"Roite then," Retsu began after giving Rui an appreciative nod. She had the distinct feeling the healer's support might just become instrumental before this job was done, as much as she'd never admit it out loud. Raising two fingers in front of her she continued.

"Ah ken think a' two ways ta do this. The first's Rui hitchin' a ride on the back of mah bike. Ah hit the escorts at the front a' the convoy 'n slow down ta let 'er jump onto ta main transport 'fore ah go keep the rest busy. Risky as all hell but the timing's flexible enough we ken execute it whenever an opportunity shows up."

Lowering one of her fingers she fished out her ENKI phone with the other and clicked through the app before continuing. When she turned the device to face them a map was on display, zoomed in on one stretch of the highway in particular.

"Second one's a bit more time sensitive but ah'd say it's much less likely ta get us killed. There's an overpass naht too far from 'ere. If ah hit 'em roite when they're goin' under it 'nd aim ta block the side lanes it'll force 'em ta rush through the center. Makes 'em easy ta predict. That'd be where you two come in. If ya time it right as the center transport's movin' past Rui ken drop from the overpass roite on top a' it 'n get in. Ah dunno 'ow good y'r control with those strings is but ya ken prolly make sure she sticks the landin' if we go with this one," she shrugs, "and if y'all miss it ain't 'ard ta get a car from the overpass ta the highway. Y'all ken catch up while ah keep 'em busy and worst come ta worst we'll wing it from there."

Shutting the screen off again and sliding her phone back into her pocket Retsu cracked her neck and her knuckles before looking at each of them in turn.

"What'cha'll think? Plan A or Plan B? Ah'm open ta suggestions too."

She left unspoken she'd only do that so long as they weren't dumb. Retsu would proceed to wholeheartedly ignore them if they were. She couldn't quite put her finger on why but something about this whole thing felt off. In her experience a security firm with mainly quirkless employees could mean three things. They were either desperate, had some serious issues up top or had a specific reason not to include quirkers. If she were a betting woman she'd put her money on it being the latter.

And what d'ya know? She was.

Which meant she wasn't gonna hold back in the slightest. She was gonna hit hard, hit first, hit fast and hit once. Because she knew chances were she wouldn't get the opportunity to hit a second time otherwise. While superpowers gave certain advantages the absence of them allowed for a far more controlled environment and the usage of old military tactics, practiced and improved through centuries of conflict. If that was their modus operandi and the reason for their choice of employees this was bound to be tough. Which didn't make the alternative any better. That they had a different reason to purposefully not include anyone with a quirk in their ranks. Her brow furrowed.

Perhaps there was a reason Elias had singled her out in particular for this. Her eyes briefly flicked to Rui. She doubted she was right but after seeing some of Azazel's tech in the arena she had this nagging feeling that they might need to prepare themselves to work with significantly less 'extra lives' than either of them thought.

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Tags: Elias Rui Matsui

When Rhea replied Retsu wondered who the one projecting truly was, especially when the singer started trying to do her psych mumbo jumbo after her earlier statements and while she's quite literally working in a club. Her mocking smile widened when the first metaphor she used quite literally involved breaking something. 

A cancer? Something slowly withering its host away that's impossible to remove without casuing an almost intolerable amount of damage. Retsu had to push down a snort. Yeah, there was no way this woman was content with just infesting one small lounge. As she crouched down and grabbed the shards Retsu felt a sense of familiarity.

Broken. Picking up the pieces. Cutting herself on the shattered edges yet pushing harder the more it hurt.

Her hand clenched around the fragments. The burning, pulsing pain of the shards cutting deeper and spilling blood in tune with her own heartbeat gave her some momentary clarity. For when was Retsu ever at her best other than when she felt her own life slip away one drop at a time? Her shoulders began to shake. A low, throaty laugh wrenched itself free from her throat as she slammed a single bloody palm down on the table, pushing the shards in deeper as she used it to push herself back up. A maniacal, manic grin sat on her face and a wide, crazed eye stared at Rhea as Retsu loomed over her, every fiber of her being raging against the compulsion to keep her head down. 

"And 'ere ah thought nah blood was ta be spilled in 'ere?" Retsu sneered derisively, another cackle escaping her accompanied by a meaningful look before she forced herself to sit down once more, naught but her expression and bloodied hand giving a hint of what had just happened. "Know what ah think? Y'r so full a' shit. Ah dun' think y've even realized it y'rself."

Retsu's entire body twitched, almost as if she was convulsing. Even now she could swear she still felt the ever-present compulsion to do as she was told. As was expected of her. It had existed since long before Rhea used her quirk on her and now as ever she would fight to the last to resist having the wills of others forced on her. She'd shape her own path, no matter the cost. The muscles in her flattened palm clenched, fingers half-curling into a fist under the tension. Half of them refused to do so, glass having bitten far too deeply into the tendons for them to succeed. 

"People need a society. Duh. Ya think we're breakin' for tha sake of breakin'? We're gonna reshape this fooked up shit. Make a place ta' belong instead a' 'aving ta fake it. Are ya really fine with just slinkin' on the side like a fookin' parasite?"

The sound that came out of her throat was a mix between a cackle and a snort.

"They'll chase me? Come for me? Hunt me down? Let them try. We'll see who comes out on top. But ah ken promise ya ah'll be fightin' ta mah last breath," she snickered, "didya learn all those fancy arguments a' yours when tryna convince y'r own mind ya 'aven't given up on y'rself, Rose?"

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Tags: rhea

"Hoo~ A prison break, ey?" Retsu chuckled. Of all the things that wasn't quite the answer she'd been expecting. It certainly made things far more interesting. If he was telling the truth of course. She'd definitely be making some inquiries once they were done here. Still, she couldn't say she disagreed in the slightest with his assessment of hero society. His goal seemed interesting too. Almost too interesting in fact. Retsu was fairly certain it was bait to waste the rest of her questions on but for now she'd play along. All the more ammo for later when it was proven false.

"Ah, that? Ain't exactly a secret ah dun' got a quirk," she almost hissed, a surge of anger rising unbidden when she said it out loud. Her eye twitched enough it chafed on her eyepatch, the irritation agitating her left eye and aggravating her temper further. Society wasn't exactly the friendliest to those who lacked things others took for granted. "Naht ta mention, well, self-righteous fooks always need some'un ta look down on and ah just 'appen ta be on the right side o' the law fer that. Dere's more but ah'm sure ya'll get ta learn it firsthand now that y'r on the run. Ah won't bore ya with it."

That the vast majority of her problems were either her own fault or actively of her own making wasn't something she was gonna acknowledge; Or even realize for that matter. Besides, she'd be getting rid of everyone that looked down on her before long anyway. Introspection was for people that couldn't blow up all of their problems.

"Mah turn again. Y'r really tryna tell me ya won against a serial killer when ya were a kid? How'd ya manage that?"

Trap or no trap she'd find out soon. Either he'd slip up before long or her question would get a rather telling reaction. She grinned sardonically. Maybe she wouldn't even need to have him investigated further.

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Tags: CHIRP ♪♪

Bakuretsu was used to dealing with trouble as it came. While she'd occasionally had time to prepare in full for whichever raid she was participating in it happened far more that she was scrambling to stay on top of the situation. Of course that wasn't to say she wasn't used to preparing in full. She'd been working as a mercenary since she was fourteen and learned a great many things through blood, sweat and tears. Both hers and that of others. She wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, no, she'd use this prep time to the fullest. 

Checking and double checking all of her gear was taking quite a while. Which wasn't a surprise. She'd come loaded for bear. Tightening the strap of her shoulder holster she made sure her pistol was within easy reach, pulling it out and reholstering it just to make sure nothing was off. Next she checked the ammo on her assault rifle slamming a full magazine home and racking the slide before letting it hang from its sling again, the metal briefly clanking against her grenades as she finished her final checks. 

Her thin black camo jacket went over everything to hide her arsenal. Up close it'd barely do anything but from afar the thing broke her silhouette up enough that the unnatural bumps where her equipment stuck out wouldn't be noticeable. Which was convenient since there were quite a few. The straps of her chest rig were loaded chock full of her custom grenades and its pouches carried enough ammunition to make a marine blush. One of the magazines she'd brought in particular was marked with a band of red paint so she wouldn't mistake it for any of the others. She hadn't done nearly enough testing with her experimental explosive ammo to be confident it'd work but in a pinch having it on her was better than nothing. 

Resting her palm on the hilt of the combat blade strapped to her hip she turned to Elias as he spoke.

"Ah do." 

Were this not a mission Retsu would be tempted to fire back with something along the lines of 'course, who d'ya think ah am?' but she knew better than to engage in such things when operating as a hired gun. That was how people got killed and she wasn't intending to go out on an underpaid job. She exchanged a glance with Rui before she continued. There were few she'd rather have with her on a job than the horned devil by now, even if Retsu wasn't quite willing to admit it. 

"Anythin' else we need ta know 'fore we begin?"

She had some ideas of how to go about it but she was no stranger to employers having arbitrary requirements that messed up her strategies. Best to get that out of the way before she committed to a strategy. With her new bike parked outside there were plenty of ways to go about it. Maybe she could even throw Rui at the problem? Thinking about it again that might not even be a bad idea. Mummy could easily survive leaping off the back of her bike and onto one of the transports and with a bit of C4 or a couple breaching strips getting inside would be no trouble either. Depending on how many escort vehicles the convoy had being able to handle multiple targets at once might just end up being crucial to the mission at hand.

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Tags: Elias Rui Matsui

ENKI's reach was growing further and wider by the day and while much of the behind the scenes stuff escaped Retsu there was one thing she was incredibly familiar with. When expanding you were bound to run into trouble. Rival gangs, businesses that lost margins due to your rise, lone agents that were upset about their turf being claimed and more. All were not just possibilities but realities Retsu had dealt with many times over.

Unfortunately the most recent target was a bit bigger and more established than the usual and while she didn't doubt that she could take them down eventually every day they held out was another where more and more problems piled up. No, the group calling themselves the Wildfire Warriors -or the quadruple U's for short- had to be dealt with today. Which meant hiring outside help and one hired gun in particular jumped out as suitable for the task. Overkill. Heavy resistance was expected, both qualitative and quantitative, and adding a bit of extra boom to the boom she already had couldn't hurt. Their opposition was well entrenched in the exclusive nightclub they used as their base after all.



"So," Retsu began while aiming their thumb at the entrance of the nightclub just around the corner from where they were standing. "Last minute ta wuss out if ya dun' think y'r up for it. Once we're in dere's no turnin' back. If ya 'aven't lost y'r courage, well, do feel free ta start us off whenever y'r ready."

Perhaps leaving the first move up to the hired help wasn't the best move but Retsu couldn't help but be curious about what he'd do. Besides. What was the worst that could happen?

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Tags: kuroda

It seemed the other woman wasn't all talk. Retsu gave an acknowledging nod. Skill was skill no matter where it came from. Spinning one of the rings around her index finger she took aim at the pole at the very center before an idea came to mind. With a flick she let loose, the ring hitting the top of her intended target before bouncing to slam into the same pole Kaida had thrown hers at with its inner edge, smoothly sliding down on top of it.

Even though her throw was successful Retsu frowned. She hadn't meant for it to hit head on but for it to circle in the same way after bouncing off the center just like Kaida's throw. The maneuver was a bit more complex than the throws she usually used and experience could only make up for a lack of depth perception to some extend. Retsu wasn't quite willing to take her eyepatch off yet though. That'd be little different from admitting she had to be at her best to beat her opponent. 

"One-one. Reckon y'll manage a lucky shot twice in a row?"

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Tags: Kaida Ikarashi