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Chapter 7: Around the City

Wandering Mind

“Spartan, we need to talk,” the man behind the phone spoke. Even though he’d only just listened to his message and went to call him back, Nighteye had been on the other side had been there to pick up almost immediately.

“Were you waiting for me to call?”

“No, I just had an idea of when you would.” The voice he heard was stern, like that of a businessman coming from a particularly bad meeting. “I wanted to get in contact with you because I thought that you might be able to help me with a case I’m investigating.”

“I’m listening.”

“You saw the robbery this morning by the reservoir dogs, the one with all the odd circumstances?”

“I did. I don't think there's any doubt that they're responsible, but there had to be a third party to destroy all of that evidence. But from what little time I've had to look into it there's no leads on who that third party might be”

“That’s not entirely true.”

“You have a lead?” He leaned back in the chair, idly looking up some information about Sir Nighteye using his data pad on his desk.

“Not quite, but I have a good guess on who’s responsible. Yakuza. More specifically, the Shie Hassaikai.”

“Maybe my information's wrong, but according to the reports I've read the Yakuza are almost non-existent now. When Heroes were officially established the Yakuza were totally forced into hiding, driven out of all their major markets”

“For the most part, that is correct. But you yourself have unintentionally met another group of them, that's who those criminals in the warehouse you raided were.”

“If those guys were Yakuza, then I suppose that only goes to show how far they've fallen.”

“Which is why it’s imperative that we investigate the Shie Hassaikai.” Nighteye paused, “From an insider in the clan we have it on good authority that the old head of the Shie Hassaikai suddenly fill into a coma, no longer able to perform his duties. Because of that he's been replaced by one of the clans top Lieutenants, a young man by the name of Kai Chisaki.”

“Should I know that name?”

“No, but I have reason to suspect his involvement. The pseudonym he goes by is the same that he uses for his quirk, Overhaul. His quirk allows him to break apart anything he physically touches, then put it seamlessly back together like nothing had ever happened.”

“I can see where you're going with this. You're saying that he was the third party at the robbery, destroying all the evidence and using his muscle to intimidate most of the witnesses into silence.”

“That is correct.”

“Then what do expect me to do? I understand that so far I haven't exactly proven myself to be a bastion of following regulations, but if I did anything against the Shie Hassaikai without a warrant, because you told me to, then your ass would be on the line too. Nothing you've told me so far would be sufficient evidence justify a police raid, not even on probable cause.”

“Actually, we do. We’ve been looking into them for quite some time and have identified a number of distribution networks using shell companies, small businesses and smaller gangs. As such we have sufficient evidence to raid them on drug manufacturing and distribution. However, we also know that they've already begun to put a new drug out on the streets. And while raiding them now before they're able to distribute in large quantities may be a valid option, I want to know what exactly it is they're manufacturing.”

“So you want me to walk the streets and gather info.”

“Yes. While your presence as a Hero may be easily noticed due to your costume, I believe it you could pass yourself off a tourist. It's something that would work in our favor as there are parts of the capital that have become infamous due to foreigners coming in any trying to have a 'good time.'”

“Maybe that could work at getting me close to the substances they're distributing, but that wouldn't put me anywhere near the manufacturing. At most it would allow me to get into a market or two without raising that much suspicion.”

“Then perhaps you could accomplish it another way, by pretending to be a Villain.” Aurdel stopped leaning back in his chair and sat up straight.

“That’s not even remotely in the realm of possibility, not with the schedule that I have now. People would notice my disappearance during the day when I’m supposed to be teaching. And if it was only for a few days, then that wouldn’t be nearly enough time to infiltrate their organization. I don't exactly have a lot of experience with criminal organizations like these, but I know that for any secretive group like this it takes time to weasel your way in. it take weeks to gain a little bit trust, and at that point I might still be restricted in way I'm able to see and know.

“Then you’ll have to accomplish just what you can. I would send myself or one of my sidekicks to perform the information gathering, but any of us would be easily recognized even outside of costume. That’s why I asked you.”

Aurdel looked at the clothes he had in his room, “I’ll do what I can, but I can’t guarantee you that I’ll find anything game changing or even enough to warrant further investigation.”

“Investigating it alone is more than I could ask of you, as I have done nothing for you myself. Though I suppose that can always be a future favor.” Aurdel thought for a moment, then had an idea.

“You know, I think I have something in mind right now. You know that after the licensing exams UA allows its students to go on work studies, right?”

“I do, though there are very few that I accept even across the country. I only wish to take on those that I see prospects in, that which can be cultivated and grown into great Heroes. Are you asking me to take on any one specific student?”

“I am. His name is Izuku Midoriya, and I think that he has a great deal of potential. The only problem is that he needs the problem discipline and experience to draw it out. But given that your track record as one of the top agencies in the country, I don't doubt that you could help instill that in him.” The other side of the line went silent for a moment, a response only came after several tense seconds.

“What potential do you see specifically? It is his quirk? His level of power?”

“He’s powerful, but that’s not the potential I was referring to.” He leaned back in his chair once more, “He's selfless, to a reckless degree. And while that's an admirable trait to have I do believe that what he needs most is a way to temper that selflessness into something more tangible."

Silence again, “Have you personally observed this?”

“I saw it when I first met him, shattering one of his arms to save the life of a young boy.”

There was a moment of silence “...I will take it under consideration.” There was some hesitation in Nighteye's voice, as if he’d somehow already known about Midoriya and was biased against him. Aurdel wouldn’t pry into that since he was doing him a favor. “The first place that I want you to investigate is relatively lesser known flea market. In the past it's been used by a number of lesser Yakuza clans as a exchange point for a number of drugs. As of now there is no solid evidence that it's been used for handoffs between the Hassaikai and people on the streets, but it's where our inside source told us to look first. ”

“I’ll check it out first thing tomorrow.”

----------------------------------------

“You’re not coming to watch us take the exam?” Midoriya asked.

“Unfortunately I can’t, I’m still new around here so there’s a lot of things that I need to get done. But if I could I would, even if I already know what the result should be,” he put a hand on his shoulder, “But just because I won’t be there to yell into your ears doesn’t mean you can put in any less effort than if I was. In fact, you should be putting in even more.”

“We won’t disappoint you sir!” Ida said firmly, “Isn’t that right Class 1-A?”

“Yeah, Plus Ultra!” They shouted together, he gave them an affirmative nod in response.

“Alright,” he gave him a pat on the back, “Good luck, I better find out that you all passed when you get back.” He watched them as they began to enter the bus, Aizawa stepped aside to talk with him for a moment.

“Don’t worry about them, I’ll make sure that they give it their all,” he scratched the back of his head, “But, uh, I can tell you got roped into something.”

“Was it something I said?”

“No, I just have a sort of gut feeling that tends to be right. Here's a word of advice since I have some experience with the underground scene: try not to draw too much attention to yourself, but don’t make it obvious that you’re going for a low profile. There’s a certain subtlety that you need have.”

“I'm sure I can figure it out, this isn't the first time that I've had to go under the radar.,” he folded his arms, “Just make sure that they do good.”

“I think you of all people should know that you won't need to worry about that” After that Aizawa walked onto the bus and the class left.

Aurdel quickly went back to his dorm, shutting the door behind him. After taking some time to prepare things he took off his armor and stored it in a heavy duty safe in his room's closet, making sure that one but him would be able to open it. Then he dressed up in clothing that was unlikely to arouse suspicion. For him that meant wearing pair of sweat pants, a casual shirt with a few pockets, a blazer with a number pockets sewn into the inside, hidden holsters and a pair of sneakers. He also put on a pair of glasses for good measure, non-prescription since he didn’t want to damage his eyesight. After that he snuck out of the dorms using the tunnels that he’d dug, using a shower curtain to make sure that he didn’t get himself dirty and carefully emerging out of one of the many emergency exits he’d made. Once he knew the coast was clear he made a break for it, leaving the campus and getting onto the city sidewalks. Aurdel walked the whole distance into the city, not breaking a sweat at any point. And as he did he made sure that he looked around more often than the usual bystander did, portraying either the sightseeing nature or overcautiousness of a tourist visiting another country. And it worked to. Nobody even bothered approaching him, unwilling to deal with the possible awkwardness of soliciting a tourist. Of course the place that he was supposed to investigate was further into the city, so he really didn't have time to burn.

He waved his hand and hailed a cab, making sure to speak in English as the driver rolled down the window. “Hi there, this is my first time in Japan. Know any good spots?” He climbed in.

“Depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for something like games or manga, then you’ll want to go to the Akihabara. But if you’re looking for good food, then there’s-“

“Actually, hold on. My friend just sent me a text with where he went during his last trip,” Aurdel feigned looking down at his phone, then pretended to fumble his words. “Teni- Tenish- Ten-?”

“The angel district?” The driver said with an eyebrow raised. It wasn’t the exact location of the place he was supposed to investigate, just the general area. “I don’t think you want to go there. It's not a very safe place, especially not for foreigners.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, my friend he made some friends there on his last visit here,” he looked ahead of the cab, as if he was in a rush. “Can you get me there? I don’t want to walk in this heat.”

The driver looked like he was uncertain about it, but eventually he relented. "Alright, fine.” He went back to looking towards the road and changed the sign on top of the cab, then he began to drive. Aurdel laid back in the seat and took a breath. He wasn’t worried, he just wanted a moment to relax. In his concealed holsters he carried a number of weapons. The first held his M6D magnum, the second a Beretta M9 with a silencer and the last two holding a combat knife and a frag grenade. More than enough firepower if things didn’t go well. In addition there were a pair of transparent gloves on his hand, to keep him from leaving fingerprints. “Your friend, what exactly does he do?”

“He has a lot of international connections. You know, around the world? Many places.” The driver nodded his head as if he’d only just known what he meant after having it dumbed down to him. “I don’t know everything about it, but he does a lot of stuff with cars. He has a meeting soon, I think he’s trying to get his company to make a new model. He just wanted to meet with some people from here before the meeting and invited me out.” The driver nodded, not really believing him but still listening.

“Well, either way my warning still stands. This district is a bad place. And if your friend is as important as you say, then you don’t want to be around him here for long. Especially if you don't plan to come back before night. You’ll end up robbed, stabbed or both.” The driver pulled the cab over to the sidewalk as they reached the district, “But if you really do want to be here, then I would suggest hiring a bodyguard.” The taxi stopped, the door unlocked. Aurdel handed him some cash, bills that he'd personally confiscated from that Yakuza warehouse.

As he exited the car he switched to speaking in Japanese, “I can protect myself.” The driver gave him a funny look, then scoffed before driving away.

This part of the city was lit much less modernly than the others, with some buildings that looked much more ornate than others. A number of buildings in the area were run down though, making for a very conflicting set of architecture. He looked around, not many cars. More people just looked to be walking. A number of them wore ragged clothing since compared to the other parts of the city many here were impoverished. It was an awful sight to see, but it was one of the unfortunate truths of city life. He kept walking, walking in the direction of the market that he was supposed to survey. Navigating his way to it was the hard part, after that it would be in plain sight. He turned off from the sidewalk and went into one of the alleyways, having memorized the route. A right turn, a left, straight for three blocks and another right. That led to an area which looked to be an abandoned school, but one that had yet to be demolished either due to lack of support, interest in the area or a lack of funding from relevant parties. As such squatters had taken up residence in the area and set up homes and little markets.

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Aurdel wandered around the market, it being crowded with people who were looking get things for a reasonable price. And for someone who didn't have much spend this place seemed like a godsend, as there was a little bit of everything. Some stalls were selling used automotive tools and parts, others were selling old consumer electronics. A few other books, manga and memorabillia, all in varying level of condition. Most prominent among them were literal crates of toys and other effects that seemed be modeled after Endeavor. Evidently, after what happened at Kamino, not many were enthused about him. There were also a few stalls that were selling freshly cooked food, though they didn't seem conspicuous in the slightest. All in all Aurdel didn't see anything that immediately popped out to him as a place for drugs to be distributed. So, deciding that he needed a more thorough examination of the area, he decided to loiter for a bit. He wandered around the market, making it appear like he was browsing for a souvenir, something that most foreigners would try and find before they got home. He examined ancient vinyl records still in their paper sleeves, checking them for their quality. He picked up and mimicked motions with old toys, making it look like they were connected to a distant childhood memory. He searched through racks of clothing, looking for something that might find him. But despite all his efforts, nothing change. There was no proof of Yakuza or drug activity here. But there was something that caught his eye.

One of the stalls that he came across was run by an old man, his hat tipped down as he seemingly napped with indifference. Behind him were a number of wagons filled with boxes, some larger than others. There was old fine china, sets of expensive looking silverware, various vases and painting, and even pieces of furniture. But what attracted him most to the stall was a number of long wooden cases, most roughly the same size. Peering through the glass displays on the cases he could see that they were filled with guns. They were all incredibly old guns, old enough to belong in a museum. Original pattern AKs, M14s, M16s Springfields, Garands, BARs, Mosins, Kar 98ks, Gewehrs, Carcanos, Broomhandles, Lugers, Nambus, Arisakas, Type 100s and even an M60. By the look of them they were all long since demilled, having all of the relevant parts that actually made them firearms stripped out of them. But even so, having weapons this old would be exciting for any gun collector. However Aurdel though that this might be an opportunity. Aurdel walked away from the displays and back towards the front of the stall, making sure that the man would see him. “Excuse me?” He said, first in English and then in Japanese.

“Oh, a foreigner that can speak Japanese. Do you need help?” The man asked, tipping his hat up.

“Actually, there were a few things that I wanted to ask you about some of your items.”

“Alright, shoot.”

“How’d you get your hands on these things? Weapons this old are near essentially impossible to find anywhere except for a museum.” The old man watched as Aurdel picked up one of the cases with a disabled M14 inside, carefully examining the ancient rifle

“Ah, now that’s a good question. Not one many people bother to ask,” the older man gave a toothy grin, “My family history has a lot of military in it. My great great great great grandfather… Or was it great great great great grandfather…? Ah, one of my ancestors was an American during the Second World War. He had a brother too, both were big gun nuts. So they took souvenir weapons wherever they went. His brother went up to fight in Europe and Africa, he went up and down the pacific. Then when the war ended, he found himself a lady and decided to stay here despite what both families said. So when his brother got sick and didn’t have any kids, everything went to him in one big old stockpile. Demilled, of course. But from there it became family tradition to maintain the stockpile and add new trophies,” the smile faded from the man’s face, “Of course, my son didn’t want anything to do with it. He left and went overseas, leaving everything to me here. And now that I can’t find work and my pension isn’t enough to keep me from being evicted, I'm selling what I can to try and get by.”

“But these aren't just normal things, they're heirlooms"

“I know, but I don’t have much of a choice. ‘Course no one really wants them. People want to get their hands on a gun that works, not just one that looks intimidating.”

“That’s for sure,” Aurdel put down the box. "I know that you said that these guns don't work, but do you have any of the original ammunition?"

“Boxes of it, some in better condition than others. But it's not like you can doing much of anything with it anyways since the guns don't work.” He looked behind the man, staring at the boxes “So, do you plan on buying something?”

“Well, do you have a wheelbarrow and a tarp?”

“I can get one. Why?”

“I'll take all the guns and the ammo.”

“You can’t just say that you’re buying all of it, that’s-“ the man was silenced as Aurdel flashed several large stacks of US hundred dollar bills. “Are you a cop?”

“No, I’m just interested in buying. Take the money first though, you don’t want to leave it out in the open here.” Some might question whether or not taking cash from the Yakuza and using it for personal use was moral or not, but he didn't have any qualms. Wars were fought on their finances, and the war on crime was no different.

“I’ll be back in a moment then,” Aurdel walked off to the side for a moment as the old man went to get something. In that time he'd walked over to one of the windows in the school, taking a look out into the alley between it and a number of shops. If he remembered correctly, one of them was a café. He’d only done it idly and didn’t expect anything to happen, however… A masked man walked out from the store next to where the café was, standing out in the alleyway. Less than a minute later he saw someone else walk into the alleyway and approach the man, shake hands, and then walk away. Of course that wasn’t actually all that had happened, he’d seen the small cases that were slipped between them. A deal had gone down right in front of him in Yakuza territory. He had his lead. The old man walked back out with a number of bags, “Should I begin packing it all?”

“Yes please, I’ll be back in a moment.” Aurdel hurriedly left the market, heading out into the alleyway and beginning to shadow the second man who’d received the case since the first was nowhere to be seen. Once the two had turned into the next alleyway, and were some distance in, Aurdel closed the distance. He quickly used his hand to chop at his neck and stun him. The man fell to the ground, dropping the cases. After quickly stowing the unconscious man into a dumpster he looked through the two cases. The first one had what looked like run of the mill self injected drugs, though what they were specifically he didn’t know. The second case was what intrigued him more. The syringes in that one were shaped more like projectiles, and appeared to be designed to fire out of a handgun. In fact, they’d probably fire straight out of his beretta. Now this… This was something to look into.

Analytical

After securing what he assumed to be the new drugs in question, Aurdel brought the antiques that he’d purchased from the man back to his dorm and stowed them away. He didn’t really have to buy all of them, all that he had actually needed was the ammunition for the M60 since it shared the same cartridge as the MA5B. But he'd felt bad for the old man having fallen on hard times, and it's not like Aurdel desperately needed the cash. Regardless, once he was done with all that he knew that he needed to get the drugs analyzed. And there was really only one place he knew to go to. So after putting back on his armor and slipping the cases into a hardcase on his side, he went to Nighteye’s agency. “I am going to be quite truthful with you, I did not expect you to produce results so quickly.”

“Call it a fluke, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

“A matter of perspective,” Aurdel placed the two cases onto the desk, Nighteye opened them up. “One of these is certainly what we expected, Trigger.”

“Which would be?” Aurdel folded his arms.

“That’s an easy question to answer,” another man said, “Trigger is a drug criminals have been buying as of late to make themselves stronger when going up against Heroes. Gives ‘em more power or range, though it usually doesn’t last beyond a few minutes so they don’t pose too big of a problem alone.”

“Fat Gum, I’m glad you were able to arrive on such short notice.”

“This tends to be my area of expertise, so if there’s anything involving it going around I have to know,” the large man gave a wide grin at Aurdel, “Meanwhile I’ve been meaning to meet you. I was actually supposed to bust that gang of dealers that you roughed up, but you beat me and the police there.”

“Just doing what I do best.”

“So then, what else do we have besides the Trigger?” Fat Gum asked.

“Not sure, though I don’t think you’ll know either,” Aurdel said, “From the looks of it, it’s a syringe meant to be shot out of a gun. What exactly is inside of it I don’t know.” Fat Gum picked up the syringe and examined it.

“Doesn’t look like the usual drugs the Yakuza try to push out onto the streets, it’s not codified.”

“Codified?”

“Yeah, the Yakuza here typically print numbers on them so they can keep track of production without too much issue. Unintentionally it helps us know how much is unaccounted for. But if they’re not printing it, then it means it's something completely new. Maybe on a trial run before they do full production.” He put it back into the case, “It’s not similar to anything else I’ve encountered, smells completely different too. Almost like a kind of copper tinge,” Fat Gum tilted his head, “Have you had it run down to the lab yet?”

“No, he just brought it here,” Nighteye said, his hands clasped together. “Fat Gum, I’ll have to ask you to do it. Even if the Yakuza are less powerful than they used to be, I don't doubt they have a presence in the police. And if that’s true, and they found out that we have their new product, then they’ll turtle up their operations.”

“You do that, but I think the better option is getting a test subject,” Aurdel took one of the syringes, “It’s made up from human bodily samples. Blood, tissue, probably a bit of vital organs.”

“How can you tell?” Fat Gum asked.

“The blood is easy, that’s the copper-like smell. As for the rest of it, I’m making an assumption based on the particulate floating around inside it. It looks too organic.” He held it up close to his visor, “Nighteye, you said that Chisaki’s quirk let him break down things and reconstruct them?”

“I did.”

“Then I’m going to make a jump of several logical assumptions.” He pulled the mag out of his beretta, slotting a single syringe bullet into the chamber. “Chisaki has a quirk that can break down and reconstruct anything, that makes it easy to figure out how he’s putting such seemingly precise amounts of biological material into a bullet. And If it’s meant to be fired out of the gun then it’s clearly meant to function in a lethal manner, one that would give them an advantage or criminals in general an advantage against someone else. My guess? Heroes. That leaves me with two distinct and extreme possible cases,” he set the beretta back into his holster. “First, the possibility that they’ve created a bullet that can disassemble literally any being with one hit. Doesn’t matter where it lands on you, so long as it does you’ll be ripped apart.”

“How can you make that assumption?”

“It’s what I would do if I had a quirk like his, since it would massively extend the range." He continued, “The second possibility, they have a bullet that can deconstruct some more specific. And if it's going to be used against Heroes, like I assume, then it would probably mean their quirks. How exactly that works, I'm not sure. But if it is capable of removing a quirk, or at the very least disabling it, then that would give criminals an advantage against any Hero. Without a quirk they would either be facing permanent retirement of deaths. It’s also possible that if they have something like this, then they can make something that does the opposite. A bullet that restores quirks.”

“It’d give them total control of both Heroes and Villains,” Fat Gum said, clenching his fist.

“That’s not the worst of it. If it becomes mass produced and goes global, then literally everyone would be under threat from either possibility..”

“Even if you think it’s possible, it’s still too early to say what they might be,” Nighteye said, ”We need to see what it can do before drawing conclusions.”

“Leave that to me”

----------------------------------------

“Spartan.”

“Detective,” Aurdel nodded at Tsukauchi as he stepped out of the police car and walked towards the main prison center.

“I'm going to state now that I'm entirely opposed to what you're planning to do,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “Sure, he’s on death row. But he’s still a human and has his rights, not to mention it's horribly amoral to personally subject someone to the torture of testing a drug. Especially given what your suggestions of what it might do are."

“Given Japan's history and events that have happened in the past, I find it ironic that you're making the argument against inhumane medical experimentation. But there’s a difference to what I'm doing. This man is, objectively in the eyes of the law, a deranged mass murderer who’s already been prepared for execution. Legally his life is forfeit. The only difference is that today he might die instead of whenever his execution is planned for, something that I've already had approved of through official channels.” They walked through a number of security gates, each one staffed by a number of officers that checked their IDs and possessions at each one. Then once in the facility proper it was a variable maze of hallways, rooms and corridors, a pure and sterile gray or white coating every single one of them. He looked at the cells as he walked past, each one of them holding a Villain. A number of the lower security ones seemed repentant and accepted their fates, sitting in their cells and often doing some form of activity to pass the time. Those that had higher security were often severely restrained inside of their cells, preventing them from using their quirks in any attempt to escape. One in particular he saw was a man referred to by the moniker of Hero Killer: Stain, standing comatose in place due to his injuries and quirk.

But he wasn’t here for him. Aurdel walked into the death row section of the prison, where those that were to be sentenced to death waited for their final day. Stares followed him as he walked past the cells, prisoners in straight jackets waiting for the time to come wondering why a Hero would show up here. He was only here for one of them, someone he’d encountered previously. Aurdel looked at the guard who’d been standing by and waiting for him to arrive, nodding. Reluctantly the guard walked over with him to the door, unlocking it and opening it before shutting it behind Aurdel as he walked in. “You... again.” The man in the padded room said in a low voice

“Yes Moonfish, it’s me again.” Here sitting in front of him in a chair was one of the first Villains he’d encountered, the one that had expandable blades for teeth. Some of them had managed to grow back since he'd shattered them, something that would be vital to his experiment. “You're on death row, that means your life isn't worth anything to anyone anymore. And unless you can manage to escape, that means you’re going to die here.” Moonfish activated his quirk to try and attack him, but his reach wasn’t far enough. The teeth that had grown back weren’t nearly long enough yet.

“Shut…”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re going to die here, for your crimes. Of course I’m going to shorten your stay.” The man growled as Aurdel taunted him, coaxing him into using all of the willpower he had to attack him with his to try and attack him with his blade teeth, physically exhausting himself in the process and causing a vein to bulge on his forehead. “That’s right, keep trying to attack me. I just need you to keep your teeth extended for as long as possible.” Aurdel leveled the gun, aiming for the exposed vein, and fired. The syringe fired out without issue, piercing the skin, Aurdel watched as the solution inside of it began to pump out and surge into Moonfish’s bloodstream. Near instantaneously he began letting out screams of pain, the sound slightly muffled by his mouth having been open and the blades extended. Then something strange began to happen, the blades began to retract. But it was more than that. Because as they receded they looked to lose their metallic sheen. The teeth had gone from being metallic blades, to just simple teeth. Aurdel looked at the handgun, loading in another bullet. It was the second theory. A drug that could destroy the quirks of those who it was used against.

Aurdel raised the gun and fired at Moonfish again, though this time in the chamber he had an actual bullet and splattered his head across the padded cell’s walls. With his other hand he pulled out his phone, calling Nighteye. “I did the test, it was the second possibility. It takes a moment to do it but it looks like it destroys quirks, so efficiently in fact that afterwards it looks like they never had a quirk..”

“Then our fears have been realized,” the man behind the phone sighed.

“What about the lab, what have they come up with?”

“Your theory came back true, there was human blood and DNA in the syringe. However, they are not from Chisaki.”

“Then who?”

“At the moment, we’re not sure. The DNA isn’t on any registered database. All that can be used to narrow down the person of origin in the age of the cells, as they appear to be taken from a young female host less than the age of eight.” Aurdel didn’t know what to say.

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “We’ll find them.”