Central America, Panama.
Inque.
Name: Alfonso Dezere.
Location: Chile.
Quirk: Impenetrable Skin, Mutant Type.
What it says on the tin. Skin can't be penetrated, upper limits unknown. Orifices, though, not so much. And unlike you, he still needs to breathe.
20 Million USD. Non-negotitable.
Looking over her latest contract, Inque let out a low hum.
"20 mil... definitely worth it," she muttered. "He's from a high class family, has ties to the local government, but no one's looking for him specifically. He's not an innocent man, his family having that line of business, so that's a plus. But South America? Risky..." but even though it was risky, she hasn't received a phone call telling her not to take it.
Which meant there wasn't any risk at all.
Or rather, Inque was going to die, only to forget about it, and then receive a phone call in the future which would then be the past.
So... still no risk.
But all of this thinking just brings her back to the question, the question that she's been quietly asking herself quite a lot lately.
...Do I even need to do this anymore?
*
She started life homeless, alone, and weak.
Angry and afraid.
And then all of the sudden, at the ripe old age of five, she was different.
Better in every way.
She had gone from a homeless little girl to someone who could effortlessly sneak in and out of stores, houses, mansions. Lounging wherever she wanted, eating and taking whatever she wanted. Her Quirk, Liquid Body, letting her be anywhere and everywhere that wasn't water tight. Completely immune to blunt force, knives and guns. Able to stretch herself so thin that she was practically undetectable.
Then she snuck into the wrong house.
A high-profile gangster, or a backstreet Villain... but the real kicker was his Quirk, Solidify.
Letting him sense and solidify any nearby liquid near instantaneously. And while it didn't work on blood... it just so happened to work on her.
Instead of killing her, though... he saw potential in her Quirk, and gave her a "job."
And so begins the story of Inque.
Inque [img]
She knows exactly how her life got to this point. High profile robberies, assassinations, or anything that required someone to get in and out of a secure location... it was all just so easy. An easy way for her to make all the money she could ever want. An easy way for her to do whatever she could want. Which included indulging in some of her more... base desires, like sex. But given her circumstances, no one had ever given her "The Talk," or anything along those lines.
So what happens just nine months later?
She plops out a daughter.
Inque didn't even know that she was pregnant. Her Quirk applying to her little girl all the way up to her birth, until it simply "let go" of her. Leaving Inque with a newborn baby girl in her arms.
She... she wasn't ready to be a mother. Rather, she couldn't be a mother, not with her line of work. Little Deanna would almost certainly be used against her.
So she was forced to leave Deanna behind... and with all the resources she's acquired, she's sent her daughter more than enough money to live lavishly. Not to mention, due to the nature of her pregnancy, hiding their familial ties couldn't have been easier.
And while leaving this line of work would normally be difficult, even for her...
Now, she works for Seiki.
She's one of the very few people aware of Japan's hidden Titan, and the third person in the world to ever learn the truth of his Quirk.
The boy with the power to rewind time indefinitely.
*
5 Years Earlier.
Japan.
She had just accepted another contract in Japan, because despite having what was arguably the strongest Titan, his Quirk was rather... tame. Super Strength, even if it was packing more power than anyone else in the world, wasn't all that scary.
At least not to her—
"Hello, Inque."
Her arms split into a dozen blades, lashing out behind her— only to immediately cut her attack short. Missing the boy's eyes— one red, one blue— by just a few inches. The sprout barely reached her hip, and didn't look a day over... 10? Or maybe 8?
She didn't spend that much time around kids.
"What the hell kid. I could've killed you," she said... before narrowing her eyes. Because the kid in question had called her Inque. Sure, it was her only name, but that didn't mean that some brat should know it... and despite nearly dying by her hand, he didn't look scared at all. Just faintly amused.
Not to mention that he was somehow in her hotel room—
"I'm good at picking locks."
Inque's form rippled. It was almost like, like he was—
"No, I'm not reading your mind. My Quirk's quite a bit scarier than that," he said, smiling slightly as he looked off to the side at... nothing.
"Why are you here," she grounded out. Not wanting to fight an unknown.
She's long since learned that all it took was the wrong Quirk to take her down, and she wasn't about to test that. Again. There was a reason all of her hits gave her the Quirk that she'd be facing ahead of time.
"That's an easy one," he said. "I want to hire you."
Inque balked, before letting out a snort.
"Kid, starting bid is 5 million USD. So unless you've got that lying around—"
"Wrong on both counts," he cut her off. "I don't want you to kill anyone for me. At least, not in reality. I want to hire you on a permanent basis... and I won't be paying you in money."
"And why would I ever do that?"
"Because of my Quirk," he said. Then he tossed her a slip of paper her way, it neatly spinning through the air, and landing in her outstretched hand.
-Quirk Identification Card-
Name: Seiki Yamazaki
DOB: 01-02-2300
Quirk: Trickshot
Type: Emitter, Self-Targeting
Description: Gives the user seemingly perfect aim. Works through a subconscious, absolutely precise control of the user's hands.
"Trickshot... not bad, honestly," she muttered.
"Yeah... that's not really my Quirk, though. Just something my Quirk lets me do."
He tossed her another card.
Me: Hello, Inque.
You: What the hell kid. I could've killed you.
Me: I'm good at picking locks. No, I'm not reading your mind. My Quirk's quite a bit scarier than that.
You: Why are you here.
...
...
...
You: And what's so special about this Quirk of yours?
"Well that's not creepy at all... but what's your point, exactly?" Inque asked. "You didn't even get the last line right—"
"Let's put it this way. The Japanese government thinks that I have near perfect aim, while you know that I can predict the future. Or at least, I know what you're going to say—" she started to open her mouth— "Don't even start. We both know that you said something different entirely just to spite me—"
"Spit it out already."
Then he smiled. Those eyes of his swirling, as if he's somehow won.
"I call it Save and Load. It let's me save points in time, and then go back to them all with just a thought. Indefinitely."
Inque stared.
She hadn't had a heart or lungs, not since she was five, but she could still feel her chest tighten. Seiki Yamazaki's words practically weighing the room down.
Not that he could be telling the truth.
But...
If he could really...
"So yes, I won't be paying you in money... but with something no one else can. No, I can't keep your daughter safe... but with just a single phone call? I can rewind the clock. And then anything that might've happened? It never did."
*
Present Day.
The broody pre-teen was such a scary backer to have— Inque's long lost count of the times she's received a phone call moments before taking a contract. Seiki telling her exactly who or what she needs to look out for, or outright telling her not to take the contract at all. Simply knowing when and where she'll lose, die, or would just "rather not."
And while he's definitely been a boon for her... she's been a boon for him as well.
Not that Inque remembers it.
But she asked him once, curious as to what she's done for him. It was almost certainly some sort of information gathering, but what did he want to know?
"I had you take contracts in specific places, both high and low profile. New York. The UK. Hong Kong. Brazil. Moscow. Australia."
She shuddered.
Knowing that a future version of her provoked each and every major player was unnerving, but taking a step back from the situation... she could see the value in it. Because not only did she give Seiki insight to the nature of their Quirks, but insight to the thought process of each of the Titans themselves.
Cathleen and Julius? They won't go for the kill... most likely because they can disable her without much effort on their part. Her weakness to electricity, water, and the cold makes her an easy mark for a reality warper, and well, there was no winning against time manipulation— neither Seiki nor Julius's version of it. And even if they catch her in the act, right after assassinating someone, they'll still just be a bit heavy-handed with her.
They were Heroes, after all.
Zhang Wei? A bit more brutal with his capture methods... but is somehow even more reluctant to kill then Cathleen. But Inque guessed that, when you could have every power, you'd want to finish things as cleanly as possible.
Moscow... death. As an International Villain with quite the rapsheet, killing her on sight is... maybe not ethical, but it's perfectly legal. Especially in Russia. But she still dies even if she agrees ahead of time to "instantly surrender." Supposedly.
Hard to feed Seiki information through time when you were dead.
Brazil... death yet again, and far more abrupt. Apparently South America's magical girl has a hateboner for her specifically. Unfortunate.
And Australia...
Seiki doesn't know what happened to her when she landed in Australia.
That still unnerved her quite a bit.
"And if you ever want to stop, you're always welcome to retire to Yamazaki Manor."
Did she want to stop? She didn't like committing violence or murder per se. If anything, she didn't care for it one way or the other... but she did enjoy the fruits of her efforts.
But after so long, the fruits were hardly worth it. The game had gotten stale, with time itself on her side.
And her daughter would always be safe. Seiki had given her his word.
So maybe...
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a break. Just for a bit.
*
*
*
2 Days Later.
Japan.
Sneaking back into Japan, despite being wanted internationally? Easy.
Honestly, it was impossible to keep her out of a country. Because while she didn't necessarily enjoy doing it... sewers, water treatment plants, anything that carried a liquid from point A to B, could carry her too. The ocean included.
Oh, liquids used to give her plenty of trouble, once upon a time. Her body not reacting all that well to other liquids, like, at all. But with the planet being 3/4s water, she knew that she'd have to adapt. Which was why she spent nearly five hours a day, every day, for years... simply learning how to swim. Fighting one of her most glaring weaknesses tooth and nail.
And while it wasn't exactly comfortable, her efforts had paid off. Water would no longer stop her.
Pressurized water, though? It could still knock her around.
And solvents were a whole different matter.
And while she wasn't about to cross the entire ocean... sneaking aboard a ship or a plane? Then sneaking back out, and traveling a few miles to shore? More than half the countries around the world had beaches, Japan being an island in itself. And with it being the middle of night, there was nothing stopping the small stream of purple-black from slithering across the sands, up onto the street, and into one of the nearby sewers.
There was a reason she was one of the most feared assassins in the world.
So now she just had to make her way to Chiba, to Yamazaki Manor.
Nothing stopping the small stream of purple-black slipping through their fence, through their grass. Nothing stopping her from slipping through the cracks of a window, slipping by one of his... maids... huh.
Souka [img]
Well, most rich people were weird in one way or another, so if Ms. Yamazaki wanted her staff dressed like... that, their ass and tits hanging out for everyone to see, she wasn't going to say anything. 'Speaking of Ms. Yamazaki...'
Sure, she knew Seiki. Or rather, she's had a single meeting with the boy, and she knew more about his Quirk than most.
But as an outsider looking in?
Narumi Yamazaki... she didn't know the woman, but she's attracted attention.
And how could she not?
Going from a housewife with nothing to her name... to a small time lottery winner... to a stock broker... to a rather wealthy woman in Japan. Now, she wasn't in the top 100... or even in the top 1000... but she's acquired soft power. A mansion, with bodyguards of her own. Those that were fanatically loyal to her.
Enough power that the government, the upper class... the type of people that would hire her... at least knew of Narumi Yamazaki.
No one normal had B-rank assets on hand, the daughter of Firelord at that.
And while this information was public, she wasn't a hero, or the wife of a hero... so the public couldn't care less about her.
That's why she's managed to slip under the radar.
And Narumi wasn't stepping on any toes, simply keeping to herself— so Inque has yet to even hear rumors of a hit on the woman.
Not that she'd ever accept it.
Just the idea made her shudder. Oh, she could almost certainly do it. It'd be easy, even.
But only the first time.
And then, the clock would turn back... and Seiki would know, while Inque would not. And Seiki would continue to learn more and more, learning her weaknesses, her habits, and the exact limitations of her Quirk— things that he might already know. And then she'd simply be taken care of.
There was no beating that.
But now she found herself wondering just where Seiki was. 'I mean, the size of this manor is just absurd—'
Plap. Plap. Plap.
Inque stilled for a moment. 'What's that noise?' she wondered, curious as ever. Inque knew damn well what it sounded like, but surely it wasn't... well, maybe she was about to stumble across Ms. Yamazaki, given how she dresses up her maids.
Flowing along the floor's left banister, no one noticed her as she seeped through the halls, approaching the source of the noise. Slipping beneath one of the many, many, doors into what appears to be a supply closet.
PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!
"H-Hnnnng! AHHnng! Ahhhnnn~"
And then Inque was face to face with it.
Watching Seiki Yamazaki, looking far more muscular (and taller) then she remembered, pinning a maid to the floor the as he furiously slammed his hips into her backside, her ass cheeks rippling with the force of each of his hard, violent thrusts. The poor girl in question gasping and choking as Seiki held one tightly hand around her neck, the other pressing her face into the carpet.
The maid's lewd, dopey grin dissolving any notions of her being "forced" into such a position.
'...Whuh?'
*
*
*