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CHAPTER START---
SHAMBLES!
"Huh," Cellophane is suddenly standing atop a building, blocks away from where he was moments ago. He looks around for a moment, seeing Horizon hovering above him, sitting on his Hoverboard. "Why'd you warp me away?"
"Because you were about to talk to the cops and take credit for stopping those guys."
"Uh, yeah," Cellophane isn't sure what the problem is, everyone atleast gives a statement after stopping a crime. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that you're a nobody..." Horizon descends down to his level, still sitting on the board.
"What do you mean? Obviously I'm a nobody, but isn't that what we're trying to fix?"
"Ok, what happens when you resolve a incident?""I get paid!" Cellophane says.
"After what?"
"Uh...after Villain Insurance is subtracted from the payment, to cover any collateral damage I personally caused to the surrounding areas or people, right?"
"Right, but I meant directly after you resolve it."
"The police show up and I talk to them, then the news shows up and I get to be on TV."
Horizon sighs, "exactly the problem. You need to think big picture. Look, Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods have been doing this for over 6 years each. They're already 24 and 28 respectively, so why are they still referred to as 'Rookie Heroes' while people like Hawks are considered great heroes at only 23?"
"Uh... because he's done more?"
"That's partly true, but it's mostly because of marketing. When you search for anything related to Mt. Lady or Kamui woods, you'd get something about them breaking up a minor robbery or in Mt. Lady's case stopping a police chase, like you just did."
"Yeah that's what I just did," Cellophane says. "Wait, are you saying I shouldn't have stopped them?"
"No, I'm saying you can't take credit for it yet. You need to stack up all these minor incidents, and upload your video footage from your visor to prove that you actually did it, send it UA and they'll take care of it.
That will get you paid. Then you upload it to your Cellophane profile online -which you can't monetize until you get a full license-, but obviously, nobody will watch it because nobody knows who you are. But when you get one big headline-making story then you can go give the media your name when you talk to them after the incident."
"Ohhh," it finally clicks in his brain. "So when people see that and look me up, they'll find my smaller incidents online, but the first thing they'll see is the big event," he snaps his fingers.
"Exactly, you have to enter the scene with a bang, otherwise you'll get overshadowed and spend ten years as a 'rookie pro hero', like a loser..."
"Wait, but how long will this take?"
"That's not really up to us, but crime is still higher than average right now so it shouldn't take that long. I got lucky with USJ, that put my name out to the world so then I just had to keep up with the expectations. But you'll have to start from zero."
"Right, but this is better than my previous plan. I was just hoping to be a good sidekick and get noticed that way," Cellophane chuckles sadly. "Guess I didn't think ahead much."
"Nope, just get your name out there then we'll show the world that we're working together, that'll get a lot of my audience following you. And suddenly you've got a lot of eyes on you to be a contender for the Top 10 Pro Heroes eventually."
"You sound so sure of that."
"The world knows I don't associate with losers, so it's a guaranteed thing. All you have to do, is not fuck it up."
Cellophane takes a deep breath, "right...no pressure at all."
Horizon shrugs, "yeah, it's only your entire future depending on this, no big deal."
"That's for reminding me. But what kind of big incident do I even need to look out for, I mean, Minato Tokyo is pretty small time, especially considering it's the middle of the city."
"You're welcome for that," Horizon says. "That's mostly because I'm here, the crime rate spikes a bit when I'm at UA. But most of the louder criminals have already moved. You won't get people with flashy Quirks fighting on the streets as much in this area. You'll likely have to venture into the nearby areas to find something."
"Hmm, I guess I'll have to do some research on that tonight. Hey, how can I get a Hero Network account?"
"You can't," Horizon says. "You'll have to keep sending your paperwork through UA since you're Provisional License uses UA as the Hero Agency you applied through."
"Damn."
"On the bright side you're the only person that actually uses UA, everyone else usually has a Agency that scouted them."
"How is that a positive?"
"Means it'll get processed faster than at any big Hero Agency. But it will make getting Team-Up requests pretty difficult since they'll have to go through UA instead of just calling you."
"Yeah that's what I'm worried about."
"When they see us working together people will be itching to scout you, don't need to worry about that."
"Really?"
"Yeah, to get to me, not because of your skills, atleast not most of them."
"Oh," Cellophane feels a bit saddened at that, but quickly cheers up. "But the reason doesn't matter as long as I get a foot in the door, right?"
"Exactly, but I do recommend atleast being associated with a top Hero Agency, even if you don't take direct mentorship it looks better on paper. But I'm sure a top pro can teach something that I can't."
"Wow, did the almighty Horizon actually admit he isn't the best at everything?" Cellophane teases.
"I never said I'm the best at everything, just many things. Honestly, I should go spend a few days with Endeavor, somehow that fucker keeps pulling ahead with the number of resolved incidents."
"How? You barely sleep and you can warp..."
"Exactly, but he's been doing this for almost thirty years. His efficiency is otherworldly. There has to be something about his operating style that I can steal to improve mine."
"Jeez, no wonder he's the only person you were willing to work with."
"Yeah, he's the gold standard... too bad he doesn't want a roll of tape."
Cellophane fake laughs, "very original."
"Yeah well I---" Horizon stops for a moment, confusing Cellophane.
"You what?"
"I found them," he takes out one of his cards while stepping down to the rooftop. Throwing his card forward he draws his sword. "Be ready, I'm bringing them here..."
"Gotcha," Cellophane takes a fighting stance, ready to fire strips of tape.
"Shambles," a regular blue car appears on the roof, parked. The driver was a burly Japanese man, currently biting into a burger.
The man immediately drops his burger in his lap and reaches for his gun, "Shi---ahhhh!"
As the man's arm crossed his body to grab the gun, Horizon's sword flies through the windscreen and stakes him to his seat, through the arm and shoulder.
"Dude!" Cellophane is horrified by the instant violence, before the man could even become a threat. he looks at the man who was screaming in pain, then at Horizon. "You ok?" he sees Horizon shaking his head, trying to ward off the headache of warping an object from 13 miles away, as well as Scanning for it.
Beneath his visor, the blood was already flowing from his eyes, nose, and ears.
"I'm fine," he lied. "Get the gun..."
"Right!" Cellophane immediately rushed beside the man and sees the gun on the other seat, he shoots a strip of tape at it, then flicks it out the passenger side window.
All while the man is still reeling in pain.
"Alright, time to answer some questions," Horizon says as he walks up to the man, reaching inside the car and grabbing the hilt of his sword, slowly beginning to turn it. "Where were you going? Where is the factory?"
"I don't know what you're talking ab---ahhhhhhh!" he twists the sword a bit more, and the sound of bones cracking grates against Cellophane's ears.
"Hey ease up!" Cellophane grabs Horizon's shoulder and pulls him away. "We can't just do things like that, he's defenseless."
"This is how we get answers, what's your problem?"
"You can't just brutalize people, what did this guy even do?"
"Go look in the trunk," Horizon says calmly, stepping away from the car and the man who was bleeding out.
"What?"
"The trunk, go look..."
Cellophane looks between Horizon and the man, not sure if he should leave them alone, but he slowly back away to the trunk.
TAKT!
The trunk pops open as Horizon manipulates the lock.
And Cellophane sees a grey duffel bag zipped up. His heart rate immediately spikes, dreading the possibilities of what can be inside.
Slowly reaching forward he unzips the bag...and immediately looks away, taking off his visor and losing his lunch all over the floor.
In the bag was the body of a young girl, only 5 years old at most. Across her body were green scales, small scales. But there were large patches of missing flesh where larger scales were torn from. Her body looked malnourished and brutalized.
A sad and gut-wrenching sight.
Cellophane takes a moment to catch his breath, closing the trunk without taking a second glance, and stumbles back to Horizon.
The man is silent in the car, desperately trying to catch his breath and stop the bleeding as best he can, looking up at Horizon in absolute terror.
"Some illegal drugs need components that Quirks provide," Horizon says. "And this girl is the latest in their victims...and there could be a whole warehouse of kids just like that...so go ahead.
For crimes like this, nobody cares if you're a bit rough with the villains, they don't get mercy from anyone. But please, take your time and ask your questions. Not like every second matters, right?"
Horizon steps away from the car, turning his back to the whole situation.
And suddenly Cellophane is left with a harsh look at the reality, hidden by the colorful suits and the capes. The crimes that never make it to the news because the public wouldn't be able to handle them.
Because watching All Might fight some brawler is easier to digest, than the true evils of this world.
"Where are the others?" Cellophane asks, unsure if this was even the right question, now far too aware of all the seconds passing by.
"I...I can't," the man says fearfully.
Cellophane just gives a low growl, then reaches forward and grabs the sword, deciding that he did not have any seconds to spare...
END CHAPTER---