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CHAPTER START---
---Horizon Tower, 2 AM...
SHAMBLES!
Horizon warps back into his tower, into the kitchen where he moves to get a glass of liquor.
"Oh! Oh! Check out this part!" he hears Sero yelling from the living room. "I kicked this guy so hard his tooth stabbed his friend in the face!"
A few moments later and Horizon walks into the living room, seeing Sero, Juzo, and Shinso, sitting on the couches eating a late dinner and having some drinks, mostly beer, with Juzo drinking a soda.
The room was somewhat dim with his massive TV showing footage from Sero's body camera, from the raid hours prior.
As per usual, after each day with a incident resolved they have to review their footage and edit it before uploading, hence the laptop beside Juzo who was already editing his video."Did anything happen on the way back here?" Horizon asks, and none of them react to him suddenly entering the conversating or taking a seat beside Shinso.
"Minato Tokyo is quiet tonight," Shinso says.
"We just got done deciding what should get cut and what should stay from Shinso and my footage," Juzo says. "Ours was pretty boring compared to Sero."
Sero chuckles at that, "well, when you guys have enough hours of indoor combat training with Horizon you can join me in those cramped hallway fights."
"That's Sero's role," Horizon says. "To be flexible and mobile, plus capable enough to back up any position. It just so happened that this time he was our vanguard for the siege."
"A role I'm surprised you didn't take," Shinso says.
"The public already knows what I can do, this was about showing them how formidable Team Horizon is without me," he shrugs. "I need any of you to be able to lead teams with Fully Licensed Pro Heroes in my stead while commanding respect. You are the next Big Three after all."
They all think about it for a moment while Horizon takes a sip of his drink, sensing Ryuko already asleep in his bed.
"Anyway, what was your favorite part of the raid?" he asks.
"Oh!" Juzo looks up from the laptop. "Definitely Shinso doing that thing with All Might's voice."
"I've been working on that for a while, but I can only control small groups at once, and the more people I control the shorter the time, barely a few minutes," Shinso says.
He then continues, "personally I like the thing you did with the rocket, your reaction time really is incredible, and your ability to predict where people will focus on an ever changing battlefield. I see why Horizon chose you to lead in his absence."
"Well it definitely couldn't be me," Sero laughs. "Trying to keep track of so many things is one thing, but making and communicating a plan on the fly is beyond me at the moment. That's why I mostly just rush off on a solo task, so I don't need to talk I can just keep building momentum and moving.
Oh, but aside from the combo the three of us did in the hallway, I think either the submarine stuff or ripping the doors off the base was my favorite part."
"A grandiose display of power," Shinso says. "But was that harder than the skyscraper you held in the air before you came to the summer camp?"
"Honestly," Horizon thinks about it for a moment. "Pulling the subs out of the water was harder than holding them in the air, plus I had to rip them away from the docks they were in, that's why the lower levels flooded."
"Ahh, that's why those guys were rushing up from there soaked," Sero says.
"Yeah, but the four subs weren't as heavy as the skyscraper, it was like 80 stories after all. But even if it was, I'm so much stronger now that I could hold up a few of those buildings easily, so I honestly wouldn't notice."
"No wonder villains don't want to fight you, sheesh," Juzo goes back to editing.
"But back to the question, my favorite moment was definitely the first confrontation of the raid, obviously," Horizon says. "Its a perfect showcase of why I chose each of you for this team. We smashed into that base and had dozens of heavily armed and trained men locked up within a minute.
Either sealed into the floor, held at gunpoint by their allies. Tied to the ceiling or knocked out by Sero, or simply brainwashed and catatonic. Quick and efficient work, exactly what this team is all about."
"Too bad now they're all going to know my Quirk," Shinso says.
"Not necessarily," Horizon takes another sip of his drink. "Its suspiciously hard to find any footage of your matches from the sports festival, strange how that happened. Plus your Quirks are never explained by us.
Unless you go around announcing it, the general public is so stupid they'll never put the obvious pieces together, especially since we're blocking some of the only evidence they have."
"And since we won't be competing in the sports festival next year, that's all the hints they'll ever get," Shinso says.
"I'm still kind of bummed we can't compete next year," Sero says. "But being in this team is already way better than the attention that would have given us, heck Best Jeanist already sent me a request to go work with him."
"Moving up to the #3 Pro Hero, you plan to accept?" Juzo asks.
"Heck no, that guy is too reactive," Sero says. "I prefer to go looking for villains like Edgeshot instead of reacting to crimes that are already happening. Plus learning to investigate and solve cases is way more fun than sitting in a agency waiting for a call all day."
"And since I'm also working under Edgeshot it helps us build synergy," Shinso says.
"What about you Juzo?" Horizon asks. "You'll get a lot of requests after this raid goes public in a few days, any plans to leave Crust?"
"No I've still got a lot to learn from Crust, his approach is pretty good since all his Quirk gives him is a shield. Its just like how I don't really have any offensive power, so shadowing him gives me a lot of ideas. Maybe next year I'll move over to another agency, ideally Endeavor."
"He'll be #1 by then, officially at least," Horizon says. "Plus Endeavor doesn't take work studies students, he only made an exception for me because I'm Horizon, and obviously he'll take his son."
"Speaking of the raid going public," Sero cuts in. "How'd the meeting at the Commission go, are the other teams ok?"
"Minor injuries, nothing they can't walk off, mostly. But no reasons for me to leave Tokyo and go heal anyone. All the loot should be locked into nearby stations, military armories, or guarded facilities by now."
"So a complete success huh, the biggest raid of an underground criminal network in Japan for well over a century, organized and led by a student," Juzo says. "If anyone didn't think you were the real deal before, now they don't have a choice but to accept you."
"And we'll get even more famous from it," Sero grins like a idiot just thinking about it. "All the agencies will start making me even bigger offers, plus the money we'll get from taking part in this raid will be massive."
"And our predicted Hero Rankings will go up," Shinso says.
"And we'll get international fame," Juzo adds. "Mudman will finally have his name out there for the entire world to see."
"And the money," Sero says.
"You already said that," Horizon says.
"Its worth saying twice, I just found a real nice place closer to where my dad works to buy, if I keep working like this I'll have it in no time."
"I figured you'd be more excited for the women," Shinso says. "It seems like that's been on your mind more and more lately."
"Horizon is rubbing off on me," Sero admits. "But nah, we're still clawing our way out of debt from the last few back surgeries dad had, hell he shouldn't even be working so the longer I take the more likely he ends back up in the hospital, so money first."
"Too bad you didn't know me back then, and you should bring him to see me immediately," Horizon says as he glances down the hallway, sensing Ryuko waking up. They all notice this but are used to it by now, then he turns back to them, "but I will admit I've been enjoying the freedom and perks of being a top hero more and more lately."
"Still a workaholic though," Juzo says. "Anything else from the commission we need to know about?"
"Just the report for this raid going public tomorrow night, and this," he takes the envelope out of his jacket and puts it on the table. "The ambassador of Germany was there."
"The manga lady!" Sero says.
"What?" Shinso asks.
"She looks like a manga page, all black and white, must be some kid of ink Quirk I'd bet," Sero says.
"I didn't ask," Horizon says. "But she made me that offer."
Without hesitation or shame Sero picks up the letter and begins reading it. And both Juzo and Shinso can see the mortified and confused expression on his face.
His brain trying and failing to fathom the insane offer that was made.
"Is it that bad?" Juzo asks.
Sero just shakes his head and stiffly hands the letter to Juzo, all while looking at Horizon with genuine surprise.
Juzo scans the letter and looks aghast, "wow...I didn't think anything or anyone was worth this much money."
"How much?" Shinso asks.
"Just a little over 12 Billion dollars."
"For what?" Shinso couldn't wrap his mind around it either.
"To live there," Horizon says. "Just setup shop in the most heavily populated city, the capital. Let them move all important critical assets around the Horizon Tower I'd build there. And occasionally when a national or global emergency pops up, I solve it," he shrugs.
"So they give you that much money, just to live there?"
"It also gives them a lot of sway in the United Nations, especially the Hero Legislation board within it. Currently America has the most sway because they have Star and Stripe. Japan had almost as much back when All Might was in his prime, but now they aren't even runner up, not until I graduate and get my full license at least."
"So they want to pay you billions, for the political power that comes with your name," Juzo says. "Not to mention villains will flee Germany when you appear."
"12 Billion a year, not the best offer I've gotten, and they'll only get bigger from here."
"Would you really leave Japan?" Sero asks.
"What, can't you run this place without me here to babysit?" Horizon asks jokingly.
"Oh please, we'll be fine. But seriously, will you."
Horizon sighs, "I plan to focus more on medicine in the future and less on punching villains all day, so if someone makes me a better offer, why wouldn't I take it. I don't have anything tying me here after all."
"I guess so," Sero says , and the room gets a bit sad before Sero tries to cheer them up. "Plus America pays more, and lets you be way more hands on with villains."
Juzo joins in, "yeah but the food will stop your heart before the villains get a chance."
Shinso chuckles, "but its soo good. I mean there is a reason we're always ordering from that American burger place nearby. Its worth the health risks."
"Well if the American way is great burgers, the freedom to do whatever I want, lots of money, and permission to get hands on with villains, maybe its worth fighting for...Even if I'll be fighting heart disease more than villains..."
They all share a laugh at that as the debrief continues.
Celebrating Team Horizon's first major operation in the limelight...
END CHAPTER---