Fandom Are We Only Tools? (.Phantom.)

[thelivingvirus.exe]

Keigo Takami's eyes narrowed, as he looked down at the city streets from where he sat perched. The man was on a routine patrol, eyes scanning the maze of streets absently, flicking from building to building as if expecting something. Of course, nothing jumped out to him. It was just another average day with another average patrol. That of course, was the best kind in his opinion - it meant instead of actually fighting, he could simply relax.
Leaning back, the man absently checked the time on his phone, lips pursing into a slight frown. Normally, at this point he would simply fly down to the ground level and see if he could help with anything a bit more domestic. Helping old ladies cross the street, rescuing cats from trees, little things like that. But today in particular, there was something else on his mind, a mysterious note he'd received. Now, Hawks was certainly no stranger to secret admirers, having a love note shoved in his pocket from time to time from passerbys. He rarely entertained such messages, though he couldn't deny the confidence boost they provided, he couldn't see any logic in responding to them.

But this one was different. Unlike the normally cleanly written confessions, I's dotted with hearts and sprayed with a signature perfume, this one was.. Immature at best, and insulting at worst. One of those gag cards you could pick up at a convenience store, with what looked like a self portrait at the bottom. Or, at least that's what he assumed it was supposed to be. In truthfulness, it looked like a doodle from a fourth grader. The note contained a time and a place, and Hawks couldn't help but admit he was insanely curious what exactly this secret admirer had in store. So, perhaps against his better judgement, he hopped down from his perch, large red wings spreading out to catch the wind and take flight. His quick search of the coordinates led him to a secluded park, one rarely visited in the fringes of the city. A quick search of his keen eyes revealed no immediate threat, so after a few moments of circling, he landed at the agreed upon spot, curiosity burning a hole in his chest as he waited for someone to appear.

 

[.Phantom.]

It was time to face the unfortunate, devastating facts. While The Monarch set them all up for success in things such as destroying the hopes and dreams of pitiful, innocent children and civilians, as well as raise hell for the heroes, nothing in the curriculum could have prepared her for the world's most brutal challenge: boredom. Seriously. It was almost too easy to "borrow" the Lamborghini for a joyride. When it was returned with a full tank of gas and recently waxed and detailed, no one complained. No cops chased her. In fact, half of the time, they didn't even realize the car had been gone for a few hours in the night. Yawn. On top of that, hacking into some of the hero agencies databases was so boring she'd increased their security because she felt bad for them. It was only just a week ago when she stumbled upon the highly classified file of the winged hero who went by 'Hawks'. A bit of a boring name if you asked her, but it was the 'secret' part of his file that had captured her attention. Upon reading his file, her interest was piqued. Someone who was similar to herself, who was raised and taught by those to be the best for things they didn't want others to know about. Given her current goal was to hunt down that very organization and the bird-like hero worked directly with those in charge, she'd be given access to their databases without having to be on the constant move to avoid being tracked if he teamed up with her.

So she sent him a little invitation.

Her finest work, if you were to ask her. She even included a portrait so that he may recognize her. Not that Japan's media had been able to catch more than a glimpse of her in fleeting, blurry images. Seilah Gray was raised to be in the shadows, and it was only because she was bored of how easy it was to hide among the general population that she even had her name out there, the newlt adopted alias of "Vendetta" which was fitting given her personal one against those who raised her. It was also fitting, since the one she was avenging was a girl whose name was Vanessa.

The day finally arrived where she cashed in a favor to get the letter delivered to the hero by a newly formed acquaintance while she set herself up in the park to be hidden from view. Amber followed his every move the second his feet touched the ground. He was taller than she expected, given how large his wings were they made him seem small. Or perhaps she was hoping he would be shorter than her measly 5'1 and not at least six inches taller if her guess were to be accurate. She stayed in her well-hidden view amongst the leaves of the large tree a moment longer before she decided to greet him. Legs hooked around, she allowed herself to fall backwards, hanging from the limb she'd been sitting on upside down. "Glad you could make it, pretty bird." The young woman greeted cheerily, swinging a moment to gain the appropriate momentum to flip off and land on her feet. She landed with her back facing him, which she corrected with a spin on her heels. "I wasn't sure you'd accept my invite. It was a little last-minute."

 

[thelivingvirus.exe]

The man spun on his heel, wings shifting as his eyes landed on the intruder. Or, rather, the inviter. Though he appeared surprised, he was always on high alert, and only moreso having accepted a mysterious invitation with only coordinates and a gag card. Whether this was some strange prank, or a villain's cruel idea of a trick, he hardly cared. She would be sorely disappointed, if she were a villain attempting to ambush him, alone no less. Straightening, the man's gaze intensely met hers for a few silent moments, before grinning. He held up his hand, waving toward her. "Hello!" He chirped with a chuckle.

"Ah, I never have been one for plans much. Though I am curious why such a spontaneous invitation?" His eyes glittered, as he lowered his hand, shoving both of them in his pockets instead, leaning back. It was a show of bravado, and he - at least outwardly - didn't appear concerned in the slightest with any sort of threat. His eyes scanned her though, as he assessed her thoroughly, trying to place a name to the face. She was acrobatic, at least - an underground hero? No, a hero would have no need to be so secretive, unless it was simply a joke to get his attention.
"I liked your self portrait, very accurate. I'm not sure that I caught your name, though, Miss..?" Hawks left the question hanging in the air, as he took a step towards her, head cocking to one side. The closer her got, the more he found himself looking down toward the woman. She hardly looked a day over seventeen, hardly supervillain material. Although, he supposed he wasn't one to speak, considering he was a trained agent by age fifteen. His grin never wavered, as he resolved to remain alert as usual, though his carefree persona didn't show as such.

 

[.Phantom.]

His greeting was about what she anticipated. Once she read his file, she spent the following twenty-four hours becoming his number one stalker and learning everything she could about the hero that she possibly could based on what was shown to the public. That and she may have done some in-person stalking from a distance. He was approachable enough that she wasn't paranoid about him reporting her immediately. Not that she minded, since they had no Intel on her quirk and thus wouldn't be prepared for what she had to offer. The ink lining her arms and creeping up her neck simple made her appear to be obsessed with tattoos. Which, was sort of true.

She flashed her teeth at his question a brief smile of amusement at his confusion for her spontaneous note. "Surprised? Were you expecting a love letter? Maybe next time, hot stuff." Vendetta tossed out casually, stretching an arm above her head. Man, sitting in that tree for the last twelve hours really had her feeling stiff. Did Hawks know how to massage? Maybe she should ask him that first.

Her train of thought was pulled back on track by his subtle request for her name. Blinking once, the blue haired teenager tilted her head to the side. "Oh! Right!" She snapped her fingers, realizing she never introduced herself. "You can call me Vendetta. Or if that's a mouthful, whatever nickname you please so long as it's creative. I respond to most things." She introduced herself cheekily, offering him a wink. Clever one, he was. She could see it in those golden eyes. "I hate drawing out convos for too long so I'll get to the point." The girl added, arms crossing over her chest to feign relaxation when she was ready to bolt at a moments notice. He may not have come alone. It looked like he did, but she did zone out a few times in that twelve hours. "I wanna team up."

 

[thelivingvirus.exe]

Her response caused his lips to pull into a smirk, corners quirking up just a bit higher at that. "I'm not sure if surprised is the right word," he hummed softly. However, he didn't bother to elaborate on that point. His brows raised slightly as she introduced herself, his smirk settling in to a subtle, self-satisfied smile. To be honest, he had expected it to be more difficult to get any information out of her. Obviously, it was an alias, but even so he had been ready to pressure her more for the information. "Vendetta, huh?" He repeated curiously.

Her true motives became clear immediately though, as she proposed an alliance. Now, what this team up entailed, she hadn't explained yet. However, the first question that drifted across his mind was 'why all the secrecy?' This ought to be some team up to require an anonymous note, leading him to a secluded location, only to propose a team up. "Hmm?" He didn't answer right away, his eyes still piercing her curiously. Anyone less brash than her would likely squirm under the heat, but he knew she wasn't the type to be intimidated by a simple glare.

Instead, he finally leaned back slipping his hands out of his pockets. They came to his chin instead, as his eyes flickered up towards the sky, as if deep in thought. "What agency are you with?" He asked curiously. Of course, he knew the answer would be none, but he was curious about how she would choose to answer such a question. Whether she would incriminate herself, attempt to lie or mislead him, or perhaps something else entirely. "Now, I love myself a good team up, but I'm afraid I don't have anything I need to team up for at the current moment."

 

[.Phantom.]

One of her favorite tactics was faux openess. If she was blunt and honest about most things that may seem, at surface level, important, it made it easier to form a relationship based on "trust". Heroes were always expecting a challenge to obtain Intel, or lies. So long as she steered the conversation as needed, she could easily get most people to delude themselves into believing she trusted them entirely. Given his skill set, she wasn't going to assume he would be that easy, but it wouldn't hurt to test it anyways. He was still a member of the male population, after all.

She sat and watched him, waiting patiently for the golden eyed hero to respond to her offer. The way he was looking at her, staring intently was a familiar and almost comforting look. If he had accepted too easily, it'd be suspicious. Unable to repress the urge much longer, her own amber gaze leveled with his, smile creeping up onto her face. She lifted a hand to wiggle her fingers at him in a wave. His question was for confirmation purposes only, and she knew he was already aware of her lack of hero status. "I usually work solo." She responded with a shrug.

Asking for his cooperation was risky. But she was desperate enough to take the risk of being on the Hero Commission's radar because she was more certain she could convince him to agree. If it fell through, the next few weeks were going to be hell. "That's where you're wrong, bird boy." Vendetta corrected, knowing she was giving up valuable information. Just enough to grab his intrigue. "Since you're a high security clearance worker bee for the hive that is the Hero Commission, I know you're more aware of the Zodiac Organization than the rest of the heroes. I know that the Hero Commission has been keeping close tabs, and the last few attempts at tackling their international organization have been futile with more heroes dying than they publicly wish to admit."

That had to of caught his interest. In her own hopes of them possibly knowing information she didn't have, she had hacked their system. She discovered they had less Intel than she expected, leaving her empty handed and needing to walk on eggshells while the security breach cooled down as a fluke. It was handled, now, but she got ahold of the reports of their attempts. "I happen to know quite a bit regarding their group. Call it a personal vendetta, if you will. But I clearly don't have the authority to legally operate in Japan since I'm foreign and hold no hero license. But you do. You see what I'm asking? A trade. I'll give you more information than you could dream of about their inner workings, and you provide me with the tools needed for me to destroy them. Same goal in the end, really."

 

[thelivingvirus.exe]

If Hawks recognized the name of the organization, he didn't betray it. There was no giveaway of his personal feelings, simply a blank stare and one raised brow. It could be interpreted in either camp - either he didn't know who that was, and didn't care, or he did know who it was, and was curious about how she knew. In either case, it wasn't particularly relevant how he felt, or what he thought of her proposal.

When the woman finished her proposal, Hawks pursed his lips out into a small pout. He looked deep in thought, while he processed her words, searching for any sort of giveaway, any sign that she had tipped her hand too far. His first tip off was that she appeared to have a decent knowledge of his work with the Commission. That was something that he didn't speak of, as far as the general public knew, he was merely a flashy, young, prodigy hero. That was strike number one. Strike number two was that she knew about the attempted raids and infiltrations of the Zodiac organization. That was something he himself had only been vaguely brought into the loop on. They hadn't sent him undercover at all, only some small bits of reconnaissance to bring them more information. Other than that, the whole thing was on a 'need-to-know' basis, and he, evidently, didn't need to know as much.

"That's what the help line is for!" He finally answered her, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You know - you call in to the police to inform them of pertinent criminal information, and they then act upon that information. The Hero Safety Commission even has an anonymous tip line." He was joking, the mirth in his voice subtle as he teased her on the matter. What she was proposing was dangerously close to a bribe, and they both knew it. "I'm not sure what tools I could give you, a single person to dismantle a whole organization. A hammer, a drill, perhaps? Ah, I'm sure that'd take a while though."

 

[.Phantom.]

Despite his obvious lack of accepting her proposal, she was able to relax mentally at his reactions. This ability to keep his composure and betray nothing was why she was reaching out to him in the first place. She had given him information that she knew didn't come from just being trustworthy. And sure, she could pretend she was a higher ranking top agent of the Commission but that'd be so much more boring. She could even fake a file and infiltrate the hard way, but that was extra work and she wasn't the top of her class because she worked harder. No, Seilah was wanted by the Zodiacs, specifically the school, because she knew too much and was trained too well. The only part they "failed" on with her was brainwashing her to become their loyal servant. Too bad, really. Sometimes she thought I'd have been easier to just continue on.

Vendetta maintained her easy going smile, not betraying any hint of nervousness at his lingering. "You'd be a wonderful distraction." She responded cheekily. Feeling a little excited at the prospect of achieving her goals, she stepped forward, closer to the Hero. "I'm just throwing out the offer, Hawks. I can do it alone but it'd take longer and though I'm a little impartial to it myself, I doubt a noble hero such as yourself would really turn down a chance to stop their human trafficking ring, right? No way a smart guy like you doesn't find it odd that the increased kidnappings are behind brushed under thr rug. Innocent children. Mothers. Sons." That was too much information, but she couldn't risk him saying no.

The blue haired girl rocked back on her heels, holding her hands up. "And I know it's totally sketch I know all of this, and you have no reason to trust me. It'd be dumb if you did." She tacked on, tilting her head. "In no way am I claiming to be a hero, but I'm not the bad guy either." She took a few steps back, glancing around to take in the secluded park.

 

[thelivingvirus.exe]

Though Hawks' persona remained steadfast, he felt the slightest falter at her admission. It took a careful tensing of his jaw, a slight flare of his nostrils as he forced his face to remain stoic. A human trafficking ring? Well, he supposed there was no guarantee that she wasn't lying. She knew enough about his activity as an agent, it was likely she also knew how to play on his emotions. Or at least, how to attempt to, he would never admit to himself if it was working. Instead, he flashed her a grin, and shoved his hands back into his pockets. His brows arched, shooting a look of mock-surprise her way.

"Well of course I don't trust you! That said, what kind of hero would I be to not help?" Though it seemed odd how quickly his opinion took a turn, his voice at least did not betray any sort of suspicion or reason to doubt him. Then again, his voice didn't betray much of anything, so it was hardly a trustworthy guide to his intentions. Those same unbetraying gold eyes cast down at her, giving her another curious once-over, followed immediately by a very pointed look.
"Though I would be remiss not to ask how a civilian like you has so much information on a supposed criminal organization?" The implication was obvious enough, but his voice held no malice, no real accusation. Simply an observation, almost a bait.

 

[.Phantom.]

Heroes were boring. Mundane. They tended to see the laws created by their higher ups and followed them blindly as if they were gods rather than other humans who also made poor calls of judgement based on their opinions. Even with facts involved, humans could never be truly opinion free. She learned this, and was taught to look down on heroes for it. Instead it was amusing, seeing them blindly devote themselves to their laws. It was cute like when a puppy begged for attention.

It would be naive of her to believe he agreed so easily, but she also knew he'd be a fool not to at least investigate any truth to her words. That's what she wanted. Because if she told him and he blindly followed, he'd be no better than the heroes who couldn't catch the Zodiacs. She needed someone with higher intellect. With caution but also ready to take a risk. His question was expected, though not one she was ready to answer in full. Unless he could be trusted. "As I said before, I have a personal reason for going after them. One that's still a bit of a fresh wound, so for now I'd like to refrain from bringing it up." She wasn't entirely lying. Vanessa was only dead for a few months, but the scars were still fresh.

"Ah! But I've said what I wanted to say." She piped up, clasping her hands in front of her before shoving one into her pocket and pulling out a wrinkly piece of paper. Holding out the pale blue sheet, she grinned. "My digits. If you need to reach me. Once you go back and dig to confirm what I just said, of course."

 

[thelivingvirus.exe]

Deflection. His interest was piqued at her choice of excuse - a fresh wound, something too painful to talk about? It was a valid enough reason, however he absolutely did not believe it. Not that something terrible had happened, but that that was the reason she refused to speak about it.

Accepting the paper she clutched, he stared down at the number scrawled across the crumpled note. Almost certainly a burner phone, but he would be sure to run it anyhow once he got back to his office. "Thanks."
Folding it into a neat square, he shoved it in his pocket, and then lifted his hand in a dismissive wave. "Though, you seem to have the impression I'm someone I'm not, I'll still try to help. I'm sure you know the number of my agency." Flashing another grin, he spread his wings out slightly, as if readying for takeoff. "I suppose I'll talk to you soon, then?"

 

[.Phantom.]

"A hero that has and is willing to do morally gray or even illegal things if ordered by the Commission or necessary for a mission in order to take down a huge threat. Is that not you?" Vendetta was super excited for this reveal. She heard the bird man had an affinity for other bird quirks, which was only going to make the whole thing more fun. "A pity if not," the blue haired teen admitted as her quirk activated. The tattoo on the back of her neck that sprawled up towards behind her ears lit up. Large, feathery black wings spread behind her back like a raven, a glint of amusement in her eye as she watched his expression.

"Once you confirm what I've said, pretty bird, give me a call. Don't keep me too long though. I get into trouble when I get bored." The words rolled off her tongue with a smile only seconds before she took to the skies. The wind was the main reason she always wore her hair back in it's braids, keeping it from needing to be constantly brushed. Catching the wing beneath her wings, she headed south before ducking behind a large warehouse and dropping to the ground. She was smarter than to assume no one would ever follow her, so she continued back west, and then north a few more blocks until she could figured out where she had landed.

The city was so large she was still quick to get lost. Where the hell was that witch-bitch at? She was always so grumpy but never actually kicked her out despite threatening her multiple times. Her thoughts wandered as she strolled through the streets, her major plan for the day taken care of. If he turned her down, then what? Years of training said to kill him on the spot, but she was trying to be better than that. For Vanessa. For the friend she lost who had dreamed of a better world. And all that bullshit.