Chapter 155 Team-Up

Back at the Heimdall Agency,

"I'll be going then, please take care of my daughter," Aquaborne enthusiastically waved his hands towards Ayano, Elimine, and Satoshi. A black sedan pulled up outside, and Aquaborne didn't hesitate to hop in. Before the car roared off, the windows rolled down and Aquaborne's temporary secretary nodded towards Satoshi, a sign of farewell since her job will be over soon, fortunately.

"So, once again, welcome to your internship," Ayano said, extending her hands and formally welcoming Satoshi to the crew. She couldn't imagine that such a day would come when the very son of her mentors would work under her. Of course, she'd be ecstatic, after all, this was also the first time when she personally scouted someone as an intern. Although that doesn't make Satoshi a permanent part of the agency, she'd hoped that it would prod him to choose her agency before other agencies. Then again, there's a good chance that Satoshi will inherit the Midoriyama Agency so she wasn't very optimistic about her hopes.

Satoshi didn't know why Eye-Goddess was so excited to welcome him, he entertained her by shaking her hands and nodding. This was his first time working as an intern under an agency. Of course, he did his research, but that doesn't mean he knows everything about the said subject. He did feel bad that he'll miss out on his precious summer break by undergoing an internship. However, this is a necessary experience in order to become a superhero— an equivalent to going to the army after you reach a certain age in the past.

When the new order was issued, a superhero had to through certain procedures before getting a license. First, they have to debut and show off their superpowers to the world, that way they could at least have a small following before turning pro. Second, they have to experience, at the minimum, a month of internship under an officially registered agency, this way they could get introduced to the inner workings of the pro hero world. Experience is the best teacher, after all, and that's why the government decided upon this procedure, instead of putting upcoming superheroes in class and letting them listen through hours of lecture, eating away at their boredom. After that would be the licensure exam. It's different every year but once you passed it, you'll finally avail of the benefits and perks of being a licensed superhero. This would also allow one to use his or her powers in certain emergencies.

Currently, Satoshi is on the second level of the procedure— internship— and if everything goes as planned, he'll be one step closer to becoming a professional superhero.

"I want you to meet someone," Ayano clasped her hands after shaking Satoshi's, and then she headed towards the elevator. Satoshi meekly followed, wondering who he'd meet.

As someone who's had a great interest in superheroes ever since he was a kid, Satoshi knew almost every registered superhero in Japan, as well as the top superheroes in other countries. Right now, Heimdall Agency has more than a hundred employees operating throughout the whole of Japan, and Satoshi knew each and every one of them by name. If someone were to ask him to enumerate every member of the Heimdall Agency, he could nail it without batting an eye.

The ride on the elevator was nothing short of awkward since Satoshi had no idea what Eye-Goddess wanted to talk about. She was bobbing her head up and down while humming a familiar tune from a virtual reality game. Satoshi immediately realized that she was humming the soundtrack of the Laser Fingers team. He couldn't bring himself to comment about it though.

Ding!

Once they arrived on the fifth floor, Satoshi was greeted by a hallway and two wooden doors by the end of it. Two figures strolled out of the door, both of them drinking canned juice in hand. They seemed relaxed at first, but upon seeing Eye-Goddess come out of the elevator, they stiffened, anxiety becoming noticeable in their expression.

Their expression shifted to that of a surprise though when they saw the figure beside the Eye-Goddess. They quickened their pace, then extended their hands in front of Satoshi, their eyes sparkling.

"You're Midoriyama Satoshi, right?"The first man lightly greeted. "Nice to meet you, welcome to the Heimdall Agency. I'm Eric Asturias, also known as— "

"Merman! Flexor!" Satoshi couldn't help but interrupt as he grabbed both their hands and shook them. "It's nice to meet you too!"

"Oh, you recognized us? That's unusual." Flexor said, scratching his head. "Well, it's nice to see you here. So Eye-Goddess managed to recruit you, huh."

"Only as a temporary intern," Eye-Goddess said. "I guess no further introduction's needed right? Then, can you brief him about your mission?"

"Wait, he's coming with us?" Merman asked. "But... he's just a kid, this is a dangerous mission. We're dealing with crooks here."

"And killers, and drug dealers, possibly." Flexor added. "Agency Head, we know this kid has a lot of promise just like Plume, but we're not taking him. We can do it by ourselves."

Putting her hand on her chin, Eye-Goddess portrayed that she was contemplating their resolve but quite frankly, she had already decided. And that's final. A few seconds passed, and then she clasped her hands, her usual cheerful expression returning. "He's still coming with you. Brief him about the mission, and then see what he can do. I can assure you that he's more than capable of this mission."

At the end of the day, the Agency Head gets to have the final say in all things agency-related. Even though Merman and Flexor voiced their opinion, and they have notable reasons as to why they did so, they still couldn't decide. If Eye-Goddess said that Satoshi will take part in the mission, then the decision's final, they couldn't refute it.

Merman and Flexor were both not a fan of teenagers working as interns, and that's because every mission, no matter how small, always has that certain risk to it. Any situation can go sideways in an instant and lives are at stake, most of the time. On this particular mission, they're dealing with smugglers who are willing to open fire when the opportunity calls for it. Who knows if they've hired bodyguards with superpowers as well, or trained killers determined to murder anyone who'd get in their way. It was easy to regard a certain mission based on their rank, but those ranks are just estimates. The danger is always there.

"All right then, Satoshi, follow me. Let's talk about your first mission." Merman said. He suppressed the sigh that almost came out of his mouth since that might anger Eye-Goddess.

"You brief him on the mission. I'll inform Plume about the changes." Flexor said.

.....

"And that's about it," Merman said, pointing at the projection on the white screen. He just gave a rundown on how the mission would go while Satoshi took notes. "Do you have any questions?"

Apparently, their mission was the same as the previous one where they tried to intercept smugglers by the port. The only difference this time was that the expected shipment was much bigger compared to the last one. This means that security will be just as tight, and the shipment might even change locations at the last minute, or so that's what Merman and Flexor expected.

"There's just four of us?" Satoshi asked. Although the answer to the question was crystal clear, he just had to ask it since the mission seemed too high-leveled for the four of them, namely Plume, Merman, Flexor, and him. If there were just four of them, how could they deal with hundreds of smugglers? By the sheer size of the ship they're intercepting, there's a huge possibility that more than a hundred people are there.

"Yes, we don't really have enough manpower at the moment due to some uh... some circumstances." Merman continued. Satoshi immediately noticed the nervousness in his voice.

He was hiding something.

"Can we really take care of this one just like what Eye-Goddess ordered?" Satoshi asked.

"Of course, we have to. Besides, we have Plume on our side. If things go south, then we can rely on Plume to pull us out. We don't want that to happen though, a failed mission is not something you'd want on your record as a pro."

Slide.

"Are you done with the briefing?" Flexor asked as soon as he entered. Two more figures followed behind him. The first one was Plume, as expected, but the second one left Merman and Satoshi speechless.

"I heard you're joining us, Satoshi, best of luck with your debut as an intern." Plume said as a greeting.

"So you're Satoshi, huh. I don't really like working with teenagers but I saw how you fight. Just don't hold us back." The other figure said. It was none other than Gerik Axor, superhero name Splatoon, ranked seventh in the superhero rankings.

"Splatoon?!" Merman exclaimed before Satoshi could. "It's n-n-nice to meet you sir! I'm a huge fan!"

"You can have my autograph later. Is everyone ready? There were a few minor adjustments to the mission. We have to leave now." Gerik Axor responded. "I'll be taking over as the leader of this mission, let's get those lawbreakers and put them behind bars."