Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene
CHAPTER START---
---June 7th, 3 PM...
Within the Mt. Lady Agency, Tsukuyomi has his arms crossed and eyes closed.
The silence and stillness of the waiting room only feed his anxiety, which is not at all helped by how casual his friend is being.
Beside him sits Simon, who is busy typing something on his phone, passing the time as they wait for the others.
"Cellophane says they're almost here," Simon says.
"Good, it's almost time for the meeting," Tsukuyomi says. "Do you know how many people will be here?"
Simon shrugs as Tsukuyomi looks over at him.
"How many of these have Team Horizon done before?"
"Just a few, but we haven't done any since Horizon's been on vacation. What, you nervous?"
Tsukuyomi looks down at the floor, "Hawks never took me on any of his Team-Ups, we only worked with those within his Hero Agency, I was familiar with those people."
"Mhm, well, welcome to the big leagues, I guess," Simon says. "Well, I guess technically it's a downgrade since Mt. Lady isn't in the top 10 while Hawks is number 2. How are you holding up after he dropped you?"
"He didn't drop me, we simply parted ways," Tsukuyomi says.
"Well whatever, you chose Team Horizon over Hawks, most people would think that's stupid, but it was a good move, you've already learned everything that only he could teach," Simon says. "Did you ever learn what his problem with Horizon was anyway?"
"The same thing many Pro Heroes don't like, he dropped a city on a civilian population and only got a slap on the wrist for it, but it did seem a bit more personal when Hawks spoke about it."
"Hmm, Horizon never really mentioned anything about Hawks before, maybe Cellophane will know."
"It doesn't matter, I've learned more about applying and growing my Quirk in the past 6 weeks with Team Horizon than I did with him," Tsukuyomi says. "I'll always be thankful for all he taught me, and he knows that much, but I do feel as though to grow I had to---"
"---Spread your wings and leave the nest?"
Tsukuyomi groans, "Leave the bad jokes for Cellophane."
"Yeah, I really should. But you don't have to be nervous about Team-Up events like this, really," Simon says. "We've done a few of them, and even without Horizon we're more useful than most Pro Heroes, that's why we're here even if half of them don't approve of us still being on Team Horizon."
"They aren't what I'm concerned about," Tsukuyomi says. "Horizon expects near perfection from us, and now I'll have the entire world watching, more than usual, it's intimidating."
"That part never goes away, it comes with the territory..."
They fall back into silence for a few minutes before the door opens, and both Cellophane and Mudman walk over to them.
"You're almost late," Simon says.
"Almost doesn't count," Cellophane counters. "There was a car chase on the way here so we got distracted."
"Villains have been making up for lost time with Horizon gone," Mudman says. "I forgot how obnoxiously populous they were."
"Are," Cellophane says. "They were just hiding, the number never really went down."
"Let's go," Mudman says as he turns around and begins leaving the room.
They all fall into step beside him, moving through the hallways of the Hero Agency, finally coming upon a large room with chairs and desks set up.
In the front of the room was a small stage and podium with a projector shining onto the far wall.
On the stage were Mt. Lady and Edgeshot, both speaking quietly, away from the mic.
They look up for a moment as Team Horizon enters the otherwise empty room, getting a wave from Cellophane, then return to their quiet conversation.
Mudman looks around, finds one of the long tables with their seats already reserved, and begins walking over to it.
"Did Gang Orca not come with you?" Tsukuyomi asks as they take their seats.
"They wanted Team Horizon, so he stayed back at his Agency," Mudman says. At a glance he notices Tsukuyomi's arms crossed, one finger tapping his arm. "Quit being so nervous, they called us here for a reason, don't forget that."
"Yup," Cellophane chuckles. "They called us halfway across Japan instead of just leaning on the local Pro Heroes, try to chill out and enjoy being important."
"I rather they lean on the Pro Heroes from this area," Simon says. "Securing Minato Tokyo is already more than a full-time job."
"You're just whiny because we're away from Horizon Tower," Mudman giggles. "Missing your girlfriend already?"
"Tch."
Cellophane sighs, "You're so lucky she works just one stop from Horizon Tower, I only get to see Yui in school, and we're barely even there anymore."
"I for one appreciate the practice," Tsukuyomi says. "Spending four days a week in Tokyo is good for my Quirk, but..."
"School is catching up to us," Mudman grumbles. "Yeah, you're not alone on that front."
"Just three more weeks and we're done, then we can do whatever we want," Cellophane says as more Pro Heroes pour into the room.
"If 'whatever we want' means spending all our summer vacation doing Hero Work in Minato Tokyo, then yeah, whatever we want," Mudman says quietly as the seats around them begin filling up.
"I think we could take a weekend and head to the beach, just us and the girls, or we could have a party," Cellophane says quietly.
"Just because Horizon left us a card for expenses doesn't mean we have to use it, you do realize that, right?"
"He's a billionaire, he won't notice," Cellophane says. "Besides, it's a, um, 'team building' exercise, yeah."
"Let's put a pin in that until summer starts," Mudman says as Mt. Lady walks to the podium. "Hey Cellophane, I thought The Lurkers broke up after the Gigantomachy?"
"They did," he says. "That's why Kamui Woods isn't here, and why they don't talk anymore, but I'm guessing she has to put up with Edgeshot since he's the most high-ranking contact she has."
"No wonder Horizon doesn't want girls on the team," Tsukuyomi says.
"Well he can have them now," Mudman says as Mt. Lady prepares to speak. "I'm the only single guy in the tower, and I'm the smart one, smart enough not to sleep with a teammate."
"I'm also single," Tsukuyomi reminds him.
"Oh, I thought I heard you talking to a girl the other day on your phone."
"That was Ms. Midnight, feedback on an early submission of our Hero History project."
"Wait, the what?" Cellophane looks at him, completely surprised.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Mt. Lady draws all eyes onto her, with Edgeshot and Ryukyu standing nearby just off the stage.
Team Horizon falls silent along with the others as she begins her presentation.
"I know we normally prefer to have more time and information before organizing a raid of this magnitude, but unfortunately the criminals have gathered under a few major banners in these past few weeks.
Since Horizon disappeared from the public eye at the end of the UA Sports Festival, not only have the League Of Villains been making bold moves, but other criminal organizations that his presence had suppressed have banded together.
They've been very careful not to cause any large-scale disasters, it seems they're aware that if anything too extreme happens Japan can always end Horizon's suspension early, but that doesn't mean they haven't been busy.
They wish to make the most of their time until he's back on the field in September. Because of this getting intel has been much more difficult, even with the comparatively absurd amount of drugs, weapons, and ...other contraband they've been moving into and through Japan."
She gestures to the wall behind her and the the projector shows a large warehouse in a port.
"This building is located 14km -8.6 mi- west of here, not only is it storing a stockpile of illegal guns and Trigger, but in two days a boat will be docking nearby to take these items out of the country.
Due to the limited information, our main objective is to secure the area, apprehend all the villains, and confiscate the illegal items. Now, before we go over the layout of the building and what kind of resistance we can expect, are there any questions?"
Only one person raises a hand, Mudman.
While he does that Cellophane leans back, taking out his phone and subtly doing some searches, already knowing where this was about to go.
Simon, who sits between Cellophane and Mudman, just gives a tired sigh.
Tsukuyomi who sits to the right of Mudman doesn't react, not sure what's going on.
"Yes, Mudman, what's your question?" Mt. Lady asks.
"What happens to the other stockpiles they have around the country when we raid this one, won't they just move all of that contraband to multiple smaller places that make it harder to find?"
"That is a possibility, but unfortunately we can't focus on that at the moment."
"But that will just make our jobs in the future harder to do, and make things worse locally."
Mt. Lady and many others give him a slightly perplexed look at those words, "What do you mean?"
"Well, if the guns and stuff are leaving Japan, then we just let them go and it's not our problem for a while. All we have to do is find the person at the top and lock them up before they use the money. But if we attack this warehouse then all the other stockpiles scatter and circulate through Japan even longer."
"Are you saying we should leave those weapons to go abroad and hurt people, simply because it keeps our country slightly safer in the short term?" Mt. Lady asks.
"No, I'm saying if we're doing this we should hit all the stockpiles at once, while also finding the source and dealing with them too," Mudman says.
"It's not quite as simple as what we want," Mt. Lady says. "This is all the information we were able to collect before our source had to get out of there, this is all we have to work with, so we're working with it."
"By running into a group of villains that are ready, willing, and armed with a massive stockpile of guns," Mudman says. "And regardless of the outcome, it makes future raids near impossible, this is a bad plan."
Mt. Lady glares at him as the tension in the room rises, "If Horizon asked you to do this would you have been this determined to punch holes in it?"
"Yes, that's why I lead Team Horizon when he's not here, to think of all possibilities and outcomes, not that it matters," Mudman says. "Horizon would have known better than to ask..."
Mt. Lady's eyes go wide as the Pro Heroes in the room look between her and Mudman in disbelief, as does Tsukuyomi, yet Simon and Cellophane don't seem surprised.
Before Mt. Lady can speak Edgeshot steps forward, raising a hand to stop her.
"Can you get us the intel we need?" Edgeshot asks. "We discarded that path since the time is so limited, but if you can get it before tomorrow morning we may be able to alter our course."
Hearing that Mudman simply turns to his left, nodding toward Cellophane and Simon, "five hours."
"So much for an easy Team-Up," Simon says in a tired voice as he gets up.
"When we're done we should get some dinner," Cellophane says as he gets up. "Pizza?" he asks Simon as they move toward the door.
"You decide..."
All the Pro Heroes turn back and forth between the two Provisional Heroes and Mt. Lady, as if asking 'Seriously?', but she simply schools her annoyed features and continues on with the meeting...
END CHAPTER---
Discord: https://discord.gg/t7bHrdRY7Y
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene
CHAPTER START---
"What's up?" Sero asks as he answers his cell phone, placing it on speaker on the desk.
He was in an opulent office, sitting behind the desk and typing away on the computer.
His visor was off, resting on the desk beside his phone as he worked.
"Any news on your search?" Edgeshot asks. "It's almost midnight, and we need the intel before 7, otherwise things get messy."
"I'm working on it right now," Sero says. "How are things with recruiting more Pro Heroes for the other locations?"
"Enedavor was busy working on bringing down a potential Nomu manufacturing facility, but we got a lot of B and C list Pro Heroes."
"Well, we left you Tsukuyomi and Mudman, so you'll be good," Sero says as he continues working. "Is Mt. Lady still mad at him?"
"For embarrassing her in front of everyone?" Edgeshot's words were drenched in sarcasm. "Who doesn't want to be embarrassed in front of their peers during their first time leading a big operation like this?"
"That bad huh?"
"Worse thank you think, luckily your team is more useful than most entire Pro Hero agencies in Japan so she can't retaliate."
"Awe, you'll make me blush," Sero chuckles. "Has Mudman been helping to plan things?"
"Yeah, he's better than you said, didn't think that was possible," Edgeshot says. "What kind of training does he do with Horizon?"
"No idea, that big brain stuff isn't really what I do on the team," Sero says. "I'm a versatile hitter and utility player, Mudman and Horizon do all the tactics stuff for big projects."
"Hmm, can I head back to UA with you when you're going back?" Edgeshot asks. "I'd like to talk to Horizon about some plans I have."
"Uh..." Sero tenses for a moment. "That, won't be possible, Horizon doesn't want to be bothered during training."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah, but I can tell him to give you a call when we get back."
"Yeah, thanks, I really appreciate it," Edgeshot says. "He hasn't been on the Hero Network in weeks, he's taking this mandatory vacation thing seriously."
"Yeah, he really wants perfect control of his Quirk, he's been training non-stop every day at UA," Sero lied.
"I figured as much, what about your bird friend?"
"What about him?"
"I heard he used to work with Hawks, but now he doesn't anymore."
"They had a difference of opinion," Sero says as he starts downloading the files he wants. "Tsukuyomi joined Team Horizon, Hawks doesn't like Horizon."
"Lots of people don't, but he's necessary, unfortunately," Edgeshot says. "Well I was just curious, think your friend would want to join us at my Hero Agency? Granted you four are stuck in Minato Tokyo until Horizon gets back in the fight, but he seems like he'd be good for stealth and investigations."
"Hmm, I assumed he would have signed up with Gang Orca after this, but I'd rather have him with us," Sero says as the download finishes and he begins wiping the security footage. "Yeah, you should ask him after the raid."
"I'll just go ask him now," Edgeshot says.
"Really? Don't you want to see him versus real villains first?"
Edgeshot scoffs, "Don't you guys always say 'Team Horizon has no weak members'?"
Sero smiles, "That's right, we don't. Anyway, I need to go collect more intel, I'll call when we're done."
"Gotcha," Edgeshot hangs up.
After double-checking the security system Sero sees tonight's records are completely wiped and the system is still off.
Taking his visor he holds it under his arm and begins walking out of the office.
He enters the hallway and is greeted by a wall of glass, showing the outside of this penthouse suite overlooking Kyoto.
Walking down the hallway he makes it to the balcony above the living room, and while walking down the stairs of this luxury penthouse looks over the railing to see Shinso sitting on this couch.
He had his feet up and mask off, idly scrolling on his phone.
To his right, there was a middle-aged woman tied to a chair using the curtains, her mouth was also gagged, but her eyes were wide and staring directly at Shinso, terrified and enraged.
Tears continuously flowed down her cheeks, ruining her makeup.
She was completely unharmed, just like her husband, the man in an identical situation beside her, but instead of crying, he was red-faced with anger.
"Did you get everything?" Shinso asks, not even looking back at Sero.
"Almost, two of the big names at the top of the organization were missing," Sero says as he sits on the couch beside Shinso. "Who do you think will talk first, Bonnie or Clyde?"
Shinso glances over at the couple, "They're not much of the Bonnie and Clyde type, unless Bonnie was an accountant and Clyde was a lawyer, for criminals that is."
The restrained man shakes in his restraints, clearly pissed off by that comment.
"Yeah yeah," Sero rolls his eyes. "Not criminals but 'respectable businessmen' or whatever you lawyers tell yourself."
"I must admit, I can't tell if it's smart that the criminal organization's main lawyer and accountant are a couple."
"We should ask," Sero says as he walks over and removes the gags.
"You fucking brats!" the man looks up at Sero. "I'm a lawyer! I know my rights! You broke into our home and tied us up, do you realize how fucked you---"
Sero shoved the gag back into the man's mouth, then looked over to see the woman still silently crying.
He gestures to her, and Shinso nods.
"Accountant," Shinso's words get her attention. "Tell me the two names missing from your files."
The woman looks between Shino and her husband, then back at Shinso, "no, I won't."
"Won't, or can't?" Shinso asks. "If they're forcing you to work for them, we can help you, you know who we are, right?"
"I know, you're team Horizon," she says. "And I also know that no evidence you collect from us in here, in this state, will be usable against us in court. You can't do anything to us since you broke in here and threatened us, all you can do is use whatever scraps you have to arrest our clients."
"Criminals you were laundering money for," Sero says.
"You can't prove that in court," she glares at him finding her courage after crying all night.
Shinso sighs, "She's right. But you see, I'm willing to bet their files will make the connection for us, and give us all the reasons we need to arrest both of you. It's a 'Chicken or the egg' situation, doesn't matter which comes first because they're both connected."
"We'll never tell you," she growls out. "You break into our home, tie us up, and now what'll you do, huh hero, you're out of options. So how about you just walk away, and maybe we'll only sue you and your family into the dirt for a few generations."
Shinso sighs and nods toward the man.
Sero quickly removes his gag, and before the man starts yelling at them Shinso cuts him off.
"Do you love your wife?"
That catches the man off guard, and he takes a moment to respond. He scoffed, "What, you expect me to believe you're going to torture her if I don't talk? You're a Pro Hero boy, you don't play by those rules."
"We're Team Horizon," Sero says as he takes out a collapsable serrated knife from his utility belt. "We can do whatever we want."
"But we won't be hurting her," Shinso says. "You will..."
PARTIAL BRAINWASHING COMPLETE: Body Puppet.
The man's body, everything below his neck, goes entirely numb to him.
Shinso nods to Sero, and he immediately begins removing the man's restraints.
"What are you pla---" the man swallows his words as he tries to get up, but his body below the neck refuses to move. "What the---What did you do!"
"I don't know what you mean," Shinso says as Sero holds out the knife. "Take the knife from my friend."
The man obeys, only now, while following Shinso's command, can he feel his body. Only when following the commands of his master were his senses connected to his body, allowing him to feel the hard rubber handle in his grip.
"What are you doing!?"
"Nothing at all," Shinso says as Sero sits beside him, taking in the show. "Now, slowly, use the knife and gouge out one of her eyes," he commands.
"What?!" the woman looks up just in time as her husband holds her face and begins moving the knife toward her right eye. "Wait! Stop! Please don't do this!" her tears began flowing all over again.
"I can't! He's controlling my body!" the man had tears building in his eyes. "I'm so sorry! He won't let me stop!"
"Stop," Shinso commands, and the man stops just an inch from her eyeball. "Now are you willing to talk?"
"Wait," the man gets a bright idea, "you're bluffing, you can't actually make me hurt someone!"
"Hmm, let's see," Shinso thinks for a moment. "Illegal arms dealing, extortion, rape, kidnapping."
"Organ theft," Sero says.
"Blackmail."
"Illegal drug smuggling and dealing."
"Selling kids for their Quirks."
"Embezzlement."
"Assault and battery, and of course, murder."
"And bribing government officials," Sero says. "That's at least thirteen crimes."
"You forgot the Money Laundering," Shinso says.
"Fourteen."
"I'll round it up to fifteen," Shinso says. "Now, slowly carve fifteen tally marks into her forehead, deep enough to dig into the bone, begin," he commands.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH---!!!"
The woman's screaming drowned out their thoughts, drowned out her husband's begging for forgiveness.
He begged Shinso to let him stop hurting his wife.
But the command had been given, and Shinso didn't make it a habit of showing mercy to monsters, that's not how Team Horizon does things.
She screamed, and cried, and bled. And her husband cried with her, forced to get a front-row seat as his own body held her head in place as he carved her up.
He could feel her warm blood running down to his hand.
Feel the serrated blade of the knife cause the handle to bump ever so slightly as it grinds through the bone of her skull.
And after the first three cuts, the woman is begging for it to end, for them to just knock her out.
She begs and pleads, telling them that she doesn't know anything, that only her husband ever meets the clients.
Yet Shinso and Sero give her unbothered stares.
And eventually, at the 7th cut, her vocal cords ruptured, taking her voice with it.
The pain became so much that her body went into shock, temporarily causing her to black out.
With her screams now gone they could finally hear the man's words.
"I'll talk, just please let me stop!"
"You should have said that before I gave the command..."
After the command was done the man was forced to stand there, looking at his work, the love of his life with her face drenched in blood. Leaking from all the carvings he made into her forehead.
"Now, this is the part where you give me the names, or I'll make you start removing fingers, and toes, then who knows where we'll go from there," Shinso says.
"Yes, please!" the man rejoices. "Just please don't make me hurt her again."
"We won't, unless you lie, then it'll get much worse..."
After collecting the intel they needed, Shinso waits for Sero to send it over to Edgeshot while he's guarding their new friends.
The man doesn't take his eyes off Shinso the entire time, burning every feature of the boy's face into his mind, already plotting the most horrific revenge possible.
'I don't care if Horizon is protecting them, they can't be with that monster all the time, they'll pay for what he made me do!' he thought, glancing over to his still-unconscious wife.
"Alright, all done," Sero says as he enters the room. "Let's get out of here."
"Finally," Shinso walks over to the woman and takes out a small pen-sized tazer, just powerful enough to wake someone up, which is exactly what he did to her.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
"Ngh, stnghany!" she yells with ruptured vocal cords, trying and failing to back away as she is still tied to the chair.
Then suddenly her body goes limp and her eyes glaze over.
Shinso glances at her husband, "is there anything else you want to tell us?"
"No, I've already given you everything," the man immediately falls under Shinso's control as well.
He and Sero untie them and step back, double-checking everything around before putting on their masks.
"Stand in the middle of the room facing the wall," Simon commands, and both people obey. "When I snap my fingers you'll forget everything that happened within the last 12 hours, forever, and fall asleep."
He raises a hand, then...
SNAP!
Two bodies crumple to the floor, with his Quirk literally forcing their minds to erase those memories.
Granted they weren't perfectly erased, but in all of Japan, only he could bring them back to the surface.
"Alright, so what did you settle on?" Simon asks Cellophane as they head to the roof.
Cellophane shrugs "I couldn't decide between pizza or burgers, so pasta..."
END CHAPTER---
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