Mortem ad Wrens

Chapter 17: For the Freedom of Those Our Nation Denies

Summary:

tw: scars, trafficking mention, gang involvement, domestic violence shelter, abuse mention, unhoused, spousal abuse mention, muzzle adjacent device

Stain from afar and rescue race

Notes:

Me: Akira's never had a stable adult in their life, have they
Akira: there's the gang!
Me: eeeeh

'text' JSL
Text thoughts

As they geared up for the third day's evening patrol, Akira kept trying to adjust their capture weapon, something causing it to sit askew. After a moment of trying to undo a lump, they directed it to unravel and saw a small lizard napping in it. Grinning, Akira took a picture of it and sent it to their class group chat and Lizzaro once Taishiro happily gave them her number. Akira scooped the lizard off the scarf, being careful to detangle its tiny claws, and set it on their now-empty costume case.

An hour into patrol, everyone's phone sounded an alarm as Hosu was attacked. Akira blanched and quickly texted the class group chat, "Those in or going to Hosu, stay safe. Don't do anything illegal."

Shoto liked their message, but they weren't expecting Ida to see it for a while. It's the thought that counts, right?

"Any friends in Hosu?" Taishiro asked gently.

'Mini Ingenium's interning there, and it looks like Shoto is heading there with Endeavor,'

"We're too far out to send people, but the backup evening team will be ready to deploy if they need more people that badly."

Akira nodded and put their phone away, hoping their classmates would follow protocol for once. Mortis helped a cat down from a tree, letting the poor thing ride in their capture scarf as they carefully climbed back down. Fat Gum discretely took a picture, chuckling at Mortis' half-hearted glare that was tempered by the cat nuzzling under against the mottled scar across their throat.

"Nejire is also responding in Hosu with Ryukyu," Suneater said as the group quietly patrolled. Even Fat Gum only tried to lighten the mood a couple times, keeping an eye on the HN for updates.

Half an hour later, Mortis' phone vibrated. They immediately paused with a roll halfway to their mouth and pulled it out. 'Deku's caught up in something, and it looks like mini Ingenium is at the same location.'

Fat Gum sent out a Hero Network alert with what little information they had, two interns either separated from their mentors or with injured mentors in an alleyway. Mortis quickly messaged the group that the alert had been sent to the Hero Network and pinged Shoto in case he hadn't seen it yet.

The trio waited tensely by the sushi shop as Endeavor and Manual added themselves as responders along with a few of the flame hero's sidekicks. The minutes ticked by until it was marked as resolved with no casualties but two students moderately injured, one pro and one student severely injured, and Stain severely injured in custody.

Akira sighed in relief and frustration, 'I'd bet my savings mini Ingenium got there first, and Deku swooped in to help. He wouldn't have targeted Manual, so Native is probably the injured pro.'

"Native? What makes you say that?" Fat Gum asked.

'There is a list compiled by people with similar ideologies to Stain of people who need to be taken down in some way. Native is on there for racism, multiple counts of assault, and helping to cover up crimes against indigenous people.' At Fat Gum's confusion, Mortis gave their theory on why Ingenium was attacked and not killed.

The three went back to a quiet but tense patrol as it seemed everyone was waiting on news from Hosu. Towards the end of their shift, Fat Gum took the group a little off their patrol route and smiled at Akira's confused head tilt. "On Wednesdays, I like to check on the battered spouse and community shelters. No matter how much we promote education and therapy for abuse, there are a few who slip through the cracks."