"Ye are insufferable," Inkerton groaned.
"Don't worry, he'll grow on you, everyone's weirded out by Roman at first." Yang remarked, comforting the squid.
"Hey!" Roman whined.
"Mr. Inkerton, you had me at 'spa'!" laughed Thad.
"…UUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKK!" SPLAT!
At that point, someone had crashed right in front of the squad. Before anyone could get closer, the man pushed himself up. Drakus found himself pausing at this incredibly strange figure.
For one thing, he was blue. He also had sharp teeth and small, beady eyes. Then, the squad noticed something big and white on his back.
The man got to his feet and rubbed his neck. Looking down at his feet, he chuckled. "Well, at least my Chakra is working fine." He then saw the X-Squad, and gave a vicious smirk.
"You're all strong…I can feel it." He grabbed the handle of what the squad could only assume was some type of sword.
"Yeah, what of it?" Uzi remarked, as she couldn't help but be reminded of some of the more bloodthirsty of the X-Squad.
At that, the man chuckled, even though his hand didn't move an inch.
"Name's Kisame Hoshigaki, pleased to make your acquaintance…and you are?"
"Drakus Hydrax, and this is the X-Squad."
"Ya know…while I want nothing more than a good fight, I think I'll settle for some answers".
"If ye seek to ask where we are…I get the feeling I know just as much as ye." Inkerton said.
Kisame narrowed his eyes, retorting, "Well since I woke up in the middle of the sky, forgive me for assuming someone on the ground knew more".
Inkerton didn't really appreciate the sarcasm, adding a half-hearted "I'm sorry."
Deciding to take initiative, Uzi gave a suggestion.
"Mind if you take your hand off your sword?"
Kisame still had a suspicious look in his eye. Nevertheless, he slowly released his blade.
Once the squad did the same with their weapons, Kisame actually had a more genuine smile.
"Well, quite refreshing to meet someone who's actually honest."
Snatcher couldn't help but notice a hint of bitterness.
"So, if I may ask, Mr. Hoshigaki, did you die?"
Kisame couldn't hide his surprise at that question, but decided to answer regardless.
"Yeah, chose to feed myself to my sharks instead of being a prisoner."
Mystle shuddered at that, thinking of all the dream demons she'd devoured, and wondering what could push a man to voluntarily choose such a fate. Still, there were more important matters.
"How's everybody doing?" Kisame asked.
"We're doing great," Inkerton calmly replied. "Just passing through."
"Really? Me too." The man said.
"We're on our way to a hotel that just opened its doors," Roman added. "It's called The Last Resort or something."
"The Last Resort," the waitress realized, clucking her tongue. "I've absolutely heard of that place. They say that once you set foot in that posh hotel—you'll never want to leave."
She smiled an enigmatic smile before checking on the other patrons.
"Well, that's not at all horrifying to imply." Daphne remarked.
"Oh, there they are!" came Futaba's excited voice.
The others were seated around the tables and bar. Behind the bar was a middle-aged man, gruff yet kind-looking.
"You must be the X-Squad. I'm Sojiro Sakura, Futaba's adopted father."
"Nice to meet you," Drakus said, bowing dramatically, "Futaba often talked about you while at Zenkichi's agency. Speaking of which..."
He looked around, but saw no sign of the hero inspector.
"I thought he'd be here."
"Something came across his desk recently," Makoto explained, "If it's something hero-related, we'll likely be called in."
The squad headed up to Ren's room in the attic of the cafe. There Futaba explained her relationship with Sojiro. He was a former MTF operative, which suited him since he was genetically Quirkless. He had been good friends with Futaba's mother Wakaba Isshiki, who had been murdered by agents of the Antisocial Force, a Diet conspiracy that had been disbanded with the arrest of their leader, Masayoshi Shido, who was secretly the villain Admiral.
"The Antisocial Force was basically the opposite of the Meta Liberation Army," Tenko noted, "With the exception of Admiral and a few financial backers, the group was made up of Quirkless villains, all wanting to tighten the control of those who had Quirks, including dissolving the hero system."
"The real unfortunate part," Akechi noted, "Is that Shido is my father. I knew all along that he had been a villain, and used that to fuel my Enragement Quirk, which boosts my power through anger. In fact, I became a hero because injustice in general tends to make me angry."
"What dark magic do you speak of?!" Arthi cried, clutching Frostmourne fearfully, as she only got strange looks and head pats.
"AWWWWWWW~!" Futaba gushed. "SO CUUUUUUUUUUTE!"
Arthi lets out an indignant squeal as Futaba's hug engulfed her tiny frame, flailing uselessly against the embrace.
"Unhand me, peasant! I am your superior!" She demanded, voice muffled in the other girl's shoulder. But her swats and kicks were nothing more than soft pats. "Nooo, let me go! I am the terror that flaps in the night!" Arthi shrieked, flailing uselessly in Futaba's embrace.
Squirming with all her might, Arthi tired herself out trying to break free.
"Sorry 'bout Arthi, she's been through a lot, mostly her parents dying back when she was known as Arthas Menethil, killing her mentor, and generally being a prick, she's trying to be better, but she's usually a total drama queen." Drakus explained, pointing towards Sabrina. "And Sabrina here's Arthi's girlfriend."
"I am the Lich King, you ten fools! Bow before me!" This just makes the Shadow Strikers laugh, as her cheeks flushed pink.
"You don't need to play the Lich King persona, Arthi. We are among friends here." Sabrina bluntly pointed out, as Arthi fidgeted shyly.
"Um...if you'd have me, I'd be glad to be...friends... with all of you..."
[Arthi be relatable]
[ye]
[ArthiPog]
[BOW TO HER MAJESTY]
"Speaking of which," Ryuji said, "I'm hoping we don't have to do too much hero work. I mean, we're on vacation right now. It'd suck if the bad guys won't give us, like, a few weeks to just relax."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Morgana assured him, "There's more heroes in this place besides Zenkichi."
"Yeah, so we may get a vacation without any problems," Mystle added, "Which would be nice after all we went through, like the Blossom City Incident, Skylands, the whole VILE Fiasco, Camp Little Big Moose and Sync City."
Want to read 50+ chapters ahead from here or just want to support take a visit on my patreon.
Link ---> patreon.com/V22
---------------------
---------------------