(big chapter incoming)
Hotel - Private Parking Lot - Morning
The parking lot had been quiet for most of the morning.
Until now.
Roman's men started equipping their gear they brought from Gotham. Assault rifles checked and loaded, body armor fitted and secured, gas masks looked over for seal integrity before putting them on. Silver stood near one of the vans drinking water steadily, which she did before anything that might require her to use a high vocal output. She'd pulled on a loose jacket over her clothes, nothing that would restrict her arms or her breathing, and had two handguns holstered at her hip alongside the gas mask she'd attached to her belt.
William was in a white doctor's coat and wore his modified Pyg gas mask that covered his face. Under the coat he a pistol, several modified grenades that he'd produced from the genetic material from people they had abducted, he also had one of his most disgusting creations, a small flamethrower like gun but no larger than a rifle he hid on his back under his coat but it was made from the spine and preserved head of a hero they kidnapped several months ago,
Cameron stretched his wings to their full span, the brown and grey patterning shifting in the midday light, then folded them back and picked up his uzi, and threw a llarge bag of cash over one shoulder, gas mask clipped to his tactical gear.
Roman stood to one side checking his two signature pistols while in his infamous by now white suit which was reinforced in ways that weren't visible from the outside the inside between layers of fabric was the skin of Silvers now long dead classmate who once had kevlar skin, William had sat on the material until Black Mask learned about it a couple weeks after joining and Crane agreed to his request to use it. He then looked around at the gas masks then looked in the window of a van seeing his reflection of his permanently fused black mask…
Ivy was crouching near the parking lot's edge watching a plant push itself through a crack in the concrete with apparent satisfaction. She had a mask in her coat pocket but general body language and attitude communicated to the others that she considered this level of preparation somewhat excessive for a meeting with what she saw as weak Japanese criminals.
Basil stood in the center of the lot cycling through forms, first a bodyguard, then a hero he saw on a TV ad here, then a mafioso, Italian-cut suit, black and silver like hair, something stereotypical.
"That one's good, just stop," Suguro said, passing him without stopping.
Suguro put on his tactical gear, the large coat going over most of it, and reached into the inner pocket keeping his mask off for now.
They loaded up and left.
Underground Approach -
The convoy moved through Osaka's streets without drawing attention not meeting together until they got close to the indicated destination. Down through the city's commercial center, into a district that grew progressively quieter, then to a "construction" tunnel entrance that opened when they were the only vehicle in sight.
Inside, Overhaul's men were waiting.
The one who'd been assigned to manage the arrival looked at the number of vehicles and the number of armed people emerging from them and spent a moment confused as this was more than what he'd been told to expect. He approached the lead car as Suguro stepped out as he put the mask on.
"We weren't informed there would be so many," the man said, in careful English.
Suguro walked past him.
"Take me to your boss," he said.
The Hassaikai men looked at each other but didn't want to disrespect these people the boss said were #1 priority and led them in.
Overhaul's Base - Meeting Room
Overhaul sat on a low couch with Mimic occupying the armrest to his right.
Across from them, on the opposite couch, sat Shigaraki Tomura.
"What a boring office," Shigaraki said.
"You're late," Overhaul replied
(he was supposed to be here earlier) he thought to himself.
"You had me walking in circles underground for ten minutes. I'm not an ant."
Mimic leaned forward. "More importantly, did you really mean what you said on the phone the other day? That you'll join us under the right conditions?"
"Don't start, you want to capitalize on our reputation. We want to increase our strength, our needs happen to coincide for the moment."
"Put your foot down," Overhaul said, looking at Shigaraki's shoe. "The table will get dirty."
"No please?" Shigaraki said. "You really ought to mind your manners. I dont appreciate disrespect, now we won't be putting ourselves under you. We'll still be calling our own shots, got it? either it's a joint partnership or I walk out the door."
"So those are the conditions?"
"One more thing." Shigaraki reached into his pocket. "That grand plan you mentioned, I want to know the details I need to decide whether it's worth lending you our name."
"Hands where we can see them," Kurono said while pointing a gun to his head.
Shigaraki's expression darkend
"Stop acting like you're in charge here," Kurono added.
Mimic was on his feet. "Yeah, who do you think you are, you little punk?"
"Who do you think you are?" Shigaraki said. "One of your disposable thugs against our Hikiishi. The scales are far from even and let's not forget Compress's arm, we expect concessions for what we lost."
"Kurono, Mimic stand down." Overhaul's voice was flat. "He came all this way to make his offer, the least we can do is hear him out." He looked back at Shigaraki. "By all means, continue."
Shigaraki held up the bullet. "Like I said before your friends got jumpy. I want details. We can start with this, it's part of the plan, right?"
Overhaul looked at the bullet in Shigaraki's hand.
"A strange thing happened to Compress after he was shot with this," Shigaraki said, turning it between his fingers. "He couldn't use his Quirk for a while, so I'd like to know what this is and what you're planning to do with it."
Overhaul looked back at Shigaraki right in the eyes.
"I'll break the natural order of things…"
"They say All For One ruled by stealing other people's Quirks. I've taken his method and fine tuned it a little. I've already begun spreading my roots across this country."
He looked up at the ceiling "little by little piece by piece were laying the groundwork for what will happen here"
He paused, and looked toward the door which began to open.
"And even beyond."
The door opened then opened fully.
Suguro entered first, behind him came Roman's men quickly spreading out and filling the room's perimeter, weapons down but ready at moments notice followed by the rest of his inner circle here.
Shigaraki turned and stared at all of this.
"Welcome," Overhaul said to Suguro, "I wasn't expecting quite such a large party."
Shigaraki turned to him.
"Why the hell are these people here?"
Mimic looked at him from across the room. "What, you thought you were the only one we work with and you were LATE!"
Shigaraki looked at the tiny thing like he was ready to kill him here and now.
Suguro walked to the couch opposite while Shigaraki was still sitting there.
"Move,"
Shigaraki didn't listen.
Roman stepped forward from behind Suguro's left shoulder. "The boss told you to move."
Shigaraki looked at Roman. The guns around the room then looked back at Suguro, who was losing his patience, he valued his time and respected others and so far Japan didn't understand this rule they followed in Gotham.
Shigaraki moved to the side but very reluctantly.
Suguro sat down and looked at Overhaul. "This trip better be worth it."
"It will be,"
William had drifted through the room during this exchange, he spotted the bullet in Shigaraki's hand. He reached out and took it right out of his hand, casually holding it up to examine it.
"Is this the bullet?" he said, turning it between his fingers.
Shigaraki stood, reaching for this man tired of the disrespect.
Silver screamed.
The sound hit him like a truck, Shigaraki went into the wall hard enough to crack the wall. He got up slowly, blinking, and found himself looking at military level guns from fourteen different directions.
Mimic was laughing.
Suguro was already talking to Overhaul, his focus off Shigaraki entirely, as though he was just some minor background noise. William had taken the empty seat and was examining the bullet.
"Can you call your people off?" Overhaul said to Suguro, his voice carrying something that was trying to be a command and landing as a request. "Shigaraki is a potential recruit."
Suguro glanced at Roman and gave a slight nod.
The weapons lowered.
Shigaraki straightened his coat then at the scene in front of him.
Overhaul had asked and not commanded In his own base.
Perhaps the Shie Hassaikai were not as strong as they'd been presenting themselves.
Or perhaps overhaul knew how dangerous the man in front of him was while Shigaraki didn't.
Also these internationals were looking at him like he was some pest. Like he was someone who'd shown up uninvited and not close to their level. Shigaraki Tomura, who had sat at All For One's feet, who killed with a touch, who had the League of Villains under him.
And he made his decision on this alliance. It would not happen but he wouldn't reveal that just yet.
"We'll be in touch," he said and walked out.
(and just so noone asks two things in this story AFO taught shigaraki english, and also he knows nothing about Garakis contact with Cranes wings)
The room settled once the sound of Shigaraki's footsteps had faded from the corridor.
"I apologize for the force I brought," Suguro said, though his tone carried no sincerity of an apology in it. "It's security, we're a long way from home you understand."
"I understand it completely," Overhaul said.
"I'd do the same."
A brief silence.
"I wish Japan were more like Gotham in some ways," Overhaul said, "the hero worship here is suffocating. Organized crime operates in the shadows, grateful for whatever we can still get. In Gotham the natural order has been allowed to establish itself, that's my desire for Japan."
Suguro nodded.
"The bullets," William said, setting the one he'd been examining he took from that Shigaraki guy, back down on the table.
"Tell us about them."
Overhaul settled back. "What I've developed interacts with the Quirk factor at a biological level. The first ones we made suppresses the Quirk function for a duration of time but-" He paused. "The second one we've made can make a quirk permanently removed."
The room took this in, it was what they came all this way for.
"How many permanent bullets do you have?" Suguro asked.
Overhaul gestured to one of his men, who came forward with a case and opened it on the table. "I have two cases right now each with thirty bullets,"
"How are they made?" Suguro asked.
"That I can't share."
Silence.
"Most people in our line of work," William said pleasantly, "appreciate trading knowledge"
Overhaul ignored him looking at Crane.
Suguro looked at the case. Then at Cameron, who stepped forward with the briefcase he had been carrying and placed it on the table between them.
"How much for everything you have?" Suguro asked.
Mimic looked at it already picturing counting the money.
"I can't sell all of them today," Overhaul said. "But I can do one half or in other words one case. Ten thousand American dollars per bullet."
(there never was a price stated in canon as far as I know)
Roman muttered something.
"Thats it-"
Basil's elbow found his ribs shutting him up.
"Done," Suguro said, and took large bands of money across to Mimic, who received it with barely concealed satisfaction 300 hundred grand usd.
It was only a little over half of the money they'd brought.
Overhaul closed the bullet case and slid it across the table.
"I should mention," Overhaul said, "that I've also developed a reversal bullet, they can restore a quirk to someone who's been shot with the permanent bullet."
Suguro looked at him then asked confused
"Why would you make those?"
Overhaul said nothing yet.
"The reason for permanently removing something is that it's permanent," Suguro continued, in the same flat analytical tone he brought to everything.
William set down the bullet he'd been turning over and and broke the silence.
"I would still like to know at least the process of how these are made?" He tilted his head in a way that made the Pyg mask catch the light at an unpleasant angle. "I can show you how to make weapons constructed from human biological material" he then showed the grotesque flame gun he had been carrying. " I could show you surgical modification techniques that can upgrade your existing personnel beyond their natural limitations. I could even show you how to–."
Overhaul wasn't interested and was ready to ask about selling these in mass in America in the future.
until–
"Or,"
Suguro began.
The room had gone very quiet.
"We can show you how to create a person who cannot disobey," Suguro said. "How to turn someone whose independent will has been completely removed, they can work and they will follow your instructions and your instructions only. They cannot rebel, protest, run, or refuse." He looked at Overhaul directly. "An organic drone"
He let the silence sit for a moment.
Overhaul's eyes widened.
He was thinking about something or perhaps someone in specific.
Overhaul knew that this was his solution to Eri's "Tantrums" and smiled
Hero Meeting - A couple days earlier
(mostly canon dialogue not all - but it is needed for the story and I have changed the timeline just a little bit)
Sir Nighteye stood.
"Thanks to the information provided by all of you, our investigation has progressed substantially. We've invited you all here for a joint conference to share the intel we've acquired." He paused. "Regarding the yakuza group Shie Hassaikai and what we believe they might be planning."
Kirishima looked up at Fat Gum "Hold on, I feel like I'm missin something really important here. Shie H'what now?"
Gum leaned toward Kirishima. "Some bad guys're planning to do some bad things and they've called a meeting so we can talk it all out, trust me, you two are very much involved."
Bubble Girl stepped forward.
"All right, let's begin at the beginning. For the past couple of weeks now, those of us at Nighteye Agency have been conducting an investigation into Shie Hassaikai, a small but organized group of criminals."
"What prompted this?" Kesagiri Man asked.
"An accident involving a gang of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs."
"Yeah, I heard about that."
"The police thought the whole thing was an accident, but there were a number of details that didn't add up, so we began tailing them."
Centipeder picked up from there
"In my capacity as a Nighteye Agency sidekick, Ive been following leads what ive found was a pattern: over the past year, the members of Shie Hassaikai had increased contact with outside organizations, including groups whose business dealings were less than reputable there goals seem to be expansion and financial enrichment."
He paused
"Shortly after the investigation began, they'd made contact with a member of the League of Villains — Jin Bubaigawara, villain name Twice. They'd been wary of surveillance, so I wasnt able to follow them, but the police had confirmed an altercation had occurred between the two groups."
But unknown to him were the yakuza's new connections in Gotham city who also unknown to the heroes happened to have a group in Japan right now.
Gran Torino took over at that point. He and Tsukauchi had been brought in given the League's involvement. Tsukauchi was elsewhere, handling follow-ups with eyewitnesses.
"'Ive got a bad feeling that things are about to get ugly."
"What's the 'HN'?" someone asked.
"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 you can ask for help from people whose Quirks might come in handy."
Nejire explained.
From the back of the room, one of the heroes a man calling himself Rock Lock who'd been silent until now: "Does anybody wanna tell me why a buncha high school kids were invited to this conference? I don't care if they are from UA. If we have to keep stopping to explain this stuff, we'll never get to the actual plan."
"Don't say that," Fat Gum said. "These two have important information to pass along."
Sir Nighteye took over again and explained that Hassaikai's movements were hard to trace, but the agency suspected one of their main sources of income was illegal drug sales.
"Tamaki was shot," Fat Gum said, and the room's energy changed. "And the bullet contained some kinda drug I've never heard of before. One that destroys Quirks."
"Destroys Quirks?" Kesagiri Man said.
Multiple voices at once: "Whoa, what? Tamaki, you're okay, right?"
"Yeah, the stuff wore off while I slept. Here, look. I've got this cow hoof and everything."
Mirio's voice: "Guess we know what you had for breakfast!"
"I'm glad to know the effects aren't permanent at least. So this stuff doesn't zap a Quirk for good."
"No," Nighteye said. "But Eraser Head has some further insight."
Aizawa's voice carried the flat tone he brought to everything. "It doesn't seem to function exactly like my Erasure does. Since I'm not actually attacking the Quirk directly, what we call a Quirk is an extraordinary addition to an ordinary human body. Those additions are collectively referred to as 'Quirk genes.' I can shield those genes and temporarily block their expression, but I don't actually damage them."
He paused.
"But after Tamaki here was shot, we brought him to the hospital, and they found that his Quirk genes had sustained damage. Fortunately, they seem to have healed on their own, and he's back to normal now."
"What do we know about the substance he was shot with?"
"Whatever it was didn't harm the rest of his body," Fat Gum said. "Nothing but his Quirk was impaired in any way. The guy who shot him clammed up, he won't say a word and the round that hit Tamaki was totally spent." He looked at Kirishima. "However, Kirishima bravely defended Tamaki from a bullet, which then bounced off his own body and should now provide us with a viable sample."
"Whoa, I did that? Really? That's crazy!""
"And when we analyzed the substance from the bullet," Fat Gum continued, "we discovered something that made me sick to my stomach. It contained human blood and cells."
The room went quiet.
Midoriya's voice was barely above a murmur. "Human blood?"
"Sounds like something out of a scary movie," Tsu added.
"In other words, that effect came from a person. From someone's power. A Quirk that can destroy Quirks." Ryukyu put together
"I'm not connecting the dots, here," one of the masked heroes said. "How is all this related to Hassaikai?"
"The man who shot Tamaki used an illegal drug to boost his Quirk during his fight with Kirishima," Fat Gum said. "The distribution channels for stuff like that are complex. Although things've shrunk since the old days, drugs still pass through various people and organizations before they finally reach the end user. There's no concrete evidence that Hassaikai handled the drug, but we know for a fact that they interacted with one of the middlemen responsible for moving it."
"That's all?"
Nighteye spoke. "The other day, Ryukyu's team broke up a fight between two villain groups. One of those groups was controlled by the intermediary organization that Fat Gum just mentioned."
"One of the two giants had been given an inferior drug that didn't last long," Ryukyu added.
"There have been a rash of gang-related crimes recently," Kesagiri Man said, "and most could be connected to the Hassaikai if you tried hard enough."
"Which is what it seems like you're doing: trying to make them guilty. Don't you have anything that implicates them more clearly?"
Nighteye looked at the room for a moment. Then he pulled up an image.
"Their young head, Chisaki. Quirk: Overhaul. With this power, he can disassemble things and then reassemble them. A Quirk that allows him to completely break down matter." He paused. "And a bullet that can break down Quirks."
The room absorbed this.
Then the deku remembered.
"Please... Please don't go."
"Chisaki has a daughter named Eri," Nighteye said. "There are no records or details about her birth. But when Mirio and Midoriya encountered her, they noticed there were bandages wrapped around her arms and legs."
"Could he really do something so horrific?"
"Unfortunately, yes. In a world of superhumans, if you can dream it, you can do it."
"Hold on, what are they talking about?"
"Once again, why do we have children in this meeting?"
Rock Lock's voice cut through everything else. "I'll say this one time: We're wondering if this Chisaki bastard is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling them on the black market."
Silence.
"No."
"Oh, don't tell me..."
"To be clear," Nighteye said, in the same level tone, "we aren't certain that he's actually selling the bullets. At this point, their efficacy appears to be questionable. It's possible that they're still in the testing phase, and he's giving them out as samples to rally more people to his cause. We have no hard evidence, but we do know he's gathering allies and funds from across the nation. If the completed drug allows him to annihilate someone's Quirk entirely, imagine the devastation he could cause."
Little did the heroes know that while they thought they were ahead they were already 2 steps behind and they had no true idea what they were about to deal with.
"Just talking about it's enough to make my blood boil. Let's go get this monster!"
Rock Lock again: "Tch. Woulda saved us a lot of trouble if these two amateurs had just gotten the girl away from him."
"I take full responsibility," Nighteye said. "The blame should not fall on them. Even without knowing the whole story, they acted to save the child, each in their own way. Midoriya was willing to bear the risk of taking her then, while Mirio chose to wait for another opportunity, when success would be more likely."
Midoriya's internal voice, barely audible: "'World's greatest hero.' Not even close."
And Mirio: "Save a million people? I couldn't even save her."
"I assure you," Nighteye said, "nobody in this room is more frustrated than they are."
chairs clattered as they stood up.
Two voices, in unison.
"We'll get Eri away from him next time..."
"...and we'll protect her!"
"Indeed," Nighteye said. "That's precisely what we've come here to discuss."
Rock Lock looked at the two students for a long moment after the declarations settled.
"Huh. You kids wanna talk big, that's fine. But if what Nighteye is saying is for real, that little girl is at the center of Hassaikai's entire underground drug operation. She may have managed to get away from Overhaul for a few minutes, but she got herself seen by a couple of heroes. You think he's still gonna keep her at home after that? Hell, I know I sure wouldn't. And if we go bustin' into their headquarters and she's not there, they're gonna know that we're onto them. We gotta be sure of where he's hidin' her."
"He has a point," Ryukyu said. "Do you have a plan for that, Nighteye?"
"That's our conundrum. Since we don't currently know how far they've taken their plans, the success of our initial strike is crucial. To that end, we've made a thorough list of groups with connections to Hassaikai, as well as properties owned by the organization. This is our starting point." He spread the map across the table. "I would like you all to investigate each coordinate on this map. It is the most logical way to narrow down our targets."
Too bad one group was not on the list…
Understanding moved through the room.
"So that's why you asked minor heroes like us to join you," one of them said.
"What do you mean?" the masked hero asked.
"Go on. Look. The heroes in this room all operate in one of those locales. We know the areas better than most."
"Didn't expect someone who worked with All Might for so long to be such a careful planner," Fat Gum said.
"Let's just go bring 'em down! While we're takin' our sweet time, that abused girl's out there crying somewhere."
"We can't do this like All Might would." Nighteye's voice was flat. "That's why we must be meticulous about our strategies and predictions from the outset. So we have the highest chance of saving her."
The heroes all nodded in agreement and had begun their steps to take down Shie Hassaikai but–
Had they waited too long,,?