With the other Pillars after Chimwemwe
"I can't believe he just took off like that. I wanted to ride the hover-board too." pouted Suwi as she watched him fly off and turned to Lusungu. "Did you put a tracker on it or something?"
Lusungu shook his head. "No but that would be a good idea.' He began thinking of putting special trackers on all his inventions to make sure not to have any theft issues in the future.
"Didn't wasn't that a little off. Him just took off like that? Danielle asked and Suwi just shrugged quickly getting over the hover-board.
"Yeah it was but Chimwemwe does stuff like this sometimes he'll come back when he's hungry." Her expression then shifted to a worry. "Though something must really be bugging him. I hope he's alright."
"I don't know why you're worried, I hate to say it but Chimwemwe is a tough guy he'll be fine. Let him let out whatever is bothering him." Vincent reassured them. "And didn't you want to swim with the dolphins and meet that sea guardian or something?" He turned to Daniella.
"I was that I'll lose track of time and miss the special lunch you know how I get in the water. So I'll go after it's done. " She sulked a bit that her diving time was going to be cut short. "Also I don't like dolphins. Trust me those things are the violent gangsters of the marine life."
"We can just look around town for a bit. My friend Jenny told me a lot of good stuff about stone town during this time" suggested Suwi.
Vincent shrugged. "Cool, let's go."
In town
Stone Town busted with life. The cobbled streets twisted like veins twisted through coral-stone buildings, their carved wooden balconies draped with festival banners. The air was filled with the scent of spices, grilled seafood, and fresh fruit.
The pillars first checked out the passed murals of fallen heroes who had died during the Flood, now immortalized in the mosaic and stone.
Then Stopped by the musicians who practiced on traditional ngoma drums in the square and admired some dancers rehearsing in the open courtyards.
Zinga drone recorded everything from above, capturing Suwi doing pulling funny poses, Lusungu trying on different masks with some other children his age, Vincent trying coconut for the first time and Danielle smiled a bit shyly as some tourists and local recognized her from the viral clips of her purifying polluted waters.
Shortly after they split up to do some individual exploring.
With Suwi she was currently browsing through colourful stalls, pausing to admire hand-dyed fabrics with the Zinga drone hovering near her. She gently pressed a palm to one, running her fingers across the was print. "Wow Ma would have loved this one." She mumbled.
Vendors vied for her attention. "Young madam. Best clothes here!" "Imported straight from Japan, special price!" But Suwi, having spent years around her designer mother, easily sniffed out low-quality ones.
As she was focused on a blue and gold kitenge, a figure in a hoodie, socks and sandals moved through the crowd with his eyes set on the Zinga drone.
'Easy money?' The person thought as a smirk grew on his face showing off his sharp teeth. 'Jay is it all clear from up there?'
'Your good M'ponga. There's no police around and the only heroes close by just left for some of the hotels. But are you sure about this? Zahra is going to be pissed if we get in trouble because of this.' A voice in his head responded.
'Relax I bet that drone will help us with the cash for her event. Besides I bet that girl won't even notice we took it from her. She looks like she comes from money so this will be fast and easy.'
So while Suwi admired a pattern scarf, M'ponga slid behind her and palmed Zinga from its aerospace near Suwi who barely caught the motion.
"HEY!" She yelled causing him to run. "STOP HIM!" She chased after him while weaving through the crowd but no one really helped.
M'ponga vanished into the maze of the alleyways ducking into the tight lanes between buildings. Suwi tried to follow his trail but lost sight.
She paused frantically looking around. "Damn it…" Her eyes shimmered with frustration.
Nearby Lusungu browsed some available support gear but frowned. "Most of these will fall apart in a week…" He criticized which the owner didn't like but held off from saying anything too strong since he was just a kid.
Danielle was beside him mostly to make sure nothing happened to him, she knew he could handle himself but he was just nine and if she's learned anything being the oldest of four you don't leave little kids alone during these events.
She was admiring seashell jewelry when-
"GUYS!" Suwi's voice got Danielle and Lusungu's attention as the blue eyed girl ran to them.
"Wow easy their Suwi what's the problem."
"Hey where's Zinga?" Lusungu asked not seeing his creation.
Suwi began nervously rubbing her neck "I-I um w-well someone stole it?"
"WHAT!" He yelled in shock.
"But you can still track it right?" She asked hopefully and Lusungu calmed down and nodded.
"Y-Yeah I can give you your phone since it's properly still connected to it." Suwi complied and handed her phone over to the young inventor.
"Found him." Lusungu pointed quickly out its location.
Daniella nodded. "Alright, let's take this to the police or heroes."
"No time." Suwi insisted. "We might lose the signal by the time we find someone. Besides we've been training for years now I'm sure we can handle one thief."
"Can we really lose the signal if he gets too far?" Danielle asked Lusungu who nodded, causing her to rub her eyes. "Argh dammit we don't even have provisional licenses so we might get in trouble if we do this. So let's do this fast and quietly."
They followed Lusungu for a few minutes till they reached an alley near the Old Fort. They peaked and saw the hooded figure who stole from Suwi and had another person in an oversized sized blue sweater sitting on his shoulders.
"That's the guy." Danielle asked Suwi who nodded.
"Let's go kick his butt." She made a diamond hammer.
"Nah I got a better idea but keep that thing just in case and besides there's something I want to try out." Danielle winked at the younger girl who winked and pouted that she couldn't use her hummer.
She withdrew a huge amount of water from the drainage system but separated the waste from the proper water, sending the waste back to the drainage. While the pure water was in less quality it was still large enough covering her hand. She sent two water flying to him wrapping around their legs sending them both to ground, uncovering the taller hood revealing smooth bluish-gray skin, a buzz cut black hair, eyes large glassy with horizontal pupils, and a reptilian-like face with gills on his neck.
"What the hell!?" He yelled in surprise.
The pillars come out of their hiding spot walking towards the thief who began to inwardly panic as he looked at Suwi who was holding a large hammer with a sickly sweet smile on her face just itching to use it.
"Wow, that was awesome, Dani." commented Lusungu.
"Aw thanks it's nothing really~." The mermaid chuckled.
'Oh shit I told you this wasn't a good idea M'ponga. They are going to take us to the police or heroes or worse they're going to kill us themselves.' The moss boy began yelling.
'Easy my guy, I got this.' M'ponga reassured his friend and focused on the group, particularly Danielle. "Wow there you're really forward aren't you. At least let's exchange names first." He flirted but she didn't acknowledge him.
This caused the girls to cringe.
"Stop it. Respect yourself." She rolled her eyes. "Look, we're just here for the drone you stole."
The teen eel just grinned and flexed his left hand's fingers touching the water. Electricity then passed through the water using it as a personal medium straight into Danielle's hand electrocuting the mermaid.
"EEK!" She shrieked as the electricity traveled through her body making her lose her focus uncoiling their targets and making her fall on her butt.
The younger pillars Suwi and Lusungu next to her are worried. M'pango didn't waste any time and quickly grabbed Jason then performed parkour onto the top of the rooftop vanishing again.
"Don't worry I'm fine, I've taken worse from Chimwemwe. He just caught me off guard a bit. I didn't think he could generate electricity." Danielle rubbed her arm.
The eel statement confused Lusungu. "Wait, aren't all eels electric?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Nope only those from northern America. But come on we're wasting time getting away!"
"You don't have to tell me twice Dani~." Suwi followed behind her but the two were stopped by Lusungu.
"Oh hold on guys. U-Um I can still use Suwi's phone to track them so maybe we can cut them off or stir them into a trap or something?" He presented his idea causing the girls to look at each other and think about it.
Danielle nodded at the idea. "Okay I remember doing something like that when playing group tag with my friends. Toss me Suwi's phone for a bit." Taking it literally he lightly tossed the phone over causing Suwi to shriek in terror but Danielle easily caught it.
"Okay, let's cut him off at the Forodhani Gardens near the coast."
"Alright I'll go after him them." Suwi volunteered.
"You sure Suwi? I'm pretty nimble so maybe I should…"
"No way Zinga got stolen on my watch so I should be the one to get it back. There's no need to worry I'll be able to keep up~." She winked.
"Alright good luck."
Suwi separated the diamond hammer into multiple large pieces then ran to the wall bouncing off it and used one of the larger pieces as an additional platform to reach the sun bleached roof taking chase, while the shards of her broken hammer followed her. The buildings - weathered coral stone relics stacked close together- gave her just enough footing to bound across.
She finally caught up and spotted him below now in he was wearing a mask and different jacket. She fired the floating shards at him but his plant friend spotted them and warned him to dodge which he pulled off.
'Thanks for the warning Jay.' M'ponga let out a sigh of frustration at the girl.
'I told you it was a bad idea to steal from that girl!' panicked Jason.
'Do you have anything else to say today but preach!' M'ponga strongly sucked his teeth at his friend as he began running but some diamond sharps attacked his front causing him to make a turn.
M'ponga began to run as fast he could with Suwi hot on his tail as they ran through
"Oh come on, it's just one drone!" M'ponga yelled in frustration.
"What did you expect when you steal from someone you jerk!" Suwi yelled back.
"Can't just get your parents to buy you another one like everything else in your life!" This comment actually pissed Suwi off as this complete stranger had the nerve to make comments about her.
She started flinging the shards at M'ponga faster and more aggressively who still managed to dodge all of them though she really wasn't aiming to hit him this time but just directing him to the garden's direction.
She was also careful to not let her shard not pierce any surfaces or any people to lower casualties and not get into more trouble than she will probably be after this.
'D-Damn didn't think she could move like that.' thought M'ponga as he began to get tired from the chase and while he was faster and more agile one of Suwi'd shards would get a good hit at this rate. Plus it was only a matter of time before they gained the attention of the authorities with this little chase.
Seeing no choice he clutches his left hand charging it up with some of his bio-electricity then turning around to deliver a shot of electricity at Suwi to keep her down enough for him to finally get far away before things get too serious for him.
But before he could fire his attack water tendrils quickly wrapped around him getting him by surprise as he saw the tendrils we coming straight from the the waters along with Daniella and Lusungu on the ground waiting for him and on the on the mermaid's command the water brought them to her.
"What the f…" He was shut up by a strong right jab straight to his face courtesy of Danielle's fist before he had the chance to send him to the ground knocking him out and Jason from his shoulders with the water now fully binding the both of them.
"That's for shocking me, asshole." She rubbed her fist while Lusungu went to his bag taking out the drone hugging it.
'Shit!' Jason thought as they were in a really bad position. 'Ziimaria came in!' He sweated, fearing they will hand them over to the police or worse a mob will beat them to death.
Elsewhere in town
While they were busy with that Vincent was not that far away strolling through the winding streets of Stone Town, hands shoved deep into his pockets. The vibrant clothes, spices, and crowds didn't help his mood. Tourists laughed, vendors shouted prices, children chased each other in bright masks - and he couldn't buy a single damn thing.
Maybe he should have gone with Suwi instead.
He checked his phone checking phone for any messages going the contact labeled WhiteDollar, who was his oldest friend back at Copperbelt, sucking teeth recalling their argument from last night Vincent sat down on a nearby bench and watched the ocean giving him a peace of mind.A small smile spread on his face at the scenery and took out his phone to take a quick picture of it.
He zoomed the lens a little near the docks and saw the sight of a girl arguing with two men of sorts. He was about to ignore it when she noticed one of the men getting too handsy with her leading to him getting punched in the face and the other one delivered a strong slap to her face sending her to the floor.
"That's what happens when you start feeling yourself and when people like you try to take jobs from real people, little girls." The man who punched her sneered.
The tentacle hair girl glared back at them. "Real people? You both couldn't even properly use a net. Don't be."
"Eh you not only have the guts to punch but to still talk back!" The other man yelled, rubbing his jaw. "Well we will give you the beating of your life so you will know your place!"
The two men got ready to put their hands on her while the girl's patience meter had reached a zero as her hair began to rise to put the men in their place.
Before anything else could happen Vincent slammed his fist into one of the man's nose, dropping him instantly. He turned to the other one and delivered three blows, one to the chest, then gut and finally an elbow to the side, sending him crushing into a crate.
"Tsh, two grown ass men about to gang up on a girl just to feel pathetic." He spat, cracking his wooden knuckles. He sent out four seeds sprouting out tree veins wrapping around them tight.
The girl stared at him with wide surprised eyes. But the moment was cut short as she spotted some figures emerging down the pier - the beaten men weren't alone.
"Wha-Hey!" He yelped as she pulled him into a full sprint.
Her tentacles stretched out to the side of two buildings launching them upward, while in the air her tentacles sucked on a building then gently hoisted them to an alleyway floor. Vincent rolled to his feet with a grunt while the girl gracefully landed on her feet.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" He yelled at her
The girl turned to face him while placing her hands on her developing hips as she eyed him a bit. Vincent's annoyance was forgotten when he began checking her out a little bit.
She noticed this and snapped her fingers, getting his attention."Relax Mister hero. Let me guess you're a tourist here for the festival right?"
"... Yeah so what?" Vincent spoke a bit aggressively.
"Take it easy. I just wanted to warn you that Stone Town has strict laws when it comes to quirk usage and they especially go hard on heteromorphs like us. The policing actually gets worse during these festival times so be on your toes the next time you jump into action and wrap people in more veins."
'Oh it's one of those things.' Vincent thought. Even though he didn't face much hate for being a heteromorph growing up back at Copperbelt but didn't mean there weren't special groups or places which were rough for heteromphs.
"But thanks for saving Mr. Hero. I couldn't afford to get an arrest today, oh and my name is Zahra. By the way, nice to meet you." She introduced herself.
"Yeah no problem and the names Vincent."
"Well nice to meet you Vincent and I hope you didn't just save me to get a date with me~." She teased catching Vincent off guard causing Zahra to chuckle at the face he was making.
'Zahra!' A familiar voice in her head rang.
'Jay? Just where the hell are you two none of you showed up to help with the fishing job. And by the ancestors you better have a good reason!' She scowled him.
'W-We are in a little bit of trouble right now.'
'What did you two get yourself into?"
Jason frantically explains that the M'ponga had the idea to steal a drone from a girl they saw in the market. But things went out of hand when she and her friends tracked them down, chased them down, caught them and knocked out M'ponga.
'Seriously, why are you two so reckless.' Zahra let out a frustrated sigh and wondered how her two friends could be so idiotic especially today.
Vincent watched all confused as the girl's facial expressions were constantly shifting and wondered if there was something alright with her head.
"Hey you good?"
"O-oh yeah just a lot on my mind." Zimari let out an awkward chuckle. "Anyway I got to go and something came up. It was nice meeting you Vincent. I hope I'll see you during the festival." She waved goodbye then extended her tentacle hair using it to swing from one building to another.
"And she told me to be careful when using my quirk." Vincent watched her off and began to walk off in a random direction checking his phone and saw he still had a little time to kill.
With the others
"W-Wait! We're really sorry!" pleaded Jason.
"No." Danielle said, arms crossed. "You're sorry you got caught."
Jason's leafy hands trembled as he struggled in the water bind. "Please… don't hand us over to a hero, the police or a mob. You've seen what they do to people like us."
Now Danielle didn't know what he meant by that but when it came to the hero or police part she has heard stories about mobs getting extreme to criminals they catch.
Lusunngu, kneeling nearby, examined M'ponga's support item. "Huh… looks homemade and still has some flaws here and there but not bad." He mumbled.
M'ponga groaned, still dazed from the punch. He looked up at Danielle then flashed a smile. "Well at least you're the first thing I see when I wake up."
Danielle didn't even blink. "My fist will be the last thing you see if you keep talking about that." She strongly sucked her teeth.
"We were just trying to earn a little cash to help our friend. She's planning her own performance for the festival and it's for the kids. Ow!" M'ponga hissed as Suwi threw a pebble sized diamond at him causing a bruise who was tired of poor attempt at guilt tripping.
"Opps~ My quirk slipped my bad~." She said innocently.
Suddenly three tentacles came from the roof top and landed near them. Before the pillars could react the tentacles released a thick smog of ink causing them to cough and stagger as the world around them vanished into swirling darkness.
The tentacles quickly grabbed the two thieves and hoisted them to the rooftop where Zahara was giving them an irritated glare.
"You two dumbasses, I told you not to cause trouble today!"
"It was all M'ponga's idea." Jason quickly through his friend under the bus.
M'ponga stood back up coolly, brushing dust off his pants. "What took you so long? Though you didn't need to come. I had everything under control."
"Shut up before I drop you off the roof myself." She groaned not in the mood for his fake bravado so she used her tentacles to grab the boys and left the area.
On the ground the ink screen faded causing the three to properly regain their breath.
"They got away." Lusungu pointed out tucking the drone under his arm.
Danielle steadied herself. "Let's just let this go. We got Zinga back now lets get the hell out of here before we get busted.
Suwi checked her phone. "Yeah plus it's like half an hour left so let's get out of here."
And with that the three of them quickly left the area before a patrolling hero or policeman got there.
Author's Note
Hey guys I'm really sorry on the late delivery of this chapter. Truth is I was excited to write this arc and was supposed to be done with it by early September and planned to pump out so many chapters each with in two-three days of each other. But I was in a dark place mentally this month affecting my idea and writing process as I could not bring myself to type. But I'm out of that funk now and back to writing.