RAID: Omoikane Cartel

**Date Completed:** March 4rd, 2018
**Previous Role-Play**: Gathering of Evil: Omoikane's Revolt Against Amaterasu
**Next Role-Play**: Relinquished Emotions
**Users Involved:** User:KamiGuru, User:ScarletPlumage, User:Freezing-Soul, User:Legendary Super Saiya-Jin 4, User:Ultimate Domon
**Setting:** Japan
**Characters Involved**: Issac Clarke, Satoru Misawa, Benjamin Blackwell, Jiro Makoto, Ichiro Makoto, Akio Yamamoto, All-Might (*mentioned*)

## Ready Up!

If one decided to look straight up into the sky despite the glaring presence of the sun, one could perhaps barely make out the silhouette of some sort of flying object complete with what appeared to be wings moving gracefully through the sky. One might be surprised to hear this, but even in this modern day and age where Quirks were so commonplace, claims of an "alien spacecraft", sightings of a "U.F.O, and the traditional guessing game were still occurring. This was the normal song and dance for any hero capable of flight, where persons would often say something along the lines of "It's a bird!", and then another, defying all forms of logic, would then assume the flying figure was a "plane", as if such a conclusion even made any sort of sense, to begin with. Then some wise fellow would guess who this individual could possibly correctly, without a doubt. However, as the figure appeared to approach its destination in the city and make a sudden descent, this immediate descent scared nearby citizens for perhaps a little while as if it was a hero seemed to be landing with such a purpose, chances were a crime was taking place right under their noses. However, as the sun slowly began to reflect off what appeared to silvery-white hair and his facial features became less obscure, a sigh of relief could be heard as those paralyzed in apprehension before felt calm enough to carry out their regular tasks, and some even began to stare in stupor.

The now identified "Guardian" simply entered the GUILD H.Q without stopping for something as trivial as a picture or waiting around to be idolized, believing what he was going to do was far more important. An incredibly towering skyscraper with the imprint of Issac's guild logo from Aether Star on the building, the hero simply entered the building without hesitation, his Hero Uniform already clearing security for him. Immediately making his way up to a room "arbitrarily" numbered 117 without taking the time to talk to those at the lobby, Issac simply pressed a button and waited for the available heroes, being aware not everyone could gather around for a meeting in these busy times. Still, it was important, so he was hoping to have at least one or two. "It's pretty likely I'll only get those two again but I don't really mind, they work well," he muttered to himself as he waited. "Any minute now."

Elsewhere in the city a man clad in a tiger mask and a striped cape could be seen taking a picture with a young smiling child, while a recently apphrehended criminal is escorted away by several police officers close by. The easily identifiable "Tigerheart" noticed the telltale bleep of a Hero Network alert from inside his mask, and he quickly handed the child his phone back, "Seeya later kiddo, got more Heroing to do!" The tiger themed hero vanished from sight as he dashed off towards the GUILD HQ.

"First as always?" Tigerheart questions to no one in particular as he walked into the building several minutes later, strolling past security and making his way up the stairs to room 117 where GUILD's founder awaited him.

Across the city, a skeletal man stands over a small group of crooks, with them captured in a prison of bones as a few people look over from behind. While the hero known as "Spinal Tap" is ensuring that the criminals remained pacified until police officers came to arrest them, his watch is interrupted by the beeping noise of a Hero Network alert. As he hears the sirens of police cars growing louder in volume as they drive in from behind, he takes off toward the GUILD HQ, turning back only to give the few onlookers that had gathered a quick nonchalant wave before making his way to his destination.

After going through security and making his up the stairs, Spinal Tap silently waves towards the other two heroes as he enters room 117.

Upon the entry of the two heroes, Issac gestured them to take a seat before looking around at the empty seats for a little bit before chuckling slightly. "Yup, pretty much who I expected." Tigerheart and Spinal Tap were pretty much some of the few heroes in GUILD at the moment Issac could rely on to be there for almost any briefing, unless the situation they were dealing with was pretty grave. "..Alright guys. This is going to be  a pretty serious discussion. An old threat is now associated with a name now that I'm sure you're both aware of. But, this revelation is beneficial to us heroes. All their movements can be traced, or tracked more readily." Issac reached into his desk and pulled out newspapers detailing a recent victory for heroes in the War on Drugs . "If these two heroes gave us an edge, I believe we're obligated to act on it so their efforts aren't in vain. I'm thinking of starting our own little raid, it's about time we play a major role. Since you two seem to be the only ones available, you guys in?" Issac paused and waited for a response, hoping that their responses would be affirmative.

Satoru leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed as Issac explained, not bothering to use one of the many empty chairs. "About time is right, course we're in," Tigerheart responded eagerly, taking no time to think about Issac's proposition, nor waiting to hear his fellow Hero's opinion before volunteering them both. "We going now?"

Benjamin was about to give his own answer before Tigerheart answered for the both of them, causing him to shrink back for a brief moment before responding with a quick "Yeah, I'm in," confirming that he agreed with Tigerheart's statement.

At that moment, the doors to room 117 slammed wide open. The sheer force caused the doors the damage the walls that stopped em. "Sirs! You can't just go in there!" one of their secretaries yelled. One of the two men, stayed behind to make an attempt to comfort her. "Do not fret, they should be expecting us." he spat, looking at her with his light brown eyes. The other man simply walked into the room. "I AM HERE!" he exclaimed, with a serious face. He stayed stationary for a second, hands, no, hand on his waist, legs spread and chest out. It appeared he was attempting to imitate a hero from several decades ago. But after a matter of moments, he burst into laughter. "Ghahahaha, nah. I'm just playing. Though we are here so...." he said, before looking back to his brother who was becoming very friendly with the secretary. "God dammit Jiro. You always do this. This is why other hero offices don't like us." Ichiro scoled.

The two were Ichiro and Jiro Makoto, twin sons of the famous hero and entrepreneur Yasushi Makoto. The three are part of the Hero Office; "POWER!", an agency that has experienced great success recently due to the twins actions as heroes and their father's moves in the office. In the eyes of the hero association, the two were considered one hero, both holding the same rank in 7th.

The brothers eventually made their way into the room. "So, today we take down the Omoikane Cartel." they spat in borderline sync. While it seemed unintentional, the twins seemed to be doing everything complete accord. They sat down, picked their nose with their pinky and flicked it away. "So what's the game plan?" the said in unison once more.

As the door flew open, the silver-haired hero in the room simply let out a quiet sigh as it was the third time this week that "visitors" to this room had slammed the doors wide open. If Issac didn't know better, perhaps he would take this as some joint attempt at corporate sabotage. But alas, out of all the heroes possible that the Hero Association could send his way, these two were the last on the expected list. Taking some time to observe the fact that this particular bunch had gone the extra mile and even damaged his walls, he let himself relax after hoping that the twins were as passionate about heroism as they were about simply making an entrance, and as their rank would imply. "Ms Mazaki, your effort is appreciated, but we'll handle this from here." The poor woman had gone up there because she was horrified, having thought that her career would be in danger because she would have just let two strange men suddenly walk into the Guardian's conference room as if they owned the place. However, she was eventually caught between her desire to stop the men from just barging in and fawning ever so slightly over the auburn hair of the hero who had been getting a bit too close to ending her marriage and was visibly struggling. As if she was rescued, Ms Mazaki simply let out what could only be described as a squeal of accord upon hearing her boss' words and proceeded to rush back downstairs.

"Well, now that we're all here, word's gotten around that the Cartel has a warehouse in a less populated area of the city, smart bunch they are, out of the sight of most of the general populace, and out of mind as well. Last time I checked, information told me that they were in a culdesac with a few mysteriously vacated buildings, but they may be on the move. Considering the fact that the last warehouse that we know of was in the country's more rural areas, any operation here is perhaps a far more integral part of the Cartel's plans, or at least, perhaps a more defended area." Issac took a break to assess the reactions of the heroes around him, before continuing. "If I was a betting man, I would have my bets on this location being a distribution centre. I'm broadcasting the approximated co-ordinates to your devices as we speak." In moments like these, Issac really had to think about how amazing his Hero Uniform was, allowing him to multitask on a level that would be simply impossible otherwise. "We should be prepared to fight some henchmen, and perhaps some villains but it could be more depending on the scale of these operations. Our initial approach should perhaps be stealth so as to ensure the situation remains manageable. Has anyone anything else to add? Questions?" Issac already knew the response of his own heroes, but looked over to those of the foreign Office.

The two brothers did not have to even look at each other to think the same thing. "So this is the guy who's ranked higher than us." they thought, referring to The Guardian, the leader of GUILD. They did not give the other two heroes much thought as neither of them were even able to break the top twenty. "Seems like you got this all figured out. I wonder why the hero association would ask us to accompany the number five on this mission." they once again spoke in unison. Ichiro would then rise from his chair. "Stealth ain't really our thing champ. We're more of the flashy, finish everything in one stroke, and be one with it type of team. " Jiro would follow suit and rise from his chair. "Yeah, and we understand you think you're superior because you're higher rank. But we got our own thing going and we'd prefer to keep it up. So you guys either have to with the program or this coalition is over!"

Tigerheart would step forward from his position leaned against the conference room wall, and pipe up in response to the words of the twins, "Y'know chief, I'm not too big on stealth either if I'm to be completely honest with you," the tiger-masked Hero said towards Issac. "Dunno why we would need these guys to help us, but their philosophy is kinda speaking to me," Tigerheart would say before he leaned back against the wall, whilst he silently pondered to himself on how it was even fair that two people counted as one hero.

Benjamin took a small step towards everybody else, taking a second to talk as he tried to find his words, before quietly stating, "I'm fine with whatever plan we come up with," and quickly retreating a few paces back to regain his space, looking quite relieved and somewhat proud of himself as if he had accomplished some kind of herculean effort.

For a second, Issac was actually surprised that Ben put his two cents in, but it was progress nonetheless so he was happy to see Ben actually giving his opinion. However, Issac sighed and shook his head at the apparent inexperience of the other heroes he was sitting with, and noted the dismissive looks that the Twins of Power gave his heroes. "As professional heroes, in the most conventional sense it is our duty first and foremost to ensure the safety of the world's law-abiding citizens. By going in flashily, we not only broadcast our arrival to villains hastily but risk giving those likely in there the ability to create unforeseen complications that may prove disasterous. I don't think I'm superior to anyone. We're all heroes, which is why it's imperative that we all act like we are." Issac gave a slight pause and let his words sink in. Experience had taught him that a tactical risk assessment before a raid of this magnitude was not only advantageous, but necessary in many scenarios, and perhaps the cornerstone of preparing to an engage in a raid in a videogame setting. Perphaps as the living embodiment of the phrase, "life is but a game", or the phrase taken to it's highest zenith, Issac, no, The Guardian, made his own assessment of the threat, an assessment that his uniform seemed to agree with based on the intel he had, and all of the extensive research on the actions of villains he had compiled at this point in his career. "While stealth may not be the preferred method for you heroes, this area isn't too far away from the general public." Issac then paused to let his peers speak once more, hoping that they had been convinced but honestly doubting it.

Jiro quickly responded before Ichiro could even process what he Issac had just said. "Like stealth even matters. Like come on, I think a nerd who plays video games would understand this better than anyone. The bad guys seem to always be one step ahead, especially when it comes to invasions and ambushes. I say we clear the civillains in the area before hand and then we straight up destroy the place." Jiro confidently spoke. While they were both loud and brutish, Jiro was definitly the one with much more entusiam, outside of when he is with woman of couse.

But before Jiro would go on with his disconfort with The Guardian's plan, Ichiro would speak up. "Let's say we do decide to follow your strategy, how will our invasion work. The complex is humongous, and we're only five people. What do you suggest we do." Ichiro had suddenly become more articulate and was actually interested in picking the heroes mind rather than settling this with harsh words and screaming. "Also, since we're meeting before I think now would be a better time than ever to discuss what each of us is capable of. As Hercules says, "Team work makes the Dreamwork". But in order for this coalition to be a success, I need to properly know when I can lean on my allies."

"Huh. The villains tend to be one step ahead because villainy inherently requires planning, but many heroes believe they can just rush in and save the day and often times finding themselves simply failing the mission. That exact logic is why so many people give up on raids or just fail them. Blindly rushing in is no better even if the villains are one step ahead, we're just increasing the speed at which we run into their traps and the rate at which their plans are carried out. However, I must agree that clearing out the civilians sounds like a relatively good idea." As Issac said that, what appeared to be a detailed model of the complex seemingly phased into existence with the surrounding buildings around the cul-de-sac even being perfectly recreated, based on the information he was aware of so far. The original vision his parents saw for his Quirk, Issac produced sectional views of each floor of the complex, as well as an extensive foundation plan of the building, displaying an aptitude in architecture, building drawing and visualization all simultaneously. Issac then removed the roof of each floor to expose the structure of what he knew about the interior of the building. "Feel free to fill in any gaps."

"Teamwork is the plan. According to what I've got here, there's an underground tunnel and a basement, and several of these floors are effectively a maze. I can make decoys, several decoys to draw attention away from us so we can pretend to seemingly attack from multiple angles, a diversion to enable us to actually enter the building, preferably not by knocking on their front door. Very simplified, my abilities allow me to create holograms, or constructs that can actually interact with physical matter for the most part. The name of the Quirk, is Digitization. I can also assimilate artificial light. The rest of the plan will depend on your capabilities as well, as I also need to know what we’re capable of as a group in order to truly find a way to enter.”

"Ehh, What if we actually did attack from multiple angles instead of just pretending to though? Would make everyone happy right? Would be a bit of a waste for all five... four? of us to be in the same spot anyway." Tigerheart would suggest after Issac finished his explanation, still not neccessarily wanting to enter a stealth mission. He would then quickly move on to explain his abilities. "Anyway, my Quirk is pretty simple, it lets me make this aura," A ghostly white aura, taking the form of a tiger would expand around Satoru. "Which can boost my attacks and act as a sort of.. defensive barrier for me or anyone in it. It can get a lot bigger than this, but I don't really wanna waste energy." Tigerheart finished his short summary of his abilities and leaned back against the wall, his aura dissipated.

Benjamin quickly stepped back up once again, assuming that it was his turn to explain his Quirk. "My Quirk lets me make bones," he began as he formed two femur clubs in each hand to demonstrate. "I can make weapons, shields, and..pretty much any other solid thing I can think of...yeah..." he said as he absorbed the bones back into his body, finishing his explanation in a slightly more confident manner than was normally expected of him, if only due to the fact that he had attempted rehearsing some sort of speech about his Quirk previously if the situation ever arose in which he'd have to summarize his abilities.

The two heroes seemed un-impressed by their respective quirks. They we're expecting something, something more interesting. "Well, not gonna lie. I'm surprised you guys are a top hero organization. I guess you're teamwork must be outstanding." Jiro commented. Ichiro would then follow up. "Now now, lil bro, not everyone can be as exception as us." they snickered before formally introduce themselves. "We are the Magno Bros." Jiro began, "Our quirks allow us to telekinetically objects." Ichiro continued. "I push." "And I pull" "And together, we are unstoppable!" they said in unison. They waited for a response.

Issac decided to let up, simply allowing his friend and by extension most of the coalition a more generous compromise. "Fine fine, we can attack from multiple angles and not sneak in if you want to so badly, just, be careful. It's better than just barging in anyways, no-one really to impress."

Issac deadpanned for a second. Each one of the GUILD members present here had Quirks far more interesting than those wielded by the Magno Bros. Only possessing the ability to recreate halves of the umbrella power that would be magnetic force manipulation individually, their Quirks were, less than his standard his impressive by his standards. Atleast, for Quirks so exaggerated. "....Huh. With all that talk I expected something far more interesting. They're fine I guess, I'm a little disappointed now from the way you made it seem at first but I'm not gonna quirk shame you two. That, should be it for a sufficient synopsis of all of our powers I believe. What I've gotten from this so far is clearing out the area of any remaining civilians, then going to attack from multiple angles, perhaps with a diversion or two?" It was perhaps for the best that they didn't all go the route of stealth anyways, if anyone actually decided to adhere to that part of the plan. A mix of approaches was often best and gave the operation a sort of, flexibility. Honestly, Issac was just hoping that his peers didn't act too rash and jeopardize the mission because of that.

Satoru stood there in disappointment after hearing the twins explain their quirk, confirming to himself that the only reason they were ranked so high was because they were somehow allowed to take one spot. "I bet if I had a twin like that I'd be higher ranked than Issac..." Tigerheart would silently think to himself, before he perked up as he heard Issac agree to his proposistion. Happy that he wouldn't have to leave his comfort zone and sneak in to the villain's hideout, he smiled behind his mask and gave a thumbs up to Issac's summary.

Trying to find a way to also show approval of Issac's summary, Benjamin steadily started to give a thumbs up as well, glancing over to Satoru to copy his form, only to immediately feel as if he was doing it wrong and began to lower his arm back down. However, he feared that this would make everyone else wonder what he was doing with his arm, potentially leading to questions and putting him in the spotlight, as well as possibly discouraging them from wanting to be around him if they were to believe that he just makes weird random arm movements on a regular basis, resulting in him producing a strange looking half-thumbs up at an awkward angle, before slowly bringing his arm back down and hurriedly taking five steps back into the corner.

The two could sense the other's disappointment; it wasn't out of the ordinary. But rather than barking at them about how cool their quirks are, they simply smiled. "I guess we'll see who's quirks are better at the end of the mission." they spoke in unison, signalling that they were content with the strategy Issac had suggested.

## Evacuation

Only an hour later, the team would commence their mission. As suggested, they would first need to evacuate the citizens from the area, while keeping their presence unknown. Unaware if the enemy had any control over the area outside of the colossal building they'd need to be swift and secretive. Upon reaching the rendezvous point, an abandon house just right outside of the targeted area, the twins requested one last thing. "How many of those projection-hologram things can you make?" Ichiro asked. "You think you can produce enough to mirror the population of the area." Jichiro followed. Obviously, the illusion of the citizens must be present, if not then the whole concept of them being evacuated secretly would be for nothing. "If ya can, we can maintain the illusion of the citizens still being present which would make sure our enemies are alarmed." Now in mission, it appeared the twins were more professional.

Issac was somewhat surprised that what appeared to be his greatest liability, the twins, seemed to have settled down a bit. He thought he'd have to run Pro Hero babysitting duties again for th-, actually, at this point he'd lost count of the number of times he'd have done something similar before. Of course, this was usually carried out with heroes of a lower ranking, but nothing seemed impossible nowadays. Still, it was a pleasant surprise. Taking in a sudden, swift breath, Issac did all the preparation he needed. "Had that planned, I've got the number of persons in this area down already."  The Guardian was accustomed to casting such simple spells, especially when given the chance to have such a knowledge of his surroundings. "I'll mirror the population incrementally so it never seems too busy and maintains a relatively common level of activity, the faster we evacuate them the faster I'll substitute them." Inspecting several of the nearby buildings to stay cautious of his surroundings, The Guardian was ready to start when everyone else was.

"Then let's hurry up and evacuate everyone, sooner we finish the less time they have to notice anything, right?" Tigerheart responded to Issac, "I assume the twins here must have some kinda idea on how to get all these civilians out of here since they suggested it in the first place." Not having a lot to add to the current situation, Tigerheart waited.

Also not having much to contribute to the situation at hand, Spinal Tap waited as well, simply observing the nearby area and readying himself for the evacuation to begin.

Joyful with The Guardian's response, the duo was ready to begin the evacuation. "In order to do this swiftly, I think it's best, at least for this of the mission, we separate." Jichiro began. "The four us should individually clear out different sections, while the Guardian remains here with a constant line of communication, so he can project the images of the civilians at the right time." Waiting one more time for each of their responses, Ichiro then realized he had missed something crucial. "I know I'm asking much of you but this seems to be what you're quite good at. I was wondering if you can place a projection over a person, kind of like an invisibility cloak?"

Before Ichiro had even finished his sentence, a wave of what appeared to be light engulfed the four temporarily before seemingly remodulating it's appearance, appearing to flicker out of existence as quickly as it phased into existence, along with the heroes within it. Quite a few Quirks that allow the user to replicate a feat such as invisibility tend to leave the downside of a shadow behind, a limitation that a surprising many tend to be oblivious to. However, to the Archmage of GUILD, such imperfections was considered to be the work of amateurs. If the heroes attempted to look around, they would find that such an exercise of The Guardian's innately biological magic was carried out on the level of a master. An architect's Quirk taken and magnified to the level it was at today, intricacy and complexity was the lifeblood of the Guardian's power, resulting in what would appear to be a perfect concealment spell. Without what appeared to be even a second thought, The Guardian spoke, removing his hand from the shoulder of the last person to be rendered invisible. "I prefer shroud, but anything else? If not, hurry along. I've got this under control, and I'll keep an eye out for any movement."

The squadron would then head out to evacuate the civilians. They were quick and efficient. Each hero was in charge of a different "area" which had various families. The task would take great cooperation and communication. Surprisingly, the heroes of POWER! worker well with those of GUILD; they managed to evacuate every civilian in a matter of twenty minutes. Next came the following step to the plan, clearing the victims from the area. The five heroes discussed where to keep the civilians in the room above.

Jichiro and Ichiro smiled. They were both proud at their preparation. "Looks like it's one one now." they snickered, actually keeping score between the two hero agencies. GUILD had earned a point with The Guardian not only aiding them in escorting the civilians from the premising, but also maintaining the illusion of them still being there. But POWER had earned a point with this: "I know you guys were thinking about where we should keep these civilians." Ichiro once again commenced. "But fear not, we have already got it covered." They then spoke in unison. "We have an escape route underground that'll lead the civilians to a safe house in the city, at least until the area is safe once again. They waited for the other three heroes' responses.

"..That wasn't there before when I last projected. ..Good work." Another pleasant surprise, the twins seemed to be worth their salt. Ignoring the fact that they thought that saving lives was a competition, they actually created a full escape plan for the civilians. "Last time I checked wasn't there underground villain activity as well?  Probably should make sure they aren't being followed, or don't already know about the channel, unless, you've taken care of that too?" While normally perhaps overlooking this detail would be forgiveable, the Guardian needed to ensure that the people remained safe, especially if all of them were going through one escape route.

"One to one? When'd you start keeping score?" Tigerheart asked, feeling as if the twins were fudging the score in their own favor. "Two to one at best, dontcha think Tap?" Tigerheart looked over to his fellow GUILD Hero for his response, before he realized that he probably wouldn't have one. "Guar-" Tigerheart began to switch his focus to Issac, before once again coming to the realization that he didn't care. "Y'know what.. Forget it, we'll call it even."

The twins were quick to respond. "Indeed, but our paths do not reach as far low. They would be barely below the surface; just enough to let them slip by so you can take a break with your quirk. Speaking of which, that was a lot of people and quite the long, does your quirk have any limitations?" Ichiro jokingly asked. "So we ready to go?" Jiro followed up

"Well, good job again. But a sorcerer never reveals his secrets. I could use a break though." In deed the illusion held up entailed quite the number of people, but the strain was mitigated by simply not creating an absolutely perfect replica of a civilian, just simply enough to fool a highly skilled marksman. The mirage produced by the Guardian did not have to constantly maintain true corporeality, and when it needed such an aspect, it was simply managed by his Grimoire, allowing him to create complex projections without having to put the same level of mental strain as he would have had to normally, especially since the entire thing was gradual. Of course, this Grimoire concept was borrowed from the tool concept of a heroine who helped to inspire him towards his current path from a few decades ago who possessed a somewhat similar Quirk.  It was indeed a bit taxing regardless, but the hero had his own unique way of managing it.  "And..ehh, by the way, it is two to one."

"Ha! I knew you'd have my back Guardian, shouldn't you be all about scores anyway, being the game guy and all." Tigerheart said, more so pondering to himself rather than legitimately asking the Guardian. "Anyway, now that the scores settled and everything we should get going, I've been ready for awhile, how 'bout you Tap?" Tigerheart turned to his silent comrade, asking for his input since he hadn't spoken in some time.

Having been listening to everyone else from the back, Spinal Tap was slightly taken aback when Tigerheart started to talk to him. But he realized that this was no time to panic. Ever since his failed thumbs-up back at the meeting, he had been thinking about how he needed to improve his technique. A strong thumbs-up would be the perfect way to interact with onlookers without actually having to talk to them, signifying his friendliness and showing the world that Spinal Tap is a good hero that can be trusted. Realizing he had an opportunity, he once again quickly yet carefully thought through the motions, raising his arm at a good angle before clenching his hand together in a thumbs-up. While he fuddled the hand clench slightly, having to readjust his fist a bit afterwards to make it looked better, it was a relatively decent effort for a beginner. Having felt himself improve so much in such a short amount of time, Spinal Tap felt a small surge of pride, making him more confident for the moment and ready to take on whatever the raid throws at him, enough so that he actually walked forward at a quicker pace, moving away from his usual spot of constantly being at least 5 feet away from the rest of the group to get closer to the other heroes.

The twins paid little attention to Spinal Tap's inner struggle with public speaking. Jiro was quite enraged by the fact that the heroes of GUILD believed they had scored higher than them. Prepared to argue, Ichiro placed his hand on his little brother's shoulder. "We'll have plenty of opportunities to one up them once the fighting commences." he spoke, hoping the statement would settle his brother down. "Yes, the location is secure. Our cousin, a member of POWER!, is actually waiting at the end of the path to guarantee their safety. So how bout we begin our assault on the building." Ichiro spoke, hoping that the trio was as ready as they were.

## Infiltration

After a small break allowing the Guardian to recharge, the heroes got to work on infiltrating the colossal building the Cartel had chosen to be their base of operations. Having safely escorted the civilians out of the way of harm, the true essence of the raid had only just begun. Following the plan of attacking from multiple angles, each hero would take a floor with even the underground operations of the building not being safe from the initial raid strategy of the combined forces of GUILD and POWER!. Beginning to enter the building, the heroes went about their own methods of carrying out such a operation with the mission in mind.

As each hero entered the building, they'd be caught of guard by the lack of security. No underlings, no sirens, no cameras.

Despite their resistance, the heroes of GUILD convinced the brothers to take separate paths. This definitely allowed them to cover more ground but alas it also prevents them from showing their true strength. The brothers were quite far away from each other as well, one being closer to the top most floor and the other the bottom most. It'd be a surprise if the brothers managed to return to one another before the mission was over. Although they were apart, they maintained constant communication, that did not include their allies. Actually, they had gone mute to the GUILD heroes, not keeping an open line with them anymore.

"Hm, no talking huh? Thought I'd smelled fish." The Guardian thought to himself, why would the heroes go so completely silent? If they were so competitive, and had powers that served to form a continuum, why would they possibly seperate if they wished simply to outplay the Heroes at GUILD? Something was up, especially since even the boisterous Jiro didn't even come on the comms every now and then. Assuming that they came off the comms to plan points was a stretch. Recovering his power from the exhausting usage earlier, Issac brought up the schematics of the building in the display that his Hero Uniform allowed him to read from and casted a shroud of concealment around his body, concealing his own frame. Entering one of the higher floors of the building cloaked and silently, Issac observed his surrounding environment and compared it to the layout of the building he predicted. Issac maintained communications with GUILD, and quietly told his heroes to be on guard.

"Just when I thought we were making some progress they go and ghost on us, some allies huh?" Satoru thought to himself as he made his way into one of the lower floors. Satoru was surprised to find no one there, but it only further his concern. "I'd prefer if this place was full of baddies from the get go... This is just creepy." Tigerheart thought silently, starting to glow white as he projected a thin aura around himself to protect from any surprise attacks. On guard, Tigerheart explored his floor, looking for any sign of the enemy. Since Tigerheart's Quirk would quite easily give him away, he made little effort to conceal himself, which is the main reason why he had objected to sneaking around with the others previously. He thus tried to explore the floor as quickly as possible, only slowing enough to check for any traps or enemies to guarantee his safety, giving up stealth in favor of speed.

While the other heroes explored the floors of the building, Spinal Tap started to make his way underground, using his Quirk to form a small yet strong drill on one hand, which he cranked with the other, quietly and quickly making a path to the underground tunnel. Having remembered Guardian's earlier statements about the underground escape path, as well as the potential villain activity underground, he figured that he should make sure that the citizens that used the path to escape made it to the safe house without encountering a villain on the way.

The dead silent maze-like complex would suddenly become more active as if something had triggered it. Gates would block certain hallways, hopefully forcing the heroes to take a more specific path. The exact cause of this would remain unknown but the moment the gates dropped, the regained communication. "Um, guys...I think you're gonna wanna see this..." Jiro plead, remaining ambiguous as to what he wants them to see. "I think I'm going to need assistance up here as well." Ichiro spoke, panting. The two were in the opposite sides of the building; Ichiro at the peak and Jiro at the nadir. Based on which paths were blocked, the most ideal situation path of assistance would be Spinal Tap and Tigerheart to assist Jiro and The Guardian, Ichiro. "Hurry!" they spoke spontaneously.

Noticing the sudden animation of the entire complex Issac would watch gates suddenly shift into position attempting to restrict his motion. Curious, Issac created a combat decoy, an exertion that would take more strain than simply creating a normal decoy, showing his prowess in silent casting by casting a variation of a spell, or move without declaring it's usage. Based on past experiences, this particular set up appeared to be the beginning of an ambush from multiple angles. Sending forward the decoy to explore the area and hurry up the stairs in the scenario that Ichiro was actually in danger, the decoy would attempt to destroy some of the gates on the way, attacking them at their weakest point with a realistic fascimile of Issac's true physical strength to allow Issac to see what exactly occured if someone were to destroy these gates. Considering that the gates that were supposed to restrict Issac's movements suddenly activated when Ichiro and Jiro regained communication, the fact that a specific path was created, and that Issac was suddenly given a destination that appeared to coincide with this specific path, Issac decided he'd help Ichiro in the chance that his supsicions were wrong, but not in the way that an amateur probably would.

"So now you're talking, huh?" Tigerheart thought to himself. Wanting to get to Jiro as quickly as possible, and having seen the gates popping up around the area, Tigerheart decided for a simpler option of getting where he needed to go. The aura around Tigerheart's hand expanded rapidly, and he tore through the bottom of the floor under him in one powerful swipe of his glowing white claws, before deftly landing into the bottom floor where Jiro was located. "What's all this fuss about now?" Tigerheart asked, looking around for the Hero. Tigerheart kept his guard up, as it seemed likely that Ichiro and Jiro's sudden talkativity could spell danger for him and the rest of the heroes in some way or the other.

Having received the message after only briefly starting his excavation, Spinal Tap quickly ceased his digging and rushed inside the building, making his way over to Tigerheart upon seeing him land from the floor above.

As the three heroes made their way their respective twin, they brothers could no longer keep up the facade. They began to burst into laughter. The situation was becoming quite apparent. The RAID was a bust, a hoax. There was no villain, no real danger for the people, rather an opportunity. An opportunity for the twins to crack top five by not only eliminating the competition, The Guardian, but also receive credit for taking down "Omoikane base". It was a full proof plan. And now the set up was complete. The two "heroes" broke apart "GUILD" into the ideal match-ups for them to take down. Now all that was left to do was eliminate the heroes. And if the heroes simply attempted to escape, well the death of north of a hundred civilians would be on their heads.

"Come on Nerd! It's about time I k.o. you!" Ichiro commented, intentionally making video game references.

"I wanted to fight Guardian, but I guess fighting the two on one is a better test of my skill anyways!" Jiro's voice echoed, hoping both Tigerheart and Spinal Tap could hear him.

Simultaneously, despite being on opposite poles of the building, the twins yelled. "Let's do this!"

## Battle Begins

### Pushing Projections

"The Guardian", or rather, the lifelike replica of The Guardian actually standing before Ichiro looked completely unsurprised. In fact, if Ichiro blinked for too long, Ichiro'd realize that "Issac" had suddenly vanished, as if dematerialized. The decoy had served it's purpose, and Issac managed to broadcast a message to the members of GUILD. Now, Issac would be far less irked if the heroes in question were inexperienced amateurs, but they were both ranked number 7 on the Hero Association's rankings as a single hero. Perhaps this was how they suddenly shot up the rankings: creating situations, eliminating the competition, and then pretending to save the day themselves. Such utter disregard for the principles of heroism could not stand, would not stand. The silver haired hero made his true presence known in response to Ichiro's comment, his decoy having bought sufficient time.

In a profession where many enter simply for the money and the fame, Issac sitting comfortably within the Top 5 Greatest Heroes In The World meant many a time he would encounter rookies who would try to take him down to prove themselves. But, today was truly a sad day. A hero within the top ten greatest heroes in the world, via twin licensing or some other method, had put not only the reputation of other heroes, but the lives of an entire area of citizens in danger. If this hero wished to act as a villain, he would be treated as a villain. "Calling yourself a hero and stepping up to fight me for my rank, after threatening the lives of so many innocents, for the sake of something like...ranking. How low."

Ichiro did not care much for Issac opinion on the matter. Ichiro and JIro had there reasons and felt no need to explain themselves. "If you're done lecturing me, how about we get this started." Unlike his brother, Ichiro was not arrogant. He knew his opponent was a skilled fighter, skilled enough to reach top five. Every move needed to be well designed and executed perfectly. There was no room for error. Similar to his brother, he waited for The Guardian to make the first move.

"I can't tell whether you're overconfident or not, one moment you're calling me a nerd and the other you're solemn." The moment the Guardian finished his sentence, a shimmer of light appeared to surround his entire body for the briefest of seconds before solidifying into what would appear to be the legs of his trademark armour. Seemingly having disappeared from the spot he was at a few seconds ago, the Guardian appeared to suddenly move faster than the unaided human eye could see, thanks to the assistance of the projection over his legs. Stopping his motion to suddenly strafe off towards the right, Issac appeared to punch at Ichiro at a distance that was laughably far away for any traditional punch to make contact. However, as Issac made his punch, what appeared to be a digital forearm from the wrist down flew towards Ichiro, it's speed seemingly enhanced by the momentum Issac gained before firing it off and aiming to hit the seemingly undefended "hero" square in the jaw with full force. A test to see how his opponent would respond, Issac would begin the first phase of his plan.

Ichiro did not sit to see how the attack would end. The moment the Guardian began his assault, the elder Magno Bro commenced his own. Unlike Jiro, Ichiro was not determined to reveal the true abilities of his quirk from the beginning of the battle. It was an edge that could prove to be invaluable later on. Thus, he prepared the room with metallic items that would support the claim of his quirk’s magnetic abilities. As Ichiro dashed away from his previous spot, with speeds the were also beyond the naked eye; unknown to his target it was attributed to his quirk, Ichiro manipulate metal shard that were several meters in front of the leader of GUILD. Dodging Issac’s attack and also launching one of his own, this was an effective counter.

In the natural world, a select few individuals demonstrated the ability to react to objects that move far faster than any of their five senses could perceive, leading many to conclude that such humans have a yet unexplained sixth sense, or process the world at an entirely different sensory level. Such individuals  have been known to easily cut air pellets in half with a katana. Issac was one such human, and as these metal shards suddenly appeared before him, Issac was able to quickly react to the attack of his opponent despite the shards starting off only a few metres away from him. Quickly creating a net that appeared to deform inwards, the net appeared to rebound the metallic shards back towards Ichiro, quickly deflecting his attack with the momentum and speed used to attack him. "He's quite fast for a guy who's Quirk only lets him push magnetic objects... Unless he can pu-, of course.", Issac thought to himself. The only conclusion Issac could come to was that Ichiro had somehow used his own Quirk to propel himself. While Ichiro's maneuver could perhaps somehow fool a less observant hero, the Guardian found Ichiro's speed to be quite suspicious, and perceived the manipulation of these metallic objects as merely a cover up for the true nature of his Quirk accordingly. In this attempt to conceal his Quirk, Ichiro had inadvertenly revealed, atleast partially, the nature of his Quirk to Issac.

With his increased speed, many would suspect Ichiro to come charging at his opponent. But Ichiro did not. Instead Ichiro created even more distance between he and his opponent. Unlike his brother, Ichiro preferred long distance combat; some would say he specialized in it. For this reason, Ichiro was chosen to fight the number five hero. It was not because he was stronger than his brother but rather he was more cautious. Ichiro's role was different from his brother's. Jiro was responsible for taking Tigerheart and Spinal Tap out, but Ichiro was supposed to stall his opponent until the latter completed his task so they could fight The Guardian at their peak. "How are things coming along on your side, mate?" he whispered into the mic, keeping his guard in preparation for Issac's next attack.

Taking note of Ichiro's decision to make more distance between themselves, Issac quickly deduced that the reasoning behind Ichiro's movements had to be one of three potential things. One, he was a long ranged fighter who was moving away to secure the distance at which he is more proficient in. Two, to draw out a fight between the two, so that whatever underlying plan they might have had may have succeeded. Three, something about the distance Issac was closing in affected, perhaps in the slightest, the functionality of his Quirk. It might be two, or all three, but Issac thought there was no way it was none of the three. Keeping in mind the fact that Ichiro had rigged the place with magnetic objects to use his "Quirk", Issac figured he'd keep the truth of his deductions to himself. If both deduction 1 and 2 were correct, then the correct action was to perform actions that would counter that. If 2 and 3 were correct, the actions remained the same. If 1 and 3 were correct, the actions still remained the same. Cladding himself completely in the Guard of Eternal Justice instead of simply his lower legs. a sudden boom resonated as the Guardian appeared to close the distance between himself and Ichiro, travelling at breath-taking speeds on his way to combat Ichiro outside of his apparent comfort zone. While Issac was capable of fighting in long-range as well, if the opponent showed preference to one range then the logical thing to do was to get them out of their preferred range. Capitalizing on the moment Ichiro began to whisper into the mic and even partially broke his focus, Issac would attempt to begin an assault from this point on.

Despite the apparent bulkiness of this construct, the Guardian appeared to be moving far faster than before, hoping to take Ichiro off-guard by appearing to have being building up to something and slam a fist into his stomach with tremendous force. Hopefully, this would offput some of Ichiro's calculations, as even Issac himself would not expect an opponent to pull of what he just did based on just the flow of the battle.

Even faster than a blink of an eye, Issac appeared in front of Ichiro. Just finishing his question to his brother, he was somewhat surprised by the assault. The increase in velocity would definitely pressure Ichiro. But rather than thinking rashly and making simply mistakes, Ichiro would counter calmly. While it's true Ichiro prefers long-range combat, that doesn't mean he's not versed in close ranged. But Issac's sudden assault and increased speed would limit his options. He could use his quirk to increase his own speed and attempt to dodge, but at this range, receiving some damage is almost certain. Thus he took a different approach. Inexperience fighters don't know this, but most people are at their most vulnerable when striking. It's actually quite basic logic, when attacking, there is little time to actually care for defense. Thus attacking while his opponent is would be most ideal.

And so he did. Instead of dodging, he'd launch his own attack at the same moment Issac would launch his. Sending a condense shot of *push*, the attack simulated a pressurize wind attack that targeted Issac's own gut. The force was incredibly powerful, strong enough to break most armors and defenses. It was one of Issac's signature moves *Blank Strike*. It required no movement on his part, thus not alarming his target of his attack. Unfortunately though, his lack of movement would lead to his own punishment, as the Guardian's attack would send flying to the wall. Blood gushed from his mouth dealing both external and internal damage as a result. "Shit, that packed a punch..."

As the Guardian unleashed a mighty fist into the guts of his opponent, he would suddenly be blasted by what amounted to a gust of pressurize wind meant to target his own gut. The attack was silent and discrete, and without a movement on Ichiro's part, Issac would be unable to defend himself...normally. Unlike Ichiro who had left himself comparatively open for Issac's attack, Issac's defense was already pre-emptively activated before he had ever attacked. As Ichiro unleashed his Blank Strike, an immensely powerful attack in its own right, Issac would prove himself to be no inexperienced fighter and aware of this phenomenon as the attack's force was seemingly dispersed throughout the projected armour around his body.

While perhaps this attack would have the power to cause notable damage to the Guardian, the hero received simply a fraction of the damage that he would usually receive from the move. The concussive force that was meant to hit his gut was still there, as it's nature allowed force to still be conveyed regardless of the durability of Issac's armour, but was distinctly weakened in comparison to the force that would have hit him normally. Struck in the guts, the force of Ichiro's attack in it's entiretly, including the force that hit his armour knocked him back with his encased legs eventually skidding across the floor, bringing him to a standing stop. Despite having taken a shot to the gut, between his ability to take a beating and the dopamine coming from a slight feeling of intellectual accomplishment, Issac couldn't help but have a slight smirk underneath the armour. He was right. He had been right about the Quirk, and even about the range, as even his opponent's counter forced him back out of close range combat. Maintaining his guard, Issac prepared for what his opponent's next move might be after the truth of his Quirk was revealed.

Struggling to rise, Issac's punch surely put a toll on Ichiro's body. More hacks of blood displayed the damaged state he was in. But the fight was not over. "Now that I know what you're capable of, I can plan accordingly." he spoke, successfully rising form the rubble. Simultaneously the cement crumbled off the wall as a result of his collision would rise as well. "Take this!" he yelled, unleashing of a barrage of attacks towards his opponent. But unlike last time, Ichiro would not remain still. Using his enhanced speed, Ichiro vanished from his spot, and began to move sporadically, in an attempt to confuse his target.

As the cement whizzed towards him, the Guardian quickly projected a wall meant to deflect the attacks headed towards him, with Ichiro's yell telegraphing the attack only assisting him to defend against it. However, the moment Ichiro had begun his attack, Ichiro had suddenly vanished, presumably by utilizing his Quirk in the manner he had done earlier. Concluding that the cement had to be some form of diversion, Issac immediately began tracking Ichiro moving throughout the area shortly after having created his wall. Tracking Ichiro's movements while keeping the cement situation under control, Issac created another construct of a fist but this time noticeably larger, having used the arm of his armour as a template and projected it outwards towards Ichiro, rocketing it at him in the middle of one of his seemingly sporadic movements.

As Ichiro pushed off from one point either physically or perhaps more likely, with his Quirk, Issac's arm projection would appear in front of him within the transitional phase between movements, with a force meant to put down the "hero". Instead of waiting and attempting to find a pattern to Ichiro's movements, instead, Issac decided to utilize Ichiro's own momentum and direction against him by attacking him and accounting for these movements. In many games, particularly shooting games, one often had to deal with concepts and phenomenon such as "bullet drop" and movement prediction while utilizing sniper rifles, using the opponent's own movements or the direction of their movements against them, and Issac's attack was proof that he himself was ofay with the concepts.

"This is it, it's ti-" he thought, just as he was ready to launch his next attack. But his preparation was all for not as Issac was once again a step ahead. With Issac's attack and his own momentum against him, Ichiro would take a life threatening amount of damage compacted on top of the damage he had just received from The Guardian's previous attack. Hearing Jiro whisper of defeat into his ear, Ichiro knew all was lost. "Looks like separating wasn't a good idea, huh bro." he thought, right before the attack rendered him completely unconscious.

### Two Minds are Better Than One

"You two always seemed suspicious but this is just too far... How dare you call yourself heroes?!" Tigerheart exclaimed in anger as he heard Jiro speak. Maybe it was a hoax, but in Satoru's mind there was definitely real villains, and there was very real danger. Tigerheart rushed to where he could hear the sound of Jiro's voice, his body surging in white aura as he prepared himself.

As he heard Jiro's voice echo throughout the room, Spinal Tap formed a bone club in each hand, readying himself for a confrontation. While he was certainly angry that he and the others were tricked by the twins, he knew that he had to stay calm and be prepared for whatever they tried next, with him observing the rest of the room from a mild distance away while Tigerheart rushed forth towards where Jiro's voice seemed to be coming from.

Upon seeing the Tigerheart but not Spinal Tap, a look of disappointment emerged on Jiro's face. "Only one of y'all? No, that's not enough!" he yelled. Sitting down onto the floor, he waited. "I'll only face both of you at once! Let's wait for your friend to arrive." The arrogant bastard, he always felt he was superior to everyone in combat, even his older brother. Based on what he heard about their quirks, he expected their battle to take no longer than seven minutes.

"Your choice." Tigerheart said in response to Jiro's protest. Tigerheart continued to dash at Jiro as the "hero" sat down, kicking off the ground with his immensely powerful legs, the force of each movement enhanced by the tiger-like aura produced by his Quirk. Tigerheart would appear as nothing more than a white blur to most people as he moved, the floor cracking under his feet with each step as he launched a kick at the sitting Jiro's face.

As Tigerheart charged at Jiro, Spinal Tap slowly made his entrance, walking through the door with dual clubs at the ready while steadily creeping towards the two of them, making sure to keep his distance while observing the situation so that he could form a plan of action before jumping in to help his comrade.

Tigerheart's assault was not surprising, actually it was expected. Based on his responses to their comments from earlier, Jiro knew Tigerheart was pretty competitive. He had a feeling he would not sit idly for his teammate to emerge, thus, despite appearing to be wide open while seated, Jiro was prepeared. As Tigerheart dashed at him with blazing speeds, a smirk emerged on his face. Jiro didn't move an inch rather, Tigerheart moved to much. For some reason, the hero's kick had missed Jiro's face by a couple inches. Was it because Tigerheart had no control of his speed, unlikely. Could it be that Jiro lied to them about the extent of his quirk, more likely. "It's crazy how an entire attack can be ruined by just moving inch or two." He snickered, noticing Spinal Tap enter the room. "Well now Mr. Boner. Are you gonna help your fellow hero." Still not moving, despite Tigerheart's close distance.

Unlike Jiro, Tigerheart hadn't lied about the extent of his Quirk, but Jiro seemed to have missed a very important detail regardless. Jiro's confidence seemed to have lead him to make a crucial mistake in only moving Tigerheart by a couple of inches. As Tigerheart was moved out of the way by Jiro's Quirk, the aura around him would expand. The aura surrounding Tigerheart's leg would begin stretching out past Satoru's own body to make contact with Jiro just as soon as the "Hero" thought that he had avoided Tigerheart's attack, hitting the assumedly unsuspecting Jiro with the full force of Satoru's kick. "I could have sworn I told you that it could expand, crazy how an entire counter can be ruined just by stretching an inch or two."

Knocked back by the force of Tigerheart's "kick", a body flew several meters. But as if they were together on a string, as Jiro was sent flying several meters, Tigerheart was pulled with him. Flipping several times to regain his footing, Jiro prepared for his opponent to become in arms reach. Being *pulled* towards Jiro, the odds of Tigerheart possessing any footing would be extremely low. "There must be a weakness to that quirk." Jiro found himself upset by the fact that he did not know how to fight the GUILD hero. "I'll kill ya!" he yelled, hoping to deal a powerful punch in the gut.

As Jiro prepared to attack Tigerheart, he was suddenly covered in the shadow of Spinal Tap, who had moved using Tigerheart's body as cover to get in close without being seen. After jumping off of Tigerheart's body to get in front of him, pushing him back and giving him a chance to regain his footing, he swung both bone clubs down onto Jiro's shoulders, swiftly smashing them with great force in an attempt to end the fight quickly by preventing any further use of his arms.

Spinal Tap's quiet nature would make Jiro careless around him. Outside of his ability to manipulate bones, Jiro really had no idea what the hero was capable of, thus his speed came as somewhat of a surprise. But his goal of not only helping his teammate but attempting deal damage to their opponent would give Jiro plenty of time to adapt. Once Spinal Tap emerged from his teammate's shadow, Jiro would let loose of his control over the latter. With his quirk free to use once more, he targeted the ground below him. But instead of pulling the ground towards him, he pulled himself towards the ground and at incredible speed. While the impact would knock the air out of him, it'd allow him to successfully dodge Spinal Tap's attack. With his opponent's right on his tail, he was unable to respond to his brother's comment.

Once Tigerheart was free from the influence of Jiro's quirk, the Tiger-masked hero would immediately dash towards the fallen villain. Moving with the same speed as before, Tigerheart would aim to land a devastating attack before Jiro could fully recover from the impact of hitting the ground, launching a mindbogglingly fast kick at Jiro's head. Whilst he attacked, Tigerheart would additionally extend an arm of his aura at Jiro, expanding it and grabbing onto him in an attempt to hold him in place for his attack.

Not making the same mistake twice, Jiro kept an eye on both GUILD heroes. Tigerheart was indeed quick, but no quicker than his brother during their training. Thus he was able to not lose track of him. Noticing the white aura leaking from his opponent's body, he realized he needed to create some distance to between them. Different from his sibling, Jiro sought a mechanical arm after losing their own in battle. Putting the enhanced arm to use, through powerful hydroponic system, he was sent flying upwards. "Let's see how they fight in the sky..." he thought, attempting to *pull* both of them into the sky with him.

Upon seeing Jiro fly into the air with his mechanical arm, Spinal Tap quickly formed a small, yet thick bone blade from his wrist, stabbing it down into the floor to keep himself from getting pulled into the sky while firing small, sharp bone shards from his other hand, with them rapidly blasting towards Jiro's mechanical arm to stop him from using it again.

Tigerheart was pulled into the air by Jiro's quirk after the former hero avoided his assault. Now in the air, Tigerheart would rapidly extend the arm of his aura at Jiro in the air, cleaving at him with the claws of his glowing white aura. Tigerheart would aim his attack at Jiro's back, looking to pincer Jiro between his claws and Spinal Tap's bone shards, or force him to dodge by pulling himself towards the ground once again.

As he prepared to launch his own assault against the heroes, they'd come at him with greater speed than he anticipated. With Spinal Tap remaining grounded, he focused his quirk on the one he managed to *pull* towards him, Tigerheart. The pull unfortunately would cause more harm than good, bringing the latter's assault closer to him. Along with Spinal Tap's own barrage of attacks. He'd be forced to obvious, and dodge once more. Using his quirk again, he pulled himself downward to the ground but this time with greater control. Landing on his two feet, he dashed toward the bone hero, where he then attempted again to pull him towards himself to punch him smack in the face.

Feeling the force of Jiro's quirk attempting to pull him towards him, Spinal Tap released his blade from the ground, allowing himself to be pulled in Jiro's direction before using his own quirk to cover his entire body with short, sharp bone spikes, aiming to use Jiro's power against him by allowing himself to get in close range while discouraging Jiro from doing any attacking of his own, lest he gets stabbed of his own volition. With this, he flew through the air towards Jiro, blocking his upper body while doing so in preparation for contact with his punch.

Whilst in the air, Tigerheart would rapidly extend both legs of his aura towards the ceiling, kicking off and launching himself at the now grounded Jiro. Tigerheart shot himself at Jiro like a rocket, his powerful legs enhanced by his Quirk leaving the ceiling in rubble as he kicked off. As Jiro attacked Tigerheart partner, the Tiger-masked hero would aim to crash directly into Jiro's unsuspecting back with an earthshattering punch.

Spinal Tap's defense was indeed clever but not surprising. Despite only battling the two of them for a short period of time, Jiro was beginning to catch on to their abilities. "You're strength in numbers is nothing compared to my overall strength!" he proudly spoke, appearing to show no concern for the two attack heading his way. "This should end it!" he thought, before extending his power to Tigerheart's physique, pulling him towards him more accurately. But then at the last moment, Jiro suddenly disappeared from the spot, leaving the two on a collision crash course. With both being airborne and moving at incredible speeds, avoiding each other would be extremely difficult.

Reappearing about ten meter away from his spot, his mechanical arm had been completely damaged, revealing that it was the cause for his spontaneous speed. "Game over..." he claimed, turning his back to the duo, as headed for the exit.

The second that Jiro began pulling Tigerheart towards him, the Tiger-masked Hero would know Jiro's plan. Why else would Jiro help Tigerheart reach him, if not so that he could try and cause a collision between the two heroes? Tigerheart would expand the aura of his hand, wrapping it around Spinal Tap before they collided. Tigerheart twisted his own body with all his strength, utilizing Spinal Tap's momentum along with Tigerheart's immense physical power to launch the spike-covered Hero directly at Jiro's back like a missile as he overconfidently assumed their defeat.

As Spinal Tap was launched towards Jiro, he began to expand some of the spikes on his body, shooting them over and around Jiro as he ran towards the exit, blocking off his escape route with a bone cell of sorts, only leaving it open from behind as he rocketed forth, flipping himself around midair to smash directly into Jiro's back with a devastating drop kick.

Arrogant as always, Jiro did not expect the two heroes to evade the attack. His confident walk towards the exit would cement his defeat. As the bones surrounded his every direction, he spat. "What the fuck?!?" As he turned to face the "defeated" heroes, he was greeted by Spinal Tap's ferocious kick. Not expecting the attack, he was unable to defend himself, sending him flying out of the bone cage and into nearest wall. "Mission failed..." he struggled to say, whispering into his mic before passing out.

### Just in Case

The young hero had had enough, he was fed up with the villains as of late and was thinking of a new way to combat them more effectively. He thought this whilst he kept his foot held down on some measly villain he had just defeated in armed combat. "Stay down and don't move, you're lucky I didn't kill your ass on the spot!" Igneous said with a strong tone of anger in his voice. "Now, I'll let the authorities deal wi-" Igneos halted as the device inside of his chest strap went off: giving him detailed information on what was going on by The Guardian. "I see.... I'm on my way!" Igneos stated as he quickly made his way to the location that The Guardian had told him to go to. "Now, it's time to do this."

The civilians were kept prisoner in an underground cell several miles away from the building that could barely hold each of them. They each wiggled for space; attempting to not make sound. All of them were fearful of the beast that stood outside their cage. It was definitely a primate. But it appeared it was one of those *gifted* animals; the ones born with quirks. It was no bigger than the average ape, but what made it unique from sibling species were flames that were ignited over his head. In an attempt to assert his dominance, the ape banged his chest aggressively; the flames grew larger in response. The people whimpered and cried as they feared for their lives. But the ape had no intention of killing them, at least not yet. He suddenly turned around and sat patiently guarding the cage.

"According to Guardian's info, they should be somewhere around here." Igneous thought to himself as there wasn't anyone in sight. "Guardian said they were sent to an underground facility, so they should be right below me... time to start digging." Igneous stated as he activated Molten Core and his Thunder Piercer and began drilling a hole into the ground at impressive speed. He would continue to drill with all his might, practically running deeper and deeper into the ground until he finally brought the ceiling of the underground facility and landed in front of the fiery ape. "...Well this wasn't what I expected" Igneos spoke in surprise.

"Yes!" "A Hero!" "We're saved!" various civilians began to chant at the sight. None of them really recognized the hero but they were all glad to see him. The ape stood tall. Once again he began to bang his chest, summoning flames from his skull. But this time, the flames grew exponentially larger. His back facing the cage, the heat of the flames reach the imprisonment, heating the bars as almost a warning. "Uh Uh Uh!" he chanted, as flames engulfed the rest of his body. A wild animal would now launch at his target, but no, not this ape. Continuously banging his chest, he remained still as he waited for the hero strike first.

"Tsk.... he'll roast them alive if I'm not careful...." Igneous thought to himself as he watched the intelligent ape. Suddenly, Igneous activated **Boiling Point**, one of his signature moves, and channeled an tremendous amount of heat into his right foot. His foot had become significantly empowered by the condensation of the heat, and with all his might he springboarded off of the ground directly at the cell at astronomical speed as he continuously shifted all of Molten Core's power into each foot as he made a step: causing small charred craters to form along the ground as Igneous ran. Simultaneously, he had launched the spinning steel rod inside of his Thunder Piercer at the gorilla, aiming to use it as a distraction so that he could save the poor civilians. If he reached the cell, he would smash it open so that the civilians could escape.

Rather than charging at hero, where he'd most likely lose due to the human's superior speed, the ape took a leap backwards, where he released flames from his palm which were directed towards to the civilians. Yes, the if the hero progressed he'd manage to deal quite the blow to the ape, possibly even gravely injure him but not without completely failing his mission's objective. If Igneous continued with the assault, the ape would kill the civilians. Expecting the hero to stop, he focused his attention to the steel rob, where he'd simply grab it with his palm, broadcasting his great strength and durability to heat.

Having no choice, Akio halted his assault and skid across the ground until he came to a complete stop. "Fuck!" Igneous screamed in anger as he eyed the fiery ape. "Shit... I need to think of something quick..." Igneous muttered to himself. "I....surrender....I'll do anything you want....Just don't hurt them." To prove that he meant what he said he took off his cape and chucked it near the civilians, as well as powering down and getting on his knees. "I just want them to be comfortable, please don't harm them." Igneos said in a calm and serene tone, looking the ape seriously in the eyes.

A suprised look emerged on the apes face; he was confused the heroes sudden desire to surender. The civilians in the cage began to plead for him to reconsider. "Don't do this!" "You have to save us!" "It's literally your job!" They cried. His look of confusion transitioned to one of anger. The firery red flames on his head suddenly turned blue. The heat within the cage suddenly increased, resulting in their cries to help to grow louder.

Akio had made sure to throw his cape close enough to the civilians so that they could grab it. Once the ape began heating up the cage even further, Akio screamed with all his might at the civilians "Grab the cape! Use it to block the flames!" as he activated Molten Core once more, used Boiling Point, and heel kicked the ground in the direction of the gorilla to create a large crater that tore apart the area and unearthed the ground: which would cause the gorilla to lose balance and be sent into the air. Right after, Akio would disperse the rest of Molten Core's power across his whole body and leap at the ape in the air, grab hold, and piledrive him into the ground below with massive force: aiming to knock him out.

Deceived by the hero, anger filled the ape's body. Fighting airborne was definitely not in his benefit. Taking the full effect of Igneous' attack would certainly mean defeat. Thus, the primate took serious counter measures. Upon being grabbed by Akio, a surge of flames was released from his physique with a superior grade of heat. Even if the heat wouldn't do damage to the hero’s suit as he would've expected, the flames served a supplementary purpose. By raising the flames heat to over 1500 degrees F, as he descended to the ground, the rock would begin to melt. The melted rock, while incredibly hot, would act as a cushion for the ape’s fall. Since the ape is very resistance to heat, he’d find himself suffering from minimal damage.

After countering the hero’s attack, he’d break away from his clutch, and returning the front of the cage where his mission remained obvious; make sure the civilians do not escape.

The heat that the ape emanated from his body would only heat up Akio even further, causing his body to become even hotter and causing his physical parameters to rise. As the ape attempted to escape, Akio absolutely refused to allow the ape to return to his position, so upon reaching the ground as the ape cushioned himself: Akio would use his left arm to punch the ape in the head and directly into the ground as he began to break away from his clutch, aiming to severely wound the ape and give it brain damage as he used Boiling Point once more to focus all of his increased power into his left fist on impact. This would subsequently generate a large crater in the ground and shake the nearby underground cell.

His determination to press on came to a shock for the monkey. Akio's fist would most certainly connected with the primate's face, leading to quite the below. Falling straight back into the heated mush, it initially appeared the inferno ape was render unconscious. But then his collar began to blink repeatedly; it activated in response to his unconscious state. From his collar, two injections pierced his neck. One, a dose of adrenaline to wake him up and the other being a dose of Detonators, which would enhance his quirk’s abilities tremendously. Rising once more and his limitations removed, he stood confidently to face his target, waiting for him to make the first move.

Right after the ape was rendered unconscious, even if only briefly, Akio would sprint full speed ahead using Boiling Point at the cell containing the civilians. He would then flying eagle kick the cell, smashing it open, whilst the gorilla was recovering and rising from the ground: using this one opportunity to free the civilians so that they could escape. "Hurry up and get out of here! I'll take care of the ape!" Akio shouted as he released the civilians and turned around to prepare to face the strengthened ape.

As primate saw his opponent freeing the civilians, disgust emerged on his face. Raising both arms, his hands filled blue flames. It seemed the ape had zero interest in completing his mission's initial goal. It was time to put this whole fiasco to an end. His arms would act as flamethrowers with goal in not only setting his opponent but also the other civilians a blaze. Unlike most villains, who would give their target's a last word, the ape did no such thing. With great fury and aggression, a storm of flames were released from his hands and directed toward the recently freed civilians and Akio.

"Quickly! Get in front of me!" Akio shouted anxiously as he picked up his cape, put it on, and leaped backwards into the flames: Using his large cape to block the flames and prevent them from reaching the civilians. As he did this, he would recall the discarded steel rod back to his Thunder Piercer magnetically. Next, he would slowly reach behind him, his arm being obscured by the cape, and use Boiling Point again before launching the rapidly spinning, empowered, and steaming steel rod through his cape and at the ape. Due to heat the ape was emitting, Akio's body became even hotter, and thus his physical parameters rose and his Thunder Piecer became stronger because it's powered by heat energy. This would cause the steel rod to be launched at incredibly high speeds while letting off excess steam. To Akio's advantage, the rod would be obscured by the flames the ape was emitting, making it extremely hard for the ape to see as the spinning rod made it's way through the flames and pierced into his abdomen at blinding speed.

For several seconds the flames continued, the underground facility would literately become a sauna. The heat of the flame were brutal. But suddenly, the flames would stop. The ape gazed downward to see the the metal rod piercing him in the stomach. As if one queue, he'd spit out blood. Rather than letting out a large cry in pain and agony, the adrenaline would mask most the pain. But despite the adrenaline, the ape was paralyzed. Unable to move anymore, he simply landed on his front; pushing the rod further into him. Akio had won this battle.

Right after the steel rod made contact with the ape, the back of it would explode emitting a burst of highly pressurized steam to push the rod even deeper into the ape's body: certainly guaranteeing the ape's defeat as it collapsed. "Now let's get you all out of here!" Akio screamed as he powered down to avoid overheating, and led the civilians through whatever tunnels they had came through in order to escape. Once the civilians were secured, he would head to the building that The Guardian had informed him about: aiming to assist the others.

## Victory!

With both brother defeated and the civilians saved, the heroes of GUILD had successfully completed their mission.