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“Ugh.” Lazarus groaned as she dropped down next to Deku. “This is taking forever.”
Dynamight lowered his binoculars and glanced back over his shoulder at them, his forearm still resting on his right knee which was perched on the raised lip of the rooftop they were staking out. “Quitch'er whining, Return to Sender. It's only been three hours.”
She made a face and flipped off the back of his head as he returned his attention to the street below. “But I wanna punch bad guys now.”
Deku shook his head to himself as Dynamight suppressed a snort of amusement, which quickly turned to him rolling his eyes and pretending he didn't hear Deku's panicked yip and hushed “BABE!”.
Guess she's gotta entertain herself somehow, Dynamight thought to himself as he scanned the street, searching for Repose. Trepidation squeezed his chest when he didn't immediately spot her. Surely she hadn't been taken in the five fucking seconds he looked away, had she? Dread pooled in his stomach as he dug in the pocket of his baggy, black cargo pants for the monitor that was paired with the tracker she was wearing. Before his fingertips even grazed it a wave of comfort and reassurance washed over him. His breath left him in a sigh of relief, warmth blossoming in his chest. It never ceased to amaze him how she was able to do that.
This time when Dynamight peered through his binoculars it was as if he knew exactly where to look, his gaze drawn to her as if by magnetic force. Repose stood in front of a reflective shop window, seeming to check herself out. With his magnified view he could see her smack her lips together after reapplying some lip gloss, and then meld back into the crowd of pedestrians. Looking at her now, you'd never be able to tell that she was Japan's number 6 hero and wife to Japan's number 2 hero, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight.
Repose's normally long and wavy mahogany brown hair been straightened and dyed strawberry blonde. He wasn't too fond of the change, but he couldn't deny it helped perfect the look of 'American tourist' in combination with her ripped acid washed skinny jean, baby pink tank top, and white cardigan. He couldn't help but admire her dedication to undercover work, and he guessed he could deal with her hair being a little different for the sake of taking down the human trafficking ring they had been tracking for months.
The sense of comfort she sent him quickly dissipated, his breath catching as she was suddenly approached by an older looking man. He watched her cock her head to the side before consulting the little 'English to Japanese' translation booklet she was carrying in her fanny pack. Repose then smiled at the man and nodded, responding in what Dynamight knew would be broken Japanese. The man in front of her bowed repeatedly before leading her down the sidewalk towards a nearby alley. Repose paused, seeming to ask the man a question to which he said something Dynamight couldn't make out before bowing repeatedly again. Repose relaxed her posture and smiled again, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger before following him down the alley.
Dynamight pocketed his binoculars and straightened.
“Stop necking back there.” He said sharply.
Deku squeaked, and scrambled to respond, “W-we weren't!”
Dynamight turned to face them, taking in the bright red tinting Deku's freckled cheeks and the shit eating grin on Lazarus' face. Her expression quickly dropped and morphed into something darker as she saw the look in his eyes.
“We're a go?” Lazarus asked, cracking her knuckles as she ran her tongue over a sharp, fang-like canine.
Deku came to his feet next to her, his gaze hardening as his demeanor transformed from that of a blushing school boy into Japan's number 1 hero.
A sinister grin spread across Dynamight's face. “We're a go.”
---
Repose came awake with a gasp, her breath stifling under the woven sack that covered her head. Her head throbbed, and she was nauseated and dizzy – all tell tale signs that these fuckers had used chloroform to sedate her. An annoying, yet minor, set back. She hadn't expected them to use such an outdated means of kidnapping her.
She took a moment to assess her situation. There was the obvious bag over her head, but her vision did not seem to be impeded beyond that. Actually, she could even make out a dim light filtering through the tiny holes in it. Wherever she was it was at least bright enough to see, if not a little chilly. That realization led her to the next: Her clothes had been changed. She wasn't completely sure, but it felt like someone had changed her into a thin cotton slip. She could feel that her rings were also gone. Not just the one that was actually a tracking device, but her wedding band and engagement ring as well.
These guys are so fucked when my husband gets here... She thought as she continued to map out her current predicament. It felt like she was on some kind of cot, and low to the ground. When she tried to move, she found that while she was able to sit up her wrist was cuffed to the metal frame. Repose swung her legs over the edge of the cot, her bare feet coming into contact with an icy concrete floor.
“Hello? Is someone there?” She called out in English, her trembling voice slightly muffled by the bag. “Please... Let me go! I... I won't tell anyone...”
Her efforts were rewarded with a chorus of deep laughter, followed by what sounded like three men speaking together in Japanese. They had apparently taken the 'American tourist' bait – hook, line, and sinker – because they were speaking freely amongst themselves. Repose was able to confirm that the Hero Commission had been correct about this being an indiscriminate human trafficking ring – meaning they weren't concerned about what someone's quirk might be. They took you based on how well you fit the bill the for the clientele they were catering towards. And apparently the clientele she had been picked up for were the owners of an illicit sex den.
At least, that was what she gathered from one of the men scolding another who suggested they 'sample the merchandise'. The third man, however, backed up the one favor of assaulting her. Claiming their clients would never know the difference because all American women were 'used up whores'; to which Repose could barely contain her scoff.
Before they could come to an agreement, their conversation was cut short by the sound of a distant explosion.
Right on time.
Repose felt her laughter bubbling up but was unable to stop it from escaping her throat, catching the three men off guard. In flawless Japanese, she said, “You have no idea just how badly you've fucked up, do you?”
Silence descended over the room at her words as the men looked between themselves and her. On of them crossed the room, the sound of his hurried footsteps echoing through the air, and ripped the bag off her head before back-handing her.
Repose's head whipped to the side, her ears ringing from the force of the blow. Despite her busted lip she turned back to him with a grin, blood unsettlingly staining her teeth. She spat a glob of bloody saliva at his feet before saying, “That's right. Keep digging your grave, you old fuck.”
He raised his hand to strike her again, but one of the other men caught his wrist before turning to Repose. “Speak, bitch. What's going on?”
He was clearly trying his best to keep the concern off of his face and to project an aura of authority, but she could feel the fear beginning to radiate from all three of them. It might not be the best attribute for a hero to have, but inspiring fear in scum like them brought her joy and she relished in the though of what was about to happen.
“What's going on is you've been caught. You've kidnapped your last victim, and you are all going to rot in jail for the rest of your miserable lives.” Repose's grin grew as the color drained from their faces as the meaning of her words sank in.
They began to scurry around the room in an effort to gather any evidence of them being there, but stopped in their tracks when a familiar booming voice echoed through the halls from the far end of the facility, followed by another series of explosions.
“WHERE IS SHE?!”
“Ope.” Repose laughed again. “It would seem that my husband has found the tracker you took off me. And unfortunately, for you three in particular, I'm not attached to it.”
One of the men use the radio on his hip to call for backup, and shortly after a handful of armed goons flooded into the room. He barked at them to secure the door, which they did in a hurry as the sound of explosions drew ever nearer, before he turned back to Repose. “Who is it? Which Hero is coming?”
It was obvious he was asking so they would have an idea of how to subdue him when he came through the door, but Repose answered him anyway. “Who's tearing apart your hide out brick by brick? Why, that would be my husband. Japan's number 2 hero. The one and only, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight.”
The blatant fear that filled the room was delicious, and she didn't even have to use her quirk to inspire it. So shaken they were by the revelation of who was on their tail, they didn't even stop to consider the fact that she called him her husband. It was well known, to the great despair of many women and men alike, that Dynamight was married to Japan's number 6 hero, Repose. Which just might have tipped them off to the fact that they weren't quite as safe behind that barred door as they thought.
One of her kidnappers shouted over the panicked chattering of the others, trying to restore some semblance of order, “He's just one man! He might be one of the top three heroes in the country, but he's not immortal! One well placed bullet and he's done. Take aim!”
The guards complied, forming a half circle a few feet away from the door.
Misguided as he was, he wasn't wrong about Dynamight's mortality. And that, that, struck a chord in Repose, the amused grin slowly falling from her face as she stared at the men planning to kill her husband. She spoke again, her voice laced with a malevolence unbecoming of a hero. “It's funny.” Though she spoke quietly, the sound of her voice sliced through the room, sending a chill down her captors spines. “That you think you're any safer in here with me.”
She activated her quirk then, filling the room with a sense of utter terror and crippling despair, and the men around her responded in kind. Some of the guards dropped their weapons as they sank to ground, curling up in a ball as the fabric of their pants dampened with piss. Others were frozen in place, their freeze instinct overriding their nervous system.
“Your first mistake, aside from being villain scum, was underestimating me. Your second mistake, was threatening to kill my husband.” Repose was eerily calm as she spoke. “And your last mistake? Well, that would be you assuming he came alone.”
On cue, the wall behind them exploded inward as Deku smashed through it like the goddamn kool-aid man, skidding to a stop amidst the rubble and slowly unfurling from his crouched position to his full height. Moments later the imposing shadow of Lazarus stalked through the cloud of dust hanging in the air, moving to take her place beside Deku.
“Told ya she'd be here.” Lazarus said, her voice distorted through her helmet. She seemed to loom menacingly over her fiance, who was by all means a respectable height.
There were four heavy raps in quick succession against the barricaded door, followed by a loud curse when it didn't open. It fell quiet for a moment. Then two concentrated blasts, that Repose recognized as Dynamight's AP Shot, quite literally blew the hinges off the door; the beams just barely missing goon one and goon two. There was one more forceful bang against the door before the entire thing fell to floor.
Dynamight's hulking figure strode into the room and filled it with his foreboding presence as he glanced around, clearly searching for Repose. His eyes widened and then narrowed when they landed on her, noting her state of undress. His gaze bore into hers, asking an unspoken Who?
“I'm not sure which one changed me, but those two,” Repose indicated to two of the men curled up on the floor with a nod of her head, “were talking about sampling the merchandise shortly before you showed up.”
Dynamight's gaze burned as he turned towards the two men on the floor.
“Oh, no, you don't.” Lazarus said as she removed her helmet and pulled out her baton. “You are not gonna be hogging all the action.”
The look in her catlike eyes was murderous, and again, unbecoming of a hero. She was about to show them why her ranking was so low. Twelve, to be precise. Lazarus was a much loved hero, known for her sunny smiles and letting children climb all over her. She would've had a much higher ranking, if she hadn't had multiple complaints of excessive force lodged against her by villains. Specifically villains who had exploited children but her quirk, Wound Transfer and Regeneration, ensured there was never any actual evidence of misconduct. In addition to that, there were multiples hero's who had come forward to give witness to her character... one of whom being the number 1 hero.
Deku made his way over to where Repose was cuffed to her cot as Dynamight and Lazarus closed in on the two kidnappers she had pointed out. He crouched down next to her and snapped the cuff off the cot with ease, giving her a concerned look.
“You okay?” Deku asked softly.
Repose smiled warmly at him, “Yeah. Didn't doubt you guys for a second.”
“Hey, Repose!” Lazarus called out over her shoulder. “Let up on the fear. It's no fun if I'm not the one making them cower.”
Repose quirked an eyebrow at Deku.
He gave her a lopsided smile. “I think I'm gonna go check out the hallway. See if there's any intel. Or something.”
“Yeah, you go do that. Nerd.” Dynamight called over his shoulder as Deku rounded the corner, chuckling to himself.