My father's office felt even more empty than it usually did when he wasn't here. It seemed colder… more lifeless, despite the fact that there were currently three bodies occupying its rather large space.

I ran my hand along the varnished wood of his desk, the space seeming empty without his massive arms resting up on its surface next to his mask, and clenched my fists, a severe frown coming to my face. Never in my life had I imagined that he would ever be captured in such a manner. I always imagined I would be able to see the bout that found him incarcerated from miles away, plumes of fire and ash rising high into the sky as he fought to his last.

Instead, he was captured with nary a roar splitting the sky, stolen into the clutches of the Protectorate thanks to the efforts of a lone cape.

Taking a small breath to calm myself, I turned to one of the other two people in the room, "Lee, you said you know who is responsible for his capture. Describe her to me."

Lee inclined his head slightly, answering in a deadened tone, "I saw her but she is not known to us. She is an insect controller. Tall and female with curly black hair. Her costume is clearly professional. Grey and black panels with an insect-like mask with yellow lenses." He recited, staring into the distance as he recalled.

I stared at him for a long moment, barely believing what I just heard, "Did you say insect control?"

He nodded and the disbelief filling me grew. Insect control. My father, a man who went toe-to-toe with the creature that had sent our country soaring to the bottom of the ocean with its mere presence alone, was bested by someone who could control insects. How?

Lee had said she wore a professional costume. Was she an out-of-towner? Had she come to this city specifically seeking out my father to prove her worth, or was she simply a new cape who happened to get extremely lucky during her first bout?

I believed one's power was only as weak as the wielder's imagination. Skidmark was one such example, a potentially potent power wasted on a foul-mouthed drug addict. Even so, the idea that someone like my father was beaten by someone who could insects of all things, no matter how many, somewhat stretched my belief.

I shook my head. No, that didn't matter now. Unbelievable or not, that didn't change the fact that my father was beaten, and this mysterious woman was the person responsible.

I turned my gaze back to Lee, " Did she have any overt affiliations? Did anybody come to her aid during the bout or even after?"

"Oh come on!" The other person in the room suddenly spoke up, a scowl on her face, "Some random chick shows up while Lung-sama's chasing after those dumbasses who stole from us! It's obvious she's with the Undersiders! Why else would she stick her neck out for them against him of all people!?"

I looked at Lee and he nodded his head, "She spoke to the thieves after Lung-sama was defeated. I was not able to hear what they were speaking about before I was forced to flee from approaching heroes."

"See!? She's clearly with them!" Alice continued, a glint of excitement in her eyes, "I say we go after them and take them out for what they did. The heroes won't be able to move Lung-sama anytime soon anyway. They usually don't have the stuff on hand to transport super powerful capes and have to get it shipped in from out of the city. That gives us plenty of time to find the Undersiders' little hidey hole and flush me out like the rats they are!"

"We don't know that though." I interjected, "It's easily possible that they have the equipment on hand for this specific occasion. My father has never been captured like this before but he is likely one of the highest priority targets in the city alongside Kaiser. Likely even moreso. It would be foolish not to have anything to contain him already prepared.

"No, the Undersiders will have to wait. Our first priority is getting my father back, then we can deal with the thieves. What we need to focus on now is a plan of attack."

Almost immediately, Alice spoke up again, the earlier gleam in her eye coming back tenfold, "Oh, in that case, I've already got one."

I raised a brow, "Already? By all means, let's hear it."

Alice's smile widened into a maniacal grin, "I've been working on some new designs here recently. Stuff made to be detonated from nearly anywhere in the city at the push of a button. No more fuses, no more timers. If you give me a few hours, I can modify some of the ones I set aside for the Empire with the same modification."

The gleam grew once more, "If you can fly over the Rig without being seen and drop a few of those bad boys on their shield, I can knock it down in a few shots and after that, we just need to blow a massive hole in whichever part of the prison Lung-sama's being kept in and get out of there while the heroes are still scrambling to put their boots on. Nobody will be able to stop us while their base is coming down around their ears!"

Shock and awe. An extremely loud way to go about things, but one that could also feasibly work given the right circumstances. Unfortunately, just like everything the woman suggested, it was overkill.

I shook my head, causing Alice's grin to fall almost immediately, "Your plan has some merit, Alice, but we are trying to break him free, not acquire the ire of the entire hero population of the city. We need a plan that will minimize possible casualties."

Alice rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and leaning on the desk, clearly annoyed that I had shot down her plan so quickly, "Okay then, you got any better ideas, Hime?"

I held back a scowl at her words, "As a matter of fact, I believe I do."

Somewhat. There really wasn't any way that we would be able to free my father while staying undetected. Only Lee's power lended itself even slightly to stealth as my own actually had prerequisites before I would have any suitable forms. The only way we were going to do this was by being loud. Deliberately loud, yet much more controlled than what Alice had suggested.

"I suggest a bait and switch." I said to the expectant Alice, causing her to blink, "One of us distracts the majority of the heroes while the others take care of the actual breakout. If done right, there shouldn't be more than two or three heroes remaining inside while the rest of them deal with the disturbance we will deliberately be making."

"And I'm guessing you're the one who's going to be making the disturbance?" Alice asked rhetorically. I nodded. "I thought so. You think you're strong enough to go up against basically the entire Protectorate by yourself?"

"My father was, and my power has the potential to be much more potent than even his." I bit my lip, "Depending on the number of heroes who respond, it's very likely I'll be able to access my most powerful forms."

"And they're strong enough to take on, what? Twelve heroes at once?" She asked, stepping closer to me in challenge.

I thought back to the last time I had that much power at my disposal. My mind went back to the feeling of the torrential rains soaking me to the bone. Went back to the panic filling my mind that was only exacerbated by the incredible potent yet unfamiliar power coursing my body and most importantly, the helplessness I felt despite it all as glowing green eyes caught my own from so far away through the downpour.

These heroes weren't that monster. They couldn't wash away cities with a swipe of their hands or shrug off powers from some of the strongest capes across the planet. They were human. They could be beaten instead of just forced away.

"I can." I answered Alice's question, resolute in my belief. The woman stared into my eyes for a long moment, before clicking her tongue and stepping back.

As she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, I took that as a sign to continue, "We will take the rest of today to prepare and strike first thing tomorrow morning, when they are likely to be most unaware. Just the three of us. We'll strike suddenly and be gone just as fast with my father in tow."

I thought for a moment, "As far as we know, the Protectorate does not know the specifics of my power. When I arrive, they will doubtlessly respond in force which means you should only be dealing with unpowered individuals inside of the base itself. Meanwhile, the amount of forms I will have access to should be more than sufficient to hold the heroes at bay while the two of you handle whoever doesn't respond. I'm sure that between Lee's martial skill and your bombs, nobody will be able to stop you from freeing my father."

I looked towards them for their opinion on my tentative plan. Lee's face was placid as always, but there was agreement in his eyes as he nodded his head.

"And what happens if you get caught? Are we gonna have to stage another rescue just to get you out too?" Alice suddenly spoke up, somewhat challengingly.

"I won't be." I said simply, "But if I am, your priority is my father. Do not concern yourselves with me until he is back to where he belongs."

I stared into Alice's eyes, "I assume you won't have any issues with that?"

The woman held my gaze for a long moment, before, surprisingly, a grin split her face, "No, none at all. At the very least, it'll give me a chance to finally show you what I'm actually capable of."

Oh? I wasn't under the impression that she cared about my opinion of her power. Perhaps I had been wrong.

"I'm sure you'll impress me." I said, for lack of anything better to say, "Now then, are we all on the same page on what the plan is? No questions or concerns?"

Lee was silent as always while Alice wasn't even paying attention to me anymore, staring off into space as she muttered something to herself, eyes flicking back and forth as if she was reading something I couldn't see. Right, for all the woman was a pain in my rear, she was still a Tinker and as such, was affected by their little habits.

Either way she was clearly on board. That's all I needed to know right now.

"Alright then. Begin your preparations, I have some of my own to make."

~~~ Later That Night ~~~

The first step of what we were about to do was to inform the Faces. The ABB rarely made this much noise pertaining to the heroes, and so it was always good to let those who were important enough know at least the broad aspects of what we were doing.

Calling a meeting so suddenly and at such an hour doubtlessly ruffled a few feathers, but they all knew better than to even think about sitting the meeting out under the thon excuse of having some important matter to attend to or something similarly asinine.

Of course, they were all more than a little surprised to find that I was the one who called the meeting instead of my father, but didn't make much of a fuss as they sat in their designated places.

I looked out over them all from my place at the center of the room, taking in the aged faces of those under me. My eyes momentarily strayed to the empty seat on Sadao's left, and I lightly shook my head. We still hadn't had time to replace Kaito with everything that had been happening.

I doubted we would any time soon truth be told. The amount of people suited for his position were few and far between and with loyalties being called into question as they were…

But that was neither here nor there. I had much bigger things to worry about at the moment than who would take up the position that had been empty for over three months.

I cast my gaze out at the room, a thin frown on my lips, "As you all know, our leader has been captured. Currently the ABB is without its head and that is unsustainable." I looked around at the gathered Faces, their expressions just as grim as my own, "As of right now, I am in charge, and I declare our first priority is restoring proper leadership."

All non-essential operations will be put on hold for the moment until we retrieve him. Protection fees will be collected as normal, Drugs will continue to be sold but relocating them will have to wait, while brothel operations shall cease entirely. The last thing we need right now is for someone to slip up and expose the locations to the heroes. The entire ABB will be on standby until further notice."

One of the Faces looked ready to speak at that, I turned to him, incoming my head in his direction, "Sadao, you have concerns."

The elderly man nodded his head, "I do, Yosei-sama. We've already used quite a large amount of our quarterly budget preparing for this little scuffle with the Empire. If we halt these operations as you are suggesting, we will surely begin operating at a loss in less than a month."

"Then that is what we'll do." I said simply, "Returning my father to his rightful place takes priority above all else. If we must lose a few hundred thousand dollars to do so, then so be it. I have little doubt a man such as yourself will be able to minimize the damage."

The man took the blatant compliment with grace, smiling at my words, "As you say, Yosei-sama. I'll do my best to ensure we do not pull ourselves under."

"Good. Hopefully, you will not need to work long. We have already come up with a tentative plan as to how we are going to break my father free of the heroes' clutches." I looked out at the rest of the room, "Of course, the specifics will remain secret for now, but rest assured that if everything goes according to plan, it shall be as if he had never left in the first place."

"Excuse me, Yosei-sama, but if I may ask." Takao spoke up from his seat. I suppressed a small scowl at the man's tone, respectful but just the slightest bit condescending, as if he was putting on a veneer of respect for myself and my position, "Why are we not privy to the details of your plan? Would it not be better to know what you are getting into and how it will affect the gang as a whole? Is there going to be collateral? Are we going to lose men? What are we going to be dealing with here in terms of logistics?"

The other Faces echoed their own agreements, wondering why they were being left out on such crucial intel, and I cast a look towards Takao, narrowing my eyes severely.

With a single raise of my hand, the room went silent, nobody daring to make another sound as I called for their collective attention.

After making sure that I had it, I lowered my hand, speaking loudly and clearly, "You don't need to know the specifics of my plan because it does not concern you. It is that simple. Whether or not you have any information regarding what we plan to do has no beating on its success and in fact, your knowledge may well be a detriment to it instead."

My words caused a small uproar within the men gathered, their shrewd minds reading into the subtext of what I had just said, knowing that I had all but blatantly called them untrustworthy.

I watched the scene play out, taking in the outrage present on some of their faces, namely Takao and Aoi. The former made sense. Aoi had always been more hot headed than most and so his outrage was understandable, if not expected, Takao though…

The man was slightly pale, studying me with much more scrutiny than ever before. I stared back at him placidly, not breaking eye contact, and his eyes widened minutely, before he glanced away in a hurry, staring down at his lap to avoid my gaze.

That right there was all I needed to truly confirm my suspicions. It was a shame that it had to happen at a time such as this, but just that alone put any remaining whisper of a doubt of the man's failing loyalties to rest. While there was nothing I could do about it at the moment, I allowed myself a small bit of satisfaction at spooking the man so thoroughly.

Turning my attention back to the room at large, I slowly raised my hand once more and all noise immediately ceased. I left it there for a moment, before slowly lowering them and looking out over the men with a placid gaze.

"I understand that my words have upset some of you and for that I am sorry. However that is simply the way that it has to be. Rest assured, my plan is one that will have little effect upon the ABB at large apart from my absence and above all else, it should not take more than a few hours at most."

That seemed to pacify some of them. The knowledge that whatever I was going to do wouldn't affect the gang as a whole likely made them feel much better about the whole situation.

Of course, I wasn't going to tell them that there was a possibility that I or even Alice and Lee might be captured, thus depriving the ABB of even more manpower. That would just be foolish. Besides, I already had a plan for that as well.

"If, by some unfortunate circumstance, something does occur in the hopefully short amount of time that I am away and Lee is not available, you are all to defer to Hiashi. He will be the de facto leader in mine and my father's stead."

My words surprised all of those present and none more than Hiashi himself. It made sense, considering that we hadn't spoken as friends since the incident earlier that week, but he got over his surprise quickly, bowing his head low as his compatriots looked towards him in shock.

"I will do best to live up to your expectations, Yosei-sama." He said dutifully, causing me to nod in satisfaction.

"I'm sure you will. And as for the rest of you," I looked towards the rest of her men, "Do not cause a ruckus. No disturbances should be reported while I am away. If there is another incursion while I am gone then by all means, fight it off, but you are not yo stir the pot any more than it already has been, am I clear?"

My tone brooked no disobedience, cold and unyielding as I channeled every bit of leadership I had learned over the course of the past few months into my voice and posture. It worked to cow those of them who would have otherwise spoken up and so, despite their displeasure, all of the men present nodded their assent with my decision.

I looked around, meeting each of their eyes one by one, before slowly nodding, masking the nervousness I felt at what we were about to do.

"Very well then, meeting adjourned. If you have need of me, I'll be in my office."

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