Burnin stared in disbelief at her. 'What?'
'I'm on your side here, Burnin. I used to be a hero myself. I joined to protect that kid.'
'Well, you've been doing a crap job of it!'
'I know!' Burnin was taken aback. She was admitting it? 'I know... I've done a terrible job. But it was my girlfriend's last wish for me to protect her child. Her son.'
'So Kai is a boy?'
'What did you think he was a girl?' Manticore shrugged, probably another one of Terugo's lies. 'Now... If you'll let me, I'll explain everything I know.'
Burnin hesitated, 'Only if you let me record this.'
'Feel free. I'll even give you my number if you want.'
Her eyes narrowed, 'Fine. Tell me.' She started recording.
'Okay, here's what I have.' She took a breath, 'I can't tell you our exact plan, I don't know how this chip is listening to.'
'Chip?'
'Every new member gets chipped until they reach S rank. So far the only S rank is Poltergeist and he was never chipped in the first place.' Manticore chuckled. 'He may be a homophobic fuck but he's a hypocritical homophobic fuck. He's got a thing for Poltergeist who is male so he gets special treatment.'
'This ass puts his crush before his child?'
'Yeah, what's funny is the fact that Poltergeist is so dense Terugo has kissed him and he considered it a sign of appreciation for his work rather than a sign of love.'
'Sounds annoying.'
'Yeah,' Manticore leaned back, 'It is kinda entertaining though. Anyway, Poltergeist is Kai's medical caretaker. He's the guy who bandages him, sedates him when his quirk gets out of hand, carries him around everywhere, makes sure his diet is healthy, etc etc. I'm his general caretaker, I make sure he's being fed, I try to keep him entertained, I'm the person who makes him want to stay basically or I'm supposed to be the person who makes him want to stay, he may not be scared of me but he's still far too scared of everyone else.'
'Okay, what can you tell me about the plan you guys have or the plan Terugo has.'
'You know his name? Alright then, uh, all I can really tell you is that it's going to be big. If this succeeds, every hero on earth is going to die. There won't be anyone who can save us, it'll be like the Meta Liberation Army, but ten times worse.'
Burnin stared at her, 'Every hero will die?'
'I know you're thinking that I'm crazy, but look, I can't tell you exactly what's going on, or what's going to happen. But we're making something. A bullet, I don't know the exact procedures they're doing on him, but I know it's hurting him a lot. I've... I've heard things. Screaming, crying, dripping, I'm not sure what they're doing to him but I can tell you it's not something you want to see.'
'Okay, so why would Terugo lie about Kai's gender? What does he gain from that?'
'A secret identity, it's the only plausible reason. If he raises Kai like he's a girl, then all he'd have to do is cut his hair and change his clothing style and he'll be practically a different person.' Manticore answered. 'I'm Eri by the way, Eri Haiburrido.'
Burnin looked at her, 'Moe Kamiji.'
~
'Phantom! Phantom!'
'Yeah, Burnin what's up?'
She handed him her unlocked phone and told him to go to the gallery. 'I found him!'
'Wait you found them?' He found in the Camera folder a recording and a picture. The picture had Kai with a woman. Mutant type quirk, she looked... Sorta familiar? He didn't know, then he listened to the recording.
'Eri Haiburrido.' Poltergeist repeated. 'I recognize that name, Stun Hero: Scorpion, right?'
'Yeah I think so, she did say she was a former hero so...'
Shinjuku hummed, 'We better show this to Cipher and Endeavor.'
