Approaching the Target

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Low drifting clouds coated the expansive sky; a promise of rain held within their airy forms. The boys on the basketball court seemed to pay it no mind, as the chance of rain also brought with it a reprieve from the unyielding fire of the sun; a shield against harsh rays diffusing bright light into a calming haze. The air was light, all was serene, and the atmosphere only seemed to hold moisture that soon threatened to take form and fall to the earth.

At least that was how it was for the naive teenagers exchanging banter on the 'battlefield' they called the court. For the man watching them though, a sense of ominous dread hung thicker than the humidity.

He gazed upwards to examine the towering brick wall of the building he called his momentary station. What building was it? He had never cared much for the details of UA High, but perhaps he should have done some more research... or any research for that matter. At least that was what his boss would tell him, seeing as their mission required both tact and knowledge.

Returning his eyes to the court, both he and the teenagers well aware of the impending precipitation, he allowed them to linger on the mop of green hair that was currently trying to warn the others of that fact.

What was he doing? That was a question he often asked himself since the day his group fell apart, and one he had tried to ignore since falling under the services of Sheriff. 'Shaggy' Rogers, laid back goof ball of the Mystery Inc. hero group, was currently stalking a hero in training and carrying out the devious plan of another old hero; all for the sake of making a statement.

It was enough to make him hesitate at times, think about how he had gotten to this point, but he knew well enough why he was here. He could either wallow in his own depression, or 'do something about it', 'change the world'. It was an idea as naive as the boys in front of him, but much more sinister in its intent, an idea that was as crazy as the man who formed it.

'Sheriff' was his name, and using old fashioned Western aesthetics to save others was his game. Or at least it was until a student of his stole the show. 'Lightyear' and all of his space age splendor took the hearts of the people with his somehow more intense heroism, apparently astronauts have more chivalry than cowboys.

Obscurity didn't suit Sheriff though, or at least he felt it didn't, but no matter how he tried to adapt his brand had been thoroughly swindled by a boy who didn't even know he was stealing it.

Shaggy had felt a familiarity in Woody's, as he had come to know him, dissolution with the hero's society. In fact they had a lot in common. Even Woody's western style had a sense of comfort in it, as Mystery Inc.'s seventies sensibilities gave the group a similar brand; the two of them shared an appreciation for style.

But more than any superficial sense of kinship there was a shared hatred for a society in which being a hero meant nothing more than fame. A burning fire of disgust, fueled by two men's feeling of abandonment forged a plan to take the up and coming number one hero and turn him into a statement.

Of course, this was riding on the boy 'Deku' actually being AllMight's protege. AllMight was the perfect target in the sense that he embodied hero fame culture, but recent events quickly revealed his decline as the number one hero, so all that left was the one to replace him.

Perhaps the plan was simple enough: befriend the boy, gain his trust, kidnap him, and make a statement to the world. Hero's were nothing more now than celebrities, and any hero work was a thankless gift to society. They just had to hope he was as gullible as he looked.

The wet patter of rain on his head pulled him from his musings, and he only cast the sparest of glances upward before his attention was captured once again. The boys were scrambling to pick up their various items and run inside, apparently having ignored 'Deku's' attempts to warn them.

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