The Hunt (2)

The morning of the fourth day dawned as I awoke to the sounds of the hustle and bustle of Manual's agency around the cubicle I was just asleep in. I groggily sat up and threw the poncho I was using as a blanket into my [Pip-boy]. Stretching, I stood and walked out of my cubicle and into one of Manual's sidekicks. Thankfully, they were unharmed but their coffee I was now wearing. I sighed when the sidekick started to apologize and try to wipe off the coffee with a handkerchief. I pushed them off and told them it was okay before heading toward the showers the agency had.

They were unisex but separated into stalls with curtains. As I entered, I saw a few female sidekicks lounging around in towels. There were also some male sidekicks doing the same thing and a few were hitting on the female sidekicks. I just ignored them and headed for one of the empty stalls.

Once inside, I removed my armor and under armor before I started washing off the coffee with some [Abraxo Cleaner]. Left in just my boxers, I began to scrub the coffee out of my armor and clothes. Little did I realize I had left the stall's curtain open. So when I heard a whistle from behind me, I didn't pay it any mind. I just continued to scrub. After five minutes of scrubbing, the coffee finally came out.

Now all I had to do was dry the under armor. Remembering that there were dryers in the room adjacent to the showers, I opened my [Pip-boy] and pulled out a [Machanic jumpsuit]. After putting it on, I heard an aw from behind me. When I turned around, I found the female sidekicks at the entrance to the stall looking at me with hunger in their eyes.

God damn it Charisma!

Mentally sighing, I put away my armor and took my under armor towards the dryers under the hungry eyes of the female sidekicks. If it weren't for me being almost three times their age, I would have tried something. A few of them were pretty enough to get the blood flowing in the right way. That and I had other, more important, things to do.

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Once my under armor was dried, I quickly changed back into my [Elite Riot Gear]. As I got dressed, Manual came out of his office and was looking for me. Seeing as I didn't have anything to do until tonight, I decided to see what he wanted. As I stepped out of the dryer room, I saw Manual across the room. We both saw each other and made our way to meet in the middle. When we met, he pulled me into an office that was nearby.

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"How goes the search for the Hero Killer?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"Out of the 100-odd cases, he was only involved in 35 of them," I answered. "The rest were either coincidences or the work of a villain named Moonfish. Far too many of them were out of his MO and Moonfish's quirk made it hard to distinguish whether or not the Hero Killer was a part of it."

"So what do we got?" Manual asked, his blue eyes- wait, blue eyes?

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Reacting faster than the fake could comprehend, I picked the imposter up and threw them through the door and into the offices. The sidekicks that were in there saw the fake fly through the air and slam into a cubicle. I ran out, guns drawn, and marched my way toward the cubicle. The sidekicks gathered around, readying their quirks to fight if need be.

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"Where is the real Manual?" I question with my guns aimed at the cubicle.

"What?!" resounded throughout the office as the sidekicks turned towards the cubicle.

"How?" A ghastly voice sounded from the cubicle as a grey mist rose.

"You were good, but the eyes were wrong," I said as a figure pushed themselves up from the cubicle.

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A grey, 3-piece suit-wearing figure with blue gloves stood up from the wreckage of the cubicle. The figure had a purple head and a gas mask for a face. His eyes were sunken into his head and were an eerie blue. I'll admit, the guy threw me for a loop with his looks but I wasn't scared. Surprised yes, but not scared.

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"Allow me to introduce myself, "The figure spoke in a distorted voice. "I am Gestalt Wandler, but you can call me 'Voidshift'."

"Well then, Voidshift, what are you doing here?" I asked while training my [.357 Magnum] on his chest.

"Well, to gather information. Simple as that." Voidshift spoke politely as if he wasn't held at gunpoint. "I must say, very few people have ever found me out so quickly. And even fewer managed to catch me off guard."

"An undercover agent?" A hushed whisper resounded.

"No, an assassin," I announced, causing Voidshift to chuckle.

"Well, aren't you an observant one?" Voidshift spoke as two thin blades appeared in his hands. "Well, you not gonna be one for long."

"You're surrounded, just give up!" One sidekick shouted before a shot and a knife fell to the floor with a broken blade.

"Now that was just rude," Voidshift sighed as I shot the knife he threw out of the air. "I was just trying to silence a bug."

"Very funny, now drop the knife," I deadpanned and then ordered.

"Or what?" Voidshift asked as he took a step closer. "Will you shoot me? In front of all these heroes?"

"..." I stayed quiet, knowing his game. One I've played before for a long time.

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Before he could open his mouth again, I shot the other knife out of his hand. For added measure, I also shot both his knees and shoulders. I couldn't tell from his face, but I could see that he didn't feel the pain he should have. It was as if my shots didn't faze him. Was he similar to that purple thing that attacked me at USJ?

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"Ow," Voidshift mocked my efforts as his body shook. "That's all six shots, correct?" He asked as if he didn't already know.

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Launching myself at him, I pulled my knife out of my clothes and came at him. Intending to disable him if possible but kill him if that proved to be too difficult. Though from what my sixth sense was telling me, killing him would be a challenge in of itself.

As soon as I got close, he moved as well. I went for a stab which he pushed away and tried to jab at me with his hand. Sensing something wrong with the jab, I smacked it away as I pulled my knife back. He tried to jab at me again with his other hand but I met it with my knife. As the two attacks met, sparks flew, it felt like I was trying to cut a piece of steel. He then tried to grab my arm to which I let him then elbowed him in the face. He felt that one since I didn't hold back with that elbow. As he stumbled back, a sidekick came sprinting over with their quirk activated, trying to subdue Voidshift. But he just swung his arm in a slicing motion and the sidekick's head came clean off with a spurt of blood.

With the death of the sidekick taking his attention, I pulled out a [Ripper] from my [Pip-boy] and revved the weapon. With the sound of a small motor revving to life, I charged at Voidshift with all intent to kill. He swung his other arm at me fast enough to force me to block with the [Ripper]. Orange blood started to fly as the [Ripper] dug into his flesh with gusto. He grunted as the [Ripper] tore through his arm like a Lazor through paper. As his arm went flying, Voidshift sent a kick at me which I grabbed and kick him in between his legs before bringing down the [Ripper] onto the leg I held.

As I cut off Voidshift's leg, he lashed out with the other one, knocking the [Ripper] out of my hand. With the same leg, he cracked me across my helmeted head. I stumbled back with his cut-off leg in my hand. Shaking my head, I looked back at him and I went wide-eyed. His missing arm was inching its way closer to Voidshift as he lay in a pool of his orange blood.

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"What the..." I couldn't help but say as I watched on in awe before I felt a tugging sensation in my hand, it being the leg I just had cut off.

"That hurt," Voidshift spoke as his arm returned to its stump. "You are going to pay for that."

"How?" Several sidekicks gasped out while the rest of them started to puke.

"Supernatural Metamorphosis." I thought out loud. "That's your quirk, isn't it?"

"Again, you're very perceptive." Voidshift spoke as he waved his arm around, "But that doesn't matter, you will die."

"Just shut up," I said before rushing over to him and began to beat him with his own leg.

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It took a while, but I managed to knock him out. And almost cave his skull in while during it. Once he was unconscious, one of the sidekicks surrounding us threw a pair of cuffs on him while another called the police. While they were doing that, I ordered the remaining sidekicks to search the building to find Manual.

It took three hours but he managed to be found. Manual was locked in one of the broom closets bound and gaged. And from the looks of him when he was found, he had been there for at least a day and a half. He wasn't conscious but was in some type of coma. He was later taken to a nearby hospital where he would be treated for any wounds and to see what was keeping him in the coma.

As for Voidshift, he was taken by the police and sent to a jail called, 'Tartarus'. A supermax prison where only the most vile of villains are kept. Apparently, he was a wanted assassin in several countries. I got a call from Nezu saying his bounty would be transported into an account he made for me and that the HPSC would send someone to meet me about the Hero Killer case.

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x-x-x-x-x

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A day had passed since Voidshift had shown up and a lot of things had happened. For one, Manual was still in a coma and his sidekicks were running without leadership. Two, the HPSC rep came by and got an update on the Hero Killer case. Three, I took Tenya out for patrols since I had nothing to do except wait until night before patrolling for the Hero Killer. And four, several of the female sidekicks had been frequently flirting with me or outright trying to sleep with me. And I'll admit, a few of them got me.

Man, thank god for broom closets and cheap hotels.

Anyway, the nights wore on and before I realized it, it was the last day of the work studies for the students. The Hero Killer hadn't shown up yet and I was wondering if I got the place where he would strike next right. But then, on the night of the last day of the work studies, I found him. The fucker had been using the alleyways and sewers to maneuver around without being seen.

When we found each other, he had a hero down by his feet dead. And as he pulled his katana out of his victim, his eyes found mine. We had an intense standoff until I moved first.