#strategic intelligence

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 19: Strategic Intelligence Sass

Summary:

tw: torture, FQM, discrimination, quirk elitism, child abuse, gang mentions 'text' JSL Text thoughts

Since Akira had the day off due to Fat Gum's injuries, they practically buzzed with excitement to see how the presentations went. The format followed BLUF, or bottom-line up front, so their conclusions were on the first slide and the supporting evidence on the following ones. Koji presented first, correctly identifying Mina, Sero, Katsuki, and Midoriya as the agents of Team 1. He made ten dead drops, one meeting, and one brush pass. Team 1 went next, and they struggled due to Koji mostly using animals to pass information. They did correctly identify Kayama as the contact due to the first dead drop Akira found and intercepted two dead drops.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the cooperation but didn't say anything against it. Ida went next and identified Sato and Yaoyorozu as two agents of Team 2. He made fifteen dead drops and one meeting. Team 2, which also included Fumikage and Kirishima, had just identified Majima as the contact that morning and intercepted six dead drops. Ida's speed was a drawback in the exercise since while they didn't always see him make the dead drops, their placement wasn't well-concealed.

Jiro only identified Shoto as an agent, although now she suspected Kaminari and Hitoshi as well given who was left. She made five dead drops and three brush passes, forgoing the meeting to reduce the likelihood of her contact being identified. Team 3 also included Tsu, Uraraka, and Kaminari, who were not able to identify the teacher contact and intercepted one dead drop.

Shoji identified Hitoshi, although he had thought Kaminari was another agent. They had suspected Akira but didn't have anything to back it up. She made five dead drops, one meeting, and two brush passes. Team 4 had the longest presentation, and Akira started as the head of their group.

' Team Four partnered with each team in 1A and connected with teams from 1B through our liaison, Monoma, with the goal of mutual information exchange, ' Akira began as Aizawa sat a little straighter, eyebrows raised.

A look of understanding passed over Koji's face, turning to fond exasperation. Shoji nodded thoughtfully, growing intrigued as they continued. Jiro flicked her earjack back and forth as her confidence waned into frustration matching Ida's restless tapping.

Hitoshi clicked the next slide to show pictures of Yamada and the recording of Ectoplasm. ' We have high confidence Shoji's contact is Yamada Hizashi codename Present Mic, identified Ectoplasm as the contact for Honenuki, and identified Eraser Head as the contact for Yanagi. '

"We used box and triangle trailing methods," he continued and clicked to the next slide showing pictures of the intercepted and observed information passes, "and Mori was able to observe a meeting between Shoji and Yamada yesterday. We chose not to intercept one of the four observed dead drops and took evidence of the brush pass that occurred this morning to avoid tipping off our target."

"I also coordinated with Yaoyorozu on the main building roof to observe movements across campus," Ojiro added. "We had end-to-end encrypted group chats with the other teams we were in touch with, and the moles' names were automatically redacted in case of security breach."

"In the interest of information sharing," Aoyama added as the next slide showed several pictures of dead drops meant for other contacts. "We documented any suspicious activity we found and passed it on to our liaison, Monoma. Mori and I headed assistance with decryption and translation."

Aizawa muttered something under his breath, which had Shoji and Jiro look over in surprise, as presentations wrapped up, and All Might looked shocked. "You all did well this week," Aizawa drawled, running a hand down his face. "Not communicating that you should work independently on an intelligence mission was on us. Going forward, each team is to do its own work without knowingly interfering with another. That being said, the intelligence network was impressive to set up in such a short amount of time and with limited resources."

They spent the last half of class going over critiques of technique, communication, and subtlety. As the teacher contacts for 1A entered, Aizawa briefly explained their purpose of critiquing the moles while he did the same for 1B. He also informed them that espionage would be continuing but the teams rotated so each student would get an opportunity to act as a mole. The teacher contacts were randomized, so they shouldn't necessarily expect the same to be involved.

"Eri is with Kayama in the teacher's lounge," Aizawa explained as he led Akira and Yamada to his office. "Before we start, is there anything you need or want from us? Or is there anything that will help you feel more comfortable?"

Akira shook their head and took a steadying breath. ' I wasn't a late bloomer like they're trying to claim. The Wrens started the forced quirk manifestation process when I was five, and I triggered when I was thirteen. ' They had to take a few breaks as memories painfully resurfaced, but when they finally got through, the room lay silent.

' Fuck those bastards, I'm in, ' Yamada signed, expression stormy as his jaw flexed. ' What can I do to help? '

Akira sunk deeper into the chair as some of the tension left their body. ' If you can find someone with similar quirks to what All for One has, that would help limit the unknowns. Don't seek out the Wrens, but pass along anything that might be relevant, ' Akira explained. Limelights here kept surprising them, but they couldn't — and didn't want to — shake the paranoia around them as a whole.

Yamada's expression softened after a moment, and he asked, ' Did I do something different or stop doing something? '

What is he... Akira shook their head. ' No, that's the point. '

After clearing up some logistics questions, the three headed to the teacher's lounge. Inside, Kayama sat on the sofa with Eri, an assortment of crayons and colorful paper spread out on the table. Aizawa and Yamada stopped behind Akira, letting them observe for a minute before Akira stepped into the room. They gradually increased the weight in their steps until Eri jolted up.

Her eyes lit up as she ran over but stopped short, uncertainty filling her face as she hunched into herself a bit. Aizawa crouched with a soft smile. "Do you want to show us what you've been working on with Auntie Nem?"

Eri looked to Akira, who gave an encouraging smile, and nodded shyly. She led them back to the table where a few flowers and figures were interspersed with much darker colors with abstract shapes. As she explained each piece, Yamada's smile grew more forced as his eyes grew sadder, and Aizawa twitched occasionally under his practiced façade. Kayama held a quiet understanding in her eyes, and Akira wondered if that came from the victims she usually interacted with or her own past.

After making sure Eri was settled for the night, Akira let Aizawa know they were heading out and probably wouldn't see him on patrol.

He raised an eyebrow, "Probably?"

Akira shrugged with a small smirk, ' Never know where the night might lead. Should be pretty quiet, though. '

Akira relished in the freedom of roof hopping they couldn't quite get in the parkour course at U.A. They spent some time Friday and Saturday nights with Blue Fang, catching up with old friends and meeting new members. On Monday, Aizawa slipped their file for the week with homework he was returning, and Akira grinned. This'll be fun .

On the train, Akira listened bemused as Kirishima animatedly gushed about working with Uraraka and Aoyama since he only really knew Sero out of his group. I'll have to check with Vlad whether I can use information learned off campus , Akira mused as they waited to see how much he would say. The moles were never clarified as part of a team or not, so... fair game?

"So who are you working with this time around?" Kirishima grinned over at them.

Did he... did he honestly forget? Akira kept the excited smile on their face as they leaned across the divide conspiratorially. ' I actually want to play it close to the vest this round. Since we can't work together, might as well go with a completely underground approach. '

"That's so manly! I can't wait to see your presentation at the end."

Fat Gum and Suneater were on desk duty recovering from their injuries, so Mortis and Red Riot patrolled with the backup evening shift. The patrol was pretty quiet, mostly solving small personal disputes and a couple purse snatchers. The shopkeeps and bakers they were slowly learning the names of checked in, offering gift baskets and sending them away with a few extra goodies wrapped up. Mirage and Sandpaper showed Mortis the signs for their neopronouns, lun and hu, respectively. Bloom led the patrol since he'd been a sidekick for the longest, Mirage and Sandpaper only having their full licenses for about a year.

When they got back, Akira made their way to their room, tiredly waving to Kirishima as they left the elevator. A flash of their keyfab opened the door, crutches dully thumping against the carpet. They froze as the door clicked shut. Straining their ears, Akira let their capture scarf silently rise about them. There . Slight shuffling, muted voices, someone— no, some people were above them.

Akira warped onto their balcony, phone in hand with the locator app open as they directed their clone through their more familiar routine. With Kurogiri safe, the League wouldn't have access, so a new threat? Akira carefully leaned out to check the balcony above. Clear. But why would they... Akira silently huffed as they warped and the voices became clearer. Peering between the blinds, they could just make out the group gathering in what should be an empty room, clearly trying to move quietly but still making small noises.

Edging closer to the sliding door, Akira stayed just far enough from the glass to avoid fogging it. Inside, they could hear muffled whispers. "And you're sure they don't suspect you?" Uraraka asked as Kirishima walked in.

Akira grinned as the train ride made much more sense now. Clever play.

"Of course not!" Kirishima stage whispered back as the others shushed him. "Who would tell their target their own team members?"

Tapping off the locator app, Akira took a picture of them before slipping back into their room. They waited until they could hear Fumikage and Dark Shadow making their way down the hall before they warped next to the bird, keeping their steps in time with his just in case as they slipped into his room with him. They blinked in shock as dried flowers and leaves as well as decorated pinecones interspersed with the usual decorations in the dark room.

reaper: I want to check how far I can get from my clones before they disappear

raven: do you want assistance?

reaper: if I leave a clone in here while I walk away,

can you tell me when it disappears?

Fumikage jumped and looked around curiously while Akira grinned. They warped just to the side and had their clone wave.

reaper: also my trackers are in the room above mine

Kirishima, Uraraka, Sero, and Aoyama aren't your team

' Sensei said don't help? ' Fumikage signed, fidgeting as he looked around at the new additions.

reaper: technically he said "each team" should work independently

whether the moles are considered a team is up for interpretation

Fumikage sighed in exasperation but nodded, shushing Dark Shadow as they quietly trilled. Akira dropped the clone currently in the room and walked toward the balcony doors, running the distance calculations in their head for a minute before taking a step back and warping onto the grass under a tree. They kept an eye on the balcony of the empty room for a moment before jogging down the pathway, keeping a steady but quiet pace to avoid any evening runners.

Akira glanced at their phone every few seconds as they distanced themself from the dorms, curiosity growing as they still hadn't received a text from Fumikage. They eventually slowed to a stop on the other side of the swimming pool and texted Fumikage. To their surprise, the clone was still present, and checking their mindscape, Akira had a thread leading into the distance where they could make out what was probably the shadow. Curious, they tugged to make it warp, and a few seconds later, Fumikage asked if they meant to do that. Oh, I can definitely work with this, Akira mused as they headed back.

Armed with their notes and red herrings, Akira pinged Recovery Girl that they needed their prescription renewed and set off towards class with their crutches. The autumn air was getting nippy, and while it wasn't as bad as the oppressive heat and humidity of summer, Akira knew Aizawa and Taishiro would get on their case about not accepting help if they weren't proactive. Akira tiredly waved to Ida as they passed, warping once they knew he wouldn't talk with them.

They easily warped past the door into Vlad's class to place one paper in the podium and one into his pocket. Slipping back into their own classroom, Akira planted another slip under their own desk. All encoded, of course, with different ciphers so they couldn't easily be compared to derive the giver and receiver. Especially since the one in the podium used the same cipher as Tsunotori was using.

Akira kept to their usual routine for the most part, only deviating when they sent a clone with their phone to pick up on any conversations they needed to hear. Vlad unfortunately confirmed they couldn't directly use information learned off campus, but it could inform their conclusions as long as they had evidence collected on-campus to back it up.

raven: my community celebrates Mabon this Saturday.

Would any of you be interested in attending?

reaper: Is that an equinox thing?

raven: yes, it's a Pagan celebration

peppermint: do we need to be pagan to join?

raven: no

Akira smiled at their phone, glad Fumikage decided to open up. The new decorations and his altar made a bit more sense now. Since it was a potluck, they could bring dishes but weren't expected to as long as he got a headcount. Akira decided on caramel apple cider cookies since they looked easy enough to make and fit the theme.

On Wednesday, free of off-campus activities, Akira made an excuse of quirk training to slip away and find Vlad training his own class. He passed a note as they walked past, making their steps just loud enough to be heard by the teacher. They in turn made a false dead drop behind some equipment where he usually watched.

Akira did notice a tail coming out of heroics and easily slowed to talk with Hitoshi as Aoyama realized he'd been made. He skirted around them, continuing in the direction of the dorms but not quite towards them. Akira watched as he skirted into the trees while they and Hitoshi meandered into the main building. They smiled slightly as they heard another set of footsteps then a pair join them and realized Hitoshi was the head of a triangle around Fumikage and using Akira as cover.

' Where are you headed? ' Akira asked just a smidge broader than needed. ' I don't usually see you around here after heroics. '

"Just thought we'd chat while you head to your appointment," Hitoshi recovered smoothly, not even glancing behind themself. "We don't see each other as much now that we've got work studies."

Akira nodded along, but the slight falter in Fumikage's gait left them satisfied. Soon after, he ducked down a hallway and the other two followed. Hitoshi, to their credit, didn't break stride and walked Akira to their therapy session.

On Friday, Akira and Kirishima were slated for training at Fat Gum's agency so they could present, and Fumikage had the day off to present. Akira pulled Aizawa to the side before heroics, holding back a grin as they asked, ' Can I present after my assigned group? I can name all of them now if need be. '

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, regarding them suspiciously. "Why?"

' I want to see what they picked up on, ' a small, mischievous smirk spread across their face. He sighed and agreed after they revealed the names.

Fumikage also managed a couple red herrings, although his team of Hitoshi, Kaminari, Katsuki, and Sato caught on. They didn't identify Aizawa as his teacher contact, though. Tsu used her camouflage to get away with most of her dead drops, although her team of Ojiro, Shoto, Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu did get photos of her brush passes to Snipe. Mina had the clever idea of using a slow-working acid to destroy evidence of her dead drops but didn't quite get the formula right at first, so had a few missed dead drops. Once she got the hang of the formula, she got them through, but her group of Shoji, Ida, Jiro, and Koji were able to gather evidence of their existence.

"We're changing the order for our last group," Aizawa drawled to All Might's surprise. "Mori requested their group go before them and was able to identify each member."

Kirishima deflated as he walked up with Aoyama, Uraraka, and Sero. Aoyama went first this time, opening with, "Given Kirishima and Mori's train rides to Esuha, we tried a bold strategy for concealing our movements. Who would suspect that one of their pursuers would give up the identities of the other group members?"

A look of understanding crossed Aizawa's face as he glanced to Akira. Not the worst strategy to employ, but definitely a bold move. They went over the encoded notes they found and the three encryptions and handwriting styles used to write them. Knowing the possibility of red herrings, they held onto what they believed to be the keys and treated each note as a potential lead. They stayed split up for the most part, covering what they could of campus and observing from the room above Akira's in case they snuck out. They did run into a couple of the corrective notes Akira left and took the advice to Aizawa's chagrin, although there was a lingering spark of pride in his eyes.

As the icing on the cake, the team had narrowed it down to Vlad and Yamada but went with the latter. They had eliminated Aizawa due to seeing a meeting between him and Fumikage.

Akira got up and started their presentation with the picture they captured of the group on the first night to their crestfallen faces. Kirishima looked like he wanted to melt. ' First, I want to say that it was a good strategy, and I initially fell for it. It's dangerous, however, to underestimate your target's paranoia. I was ready to ping my location to Aizawa when I warped to the balcony and instead overheard you talk about your strategy. '

Akira went on to explain their encryption methods, red herrings, and true path of communication. Aizawa sighed at their admission of helping the other moles, drawing a hand over his face as Akira went over how they used their quirk to their advantage. The other teachers involved came in to give more critiques and praises, talking about how their quirks could have been more efficiently used or relied on less.

"So what is your range, Mori?" Midoriya asked, eyes bright as his hands twitched.

' I actually don't know, ' Akira shrugged, drawing a curious look from Aizawa. ' I walked from the dorms to the other side of the pool, and the clone in Raven's room was still active. '

"Do you want to do distance tests?" he lit up.

' We'd have to get permission first based on that first test, but sure. '

Notes:

ah, Strategic Intelligence Society (SIS) was truly a treat. It's where I'm drawing inspiration for this espionage training, as we did something similar to this over a 3-day period where we'd stalk an assigned officer of the club to see if they're the mole without getting caught. The last year I was in SIS, we were assigned to an officer and had to intercept or document as many dead drops as we could without getting caught. I even found a sticky note from what was probably a dealer while looking for them 😊 I did lowkey pull a Kirishima during that op, though lol I was friends with the officer we were assigned to, and we had already planned a meetup for him to fix my computer. I was a little too casual about it, though, and not subtle enough in my questions. Come to find out at the debriefing a dead drop was under the cushion of the chair I sat in Attachment styles in children is really interesting, would recommend it as a research jaunt. I remembered they're really informative on behavior, especially in early years, so backed up what I remembered from my developmental psych course. Figured I should give the backup evening patrol names at least lol there are a few background characters I might not get to showcase for a while if at all. Like how I've had Akira's dad's profile since writing Mortem Ad Wrens Chapter 23. The villain had such a good quirk in the original chapter so I ended up reworking it for Libertias aut Mortis.

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[dykealloy]

[futuremrscameron]

“tranquilo baby.”

“we’re back in the g-game baby.”

don’t even get me started on jjpope and rafebarry parallels lad

[maydaydiaz]

look at them tho!!!

[cherryys]

I don't particularly like how people sometimes portray itafushi as "pretty smart guy x dumb himbo" mainly because, to me, has implications of "there needs to be a dainty guy who's the brains and a big strong guy who's just nothing but brawns" which feels like an interpretation confromed in heteronormativity. You don't have to make one guy in a gay ship a damsel in distress who can't protect himself and only exists to tell the other guy what to do because he's "smarter", and you don't have to infantalize the other and make him dumb as rocks that only know hows to punch and kick and needs constant guidance from his partner on what to do in any given situation. You can make them both capable. You can make them both able to think for themselves and their actions. You can make them both strong. You can find balancing ways to make them both compliment each other. These characters are complex, they exist beyond the character trope boxes you try to force them into.

One of my favorite things about megumi and yuuji's dynamics is that they make up for any weak spots the other would have during a fight. Yuuji acts first and thinks later, and that could be super beneficial for most fights, especially since Curses and Curse Users are known for taking drastic action first, but sometimes you have complex techniques like Inverse which needs a little bit more strategizing first, which is where Megumi, who thinks first and acts later, comes in. Apart from the fact that he just has more jujutsu knowledge than Yuuji, Megumi has a keen eye for detail (see: even in the midst of being severely injured, he managed to notice Hanami's weak point and tell Todo (and later Gojo) about it). He just noticed Inverse's mechanics and quickly applied a strategy to beat him. This is not to say Yuuji wouldn't have eventually figured it out (he's very adaptable and a quick learner!) Megumi just figured it out faster due to his high Battle IQ, but that does not diminish Yuuji's intelligence at all. He's quick on his feet, he's relentless in his attacks (Mahito) and can adjust to any changes in the battle (allies coming to help him). That's intelligence.

On the other hand, we have people who think Megumi is incapable of fighting. Now, this is mostly because Gege gave Megumi so many Ls at the start (😭), but if you see his growth, you can see him plenty capable of taking on opponents on his own. He can fight for himself, he's a capable fighter too. He handled himself well against Toji (despite what the anime wants you to believe), got jumped by 3 people while really exhausted and still won. Just because Yuuji is stronger than him physically (and not by that large of a margin as some make out) doesn't make him any less capable of scraping with someone, fists and all.

You can make them balanced while still having flaws (Yuuji being reckless, Megumi being someone hesitant who always second-guesses his actions) but i get annoyed when those flaws turn up to a 1000

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

everyone clap for me

I saw an incredibly brain dead take on activism and I didn't engage with the post

I'm just going to vague about it in the tags like a mature adult

[beanghostprincess]

we gotta start giving luffy more credit for his emotional intelligence and empathy because i don't think y'all are aware of how fucking smart this lil dude really is

[borgialucrezia]

lowkey disagree with anyone who labels juan as stupid because of his oversensitivity, impulsiveness, and rash personality (the three traits that heavily contributed to his own doom) and while he may not be as cunning as cesare and lucrezia, he's certainly observant and has been predicting the game before it happens. he's also aware of cesare's superiority over him which is why he keeps provoking him about being stuck as a cardinal. he recognizes cesare's sinister potential and how he's maneuvering him and their unwitting father. he understands that cesare is planning to kill him and has clocked that there's something twisted going on between his brother and his "angelic sister." as david oakes says, "it proves that [juan] is sort of self-aware and probably hasn't had the best life." this is why he doesn't bother to speak up knowing he'd be dismissed and gaslit despite being right. unlike cesare who's already their father's consigliere and whom their father believes even when he's lying (mostly to seize juan from the position he desires)... this shows that juan is not as naive as his family (and the audience) believes him to be and that he has a strength they don't give him credit for.

[inamindfarfaraway]

Inspired by the Disney Princess villain song series by Lydia the Bard, here’s my idea for Princess Sofia’s own dark version of a Sofia the First song and the backstory and animatic script accompanying it. There are mentioned dead bodies and a little blood. I’ve really tried to keep her in-character, despite the very different circumstances and tone. She’s more of an anti-villain here.

I’d love to hear feedback on this and talk to other fans, of Sofia or Lydia.

I’ve written one for Princess Elena too!

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 16: Magnum's Grand Opus

Summary:

tw: cops, guns, gang involvement, child abuse mentions And so the Shie Hassaiki raid begins. Check out the spider's lil adventure in Memoirs Mori Chapter 3 :) Originally this was combined with the next chapter, but then I saw it was over 7K words. Next chapter is still about 4K but would be hard to break up more. 'text' JSL Text thoughts

Patrol was quiet that evening, mostly keeping up appearances of nothing changing while checking in with contacts. Tuesday night after patrol, Akira and Kirishima trudged back into the dorms after parting ways with Amajiki. Akira cocked their head in surprise to see Koji on the couch instead of an insomniac and motioned for Kirishima to go on.

' How are you holding up? ' Akira asked gently as they settled on the couch next to him.

Koji glanced up, only seeming to notice them as they started signing. He shrugged as confusion tugged down at his lips. Koji looked around and waited for Kirishima to go up in the elevator before signing, ' Did you know the League was getting involved? '

Akira started to reply but felt their phone vibrate and snorted at the picture of a little spider nestled against Dabi's arm in his sleeve. Returning their attention to Koji, who was now openly confused, they nodded. ' They became aware of Eri's situation and decided teaming up with a couple heroes would be worth getting her out. It's only a temporary alliance, but they can sympathize with her pain almost as much as I can. '

' Why did they kidnap you and Murder God then? ' Koji asked gently but firmly.

'They thought they were saving us from people who didn't understand,' Akira clarified, 'giving us an opportunity to be free from the constraints and oppression of current hero society. Most villains aren't monsters, they're people who were beat down by society and decided to revolt instead of try reform again. We're not the first generation to think we can change society from the inside, and we won't be the last. Most burn out or die too quickly to make a difference, so villainy and vigilantism are statistically better for making a difference.'

Koji peered at them with a questioning gaze for a moment before his expression softened. ' You were at that point, weren't you? '

Akira chuckled dryly, ' I still haven't technically walked away from that line. Wildfire will reach out to someone when your buddy is ready for pickup. If you need to leave at some point to translate, I'll cover for you with Mad Banquet. '

Sure enough, the next morning Koji wasn't in class, and a message in the Mad Banquet group chat simply said work study came up. Akira reassured the others that he'd be fine and confirmed Aizawa was aware. Not even an hour into first period, everyone on the mission checked their phone to find the raid briefing scheduled for the next morning at five.

Akira made a new group chat with their teammates for the espionage exercise and added double-end encryption and identity verification as recommended in the pamphlet.

Mortis : everyone should turn on blackout screen

it keeps people from reading over your shoulder

Can't Stop Twinkling : done, mon ami

Tailman : done

Siren : already had it, but good idea

Mortis : has everyone reviewed the exercises?

Tailman : how are we supposed to tail him when he has an

intel quirk?

Siren : Mortis and I can move almost silently, although they're

better at it. Twinkling can be damn sneaky when he wants to be

You're probably the most exposed

Mortis : I agree. Also, the classification is Thinker/Changer

We can use other teams to disguise our movements

but Tailman is going to be the most difficult to hide

Tailman : There's a stationary position, right? I could try that

Can't Stop Twinkling : that would be best, I think

' How are your teams going? ' Akira asked as they set their phone on the grass next to them. ' I do feel a little bad for teams and solos where one or more are on work study at a time. '

"We're not sure what to do right now," Shoto admitted reluctantly. "It will be hard to do any of the maneuvers with Jiro as our target."

Hitoshi and Akira winced sympathetically. "Might not want to say the name of your target when they have a Thinker quirk," Hitoshi warned in a low voice.

Fumikage looked up from his lunch with a curious glint in his eye. "Perhaps the dark ones will work together. They might be more inclined if they hear us doing so."

Akira hid a chuckle in their next mouthful as Dark Shadow mimed the words behind Fumikage. He scowled and looked back at the shadow bird, who just warble laughed.

' Dark Shadow, what's got your spirits up today? ' Akira let a smile slip onto their face.

"I'm sharing the sky!" Dark Shadow buzzed, vibrating in excitement. "One day, little Fumi and I will take you flying! And then you can see what I've been showing him!"

Fumikage's feathers fluffed at his companion's eagerness, but he nodded more reservedly. "We would be honored to take you flying once we have the stamina for it."

As the rest of Mad Banquet continued chatting, Akira started tracking a shrike that didn't quite seem to have a normal flight pattern. Squinting against the harsh sunlight, they could just make out something attached to its ankle and... Clever , they smirked and waited till it was facing away before turning to the group again, Fumikage watching them curiously. ' Does anyone know who has Animal Whisper as a target? '

The others shook their heads, but Fumikage's gaze immediately darted upwards. He smirked slightly as he saw the shrike and shook his head as well. "Clever move, using animals in his absence."

Akira nodded and quickly signed ' warp ' before starting to follow the bird under the cover of invisibility. There weren't any rules against helping the other teams, although with how competitive their classmates were, Akira wouldn't be surprised if most of the others didn't think about it.

They followed the shrike for a few minutes before it dove to catch a worm, and the note around its ankle was gone. Curiosity piqued, Akira crept closer to the small garden set into one of the half walls and caught a glimpse of a paper and harshly severed twine under a bush. They quickly snapped a picture with their flash off and made their way back to Mad Banquet.

Better for them to think the hiding spot isn't compromised than to intercept an early piece of information, Akira reasoned. Taking a 50/50 shot, they texted Katsuki asking if he wanted intel and what he'd be willing to trade for it. Akira made it back just as the first bell rang and had their clone stand up so they could easily walk into its place. They still warped again and had their new clone mostly fluidly walk with the group while they watched the trees. After a few minutes, no one emerged, so they padded back, glad their muscle memory was mostly accurate as they saw their clone sitting at their desk.

Easily replacing the clone, Akira noticed Shoji's backward-facing eye twitch at the slight visual disturbance. They just continued as if they were there the whole time, not even acknowledging the watchful eye as the class settled in for Ethics with Aizawa. Akira did catch a few more spiders than usual in the room, most of them sitting in webs but a couple clung to the underside of desks. They weren't as concerned with being identified as someone for the solos to monitor since they should be monitored regardless because of their quirk.

Akira fought to restrain an amused smirk at the pieces of paper floating close to the ground that almost seemed magnetized to Aizawa. At least we're not going up against 1-B directly . Aizawa followed their gaze briefly but continued his lesson, slipping the papers underfoot with practiced ease. As they headed to their cases for Heroics, Akira warped, tucking back into their chair and checking the desks for taped objects and loose papers. Under Ida's, they did feel a slip of paper so ducked underneath to check, opening it just enough to catch a time and place. Quickly taking a picture, they sent it to their group chat and slipped out the back door. They sprinted as fast as they dared while moving quietly to catch up before the locker rooms, just barely slipping into place before their time was up.

There's gotta be a way to time it warping . Their time limit plateaued at ten minutes once they could maintain their weight. The only extension they could maybe see was through clones warping, but even that was limited.

They went over basic tailing strategies and the rule of three with Aizawa taking point and All Might supporting for obvious reasons. Most of the period was quirkless training to build up their skills, but they were allowed for the last fifteen minutes. As they cooled down, Katsuki stormed up and practically slapped a note in their free hand. Akira raised an eyebrow slightly but continued, tucking it into their wrist knife sheath until they were confident there wouldn't be eyes around.

Akira slipped into the bathroom before weapons training to check the note, smirking slightly at the offer of sharing information freely between the two teams. They flushed the note and brushed against Katsuki's right arm as they passed to get to Mad Banquet in acceptance. Akira tried to keep a closer eye on Snipe to see if he was one of the teacher contacts, but they had to devote most of their focus to firing their gun. Even the small caliber one they were trying out had an odd feel to it, and the recoil was not helpful for their arthritis. Still, it was important to have options and know how to safely handle a variety of weapons in case of emergencies.

Once the class got back to the dorms, Akira sent Katsuki the picture of Koji's message and created a group chat for the two teams.

reaper named group chat Jisquad

reaper : [message.jpeg]

Watched a shrike deliberately drop this off

broccoli : Isn't this cheating?

mudergod : it's not against the rules, nerd

reaper : agencies often work together

should be fine

pinkqueen : so Thinker quirks. Crazy how they all ended up on the

villains side.

blank : yeah, the odds were not in our favor this round

sero : duuude was that a Hunger Games reference?

blank : ...what?

reaper : Katniss Everdeen? Revolution against a government

that forces children to fight to the death until one is left?

blank : I thought Katniss was a superhero archer?

pinkqueen : it's a nickname that's a reference to the series

just... *sigh*

anyways... are we gonna talk about how ████ is controlling

birds from a distance now??

Wait why did that get censored?

reaper : sparkles set it so all target names are auto-redacted in our chats

that way if they get access, there's nothing directly tying us to a specific one

The next morning, everyone on the Hassaiki case was up early, nursing coffee and smoothies while they anxiously waited for Aizawa. The underground hero would be driving them to the Nighteye agency in a van to avoid the scrutiny of early morning commuters and potential yakuza contacts. The mood was somber with a small spark of hope hanging in the air as they made the two-hour drive. Akira pulled out their phone as it vibrated and smiled slightly at the news the League had a potential lead on the Doctor's whereabouts. Dabi and Twice would still be at the compound, but Kurogiri would no longer be their primary exit.

The briefing was about what they were expecting, a frontal assault with whoever could push through doing so with a priority on getting to Eri before Overhaul could get her out. They had a good idea of the tunnels leading out of the base from small critters Anima was able to sneak in, so police by the outlets would also be ready to engage if necessary.

Thanks to a yakuza member buying a toy for Eri, they were also aware of the sequence needed to open the passage to the underground tunnels. To Mortis' surprise, Deku nervously stood up to present his analysis of the Overhaul and the Eight Bullets with an encouraging nod from Eraser. The breakdown of possible trigger enhancements and weaknesses startled a number of the pros, to which Mortis had to keep themself from looking smug.

' If I may, ' Mortis interjected as Deku started to sit. Sir Nighteye motioned for them to continue. ' Based on scar and quirk use analysis, he is either on the cusp of or currently capable of merging two entities. From his mysophobia, we have low confidence he will do so to himself unless he is truly desperate. If he gets to that point, keep him away from physical contact with people when at all possible. '

"Why haven't we heard of someone like that before?" Rock Lock recoiled.

' This type of quirk is exceptionally rare in the first place and getting to that level of mastery takes many years. He's already demonstrated extraordinary talent, but his age is why I hesitate to say he is currently capable of it, ' Mortis explained.

After sorting out a couple more logistics, the heroes and police made their way to the exit. Trophaeum sidled up to Mortis, who raised a brow at the proximity. "It's been a while, Mortis. How are you?" she asked with forced cheer.

Mortis slightly shook their head at Eraser and Fat Gum as they started to make their way back over. ' I'm fine. Ready to free this kid, ' they signed carefully. ' And you? '

"I'll be glad when this is over," Trophaeum plastered a fake smile on her face.

Mortis side eyed her for a moment, taking in the lingering confusion and hint of a bruise peeking out of her costume underneath her hair. ' See you on the other side, ' they settled on before making their way back to Fat Gum. It burned that the best thing they could do for her right now was stay away.

As a couple detectives handed out lists of Shie Hassaiki members and quirks for easy reference, Red Riot turned to Suneater. "Things are moving fast now, huh?" he grinned.

"You're energetic for how early this is..." Suneater grimaced while making final checks on his costume.

"All the pros are so calm... Is it 'cause they're all used to this?" Red Riot widely gestured, but Mortis picked up on the fidgeting and beads of sweat.

Mortis briefly placed a grounding hand on his arm as Deku wondered where Gran Torino was. Sir Nighteye and one of the detectives filled him in on the League moving, and Mortis subtly looked to Eraser. After a moment, he met their gaze and glanced over to Sir Nighteye. He inclined his head slightly, knowing what they were talking about.

"Maybe we can catch the Shie Hassaiki and League of Villains all at once!" Red Riot perked up with Deku.

Everyone finally gathered at the compound gates, Fat Gum handed a swordfish treat to Suneater and double-checked Mortis had enough in their pouches and pockets. Mortis ducked their head as a small smile slipped onto their face at his worrying.

Just as one of the detectives pressed the buzzer, Katsukame burst through the front gates. Three capture weapons shot out, pulling police out of the way as Mortis warped out of the hulking figure's path. Katsukame flexed to throw a punch, but Ryukyu shifted into her dragon form in time for only air pressure to blow past. "Ryukyu Agency will take care of him," she called out with a death grip on the man's back. "The rest of you go now, while you have the chance!"

Mortis jumped down inside the compound as three members closed in on the entrance. "Hey, what's a kid doing here?"

Ruin Blaster using environment . Mortis darted forward, warping next to the Blaster as he sent out the leaves and throwing him to the ground with their capture weapon before dancing back. The front runners surged to meet them, Mr. Brave and Kesagiriman stopping to restrain the three while the rest continued. As they reached the threshold of the steps, a mass of people burst into the courtyard from the smaller buildings, filling the area and keeping many of the heroes back. Mortis warped to just inside the main door, clone quickly dispelled by a stray elbow and fell back in line with Fat Gum and Sir Nighteye pushing through. Rock Lock, Eraser, and a few police made it through as well.

"They haven't done anything suspicious yet!" Fat Gum glared over his shoulder as they ran.

"I'm getting kind of worried, man," Rock Lock admitted, "We have no choice but to keep going now that we've started, though."

"They're probably underground getting ready to hide or flee right now," Eraser grunted.

Sir Nighteye stopped on a dime by a fluid flower arrangement, moving the vase and pressing a few boards as he muttered about his foresight. The hidden door open, Bubble Girl and Centipeder quickly engaged the goons, buying the rest time.

Quickly hitting a dead end, the rest of the heroes stopped a couple meters short as Mortis charged up to it with Le Million. Mortis went to knock on the concrete out of habit but felt a slight pull from the other side.

"It's just been blocked off by a wall," Le Million called out as Mortis looked curiously at it. "But it's a pretty thick wall."

Mortis snapped back to the situation and clarified, ' About two meters. This could be Overhaul or Mimic's potential response to trigger like Deku mentioned. ' The seams would be in the surrounding metal, so there were no obvious signs of Overhaul.

"It's like he's telling us he'll be in trouble if we go this way," Deku muttered before snapping his head up. "If this is Mimic, he might still be controlling the area. Everyone be careful!"

Red Riot and Deku easily broke through the wall as Mortis and Le Million swiftly moved to the side. As the group charged down the hallway, the surrounding metal groaned and warped. Shit, that's definitely Mimic . Eraser clarified his ineffectiveness without seeing a body, and Mortis glanced to Suneater worriedly as he started to mutter self-deprecatingly.

"Tamaki!" Mirio placed a firm hand on his shoulder as Mortis started to stumble towards the teen. "That's not going to happen. You're the Suneater! Besides, this is just the stopgap. No matter how much they try to warp the path, so long as we know the direction of our goal, I can get there!"

Steeling their resolve, Mortis surged forward with Le Million and said through their earpiece, "I can keep up. Better with two." The rolling hallway wasn't dissimilar to the nausea they felt when they warped while in motion, so the small adjustments to stay upright weren't entirely new to them. Mortis swallowed their uncertainty and forced themself to follow their gut as they listened to the pull on the other side of the next wall, warping the full three meters just in case as Le Million looked to them in surprise.

With a thumbs up, the pair pushed on despite the worried calls. "Mortis, be care-" Fat Gum's voice cut out as they passed through another wall, but Mortis felt their confidence surge at the warning.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[little-cereal-draws]

Team friendship shares one braincell between them and contrary to popular belief, Kitty does not get it the most. They all share it equally (which leaves at least two ppl stupid at a time).

[waitineedaname]

im experiencing scar induced madness again. I feel like people do not give him enough credit for being extremely poetic when he wants to be. sure he might seem stoic, but the dude busts out lines like this like it's nothing

[varpusvaras]

I have two snarling pomeranians inside of me. The other wants to call the EU writing of Bail's sisters as rigid and rule-abiding proper ladies boring and unoriginal, and wants all of them be as batshit as Bail is. The other one finds the concept of all three girls in the family being proper and deliberate while Bail is constantly off the rails incredibly funny.

[todayisafridaynight]

would it be okay if u told me why u like aoki😭/gen😭😭😭😭BEEN TRYNA LIKE HIM FOR SO LONG I JUST CANTT but i love ur art so much so i still consume it otherwise lol

i liked tohru adachi in high school and tbh i think that alone is enough of an explanation for why i ended up liking aoki

[serendipitysparks]

Birth and Origins: Ryomen Sukuna, a formidable entity within the realm of Jujutsu Kaisen, is steeped in a rich tapestry of lore that dates back to the Heian period of Japan. Born as a human sorcerer, his existence was marked by an extraordinary amalgamation of power and malevolence. His duality is encapsulated in his physical form, characterized by two faces and four arms, symbolizing his multifaceted nature and the dichotomy of his being.

Psychology and Personality: Sukuna's psyche is a labyrinthine construct, reflecting a profound complexity that intertwines arrogance, sadism, and a perverse sense of superiority. He exhibits a predilection for chaos and destruction, reveling in the suffering of others. This sadistic enjoyment is juxtaposed with an astute understanding of human emotions, allowing him to manipulate those around him with ease. His personality is marked by a nonchalant demeanor, often displaying a sardonic wit that belies the ferocity of his capabilities. Sukuna's interactions are laced with a sense of disdain for weakness, yet he possesses an undeniable charisma that draws others to him, even as they fear his wrath.

Intelligence and Strategic Acumen: Sukuna's intelligence is not merely academic; it is a profound, instinctual understanding of the world and its intricacies. His strategic acumen is unparalleled, allowing him to anticipate the moves of his adversaries and exploit their vulnerabilities. This intellectual prowess is complemented by an innate cunning, enabling him to navigate complex social dynamics and emerge unscathed from precarious situations. His ability to adapt and evolve in the face of challenges underscores his status as a quintessential antagonist, embodying the archetype of the cunning trickster.

[anotherpapercut]

the way white liberals talk about Ruth Bader Ginsburg as if she had some sort of unique ability to decide cases correctly and was like the only person standing in the way of the US and utter chaos is so funny to me bc like a) Sotomayor and Jackson have better judicial records than her ?? and b) if you trained an AI by making it watch 250 hours of John Oliver I think it would make the correct decision as often or more than she did