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CHAPTER START---
"What a shithole," Horizon mutters from his perch.
He was currently in one of the more dilapidated parts of Tokyo, standing atop a five-story building.
Across the street, he observed a smaller and far more run-down building, and with his Quirk, he could sense four figures inside.
They were all sitting in what must be their living room, all of the younger ones on the couch, the other on the floor, eating what seems to be a very modest afternoon meal.
'House is almost completely empty, school uniforms are the only thing they focus on maintaining... looks like they've sold most of their furniture, probably in the process of selling the couch too...'
Looking down the street Horizon sees it quickly becoming deserted as the sun sets, as expected from this crime-riddled area.
"Alright, you fucking mongrels, just be useful..." Horizon says as he warps one of his metal cards into his hand.SHAMBLES!
It swaps for a crumpled-up bottle from the apartment, which he catches.
SHAMBLES!
He swaps places with the card, then recalls it back into his hand.
Now standing in an almost entirely empty kitchen, clear markings where appliances were torn out and sold, empty cupboards and shelves.
The floor was cracked, but surprisingly clean. He silently walks over to the sink, and opens the tap, seeing there was atleast running water.
'Ok, more desperate than I thought, but not as much as I would like...' He takes one last glance at the state of this apartment. 'But I can easily make this work for me.'
Listening carefully he hears some chatter and laughs, people blissfully unaware of his presence.
Taking a few silent steps toward the doorway he peaks into the room, four people.
The oldest was no more than 17, followed by a 14-year-old, then a pair of 9-year-old twins, all boys. From their beaten-up clothes to the depressing sandwiches they were eating, it was a sorry sight, so Horizon just knocks on the doorframe and stepped into the room.
"Don't get up," Horizon's words cause them all to freeze, including the oldest boy who was about to rise to his feet. They look at each other, nervous and fearful, but obey.
Horizon walks around for a moment, then stops across the room from them, where ideally a TV would be, and just looms down on them.
"So, why do you think I'm here?" Horizon asks.
They all look at the oldest boy, terror in their eyes, small tears already flowing down the cheeks of the twins.
"To arrest me?"
"Arrest you? For what?" Horizon asks. "Being a part-time pickpocket?" He looks around the apartment. "Not a very profitable one at that, or for your other part-time job moving crates for sketchy people..."
The oldest boy's eyes go wide at that, "I swear I just move boxes I don't even look in---"
"---I'm not here to arrest you," Horizon says. "I'm guessing you're avoiding any legal work because they'll look into this situation you have, then throw all of you into the childcare system, and you'll be separated, right?"
All the boys meekly nod.
"Look, I don't care, about you stealing a few wallets or moving boxes. You do whatever it takes to protect the people you care about, and that, I can respect, so I'm here to offer you a way out."
"A way out?" the boy mutters, as if it were too good to be true, after almost two years of living like this.
"Clearly that's what you want, especially since this one plans to try out for UA next year," he gestures to the 14-year-old boy. "Fun Quirk, force fields, might actually get in."
All the boys look a bit more hopeful at that, UA's golden boy giving them a glimmer of hope to get out of this situation.
"How did you know that?" the oldest asks.
"I've been watching you for a few days, and checked all your files, it's no big deal," Horizon shrugs. "I'm not here to arrest you, I have a job for you."
"A job?!" The boy's eyes lite up.
"Decent pay, comes with a place to live, you won't have to file any paperwork until you're 18 next year, that way you get to keep this family together, and---"
"Deal!" he doesn't even need to hear Horizon's full offer.
"Huh, easier than I thought," Horizon extends his hand to the boy, who gets up and shakes it. "We'll be back in a moment."
SHAMBLES!
Still shaking hands, they both warp onto a nearby roof, swapped with a piece of stone.
"Wow!" The boy looks around, amazed.
"Focus please."
"Oh, right, sorry."
Horizon takes a step away from him as they begin to talk. "I need you to put trackers onto some of the crates you move, and preferably the vehicles, they're small, like little invisible stickers."
"Trackers? But you can warp---" The boy stops himself before he talks himself out of a job. "---I mean, of course, consider it done."
Horizon sighs, "why do you think they only move product during the first three days of the working week?"
"Uh, I never really thought about it."
"Because that's when I'm in UA, but if I give this to another Pro they'll want to get in there and stop the operation immediately. I need it to work for a while so my trackers get to every safehouse, and a while before I strike, you'll quit."
"Quit?"
"That way you're protected, because they'll only really suspect the current employees. People who know the routes."
"Ok, to protect me, that makes sense."
"You won't be able to move out until then atleast, to avoid suspicion, but you'll get the money, just don't draw attention to yourself."
"Alright, when do I start---"
---Tokyo, 10 PM...
"So how was your first week back at UA?" Rikiya - Re Destro- asks.
Horizon was walking beside him as they strolled through the halls of FGI -Feel Good Inc- Private Hospital in Tokyo. This entire area of the hospital was almost empty, people cleared out so nobody would see the state of Horizon's two new patients.
And it helps to keep the quiet acquaintance between Horizon and Detnerat in the shadows.
"As expected," Horizon says. "Stuck in boring classes, girls fawning over me, people always annoying me for pictures ever time I step into the hallway. But I'm training Cellophane and one new ally, so that's fun atleast."
"What was it you said on our last call, 'power, money, women, and---' something else."
"And all the time in the world," Horizon says. "That's what I have right now, and it's quite an enjoyable life."
"Still no ambition to fight for something greater?"
"There is no cause greater than myself...and the protection of the people ofcourse."
"Nice save," Rikiya chuckles. "But if you ever get tired of society having so many chains on you simply because you were born powerful, I have an opportunity for you."
"They don't have chains on me because of that, I put these chains on myself. I knew the risks of the life I choose to live, and this is the outcome."
"The downsides of choosing the be a Pro Hero, and how has your actual business been lately?"
"Honestly, I do one or two operations per week," Horizon shrugs. "And no you don't get any more free work after this, this is a one-time thing."
"Well even for myself your price is rather...intense."
"Miracles are expensive, but people all across the world can afford them."
"Luckily, I got you in a good mood," Rikiya says as they arrive at a large private room.
Opening the door they enter to see Trumpet and Skeptic, laying in medically induced comas so they don't go into further shock from the immense pain they were in.
"Holy fuck," Horizon explains, the well-played facade of shock and surprise not raising any brows from Rikiya. "Did a bomb hit them?"
Even as they approach he could see the mangled limbs, Skeptic's gouged-out and burnt-shut eyes, and a large scar from the operation they performed to reassemble his entire jaw. The metal brace around his neck and contraptions holding his limbs up.
His arms and legs were raised, and wrapped so he could notice the missing fingers, and his left foot was missing up to the knee while the right foot was missing up to the ankle.
He also had metal rods protruding from his skin, set into the bones to keep the fragments in place so the nerves don't further damage themself while healing.
And on Skeptic's exposed torso, aside from all the tubes connected to him to keep him alive, he sees a thick and firm fabric padding around his ribcage, keeping them in place so his lungs don't collapse.
Opposite Skeptic, Trumpet was facedown in something similar to a massage bed, with a hole for his face to rest.
He was also asleep at the moment, but his back had a metal device running down his spine, scarring all across his back where they worked to reconstruct his bones so he could one day walk again.
But they failed, and the nerves were already dead on arrival, leaving him as a vegetable forever.
Horizon walks around them, touching each of them once to Scan them, then looks to Rikiya, "I can fix them, but what happened?"
"Well, I told you who they are, and by now I'm sure you've figured that we're all in a small circle of like-minded individuals."
"The Hearts and Mind party?"
"Yes," Rikiya smiles. "Unfortunately some people don't agree with our policies, and decided to get violent about it."
"So they sent a villain to do this, want me to go after him too?"
"Oh no, that won't work," Rikiya says. "Heroes fight villains, but the man who did this, he's the devil itself."
END CHAPTER---