, from the large crowd of people, came a sharp whistle that blew past everyone and broke a small piece of concrete next to Funk Master's foot- a force that couldn't come from an ordinary human.
"Your moves are weak, Funk Mustang!" Shouted the older girl from earlier at a volume much louder than the average person could emit.
This insult infuriated Funk Mustang; he swiftly leaped on top of the hood of one of the police cars and over to the other side, "Who said that?! You ain't got nothing on me!" He shouted into the unexacting crowd.
"I did!" The crowd scrambled out of the way to reveal Shelby standing there with her hands confidently on her hips, along with Keali'i, Arjan, and Yemi standing intimidatingly behind her. "I know what I said!"
"Hah! You think you can beat me, little girl?"
"I don't think, I know, and when I win, you have to turn yourself over to the police."
"Fine, but if I win, you can't show your faces around here ever again!"
"Pft- whatever."
"Uh, don't you think we should do something about this? We're not going to let innocent bystanders handle a dangerous criminal, are we?" Questioned a concerned officer.
"If all this weirdo wants to do is dance, then maybe we should give him what he wants. Besides, I don't think they're just regular citizens. That girl's quirk use was too precise." Responded the officer next to him.
"Wait, you don't think they're-"
"You're on!" Funk Mustang finalized loudly.
"Alright, but if your moves are anything like your music taste, then I'm not dancing to trash."
"T-Trash?!"
"I'm choosing the beats, so just try and keep up- y'all ready?" Shelby turned her head behind her to see Keali'i, Arjan, and Yemi sitting on the curb with their gear and devices already in hand.
"Ready when you are." Arjan chimed in while twirling his drumsticks.
"Let's hurry this up. We're already running late." Keali'i followed.
As Yemi adjusted a few faders and knobs on her console, Arjan came in with the drums while Keali'i followed up with the bassline. Shelby lightly swung her body side to side with the rhythm to keep her body moving as Funk Mustang moved along with her. Once Yemi's fingertips made contact with the selected performance pads on her console, the music became harmoniously cohesive with the addition of Shelby's vocals. Her dance moves succeeded with each effortless motion as she immaculately kept up with the beat; however, Funk Mustang was far from a novice and was able to mirror her moves without much resistance.
With the assistance of Siren, Shelby's quirk had enraptured the audience around her. It captivated everyone with good, mellow feelings that synchronized melodiously with their funky song. The louder she sang, the more people came in droves from becoming enthralled with the sound of her bubblegum voice. The garnered attention brought people from an indeterminate radius to gather around and watch the frivolous battle, none of which wavered Shelby or Funk Mustang.
The ripe emotions enveloping everyone there incidentally caused people to dance along to the music; from civilians to Pro Heroes, the infectious groove spread expeditiously and turned a small corner of Shizuoka into a nightclub, and once the media had their attention grabbed, those who weren't able to witness the event live could feel like they were part of the audience. Every household, business, dormitory, and teacher's lounge tuning into any news outlet could spectate the performance and experience firsthand what Japan wasn't remotely prepared for.
During the second verse, their moves became more energetic and dynamic, but Funk Mustang wasn't about to give up so easily, and despite tirelessly working up a sweat, Shelby couldn't let him get too cocky- this wasn't his concert or his audience, she was going to make sure he'd regret this challenge and his exorbitant choices. Within the last few lines, she outsmarted him in the most florid of ways by sweeping him off his feet and flattening him on his back; with a hard fall, bags of money flew out of his person and scattered in the street.
The audience erupted in emphatic cheers watching Funk Mustang crawl away backwards up against the police vehicles while Shelby was finishing up the song. As they basked in the crowd's optimism, the music dwindled to the last few notes as Shelby finished up with a few polished dance moves before boldly posing. This was their win.
"Evildoers, eat your hearts out. We are Suit As Sugar!" Shelby pleasantly gasped.
The three of them got up from their seats and lovingly stood next to Shelby, acknowledging the audience's ovation with the combination of their group name being chanted. The police were fulfilling their duties by placing the handcuffed Funk Mustang into one of the four police cars while the others were collecting the evidence off the road and controlling the excited bystanders. Just as they were about to disappear into the crowd and return to school, a police officer started running towards them;
"E-excuse me! I'm sorry, Suit As Sugar, was it? Thank you for helping us deal with that criminal. We've been having trouble catching him, and no other Pro Hero seemed to have been any help-"
"OUT OF MY WAAAAAAAAY!" From beyond, a cluster of citizens on the adjacent side of the road rushed a reporter along with her cameraman over to the four of them, completely disregarding the police officer as they legally bunted him out of their way.
"Wait! Do you have time to give a few words for NHA?! After giving such a spectacular performance and defeating that wacky criminal, Suit As Sugar is well on its way to becoming the new number one!" Quite obviously enchanted by Shelby's Siren quirk, the fast-talking, excited news reporter hounded them with praise and compliments without any regard for their audience.
"New number ones?" Growled Endeavor under his breath as he tightly clenched his fist against the arm of his office chair; he already knew non-Pro Heroes couldn't qualify for the JP Hero Billboards Chart, but hearing the new reporter have the audacity to suggest something so abhorrent in such an enthusiastic tone made his blood begin to boil.
"We'll see about that." Aizawa seethed, getting up from the couch where Midnight and Present Mic also sat and looking at him along with Vlad, Snipe, Ectoplasm, and Cementoss in confusion. He was already furious that they had broken several school rules under his authority, and he wasn't about to allow them to get egotistical about their sudden popularity.
While Keali'i quickly launched himself back and forth off of abandoned buildings down an empty street, Yemi used her quirk to create a mirage around them to prevent the group from being noticed, "We're so screwed, we were supposed to be back before the streetlights came on!"
"What are they gonna do? They can't expel us for this." Arjan commented, clutching onto Keali'i's back along with Yemi and Shelby.
"That doesn't mean we're not gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble- did you forget who are teacher is, and for all we know, U.A. Japan's rules could be totally different!" Shelby exclaimed.
"Knock it off back there!" Keali'i chided, "As long as everybody keeps calm, we'll get through this!"
"Right, look, I can already see the school From here. We're gonna be fine."
With one final leap, the four of them were across the street from the school and projected down to the front of the gates where no one else was around- until Aizawa appeared from out of nowhere and blocked their path. They cried out at the sight of their angry teacher and prompted Keali'i to slow down to avoid crashing into him, and once he slid to a full stop, they froze up and shook where they stood in fright.
"Are you four trying to make my life miserable?!"
"W-We can explain-!" Yemi interjected.
"Did you think I wouldn't see your little stunt?!"
"It's just- We were trying-!" Stunted Arjan.
"You have no idea how screwed you guys are."
Keali'i shuffled his feet and attempted to use his quirk to launch over him and avoid any more confrontation for the evening, but he was left stirring in place without moving vertically.
"K-Keali'i? What's wrong?" Arjan nervously mumbled, watching their alternative plan crumble in front of them as Aizawa roped them together with his scarf and dragged them over to him.
"Did you think you could avoid getting in trouble until tomorrow? That you could use your quirk to get past me without realizing that my quirk can temporarily erase yours?!"
Knowing that the scolding wouldn't end or be delayed, Shelby, Yemi, Arjan, and Keali'i allowed themselves to be tied into a chain-gang contraption and walked through the quiet campus, accepting their fate. There wasn't much to argue with what Aizawa was saying, but when his rant trickled into federal laws, that's when Keali'i felt he had to step in.
"That's not correct. We didn't break any laws- we stretched them, sure, but we followed through accordingly."
"Oh, so now you're an expert on Shizuoka's laws? This isn't Hawaii or New Zealand. Things work differently here-"
"You're not going to scare us into behaving when we didn't do anything wrong outside of school."
"So you think talking back to me is going to save you?"
"I'm stating the facts! According to the Law Of Japan's Criminal Code, General Part, statue Law Of Hero Involvement- Article One, Section Three: If a person has been granted their Provisional Hero License, the document holder is allowed to use their quirks for heroic activities under recognition of the federal law. If, in case, we didn't have our PHLs, we'd still be protected under Article One, Section Four of the Law Of Hero Involvement, which states that in emergencies, citizens are permitted to use their quirks if the act is nonviolent and nondestructive. Our performance didn't result in injuries, casualties, or property damage!"
"That legal jargon isn't going to work-"
"Aht aht, Mr. Aizawa, it wouldn't be fair to dismiss Mr. Ho'omalu's argument, especially when you're in the wrong."
"Principal Nezu?" The four students pointed out simultaneously.
"That's right," he confirmed while perched on Aizawa's shoulder from behind, "and as my fur is soft and fuzzy, you're one hundred percent correct! I have to admit, When I divulged deeper into your file after discovering your affiliation with business and law, I was hoping I'd get to see you flex those muscles and not just your physical ones!"
"Oh, uh, t-thank you."
"Also, I hope you realize they aren't the only ones who are in trouble- you're supposed to be keeping a close eye on your students, after all, which includes keeping track of their whereabouts on and off campus; had you been on top of things, they wouldn't have gotten permission to leave without an adult and returned late." Nezu's voice was calm and chipper, paired with his threatening aura made his exchange with Aizawa terrifying.
"Alright, alright!" Aizawa gave in, sighing, "So maybe I messed up, and maybe I went too hard on you guys. Sorry."
"Perfect! Now that that's settled, you four won't be able to leave school grounds for two weeks!"
"Two weeks?!" Shelby and Arjan exclaimed before being physically reprimanded by Yemi and Keali'i, "Ouch!"
"Thank you, Principal Nezu." Yemi and Keali'i bowed, pushing down Shelby and Arjan's necks to bow with them.
After Aizawa untied them, they split off in different directions and made their way to their dormitories until the four students were stopped by a mob of students who began heavily admiring them on their latest performance and lavishing them in commendations.
"Why do you encourage them to act that way?" Murmured Aizawa.
"There's no wrong way to act like a hero. What matters is fulfilling your duties and saving the day."
"Aren't they just going to get themselves hurt?"
"Is that what this is about? I didn't expect you to get attached to your abroad students that quickly!"
"W-What's that supposed to mean? It's not like that!"
"You have to remember, we didn't pick these students at random; they proved tirelessly that they are quite capable of standing alongside Pro Heroes. I think Suit As Sugar is doing what they do best and succeeding."