The next day, Smoker got up without a word. He liked to spend the early morning alone. When everyone else was asleep, he would continue to train his haki, and research this world. Today, he would continue to learn about this country's...criminal underworld. Brockton Bay obviously had the Empire Eighty-Eight, the Azn Bad Boys, Coil and his Mercenaries, and Faultlines crew. Two major gangs, one minor annoying one, a mercenary group, and Coil. They would all be brought to soon enough.
Boston had Accord's Ambassadors, a cell of the Teeth, and Blasto's loose alliance of drug dealers. While they didn't have as many parahumans, that didnt mean they were any less dangerous. It seemed every major city in the country had a parahuman presence.
New York may have been home to Legend, but there were just as many criminals. Various Mafia families made the famed city their home, and crossed paths with their local Protectorate many times. Still, it seemed that they prefered to do their business in the shadows.
The West Coast seemed to be under the control of the Elite, an organization that prefered fighting with pens, paper, and money than actual confrontations. They seemed...a bit too similar to the Seven Warlords in Smoker's opinion. The PRT's policy towards them was rather lax.
The south of the country wasn't any better. Neo Confederates gangs often battled radicalized chapters of the Black Panthers, as well as the Cartels from Mexico who attempted to gain a foothold in their territory. This country was a mess, plain and simple.
It was a miracle that the PRT and Protectorate were still functioning as well as they did. Still...their main fault seemed to be their reluctance to kill. While Smoker personally followed Moral Justice, he wasn't afraid to kill if necessary. He had done so in the past, alongside Hina. That was when they first- nevermind.
Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Smoker continued researching specific threats until his alarm went off. It was time to train his haki before anyone else woke up. He was getting closer to being able to use it at will. Still, it took a lot out of him just being able to form armament haki for a few seconds. He would need to train harder.
His phone started ringing. Smoker glared when he saw the caller ID.
Armsmaster.
---
Taylor really hated Mondays. Not because it meant that the weekend was over, no she hated that she had to go to school. That meant she had to deal...with the Trio. Naturally, she avoided everyone's gaze on the bus. They started whispering when she took her seat. Wasn't this a public bus? Taylor slapped her cheek lightly.
'You are Weaver, you are a Marine.' Taylor started to tell herself, over and over again. As much as she wanted to miss school, Dad was getting suspicious and her period card wouldn't work again. After a few minutes of arguing with herself, Taylor sat up straight. She was a Marine, she helped capture Lung, she was...Weaver.
Emma, Sophia and Madison had nothing on her. Buzz buzz! Oh, Taylor's new phone rung. Tashigi was nice enough to buy her one...since Dad was traumatized. Slowly taking out her phone, Taylor formed a small smile. It was a text from Tashigi, saying to have a good day at school with a wink emoji. Ever since Taylor told the older woman her life story, Tashigi seemed distracted, and busy.
Taylor had grown attached to Tashigi. She was her friend. It has been a long time since she could call anyone that. Eventually, her bus arrived and Taylor took a deep breath. It was time to go to school.
-*-
As soon as she got off the bus, it started.
"Well if isn't Hebert. What's wrong? Got bored of that Merchant you've been busy whoring yourself out to?" Emma started talking first. She was standing outside the school with Madison and a few of her friends. Taylor ignored them and kept walking. That made them shout their insults even more. She tightened her grip on her backpack straps.
She was a hero. She was better than they would ever be. Slowing her pace, Taylor stopped and turned.
"Emma, go fuck yourself."
The redhead eyes widened and attempted to grab Taylor, which she avoided and kept walking. She was probably going to pay for that later when Sophia got here, but that...that felt really good.
Taylor never imagined how her day would have gone.
---
Jeff didn't get paid enough to be a security guard. At any other job, his salary would have been more than enough, but not here. Not at Winslow. The stupid school was full of druggies, ABB thugs, and Nazi wannabes. Jeff's predecessor was actually stabbed by one and limped around everywhere now. His case wasn't deemed dangerous enough for Panacea to be involved.
So when some van with a weird logo pulled up to the front of the school, Jeff did nothing. It wasn't worth getting shot, stabbed or maimed over the little bastards that attended school here. Jeff just kept reading his newspaper. Hm, the Wards were planning a press conference in a few days. Maybe he could take his kids there to get some autographs. Wait a minute, Jeff had seen that van before.
Tearing his eyes away from the newspaper, Jeff saw a tallish woman with a sheathed sword in her left hand exit the vehicle, alongside a half dozen of men dressed in a strange white uniform and a familiar cap. Jeff squinted his eyes and cursed his bad eyesight. Wait...the cap said Marine.
Shit, Jeff definitely wasn't paid enough to deal with capes. He went back to his newspaper. They soon walked past his seat, with the woman angrily kicked in the front doors and walked in. Ooo Blackwell wasn't going to like that. Maybe he should have stopped them and asked for a warrant.
Nah, Blackwell refused to give him a raise last time he asked. So Jeff continued to read his newspaper. It wasn't his business what happened to this hellhole. Ooo maybe he could get an autograph from those Marines when they were on their way out.
His daughter would love that.
A/N
This one's a bit shorter than usual and really rough around the edges. It's been a fun one as always. More actiony scenes will come near the end of this arc.
I think.
Netflix really needs to add more One Piece episodes. I'm dying of boredom when I'm not writing. Sometimes I'm bored while writing as I stare at the blank google doc planning out the scenes.
sleep well. I luv u
