Chapter 58: Same Faces, different Product

Endless corridors stretched to his rear and front, broken only by turns, intersections, and stairs, elevators few and far between. The smell of industrial bleach annoyed his nose as there was not a speck of dirt, nor had he seen one in his time here. From his bed-chamber, which he shared with Twice, to the other rooms he would enter when asked to carry out minor tasks, there wasn't a single window, to be expected when they were underground.

Not once had Chisaki reappeared to any of them in the week that they'd been there, nor had they learned anything substantial which Pyre, annoyed by, had expected. These Yakuza fools wouldn't just blurt out their plan, though he had come to understand that for many of them, it was more like they didn't know what those plans were, which was telling.

'But that germaphobe could at least let us stretch our legs out more, but noooo, we gotta say underground because we'll be suspicious and would draw attention.' Pyre snorted as Chisaki acted like none had experience dodging surveillance and law enforcement. Besides, all he and Koharu wanted was to feel the sweet warmth of the sun. Instead, they had to settle for a stupid heater, which they knew they had gotten on the cheap, and the annoying bright lights overhead.

Pyre liked to think he was patient and that he wasn't violent, no matter what people said about his arson; that was him spreading affection. But this mission and dealing with all the annoyances…well, at least he could vent about it to Toga and Twice when they met up, though they weren't given tasks close to one another most days, probably to limit their contact.

“I can’t believe this is what Chisaki thinks is the best use of my skills," Pyre bemoaned as he was in a room, one of the most ventilated, and for room reason as they had been a bunch of old documents, reports, and broken or contaminated lab equipment here. Had being the keyword as Chisaki sent Pyre to torch it all, and under the supervision of a couple of grunts, he couldn’t snag a couple to read later.

"Get used to it, and call him Overhaul; he doesn't appreciate back-talkers and complainers." One shot back, only for the second to nudge his side.

"What, is that his villain's name or something? I thought he was Yakuza." Midoriya asked as if there was one thing he had picked up from Yakuza and just being in the underworld in general: that Yakuza refused to entertain the concept of villain personas.

The first man, a heteromorph with a head that seemed to be made from solid rock, snorted. "We are, but when the boss got sick, and he came to power, he started calling himself Overhaul and made damn sure we did as well."

“Sounds like you don’t like it.” Pyre mused, making small talk.

"We followed the boss because he valued the old ways, keeping us as we were even in these changing times. He didn't want us to be seen as just another group of low-life thugs." The second man grunted, glaring at Pyre for being in their base. Overhaul disrespects that, acting like a villain, even bringing in bastards like you and the 8 Bullets, disregarding our opinions and traditions."

"The boss is in bad shape. He can't even talk, and we know who's to blame." The first's eyes narrowed, only for the second to smack his side before he could say more. For Pyre and Koharu, that was enough information to get a better picture.

Sadly, more couldn’t be said when someone spoke up behind them. “What you talking about? Don’t you two have work?” The two Yakuza jumped in surprise, turning to see the tiny form of Mimic glaring at them.

Pyre, having no fear of the lower form of criminal, only smiled. "They were just telling me they didn't know all this. I like spreading my flames, but I got curious about why Overhaul couldn't just shred all these files." He lied, covering for the two while also giving a convincing story. He’ll have to thank Slice and Mummy for helping him learn how.

“Hmm,” Mimic's eye seemed to glow larger as he looked them over, the two men glaring back only to bow their heads while Pyre, much to Mimic's annoyance, didn't so much as flinch under his scrutiny so he would have to take his word for it…for now. “Well, stop wasting time. I came to collect you. The boss wants a meeting.” Mimic told him, already walking off.

“Why’s that? He’s been avoiding me this entire time.” Still, Pyre moved to follow the man, who turned around, furious at his lack of respect towards their leader.

“For your information, the boss doesn’t avoid anyone! He was simpler busy with work that your tiny little burnt-out coal of a brain couldn’t even fathom if you had 10 years to try! Now stop asking questions and follow me! You two, get back to work!” He yelled at them, mainly at Pyre, the source of his ire.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Pyre replied, as there was no point pretending, not when their enemies wouldn't buy it. Besides, Koharu liked seeing the small man get so worked up. "You should watch your temper, for a man your size, that can't be good for your heart, and you'll no good to Overhaul if you came down something or had a stroke."

Mimic looked close to attacking him, but common sense or survival instinct kept him in check. He did mutter some very unkind things about him, which Pyre would only call rude. He wasn't insulting his or Chisaki's parents and upbringing, just their character.

But he chose to keep his tongue. Striving Koharu's head as they went, he thought about what they had uncovered in their time with this…Yakuza. 'After a week, I finally got a confirmation. They don't follow Chisaki because they agree; they follow because of fear and loyalty to this unseen 'boss.' He had suspected that the young villain was merely a temporary head, but now he had a straight statement to that fact.

“If he's such a fossil that follows the old ways, he could be an ally; we just need to find him, heal him, and let the man dispute Chisaki's control.” Koharu voiced, his serpent friend having no need to worry about eavesdroppers.

“Easier said than done,” Midoriya whispered back as he agreed. That would be a great way to separate Overhaul from his position of power. Still, Overhaul would know that and would never allow his men to know such info. A man, horrible as he seemed to be, would be smart about this. He most likely has his loyalist overlooking the former leader's condition, if he's even on-site, to begin with.

He wanted to know what Overhaul was doing with these quirk deleters. Chisaki, naturally, didn't tell them anything. His people didn't seem to talk about it either, at least, not in a way that wouldn't make it suspicious if Pyre were to ask about it. So he'll need to rely on what Toga and Twice found, the former having a talent for getting the jump of people, so if she got close enough to hear something or two…

"Get in and show some proper respect." Mimic's annoyed voice broke through Pyre's thoughts as he pointed to one door that looked identical to the rest, with no sign denoting it as an office.

"I already told you my fees for that, and till I see it, you won't get a free service from me." Pyre walked right past the man who yelled at him, but he didn’t hear as he opened the door and closed it, the A-ranked villain noting that the room was soundproofed.

“Pyre.” The second thing he noticed was how…normal the space was. Sure, the furniture was of a higher quality than what the typical wage slave could have, but it just seemed like any office befitting an average supervisor, one with little in the way of personal furnishings if they weren't. But what made the space abnormal was Chisaki, seated behind the desk, his mask secured to his face.

“Overhaul.” Pyre greeted him using his villain name, though he wished to gag at such a man who dared think he was worth it.

"Apologies, you must have had something different in mind when you were recruited, but the Yakuza of today is different from the Yakuza of the past, and thus, we must adapt." Overhaul explained, though neither Pyre nor Koharu believed his words carried even a sliver of honesty.

But while he suspected Overhaul knew that, why not play along with the charade? "I wouldn't mind so much if I could get to the surface for some sunlight."

"In time, I need to be able to trust you, but right now, you hardly like me." Overhaul replied.

“Would you change your mind if I lied and acted like I did?” The man's eyes didn't change immediately, to which Pyre scoffed. “Exactly; now, was there a task for me?" If he was going to have him destroy some other equipment like human garbage disposal…

"Not a task in the way you're thinking. You recall our meeting. One of my associates challenged you to a fight." Overhaul’s response mercifully wasn’t that.

Pursing his lips, Pyre thought back to that day before he snapped his fingers. “He was the second biggest guy there, if I'm not mistaken."

Overhaul nodded before a hint of annoyance entered his voice. "That would be Rappa. Since you technically agreed, he's been up in arms about getting the fight, and Tengai reported that he's only getting worse."

So the man wanted to fight so badly that he was making a fuss, but he was also available enough that Overhaul couldn’t force him to let things go. Interesting. “So, my job is to fight him? That’s it?” Pyre asked.

“A couple rounds should satiate him, then he’ll be more compliant.” Overhaul replied rather dismissively, though if it was towards him or Rapa or both, Pyre wouldn’t know.

“Any restrictions?” Pyre asked.

“As long as you don’t kill him or cause too much damage, nothing.” That was telling; his words implied that he had confidence that Pyre was the stronger of the two, enough that the odds of Rappa doing him in weren't worth mentioning. But on the other hand, was this just a subtle bait? A means to get him to lower his guard and get his butt kicked?

“Well, not like I have much better to do. So, when will we fight?” Pyre asked as Overhaul looked at the clock on the wall.

“Right now, Mimic will show the way.” Seemingly by magic, the door opened again, and Mimic stood at the ready.

Line break

"Well, Nighteye, we're all here, so let's get started." At the same time, far from the Yakuza base and inside the conference room of the Sir Nighteye hero agency, the pro in question had gathered quite the assembled cast of pros from big names such as Ryukyu to other well-known heroes like Lock Rock and Fat Gum, and plenty of small time-pros. However, for Uraraka, she was more focused on the fact both Eraserhead and Gran Torino were in attendance.

"Yes, first of all, I wish to thank you all for accepting my request. I understand we'll all be busy, so I'll just skip to the point." Nighteye addressed them. "With the information you gathered, our investigation has progressed substantially. You've all been invited to share that intel and plan our next step regarding the Yakuza group, Shie Hassaikai." He noted, which, for Togata and Uraraka, was something a long time coming ever since they bumped into…her. Both were eager to finally make a move against their target.

They were the only ones from U.A. who seemed to even know who the targets were. While Bakugo and Asui, both doing their work-study for Ryukyu, could keep their piece until that was explained, a confused Kirishima did not get the memo. “Hold on, I feel like I’m missing something important here, Shie…what now?”

"Some bad guys are planning to do some bad things, and we're holding a meeting to figure out a way to stop it." Fat Gum, along with third-year Amajiki, who was doing their work studies under, gave a simplified explanation, though his eyes went to his senior work-study student's arms, as bandages stuck out under his short sleeve. “Trust me, you two are very much involved.”

With that said, the group quickly took their seats. Three tables had been pushed together to create a U-shape, with Night seated at the end and his two sidekicks standing to his sides. The one on the right, a young, blue-skinned, dark blue-haired woman, started things on her boss' behalf.

“All right, let’s begin at the beginning,” The sidekick to Sir Night, Bubble Girl, started, a little intimidated to give a speech in such a room but not letting that stop her. "For the past couple of weeks, we at the Sir Nighteye agency have been investigating the Shie Hassaikai, an organized group of criminals."

“What prompted this?” One of the heroes asked. It was all fine and dandy to say, 'They looked suspicious,' but outside of a joke, that would never hold up in court, and if they had seen this Yakuza commit a crime, they would have acted by now.

“An accident involving a gang of thieves called the Reservoir dogs.” Bubble Girl replied as she pressed a button, turning on the slides and starting with one that showed the arrest reports for the small-time villains in question.

"I heard about that. Weren't they all captured?" One of the other heroes asked.

"That's true; however, some details didn't add up, so we began tailing them." Bubble Girl informed them, pointing towards the fact that the young head of the Shie Hassaikai was seen leaving the scene of the 'fight.' However, she hesitated to call it such when it had been so one-sided. However, despite the damage to the street and testimony from all the captured villains that 2 had been in their truck when it crashed, not a single one had so much as a scratch on them. In fact, they were seemingly in perfect health.

Centipeder, Nighteye's other sidekick, took over at this point. "As a Nighteye agency sidekick, I began following leads to see what I could uncover. I found that in the past year or so, members of the Shie Hassaikai have drastically increased contact with known criminal groups outside their organization."

Gran Torino and the rest of the heroes weren't surprised by that. With All Might's retirement, criminals had been crawling out of the woodwork, and big names like the Thunder were only making things worse.

"From that investigation, we have a credible theory that their aim is to expand their organization's size and reach while enriching its coffers." Centipeder continued as Bubble Girl went to another slide, this one being a photo that showed a somewhat familiar masked face. "Not too long ago, they contacted a member of the League of Villains, Bubaigawara Jin. Villain's name: Twice.”

Both Uraraka and Bakugo sat straighter at that for different reasons.

Centipeder continued. "They were weary of being tailed, so I had to break off before I was spotted, but with the help of the police, we could pin their location to this building where evidence points to an altercation." Here, they had not just the pictures of the wrecked warehouse and signed reports confirming the damage was new and sudden, but they also had photos of the inside.

They found a dust pile, which wouldn't have been strange, but the shape of a portion was a human arm pointed towards the pile, which was all that remained of someone who had a run-in with Shigaraki's Decay. They also found the legs-only the legs of another League member, Hikiishi Kenji. Villain named: Magne.

The heroes hardly flinched at the details, while the students grew visibly ill at the horrible images of death. But one didn't need to think long to suspect that, for whatever reason, the meeting between these two groups had turned sour, and at least 2 on each side had been killed. Violence between villain groups wasn't rare, and while not as common, nor were deaths in such conflicts.

However, the issue was that the League was a different beast from other groups, and none, especially those from class A, could see someone like Shigaraki not seeking revenge for this.

One of them was even there because of that fear and other reasons relating to the League. “That would be around when they reached out to Tsukauchi and me, seeing how this now involved the League.” Gran Torino stated as the pro seated next to him turned and asked

“Where is Tsukauchi?”

“Follow-ups, he’s chasing down some leads that could help with this. So, I went ahead without him.” Gran Torino replied though he shot a look at Uraraka's way. "Sorry, kid. I didn't see this coming, but I have a bad feeling that something unpleasant is coming."

Despite the sight of the bloody fight still fresh in her mind and recalling the summer camp, Uraraka refused to let her determination waver. “Even so, I’m here to help whoever I can.”

“Hold on, you know him?” Togata asked.

"Oh, I kinda did my internship under him, so…" Uraraka felt some tension release as she recalled her time with the old veteran and his…unique training.

‘Oh yeah, he showed up to help during the Hosu fight, I didn’t even know she interned with him.’ Kirishima noted.

'Strange, she interned with him, and he also happened to be called to help at Kamino.' Asui mused but kept it to herself while Bakugo only narrowed his gaze towards the gravity user, as something wasn't adding up, especially when he spotted how Nighteye eyed Round Cheeks.

“Go on, Bubble Girl.” Nighteye brought things back on track.

“Right! After that went down, we posted a notice on the HN requesting back-up-” Centipeder interrupted her.

“I think we can skip that part.”

“What’s the HN?” Uraraka asked, to which Hado was happy to fill her in.

"Oh, I know. It stands for Hero Network! It's an online service that can only be accessed by pros. You can see what all the heroes in the country are up to and request and share aid." Uraraka smiled at the clarification, though not everyone was happy that they needed to do that.

“Does anyone want to tell me how many high schoolers are doing at this meeting?" Lock Rock eyed her and the other students with annoyance and impatience, all attending in their school uniforms as if to stand out even more. "I don't care if they are from U.A. We'll be here all day if we pause every few minutes to explain things."

Fat Gum was quick to defend their presence. “Don’t say that! These two have important information to share that could be a big help!” His arm pointed to Amajiki and Kirishima, both giving very different reactions.

“We do?” Kirishima was confused.

“I wanna go home.” Amajiki was his typically anxious self, which only made Lock Rock all the more skeptical of their presence. Still, if Fat was gonna make an argument over it, he'd pull out now to save them the time.

"Anyway, I see some new faces, so let me introduce myself. Nice to meet you, I'm Fat Gum." Fat Gam introduced himself.

"He's so cute and squishy," Asui noted, as he was the sort of hero kids must love to hug.

“Ha, who wants candy?” Fat Gum, leaning into that notion, just had candy on his person, which he handed to Asui and Bakugo. The latter later grunted but did not refuse the sugary treat.

Nighteye took over from there. “Hassaikai's movements are had to trace, but we have reason to believe that a major source of income for the organization comes from the illegal drug trade, so I requested help from heroes with some expertise in that area," Kirishima recalled that during their last patrol, Fat-Gum had said something about having been a big force in the counter-drug game back in the day.

“Yup, I brought in my fair share of drug dealers back in the day, and in Red Riot’s debut fight, he proved he could do.” Fat Gum crushed the remaining hard candy he had in his hands. “Tamaki was shot, and the bullet contained some kind of drug I’ve never heard of before, one that destroys quirks.” When he opened his fist, the crushed candy fell away as the room grew shocked.

“Destroys quirks?” One asked as the idea seemed insane, but for some, it carried weight, a terrifying one as for Gran Torino; he had years of conflict against All for One. For Uraraka, she recalled just how terrifying it had been just to be in his presence. All Might already shared their belief that the Nomu were AFO's creation; could it be possible that this quirk deleter was his work as well?

Line Break

We have another chapter, but sadly, one that was cut short as my local power provider decided to conduct tests on a new part of the system at 5 p.m., WHY???? They didn' t even announce this ahead of time, waiting till like 5 minutes before to make the statement. To make it worse, the 90-minute outage turned into an over 3-hour affair without reason, and when we contacted them, they just…refused to answer.

I still need to make dinner, so I couldn't take too much time to work on this as my power bank's only good for a phone, not a computer, and when its power dropped to 30%, I shut it off in case I needed it later. Because of that, while I planned to cut things at one point, I had to shave even more for the sake of time. However, as that part is largely written, it will be in the next chapter, hopefully longer, because of what I want to cover.

Aside from that tomfuckery, the chapter itself was pretty fun to write, getting back into the grove with this story and not that AU. With the time off, I made sure my notes lined up with my updated idea for this; as I've said in the past, I've made micro changes.