Location: Kamino Ward – Underground Bar
Time: Monday | 09:00 PM
The bar was dark and completely quiet.
CLINK.
Kurogiri stood behind the wooden counter. He used a white cloth to wipe down a glass.
He placed it carefully on the shelf behind him.
Three people sat in the large corner booth.
Chimera took up half the space. The massive wolf-dragon mutant wore a torn tank top. He held a large beer mug.
He stared at the foam, remembering exactly how he got here.
Two months ago, he was sitting in a dirty alleyway in the Tokyo slums.
A local street thugs had him cornered. They beat him with iron pipes because he looked too much like a monster. Other people chased him away from the main streets for the exact same reason.
He was completely alone.
Then a skinny kid covered in hands walked right into the alley.
The kid ignored the weapons. He grabbed the gang leader right by the face.
CRUMBLE.
The thug leader turned into grey ash instantly. The rest of the thugs dropped their weapons and ran away screaming.
Shigaraki looked at Chimera. He tossed a small glowing vial onto the dirt.
[Take the item. You get a stat boost, and you join my party. Or I turn you to dust to save you from your miserable life.]
Chimera grabbed the vial and drank it. His muscles expanded. His animal instincts spiked.
His overall physical strength jumped by five hundred percent. He finally found a pack that didn't care what he looked like.
Next to him sat Mummy. The man was covered head to toe in dirty red bandages.
Two weeks after Chimera joined, they found Mummy hiding in an abandoned parking garage.
He was starving and rejected by society.
People ran away from him on sight.
Shigaraki offered him the exact same vial. The serum mutated his quirk. His fragile bandages tightened up and moved like heavy steel cables. He finally had a boss who accepted him.
Across from them sat Slice. She rested her red boots on the table.
One month ago, she was bleeding out in a ruined building. Her own crew betrayed her and left her for dead during a pro hero raid. She sat against the wall, furious and holding her stomach.
FWOOSH.
A dark purple warp gate opened right in front of her.
Shigaraki stepped out. He looked at her bleeding wound and offered her the serum.
[You want revenge? Drink this and cut them to pieces.]
She drank it.
Her red hair grew instantly rigid, turning sharper than steel swords. She walked out of the building and slaughtered her old team the very next day.
Now, the three of them were Shigaraki's elite strike force.
{[A/n;] In the movie Heroes Rising, they were part of the team with Nine, but because Nine here never left Dr. Garaki and All For One. So they were still alone.}
GULP.
Chimera finished his beer.
BAM.
He slammed the empty mug on the table.
"That hit the spot" Chimera said. His deep voice rumbled in his chest. "But fighting those same people is really getting annoying."
"Heh... We can easily kill them," Slice said, picking at her sharp fingernails. "They are weak. The real problem is the guy with the fire."
Mummy nodded slowly.
"The Azure Fire vigilante," Mummy whispered. "That instantaneous snap explosion is dangerous. He is completely blocking us out."
"I tried to shoot my hair darts at him last time," Slice complained, crossing her arms. "He didn't even move. He just snapped his fingers. The heat vaporized my blades before they even got within ten feet of him."
"And the guy with the mask," Chimera added, looking annoyed. "Stendhal. If we step too close, we just get paralyzed. We can't fight them in close combat at all."
"I don't understand why that guy was still there since he was already treated a villain by the government. Why mixed up with vigiliante organization?" Slice leaned forward over the table.
GULP. GULP.
"We shouldn't really care about their decision. Whether they still accept that red and black mask as part of them. What I'm puzzled was how did they even managed to group up together." Chimera chugged another beer.
"Some of the guys we beat up keep yelling his name," Slice whispered. "Hero X... I think the entire organization worships him."
"Yeah," Mummy agreed. "Hero X, its understandable. After all, that man saved the entire world in minutes. I still remember I was hiding in an abandoned warehouse alone."
"I agree... That guy is something else I tell you." Slice whispered.
SWISH.
Kurogiri appeared right next to their booth. The dark purple mist flared around his glowing yellow eyes.
"Do not say that name out loud," Kurogiri warned them quietly.
"Huh?" Slice asked, looking confused.
"Because it makes Tomura very angry," Kurogiri answered. "That man humiliated his master. It is a highly sensitive topic."
CREAK.
The back door of the bar opened.
Tomura Shigaraki walked into the room. He slouched forward and dragged his fingernails down his neck.
SCRATCH. SCRATCH.
"I hate this," Shigaraki complained loudly. "The spawn rates are garbage. We keep running into the same mid-bosses, and their stats are completely broken now."
Kurogiri walked back behind the bar and poured a glass of water.
"We need a new strategy, Tomura," Kurogiri suggested.
"I know," Shigaraki snapped.
He walked over and sat on a barstool. He glared at his three recruits.
"The fire guy completely blocks my decay range," Shigaraki growled, digging his nails into his skin. "I can't even touch him. You three need to grind harder."
...
Location: Kashiya Ward – Cow Lady Agency
Time: A Week Later | 09:00 AM
Large brown boxes covered almost every desk.
RIP.
Sarah dragged a box cutter across the packing tape. She opened the flaps and smiled wide.
Pam, Mark, Dave, and Kaito stood around the table.
"The first batch is finally here," Sarah announced.
She reached into the box and pulled out a heavy, dark blue jacket.
A sharp silver longhorn skull hitting an anvil was stitched directly onto the back.
"Oh man," Pam laughed, taking the jacket from Sarah. "That looks so much better than a cartoon cow."
Pam threw the jacket over her shoulders. It fit perfectly.
"We are dropping these at three pop-up shops across Tokyo today," Sarah explained, pointing at the stacks of boxes. "We also launched the online store this morning."
Mark leaned against a desk and crossed his arms. "Nice."
"Didn't I tell you? Creating your own brand is more better than accepting sponsors." Kaito nodded, holding a cup of coffee. "You are not sharing a single yen with a corporate sponsor. You own one hundred percent of the independent brands"
Dave grabbed a jacket for himself. "I am definitely wearing this while I weld."
"I love it." Pam looked at the silver logo on her sleeve. She felt incredibly proud of the new direction.
...
Location: Kashiya Ward – Basement Gym
Time: Day 15 | 03:00 PM (9 Days Later)
WHIRRR.
A heavy motorized track ran straight across the rubber mats.
A thick foam crash dummy rode on top of the track, moving left to right at forty miles per hour.
Pam stood at the far end of the room in her human form.
"Track the speed," Kaito instructed, standing safely behind a concrete pillar. "You are aiming for a moving target now. If you transform too early, you lose your speed. If you transform too late, you miss."
Pam nodded, keeping her eyes on the moving dummy.
She pushed off the mat and sprinted forward.
The dummy slid across the track.
Pam triggered her quirk.
FWOOSH.
Her body expanded into her massive cow form. She threw her weight forward.
SWISH.
But.
She completely missed the dummy.
She sailed right past it and slid awkwardly across the rubber mats.
"Damn it," Pam groaned, sitting up and dusting off her knees.
Dave stood near the track controls. He laughed and stopped the motor.
"You transformed a full second too late," Dave pointed out. "The dummy was already past your shoulder."
Kaito walked over and showed her the tablet screen.
"You are just guessing where the target will be," Kaito explained, tapping the video replay. "You need to estimate the relative speed. Look at the dummy's center of mass, find the intercept point, and aim for that empty space."
Pam looked at the video. She understood the mistake.
"I see," Pam said, standing back up. "Aim for the empty space. Run it again."
Dave hit the button.
WHIRRR.
Pam sprinted. She timed the dummy's movement, picked her intercept point, and transformed.
BAM.
She slammed directly into the foam dummy, knocking it completely off the motorized track.
"Nice!" Dave cheered.
"Seven out of ten success rate today," Kaito smiled, logging the data. "We will keep grinding it."
...
Location: Kashiya Ward – Commercial District Roof
Time: Day 21 | 11:40 PM (6 Days Later)
Pam crouched on the edge of a tall brick building.
Kamui Woods crouched right next to her. The pro hero stared down at the dark, empty alley below them.
"The runaway villains are hiding inside that abandoned warehouse across the street," Kamui Woods whispered, pointing at the large steel doors. "He has a plasma-fire quirk. He robbed a jewelry store three hours ago and injured two local heroes. His partner had a mutant eel quirk that shoots out electric attacks."
Pam looked at the layout of the street.
"I can breach the front entrance," Pam suggested. "I have enough space to get a running start."
"Ok," Kamui Woods nodded. "I will drop in from the glass skylight on the roof and push him toward the exit. You catch him when he runs out."
Kamui Woods shifted his weight on the roof ledge. He looked over at Pam.
"I heard Kaito is managing your team right now," Kamui Woods said casually, keeping his voice low.
"Yep," Pam replied, watching the alley. "It was very different from hearing it from another pro hero than experiencing it myself."
"Yes, that man is something elese." Kamui Woods admitted.
Pam smiled. It felt really good to hear that from a top-ranking Japanese pro. It meant Kaito's methods actually lasted.
"Let's move," Kamui Woods ordered.
...
Time: Day 22 | 12:10 AM (Next Day)
CRASH.
Kamui Woods smashed straight through the glass skylight. He landed perfectly on the concrete floor of the warehouse.
"A hero?" The villain panicked.
Thud.
He dropped a bag of stolen jewelry, raised his hands, and fired a massive blast of intense orange plasma directly at the pro hero.
BAAAM.
"Take this!"
Kamui Woods didn't dodge. He raised his arm.
His wood shifted rapidly, turning into a dark, dense iron-wood.
FWOOSH.
The flames hit his arm and deflected harmlessly off the side.
The fireproof wood completely tanked the intense heat without leaving a single scorch mark.
"It didn't work? Plasma is hotter than normal fire." the villain yelled in total shock.
Kamui Woods pressed a small button on his wooden wrist brace.
HISS.
A thick cloud of yellow sleep-pollen erupted from his gear. It filled the air completely around the villain like a smoke grenade.
COUGH. COUGH.
The villain inhaled the pollen. He coughed heavily and stumbled backward. His vision turned blurry.
He dropped his hands and swayed on his feet, trying to keep his balance but it didn't matter since he fell down a few seconds.
THUD.
"Sasuke!!!"
His partner watched in horror as the guy suddenly collapsed. "It's that paralyzing attack from the wood guy."
BAM.
The front steel doors of the warehouse blew completely off their hinges.
Pam sprinted through the doorway. She hit her top human speed in three seconds.
She triggered her quirk right before she reached to the another villain.
She shifted into her massive cow form in a split second.
She slammed into the villain.
BAAAM.
"Shiii..."
The eel quirk villain flew backward and crashed into a brick wall. He slumped to the floor, knocked out instantly.
Kamui Woods walked over and quickly tied the unconscious man up with his wooden branches.
"Your speed is incredible," Kamui Woods praised her, tightening the wooden binds.
"Your quirk also ignored fire. How did that happen?" Pam grinned, shifting back to her human form.
"It was Kaito quirk development in the past."
"Haha... Same. Same."
Ten minutes later.
The local police arrived. They loaded the tied-up villains into the back of a squad car.
A small crowd of night-shift workers and civilians gathered behind the yellow police tape on the sidewalk to watch the commotion.
They pointed their phones at Cow Lady.
A teenage boy whonwas still awake ran up to the tape. He was wearing a heavy, high-quality dark blue jacket with a silver longhorn skull printed boldly on the back.
It was a piece of the early merchandise Sarah just started selling.
"Excuse me!" the boy called out in broken English. He held up a notebook and a pen. "You are the American Powerhouse, right? I bought your jacket today! Can I get an autograph?"
Pam stopped walking. She stared at him.
A huge smile spread across her face.
"Absolutely," Pam said, walking over to the tape to sign the notebook.
...
Time: Day 30 | 01:00 PM (8 Days Later)
RIIP.
Dave pulled the packing tape off a large cardboard box.
Pam walked out of the locker room wearing the finalized suit.
The thick Texas leather covered her chest, backed with hidden kinetic foam. The armpit joints and shoulders now had a thick, double-layered mesh weave.
She rolled her shoulders and threw a quick combination of punches in the air.
"Comfortable." Pam said happily, dropping her hands. "I can actually move my arms."
Dave walked behind the protective glass window. He looked incredibly nervous. He kept rubbing the back of his neck.
"Let's test the impact padding," Dave said through the intercom. "I really don't want to leave another welt on your shoulder."
"Just fire it, Dave," Pam laughed, bracing herself.
THWACK.
The pitching machine fired a solid baseball at high speed. It hit Pam right on the new mesh joint.
BOP.
The ball bounced off her shoulder. Pam reached out and caught it. She rubbed the spot through the mesh.
"No pain at all," Pam confirmed, giving Dave a thumbs up. "The padding is perfect this time."
SIGH.
Dave let out a massive sigh of relief. He slumped against the glass window.
Kaito stood nearby holding his coffee.
"Good job locking down the design, Dave," Kaito praised him. "Go ahead and authorize the final payment to Detnerat."
...
Location: Kashiya Ward – Break Room
Time: Day 38 | 04:00 PM (8 Days Later)
Kaito and Pam sat at the table, scrolling through a digital map of the Japanese highway system.
THUD.
The door pushed open.
Mark dragged himself into the room. He looked completely dead on his feet.
He held a thick, heavy folder packed with stamped government documents.
SLAP.
He dropped the folder right onto the table and leaned against the chairs.
"I've done it," Mark said, his voice totally exhausted. "I finally reached a decision with the Tokyo traffic bureau."
Pam looked at the massive stack of paperwork. "You got it?"
"The heavy-duty transport truck is officially registered," Mark nodded, pulling out a chair and collapsing into it. "The mobile base is legally cleared for our patrols."
Pam closed the map on her tablet. She looked incredibly grateful.
"You are a lifesaver, Mark," Pam told him honestly. "Then we need to fry it."
Mark managed a tired laugh. "It took a weeks of arguing with them."
"I am buying you the biggest steak dinner in the city tonight," Pam promised him, patting his shoulder. "You definitely earned it."
"Thank you boss."
..
Location: Kashiya Ward – Basement Gym
Time: Day 45 | 11:00 AM (7 Days Later)
HUFF-PUFF.
HUFF-PUFF.
Pam breathed heavily. She was completely drenched in sweat.
The rubber mats were full of sweat.
Pam stood at the far end of the room. She crouched low to the ground again.
SWOOSH.
Her tendons snapped back, blasting her across the room at top speed.
Cow Lady triggered her quirk mid-air.
FWOOSH.
Her body expanded into her massive minotaur form. She threw her weight forward.
BAM.
She slammed directly into the heavy wall pads.
Then.
She raised her right hoof and drove it down.
THUD.
She stomped the solid iron blocks with the Quake Cleat.
CRACKLE-BOOM.
CRUMBLE. CRUMBLE.
She immediately stood up, pulled air deep into her massive chest cavity, and let out the bellowing roar.
"OOOHHHHH!"
The low-frequency vibration rattled the entire gym.
Pam shifted back to her human form. She dropped to her knees on the mat, completely happy.
Kaito checked the data on his tablet. He walked over and handed her a cold water bottle.
"Nine out of ten," Kaito announced with a smile. "You hit the exact timing window on almost every single rep today."
Gulp. Gulp.
Pam grabbed the bottle and took a long drink of water. She looked up at him, her chest still heaving.
"The muscle memory is fully locked in," Kaito told her.
"Thank God!!"
Pam threw her arms up in the air and cheered loudly.
...
Location: UA Academy – Class 2-A Classroom
Time: Tuesday | 10:00 AM
TAP. TAP.
Snipe stood at the front of the room. The pro hero wore his signature cowboy hat and gas mask. He held a small piece of white chalk.
He finished writing a massive, complicated calculus formula on the chalkboard.
He set the chalk down and turned to face his second-year students.
"Alright, listen up," Snipe said. His voice had a casual drawl through the mask filter. "That covers the math lesson for today. Study the formula for the test on Friday."
"Another test?"
"Let's just do combat exam instead."
"My math ain't mathing."
The students groaned loudly. A few of them slumped over their desks.
"Now for the hero news," Snipe continued, resting his hands on his heavy belt. "The second-year UA Sports Festival officially starts in exactly two weeks. You all know the drill. The entire country will be watching. Start planning your special moves and submit your support gear requests to the studios today."
The classroom instantly erupted into loud noise.
Mirio Togata jumped right out of his chair. He stood directly on top of his desk and flexed both of his arms.
"Yes!" Mirio yelled happily. "I am going to give it one million percent! I am aiming for first place this year to prove my hero name!"
Tamaki Amajiki sat at the desk right next to him. He leaned his forehead against the cold wall.
"Two weeks," Tamaki muttered, looking completely miserable. "Millions of people staring at me through the cameras. I want to go home right now."
Nejire Hado floated out of her chair. She hovered in the air and flew straight over to Kenji Daido in the front row.
"Hey Daido!" Nejire asked rapidly, poking his shoulder. "Did you upgrade your kinetic plating this year? Are you thicker now? Or am I just going to shoot a laser straight through your armor again?"
Daido visibly sweated. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"I upgraded it," Daido grumbled, looking away from her.
Yuyu Haya sat a few desks away. She leaned back in her chair and laughed loudly.
"You three are completely cheating," Yuyu joked, pointing her pen at Mirio. "It isn't even going to be a fair tournament."
Mirio sat down on his desk. "What do you mean?"
"I mean we all know from the past combat trainings and what happened at the summer camp last year," Goro Ito chimed in from the back row. "You guys are like real pros."
"Yuyu is right," Reiko Minami agreed quietly. "Ever since you took that one-week internship with Sir Nighteye and with the Golden Manager, the gap between us is way too big."
Daido turned around in his seat.
"It is totally unfair," Daido complained. "Mirio used to fall out of his own clothes during combat training. Now he fights like a teleporting bullet."
Daido looked over at Tamaki leaning against the wall.
"Hey Amajiki," Daido called out, trying to talk some trash. "Don't choke in front of the cameras again. Try to actually fight this year."
Tamaki stopped leaning against the wall.
Boardroom composure.
Tamaki slowly turned his head. He didn't mumble.
He didn't hide his face in his hands.
He just looked Daido right in the eyes and gave him a dead, stoic, completely silent glare from under his dark hair.
"..."
Daido swallowed hard.
"Uh, right. My bad. But still can you stop doing that." Daido complained, quickly turning back to the front of the room. "You need to have fun and talk back dude."
Mirio laughed loudly, breaking the tension in the room. He rubbed the back of his neck.
Mirio stood up on his desk again and flashed a massive, unbreakable smile at his classmates.
"We all have to go one million percent!" Mirio cheered.
Snipe watched them argue and shout from the front of the room.
He adjusted his cowboy hat and let them talk.
The second-year students were definitely fired up.
...
Location: Kashiya Ward – Cow Lady Agency
Time: 5 Days Later (Contract End) | 12:00 PM
All ten members of the logistics team sat around the long glass table.
Pam, Kaito, Mark, Sarah, Dave, and the rest of the other support staff were all eating a massive takeout order from Golden Bites.
Brown paper bags and empty fry cartons covered the glass.
Dave took a huge bite of a tall burger. Yellow cheese dripped down the side of the bun.
"Oh man," Dave mumbled with his mouth full. "This Triple Stack Bacon Cheeseburger is so delicious. The ratio is perfect."
Mark laughed and bumped Kaito's shoulder.
"Hehe.. You really know how to run a restaurant, Kaito," Mark joked, grabbing a handful of fries.
Everyone at the table knew Kaito owned the franchise.
"I'm glad you liked it," Kaito smiled, taking a sip of his soda.
A young data analyst sitting across the table leaned forward.
"You should let customers stack the patties," the analyst suggested. "Just charge them extra. People would totally try to eat a ten-patty burger just to take a picture of it."
Kaito laughed. "That's a good idea. We might do that."
An accountant near the end of the table looked at Kaito.
"Have you ever been to the South, Mr. Arisaka?" she asked. "Like, Texas or Louisiana?"
Kaito shook his head. "No. I went to America a few times for vacation. I never went down South."
The entire table instantly started talking over each other.
"You are missing out!" Dave yelled.
"The highways are massive," Mark added. "You can drive for twelve hours and still be in the exact same state."
"And the food," Sarah grinned. "You haven't lived until you eat real smoked brisket straight out of a pit."
Pam wiped her mouth with a paper napkin.
She smiled and tapped her knuckles on the glass table to quiet the room down.
TAP. TAP.
The room went quiet. The staff looked over at her.
Pam turned in her chair and looked directly at Kaito.
"Today is officially day ninety," Pam stated. "Our contract with you Kaito is over."
"Yes," Kaito agreed, setting his cup down. "It's one heck of a three month journey Pam."
"We will be going back to states next week," Sarah added, looking at her tablet screen. "I'm ready to change everything. But..."
Pam leaned her elbows on the table.
"I know you usually take a break between your clients," Pam told Kaito. "So I want to make a request Kaito."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "I am listening."
"Come to Texas with us," Pam offered genuinely. "We will pay for your first-class flight and book you a great hotel. We will put you on the payroll for a simple vacation consultation fee."
"A paid vacation?" Kaito asked.
"All you have to do is look if we have some cutting corners, like a simple consultation while you have a good vacation in my state," Pam grinned. "We will take you out and feed you real Texas barbecue. You can actually relax for a few weeks."
"..."
Kaito thought about it.
He had the free time. The Cow Lady contract was highly successful. A trip to Texas actually sounded really fun right now.
"Sure I can go back to states and habe fun there," Kaito smiled.
"Nice."
"You won't regret it Manager."
"We will let you experience the spirit of the cowboys and rodeos."
The team cheered loudly around the table.
"But I have one condition," Kaito added, holding up a single finger. Can I bring a friend along? I think they would really enjoy seeing Texas."
Pam laughed out loud.
"Are you kidding?" Pam smiled widely. "Texas hospitality means the more the merrier. Bring whoever you want!"
"We will show her the best shopping spots in the city!" Sarah cheered.
"I will buy them a cowboy hat," Dave promised.
Pam looked over at Mark. "It is settled then. Mark, book two extra first-class tickets for next week. We are all going home."
"No probem boss.." Mark gave a thumbs up and pulled out his phone, already typing in the airline website.
Kaito smiled and finished his fries. It was time to see how the American media reacted to the new Cow Lady.
...
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(9 Advanced Chapters)