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CHAPTER START---
SHAMBLES!
Horizon appears in his living room at Matani Tower, Manhattan.
Walking over to the couches, he sees a sea of shopping bags with Ryuko sitting on the floor between them all, sorting as quickly as she can.
"How'd it go?" she asks as he sits on the couch, removing his visor and mask.
"Annoying," Law says. "But, considering the world was almost destroyed, the United Nations unanimously agreed to outlaw the creation of nuclear weapons. So the world is now rid of those."
"It took a madman trying to use them all against us for people to make this obvious decision," she scoffs, emphasizing the point."Yeah, and a sixteen-hour meeting," he mutters. "I'd ask how your vacation is going…but I think shopping in Manhattan is treating you well."
"It helps that I don't have to think about prices. But do you think they'll do it? The whole 'nuclear disarmament' vote? The countries, I mean, some of them will surely have secret nuclear weapons somewhere."
"Yeah, everyone is expecting that, but this is a good show of solidarity for the public. And honestly speaking, I think some countries are concerned about the United States having two Mystery Class heroes.
The footage of our battle against Tech has reached everyone with a screen by now, and the rumors of me joining America are all but confirmed. It's part of why perfecting the Panacea has been such a pain in the ass. Those other countries are worried I'll use their data for something that doesn't benefit them."
"You could always blackmail them, or maybe give them a discount."
Law lays his head back and closes his glowing blue eyes. "Nah, good products are free or full price, no discounts."
"So, how will you get the data you need?"
"I'll let the people handle that for me. After all, politicians are servants of the people."
"So are Pro Heroes," Ryuko says as she sits beside him on the couch, taking his arm and positioning it around her waist. "I hope you haven't let that little fact slip your mind."
"I know, but I'm not a Pro Hero, I'm Horizon."
"To most people, those are the same thing. A shift is happening, especially after Tech. When people hear 'Pro Hero' they used to think of All Might. Now they picture you."
"Can't blame them. I'm really damn good at it."
"True," she leans her head against him. "But no more of that self-sacrifice nonsense."
Law groans, "Will you never let that go? It was me or the entire world. C'mon, cut me some slack."
"No."
"Ugh, you're so ridiculous."
"Really, well I wonder where I learned that from?"
Law rolls her eyes as his phone beeps a few times. The familiar chime of Team Horizon's group chat.
"I'm not in the mood to play superhero right now," he says.
Ryuko reaches into his jacket pocket and takes out his phone, opening it to see what his friends want.
"What is it? Are they done with Toga yet?" he asks.
"No, but Mina Ashido rented a beach house and is having a party. They want to know if you're coming."
"Just tell them I'm busy."
"Done," she says after sending the message. "The place she rented is pretty nice."
Law chuckles, "I don't get why she rented a beach house."
"Well, maybe she wanted to reward herself for all the hard work she did over the summer. Plus, your classmates have been working hard all summer. They should try to enjoy the final few weeks a bit more."
"No, I mean I don't get why she rented it instead of just buying it," Law says. "The first thing Sero did when I gave him one of those cards was buy his dad a new house in Norway and send him to live there."
"I thought those cards were for 'Team Expenses'."
"Well, they can't focus on work if they're worried about their family back home. All those black cards are linked to an account with 250 million dollars, because loyalty can't be bought, but I can sure as hell try."
"I'm pretty sure your team would follow you anyway just because you're Horizon."
"Mmm, Tokoyami is still apprehensive about our methods, but he'll come around."
"This may be difficult for you to believe, but they had normal childhoods, so super violence isn't something they're used to."
"Too bad Pro Heroes are effectively soldiers, so they have to get used to it."
"Now who's being ridiculous?"
"Yeah, but that's why you love me," Law says. "Now, go get dressed. We have to get to the airport."
"Huh, why?"
"We're going to Italy. I need to handle some business there, then you can go shopping while we make a few stops in Europe.
"Don't you have to come back to America after?"
"They likely won't need me much. After Tech, most of the villains are keeping their heads down until I leave. And the traitors we were hunting have mostly been caught or surrendered themselves."
"Scared of what you'll do to them?"
"Scared of what I can get away with after saving the world."
---Days Later, Pantu's Office…
"Give me a full impact report on Law Matani," Pantu commands through her phone while sitting behind her desk.
Her hollow, lifeless stare was unmoving.
So numbed by what she was seeing, her body dared not twitch, as if hoping it was all a bad dream.
On the screen was a video of Law Matani in Italy. Dressed in a black and gold suit, as handsome as always, what truly terrified her was the woman.
Ryuko Tsuchikawa was holding onto his arm, wearing a matching dress as they walked into the charity auction.
Pantu's mind immediately connected all the dots, and wished more than anything to be wrong.
Almost one week ago, Horizon called and not-so-politely asked that she remove the agents who were constantly guarding Ryuko.
She was certain he would have noticed, yet she trusted he wouldn't be bothered because of their helpfulness.
The call left her with the impression that he and Ryuko had broken up, possibly due to something the woman said or did that he didn't approve of.
Pantu has no intention of using Ryuko against Horizon. That could only end badly for everyone else.
So she simply recalled her agents.
But now, seeing the woman on screen with Law Matani, all the pieces fell into place.
'Horizon is Law Matani,' she realized.
Nothing matched up, different Quirks, ages, political views, and specializations.
They even appear in different places at once.
For most, that would be enough to make this impossible.
But the fact that she's recently tracked Horizon's Provisional Hero License going from Japan to America in one step, makes that easy to accomplish.
Pantu thinks for a moment, putting aside the new information and working to insulate it.
She knew Horizon would expect her to take these steps, that this reveal was a message.
A warning that he's here to stay.
That he's committed to the Pro Hero life, that he enjoys it.
'The agents who were guarding her can make the connection, but nobody else knows who she is. I even made sure to keep her name hidden from Hawks.
Because the last thing I need is Shigaraki trying to kill Horizon's woman. I'll send Hawks to deal with the agents,' Pantu decides, knowingly playing into Horizon's hand.
Hours later, Pantu receives the Impact Report for Law Matani.
Detailing the projected effect his death or defection can have on Japan, and her blood runs cold.
'He made himself irreplaceable,' she realizes. Only now seeing the lengths he's gone through to position himself above everyone.
'Japan will fall apart without him, but if he dies, the Matani Estate will fall into trusts and operate under a board of directors. So killing him is better than having him defect and pull out of Japan. How do I go about destroying something like that?'
"Yo, boss!" Hawks waves at the woman while barging into her office.
She instantly activated Facade, schooling her expression into a stoic mask.
"I got your summons. What do you need?"
"I'm sending you a short list of names, internal targets."
"Oh, is that it?"
"For now," Pantu says. "Any updates on Shigaraki? We can't afford to have him do anything to harm Horizon after he's seemingly joined the path to become a True Hero."
"Nope," he lied. "Shigaraki's just been keeping his head down, they've mostly just been making connections and boring things like that, but they've kept me out of the loop."
"I see. Inform me if anything useful presents itself."
"Will do," he lied.
"Good, now I need to make an important call, and you have work to do."
"Yes ma'am," Hawks jokingly salutes before flying out of the room.
After making sure he and all of his eavesdropping feathers are out of range, she makes another call.
A confidential discussion, involving one of the rare individuals deemed as deadly as Arsenal.
"I have a job for Lightshot, a challenge he'll surely be interested in…"
END CHAPTER---
VOLUME COMPLETE---