[Elias]

The Bird of Hermes is    my name                       Eat  My   WINGS   TO   KEEP   ME   TAME Bakiri Retsu  Rui Matsui

It was an endless blue expanse as far as the eye could see. Elias watched for the prison through one of the chopper’s viewports. This was the second job he was owed from Retsu, and Rui was along once again. They had a stationary target this time around, and the job was relatively simple… but simple didn't translate to easy.

The target was Abaddon, a specialized prison in the United States for villains with unique and powerful quirks. It wasn’t their exact equivalent to Tartarus. The U.S. parallel facility was built further west and possessed a larger capacity for prisoners and stronger all-purpose defenses, but Abaddon presented its own challenges.

Firstly, there was no connection to the mainland—an attack required sea or air transport. Ouroboros opted for the latter, utilizing helicopters equipped with the latest stealth technologies. Secondly, due to the smaller size of the prison, security personnel could navigate the facility faster. Personnel trained to use their quirks and firearms and ready to kill on sight if necessary. Lastly, the prisoners on the lowest three levels had a constant stream of anti-quirk vapor filtered into their cells. A vapor that could be vented into other parts of the facility—which meant they had to move fast.

The vapor was stronger than the new anti-quirk gas Elias developed for Ouroboros but not as easily produced, plus it dissipated faster, hence the constant feed. And therein lay the crux of the entire mission. They couldn’t outlast Abaddon’s security forever and couldn't stay in one place long—lest they have the vapor channeled to their position, but if they cut the feed at the source, their target could break himself out.

“You ready over there fancy pants?” A voice crackled over Elias’s headpiece.

It was Magister. He and his brothers, three of the “Fangs” of Ouroboros, some of the organization's most deadly agents, were aboard a second helicopter ahead of their own.

Elias filled his lungs and exhaled slowly. Anxiety was getting to him. It wasn’t very often one broke into prison. Maybe that would be an advantage? The place was built to keep people in more than out, right?

“Yes, Magister, we’re ready,” Elias answered, eyeing Retsu, Rui, and the scales I side the chopper from behind his owl mask.

“Good, because we’re coming up on the target. You know the deal: we’ll keep them busy, and you extract Balor.”

“I know our part. Just make sure you do yours,” he spat back.

The Fangs were a cocky bunch, and since Elias neither stood among their ranks nor could claim a seat at the snake’s head, they thought him their lesser. A position he would not abide much longer, certainly not after this. They were about to break one of the most notorious former heroes in the United States out of prison. No small feat, and one that would certainly earn him some recognition among his own.

A quick click and the channels were altered so only his unit, including Retsu and Rui, could hear.

“Alright, one last time now,” he reiterated the plan, “we have the facility’s schematic. Security is tight, but the plan is simple. Bakuretsu is demolitions and will blow through Abaddon’s levels until we reach the chemical feed system at the bottom. We need controlled yet powerful detonations to breach those floors, but without flooding ourselves once we dig further down. It will be the scales job to cover her. The Mummy will keep us on our feet and intercept threats that make it past the scales. Once the chem feed is out, we retrieve the target,” if he needed retrieving, “and vacate. The choppers will pick us up, or if necessary, we go for a swim, and they’ll grab us from further out. Understood?”

Hopefully, the stealth tech would keep their transport safe, but if not, they had quite a dive ahead of them. Fingers crossed, it all went well… but when did that ever help? 

OWL

[Bakiri Retsu]

Burn it all down

Quite a lot had changed since the completion of the first favor that Retsu owed Elias. The simple combat knife she'd owned had been switched out for Temper, its hilt appearing similar but the blade being a flame hot enough to melt steel instead of the simple cutting tool it'd been before. Compared to the rest of her upgraded arsenal it was barely worth mentioning. Grenades that had once rained terror all over their victims were further refined into tools of mass destruction with a cruel inventiveness only the maddest of scientists could match. Monofilament wires, napalm, thermite or thermobaric, you name it and she probably had it. So too had her long-range capabilities increased. Her rifle now traded volume of fire for more potent single shots and a grenade launcher allowed certain types of her more explosive armaments to hit targets at much further distances than before.

The external changes were far from the only ones either. 

Experience had further tempered Retsu into someone approaching the limits of what was humanly possible without relying on quirk-boosted physiology. Almost a year of dancing on the razor's edge had molded uncontrollable anger into a weapon that ebbed and flowed, adding power where needed and fading away to reveal a mind honed through conflict where brute force didn't suffice. Revelations had found their mark as well, Retsu recalled with a grim look as a sharp spike of pain shot through her left eye and the side of her head, some bigger than others. One in particular had spiraled out of control through a single lapse of judgement and lit a fire beneath her that sought to burn all there was to nourish the flame while desperately searching for anything to further fuel the inferno. 

Retsu was dying. 

She didn't know how much longer she had. That made everything that much more pressing until she found a cure, if there even was one. She hadn't held back anything for today's task. Loaded for bear was an understatement. Get in, get shit done, get out and go back home. That was the plan. Retsu was well aware that those never survived first contact but so long as their enemies didn't either that wouldn't matter. 

"Understood," Retsu replied through her own earpiece. She'd packed plenty of the necessary equipment, an entire backpack full of it in addition to the contents of her grenade harness. Only one part of Elias's explanation struck her as potentially running into trouble if they didn't plan for it in advance. "Oy, Rui. Ken you swim?" 

It'd be problematic if no one checked whether she could swim what with her quirk and the little devil just vanished beneath the waves when she was most needed.

tagged: Elias , Rui Matsui || word count: 464 || notes: x

xxx

[Rui Matsui]

Rui was busy sipping on a bottle of soda she had brought on the flight, devoting absolutely zero brainpower to the mission as per usual. As far as she was aware, Elias and Retsu were really good thinkers, meaning she could leave all the thinking and planning to them and just do her stuff. After all, it benefitted her too to play the fool, and while she was far from a secret mastermind, it did help her that people thought she was dumber than she actually was. That, and riding on a helicopter was so rad she didn't want to taint the memory by getting all mission serious before the chaos.

She perked up when Elias spoke, addressing her, Retsu and the team. This was the kind of stuff she needed to listen to. Rather than reply with her words, because she was mid-sip, Rui simply gave Elias a confident thumbs up. She had never been to America before. Did they have burgers in prison? She couldn't wait to find out! ''Swim?'' She looked over at Retsu and shook her head. ''Nah! What's the point of swimming when the water just takes you where you want to go.'' When she put it like that, it almost sounded like she admitted she had a second, hidden quirk or something cool like that. In truth, wherever the strong currents of the ocean or rivers carried her she would just say that was where she was planning to go all along, making her look like an evil genius to the clueless observer. ''And the prison is a building anyways, right?'' She looked at Retsu, then addressed the question to Elias too.

Bakiri Retsu, Elias

[Elias]

The Bird of Hermes is    my name                       Eat  My   WINGS   TO   KEEP   ME   TAME Rui Matsui ,Bakiri Retsu

Elias locked on Rui as she answered. "I'll pull you along if need be," he offered. Once they were clear of the prison, they wouldn't have to worry about the anti-quirk agent. Rui wouldn't drown, and Elias could tug her to safety if required. "Make some attempt at cautiousness, Angel. We're messing with quirk-nullifying gases. Hence the need for haste, especially through the three lowest levels. You're not allowed to die either, dearie," he said to Retsu, though entirely unaware of her condition. "You'll fair best down there." 

They both needed to survive. For tactical reasons, of course. Perhaps the slightest tinge of personal concern had also probed the edges of Elias's mind. The Djinn didn't need people. He didn't need anyone, but these two had proven most dependable—even if, in Retsu's case, it was because she owed him. Still, maybe the slightest attachment tethered their threads to his deep down. He would never admit it. 

Elias scanned the scales over, each of them offering acknowledgment. They didn't quite stack up to fully trained, professional heroes, but Ouroboros's foot soldiers were top-notch. He would put his bets on the scales in a small-scale engagement against nearly any military force out there. Well trained, well equipped, and many armed with powerful quirks, they were fierce believers in the cause and willing to die for it. Some surely would. 

A few words buzzed in his ear from the pilot. They had arrived. 



"Alright everyone, get read-" 

A distant explosion rocked the vehicle. Elias gazed through the viewport. A spear of black and violet power tore through one of the perimeter towers around the prison. Magister's Darkling quirk in action. 

"Time to move, fancy-pants," his voice purred over the comm unit. 

"Take us in!" Elias said cooly to the pilot. 

The chopper pulled up and then hovered over the roof. The scales leaped out first, already engaging with some rooftop guards. Firearms rounds were exchanged, flames and electricity blew back and forth, and quirks were activated. Elias fixed his mask one final time, then leaped over the edge and atop the prison. Instantly, he loosed his red threads and lashed at two of the closest guards, tearing them apart. Time was of the essence. 

OWL