CHAPTER 139(Lead By Example)

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Standing atop a 3 story building, Horizon was overseeing the villains being arrested, led into armored trucks for transport to the various prisons.

Mostly D-List losers not even worth his time. But the sheer numbers, it begged the question of how many camps just like these were out there.

A focal point for all the recruits to be cleared before being assigned a role within the League of Villains.

'Focus Law, get your shit together...' he berates himself, shaking his head, trying to push the pain away.

After the battle, he helped with finding the few villains that hid from Endeavor's team. Then he finally got to drop the building he'd been holding afloat.

The show of power was astonishing to everyone, and that includes the pictures and video he uploaded from the beginning of this raid.

But the cost, he'd need to rest for a few hours for this headache to go away.

'If anyone that actually needs me to put my back into a fight was here, that could have gone bad for me. Splitting my focus like that, painful, and much more limiting than ever before. Luckily these people are all trash...'

But this is part of being a hero, putting on a façade of strength and bravery, 'smile even when you're scared, so the people you're saving won't be afraid when you arrive', or whatever All Might would say in Hero Class.

Looking directly below, he sees Mr. Compress -his slightly cooked self being loaded into the back of an extra secure armored truck, laid vertically in a metal bed with all his limbs restrained.

Already in the truck are Spinner and Toga, in the same type of contraption.

FWOOM!

Horizon doesn't even look away from the villains as a wave of mild heat accompanies the sound of flames landing beside him on the roof.

"Are we done here?" Horizon asks.

"Just about, Burnin is clearing out some rubble for the Safety Commission to send in their people," Endeavor looks around at the battlefield.

A few collapsed buildings and some torn-up streets.

"Hero Insurance should cover it, since most of this is owned by villains anyway, the banks can just seize it," Horizon says.

"Mhm," Endeavor grunts, then walks forward to stand beside Horizon, looking out at the villains being loaded up with his hands crossed over his chest.

While Horizon was idly scrolling through his phone.

After around a minute of deafening silence, Horizon speaks up, "just say what you have to say already."

"What happened when you went inside the penthouse?"

"I captured the villains."

"Mhm, I know the plan, I deal with the masses and you deal with the commanders. But you're powerful enough that you could have easily subdued them."

"I did."

"By causing permanent damage to some of them, all of them. The girl will be a vegetable for the rest of her life, Spinner will have permanent nerve damage in his legs. And Compress had his left arm split in two, right down the middle," Endeavor's flame rise for a moment before settling.

"You know how those kinds of fights can get, 'cornered dogs are dangerous,' or something like that. Villains are exactly the same."

Endeavor glances at him through the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to the villains. "Its called minimum required force, that's what Pro Heroes are supposed to use. Be as gentle as possible."

"What if that's what I did."

"Tch, you're Horizon, you can do much better than that. You could have solved this fight without anyone getting hurt like that. It would have been easy for you."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Endeavor says as he turns to face Horizon. "But even as someone who always thinks logically in the most intense situations, you lack compassion. Or from what I've seen tonight, you relish the chance to partake in violence, that's not what Heroes do."

"Tell that to Mirko."

"Tch, that's beside the point. Nobody ever expects her to become the #1 Hero. But you're Horizon, it's expected of you to become the next Symbol of Peace. Be better..."

"I still got the job done," Horizon says. "Maybe people feel so comfortable being villains because Heroes aren't hard enough on them. Maybe if All Might didn't pull his punches the crime rate would have hit zero."

"That's Tyranny, and its not what we fight for. Our duty is primarily protecting people, not handing out our own form of justice. This isn't a world of 'Might makes right' anymore, society has rules."

"Unless you're mighty enough to ignore that," Horizon says. "Because this is a world of 'might makes right', the government has the most people, the most guns, the most hired muscle," he gestures to himself and Endeavor. "That means they're always right."

Endeavor just sighs, taking a deep breath and looking back to the villains. "You're still young, and already the most powerful person in Japan. In a world of 'Might makes right', you'd always be right. That's how many people become villains, and while I know you're on the path to being a hero. Part of that is holding yourself to a higher standard that anyone else.

But you and I, we need to be even more strict as the #1 Heroes, now and in the future. You need to be an example. Because people will follow our lead, and if we say that Heroes should exercise such violence on villains, eventually people will take that too far.

Lead by example, because not everyone is Horizon. Not everyone can be trusted with that kind of power over others. If most people had a fraction of your power they'd use it for personal gain, the fact that you're still trying to do the selfless thing and be a Hero shows your true character.

But even the average Pro Hero would succumb quite easily, that's the person we must set an example for, understand?"

Horizon just sighs, "yeah I get it...but that also means I have the power to set a new standard for them, right?"

"Uh, right," Endeavor wasn't sure if he should be concerned or not with the way Horizon said that. "Anyway, I know the likely wasn't a common occurrence, just seeing the people who killed your friends at the summer camp must have gotten to you. Take the rest of today off to clear your head."

"Right, thanks," Horizon says.

But in truth, everything was intentional. To try to wring as much information as possible out of Spinner he had to operate like he would have when working with his mother.

Terrify them and show how willing you are to hurt the people they love, but even then he didn't get any information he could use to track Shigaraki, or atleast Kurogiri.

FOOSH!

The sound of Ryukyu's massive wings flapping interrupt them as her large dragon form sets down on the roof. Then before their eyes she reverts into her slender human form, wearing her usual red qipao, fixing her hair as she walks up to them.

Standing nearly a foot -30cm- shorter than them in this form she looks up at both of them, before walking between them to look down at the last few trucks being loaded up.

"So, how did my Nejire-Chan work with you boy?" Ryukyu asks.

"Too chatty," Horizon says.

"Mhm," Endeavor agrees.

And Ryukyu just rolls her eyes, "well what's important is the raid went well. Sorry I couldn't be here for the action."

"Would have been cool to see you fighting as a dragon, in person for a change," Horizon admits.

"I think this fight caused enough collateral damage, this is partly why my agency is at the coast. Gives me more room to spread my wings out there."

"Why are you here?" Endeavor asks her. "Did you really fly all the way here just to check up on your sidekick?"

"Oh no that'd be a waste, the Safety Commission asked me to escort these villains to Tartarus," Ryukyu says. "We can't afford to have either of you away from Tokyo and all the way to the other side of Japan at the moment, the crime rate isn't expected to start dropping for atleast two more days after all."

"And without a Full Pro Hero License I actually can't be on that mission," Horizon says.

"Neither can Nejire, so Endeavor, can she spend tonight at your agency? I assume that skyscraper of yours has an extra room or two."

Both Endeavor and Horizon groan.

"It's fine," Endeavor says. "But who is your support for this escort mission."

"Hawks," Horizon answers for her.

"How'd you know that?"

"I can sense him, a few miles east of here."

"Huh, how does that work?" Ryukyu asks. "Like, do you just sense living things?"

"No, I sense everything."

"Everything?" She gives him an uneasy look.

"If I want to, yes, I can do that."

"Well, luckily for all the ladies you're a Hero. A pervert with that Quirk would have been a nightmare."

"I have better things to do than skirt-chasing, you don't have to worry about me becoming another Hodori."

"Thank the heavens," Ryukyu gives a relieved look. "The world doesn't need another one of those."

After a few more minutes of chatting, Hawks finally arrives. And the friendly casual conversation immediately becomes tense.

"Hawks," Horizon growls out, losing his relaxed façade for just a moment.

"Horizon, how've you been, it's been a while," Hawks greets him in a friendly manner, as if they were an old friend. As Hawks hovers before the others, he gives Horizon a friendly wave.

"Perfect as always."

"Maannnn, if I knew you were such a monster I would have made a better first impression, no hard feelings right?" Hawks offers his hand for Horizon to shake, giving him a friendly smile.

"Tch, I'll keep things professional, but we aren't friends."

"Awe," Hawks slumps forward. "But we could be."

"Or you could go fuck yourself."

"Horizon!" Ryukyu taps his shoulder. "Show some respect."

"When its earned, I'm going back to Tokyo..." Horizon disappears from the roof, swapped with a piece of brick.

"So, bad blood?" Endeavor asks, and Hawks just shrugs.

"Looks like the villains are all packed up, ready to get these guys to Tartarus?" Hawks asks Ryukyu.

"Gladly, until next time Endeavor, thanks for looking out for my Nejire-Chan."

"You trained her well."

"See ya Enji!" Hawks says as he begins hovering away, and Endeavor just gives an annoyed grunt.

END CHAPTER---