Quietly Uraraka took a calming breath, as she and the rest of her class waited next to one of UA's airstrips. Surrounding the area was a small chain link fence with barbed wire lining the top, while up above aircraft continued to fly about. Large cargo planes landed farther away, dropping off reinforcements or more supplies. Attack helicopters took off to patrol Musutafu, the bombed-out city quickly becoming a lawless zone.
After a few minutes of waiting, Uraraka saw a large quadrotor helicopter fly towards them. Its large rotors shifted and turned upwards, the aircraft nearing its landing area. There it carefully touched the ground, and the engines wound down. Once it was on the ground the helicopter's ramp slowly dropped down, giving Uraraka a good look inside. There dozens of people sat strapped into their chairs.
Instantly, Uraraka recognized two of the people inside and unknowingly began to bounce on her feet. Quickly soldiers inside the aircraft began to help the others inside unstrap, with Uraraka's parents being the first to stand up and walk off the helicopter. The moment they stepped onto the ground, Uraraka's parents looked around swiftly. Soon they saw her and quickly rushed toward her.
"Ochako! I'm so glad you're ok- you are ok right!?" her father asked, as both he and Uraraka's mother grabbed Uraraka into a tight hug. Of course, they then quickly let go as the man carefully looked Uraraka over, begging not to find any injuries.
"I'm fine," Uraraka told him, pulling them back into a hug.
"When we saw the news we got so worried. With all the dust kicked up in the air we…" her mother stated, before cutting herself off. They all began to tear up at the memory, with none wanting to linger on it any longer.
"It's great to see you're safe," her father again stated, before the man slowly looked around the area, "Even if it is… here."
Uraraka didn't miss the sound of distrust in her dad's voice, and out of the corner of her eye, she could spot the man warily looking at a nearby soldier. This… was to be somewhat expected, Uraraka reasoned. She knew she and her classmates trusted the MSF more, but that didn't mean everyone would. Even with good deeds, someone would always find a reason to distrust them.
Though Uraraka wasn't expecting this kind of distrust from her father, from his nervousness, it seemed like he was open to trusting them, if only because they protected her.
"How have you been?" her mother asked, shaking Uraraka out of her thoughts.
"Good, though… my apartment's… gone," Uraraka hesitantly replied, "So is most of my stuff..."
It earned a quick hesitant look from her parents, who both quickly tried to hide it. They thought they succeeded, but Uraraka saw it. With all the work they could have found in Musutafu, Uraraka hoped their situation would change. Yet it seemed it hadn't. Maybe their company just wasn't big enough, Uraraka reasoned. Maybe the city didn't think they had the resources to pull it off.
In truth, she knew it was the same reason it always was. Bigger richer companies had gotten the contracts first.
"It's fine sweetie. We'll get everything replaced," her father told her, hoping to try and ease her worries. It didn't, but Uraraka didn't want to linger on the thought of money. The last thing she wanted, was for this moment to be spoiled due to their troubles. As she thought this though, she soon heard the sound of someone grunting. It confused her for a second before Uraraka began looking around.
There somewhat nearby she spotted Akatani trying to carry a large cube. It was roughly one foot on all sides and looked metallic in origin. Whatever it was, Uraraka didn't know, but it was clear it was giving Akatani some difficulty. Especially when Uraraka noticed he had his exoskeleton on to help him. It made Uraraka curious, but also gave her an idea.
"Hey, Akatani!" Uraraka called out, causing her parents to turn toward the boy. At the same time, Akatani seemed to panic and almost scrambled to hide the cube he was holding. However, he quickly found it impossible to hide as he turned toward Uraraka.
"H-hey," Akatani replied nervously, causing Uraraka to slowly become suspicious, "What's up?"
"Well, I wanted you to meet my parents," Uraraka replied, motioning to the two older Urarakas. Both calmly waved, as Akatani shifted in place, trying to keep the metal block balanced.
"Oh," Akatani commented while giving them a small friendly smile, "Hello,"
"Nice to meet you, young man," Uraraka's father replied, before pointing at the block in his hands, "Need some help there?"
"Yes, please," Akatani somewhat sputtered out, again shifting in place. Quickly Uraraka's father stepped forward and grabbed the block. Akatani didn't let go, but instantly the older man could feel the cube's weight.
"Woah!" Uraraka's father called out surprised, "Just what are you caring?"
"...tungsten," Akatani hesitantly replied, quickly making Uraraka even more suspicious. A few memories flashed through her head, as Uraraka connected some dots. He wasn't trying to… no.
"Why are you carrying a tungsten block?" Uraraka's mother asked, with Akatani avoiding Uraraka's eyes.
"It's… for a side project," Akatani replied with a nervous chuckle. Oh, he was, Uraraka thought to herself.
"Akatani," Uraraka stated, earning a small glance from the other teen.
"...It was going to be a surprise," Akatani hesitantly answered, earning a gasp from Uraraka.
"I knew it!" she called out, with both her parents looking at them confused.
"What was going to be a surprise?" her mother asked confused, while Uraraka's father took a slow look at Akatani. The man's eyes squinted slightly as he became tempted to let go of the block.
"Well, she wanted a new support weapon, and we thought up a large hammer. I… thought I'd surprise her with it," Akatani replied, earning a smile from Uraraka's mother.
"Oh, that's kind of you," the woman commented, earning a small nervous smile from Akatani. He looked away from the rather displeased, but also smiling Uraraka. It's like he just can't help himself, Uraraka thought. Always has to go out of his way for someone. He most likely had some kind of plan, so Uraraka remained quiet. Not to mention she really wanted that hammer.
Of course, he adjusted his grip on the cube though and quietly thanked Mr. Uraraka. There Uraraka's father let go, and Akatani stepped back.
"It was nice meeting you," Akatani told them, before slowly making his way towards the support department. All while the Uraraka's waved goodbye.
"He seems like a good friend," Uraraka's mother commented, with Uraraka nodding slowly.
"Yeah, maybe too good," Uraraka replied, with her father raising his brow.
"Too helpful?" he inquired, with Uraraka nodding.
"Sometimes," she replied with a slight smile.
When Yaoyorozu spotted her parents, none of them said a word. Instead, they quietly embraced each other calmly, not saying a word for a good few minutes. Unlike the rest of UA's parents, they'd arrived in their private helicopter, which had landed mere moments after everyone else. It partly confused Yaoyorozu, as to why they didn't just fly in with everyone else. But they had to have their reasons, Yaoyorozu quietly thought.
"We're so happy to see you alive Momo," her father stated calmly, smiling down at his daughter. The man was rather basic and unassuming. He had black hair like Yaoyorozu and had a thin mustache on his face. He also wore a rather fancy business suit.
"I'm happy to see you too," Yaoyorozu replied, smiling back up at him. Memories flashed through her mind of the attack—all the chaos and death. The MSF had a trained medical staff on hand to help, but the trauma still lingered.
"I… I thought I would never see you again," Yaoyorozu muttered, a slight sniffle in her tone.
"I know it must have been dreadful," her mother told her "When we get home, we're taking you to the best therapist in the country."
The words earned a bit of surprise from Yaoyorozu, as she turned to look at her mother. The woman was practically the spitting image of her daughter, though she was also taller and wore some fancy glasses. Compared to her husband she wore an overly elegant purple dress, complete with odd frills and poofs on the arms and shoulders.
"We're going home?" Yaoyorozu asked surprised, the idea feeling like a foreign concept after so long.
"If you want. Though the Principal told us class wouldn't start again for another few days, so I see no reason to stay here in that time," her father replied, with Yaoyorozu thinking it over. It's been weeks since she saw her room. And oh how she missed everything. She practically took it all for granted! She missed the comfort of her bed's silk sheets, compared to the cold hard classroom floor.
She missed the comfort of clean socks. She missed having a warm shower. She missed having peace and quiet in the morning. With how strained UA's resources had been, almost all of these had slowly turned into impossible luxuries. Needless to say, Yaoyorozu wanted it, badly. So quietly Yaoyorozu nodded before her parents began leading her to the helicopter. Of course just as she got inside, her father stopped.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," her father told them, "I almost forgot. We can't leave yet."
"Honey?" Yaoyorozu's mother asked confused, watching as the man pulled out his phone.
"I want to reward these soldiers," he stated, "They laid down their lives protecting Momo, it's the least we could do."
Instantly Yaoyorozu looked back at her father surprised, but thought it over. Most heroes got awards of some kind in particularly devastating villain attacks. Just yesterday the HPSC had given a dozen heroes medals for their help fighting in the Massacre. Yet… the MSF had gotten nothing of the sort. They got slightly more trust from the public, a few praises from the media, and a small security contract from the local government, but that was it.
No large public honors, no large gifts or awards, no memorial for the dead. They got nothing. It didn't seem right to her.
"You're right. What to give them though?" her mother asked.
"There was that exquisite painting down in the living room. Think they'll like it?" her father inquired, with her mother shaking her head.
"Well, it wasn't just one man dear. Doubt we could give all of them a single piece of art," her mother replied, "How about some jewelry?"
"Not sure something like a diamond ring is to their taste," her father told her before turning toward Yaoyorozu, "Momo, you've been around some of the soldiers, what do you think they would like?"
Calmly Yaoyorozu thought to herself. What would they want… She thought about Grizzly's squad for a moment, and how they normally were. It wasn't overly frequent, but Yaoyorozu remembered them talking about food. Specifically how their MREs always tasted rather poor. It gave her some small ideas.
When the battle for Musutafu had finally come to an end, it gave Grizzly and his squad some much-needed downtime. While much shorter than their usual conflicts, the death and destruction seen had been particularly draining. But of course, as his unit arrived back at UA for a break, he'd gotten some shocking news. And as wrong as it may have been, Grizzly couldn't have been happier.
"I'm telling you this is a mistake! I'm a hero! I haven't stolen from anyone!" Heart Star shouted over the TV, as a pair of officers dragged her away. After her little incident on the news, rumors quickly began to circulate. To the point, Interpol had started to get involved. There was evidence of Heart Star committing over a dozen different financial crimes that began flooding in as officials began investigating. And as Grizzly now saw, it ended with Heart Star being arrested by Japanese officers and extradited to the US for her trial.
It was all broadcast live in glorious 4k. It was why he and a dozen other soldiers in the barracks laughed and celebrated. Some passed around bottles of beer or whiskey, loudly enjoying the scene.
"Serves you right!" Gecko cheered at the TV laughing, with a few other soldiers joining in. Grizzly almost did the same, before finding his beer bottle empty. Turning around he found Ape lazily sitting next to a cooler.
"Lieutenant, mind passing me another beer?" Grizzly called out, with Ape shrugging for a second.
"Why not, two for me, one for you," Ape replied, opening the cooler and tossing Grizzly a beer. But not before he pulled out two for himself. Popping the bottle open, Grizzly heard the soldiers start laughing again. He found out why seconds later as he spotted Heart Star trying to run from the FBI, only for an agent to tackle her into a pair of bushes. When the agents pulled her out of the bushes she had bits of dirt and twigs littered in her hair.
Still, she continued to resist before one hero finally decided to tase her. That elicited another laugh from Grizzly and the others. With the scene somewhat over Grizzly took a quick swig from his beer, before turning around. Looking at all the celebrating soldiers, Grizzly soon spotted a new sight. Standing outside the barrack's doorway with a pair of insulated boxes was Yaoyorozu. The girl looked around hesitantly for a moment before Grizzly laughed again.
"Well look who it is! The girl of the hour," Grizzly called out, his words earning a look of surprise from Yaoyorozu. At the same time, other soldiers spotted her and quickly cheered again. In response, Yaoyorozu couldn't help but shrink back, while giving everyone a nervous smile.
"Hello, I… hope I'm not intruding," Yaoyorozu commented while looking around somewhat confused.
"Not at all," Grizzly replied while waving her off. His eyes began focusing on the boxes the rich girl carried. He looked at them curiously for a moment, as Yaoyorozu stepped into the barracks.
"What do you have there?" Grizzly inquired, as Yaoyorozu carefully set the boxes down.
"Well… this is… both an apology from me and a thank you from my parents," Yaoyorozu replied, the girl stepping back as other soldiers walked toward the boxes. On top of the first was a note, which Ape calmly tore off the box.
"To the brave men and women who protected our daughter," Ape read aloud, earning another cheer from the group. At the same time, Grizzly carefully opened up the first box, as Eagle looked over his shoulder. Looking in, Grizzly's eyes quickly widened.
"Well I'll be damned," he muttered, surprise present in his tone. The soldier reached into the insulated box, and pulled out the largest slab of steak he'd ever seen. The meat had been carefully packaged and cooled to stay fresh. This slab in particular was labeled as wagyu ribeye. Carefully Grizzly looked back into the box, spotting ever more steak. There were T-bones, sirloins, and filet mignon steaks as well.
"Gotta be… a hundred grand worth of steak," Eagle muttered, shocked, the soldier carefully picking up a packaged T-bone.
"...there is no way you know that off the top of your head," Ape commented dryly while grabbing a sirloin from the box. Once their hands were gone Gecko came over and picked up the box. Setting it aside Gecko opened the second one and found it filled to the brim with alcohol. Whiskey, bourbon, scotch, vodka, sake, tequila, wine, gin, shochu, brandy, champagne, it was all bottled in the box. And it, like all the steak, wasn't cheap either, as Grizzly recognized over a dozen luxury brands present.
Had to be worth another hundred, no two hundred grand. Everything in the box was top-shelf stuff.
"They and I weren't entirely sure what to get you," Yaoyorozu hesitantly replied, looking at the soldiers with a nervous but hopeful smile, "I… hope this is satisfactory."
Grizzly slowly looked back at her wide-eyed, the other soldiers in the barracks doing the same. At first, Yaoyorozu thought she'd been wrong, and almost began to lose her smile. That was until Grizzly began to chuckle.
"Are you kidding? Kid this is perfect!" Grizzly exclaimed an excited grin on his face.
"Haven't had a good meal in weeks!" Eagle added while laughing, "Nothing but cardboard-flavored MREs."
"We're eating good tonight, boys!" a different soldier shouted, earning another flurry of cheers from everyone. It made Yaoyorozu smile again before she stepped off to the side.
"That's good," Yaoyorozu told them, "My parents have more arriving soon if this isn't enough."
Honestly Grizzly thought there was too much stuff already. They'd be feeding the entire company if the Yaoyorozus kept bringing stuff in. And bring more in they did, though with a tad bit more variety. A couple of men in suits would arrive shortly after Yaoyorozu, bringing in even more food. One box was loaded with fresh vegetables fit for a barbeque, and another box brought in more meat, only instead of steak it was lamb, pork, and chicken.
They just kept coming with more and more food.
"We got any grills?" one soldier would ask, almost swimming through the boxes littering the barracks.
"Whale's got a fire quirk, that work?" another soldier inquired, earning a small nod in response. It brought Grizzly some joy as everyone present got everything set up. Especially when some guys carried the first of the steaks outside to grill. He could already taste them. Out of the corner of his eye though, he spotted some soldiers forming a circle in the barracks. It confused him for a moment before he saw two soldiers enter the circle while others started passing money around.
Almost instantly both soldiers began trying to wrestle the other to the ground, the others surrounding them goading them on. Turning around slightly he spotted Yaoyorozu watching on with a slight frown and a confused gaze.
"Something wrong?" Grizzly asked, the girl turning to look up at him.
"Well, it's… should they be doing that?" Yaoyorozu inquired, right as one soldier grabbed the other in a chokehold.
"Ah nothing wrong with it, they're just having a bit of fun," Grizzly replied, having to raise his voice a little as the circle of soldiers cheered loudly.
"Come on! Where are those muscles you keep bragging about!?" one soldier taunted, earning a laugh from another.
"But what if they break something?" Yaoyorozu asked worriedly, right as the two soldiers almost slammed into a nearby wall.
"Heh, well that's for Eagle to deal with," Grizzly said with a chuckle, remembering the last few altercations the sergeant had to break up. Of course, this didn't seem to help Yaoyorozu.
"...It isn't proper etiquette," Yaoyorozu muttered, with Grizzly just shrugging.
"Yeah well sometimes people just have to let go for a moment," Grizzly told her, "Can't be all proper forever kid."
Before watching as the soldiers continue to wrestle.
"You ever have this kind of fun?" Grizzly asked, with Yaoyorozu thinking it over.
"...Do fencing lessons count?" Yaoyorozu inquired, with Grizzly again shrugging.
"Maybe… what do you do for fun though?" Grizzly inquired, just as one of the soldier's wrestling broke out of his choke hold.
"Normally reading, though I have done some shopping on occasion," Yaoyorozu replied, with Grizzly pausing for a second. That was an abnormally shortlist, especially for someone in Yaoyorozu's tax bracket.
"Anything else?" Grizzly asked, earning a confused look from Yaoyorozu.
"What do you mean?" Yaoyorozu replied, with Grizzly raising his brow.
"I mean do you go to the movies? Play any video games? Watch any shows?" Grizzly answered, with Yaoyorozu slowly shrugging.
"Well… not usually," Yaoyorozu replied, "I never have the time for such things."
"Never have the time…" Grizzly stated to himself with Yaoyorozu nodding.
"Most of my days are spent in tutoring," Yaoyorozu told him, before slowly listing off her usual lessons. Grizzly couldn't help but slowly widen his eyes as she went on. She had fencing tutors, English tutors, math lessons, tutors teaching her proper etiquette, swimming tutors, polo tutors, science tutors, ballet instructors, violin, cello, viola, and piano tutors, golf instructors, history tutors, and so many others.
If it was a stereotypical fancy rich person activity, Yaoyorozu had a tutor for it. Now some of these lessons sounded fun, but Grizzly had the feeling they weren't exactly voluntary. Especially considering they took up almost the entire day. When Yaoyorozu finished, she soon noticed Grizzly's wide eyes and looked at him confused.
"What?" Yaoyorozu asked, with Grizzly clicking his tongue.
"That's… a lot of shit to do," Grizzly replied, only making Yaoyorozu more confused.
"Doesn't everyone do this?" Yaoyorozu asked, and mentally Grizzly screamed no. It all sounded so ludicrously batshit to him, that anyone would partake in the number of activities Yaoyorozu did. But he didn't say any of this.
"Kid I haven't even heard of half the activities you're tutored in," is what he said instead, with Yaoyorozu slowly rubbing her shoulder.
"Oh…" Yaoyorozu muttered, unsure of how to feel about the revelation.
"I mean golf!? Fucking golf!?" Grizzly added somewhat exasperated.
"My parents said it would help in making overseas business deals," Yaoyorozu replied, with Grizzly quickly connecting a few dots. It caused him to quietly sigh while bringing a hand to his face. Thinking back this explained quite a few things to him. A couple of rich parents wanting what's best for their child, only they excluded the fun childhood part.
"Alright get in there," Grizzly told her, with Yaoyorozu looking back up surprised.
"What?" she asked confused, while Grizzly motioned her toward the circle of soldiers.
"Get in there," Grizzly replied looking down at Yaoyorozu's unsure face, "Like I said before, sometimes you gotta let go for a moment."
Slowly he began walking up to the circle with Yaoyorozu hesitantly following behind him.
"Besides it'll be fun. Won't be much different from one of your hero lessons," Grizzly added, still seeing Yaoyorozu looking unsure. Yet she complied, taking a deep breath before stepping forward.
It had been roughly half an hour since the Yaoyorozus were supposed to leave. However, something had been keeping their daughter. All she was supposed to do was drop off the first few boxes and then come back to the helicopter. So when that didn't happen it became up to Midnight to go and find her. Simply walking toward the MSF's boxes she could already smell the meats being grilled.
The dominatrix was somewhat jealous as she walked by. The cursedly delicious smell didn't leave when she entered the building proper either. Instead, it lingered, along with the sounds of cheering soldiers. After a bit of searching though, Midnight soon found a quarters area filled with soldiers. Peeking her head in, she found a large circle of men cheering and passing money around.
Everyone was so clumped together she couldn't see what was happening, but she stepped into the room quietly. Looking around she spotted on soldier with the ranking of a lieutenant and stepped forward.
"Excuse me, lieutenant?" Midnight asked, earning the man's attention for a moment.
"Hmm- ah fuck," the lieutenant quickly muttered, causing another soldier, a sergeant, next to him to turn around. The sergeant laughed as the lieutenant passed him a few bucks, grumbling to himself.
"You need something?" the lieutenant asked with Midnight nodding.
"Yes, I was looking for a student. She was dropping off some boxes here," Midnight replied, earning a look of recognition from the lieutenant.
"Oh? Yaoyorozu?" the lieutenant inquired, with Midnight again nodding.
"She's right over here," the lieutenant told her, pointing towards the interior of the circle. It made Midnight somewhat confused before she stood up taller on her toes. There she spotted the student holding a soldier a foot taller than her in a chokehold. An almost feral grin was on Yaoyorozu's face as the soldiers surrounding her either cheered on or taunted their comrade.
"You're a grown-ass man! How are you losing!?" one soldier yelled out confused.
"Come on kid! Show 'em who's boss!" a different soldier cheered, with a flurry of others accompanying him.
"Don't let a kid beat you!" a different soldier shouted.
"I thought you worked out!?" another called out.
"Oh fuck off! She weighs like a ton of bricks!" the soldier caught in the chokehold replied, only to immediately feel he made a mistake.
"Oh, you dumb fuck!" a third soldier yelled laughing, solidifying his ally's mistake. As Yaoyorozu twisted around somewhat, before dropping the soldier into an RKO. It earned another round of cheers, laughs, and a long "ooooh!" from the audience of soldiers.
"That's what I'm talking about kid!" a rather pale soldier cheered, watching as Yaoyorozu kept her opponent pinned to the ground. After a few moments, someone counted down and the match was over. The soldiers broke into loud cheers yet again as Yaoyorozu stood up her arms in the air with the same feral grin she had before. She laughed loudly as soldiers began passing money around.
"Hehe… which one of you is next!" Yaoyorozu demanded, earning another few cheers and a laugh from Midnight. Seemed someone was having fun. The hero couldn't remember ever seeing this side of the student.
Through the laughter and partying around him, Francisco Almeida couldn't help but sit back in a large luxurious chair. For today was his birthday, and being the warlord in control of Sao Tome and Principe, he spared no expense. Thousands of people worked to the bone for party preparations building up a European-style ballroom. Luxurious red velvet lined the walls with gold and silver accents. The old luxury was contrasted with a hundred or so women his men had taken off the street, and forced to strip and dance in front of his guests.
Millions had been spent on food, entertainment, and gifts. And this wasn't even covering guests, as Francisco soon saw a white man in a business suit walk up to him.
"Having fun are we?" the man inquired with a knowing smirk, as Francisco laughed and stood up from his chair, his portly body shaking slightly. The military uniform adorned to his body barely held in his fat, and struggled not to break from the motion.
"William, it's been too long," Francisco greeted shaking William's hand, "Come to say happy birthday?"
William Stromwell had always been a good friend over the years. Though that was by design. Stromwell was head of a large oil company in the US, one Francisco allowed unrestricted drilling rights to. In fact, most of his guests were members of the ruling elite. Billionaires, government officials, some big-name heroes, and even members of the HPSC were all present.
For all of them, Sao Toma and Principe was either a vacation spot or a bountiful business venture. Though for Stromwell specifically, his venture was more in parts of Gabon Francisco had seized control of.
"In a way. Even brought presents," William replied smiling, motioning for two other men in suits to step forward. There they brought forward two young black women, both heavily scarred and bruised. Francisco paid little attention to that though, his eyes instead falling on one girl's large chest.
"Security at the refinery caught these two trying to blow the place up," William stated, watching as his bodyguards shoved the girls to the floor.
"Ah, I do apologize. I'm sure I can make this up to you," Francisco replied, taking a mental note to beef up security in Gabon. Rebels in the area inspired by the MSF had started bombing oil refineries and plants. That, or it was the MSF themselves, reports could never make it clear. Calmly Francisco looked the girls over, his hand quickly cupping one girl's large breast. The girl clearly looked at him terrified, shaking quietly, and Francisco snorted.
Of course, his laugh died quickly, the moment he spotted a tattoo running up her neck. It was nothing overly complicated, just a six-digit number with a picture of a rat.
"A Fang…" Francisco muttered disgustedly, quickly removing his hand from the girl's breast, "Why am I not surprised? Can never seem to kill these rats off."
Such disgusting filth, Francisco thought to himself. For years he'd been trying to stamp the entire group out, sending thousands to camps across his territory. Yet no matter how many of them he killed, like rats they kept popping up. It annoyed him to no end. The continent had gone through hundreds of wars and genocides, managing to depopulate the area. Oh, how he wished for the Fang to join the groups eradicated over the centuries.
"I can take them off your hands if you want. Know a few guys who'd like to have some fun," William commented, while Francisco scoffed.
"You can't have fun with vermin," Francisco replied, wiping his hand on a nearby cloth, "Although I might as well get something useful from them. Guards!"
The moment he called out to his troops, Francisco spotted two of his elite guards walking toward him. While the majority of his forces still used outdated equipment, his elite guard had been kitted out with the best. Every soldier in the room was decked out in the latest Russian exoskeleton. Their standard arms were AK-19s, and their body armor was cutting edge. It was almost futuristic-looking in nature, resembling something out of sci-fi.
The small round light-weight composite plates wrapped around the guards' shoulders, forearms, shins, thighs, and chest. It looked somewhat bulky, but compared to a bomb suit it was slim. Quickly his elite soldiers grabbed the two girls, as Francisco brought a hand to his chin in thought. Coming to a decision he waved the soldiers off.
"Put them in a penal battalion," Francisco ordered, believing it a fitting fate. They wouldn't be armed, or at least not conventionally. A suicide vest could work wonders if not charging a machine gun nest unarmed worked too. Be it through enemy gunfire or friendly gunfire these rats would die, Francisco reasoned. With a quick salute, the guards began dragging the girls away, both of them kicking and screaming as they tried to free themselves.
Of course, this caused the mood of the party to damper slightly, Francisco's guests going quiet from all their celebrating. Well, he couldn't have that now, could he?
"Turn up the music, and bring out the elephants!" Francisco exclaimed, bringing back the loud cheers from his guest. Near a large pair of doors, two large elephants were led in, as the music quickly got louder. One might wonder why elephants and the answer is simple. These elephants were critically endangered African Forest Elephants, brought in straight from the mainland. They were worth a fortune and any billionaire looking for a status symbol would pay billions. Better yet, they had quirks.
One could spew fire like a circus elephant, the other had massive ears like Dumbo and could even glide. And currently, both were lavishly dressed to seem more appealing to buyers.
"Well I'll be damned," William muttered, watching as a pair of handlers led the animals into the room.
"Gets better," Francisco commented, "I said I'd make it up to you, so, ten percent discount on everything. Protection, leases, whatever."
"You know how to party. Sure you can afford this though? Those mercs you were on about weren't dealt with yet," William asked, confused, with Francisco laughing in response.
"Please! I'm the richest man in Africa, I can afford whatever I want!" Francisco replied, "And besides if the MSF were to try anything, they'd end up drowning in blood."
Now in war-torn Africa, this spending might seem rash, especially with Outer Heaven being only six hundred miles away. So to others, Francisco's words seemed arrogant. However, Fransico was confident the MSF wouldn't do anything. They'd need a full invasion force to take his islands, and with the MSF stretched across Africa and now Japan, the likelihood of it happening was little to none. It's why his islands stayed out of MSF's hands for years and why his family had ruled them for centuries.
One needed a navy full of warships to move in, and no one had built that up yet. If the MSF did invade though, well, Fransico had been buying up arms for years. While the other warlords continually threw bodies at their problems, Fransico lounged on the beach, as newly made Russian exo-skeletons rolled onto his shores. His vast wealth in building the islands as a luxury resort for the wealthy had given him deep enough pockets to do whatever he pleased.
Sao Tome and Principe were an unassailable floating fortress. The MSF couldn't do a damn thing if it wanted to. With that satisfied though Francisco looked around his large ballroom yet again before something caught his eye. Walking between tables was a woman he could only describe as beautiful. Her skin was almost chocolate brown and she stood tall like an amazon. Her hair was long and black and draped over her shoulders.
What stuck out most to Francisco, was the woman's body. She was built like a pro hero, reminding Francisco of the Bunny hero Mirko. Her long red dress did nothing but accentuate her already prominent features. Francisco couldn't help but slick back his hair as he began walking toward the woman.
"Now who might you be?" Francisco inquired when he reached the woman, a sly grin on his face. Trying to act chivalrous he grabbed and kissed the top of the woman's hand. She made no move to resist the action but looked down at Francisco nervously. With a closer look, Francisco could now see the woman's face. Crossing her nose was a small scar, with a second scar underneath her right eye.
"Caela," the woman quickly greeted, the nervousness she held before now gone, "Caela Adisa."
"Caela, such a pretty name," Francisco commented, letting go of her hand. He looked over her one last time just in case. The last thing he needed was another Fang showing up at his party. He didn't see the usual rat tattoo he had imprinted on most Fang, but that wasn't a definitive assurance. But of course, looking at Caela again, Francisco shook the thought away. She was too pretty to be a rat.
"A woman as beautiful as yourself deserves the best I believe," Francisco told her, his sly grin still present as he slowly walked around Caela, "How would you care to accompany me tonight?"
It was less a question, and more an order given the circumstance. Yet Francisco would never say this, as Caela looked down at him. The woman seemed to think to herself for a moment, before crouching down slightly. Her face was mere inches from his, and Caela gave Francisco a sultry smile.
"I'd love that," Caela told him, running her hand over Francisco's chin, "I'll see you then."
As soon as she arrived Caela began walking away, leaving Francisco quiet for a moment before the warlord began laughing to himself. The moment he was far enough away though Caela gagged to herself quietly. This job had always been dirty work, but this pig had tested her limits in mere minutes.
"I need a damn shower," Caela muttered, while bringing a hand to her ear, "Please tell me everyone's in position."
At the same time, her other hand moved toward the side arm concealed in her dress, waiting for the other members of FOXHOUND to reply.