‘Talk’.
[HPSC Headquarters, 10:30 PM]
In the corridors of the top floor of the HPSC HQ, Two people can be seen walking down the corridor; One man and one woman. The woman is an elderly-looking woman with shoulder-length hair slicked back and was wearing a dark suit. The man is of average height with a slim and narrow build with feathery ash blonde hair, but the most distinctive feature of his is a set of large bright red wings with feathers that gradually lengthen the further down they go.
They were walking down the corridor talking about something or more like the man reporting to the woman.
"Tell me, how is the mission I gave you, going on." The Woman asked.
"It's not that good, President. You see.. that guy didn't show much himself neither to the public nor the Underworld. He just showed himself for 'The Villain-Slaughter Week' and 'Two-Explosion Incident', there are no records of him other than this. The Underworld is also oblivious about him and knows much less than we do. I don't think investigating him more will lead us to anywhere." The man reported to the President.
"What about his accomplices? Don't tell me Hawks you only investigated Night Slash and neglected his accomplices." President said but didn't turn to look at Hawks who was walking a bit behind her.
"Don't take me for a fool President. I also investigated them but didn't give much time investigating them, so a clear image is not formed but they will be not that hard to find." Hawks said with his arms behind his head.
"Tell me what did you find about them till now."
"The one with the black mask is very well known in the Underworld. He is even praised by various pro-heroes. His identity and location are very hard to find, but Naruhata City can be said to be his area of influence. He disappeared from Naruhata City for a long time but returned, so I am not that sure. About the second one, the Police clearly know more than us about him. When I asked for the information, they said they will help in the investigation as the case also falls under their jurisdiction."
"That Damn doghead, why don't he hand over the information easily. He clearly wants to take credit for the investigation. We can't let him do this." President was saying as they reached a door to her office, She entered the office with Hawks.
"Completely take over the case by any means. I want you to find who are the accomplices of his.." She stopped mid-sentence as she saw a person sitting on a chair with his back facing her. She could not see who they were. She saw the person was cleaning guns with a cloth, this made both her and Hawks vigilant. Hawks quickly detached some feathers from his wings and controlled them to hover near him, allowing him to attack whenever he wants.
"Who are you?" President asked loudly.
The chair turned and revealed the person sitting on the chair.
It was Night Slash cleaning guns with a cloth. "Nice to meet you, President Yumiko Ige. I think I don't have to introduce myself." He greeted President Ige but didn't stand up from the seat.
The President didn't even know how to react; the person they're searching for is currently now in her office and how did he entered her office without any problem or alerting anyone. Then she remembered Night Slash's 'Quirk' which is 'Stealth'.
His Quirk was concluded by the experts, after watching the recording of his encirclement by the police, several times. It was considered a not-so-powerful quirk as it was detected by a Perception-based Quirk holder in the Police, but now she got to know the true ability of the quirk, as with this quirk he could easily enter any facility without getting detected. She will have to raise the danger level of this Vigilante.
The President may have some inner conflict but she kept a serious expression on her face all the time. She looked at Night Slash who put the cleaned gin on the table and now is cleaning a knife.
"It's nice to meet you. I would like to thank you on behalf of the citizens for defeating the villain. If you didn't stop him that day I don't know what would have happened. But May I know the reason for your coming?" She said in a flattery and polite way to make Night Slash get to think he is the one superior here and get some information out of him when he is feeling the newfound superiority.
"Now Come on, You are the director of a National-level Law Enforcement Agency, don't make me feel superior to you. No need to be so formal. Just make yourself feel at home. I am just a guest. And I don't feel good when a person older than me and having a higher status than me is putting me at a superior position than them or do you have any other ulterior motives to do so." Night Slash saw through her tactic. She internally clicked her tongue as this was one of the simplest and most effective ways to take out information from these 'Self-Righteous Bastards'.
She took her seat and sat in front of Night Slash. Hawks stood behind her, with his feathers still out showing his vigilance against Night Slash.
"What is your purpose for coming here, Night Slash?" President Ige asked.
"Didn't you wanted to meet me? I thought you were looking for our meeting." Night Slash simply said while carefully checking the knife from various angles. This clearly shows that he doesn't take HPSC seriously. It was very irritating for Ige, but she still kept her calm.
"What makes you think so? We didn't issue any invitations or anything." She looked at Night Slash trying to capture any information.
"It was from the Press Conference. You could've blamed me entirely and made me a Villain to save heroes' reputation but you did the opposite. You admitted your mistake to respond late and acknowledged that I defeated Overhaul. I concluded you want me to owe you a favor, so here I am, to discuss the terms of the 'favor'. "
She was stunned for a moment as she took in the information.
'It was really Overhaul. That Doghead's speculation was correct. and he concluded the conference like this. I have to say his conclusion is very close to the truth.' President Ige thought.
"So it was Overhaul, We couldn't find more about the Villain. If You can cooperate with us in this case then..." She wanted to reel in more information from the Vigilante but she was interrupted.
"Don't waste my time on this, just state what you wanted from me that made you make this move in the conference." Night Slash finally placed all the weapons down and looked at the HPSC President.
"We see potential in you Night Slash. You are clearly a powerful Individual who is greatly skilled in dealing with villains as you have shown your prowess in 'The Villain-Slaughter Week'. But the way you handle the villains is problematic. In our judgment, you are a good person with morals and values, but you are just misguided. We didn't brand you as a Villain, as it will push you more to the dark side.
Therefore, the HPSC will like to offer you a hand and make you a Pro-Hero. Initially, there will be some problems as you were a Vigilante but everything will be good. You don't have to worry about your status or fame in the society as everything will be monitored by HPSC, so there is no chance you will face segregation from other Pro-Heroes or the public." She said everything fluently as she had already prepared for this.
She then stretched her hand for a handshake with a smile on her face.
"What do you say then Night Slash, for the Greater good of the Society."
"Is that all?" Night Slash asked in a low but resounding voice. President Ige's smile cramped. She started retracting her stretched hand back.
"What do you mean?" She asked acting confused.
"Is that it? You are going to sway me by showing me the fame and glory of being a hero and I will fall for that. I am not like your previous hitwomen who accepted your offer when you showed her the fame and glory involved in the Hero Society and invited her to join it too."
All the previous fake expressions vanished off her face and now a genuine frown was on President Ige's face. She could not comprehend how this Vigilante knows what is classified to most of the top levels in the HPSC. The threat from Night Slash is increasing by the moment.
"So you are rejecting the offer?" She asked for the final time. The answer to this question will choose their stands.
Either they stand together on the same side or they become enemies.
"Isn't it obvious President Ige? I refuse your offer clearly." Night Slash said but still remained seated.
"You know who you are messing with? We are a National level law-enforcement agency. I don't think a petty low-time Vigilante can even think of standing against us. What makes you so confident Night Slash, to do such a thing?" She said with a mocking tone.
Night Slash stood up from his seat and went to the window wall, watching the beautiful night view of Hosu City. He looked at the scene for some time.
"Showing your true colors now, Huh... Well, you are right, I am just a small Vigilante standing against the HPSC a national level law-enforcement agency. What can I even do?" Listening to this made President Ige feel better as she thought she brought down a Vigilante just by using her words. But she was wrong.
"Maybe I can bring the entire HPSC HQ raise to the ground or I can kill the HPSC President along with the major officials. What do you say, President Ige? What would you prefer?"
Now, this was shocking to President Ige and to Hawks who was only listening to the entire conversation without any participation.
"But I won't do any of that as none of these are beneficial to me. Destroying the HQ will make me a Villain in the eyes of the public and killing you won't do anything good as there will be a new President, who will be more determined to get to me, recognizing the threat I am to the HPSC." Night Slash said without turning back.
"What makes you think so that we will not declare you a Villain and Police and Heroes not going on a manhunt on you?" She is showing a strong front, but inside she is concerned because of the sheer confidence the Vigilante is showing. The conversation was really not something she expected.
"Well, I do have some information like, how you curbed the protests against public casualty in Hero-Villain fights or how the HPSC which was meant only to influence the Heroes-Public relationship for a better Hero Society in the start, is now a national level law-enforcement agency comparable to Police and Pro-Heroes Organization with more powers than them in certain cases. The public would like to know how their favorite HPSC works, don't you think President Ige?" He said and turned to look at the HPSC President who stood up from her seat when she heard what he said.
"What do you want?" She said in defeat. She knew it was meaningless to ask how did he know about all this. She must deal with him as soon as possible.
"It's good to see you directly coming to the point President Ige. I only want 3 things from you. First, You can't make me and my accomplices Villains. Second, You won't investigate our identity or background. Third, You won't interfere with whatever we do. Disobey any one of these and the information I possess will spread to the entire world to show how their favorite Commission works." Night Slash turned to the door, trying to leave. But he turned before opening the door.
"For listening to me without any interruption, I would like to give you 2 gifts. I am thinking to reduce your workload so here is some information. Both the incidents are caused by me. It was an all-out fight against Shie Hassaikai in which most of the Yakuza died along with their top-command Eight Bullets and Overhaul. The reason for the attack is the rumored 'More Potent Trigger'. I don't want such a thing to get on the streets where the citizens live, so I eradicated their entire clan." Night Slash said and grasped something on his body.
"And here is the second gift." He threw something towards the ceiling. He quickly aimed his gun and shot the canister. Hawks quickly threw himself on the ground with President Ige, expecting an explosion from the grenade. There was an explosion but instead of fire, white gas started spreading out which obstructed the view. The ventilation system of the office started working and the white gas soon disappeared. But Night Slash who was in the room also disappeared from the room.
President Ige quickly stood up and said to her Earpiece.
"Impose complete Lockdown on the HQ, I repeat impose complete lockdown on the HQ. All agents are to be alerted. I don't want him to leave the HQ at any cost." She then turned to Hawks.
'He knows too much. We can't let him run amok with the information he possesses. He is a much greater threat than we assumed he is.'
"Hawks, Go inform Endeavor and other top pro-heroes in Hosu City to capture Vigilante Night Slash who has appeared in the HQ." Hawks nodded and was leaving. President Ige stopped him.
"Listen Hawks, Try to capture him but the moment you get a chance...
Kill him."
Hawks nodded and left the office.