Gentlewho?
Aurdel rubbed his face with his hands, still awake. He was lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep after a day and night of work. But despite his best efforts he had only gotten around two hours of sleep before being hit by a bout of insomnia that forced him awake. No matter what he tried, whether it be warm food and drink or just trying to tire himself out, he was unable to fall asleep again. And as such he’d elected to just lay in bed and hope for the best. The phone next to him on the nightstand rang, vibrating across the surface. He didn’t bother with checking who it was as more likely than not it was just a robo-scam caller, and he didn’t want to bother dealing with them. So instead he let the ringer run out, ignoring it. A few moments later it rang again. He looked over at the clock and sighed. It wasn’t a scam call, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered trying to call him again. But he still didn’t budge. If whoever was calling him needed something, they could call at a more appropriate hour. The ringer ran out again… Then it started ringing again. Now annoyed, he rolled over, picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID. He answered the call. “Mirko, you better have a good reason for calling me at three in the morning. Especially when you know that I’m trying to get some sleep.”
“Oh, pardon me for interrupting your beauty nap. We have to talk,” even when presumably tired, she somehow still managed to stay in a playful mood. “Now open the window so we can talk face to face, or else I’m going to kick it down to get the same result.”
“As much as I’d love to see you try and do that, I don’t plan on going to the hospital this late at night nor do I want to spend the time fixing the damage done to the room by the security systems I have put in place. Give me a second.” He hung up the phone and stood up from the bed, taking up a deep breath. After putting on a mask in case anyone else was outside, he walked over to the window and pulled off the metal bars he’d laid over them. Then he opened the heavy window.
“So this is where you’re mostly staying?” She poked her head in, “Looks like a morgue.”
“You wouldn’t be the first to say something like that. The only reason I’m staying here most of the time and not at the property is because I teach here, it wouldn’t make sense to go on a nearly half an hour commute one way every day just so I can sleep a little more comfortably.” He leaned against the wall, “Now, what is this about? Especially if it’s so important that you had to wake me up during the early hours of the day and threaten to kick down my wall.” He thought for a moment, “Actually, how did you even get over here? There’s supposed to be security systems that prevent people from just walking around the campus after hours like this.”
“Oh, those. Yeah you’ll probably have to fix those,” he raised an eyebrow, “Don’t give me that look. If I could get through them, then any usual bozo could. You were just going to end up upgrading them anyways.”
“Right, I bet the taxpayers just love this school,” he shook his head. “But again, what’s this about?”
“A job from the Hero Commission, one that I’m not too keen on.”
The Hero Commission… “And here I thought that you took anything that came your way.”
“I take fights, not babysitting gigs. There’s a big difference between the two.”
“And who are we supposed to be babysitting? I assume I’m working with you, I don’t think you’d show up in person just to complain to me.”
“A pair of two-bit ex-Villains. Apparently they’re pretty good with their quirks, but they were as good at being Villains as kids on a playground.”
“It sounds like the police should be able to handle them just fine, why involve us?”
“Because the Hero Commission directly intervened in their cases and dropped the charges against them. Instead of sending them to jail, they’re going to try and rehabilitate them into Heroes. The reason they gave me was that there aren’t enough Heroes.”
His eye twitched at hearing that explanation. “They can keep saying that there’s not enough Heroes, but the fact is that the system is oversaturated. Now, why choose us to handle their case? They already know that I teach and do Hero work, there’s barely enough time for anything else. Not to mention, they know that you’re not the kind of person to have someone tag along.”
“No idea what they’re thinking, though there’s not much we can do about it.”
“What, you’re willing to kick my wall down but not say no to a bunch of stingy bureaucrats?”
“One of those is considerably more fun than the other,” she leaned in further, “Besides, you seem a little too awake for someone who supposedly just got out of bed. You sure you’re not just trying to get me out of your hair?” She smirked.
“I’ll go, just put this on. It’s the colder half of the year and you’re really not doing yourself any favors with your costume,” he threw her one of his larger jackets. “I’ll be out in a moment, just give me a second to get geared up before you start busting down doors.”
“No promises.”
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“Out of the pan and into the fire…” Aurdel muttered as stepped through the front door of the Hero Commission building with Mirko. There were officers and Heroes all over the place, though none of them paid too much heed to their presence. Hhe was fine with that though, just what he preferred. After passing through an initial reception and security checkpoint they took the elevator up a few floors. “So who is the one that’s supposed to be talking to us about all this?”
“That would be me,” a familiar man stepped forward as they entered the hallway.
“Tsukauchi, I thought you were supposed to be chasing the League’s shadow.”
“I’m still going after the League, but there haven’t been many breakthroughs. Their members are still on the run and not leaving behind much of a trail. Gigantomachia is still in hiding after the last time we saw him, so there’s nothing on that front either.” He stuffed a manila folder into one of the inner pockets of his coat, “But since I’m more familiar with you than most other Heroes, and with these two ex-Villains, they decided I should be the one to help drop the bomb.” The detective led them forward towards one of the separate offices.
“And who exactly are these two ex-Villains?”
“It… Would be easier if you just met them yourself,” Tsukauchi pushed open the door.
The room was your standard conference room, with a large table in the middle with many tables. At the far end of the table was a man and a woman. To say that they were odd would be… An understatement. The man was taller than average, standing at about six feet. The woman with him was much shorter however, looking to be less than four feet. Were it not for the height difference between himself and Mirko, he would have had a joke to make. “Alright, what are your names?”
“I am Gentle Criminal,” the man introduced himself. He was well groomed, wearing a rather large overcoat over what appeared to be a set of formal clothes, and spoke with an odd accent. “During my youth I strived to be a Hero, but various events drove me down a different path.”
The woman spoke next, “And I am Gentle’s partner and lover, La Brava. The love that the two of us share makes us inseparable.” The woman wore a similar style of dress when it came to formality, though it appeared much more intricately done with a clear motif around heart shapes throughout her outfit.
“What were you two arrested for?”
“It was our latest crime, it happened not too long ago. During the UA school festival we attempted to sneak through security and show the world how we’d triumphed over the greatest school for Heroes in the nation. Obviously we were stopped, I was stalled by a young student by the name of Midoriya until the guards had arrived.”
...
“Okay, well luckily for YOU and I, you won’t be doing anything like that again.” He folded his arms, “I’m Spartan, this is Mirko. We’re the two Heroes that have been assigned to your rehabilitation case. If there’s anything else that you feel that you should tell us, then now would be the time.”
“Well, there really is just the matter of our abilities. My quirk is that of Elasticity, it allows me to bestow the aforementioned property onto any object I touch. That even includes the air.” He demonstrated such, lifting his hand into the air and pushing onto a translucent surface.
“And my quirk is Love,” La Brava said, grabbing Gentle’s leg, “It works by giving a huge boost in power to whoever I confess my love to, but I won’t use it for anyone but Gentle.”
“If you won’t use it for anyone else, then I won’t ask you to. I prefer to respect the wishes of other people. Tsukauchi?” Aurdel turned back to the detective.
“Since you’re being watched as part of this program, you won’t be able to live out of your original apartment. But since you’re working with Spartan then you’ll be able to stay in the property he’s registered as his agency building. It should have more than enough space and spare rooms for you to live there, at least temporarily.” This would have been nice to know beforehand… But he could live with it.
“You can decorate your rooms freely, but if I find that the entire place is suddenly renovated overnight you can kiss yourselves goodbye. I have specific plans for that property, and I don’t want to do more work than I already need to.”
“You need not worry about our presence,” Gentle said, “I swear that we will abide by your rules and cause you no trouble.” Mirko stood impatiently nearby, obviously not enjoying the formality of all of this.
“Then we should get moving, grab your things and we’ll go. It’s an hour back to the agency, and I’d like to give at least a quick tour before I have to go and teach.”
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“...It’s been several weeks since Election Day in the United States, however the votes are finally beginning to come in! For those that don’t remember, this waiting period was implemented following a number of recent controversial elections. The aim being to prevent voter sway occurring in states that were still open by the time results started coming in. However it was also done to ease the possible claims of ballot stuffing, with a random independent body being selected every election cycle in order to verify, count and recount the votes in order and weed out any fake ballots. The most intense of these processes has been occurring across the East and West coast, following the brutal campaigns from the two main parties during this election. Even Heroes who normally do not involve themselves in politics chose to give their two cents this time around. However a major upset is expected in the results this year following the participation of several third parties, with researchers rather befuddlingly correlating it with states that have a major IT industry and working class presence. This may be the first time in decades that another party separate from the primary two contributes to a major election.” The newscasters went quiet for a moment, “Our first results are coming in from the North East, with declared victories for the-“ Aurdel grabbed the remote off the main desk, turning off the TV.
“You can watch that mess in your own time.”
“But Mr. Aurdel,” Ida said, “Surely as Heroes it is part of our job to stay in touch with the world around us? Politics is a key part of the world, no matter what one thinks of them.”
“If you’re going to pay attention to politics, then pay attention to things that are more close to home. Not far overseas. I don’t have much hope for the borrowed time they’re on either way.”
“Borrowed time…?”
“I won’t elaborate on this any further, so drop it. I have a class to teach and I prefer that we get on with it. If you’re so inclined then you can look into it on your own time.”
“Of course sir, my apologies,” Ida sat down.
“As for class today, things will be run a little differently than how they usually are.” He pushed a button and the walls opened up, sliding out all twenty cases of the class’s costumes. “In the past the school has been attacked before, even an infiltration that very few people knew about that almost succeeded. That’s why today you’re going to be doing a practical exercise in response to a mock-Villain attack on the school.”
Kaminari raised his hand, “Shouldn’t you or the other teachers be the one to respond to an attack in the school? Sure most of us have our licenses, but you’re all still better fighters than any of us.”
“You idiot, that’s exactly why we’re doing this exercise,” Bakugo growled out, “We can’t rely on the teachers even if you’d like to. There’s not going to be anyone watching our backs when we’re Heroes. We need to be able to fight for ourselves under any circumstances.”
“Bakugo is correct. In the future you won’t have us to defend you, and if something happens to us now you’ll be your own line of defense against whatever comes next.” He put his hands behind his back, “But back to the exercise itself. Because Villains have at least some shred of intelligence in their heads they won’t be attacking the main school building, that’s where the largest concentration of students and teachers will always be. Doing what would be the easiest way to get curb stomped. Instead, they’ll attack once everyone has separated. During training. That’s why we’re going to be using Ground Beta for the exercise.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Mr. Aurdel, are there going to be any additional objectives for the exercise besides defeating the Villains?” Yaoyorozu raised her hand to question.
“Good question, and the answer is yes.” He put one hand on the desk, “Scattered around the grounds will be robotic dolls courtesy of the Support course. It will be your job to escort them to a designated safe zone away from the fighting. These robots will be standing in for visiting civilians unable to fight or those from UA who are too injured to defend against the attack. For those who are injured, you will be required to attend to their wounds bring them back in a semi-stable state”
“Will the exercise end when all the Villains are defeated?”
“No, saving the robots will be just as much part of the exercise as the actual fighting. Even if you were to finish fighting the Villains before rescuing all the civilians you would still have to participate.”
“Who is going to be playing the part of the Villains? Usually when we do something like this, it’s either other students or some of the teachers.”
“That’s something I can’t tell you, otherwise it would give you a head start. You need to be able to think on the fly as soon as something happens”
“Then when do we start?”
“You already have.” A second passed, then all of the students jumped out of their desks and bolted out of the door in the direction of the locker rooms. He left ahead of them for Ground Beta. There he found the faux Villains, ready to play their part.
“Hey, hey! Are they coming or what?” One of them pressured, excited. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen them, I want to see how strong they got!”
“I don’t understand how you can willingly get up in front of so many people… It’s nerve wracking.”
“Aw come on Amajiki! You’re not going to get any better if you keep trying to hide yourself!”
He clutched a hand at his chest, “It’s just like with Fat Gum, crushing expectations.”
“They should be finished getting dressed just about now. I just wanted to make sure that you were all ready.”
“You don’t have to worry about us!” The third popped out of the ground, “We’ll do our best, because it’s our duty ‘To gata’ put them down the right path!” There was silence, “Still not funny huh? Guess I’ve got to work on that.”
Faux Foes
“Come on! Ground Beta is just up ahead, the Villains have already likely begun their rampage!”
“Shut up and don’t tell me what to do you damned nerd!” Bakugo blasted ahead of the others.
Ida was the first to chide him, “Bakugo, we should stick together until we’ve arrived at the scene of the incident! That way once we’ve observed the situation we can split up accordingly and respond as needed!”
“You all can do that, but while you’re sitting with your thumbs in your asses they’re still going to be causing destruction! And if you think I’m going to sit around while they do some damage then you’re dead wrong!” They had to recognize that what Bakugo was telling them was true, if they spent a long time trying to come up with the best way to react to a situation then they would be put in an even worse one. And while rushing head in wasn’t the most effective response they could use, it was better than nothing.
“Then at the very least take someone with you to maximize your efforts!” Ida looked around, “Jiro and Sero, go with Bakugo to scout for Villains. Ashido and Shoji, you’ll be going with Midoriya to do the same. The rest of us will coordinate the immediate response and treatment of the civilians and injured.”
“Got it!” And so they split off from the rest of the group. Midoriya easily took the lead position in his group due to his speed, carefully looking around as they went. “Shoji, can you see any signs of Villain?”
“No, not-” he paused, “Wait, over there.” He pointed with one of his arms, “There’s a column of smoke coming from that direction. If I’m remembering the layout of the training ground correctly, then that’s where the stadium is.” A stadium… The school had really gone all out on making this place as faithful to a populated city as possible.
“Okay. Shoji, when we go in I want you to stay out of sight. You’ll survey the area first to see if there are any civilians or hostages. Then, if there are, we need to confirm the possible presence of a Villain. In case there are, we'll confront the Villain while you get the hostages out.”
“You can count on me.” They all remained quiet as they ran into the entrance of the stadium, passing through the empty halls that lead into the stands and the player clubhouses. Eventually this took them outside. Shoji stuck his arms out, using his additional eyes and ears to get a view of the area. “There’s no one in the stands, they’re all clear. But we definitely have a problem.”
“What is it?”
“There are civilian hostages, they’re being held in the middle of the field and they’re all tied up. There’s also a Villain guarding them. But…” He paused, “The Villain, it’s one of the Big Three. Nejire Hado.”
The three of them ducked back into the stadium, not wanting to be spotted just yet.
“You’re joking!” Ashido said, “How are we supposed to beat her? Actually, how are we even supposed to win this exercise at all if the Big Three are playing the part of Villains?!”
“We are up against a rather powerful force, especially if all three of them are actually in the training grounds.
Midoriya collected his thoughts, “It doesn’t matter who we’re fighting. If we’re going to be real Heroes we need to be ready to fight anyone, regardless of how strong they are-“
“Hey hey! You know you guys aren’t being very quiet, right?” Hado suddenly appeared from nowhere, then fired her quirk. The three scattered as the waves came towards them and blasted into the ground and walls, kicking up a small cloud of debris. “I’m playing the part of the Villain, so you gotta take this seriously! I won’t be cutting you any slack.”
“Who said that we were expecting you to take it easy on us?!” Ashido sprayed a wave of acid in Nado direction, going for pure coverage rather than accuracy or potency in order to force her back. And it did succeed in making her retreat, but at the same time she kept firing off the waves from her quirk. Damage began to pile up as her attacks ripped through the stands, causing a hail of bits and pieces from above they had to avoid. “Midoriya!”
“Delaware Smash: Air Force!” Midoriya fired off four simultaneous blasts of air from his right hand, aiming for Hado. Not everyone one of them would hit, they didn’t have to. The force from one of the attacks struck her midsection, enough to send her flying backwards despite the opposite force she used to try and balance herself. “Shoji, go grab the hostages! We’ll keep her busy.”
“Understood.” They all sprinted out of the book they were in and onto the field in the middle of the stadium. Shoji went towards the faux civilians who were tied up in the center, Ashido and Midoriya ran for Hado who was just recovering.
“Nejire Wave, fifty percent!” Her waves spiraled forward, plowing through the ground of the field and towards them. Large amounts of grass, dirt and rock were all thrown up in their direction, propelled by the remaining force of the attack. Ashido sprayed a veil of acid to block the incoming projectiles, Midoriya meanwhile used Full Cowling to hop out of the way and around. “Mirio told me all about the way you fight, so I had some time to prepare.” Waves suddenly burst up from the ground like geysers, catching Midoriya off guard. The blasts threw him upwards into the air, “Gotcha!” Hado grabbed him, dangling him upside down by his legs.
“No you don’t!” Midoriya surged One For All through his still free hands, then quickly brought them together and crushed the air between them. The resulting compression caused a violent shockwave to erupt right in front of them. “Los Alamos Smash!”
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“Bakugo, wait for us!”
“I’ve told you all this before! If you extras can’t keep up, get out of my way!” Bakugo blasted forward ahead of the baggage, searching around the city. There were signs of destruction all over the area, but nothing to point to who or where the Villain he was supposed to catch was. “Lobes! Find that Villain!”
“And here I thought he was getting better after that exercise…” She grumbled, but did what he asked. “It’s just one, they’re not out in the open. Are they… Hiding?”
“Who cares what they’re doing?! Just tell me where they are!”
“There!” She pointed towards one of the buildings. What kind of Villain would cause a bunch of damage and then just hide?!
Bakugo sprinted for the straight, extending his right hand as he came close. “Die!” He blasted straight through the wall, waiting before the smoke to clear before attacking again.
“Why did they have to rope me into this…”
“Oh, it’s just you.” Bakugo lowered his arms, and turned back around. “I thought you said you found the Villain! Not just one of those damn third years.”
“He’s the only one over here! What do you expect?!”
“I am supposed to be the Villain…” Amajiki spoke up.
“Then what the hell are you doing?!” Bakugo shouted at him, “I can’t beat you if you’re not going to do anything!”
“I only came along because Mirio and Nejire went, I didn’t want any part of this.” Bakugo balled up his fist underneath his bracers.
“Well if you’re not gonna start the fight, then I’m sure as hell going to!” He got ready to throw a punch when he found himself restrained. “Let go of me elbows! We’re supposed to be fighting, and that's sure as hell what I’m going to do!”
“Reign in the bloodlust why don’t you?” He tore off the tape, letting Bakugo go. “If he doesn’t want to fight us that’s fine, no reason to go starting things unnecessarily,” Bakugo shoved him to the side.
“But I guess you’re right, I have to fight… Otherwise I won’t be able to keep up with the others.”
“Finally, you’re getting it,” Bakugo beat his fist into his hand.
“And in that case, I won’t lose.” The senior who’d been soft spoken and nervous just a moment ago hardened with immense resolve.
“Watch out!” Sero suddenly pulled him back with his tape, “Crap, I knew that being part of the Big Three was a big deal but this is insane!” Amajiki had suddenly lashed out with his quirk, manifesting over a dozen giant tentacles and thrashing them around. Each one of them tore through the nearby buildings, wildly throwing bits of debris into the air
“I think we should get backup,” Jiro took a step back.
Bakugo raised his fist, “No, I’m fighting him head on.”
“Head on?!”
“That’s not a good idea, I’ve had time to prepare for each of you.” A number of varied limbs grew out from the tentacles, with an outer casing of what looked like a tough hide or a thick shell covering his entire body.
“Then I’m going to show you that you have no idea what I’m capable of!” Bakugo clenched his teeth and blasted forward, the tentacles whipping towards him as he came close. But he was faster than they could strike. Bobbing and weaving was simple enough, forcing the tentacles to collide with each other and become entangled. This gave them an opportunity. “Elbows!”
“I got it!” Sero fired his tape as Bakugo continued charging through, the tentacles becoming encased in the stuff and leaving them out of the fight. He was just about to blow this freak up when-!
“That was a mistake,” Amajiki spoke calmly as he retaliated. The tentacles ripped apart the tape, having faked being restrained. Bakugo was struck by a series of air blasts not too dissimilar to what Deku does.
“What the hell?!” Bakugo looked at the tentacles as he recovered, they were covered with what looked like massive claws.
“They’re the claws of snapping shrimp, a species which uses them to compress air and fire it like bullets to hunt their prey. These are much larger. It would be much safer if you surrendered now.” Surrender…?
“Surrender?!” He shouted back, “Just what kind of weakling do you think I am?! You think you’re better than me?!”
Amajiki quickly began to backpedal and stammer as he lost his cool, “No, I was just-“
“I’M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!” Bakugo blasted himself forward, pulling back his arm as he prepared to punch him in the face
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“You guys fought with one of the Big Three too?” Midoriya asked. They were coming back with Hado captured, being restrained on Shoji’s back.
“Don’t butt in to what we were doing!” Bakugo shouted back at him, raising a fist. But the additional person they’d accumulated while off looking for Villains told the story well enough. Amajiki was completely wrapped up in Sero’s tape, bruised and blasted by Bakugo’s ruthless attacks after he’d been shown no mercy.
Ashido stretched her arms, “I’m still surprised that we were able to take them down at all. Not that it was easy, but I would have expected it to be much harder.”
“I only beat Nejire because I was able to improvise a supermove on the spot,” Midoriya said, gripping his glove. “Otherwise it would have been hard to overpower Hado. And as for Amajiki, I think it’s safe to say that he drew the short straw when it came to what personalities he faced. Not to mention, the Big Three really haven’t had an opportunity to see Bakugo fight.”
“He just didn’t have the strength or guts to win, that’s all.” Bakugo jeered, ignoring the compliment.
But that was when Midoriya came to a sudden realization. “But wait, If we fought Amajiki… and you fought Hado… Then that means the others are fighting Mirio!” Remembering the first time they’d all fought, and knowing how Mirio had fought during the hideout raid, he knew how it would end. Each one of them knew. They started sprinting back in the direction of where the others had gone, hearing the sounds of a still ongoing battle. When they finally did arrive it was just as bad as they’d thought.
“I was wondering when you’d guys come back here!” Mirio said, a grin on his face. Most of the class was already down for the count. Only Todoroki, Asui, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami had managed to avoid being taken out easily.
“Scatter!”
They all spread out as Mirio dropped into the ground, disappearing completely. He knew who each of the largest threats in the class were, making it easing for him to pick and choose who to go after. But Midoriya quickly thought of how to respond. “Manchester Smash!” He leapt up into the air before bringing his heel back down onto the ground, smashing through the road. Normally it was in their best interest to do as little collateral damage as possible but there was no other option here. When someone relied on the advantage of surprise by attacking from below, the easiest way to level the playing field was by trying to remove as much material from the ground as possible. And that was exactly what Midoriya planned to do. He kicked again and again, blasting holes in the ground and slightly changing the elevation of the terrain. “Delaware Smash: Air Force!” As Mirio emerged from the ground sooner than he’d expected, he came under a hail of attacks. He was struck by a number of the attacks, falling back into the ground slightly dazed. But even if he was dazed he still had a plan, and Midoriya knew where he’d go next. “Bakugo, he’s coming for you!”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Bakugo blasted the ground violently apart, throwing up huge mounds of dirt and debris with ease. Between the cracks in the ground he was able to see where Mirio was coming up, “There you are! Die!” Bakugo timed his attack so that the moment Mirio was in range, and not blocked by any objects, he would be struck. And with little chance to respond that was exactly what happened. Midoriya figured that there were only two ways to counter Mirio’s quirk. The first relied upon being able to guess or find where he would come up from the ground, then waiting for the exact moment he did to attack him. This only worked if Mirio wasn’t as observant the first time around, meaning that it could really only work once. The second, and much more reliable tactic, was to use saturation attacks. Because while it’s true that Mirio can make himself completely permeable, the truth of the matter is that it’s not something he always does. Doing so leaves him unable to see, hear or breath. And so most of the time large chunks of his body aren’t permeable, but without being able to determine what was permeable and what wasn’t the only way to score a hit was to attack everything.
“That’s not going to work twice!” But as if to disprove all his analyzing, Mirio phased straight through the attack and went for Bakugo. Bakugo quickly turned around and moved to avoid the attack that would have inevitably come towards him. But it didn’t. Instead a wall of ice suddenly sprung up between them, courtesy of Todoroki.
“Stop fighting.”
“You better have a good reason for this half and half!” Bakugo shouted, before turning. They had all fallen silent, and thought of any of this ending quickly was soon gone. A tall robotic figure stood on top of one of the buildings, beady eyes glowing red. A moment passed, then it attacked. And all hell broke loose.