Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

10 || For Old Time's Sake

—Once Week Later, 7:34pm Saturday Night—
——

Mr. Compress' boots tapped across the floor as he walked across the main room of the hideout. "Puppet, my dear, would you care to wander around with me for a bit?" he asked.

The woman in question was sitting at the counter of the bar. She had been talking to Kurogiri about what the League might grow to become when the villainous magician had approached and asked the question.

The black-and-white villain shrugged. "Sure why not." She stood up from her seat at the bar.

Before the League, Puppet and Mr. Compress would occasionally go on crime sprees together. But, since the two had joined the League, they hadn't spent much time together.

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Is your head alright enough?"

She nodded. "It's been long enough. Besides, I feel fine."

"I will inform Tomura of your leave," Kurogiri said from his position behind the bar.

Toga turned in her seat at a booth to look at the two masked villains. "Where're you guys going?"

Mr. Compress placed a finger over his mask where his mouth would be. "That, my dear, is a secret that will not be told."

"Ooh~" Toga had a playful tone. "You're keeping secrets from us now mister magic man~?"

"I'm a magician; I have many secrets." He snapped his fingers, decompressing his coat. With practiced motions, he put it on.

He held his hand out towards Puppet. "Now, shall we take our leave?"

She took his outstretched hand and he led her out of the bar and onto the nearby shadowed street.

"So, where to?" she asked.

"I was thinking we could commit a small bit of crime somewhere. Just for old time's sake — possibly a robbery," Mr. Compress suggested.

She smiled, thinking of what they could pull off together. "Did you have any place in mind?"

"Of course. Are you familiar with the jewelry shop next to the Pearl Café?"

She hummed in confirmation.

Mischievousness laced his tone when he spoke. "Well, I found a way in."

——

Puppet followed Mr. Compress as he led the way to the jewelry store. Once they reached it, they went around to the back of the building where they came across a single back door.

Mr. Compress caught Puppet eyeing the door. "That will set off an alarm unless it's disabled from the inside," he told.

She raised a brow. "Then I assume you have a different way to get in."

"Up there." He pointed to a vent on the side of the building. It was undoubtedly too small for any normal-sized adult to get through.

He reached up and compressed the grate of the vent into a marble. "There's one way to get through; I'm fairly certain you know what I'm thinking of."

He looked at her, and she nodded.

"I'll go. Just throw me through," he volunteered. "I'll disable the alarms and open the door for you."

Puppet nodded again. With that, Mr. Compress compressed himself.

She picked up the small marble-like object from the ground and tossed it up into the vent. It bounced off the sides of the tunnel with small metallic pinks.