Mind Games - Chapter 48

Still entwined with Himiko, her head laying gently on my chest as she breathed slowly in deep sleep, my eyes snapped open. My girlfriend shifted against me, her flesh caressing my own as she hummed and sought comfort. One of my hands absently caressed her back, making smooth circles that sent her back into a more complete slumber.

My attention, though, was on something else.

Something more ephemeral.

Something I couldn't quite grasp in my metaphysical senses. It was faint, as if I was seeing something in the distance, or feeling the passing of someone I knew only by the breeze in their wake. The sensation was... sand slipping through the fingers of my soul, only the vaguest sense that something I should be grasping more tightly was escaping my attempts to hold onto it.

I pulled on a mote of essence and finished taking my shower.

Getting out of bed with Himiko wrapped around me, ensuring she would remain asleep, and escaping the room without her noticing were all time-consuming things. Instead, it was best for that all to have already happened, giving me a headstart with a clear head and a cleansed body.

As I dried off and donned...

My hand lingered as I went to pick up my robe.

Instead, I grabbed my costume's undersuit.

“Well... shit,” I muttered, slipping the flexible body armor on and sighing. “That's definitely not a good sign at all.”

Shaking it off, I shifted to my female form and narrowed my gaze at the note I'd already left on the bedroom door. “Goddamn fucking sidereal bullshit.”

Though making the shift to my other body was less about any sixth sense going off and more logic applied to those same feelings. If something was building that I needed to take action on, after all, I'd be better off doing it as Perspicacious Mauve Avenger. There wasn't all that much Shinso Hitoshi could do at two in the morning that wouldn't raise the alarm on my double-life.

I stretched, working out muscles as I prepped for whatever was coming.

Without firm guidance, though, I fell back on what had served me well and turned towards my office. The documentation had been pulled and the program had finished running, leaving me immensely grateful for the new muscle my server farm had now. Back when I was running on a single Company Computer, it'd have taken me several days to get something like this done.

“So let's see what's both relevant and disastrous enough to get me out of bed...” I sighed, popping my neck as I dropped into my seat.

The lists had compiled correctly and added several more missing names to the electrical quirk-users that were MIA. I'd really have to expand my search parameters, though. Just because AFO was Japanese didn't mean he couldn't traffic quirks from all over East Asia and what was left of Oceania.

I mean, probably not many from Korea, given the state it was still in after what happened during the Dark Age...

Which, yeah, most of the peninsula was still nominally an exclusion zone, just to be on the safe side.

Not many had known about it in the early twenty-first century, but the Norks had been stockpiling chemical and biological weapons in addition to nuclear. Once the Metahuman Phenomenon – the original name for 'quirks' – had spread and the regime began to collapse, the then-current dictator Kim Ju-ae had hit the doomsday release.

It was only thanks to the near-complete collapse of global trade a decade earlier that the diseases and contagions had been as contained as they were.

My point being, a lot of East Asia was... not well-regulated. Pirates and smugglers abounded outside of the national waters claimed by the still-extant nation-states that had clung to stability through the turbulent time period. Once you were outside of certain specific safe zones, you would be taking your life and freedom into your own hands, not to mention your safety. The Korean peninsula was just one such area, to say nothing of mainland China and its fractured political scene. There wasn't exactly a ban on travel to or from these places, but official means of doing so were few and far between.

Just for instance... Jeju Island was, technically, the capital of the Kingdom of Korea, but it was a minor player even a century and a half later and could barely keep its shores safe from raiders looking to pillage. It was – effectively – a Japanese vassal-state in all but name at this point.

“People might talk about how bad the Dark Age was for Japan, but we got off easy,” I muttered, giving voice to my idle meditations on history. “Hmm... well, that's not good.”

There were other spikes, because of course there were.

Super-strength quirks were the obvious next set of victims. Which, honestly, I couldn't blame the government for missing. There were simply so many of them. Strength quirks had seemingly limitless variations that all amounted to the same thing when you looked at what they were good for. Some quirks enhanced bones, some enhanced muscles, some just set an arbitrary limit of how much a person could lift. Or push.

Quirks could be oddly specific sometimes.

Captain Celebrity had what was probably one of the most useful variants of 'super strength.' His was a tactile telekinesis field that allowed him to move himself through the air in a mimicry of flight as well as pull classic Superman stunts like catching falling aircraft without shearing the plane in half.

The American hero was currently on leave in Japan, doing a goodwill tour of the US military bases and trying to shed some sexual assault allegations that were complicating both his career and marriage.

“Some things never change, I guess,” I hummed, frowning, as I moved through the next set of data.

The itch in the back of my soul was still building.

Slowly, steadily, but it was definitely there.

“Things around me are set to go down a path incongruous with my values,” I stated, rubbing my chin as I looked for the problem. One of the monitors showed the hero-tracker sites, another one my social media feeds, and a third attached to the various UA online chatter.

Ashido, Jiro, Kirishima, Midoriya, and even Bakugo... they were all fine.

Yes, I had cameras secreted about in various neighborhoods to keep track of important targets. If that meant spying on teenagers, so be it. Nezu did it all the time and look at how respected – feared – he was. I didn't think they were even in danger, really, I just wanted to be sure. The first three, at least, were important to me on a personal level, as well.

“All Might hasn't been seen since eight,” I hummed, rooting through a few more sightings of Japan's Top Ten and making sure to check in on Hawks as well.

What is it? What's going on?

My eyes tracked back to the screen showing the data from the disappearances. Technically, I didn't have any proof beyond statistical analysis that they'd been kidnapped, just gut instinct.

My eyes narrowed.

One, two-no, four... six? Ten, that's... damn...

They were edge-cases the computer didn't have the skill to pick out. Quirks that weren't classified as being mechanically similar to each other, but were thematically-linked. Once you got more abstract than 'super-strength' or 'pyrokinetics' the data got more difficult to parse properly.

There were also classes of quirks that the government just didn't consider a priority to track; ones that had little to no practical value in terms of hero work, commercial marketability, or destructive potential. In particular, one of those quirk groups was a loosely-mapped set of people who could repair themselves in some form or fashion.

Not necessarily 'regenerators.'

That was the rub.

There was a woman who could absorb clay – certain types of soil, to be exact – in order to repair her body. Was that regeneration? Technically, I suppose, but try explaining that to a bureaucrat. A particularly interesting case was someone who could actually repair themselves. Their body was functionally cybernetic, able to be dismantled and repaired like any other piece of technology. Another was actually an emitter-type quirk, shooting globs of ooze at plants that would heal him while disintegrating the foliage.

Quirks, it must be said, were some weird shit.

And all of this would have been anecdotal evidence if everyone I'd just mentioned before wasn't a missing person.

The feeling in the back of my soul throbbed.

But that only happens when I-

Someone close to me, but not close enough that I'd have felt it sooner. Something was coming tonight. If it were Kirishima, I'd have another day or two of warning in advance. There was no 'right' or 'wrong' in this world for the patterns of fate to settle into. It was just my judgment, the vaguest indication that someone I'd had contact with was in danger.

Everyone that truly mattered to me – that was my friend, mentor, colleague, classmate – were fine. I'd checked on them.

But what about...

My fingers flew across the keyboard as I pulled up the registry of students who had been 'expelled' from UA a few days ago. It was a roster I'd created out of simple curiosity and an ounce of foresight. Given I knew that Aizawa would be putting them back in the Gen Ed classes tomorrow, it behooved me to know the kinds of quirks that would be showing up in the Sports Festival.

One of which was 'Sound Eater.'

Specifically, the quirk of Gochiso Raibu.

It was listed as an enhancement quirk, not a pure regenerator, for the simple reason that it also allowed him to augment his strength, speed, and endurance. It was a top-notch quirk, in other words, only limited by the amount of noise that was in his general area that he could absorb. In a city like Tokyo? With enough training, he'd be a monstrously powerful hero.

My heartbeat thundering in my chest, I was moving an instant after I glimpsed his address.

…

The Catalog got a bad rap.

And it was a deserved one.

I'm not obtuse or self-deceptive enough to obfuscate that.

But there were parts of it that weren't absolutely morally corrupt to a degree that beggared belief.

Those parts were why I kept a small reserve of points that I made sure not to spend. They were my emergency stash. My rainy day fund.

Because there was plenty of stuff in the Catalog that wasn't people. Non-sapient objects you could purchase without any ethical qualms. For instance, you could get a completely personalized lightsaber for five credits. Heavy ordinance was also available, for the right price. Granted, I hadn't gone in for any of the latter due to the simple fact that unloading plasma artillery anywhere near my home turf would cause a significant amount of alarm, to say the least.

But I could buy – just for instance – a fully loaded armory from the war against Skynet in the Terminator universe.

Or a set of proton packs from Ghostbusters, if one were so inclined.

There was some really nasty shit out there, if you knew where to look.

Granted, most of the really high-end stuff was restricted if you didn't own some kind of interstellar starship or had ready access to a dimension-jumping power. Why? Because too many people blew their damn fool selves up with that shit.

The question was what world's weaponry to pick from. Honestly, Star Wars wasn't all that bad of a choice save for the fact that all of their shit ran on various kinds of exotic hypermatter formed from energy dissipating through the hyperlanes. Most of the weapons didn't need much of the stuff, but the blasters functionally required small bits and pieces in various components.

Did I know with absolute certainty that carrying around a blaster from a galaxy far, far away would attract the notice of something with too many eyes and mouths?

Well, no, but if there was a technology base that was just as good... why risk it?

So, Cyberpunk? Well... as iconic as some of their scop was, no. Beyond the fact that a lot of it was meant to be implanted, even the firearms and melee weapons could... kind of shitty. Almost definitely as a result of general corpo monopolistic crap, but the fact remained that the weapons were meant to be wielded and work within a matrix of one specific company's compatible technology. And, if you wanted to take full advantage of it, you'd still need at least an implanted agent and a pair of cybereyes to optimize the smart weapons.

There was also just better tech out there, at the end of the day.

And there was no real 'correct' answer, either. I just needed something that didn't run on magic or exotics, fit the human form, and was capable of excessive lethality. Oh, and had melee options as a personal preference.

Which is why I was flying down the highway at five minutes past two AM with a loadout that would raise uncomfortable questions worth a dozen felony charges were I to be caught with them.

“C'mon, pick up... pick up...” I hissed into the helmet of my ride, the phone ringing endlessly on the inlaid communications system. Whatever complaints about The Company I had, their tech at least fucking worked.

“PULL OVER!”

I didn't even have to look to raise a middle finger at Ingenium, pouring on the speed and easily passing the one-fifty-kph mark.

The half-engine hero was left in my dust for a moment, but I could see him gaining again.

I ducked and weaved around a cargo truck, the entire frame festooned with lights and designs that would have most people outside the nation staring in disbelief.

Finally, mercifully, the line picked up.

“Hello, this is Principal Nezu, am I correct in assuming this is Perspicacious Mauve Avenger? I can only assume, given that I still can't track your number!”

“Gochiso Raibu is about to be abducted from his place of residence,” I replied bluntly, not having time for my previous shenanigans. “I'm on my way to intercept, but may need backup. Ingenium is in pursuit, I'd be grateful were he instructed to provide assistance rather than attempt to arrest me.”

“I see.” There was a pause. “Given your previous service, I'll be ensuring that this matter is given priority attention. Do you require anything else?”

“I've sent you a secure link to data I've collected. Please analyze them at your earliest convenience,” I stated, pushing my bike faster as I saw Ingenium catching up. “I'm almost on site, cutting communications.”

Which is when I cut the speed and allowed him to rocket past me.

My exit was coming up, after all.

While Iida Tensei skidded to a hard stop after he overshot me, I smoothly decelerated into a turn and cut towards a neighborhood. Behind and within me, urgency pounded as I dared to dip into my essence to make a perfect ninety-degree turn. It wasn't much and I hoped it would go unnoticed, but even if I couldn't sustain my suicidal highway speeds in a residential area, I also could afford the drop in speed to make a normal turn. Since I wasn't flouting space, time, destiny, or fate, perhaps nothing would feel the violation of me telling physics to go fuck itself.

I squealed to a stop at the next intersection, my right hand going for a heavy anti-cyborg pistol loaded with armor piercing high-velocity rounds.

Multiple lifetimes' worth of skills saw me drawing a bead on the creature before my conscious mind could bring it to bear.

Shadows swam around it like muddy water, cutting off light as its many arm-legs splayed around for balance. It had just emerged from a second-story window with an unconscious body bound closely to it within several of its limbs, pressing the boy I'd seen Monday to its chest.

My mind-soul reached out... and felt something.

Its existence was a mutilated cancer.

As its exposed brain and glowing red eyes began to turn towards me, I didn't waste any time. Instead, I opened fire. Slugs meant to penetrate heavy armor centuries ahead of what was readily available on this world impacted heavily on the load-bearing leg-arms that the creature was using to walk, splattering green ichor-like blood across the street.

In response, it opened its mouth and howled.

Loud and long, the noise rang out through the neighborhood, completely overwhelming the explosive blasts of my bullets. Even then, my motorcycle helmet served a secondary purpose in shielding me from the bone-rattling sound as I changed my aim for its brain. While it was regrowing its limbs, I plugged three more shots into its gray matter.

The momentary disruption to its central nervous system thankfully cut the howl short. Even with my protection, I was grateful. So to was I grateful for-

The sound of skidding feet

“What is that thing?!” The hero barked in disbelief, torn between looking at me and staring at the creature.

“Ingenium, hostage rescue!” I barked back, gesturing forwards with my gun. “I'll distract it!”

The adult hero jerked, then nodded. “Right, on it!”

Another three-round burst rang out, disrupting the already-mending flesh as the creature stumbled forward. The armored hero revved his engines, took a crouch, and pressed one hand to his head in what I guessed was a short burst of communication with his team.

Then he burst into motion.

Even if I'd led him on a merry chase across the city, he'd earned his place in the rankings, flashing into motion faster than even I could track without augmenting myself. Ingenium's body slammed into existence, his foot impacting the creature's skull with the force of a meteor.

He's using the attack to stall his own momentum.

It was a flash of insight, the realization that he'd avoided going for the direct-grab on the hostage because he's have pulped the boy if he'd hit him at that speed. Not all super-speed heroes had the advantage of tactile telekinesis to stop us from damaging the people we tried to save.

Even as injured as it was, the Nomu tried to grab for him, one of its many limbs reaching out to grasp at the hero.

I put a bullet into it at the wrist.

Ingenium landed on the creature's chest, lashing out with another kick as he grabbed onto the hostage.

I plugged another set of rounds into one of the arms holding the boy.

A sticky mucous-like substance clung stubbornly to both the hostage and the hero as his engines burned, tearing the teen away from his captor. Absently, I noted the fact that my erstwhile classmate was still out cold, likely meaning that there was some sort of sedative effect at play.

Ingenium gave one last pull and the viscous green goo gave up.

Both the hero and the hostage were off in a cloud of dust.

Which gave me time to holster my gun and pull out a binding. On the one hand, I was loath to do something like this to a person – a group of people – who'd already been taken apart and put back together in a traumatic experience I couldn't even imagine. On the other hand, though, binding the creature would hopefully tell me where Garaki's base was located now.

I revved my bike once to build up impetus, and-

Shot forward.

Even accounting for the fact that I'd put more than enough ammo into it to kill a dozen people, it was still visibly regenerating. Still, that was nearly a bonus for me, as I slapped the binding bracelet around a clawed limb while it was extending to grab me, smoothly accelerating away in a clean drive-by.

Then I was off, racing after Ingenium.

The boy was safe, the day had been saved, my mission had been accomplished.

I was done here.

I poured on the speed, pushing the bike to accelerate as I felt the creature leap onto the spot where I'd just been. Soon enough, I'd left it behind – not that it had given up – and made my way to where Ingenium was meeting up with his support trailer. A younger hero with a bodysuit done up in All Might's colors was taking the boy and handing the hero a tall glass of orange juice.

Right, can't fault the guy for recharging his quirk... even if that's a weird-ass requirement.

“It's right behind me!” I called out, pulling my bike up. “We need to get out of here!”

“If the creature's in pursuit, we can lead it to a less populated area!” Tensei shouted, pointing off to a main street. “Heavy quirk use and excessive gunfire in a residential neighborhood isn't a sustainable way to fight!”

I gave him a jerking nod, taking the implicit rebuke on the chin. Even in my other identity, I didn't exactly have any sort of formal training to use these weapons, so it was a fair criticism. “Acknowledged. Nezu should have contacted you and have backup on the way. We should-”

I cut myself off, turning towards the howling creature as it approached on its too-many limbs, glowing red eyes locked onto us.

My hand went to the controls for the bike's cannon.

Then, reluctantly, shifted for my pistol again.

Before I could draw another bead on the approaching disaster, though, a meteor struck.

A tan meteor about a hundred and sixty centimeters in height, not counting the long white rabbit ears protruding out of her head and jutting upwards. Muscles for days, a bloodthirsty grin for weeks, and the kind of power to keep both running for even longer.

Mirko's kick landed with the force of a small explosion, driving the creature into a crater as she barked a mad laugh.

Goddamn Rat Bastard, you really came through on this one.

I turned to Ingenium and hit a switch on the bike before tossing him the small drive that ejected. “My recording of the incident, from my perspective. For your records.”

Turning my bike, I watched as the hero's sidekick took a step forward. “You're not going to stay and help?”

He seemed almost offended by the notion, but I shook my head and jutted a thumb towards the fight. “Now that Mirko is here, I'd just get in the way. It's better I remove myself from the situation before someone remembers that I'm a vigilante and decides to try to arrest me.”

Ingenium took a fleeting look at the fight, then nodded. “Alright team, let's begin civilian evacuation! Mirko will handle the fight, and I've been informed we have more backup incoming!”

Then he turned to me and dipped into a firm bow.

“Thank you for your help tonight!”

Yeah, I can see where Tenya gets it from.

Even if his brother knew how to relax a bit, Tensei definitely had a similar attitude to the younger boy while he was on the clock. “No problem, happy to help. And... sorry about flipping you off, just had to make sure you were going to follow me.”

The hero straightened up and grinned, all boyish charm and none of the robotic hero. “Don't worry about it. I've had far less helpful people do far worse in the heat of the moment.”

Another massive impact rang out and, for a moment, I wondered if perhaps Mirko would be able to subjugate the Nomu. Either way, though, it didn't truly matter. Tracing Garaki back to his base would be helpful, but I had other routes to explore now.

Giving Ingenium one last nod, I revved my bike and pulled away from the scene.

Hopefully, I could sneak back into bed before Himiko noticed I'd been gone.

~~~

Alright, this chapter came out much more smoothly than the last one did.

Sadly, it hung up on some IRL stuff. Two medical emergencies for two different pets in one day. Thankfully, they're both as good as they can be now. One's just old and has health problems, the other one turned out to have pneumonia, but is on medicine now.

Anyway!

I've got a chapter of Industrious in the pipeline and it looks like - despite the three-way tie here on Patreon, my one Awesome Tier voter over on Subscribe Star wanted more Entrepreneurial Spirit. So that's what I'm doing this month as the bonus.

Other than that? Just busy with holiday stuff.

Thank you to everyone once again and know that I appreciate all of you and the support you offer.

I should have another chapter out before the big day, but just in case I don't...

Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and a Joyous Kwanzaa!