5 Shadow Collective

"So what's the deal with these guys?" Nora asked as they made their way to the school's courtyard.

Brian shrugged, "I don't know, all Jason's told me is that they're moving into our territory and he wanted us to deal with them."

"They challenged us." Kadota spoke quietly, "Jason's feeling overwhelmed right now, Brian."

"I noticed." The blonde responded, glancing over his shoulder, "Is it because of the Reaper?"

The shorter teen shrugged in response.

"So you're the leader of the Shadow Collective?" A new voice spoke out as they finally entered the highschool's courtyard.

Brian turned toward them and frowned. In front of him stood a group of four teens, all in the same high school uniform. The one in front had ear piercings, an overconfident smile, and dyed red hair. The other members of the group had blonde, brown, and black hair.

"Who are you?" The blonde frowned as he sized them up, "We're looking for thugs, not middle schoolers."

The leader growled, "You-"

Brian began to tune out the leader as he glanced to his left. He quickly noticed a small garden. With a look over his shoulder, he saw Connie make eye contact and nod.

"HEY ASSHOLE!" The leader cut into his train of thought, "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!"

"No," Brian admitted with a small shrug.

"That's it!" One of the other members pushed past the leader, "No one insults The Zoo!" The teen's eyes glowed and he quickly morphed into a mountain lion.

The mountain lion kept toward Brian but was intercepted by a veil of vines, which wrapped around the animal's leg and threw him into a nearby wall.

Brian glanced over at Connie, who had more vines circling her, "Thanks, I owe you one!"

Connie nodded, "Guys, get in there!"

Nora ran toward the knocked-out mountain lion and laid her hand on its head, within moments the animal was back to human.

Kadota ran toward and outstretched his hand, the bandages on that arm flew toward one of the Zoo's members, who's hands now had claws similar to that of a cat's. The teen tried to resist, but another set of bandages restrained him further.

As he did so Brian ran forward and touched the clawed teen, once he did so his green eyes glowed for a moment as he activated his ability.

Suddenly a pair of talons grabbed the blonde and pulled him into the air. As he struggled against the talons they saw the school grow smaller and smaller below them.

"What did we say!" The leader spoke, "Don't disrespect the Zoo!"

Brian grabbed the part of the teen's leg that was still human and activated his power, his eyes glowed a bright green color and he smiled.

The blonde's right hand suddenly grew claws, with a quick swipe to his opponent's leg he was released and began to fall back down.

"You fool!" The leader called out, "You can't fly!"

As Brian's cat claw disappeared, his arms formed into wings and his feet into talons.

"Ready for round two?" Brian asked the leader.

-----

"So I see that you were successful." Jason greeted when the group returned to the lighthouse.

"After we pummeled them they were a lot more willing to talk." Connie laughed, "It was a good fight, haven't had one like that since The Reaper showed up."

"About that." Jason began.

The door to the basement opened and revealed a familiar face. Tamaki, still in his hotel uniform, smiled at the group. His black hair was covered with a couple of bandages but his aqua eyes still shined with determination, "Hey guys, how are you doing?"

"We heard that you went up against the Reaper," Nora spoke, "How was it?"

"He doesn't look like much," Tamaki shrugged, "He's a lot more dangerous than he looks."

Jason sighed, "Why don't we get to what I wanted to talk about."

"Sure," Tamaki nodded toward his friend, "With the retirement of that world's lead hero a group of villains has been making their path, most notably the Yakuza."

"So this world is a mirror of ours?" Kadota asked, "Then wouldn't more abilities be added to The Reaper's arsenal?"

"That would only make the problem worse," Connie added. She crossed her arms over her chest, "I don't see how this could be good."

"It's not like that!" Jason cut in, "In that world, their powers are genetically gained, hereditary." His eyes met the group's gaze, "Not supernatural, like those of this world, so The Reaper wouldn't be able to take the powers of those in that world."

"That's good." Brian smiled, "So about these villains, is there a reason you're bringing them up?"

"I've contact with the leader of the Yakuza," Tamaki answered, "From what I have found out they're planning on joining forces with another group."

Jason raised an eyebrow, "another group?"

"A group called the League of Villains." Tamaki looked at his friend then back toward the group, "They're the leading cause of trouble in Japan right now, they were the ones who forced the number one hero into retirement."

Jason brought a hand to his chin, "Are you sure it's them?"

Tamaki nodded, "My contact mentioned a man named Shigaraki, he's the leader of their group."

"If we work with the Yakuza and their leader, we'll need to tread carefully." Jason spoke with his gaze downcast, "The league will put way too much heat on us," his gaze flipped back up toward his friend, "What about the hero agencies or schools, any moves?"

Brian raised his eyebrow slightly, 'hero schools?'.

"The students from U.A. are getting their licenses to use their powers in public," Tamaki answered, "As for the agencies, they're increasing patrols and appearances in public, but I don't know much about them."

"There's one last thing," Jason turned to the group, "The Reaper knows that we're trying to find a way to kill him, Tamaki's was plain enough to see even without getting his hands in Erza."

"He attacked Erza!" Nora's jaw dropped, "Is she okay!?"

Tamaki shrugged, "She's alright, pretty shaken up though."

"I take it you both lost your abilities?" Kadota spoke, "How did it feel?"

Tamaki shrugged, "I don't know… weird?"

"Alright guys," Brian turned to the group, "Let's let Tamaki and Jason get some rest, we could all use some."

Jason gave a small smile to Brian, "Tomorrow I'll be making contact with the Yakuza's boss and have a talk with him thanks to Tamaki, I want you there with us, go get some sleep."

The group nodded and made their way to their rooms.

Once they were alone Jason sighed and turned toward his friend, "How has it been since you've lost your ability?"

"I haven't had time to experience it that much so far, though I still have one killer headache still." Tamaki sat down across from Jason, "I was going to lose my ability in a couple of months anyway."

Jason took a sip of that drink, "I wonder how it feels… to lose your power…"

-------------------------------------

(Scene Change)

Yuu slowly made his way through the many alleyways of the city. It had been a week since the hotel, he still hasn't found any leads or any shelter. At the very least he's covered a lot of ground.

"I hate walking." Yuu whined to himself, "Why did that asshole have to mess with me again?"

The Reaper continued to walk aimlessly, turning to a different alley in every turn. One thing that stayed the same however was the avoidance of the road, anytime he came across the street he would turn the other way.

After the Hotel he has seen himself broadcasted as a villain, any who saw him walking had made sure to call the local police once they had thought he was out of earshot.

Too bad they didn't know superhearing was one of his abilities.

Yuu turned another corner and was immediately met by a searing pain on the back of his head and a mouthful of alley dust.

"There you are, foul villain!" Someone behind Yuu spoke, a little too enthusiastically.

The Reaper turned around and saw a man in yellow spandex and several floating frisbees.

"What the…" The Reaper's head tilted slightly.

"Today, you'll be tasting justice, by my hand, Disk master!" The yellow spandex hero pointed at Yuu, "Prepare yourself!"

The Reaper's eyes began to glow as he prepared his abilities, "Let's get this over with!"

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