The Cosa Nostra (Part 7)

Chris closed the file cabinet, finishing the very tedious task of storing Nighteye's paperwork. "Why does he have to be so picky about how these things are stored?" "Alright!" Chris jumped at Jason's scream. He rushed into the main office and saw Jason smiling up at the tv screen. Chris looked up and smiled too. The headline read: 'Red Riot, Hero in Training, Saves 11 Bystanders from Dangerous Thug'. Chris sat down at his desk, set up right next to Jason's. "He made the news before we did." Mirio looked up from his desk with a smile. "Sounds like you all have some catching up to do." Nighteye walked into the office. "What's all the commotion about?" Mirio stood up. "One of their friends is on the news!" Nighteye glanced up at the screen. "Oh, that incident. Fatgum told me he did a very good job." Jason turned to their mentor. "You talked with Fatgum about our friend?" "Indirectly. However, there was something else that happened that night that I was more concerned about." He put a file on Chris's desk.

Chris opened it up and saw a picture of a red dart, labelled as 'Evidence 1'. "What's that?" "It's a dart that can temporarily deactivate a quirk." The room fell silent. When nobody said anything, Nighteye continued. "The first of these darts that had been found would stop a quirk from activating for about 10 seconds. Then it was 30 seconds. The time kept improving. Another dart was used during that scuffle your friend was in. Fatgum's sidekick, Suneater, couldn't activate his quirk for five minutes." Jason swore. "If these become commonplace, criminals will run wild." Nighteye nodded. "That's why it's important to shut down the Cosa Nostra." Chris finally looked up from the file. "You think the Cosa Nostra is making these things?" Nighteye nodded. Jason smirked. "A heavily armed mafia with quirk cancelling darts. This'll be fun."

A week later, a six year old girl ran through Los Angeles's alleyways. Her bare feet were scratched up from the rough ground, but the pain didn't bother her at that moment. She just knew she had to get away. She could see light at the far end of the alley. She sprinted. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know what to do when she escaped. However, in her young, panicked mind, anything was better than going back.

Chris was in his hero outfit as he walked through the city streets with Mirio. "I didn't realize patrolling was so important." Mirio smiled. "That's right! We need to maintain our presence so people can feel comfortable coming up to us! And if a villain sees us they'll think twice about committing a crime!" Chris smiled. Mirio looked at Chris's costume. "This is the first time I'm seeing you like this. I noticed that it resembles All Might's costume." "Yea. I thought it looked cool, so I made very few changes." "Gotta say, I like the grey and black." "Thanks, Mirio." Mirio frowned, pretending to be angry. "Don't use names when in uniform!" "Oh, right. Sorry, Lemillion." Mirio smiled. "No problem, Impact." "That reminds me: why do you call yourself Lemillion?" "Well, it's because-'' A young girl ran into Chris's leg. She fell down. Chris took a knee in front of her. "I'm sorry. Are you ok?" The little girl looked up at Chris, tears in her eyes. Chris noticed a few things. She had white hair, but that was normal these days. She had a single, long horn on the left side of her forehead: most likely to do with her quirk. However, what frightened Chris the most was seeing the girl had bandages wrapped around her wrists, and she was dressed in dirty rags. She got up and clung to Chris. The hero in training didn't know what to do. He eventually wrapped his arms around her. "...It's ok. I'm here now." "There you are, Eri." The young girl, Eri, turned her head. Her eyes widened as a figure came out of the darkness of the alley. Chris tried his best to hide his shock. A young man, dressed in all black, wearing a black plague doctor mask that only covered his nose, came to a stop in front of Chris. The student immediately recognized the leader of the Cosa Nostra.

Jason snapped a picture of the building he was observing. Nighteye took the camera and looked at the pictures Jason had been taking. "...These are too zoomed out. It's fine to have one or two shots of the entire building, but we're trying to get specific pictures of potential entry points for when we raid the building." Jason nodded. While Chris and Mirio had gone on patrol, Jason had been brought with Nighteye to stake out what was thought to be the Cosa Nostra hideout. Jason picked up the binoculars and started scanning the two story building's windows. "Can I ask you something, Nighteye?" "Hm?" "Why did you say Chris shouldn't have received One for All?" Nighteye sighed. "One for All is a sacred torch. It should only be passed on to those who deserve it and have earned it. I've been training Mirio to be the successor to One for All, and then I learned that All Might gave it away to a quirkless nobody because he 'saw himself in him'." Jason set the binoculars down and took the camera to try taking more photos. "It sounds like you're upset that All Might didn't choose the successor you wanted. Why does Chris need to suffer for your personal problems?" "I simply don't see what All Might sees in Chris." Jason smiled as he finished taking photos. "Chris might not seem like much, but he's powerful. You'll see for yourself one day." "I doubt it."

Overhaul faked a smile from underneath his mask, trying to be civil. "Thank you for stopping my daughter, heroes. She likes to run off." Chris could tell Overhaul was trying not to cause a scene. Still, something was not right. This girl was clearly not his daughter, and she was clearly terrified of him. Overhaul extended his hand to her. "Come on, Eri. Let's go home." Eri didn't budge. Mirio put a hand on Chris's shoulder. "This sounds like a family issue, Impact. Let's not get involved." Chris knew what Mirio was really saying: if they tried to confront Overhaul here, without any back up, there was a very real chance of them losing. Not to mention that it could spook the Cosa Nostra, which would ruin Nighteye's plans for taking down the Cosa Nostra in one raid. Chris looked down at Eri, not knowing what to do. Should he risk it all to save the little girl? Or should he hand her over so Nighteye could take down the entirety of the mafia group. For some reason, Nighteye's question came to mind: 'What kind of hero are you trying to be?'.

Overhaul sighed and shrugged. "Whatever, Eri. If you want to go with the heroes, then go with the heroes. I'll pick you up later today." He turned around and began walking back into the alley. Eri turned her head to look at him. She saw Overhaul begin to remove his white glove. This had happened many times before her very eyes: every time the glove comes off, people die. If she didn't go with him, he would kill the two heroes. She pushed herself away from Chris and ran to Overhaul. She wouldn't let anyone else die because of her. Overhaul looked down at her. "I knew you would come around. Let's go home." Chris couldn't do anything as he watched Overhaul and Eri disappear into the darkness.