Beyond Responsibility

Chapter 11: Trigger Part 2

But that possibility is still off for another day it seems, according to Raptor, this drug still has some serious side effects. And it doesn't seem very well suited towards quirk therapy either.

"I see. So it's the drug's fault. Stay off that stuff, Raptor: it made you into a mindless beast. A drug that amps up your quirk to the level of a pro, I can't believe there's something like that out there."

"You said I went on a rampage? I... I don't remember any of that." Raptor bowed his head in shame, eyes downcast. "You called me a monster. And you were right. I totally lost myself because of the drug. I hurt people and all I could think about was how addicting the thrill of it was. Man, what have I done? One thing's for sure: I'm never touching that stuff again."

"Don't worry Raptor. You may be one responsible for what you did, but it was the drug's fault. You want to make up for it, right; make sure nothing like this happens again? I want to help. Will you let me?"

"Absolutely! Whatever you need, I'm there, I don't want anyone else to get hurt by this stuff."

"Great. Then why don't you start by telling me everything you know about the dealer who gave this to you."

≈*≈

A teen girl sat on the edge of the building overlooking the alleyway where the fight against Raptor had occurred. She kicked and crossed her legs, clad in black and yellow striped leggings, as they dangled over the side of the building. Beyond that she wore the regular skirt and blouse of a highschool uniform, all under a loose varsity jacket. Her hair was kept short, except for a large bang that covered her left eye to hide the cloth eyepatch she wore. A bee buzzed around her head and landed on her face, its abdomen replaced with a syringe carrying a blood sample. But the girl didn't react to it at all as the bee crawled under her eyepatch.

"Too bad. I thought that one would go further, but once again, they had to interfere. Knuckleduster's crew just finished taking out the other two. But this spider guy is new, seems pretty troublesome. Maybe we should do something about him? Not that I really care."

"No." A deep male voice responded through the static of her earpiece. "The vigilantes' presence actually affords us an advantage. We get real battle data without involving heroes or the police."

"Hmm, pretty sure they're trying to identify us and take us down though. Knuckleduster in particular. It'd be easier to just get rid of them."

"This current dynamic is worth preserving." The voice sternly reiterated.

"So you want me to be more like Kugutsu? Carefully pick who to give trigger to and play cat and mouse with the vigilantes, quality over quantity? Look how that ended up for him. The vigilantes took out all his insta-villains anyway, traced it back to him, and took him down. Eraserhead's handing him off to the police this very moment," she replied without a care for the chastising presence on the other end of the call.

"Then if you don't want to end up like him, you'll collect data without providing any to the enemy. That is how you'll prove your worth as a coordinator, Hachisuka."

"Is that how this works? Lame." She deadpanned. "Just saying, I'd rather load up a bunch of passersby with trigger, catch the wannabe heroes off guard, and overwhelm them with insta-villains. Problem solved. And with my bees I can inject the drugs without a trace."

"Yes, the trigger you've been entrusted with is yours to distribute at your discretion. But, it's a valuable commodity, not something to dole out so indiscriminately."

"Oh, who cares? You're getting your data, yeah?" Hachisuka retorted flippantly.

"It's a matter of efficiency. A person's physical abilities are heavily influenced by their strength of character. And quirks are no exception. A strong spirit is indispensable if one wishes to wield an uncommonly powerful quirk."