Ligaya knew the script by heart as soon as she saw the girl's determined eyes.
"You have to let me come," Himiko burst out, as soon as Ligaya entered the apartment. She ran over to Angeline's bedroom to grab her hairbrush from the vanity.
"No way, kid. You're an amateur and I ain't interested in splitting my profits," Ligaya said as she pulled out Angeline's hairs from the hairbrush and into a ziplock baggie.
Kids. They're so foolish.
"She's my friend!" she snarled. "I don't want your profits!!"
Ligaya rolled her eyes. "Even more reason for you not to come. I'm a professional, you're not. You'll end up getting someone killed."
"I can turn into people! Can't that help?" Himiko asked desperately.
"I … hm," That was a good quirk for the situation. The bounty target had
preferences. Ligaya considered the girl in front of her. "Just by touching or something?"
"No, I uh, need their blood," Himiko said awkwardly. "I don't get their quirk either."
"Workable." Ligaya nodded, mind racing. It was a risky plan, but she didn't get her millions by playing it safe.
"Come with me," Ligaya said, standing up abruptly to walk out the apartment. Himiko followed after and they ended up in front of a rental car, a SUV car. Getting in, Himiko buckled up and looked at Ligaya for a long moment.
"So what's the plan then?" Himiko asked.
"First, we find where the ratfucker is hiding and figure out the layout of wherever he's staying," Ligaya explained, pulling out of the parking lot.
Himiko accepted it and stayed silent the entire time she drove. Every thirty minutes, Ligaya would take a hair out and it would decay into ash. But despite her concentration, a part of her found it entirely creepy that the girl was as silent as a graveyard. Kids usually couldn't stand silence, found it stifling. That tendency was helpful on a few bounties, but it looked like Himiko was one of those rare stoic types? Though that didn't really fit with how the girl normally behaved...
Ligaya was shaken out of her thoughts by a thrumming response from her Divination. The target was dead ahead. She frowned. It was a busy downtown street, full of people, and he had the gall to be in a first floor apartment. Bastard could cause a fucking panic if they did this during the daytime and he got out. Wondering how he got the money for a downtown apartment, she drove to the shittier parts of town and drove around for a specific target.
"Who are you looking for?" Himiko asked, frowning.
"Leggy redheads," Ligaya said absently. "The bounty target has a strong preference."
"That's disgusting," Himiko muttered, giving the window a dark look.
"Well, kid we're going to be kicking the shit out of him soon so-, Bingo!" Ligaya pulled over to a young woman with red hair and bright red scales all over her body. Her slinky black dress seemed loose on her boney frame and the woman jumped as Ligaya pulled up.
"Hey, hot stuff-- " the redhead said with an unconvincing smile.
"I'll give you five thousand dollars if you give me some blood," Ligaya interrupted, pulling out the cash from her wallet.
"Wait, why? You're not going to clone me and send the evil clone after me to kill me and replace me in my life are you?" she said, alarmed.
Ligaya stared at her, making her shift uncomfortably.
"I read a lot of sci fi novels, okay?!" she exclaimed, embarrassed.
"Anyways, five thousand dollars for some blood and no questions, got it?" Ligaya snapped, handing her half. "See, some goodwill? The rest after."
"Fine, okay," the woman grumbled. Ligaya produced a combat knife from her coat, making the woman flinch.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to cut your hand. This isn't a fucking anime, I know that shit will fuck you up," Ligaya reassured her. "Gonna go for a shoulder cut, alright?"
"Alright, just make it quick," she grumbled. "I'm Ritsu by the way. Should know my name if you're going to do something like this."
Ligaya nodded as she carefully, but swiftly made a cut on the Ritsu's shoulder. She pulled out a small jar and started getting some of the pouring blood into the jar. Noticing Himiko staring in a hungry way, Ligaya wondered if she was dealing with a vampire. Oh well, she's bargained, worked, and dealt with worse.
Closing the jar, she gave the rest of the money to Ritsu and they drove off.
"Now what?" Himiko asked in a small voice.
"Now, we wait before the sun sets. You go in as Ritsu as a hm, ramen solicitor. Keep his attention for five minutes while I get in from the back and get your friend Angeline out. Then I take him down once she's out."
"What's his quirk?" Himiko asked, frowning.
"Ah. He has quills that grow out of his back and arms. They're full of a paralysing agent that'll freeze your body and keep you conscious," Ligaya explained, driving into an illegal parking spot.
"That's
fucked," Himiko said, aghast.
"Yup," Ligaya said, shrugging. "Here's a bluetooth earbud so we can hear each other during the operation."
"Alright," Himiko said with determination. Ligaya shook her head as she put in hers. Hopefully nothing would go wrong.
(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
"That's a large regiment," Sokka commented, as he looked through the spyglass. They were on top of a large plateau, one of many that surrounded the area. "She's got about 5,000 soldiers, Zuko, give or take."
Zuko frowned even as Toph grinned. "We can take them!" she declared.
"We shouldn't. They're not the real enemy, most of them are just farmers," Zuko said, shaking his head. "Do you see her, Sokka?"
"Gimme a second, everyone's wearing the same thing-, hey I found her!" Sokka exclaimed. "She's … in the middle of the encampment. Of course she is."
"Firelord, I could make the shot," Huang said. Aang frowned at the lethal suggestion and gave the yuyan archer a hard stare that she returned.
"No! Absolutely not!" Zuko snapped. "You were brought to capture her, not kill her!"
"My apologies, Firelord. I only wish to serve," Huang immediately kowtowed and Zuko sighed.
"Stand up." Zuko said, exasperated. "Anyways, I know what to do."
Katara started shaking her head. "Zuko, that's insane."
"I agree with Katara. We should just have Toph grab her and I'll energy-bend her," Aang argued.
"What's going on?" Sokka asked, blinking. "Cause I'm not getting this conversation."
"He wants to do another Agni Kai with her," Toph said, with a small sigh.
"It's the only way to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the people," Zuko argued back.
"It's a fast way of getting injured again!" Katara snapped. "That lightning from her last time did a number on your organs."
"Zuko is right though, the nobles of the Fire Nation want a solid Firelord, not one with a sister running around that might stir up rebellion," Toph backed him up.
"Which is why I'll take her firebending away," Aang argued. "Ozai lost legitimacy in the eyes of everyone when I did that."
"I don't want you risking your life like that Aang," Katara said, surprising Aang. "What you told me … You don't really want to energy-bend again do you?"
Aang grimaced. "Not really."
"Then let me do this Aang!" Zuko yelled. "No one but me has to get hurt!"
"Okay time out guys, this is getting really heated. How about we sleep on it and decide in the morning?" Sokka interrupted, making a x sign with his arms. No one was happy as bedrolls were taken out from Appa and everyone crawled in.
Zuko carefully pretended to sleep and two hours later he crawled out of his bedroll and stealthily crept to Appa. He climbed up to see Sokka, Katara, Huang, and Toph sitting in the saddle. He nearly fell off but managed to get control of himself in time.
"What're you guys doing here?" he hissed in a whisper.
"I know you," Katara said blandly as she handed him the reigns. "You're going to get hurt doing something this stupid, I might as well be there."
"Your schemes are kinda transparent Zuko, you gotta work on that," Sokka commented.
"I'm not stupid," Toph explained dryly.
Huang opened her mouth but Zuko glared and she shut it.
"Yip yip Appa. Quietly, please." Appa gave him a look, but rose up silently and they headed into the encampment.
(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
Kyoko sat on the plush couch opposite of Mami and her entourage chewing on a stick of pocky. It was weird as fuck for Mami to call her out of nowhere, especially after their unfortunate split, but Kyoko had relented to hear her out on the condition of a grief seed. Speaking of which, the Homura girl pulled one out of her shield and tossed it to her. She caught it and inspected it, seeing it was empty. Nodding approvingly, she put it on aside.
"Alright, what d'ya want?" Kyoko asked, raising an eyebrow. Madoka and Sayaka didn't seem to have the rings of magical girls. Were they normal people?
"We want your help against Walpurgisnacht," Mami told her.
"One's coming? Here?" Kyoko sat up straighter, eyes widening. "How do you even know this? Is grim and broody here a precog?"
"Of a sort," Homura said, enigmatically.
Kyoko frowned at her response, before mulling it over. She could skip town, forget this whole mess. It was tempting, except for the fact that she'd have nowhere to go. Everywhere had pre-established magical girls who'd gladly kill Kyoko to maintain their slice of the pie.
"Alright, but what's in it for me?" Kyoko drawled.
"What kind of response is that?!" Sayaka burst out, glaring at her. Mami put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder, quelling her anger, but Homura was the one who spoke up.
"Miki, you're here as a courtesy of Mami. If you do not agree how we do things, you can wait outside," Homura said, coldly. Ouch. Kyoko barely made herself stop snickering at the girl's red face. Sayaka huffed and crossed her arms, but stayed silent.
"Grief seeds," Homura said, pulling out five of them out of her shield between her fingers. "Five now, five later."
"How about ten now and ten later?" Kyoko counter offered. She was no stranger to bargaining.
"Ridiculous. Six now and six later," Homura spoke, after a moment of silence.
"Alright, seven now and seven later." Kyoko leaned forward, grinning.
"Acceptable," Homura intoned. Sayaka looked ready to slug Kyoko.
"And a meal at the fanciest meat restaurant in Mitakihara," Kyoko threw in.
" … Acceptable," Kyoko observed that Sayaka's shade of red couldn't be healthy.
"Got something on your mind, Saya-chan?" Kyoko asked, grinning wolfishly at the girl.
"Yeah, your attitude! How can you be so selfish with the entire city on the line?!" Sayaka yelled, standing up. Homura's face turned flat but Mami touched her on the shoulder, shaking her head. Kyoko tilted her head, giving a curious look at Sayaka.
"Easily. Life's not flowers and puppies as a magical girl and it'll eat you and spit you out dead if you're careless," Kyoko spat out before biting onto another pocky stick.
"I know the truth about it all!" Sayaka's fists were white knuckled. "But you can't put a price tag on all these lives! Don't you live here after all?!"
Kyoko laughed, a weary sound of pain.
"I haven't lived here for a long time,"
(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
Missy was looking forward to meeting the new Ward. It was a young girl according to the rumor mill. She could show her the ropes and be the senior for once! Missy Biron, senpai extraordinaire.
The door rang out with a tone and Missy pulled down her visor. Time to shine!
Armsmaster came in by himself and Vista blinked. "I thought the new Ward was coming."
"Yeah, what gives?" Clockblocker asked, turning towards him on the couch.
Armsmaster nodded as he handed everyone a video camera. "She is. Look through the video."
Vista looked through and saw a gorgeous young girl through the camera, whose curls were dyed purple in the front. Her dark skin was unblemished and her curves were a perfect hourglass shape. Vista smiled widely and waved.
"Hi, I'm Vista," she exclaimed. There was an overlapping chorus of greetings from the others.
"Hi I'm Sentinel," she said, grinning back. "Oh you guys should totally meet the girls!"
Armsmaster turned to her abruptly. "I don't think that's necessary."
"They're probably going to end up meeting them anyways," Sentinel said, waving him off. "They're mostly harmless."
Vista blinked in alarm as three girls appeared out of nowhere around Sentinel. They were all of east asian descent, but had a variety of hairstyles, clothes, and eye colors.
"This is Azula, Homura, and Himiko," Sentinel said, pointing out each girl in turn.
"I'm a little busy Aisha," Azula said, testily. She had a military uniform that reminded her of Ancient China. Her hair was short, barely touching her shoulders. Her eyes glowed a golden light, that Vista had a hard time believing was real.
"Hey, ixnay on the name," Sentinel reprimanded, though she didn't sound that upset. "We talked about this."
"So you're the one who robbed the banks and the gangs," Aegis spoke up suddenly, staring at Homura. "You caused a lot of problems. A lot of people are dying."
Homura matched gazes with Aegis. Her clothes were somewhat reminiscent of a catholic school girls' wear and her purple eyes were dead inside as she coldly looked at him. Vista almost shivered.
"I am sympathetic to your city's plight and understand my part in the state of it." Homura pronounced at last. "Rest assured once I finish with my problem, I will be willing to cooperate."
"What problem?" Kid Win asked, curious.
"She has to kick the ass of an Endbringer -level monster." Sentinel explained, delighted as they all paled.
"That's impossible!" Aegis burst out.
"I have seen it defeated before. It is not impossible," Homura explained, in a dead tone of voice. "We have also observed that your monsters have different properties than ours."
"How are you even going to do it? What's your plan?" Armsmaster asked, in a quiet voice.
"I'll tell you how it goes afterwards," Homura offered. "We have an alien in our world that works against us. I will not risk exposure."
"That's kinda paranoid Homura," Sentinel said, "It's not like it can come here."
Homura shrugged awkwardly.
"Anyways, let's expose Azula to the joys of ice cream!" Sentinel grabbed the arm of Azula and started pulling her towards the kitchen.
"Not my chunky monkey!" Clockblocker cried out running after them.
Vista chuckled, but stopped the moment Himiko started bleeding red from her blouse and staggered to the floor. Armsmaster was already yelling into his helmet, but Vista ran to her side and started applying pressure to the wound. Himiko had strangely beautiful spiky hair the color of dune sand. Her catlike eyes darted with fear as she gripped at Vista's hand.
Suddenly, Homura was next to her. She knelt down and a strange purple glow appeared from her hands.
She frowned. "The wound is not closing. Perhaps …"
"It's still in me on the other side." Himiko explained, her voice raspy. "D-don't worry, I got him …"
Homura disappeared and so did Azula, just as an emergency team burst through the doors. They pulled Vista off of Himiko and carried her to the stretcher. Vista had the sudden impulse to pull out the video camera and saw Sentinel yelling at Himiko.
"Accept the damn invite, Himiko!"
