Capítulo 5: Mistakes Were Made
Entering the basement was daunting for Kia.
With Matsuura wearing his villain costume made up of the same gas mask as Kia's and a trenchcoat, Kia could feel the atmosphere of a villain group.
Who were these people? Why did they choose to be villains? What quirks did they have? Were they all the same kind of person as Matsuura?
Those kinds of questions tangled themselves with Kia's thoughts. The My Hero Academia anime alluded to the kinds of depravity villains are willing to go. It being mainstream meant not showing anything too graphic... but this wasn't a show anymore.
Kia had to brace herself, not knowing what kind of colorful fiends or psychopaths could be in there.
A single light source shone in the dank and dreary room, two other people were present. All of them sat around a table, playing cards. Once they noticed the footsteps, all eyes were on her.
"Err… Sup y'all." she waved.
"You!!" One of them yelled, a man with a striking mohawk with party glasses on. The table they were playing at shook violently as the man slammed his hands forward with glee.
"Huh?" Confused, Kia took a cautious step back.
"Yoooouuuuu!"
"Is this a Soulja Boy reference? What's going on?" Kia was proud of that joke, even if she was realistically the only one who remembers pop culture a century ago.
"You are a woman!"
Kia had a blank stare. "Uhh, yes?"
"I never thought Prophet would find someone who isn't a dude!" The man tends to his mohawk and fixes his attire before bowing. "I'm Gouger, m'lady."
It was hard trying to repress a violent reaction but Kia managed to stop herself from vomiting. 'I've never had a relationship with a girl but even I know that using the word m'lady unironically is cringe-inducing.'
"Ignore him." The other man on the table says. "He thinks Americans act like that."
Kia nervously laughed. "Hahaha, if only that were true. Maybe in some states more than others."
"Oh my God, I made a woman laugh!" Gouger was on the verge of leaping in joy.
Scoffing, the man on the table taunts Gouger. "She's laughing AT you, not with you. The name's Hot Hands."
"And I'm Buster." The kilt-wearing villain proudly states near the door as he approaches the table.
"Alright, simple and easy to remember." Kia saw all the anticipating looks she got and sighed. "Ha… Nice to meet you all… I'm Queen Crimson."
"You can be my queen." Gouger swoons.
"Eugh!" Kia couldn't keep a calm face. "Dude, please, we're here to be criminals. Can you not act like that?"
Instead of receiving outright rejection, Gouger looked like he enjoyed being berated instead. "...Oh! Yes my Queen!" he yelled.
Kia facepalms. "I don't know if I'm supposed to be regretting choosing that name for myself."
Matsuura silenced the room with his usual foul mouth. "Everyone shut the fuck up. Especially you, Gouger," he emphasizes. "Since we have a temporary member, I'll give a short rundown on what we're doing."
Gesturing to the seats, everyone cleared the table and sat down, including Kia who listened attentively.
Matsuura, codenamed Prophet, began his briefing. "Listen up, our target is a packaging facility that holds quirk support gear. We'll be arriving in an unmarked van that Hot Hands stole. In any case, the danger levels are low on this one; my quirk said that nothing there would hurt us."
Everyone had their eyes wide open with shock and joy. "That's ideal," Buster mentions. "No matter what job we take, it always ends up with me fighting low-level heroes. But if you predicted that 'nothing would hurt us' then that'd be a first. I don't want to make my mama worried again."
"Yeah." Hot Hands added. "Not to mention this kind of heist would make us millions, depending on the gear."
Prophet nods. "Exactly. As for the facility, Hot Hands can get through the industrial lock with his fingers. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Yeah, as long as it's a direct touch and a whole lot of time, we can get into any door." Hot Hands demonstrated with his bare fingers glowing orange for a moment.
"As for any threats, Buster and Gouger can fight. Would you two like to explain your quirks to our new recruit?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Said Gouger. "As my villain name implies, I can extend and retract metal spikes from my forearms, usually I stab people with them, I haven't tried actually gouging someone's eyes out yet. The strength can be as weak as aluminum or as strong as steel, it depends on how much metal I eat. I've never eaten more than 5 kg of iron, so that's my limit for now. I get really constipated after the night I eat that much metal, so I can't always have steel strength."
Buster was next, giving Kia a nod as he explained. "As for I, my body gets tougher the more I feel pain. Which is why I opted to get a lot of skin out. I have a maximum amount of strength but I will try my best to help if I deem it necessary. What about you, Queen Crimson?"
Kia decided to use her old excuse for a quirk. "I'm not combat-oriented, I can only manipulate the wavelength of an object. It's only a small change though, I haven't trained it much."
"Wavelength, what's that?" Gouger asked.
Prophet interrupted. "Nothing you need to know about, besides, Queen is only going to help with moving the goods. Wouldn't you like to be her knight in shining armor?"
Gouger's face lit up, clearly excited by the proposal. "You're right!" he faces Kia with a smile. "Don't worry, m'lady, I won't let the law catch you."
Kia glared at Matsuura. "Seriously, Prophet?"
"If it gives him motivation, I don't see the problem letting Gouger take an interest in you and your safety. It's a win-win scenario."
Getting a tablet from his duffle bag, Prophet places it at the center of the table and finalizes his planning. "Here is a map of our destination. There's a gate as the entrance and a wall of chain-link fence around the facility. We cut a hole in the fence and get inside, there's usually two guards, one patrolling the inside and one on the outside. Gouger and Buster will take out the guards while Hot Hands and I will cut the power just in case a silent alarm triggers."
"Where do I come in this?" Kia asks.
"You will head to the storage area and pick out materials and gear, we will have to do a few trips to secure everything, so start getting all that loot outside the facility and near where we park the van. People will help you as they finish their duties, don't worry." Matsuura closes the tablet. "Is everyone clear on this? Any questions? None? Then let's get on with the show."
As they all packed up to leave, Kia wondered one thing as they headed for the van. 'These people aren't as intimidating as I thought.'
<>
The cool air of the van's air conditioning blew past the dark-tinted visor of her mask, Kia looked out into the city, darkening ever so slowly. "Hey, Prophet, how long have you been in this work for?"
"3 years. The others here range from 3 months to a year. I've only recently created this group a month ago. Why are you asking? Wait, let me guess… you're going to consider another heist with us."
Kia huffed. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to know how you all can keep doing the same thing over and over. It's been a day and I went from asking for work in a convenience store and suddenly I'm here robbing support gear."
"You chose this, didn't you?" Buster speaks up, turning around from his seat in the front. "I'm not one to start judging and probing at someone else's life but don't be surprised at what your choices are. If you think an event is suddenly thrust upon you, it's a combination of past decisions that did that — not some will of the universe."
"...Not to be rude but I don't believe that. It's not usual that I have to become a criminal. I mean… it's not like I want to be involved in anything that might kill me."
"Are you sure of that though?"
"...Yes."
"Quite contrary to what you're doing though. Try looking at the subconscious of your actions. It'll tell you more about yourself than assuming you have a 100% grasp on your motivations."
Suddenly, Hot Hands claps. "You could be a therapist with the way you talk, Buster. I nearly stopped my villainous actions. I should turn myself in at this moment, preferably to anyone but Endeavor."
"Hey, I'm just giving my thoughts to the girl. Not everyone does bad things for a bad reason." Buster clarifies before switching topics. "Anyway, Queen, since we've been doing this type of stuff for a long time, we've gotten used to it. Nothing much can be said there."
Kia continued to stare outside the car window, bringing up her arm to carry her chin. "Hmm… I can't believe people are willing to do repetitive things."
Prophet interjected. "Pft, weren't you the one reading newspapers for an hour straight?"
"Maybe you haven't noticed but mundane and boring are different! It's interesting up until it becomes overdone, it's why I switched to reading mangas and magazines after reading the newspaper, dipshit."
"You can argue with me later, we're here." The van stops a few minutes walk from the packaging facility. Carefully, Prophet maneuvers the vehicle into one of the alleyways, making it harder to draw attention. "I'll stay here ready to drive off after I and Hot Hands find the fuse box and figure out if there's a backup power source for a silent alarm."
Everyone nods in unison as they all get out of the van. They all weave through narrow passages and open streets, crossing toward the chainlink fence that surrounds the area.
Throughout all this, Kia keeps questioning how villains manage to stay safe from the police. Most of them wore eccentric outfits, others didn't have gloves to prevent fingerprints or things that covered their face. Well, apart from her and Matsuura, who has the sense to wear masks and gloves.
As she shakes away the random thoughts, Kia observes Hot Hands preparing to use his quirk. Placing his hands across the gaps in the fence and waiting for his hands to glow.
"It's showtime, fellas," he says, making his hands burn orange to red, gliding his fingers to make a sizable hole towards the facility. "Haha! That's faster than last time."
"Good job, let's go." Prophet nudged his head towards the building.
Quickly, all of them dash through the breach. Buster headed for the guard silently napping inside a guard house watching the entrance while the rest continued to the main structure of the facility.
As it was before, Hot Hands places his fingers on the massive lock that prevents access to the back, as it breaks from the heat. Gouger heads inside first, forearms ready with a spike jutting out of them about 10 inches long.
The others waited patiently for a noise, a minute passed by before Gouger came back with blood staining the steel-like pikes on his arms. "That was easy."
"Don't jinx it, idiot." Prophet reprimands. "Hot Hands, let's find the fuse box and an emergency power source. I've read a lot of building regulations mandated by the law for these types of things, so I've narrowed it down to a few places. We're checking all of them."
"Sure, you're the planner for a reason. Lead the way." Hot Hands replies.
"As for you two, Gouger and Queen. Start packing up the loot, check the contents first before you take them. We don't want to waste too much time here. Buster should be here after dealing with the guard."
Kia searched inside the facility, it looked like a normal warehouse — the kind that Amazon uses. After a short walk, they find the labels for the support gear they were there to steal.
There was an extendable platform nearby, so Kia decided to make use of it. "Gouger, get the extendable platform over there, I think that's what it is anyway."
"Yes, my Queen!" he says, scuttering away.
'With how special he looks, I can't believe the police didn't catch him yet.' Kia ponders as she looks at the packages up on the higher shelves. "That's a lot of stuff to bring down… let's check what's in the lower ones first."
Taking out a Swiss knife provided by Matsuura, she opens the first box she sees with a single slash. Peering inside, she notes the contents. "Cloth?" she sticks her gloved hand inside and feels the thickness of it. "Kevlar, lots of it too."
"My Queen, I have brought the platform!"
Kia nods. "You start with the bottom going up, I'll go up and retrieve the higher ones."
It was a treasure trove of things; high-tech support gears, multiple accessories, tools, some of them were whole costumes ready to be sent, and most were just materials. The process was slow though, not all of the things they searched had anything worth taking. The packages had some normal items mixed in, so the process was tough.
Time passes...
"We're not even halfway done yet…" Gouger complains, sitting down on the floor after hefting an industrial crate with carbon steel labeled on the side. "When is Hot Hands and Prophet gonna come back to switch places with me."
"Do not waste your breath, get back up and help. Queen is doing her part, why can't you?" Buster strolls by the tired villain.
"Hey, you're the one with a quirk that makes you better with pain. Hauling all this stuff for a macho man like you is easy!"
Kia slams a box down and stretches her back right after. "Just think about the relief we'll have after, since it's been a few trips to a secure location, I'm sure we'll get a big break."
Hearing Kia's voice made Gouger immediately stand up as if fatigue didn't even bother him anymore. "Not even exhaustion can stop me, my Queen! I will do as told!"
"Would you stop addressing me like that? This is a borderline crazed obsession with me, I'm not even particularly doing anything impressive—"
A screech echoes in the distance, going further away as the trio stops their movements.
"What was that?" Kia hears nothing but the sound of her own tired breath fogging the visor of her mask. "Ugh, I can't see anything out of this because of the power being cut and this stupid mask fogging up that I have to clear it out every few seconds."
The shining flashlights nearby guided Buster to the back entrance where they broke in, peeking an eye outside. "I don't see… anything…"
"Buster, you okay?" Kia asked.
Suddenly, the large man drops to the floor, and a loud snore emanates from him not a few seconds later.
The jingles of metal catch their attention, and the door to the outside opens wider. Inch by inch, the sound gets closer and as the door fully opens, the flashlights brightening the inside of the warehouse shine across a familiar costume.
"Bad boys need to be locked up and because of you I have to waste a perfectly good night doing Eraser's job." There she was, the sleeves of her costume already ripped. "We might as well have some fun, don't you think? Villains."
Midnight...
"Oh fuck!" Kia swears loudly, getting a snicker from the pro-hero.
"Oh? I didn't know there was a girl in this small group. I guess Eraser needs to update his information. Villains need to be more considerate, he's not getting sleep lately… so I'll put you to sleep instead."
"WOW! BAZONGAS!" Gouger drops to the floor on his knees. "Those are some serious honkers, like… actual bonkhonagahoogs! Humungous hungolomghnonoloughongous—"
"Shut up! Now's not the time to gawk, moron!" Kia slammed a knee across the head of the easily seduced man. "Close your nose and mouth! She's going to put you to sleep if not!"
"You wouldn't spoil the fun, would darling?" Midnight purs, sending a crack from her whip in their direction. "If you know how my quirk works, then I assume you know that it doesn't work well on women. Let's see if you can hold up~"
"How are you here?!" Kia was sure in the canon that Midnight would be at UA. Unless… the timeline was already distorted. "G O D, you did it again." she silently whispers to herself.
"Aww, do you not want me here?" Midnight approaches, tearing more holes into her costume. "I'll make sure you'll want me. I won't hurt you though, I don't like damaging my toys."
A little bit of the man inside Kia shuddered, she didn't lose the entirety of her attraction to other females which made him gulp nervously. "Haha, yeah… I'M NOT INTERESTED SORRY!"
"She's a quick one."
Gouger heeded his partner's warning, running in the same direction as Kia's back deeper into the warehouse. "I'm sorry too but I dedicated my heart to my Queen already!"
Holding up a section of her whip, she playfully tightens it giving the two a sadistic look as she does so. "They all play hard to get."
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