07/05/2024

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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 17 - The Nomu

Atsuhiro hadn't spent any time working in an office. He was a magician and a thief and they didn't work in offices. With magic, a lot of it was about sleight of hand, of making one thing look like another, of making things appear normal, when they weren't. So the instant he'd entered the office the Shie Hassaikai were using he'd felt it. There was something off with the office. It wasn't everything it seemed. There were parts that were normal but there were parts that felt… There was definitely something hiding here.

And that something was probably what they were looking for. The only thing Atsuhiro wasn't sure about was how big it would be. The physical item containing the cure for Himiko would likely be quite small. The storage space, or whatever the Shie Hassaikai had here was the bit he wasn't sure about. It could just be a small room, it could be a larger hidden space. They hadn't had time to get the building records and even if they did, he knew they probably didn't have time to measure wall lengths and compare them to what they should be.

So they were doing this the old fashioned way, through intuition and brute force.

On that, Atsuhiro had to admit the Nomu were very good with brute force. They were currently overturning everything as they searched, though they had no idea what they were searching for. He'd been tempted, earlier to tell them to stop, that there was no need to rip apart the office space before he'd realised that there was also no reason not to, and it was possible that moving the desks would reveal something or attract someone's attention. And with them somewhat occupied, it left him free to think about the problem in a logical manner. Magicians would tell you that magic was just magic, but it was also a matter of logic and showmanship. Your audience had to understand what you were doing, even if they didn't know how.

So while the Nomu were destroying things, Atsuhiro was carefully looking at the internal walls. Most of the office was open space but there was one solid internal wall. It was panelled, which he thought was interesting. For an office, why would you need to panel it when painting was so much cheaper?

He felt a smile form under his mask and quickly moved to the wall. Atsuhiro looked along it. It was straight and he could see that one end met the external wall, while the other disappeared into a corridor. He made his way down there and looked at the corridor. The signs proclaimed it to be a facilities area. Male and female toilets and changing facilities. They'd take up some space. He looked back at the wall… It didn't quite make sense.

A secret door wouldn't come off the internal wall that was open to the rest of the office. That defeated the idea of a secret area. The secret door was far more likely to come off this shorter corridor. Atsuhiro stood at the corner and examined both walls. There was a bit right at the end of the facility corridor that could be it and there was one point along the internal wall where you could slip away. To separate the walking area from the desks there were some hanging dividers. They could be arranged to obscure the view.

He still thought the door would be better in the facility area but he needed to check that out.

"Snooping is no good."

Atsuhiro whirled at the voice and stared at the man. He had a slight figure with blond hair covering one eye and was wearing a plague mask that he'd been told the Shie Hassaikai favoured. Except for the mask, he looked… well, not like a typical office worker but like the one who wanted to stand out with a green shirt and a salmon coloured tie.

"You could just open the door," Atsuhiro replied, touching one hand to his top hat in greeting.

"And you could leave," he countered, raising one hand.

Mr Compress shook his head and reached into one of his pockets, drawing out several marbles. He held them between his fingers. He always carried a few filled with various, useful items. He wasn't expecting them to shoot towards the Shie Hassaikai member. The blond caught them in one hand and looked at them curiously. Atsuhiro watched as the plague mask tilted back and forth.

"Not what I was expecting," the man admitted. "Usually I get a gun or a knife."

"How uncouth," he shook his head slightly. The goons used guns. He, Mr Compress, was not a goon. He was a higher calibre of villain.

Atushiro watched the Shie Hassaikai member for a bit. He wasn't going to be fooled into attacking just because he didn't appear to be a muscular powerhouse. Those were the more dangerous types generally. They usually had some sort of sneak attack. He watched as the blond peered at the marbles. As their creator, he could tell what was in each one by how they felt to him. Others took far longer to discern what was inside each one and sometimes, they couldn't tell. It was usually easy when it was a person, or something with a distinctive shape but some of these marbles were filled with more genetic items.

"This is interesting," the man said.

Mr Compress thought about calling the Nomu but figured he could use the opportunity to gain information. The Nomu could be put to work later.

"We are at somewhat of an impasse," he agreed. "Though you could just give us what we want?" Atsuhiro made the suggestion with a chuckle. He already knew the response.

"I don't think so." The reply was cold. "Your little brat has started a war he can't win."

Atsuhiro cocked his head slightly at that. The Shie Hassaikai boss was in custody. This facility was under attack and once it fell… Yakuza thugs tended not to remain loyal to those who had no hold on them. Not that villains were any different but they didn't pretend to have any relationship past the goal they were working towards.

"We are different!" The Yakuza declared. "We will not crumble simply because the boss is absent."

"He's arrested," Mr Compress pointed out.

"Only for now," the Yakuza corrected. "You should be thankful, you won't be around to see him freed," he added.

Ah, they'd moved on to death threats. So typical. Mr Compress shook his head again and watched as the Yakuza tossed one of his marbles into the air, playing with it. He was meant to take it as an insult. It was an opportunity. "I wouldn't play with them," Atsuhiro warned.

"Oh?" the Yakuza asked, mockingly as he tossed several more marbles into the air.

Mr Compress shook his head slightly and felt the marbles being tossed. "They are somewhat dangerous," he said as he released one.

Instantly a boulder appeared and gravity took effect. The Yakuza didn't even have time to give a startled cry before it hit him and as Atsuhiro watched the man's head was snapped to the side and his body crumpled under the weight of the rock. The noise brought the attention of the Nomu. Mr Compress raised one hand to indicate he was fine before he took the few steps to the Yakuza. The rock was about 2 metres long, the best part of a metre high and that again in width. It weighed close to 6 tonne. Only those with enhanced strength could even hope to lift it.

The Yakuza didn't have enhanced strength. With the way he'd fallen, his head was clear but his body was trapped and he was unconscious.

Atsuhiro sighed, and crouched down to retrieve the other marbles that had been stolen earlier. So much for asking him where the door was. He gave the Yakuza a critical look before adding the rock to the marble again. Someone would probably view this scene and there was no need to make interpretation easy.

He got up, and looked back at the panelled wall. He'd have to find it the old fashioned way. While he was reasonably sure the opening wasn't near the external wall, Atsuhiro moved there and walked along the wall, tapping each panel as he went.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tep.

There it was.

"Nomu," he called.

The creatures were almost instantly at his side. They moved shockingly fast when required. "Break this wall," Mr Compress instructed, stepping back slightly.

He wasn't sure how the Nomu decided which one would break the fall but one reached out and punched it. The panelling indented. The Nomu hit it again and this time there was a crack. The Nomu had an odd intelligence scale. Dragon had told them that they wouldn't act independently but they would obey orders. You could order them to fight, and within the confines of that order they would act independently. But once the fight was over, they had to be given new orders.

Since he'd ordered the Nomu to break the wall, Atsuhiro wasn't sure if it would stop now that the wall was broken but the Nomu didn't. It latched its pointed fingers into the crack and pulled. The panelling ripped away to reveal a deformed door. The Nomu did pause at that.

"Take that away too," Mr Compress ordered.

The Nomu obeyed, reaching out to rip the door away. It flung it over to the office furniture where it landed with a very loud clatter.

The door revealed a long, dark corridor panelled in grey. He couldn't see the end and was about to order the Nomu to go down it when something shimmered a foot or so into the corridor. Mr Compress stepped back. The Nomu could find out what that was. "Hit it," he ordered.

The one who had ripped the door away stepped forward again and reached in. Its arm stopped when it reached the shimmer. Whatever it was, it was solid. It was probably someone's quirk but Mr Compress couldn't see anyone, so they were most likely at the end of the corridor. The Nomu hit the shimmer a couple of times. The noise produced was odd. The shimmer, whatever it was, didn't resonate, so the main noise was just the sound of flesh on something hard. There wasn't even an echo from the corridor.

Well, the Yakuza had blocked that entry, but most people forgot, it didn't matter how strong the door was, if the wall was weak. Mr Compress stepped back and used his cane to tap the panel next to the corridor. "Destroy this," he ordered.

One of the dun coloured Nomu hit the wall. While it was panelled, Atsuhiro was expecting the punch to go through plaster and into whatever space was behind the wall. He was not expecting the solid thunk that came from the wall. While the barrier, whatever it was, didn't make a sound, the wall did. It almost rang as if it was steel.

Atsuhiro sighed, and looked at the black Nomu. Izuku had said they were the strongest, which was why he only had one black Nomu. They weren't intelligent. He'd seen that earlier but if it couldn't break the wall then he'd have to consider another way. The Nomu knew what he wanted and moved to the wall. Mr Compress saw its muscles bunch before it threw a punch at the wall.

The reverberation sounded again. He sighed. For all that the Shie Hassaikai had been disappointing so far, and Atsuhiro was thankful that Dragon wouldn't be allying with them, they were finally showing some intelligence.

He was considering what to do when his phone pinged. It was the sound he'd set for a message from Dragon. How is everyone going?

Mr Compress sighed and typed his response. I'm afraid I am rather pinned down. But I believe I have found the Shie Hassaikai section, he added. He couldn't go anywhere until he found out what was down that corridor, and with the barrier, it was obvious there was something.

On my way, came the reply from Dragon. For a moment Atsuhiro wondered how Izuku knew where he was but then figured the young man knew what the Nomu felt like and could be guided that way.

He didn't have a chance to think of anything further before a hiss from above, followed by a burst of air and then water distracted him.

Atsuhiro sighed, and looked up slightly. He was careful to keep the brim of his hat tilted so that he didn't get a face full of water from the sprinklers… That was not good. He assumed Dabi must have set them off but it now limited their time with the alarms that would be sent.

Be quick, he messaged to Dragon privately.

I know, the response was quick but was followed by another message to the group.

Everyone head towards Mr Compress.

Atsuhiro nodded. That made sense. If no one else had found anything then this was the Shie Hassaikai hideout and centralising their forces would be the best. And assuming it was only reinforced metal forming the wall, then the warper could get them out easily enough.

Dragon was learning. That was good.

They could work with that.

-ted-

Yu blinked as he regained consciousness. He knew the difference between waking up and being unconscious and he had definitely been unconscious. He hurt, which he attributed to why he'd been unconscious but he was cold. That was unusual. The office was temperature controlled… There was a hissing noise and the drip of water. He focused and saw a mist of water. The office fire sprinklers were on. That was what had woken him up.

He took several deep breaths and focused on feeling the water run over his face.

He'd lost. That much he knew. The creatures had been stronger than expected and had actually broken through his crystal. He didn't know exactly when he'd fallen unconscious but it was likely that they pulled back reasonably quickly after that. He felt… he was beyond sore and he thought his arm was broken but that pain was nothing… It didn't matter. It was temporary.

What mattered was that he'd failed. Kai was captured and he hadn't even been able to defend their territory… He'd failed so badly.

Yu took another breath and considered just letting the water drown him… Except that was a vain hope. The sprinklers put out a lot of water but not enough to drown him. And what would drowning accomplish?

He was prepared to die for the Shie Hassaikai. He'd been prepared to die to defend here but he hadn't and now… Now he was alive, lying on his back, wet and hurting with no idea what to do. He could get up, and go fight again but that would do nothing. With a broken arm, he wouldn't even be a challenge…

And if any of the Eight Bullets were having better luck against the creatures, he'd just be a hindrance. Yu wouldn't do that to them. He couldn't.

It meant he was a burden… No…

He would not be a burden to Kai. The Shie Hassaikai leader had taken him in and given him a new purpose. He would not betray that.

The sprinklers hissed and the pipes made some ominous clanging noises before the constant spurt of the water lessened and it dribbled to a halt. The sound changed from that of flowing water to that of dripping water as the desks and chairs dripped.

The change was… with the flow of water stopped, he actually felt colder.

Yu groaned and sat up, letting the water run down his face. The motion confirmed his left arm was broken and as best he could, he pulled the limb to him, resting it on his right arm. He couldn't fight like that. Even with crystalise, he couldn't effectively compensate.

But maybe it wasn't about now.

Yu had been around Kai long enough to know that the boss focused on the now, but always had an eye on the future. He knew where the Shie Hassaikai would go. He knew what he was doing. Yu sighed. He didn't want to think about that. Kai had provided that guidance but the boss wasn't here now…

Yu sighed heavily and hunched over. The water dripped off his eyebrows.

Kai wasn't here.

If the boss had of been there, that brat would never have dared come here.

The problem suggested the solution.

The brat was here and… candour compelled Yu to admit that the brat would probably win. Whatever those monsters were, they were strong and while Yu knew the other Eight Bullet's were tough, the brat appeared to be ready to spend resources…

What an alliance it would have been!

But it wasn't going to happen. It would never happen now and the only way the Shie Hassaikai would survive was if Kai was there to lead them.

Yu pushed himself to his feet, stumbling slightly and leaning against a desk before he felt he could stand unaided. Kai wasn't here. Part of the plan with Shin was to defeat this upstart brat, and then go and collect the boss.

If they couldn't do one, then they could at least do the other. Kai would be disappointed in their failure and Yu would accept whatever punishment was due, but so long as Kai was there, the Shie Hassaikai would prevail. Eventually.

He couldn't fight now, but he could fight again later, at the boss' side and then the brat would know-

Yu shook his head. It was best not to get ahead of himself. For now, he'd leave because he couldn't burden the others with his weakness. Then he'd heal and get the boss. And then…

Then there would be a reckoning.

-ted-

You don't hide things from a magician :D And thief...

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-ted-

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