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CHAPTER START---
---Somewhere In Northern Africa, October 23rd, 10 PM…
"What are you eating?" Simon asks Cellophane while holding a restrained man's head underwater.
They strapped the man to a table that tilted slightly, enabling them to submerge his head in the water barrel at will.
While the man struggles and all his friends look on, gagged and bound, broken limbs and battered bodies in this abandoned warehouse, Cellophane takes another bite of a tasty treat.
"They call it…uh, Hawshi, I think," Cellophane says.
"You just got back from buying food and you don't remember what it's called?""I bought it from a little shop, plus I can't read Arabic."
Simon rolls his eyes, then pulls the man out of the water so he can take a breath.
"Gah!" the man desperately gulps down the air. "You fucking animals!"
"Doesn't mean much coming from the supervisor of a Nomu storage facility. What's the name of that food?"
"Huh? What?" the man asks, still speaking Arabic, not looking at Simon with a confused expression.
"That." Simon twists the man's head and points at Cellophane's snack.
"That's Hawawshi, it—"
"Great," Simon cuts him off, quickly switching back to Japanese. "It's Hawawshi."
"Ahh, that's what the guy said!" Cellophane takes another bite. "It's like a burger and a taco had a baby, and it's delicious."
"I feel like every country has one of those foods, anyway." Simon switches back to Arabic and looks to the man again. "Where did the equipment and Nomu from this facility get transported to? We know they cleaned it out a few days ago, so tell us where and we won't cut off your legs."
"I swear, I don't kn—"
Simon dips the man under the water again and walks away, leaving him to struggle.
"Did you bring me anything to drink?" Simon asks as he walks over to Cellophane, who tosses him a bottle of water. "Coconut water?"
"Oh, that's why it costs so much."
Simon shakes his head, pointing at the label. "Learn to read Arabic, please."
"You learn to speak Portuguese."
"We aren't in Brazil, we're in—"
"Did you get anything from them?" Horizon asks after suddenly appearing in the room, scaring the criminals.
"Nope, same story as last time," Simon says. "They paid these guys to shuffle the gear between sites and not ask questions."
"They're playing shell games. Or something worse. What do you think?" Cellophane asks Horizon.
"Worse, for it to be a shell game, the prize has to be in play, otherwise, it's a scam."
"And if it is a scam?"
Horizon walks over to the drowning man, who slowly stops struggling and rests his hand on the man's chest, releasing a steady stream of healing energy into the man, causing him to struggle again.
"If it is a scam, that means Shigaraki knows something we don't."
"Which would be where he is," Simon says. "But that's already established in the game we started playing, so he knows something we don't know that he knows."
"Like what we know," Cellophane says. "So we have a spy in our operation?"
"And I can't rip the answers out of these people to figure it out, not that I'd expect them to know anything since the spy would be on our side," Horizon pulls the man out of the water.
The man immediately vomits up all the water from his lungs while Horizon walks away.
"We have two more raids in this city before we move out. You joining us?" Simon asks.
"Nope, Mudman and Tsukuyomi are ready to come home, and I don't want to leave them in Brussels much longer."
"Are you healing that guy while you're over there?" Simon asks. "What was his name again, Lightning Wolf?"
"Close enough, Lion Surge." Horizon chuckles. "And yeah, I'll be passing by to cure him. They'll be happy to have their #1 back on his feet."
"Well, we should be able to hit the next two sites tonight. What do you have planned for tomorrow?"
"I'll be back when I'm done and we can hit the last safe house together, then we'll move onto where the next intel drop points us."
"Hopefully somewhere I can speak the language," Cellophane says as he picks through his food. "I don't think I said 'No sauce' properly."
"Just learn Arabic," Horizon says.
"Exactly what I said."
"Look, I already know five languages, and that was hard enough. Plus, everyone else on the team speaks it. So I'm covered," Cellophane says before taking a bite of his food. "Now, don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Whatever, contact me if anything important happens," Horizon says before warping away.
Simon, Cellophane, and all the villains enjoy the silence for a moment after Horizon leaves. Then Simon turns to his friend.
"Just learn—"
"Shut up."
---One Hour Later…
"He's your intern, you 'handle' him," President Pantu says while walking toward her office.
Endeavor is behind her, looking annoyed, and Hawks is amused as always.
"He hasn't been at my Hero Agency since before the Gigantomachy. You talk to him more than I do since then."
"Not my problem," Pantu says. "My only concern is him not causing an international incident."
"I bet Fuyumi could make him listen," Hawks says, nudging Endeavor with his elbow.
"What are you implying?" Endeavor's flames grow hotter for a moment.
"We monitor the phone use of every top Pro Hero and their family," Pantu says. "Fuyumi and Horizon talk every other day or so. We think she likes him."
"How did she get his number?!"
"Burnin," Hawks giggles.
"That damn girl!" Endeavor's flames go blue for a moment before they reach the office door.
"Horizon seems loose but at least you don't have to worry about her catching a—" Hawks shuts up as Endeavor glares at him. "I'll stop talking now…"
"Good choice," Pantu says before opening the door and leading them into her office. As the door closes behind them, she turns to see Horizon sitting in her chair with his feet up, typing on her computer. "What are you doing?"
"Checking emails."
"Use your phone."
"Checking your emails," Horizon says while gesturing for them to sit.
Pantu sits across from him in one of the guest's chairs while Endeavor leans against the wall and Hawks hovers in the air.
Hacking into my account and reading confidential files could be considered treason.
"Well then, luckily, I didn't 'hack' into anything. I just used your password."
"How do you know my password?"
"If you use a keyboard, or touch screen, then I know your password," Horizon says. "That goes for you and anyone around me while my Quirk is active. If I can tell when blades of grass move, I can easily tell where people put their fingers on a screen."
"And what are you hoping to get?"
"Just some verification, you're clean," he says while waving his hand, and they both swap places.
Pantu takes a moment to adjust while Horizon still has his feet up.
"Well, you're clean enough, or as much as I need you to be."
"And who do you think isn't?" she asks.
"Someone within the Hero Public Safety Commission advanced team."
"I'll have to question them personally."
"Yeah, the only other people who know about my constant whereabouts are my team, Nezu, and…" Horizon gestures to Endeavor and Hawks.
Pantu sighs, "Endeavor, Hawks, are either of you helping the villains in any way?"
"No," Endeavor says.
"No," Hawks lies, unaware of Pantu's Quirk.
"There, now at least you know you can trust us," Pantu says. "How do you want to proceed?"
"By cutting anyone who isn't essential out. Hawks brings the data. I act. No alerting foreign governments or internal teams, just data and action."
"That goes directly against the agreement we have with the other nations."
"They'll get over it," Horizon says. "All that matters is the progress."
"And keeping to the remaining rules of engagement, you remember those, right?"
Horizon takes his feet off the desk. "Unfortunately, I do. Don't kill any foreign nationals, minimum collateral damage."
"And?"
"That's all," he lies, playfully.
"No hurting politicians."
"Tch, stupid rule," Horizon grumbles and folds his arms.
"Quit pouting!" Endeavor yells. "Are you dating my daughter?"
"What? No. She keeps annoying me to ask about Shoto."
"Is that all?" Endeavor asks.
"Do you really think I want to join your chaotic family?" Horizon asks.
Endeavor just glares at him, but Hawks chuckles, noticing he didn't answer Endeavor's question.
"Speaking of Endeavor's family, I have a new lead that could lead to Dabi," Hawks says.
"Where?"
"Somewhere in South America," Hawks says. "I'm working on getting more details right now, but Dabi was in charge of a lab in that region. But if we want to catch him, I should keep things between the people in this room, right?"
"Exactly," Horizon says.
"What are you going to do to him?" Endeavor asks.
Horizon swivels around in his seat to face him, ignoring the mix of concern and shame on Endeavor's face.
"Well, what I want to do is rip his head off, but I told you I'd do my best to lock him in a box for you to have a chat. So I'm forced to do that instead."
"I appreciate it."
"How much?"
"Enough to have you signed as my intern, even after your court case."
Hawks grins, "Enough to let him date Fuyumi?"
Endeavor scoffs. "She's an adult. She can date whoever she wants."
"Maybe I should—" an intense heat fills to room, stopping Hawks's words.
"Nevermind…"
"Well, as much as I'd love to see you roast Hawks, I have stuff to do. I just got back from Brussels and now I'm heading back to Africa."
"I'll send you the new data as soon as I get it," Hawks says.
"Just remember to skip the middleman," Horizon says before warping away.
Hawks breathes a sigh of relief. "You know, I think he's warming up to me."
Pantu looks at him as if he's an idiot. "Do you really believe that?"
"Nah, he's waiting for me to drop out of the top 10, then he'll probably kill me."
"What the hell did you even do to him?" Endeavor asks.
"Nothing personal. I was just doing my job…but maybe I got chatty sometimes."
"This meeting is over, both of you, out," Pantu says. "I have work to do."
With that, Endeavor walks out the door, hastily calling Fuyumi to get some answers.
While Hawks soars out the window and into the city.
Taking out his phone, he connects it to his headset and unmutes his mic.
"Did you get all of that?"
"Yeah," Shigaraki says through the phone. "Give me two days and I can set up a better trail. It'll take him from Chile to Canada. He'll find enough to think he's getting closer. That will be their chance to attack UA."
"Mhm."
"Do you think we need any more modifications to the plan, maybe to better account for his team?"
"I'll call you later."
"Oh, right. He can probably listen in, or read your lips somehow. We'll talk later."
"Have fun."
"I'll update you when things are in place. The most important thing is getting the jammer into Musutafu while he's away, but that should be easy with you inside."
END CHAPTER---