Chapter Text
The doorbell rang just as Hiroto’s microwave dinner was finished. As Hiroto had had a long day at work he considered just ignoring the bell. However he had ordered new contacts that were due to arrive today, so he just about managed to conjure a pleasant smile on his face for the delivery man and opened the door. He needn’t have bothered with the polite smile as it was not the deliveryman with the awaited package at his door but an old university friend carrying a huge stinking box and with an enormous smile on his face.
“Jiro, why?” Hiroto asked as his strained smile dropped into a tired frown. He still invited his friend and the box in. “Oh, my friend, my friend! I tell you why! This box, that I found just lying in the thrash, this box contains all our childhood dreams! Let me show you the pure gold that is recorded on these tapes!”
“Tapes?” Hiroto asked a bit more interested now. “Are they old movies or something?” Both of them had met at their university’s film club and shared a love for the classics. “Better yet! I think it’s a project that someone never finished, it’s mostly uncut footage but what is on it is gold! The drama, the action, the existential horror!”
“A never before seen movie?” Hiroto gestured for Jiro to set up the film projector and gave him the warm microwave dinner and a spoon while grabbing another one from the fridge for himself. “There is enough footage here for a series my friend! And look we always had this dream to work on our own movie right? We are both old men that know that that is no longer in our future but I think we could finish this project. We won’t be able to sell it, but with your editing skills and with me cleaning up the sound and putting some good tracks under it, Well, we have something special here. We’ll have to release it for free, but just working on this will be great!”
“Let’s see about that, you might be retired, but I still have some time left to go. I won’t be able to spend that much time on it.”“Please, since the divorce you have been itching for a project as much as I have.” Jiro countered as he started the film. It only took until the end of the first scene for Hiroto to agree.
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Aizawa was enjoying his naptime before class behind his desk. It was only the third day of term but his new first year class seemed have grown a bit closer together already. Yesterday’s Team based hero exercises under All might’s supervision seemed to have gone over well. Right now most of them were discussing some new series that was causing quiet the buzz.
“I watched all twelve episodes last night, I didn’t sleep until four in the morning!” It seemed like Aizawa would have to keep an eye on his students today to make sure they didn’t drift off into sleep.
“Don’t spoil it you fucking extra! I still need to see the other nine episodes!”
“Good point Bakugo! Has everyone seen the first episode so that we can freely discuss the contents?”
“Eh! You’ve seen it as well Iida? Interesting, it is not the sort of show I imagined you enjoying.”
“I also thought that the series would be too dramatic for my tastes, being described as a battle royal or hunger games type of series, but the first episode showed a great grasp of human emotions and compelling characters. It has given me valuable insight into villain and vigilante attitudes. Did you enjoy it as well Uraraka-san?”
“I did! The actor that plays Tenko is brilliant isn’t he! He can’t be older than five in the first episode but I cried when he told Shirakumo what happened to his family.”
Ah, a Shirakumo? Well their Shirakumo would have liked to share his name with a tv-character, as long as they were one of the good guys of course. Maybe Aizawa would need to see the series himself, to see if the portrayal of this Shirakumo was acceptable.
“Their quirks were amazing as well! I’ve never seen a cloud based quirk before! And they used it so creatively! Do you think that that was the actors own quirk?”
Huh. Maybe their Shirakumo had had a family member with a similar quirk? Aizawa grabbed his phone and wiggled it out of his sleeping bag until it was in front of his nose. What was the name of the series again. Well just searching for Shirakumo on images would probably get him a faster result with how viral the series seemed to have gone. Oh, that is… that is their Shirakumo. He clicked on the picture, searching for a description of the show, a trailer popped up instead. Aizawa pressed play.
One minute later he was storming out of the class, just managing to tell the students to behave while he dealt with an emergency. He needed to talk to Hizashi.
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Nezu watched as Tsuragamae Kenji, head of the police force, took to the stage. The room was filled with police officers, detectives and a great number of heroes. Many of the heroes looked rough. Endeavour’s facial flames weren’t large enough to hide the bags under his eyes. Aizawa looked alert for once, Kayama was dressed in sweats instead of her usual provocative clothing and Yamada was missing his sunglasses. Nezu himself was no less gutted by the case, all aspects of it hit close to home after all.
“Ahum, Woof! Welcome everyone. This is a preliminary briefing for a newly opened case. Since yesterday we have received numerous tips that the viral series “Borderland” might actually be footage of real people forced into live or dead situations. Woof! Some of these people we have identified as dead or missing persons. We therefor consider it likely that the footage is real and that people were kidnapped and forced into these live and dead situations.”
Like rats in an unethical lab, forced to preform to receive food and treats Nezu thought darkly.
“The footage shows these people, some of them still minors, competing for resources in deadly games, at least a dozen people are killed on screen, many permanently maimed. We are currently tracking the origin of the footage and are trying to get the series down. However due to its popularity we will most likely not succeed in taking it down permanently. Woof!”
Very true and very regrettable, the series had contained some very private moments that became uncomfortable to watch once one realized that those filmed had not given permission for their private moments to be spread far and wide into the world.
“Our priorities right now are to locate the victims and the perpetrator.”
There were already hands rising. Tsuragamae gestured to one of them. “Some of these people’s disappearance, like the Magne person, seem to be linked to the police department. Will an internal investigation be conducted?”
Not only Miss Magne’s kidnapping, but a few others showed a deep link between the authorities and the kidnapper. Young miss Toga disappeared during a police chase and their own young Shirakumo Oboro had been declared dead by the authorities.
“Ah, yes a most serious stain on our police force. That investigation has already started and relevant results will be shared with this task force.”
“Do we have any idea of the timeline of events, the victims seem to be under the effects of some kind of anti-aging quirk. When do we estimate the escape took place?”
“What was the motivation of the villain? Was all this done just to make a drama?”
“Ahem, Ahem, I think it is time for me to take over, wouldn’t you say so, dear Chief?” Nezu said as he climbed the stage. “Right.” Tsuragamae said with some relieve as he handed over the microphone.
“Hello everyone, I’m Nezu, AU school principle and consultant on this case. As I have had time to study the case I will be answering any questions you have. We estimate that the kidnappings took place over a period of at least ten years, the first identified victim, Shirakumo Oboro was declared dead ten years ago. The most recent identified victim, Toga Himiko, went missing just a year ago. We therefore estimate that the escape of the group took place no more than half a year ago. We do not know if they were ultimately successful or if they have been recaptured or even killed.”
The group was resourceful, but if he was behind this it would have been difficult to hide. Endeavour’s facial flames flickered ominously.
“From certain factors of the footage we concluded that it is unlikely that this was all organised for the production of the series. No, the alternate world itself seems to be a set up for people to use their quirks to the fullest extent. When new people appeared the challenges changed to suit the new quirks. We therefore think that someone was studying and experimenting on these peoples quirks. The attempt to keep the victims in puberty, the period in which quirks are most likely to further develop seems to support the theory. This was an attempt to create powerful quirks, we are not yet sure for what purpose.”
Not sure no, but a person who could steal quirks might benefit from a more complete development of said quirk before he harvested them. Like rearing a herd of cattle until they are ready for the slaughter.
“If the small group of escapees managed to stay free until now they have most likely gone deep underground. They do not trust the police or heroes, and they are accustomed to defend themselves with deadly force. We do not want to push them into that direction, if you encounter them and they seem ready to fight please back off. We will offer them supplies and shelter and hope that they will accept some of the help we can offer, our end goal is to get them into protective custody. Some of them have been in the equivalent of a war-zone since childhood, they will most likely need help re-adapting to society.”
Tenko had been kidnapped at five years of age and would barely have any memories of the real world at all. Many of the others had had trouble fitting in before this had happened to them. There was a risk that the whole group would give up on fitting into society and go down the path of villainy.
“To find those still trapped in the other world we will need to find the perpetrator. We have very little leads at this time, but we are leaving no stone unturned. Thank you for your attention.”
Nezu bowed and returned the microphone to the Chief. No stone unturned no, but All for One had remained hidden from them for eight years already. They could only hope that the mistakes he made here would be his undoing.
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All for One was not one for indulging in mindless television, he was of the opinion that too much of such an activity might melt once brain. However for the sake of socialization he did keep up with the mayor hits of contemporary culture. People became suspicious when his pop culture knowledge and tastes ran more along the lines of their grandparents generation than their own. Those awkward moments during a conversation in which the generational gap became apparent made him feel so old.
Therefore he had taken an hour out of his busy schedule to watch the new hit series “Borderland”. He was actually looking forward to it, the summaries made it sound like just his cup of tea. He dropped the back of his chair into a comfortable lounge position, hooked his brain into the system and pressed start.
The opening was marvelous, a very ominous tune and a bird eyes view of an abandoned Tokyo city, it even kind of resembled his quirk arena, clearly the designers had taste. Then the series began with a full body shot of one Shirakumo Oboro. All for One disconnected from the stream and shot up in his chair.
“Nomu! What did you do with the quirk arena footage that I had told you to put away!”