Chapter 17: The Hunt Begins
Summerville, SC
Marie heard about the explosion in Summerville within minutes of it happening. After her conversation with Denki and the beginning of trying to find their mysterious mastermind, there was no way in Hell that it was a coincidence. Marie and the rest of the Frightening Five were there in less than an hour, but it was too late, the entire home was burned to the ground, with nothing but debris riddling the surrounding area. As they approached the wreckage, Marie smelled the air. The smoke had a certain quality that she recognized. "This was done with a combination of gasoline and phosphorous. Machine made. I can smell it," she told her teammates.
Sammy picked up a piece of debris and with his snake tongue tasted the air around it. "This wasn't made with a Quirk. The explosive was completely manufactured. Looks like old Denki was on the money, whoever lived in this house must know that we are on to them and fled in a hurry. Thank God no one was hurt."
A detective with blue skin and neon red hair walked up and saluted the Heroes. "We can't collect any evidence until the Fire Department gives the okay. According to records, this house was owned by a woman named Natalia Roberts," the detective said as he presented a picture of Natalia Roberts on his phone to them. She was pale skinned, Caucasian, with long dark hair and hot pink eyes, thin lips and a long hawkish nose. "Could this be her you think?" Frankie asked.
"Could be an alias," Marcus pointed out, "And if she's as smart as she seems to be, this info on her being Quirkless might be fake. She may have a Transformation Quirk or something. Alright, Detective, run the info, find out everything you can about her. Then look for any footage of this Natalia Roberts. We need to know when she left, where she went, where she could be now. Tell the News she's wanted for attempted kidnapping, grand larceny in the Charleston Museum heist, and murder. We need to get her face out there. She's on the run, and she's scared. She's going to screw up now, I know it."
The Detective saluted and immediately made a call on his radio as he sent Natalia Roberts data out. Meanwhile, news copters, vans, and reporters showed up at the scene. For the next hour, Marie, Frankie, Sammy, Marcus and Lilith answered questions and told reporters what they knew about Natalia Roberts. They emphasized her alleged crimes and role in them, to make sure that people would be on the lookout for her. This may have been her biggest mistake.
After an hour, the Fire Department informed them that it was safe to come into the area, and that was when the real investigation got started. The Frightening Five and Police combed the entire area, asking neighbors questions about what they knew about Natalia Roberts, her habits, any potential boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, family; anything that might be relevant. Every clue was worth its weight in gold, every scrap of evidence as valuable as gems.
What they learned from her neighbors was that Natalia Roberts was a very introverted woman with very regular habits. She enjoyed visiting libraries and bookstores and reading in cafes. She was old-fashioned, she read real physical books, no iPad or laptop, used a flip phone instead of a smart phone, preferred dresses that fully covered her body along with large old-fashioned wide-brimmed hats or straw hats. She had no pets or significant others, came to parties when invited but never invited someone to her own house; but was good at making cocktails and usually brought homemade dips and charcuterie to gatherings.
Nothing at all indicated that she had an interest in Quirk research or criminal history. She was by all appearances perfectly average in nearly every way, if old-fashioned and private. The perfect cover, it was no wonder she could do her experiments without being discovered before. She did everything she could to not stand out or make anyone suspicious.
"Collect everything," Marie heard the Detective say, "DNA and prints are all we have to figure out who the suspect really is. Someone that has been under the radar this long MUST have a Quirk that'll help her. Transformation, High Intelligence, something. This woman has killed eighteen people that we know of so far here and in Japan. She is planning something big, and she's giving people multiple Quirks to do it. We need to stop her before we got another League of Villains or All For One on our hands."
Marie's mind flashed back to the battles years ago, and a chill ran up and down her spine at the thought. There was no doubt in her mind now that the museum robbery was just a test run. If she hadn't had the experience of fighting against Nomu she would have been injured even worse than she had been, if not killed. The thought of having to deal with something like the Nomu, like actually intelligent people with multiple Quirks and the strategy to use them well. She remembered watching videos of Midoriya after regaining her sight, his multiple Quirks and the brain to use them effectively made him unstoppable. The thought of an evil version of him was the stuff of nightmares.
The Heroes and police searched all through the debris of the house for hours, but too much of it was destroyed completely. The odds of finding DNA or fingerprints were as likely as Marie learning how to fly. In the end, they could only take what charred remains they had gathered, and hope that video footage would find the suspect.
U.A., Japan
It was right after classes were done when Kaoru felt someone smack him on the back like they were old friends and tell him, "Hey, Kaminari-kun, help me out." Kaoru looked and saw that the one who said that was his classmate, Martin Thomson. The blonde American boy had a cocky grin on his face as Kaoru looked at him.
"What do you need help with?" Kaoru asked. Martin Thomson wasn't a bad guy, but he was almost painfully cocky and informal; like a stereotypical American to be honest.
"How do I get with Mysa? She seeing anyone? She interested in guys at all? Help me out, man," Martin told him in English.
Kaoru took a moment to think about this, then said, "Alright. Here we go: 1) ask her out yourself, 2) she's single now, 3) she's heterosexual, it's our sister Hana who's bisexual. And if you want to get her interested… You need to beat her, fair and square. That's what she's always said; she wanted a man that could beat her in a fair fight. Guess how many guys have done it so far."
Martin Thomson thought about that for a minute then shrugged, "I think I can do it. Where is she now?"
Kaoru sighed and said, "Probably in her room. Don't think that it'll be that easy, man. She might be the worst martial artist in our family, but she's still got good Quirks. If you really think that you can take her, don't be angry when she beats you."
Thomson ignored his warning and headed straight to Mysa's dorm room. Kaoru sighed and went to his own dorm and quickly got changed. He was sure they would spar in the gym, and he might as well get some training in before the fighting started. He reached the dorm's gym and got some pull-ups in before seeing Mysa and Martin Thomson arrive in their own gym clothes. Both looked smug and ready to fight. Kaoru went to an exercise bike that was pointed to a sparring ring in the gym so he could get some cardio in while watching the fight.
"Remember," Mysa told Martin Thomson, "One round, five minutes. You win if you can knock me out, make me tap out, or out score me. Strikes are worth one point, pinning is worth three points. Think you can handle that, Martin?" Mysa asked the American student.
Martin smiled and cracked his neck, "Sure thing, babe."
Mysa and Martin went into the ring and Mysa activated a forcefield to make sure that neither her lightning nor Martin's bullets hit anyone. A computer voice announced, "BEGIN!"
Martin immediately lifted his arms, and the rods around him started blasting out bullets. Mysa immediately transformed into her werewolf form and easily dodged the bullets, quickly moving in Martin's direction. Martin's bullets were fast, but the ring was too close for him to use the range advantage he normally would have. Mysa easily read his body language, and with the enhanced physical prowess of her werewolf form she made avoiding his attacks look like child's play.
After two minutes of avoiding Martin's bullets, Mysa saw that his bullets were coming slower, and she hit him with her lightning. Martin was too exhausted from using his bullets and was shocked by the lightning. Martin was stunned by the attack, and Mysa ran at him and landed a hard kick to his stomach. Martin fell to the ground, struggling to breathe and Mysa said, "You give up?"
Martin took a minute to catch his breath and said, "Yeah. You win this time."
"This time?" Mysa said, cocking her hips.
Martin Thomson smiled and said, "The way I see it, you're one of the best girls here, fighting wise. If I keep on fighting you, I'm bound to get better. Plus, if I beat you, I get a girlfriend too. Win-win for me."
Mysa smiled at him and said, "Keep on trying, blondie. Maybe…something will happen." She walked away shaking her hips, and Martin wasn't the only boy that watched her leave.
"Sheesh," Kaoru sighed, "why are all my siblings attention whores?"
Outside Nashville, Tennessee
The woman known as Natalia Roberts sighed as she went into the hotel room. She paid in cash to stay in this rathole of a hotel, it was utterly humiliating. Years of research, hard work, blood, sweat, and tears had to be moved thousands of miles to her secret lab in the Rocky Mountains. It would take weeks to get everything set up. But she had to do it. She had come too far to stop now. Natalia looked down at her purse and pulled out a syringe filled with a glowing purple fluid. Her precious Quirk Formula.
This Formula would give someone Bullet Proof skin. She considered using it, but things were not desperate enough. She pulled out another syringe, this one granted Plasma Vision. And the last syringe in her purse granted Fifty Times Enhanced Strength. They were the most powerful of her Formulas she made so far. If push came to shove, she would use them on herself and use them to escape. But not yet, not yet. There was still time to do more. All she needed was time.
An alert went off on her phone and she picked it up. "You have more ingredients?" she asked her contact. "Yes. They're not too good though. Literally bottom of the barrel," said the voice on the other end.
"Just send them to the location I gave you. As long as they're alive, I don't care what else they are," Natalia told her contact, "Just get them there. I'm already on the run; I don't need your excuses."
Her contact snorted, "Fine. As long as I get my money, I don't care. They'll be there in two weeks."
"Good," Natalia said, "I'll contact you later." She hung up and looked at her syringes again. Sometimes she just wanted to destroy everything and everyone in her way. Sometimes...