Daughter of the Hero: The Lost Hero

The Boss's New Pain

Astrid was taken down the hall. It seemed as if she was in some sort of underground military base. Except... the insignias all over the walls were not Japanese. They were a symbol she didn't recognize. The hallway she walked through with Hunter was more like a tunnel than anything, and everything smelled of metal.

The raven-haired young hero wasted no time scanning her surroundings. She needed to figure out where she was. She needed to go. Escape. She had to get back to her family, friends-

"If I were you, I wouldn't try to run, love. You'll never find your way out. In fact, you might get lost and starve to death before we can find you." Hunter said casually, turning a corner.

Astrid flinched when another voice cut through the quiet of their footsteps. "Oh c'mon dude! Don't scare her like that." A tall, black-haired man smiled at them and extended his hand. "A pleasure, Miss Aizawa." He glanced at Hunter when she didn't shake his hand, only kept her fingers shoved in her pockets. "Ah, well I see you've already met the human version of a headache. Anyway, my name is Kenji. I'll take you from here, unless you'd prefer mister southern sweetheart instead?" Astrid glanced at Hunter who smirked. She shook her head and stepped toward the black haired man. "Thought so," Kenji laughed.

Hunter stayed back in the tunnel as Astrid followed her new companion into a medium-sized room. An older man sat at a desk. He had silver hair and a giant scar over his eye. His smile was... surprisingly warm. He nodded to the seat infront of his desk, but Astrid refused to sit down. The man sighed, "it is as I had predicted." He said softly. He was American as well, she realized instantly.

"Just let me go," Astrid said. "Please. I don't want to get involved in this mess."

The silver-haired man shook his head, "you are more involved than you think. You are actually the center of this entire mess, because as I recall, you are Freeze Zone's main target."

Astrid sucked in a breath, "there's no way that's true-"

"And the villain he is working with would like nothing more than to please him. Which means you are his target as well. So sit down, Astrid Aizawa. You will want to hear what I have to say."

There were a million things running through her head, but the most important thought: escape. She had to escape. But how? Astrid could brute-force her way out, like Bakugo. She could burn and freeze her captors like Shoto... she could try to outsmart them like her father would... but she had no idea how to get out of here.

Astrid, for the time being, took the seat. She folded her arms. Waited for him to start talking. And he eventually did.

"Mr. Delevan has given you the basic rundown of who we are: The Black Rose Society, based in America. We are tasked with keeping order in our super-powered world. We had captured the villain now working with Freeze Zone a couple months ago. We do not know how he escaped. And we were hoping that you would be able to help us lure him into a trap to capture him once again and put him where he belongs: behind bars."

Astrid laughed some. It was a detached sound. "I don't even know your name, and you expect to use me as bait? I don't think so."

The man bowed his head. "You can call me Spade. I am the leader of the Black Rose Society, and your boss for the time being."

The girl snorted, "boss? I don't work for you." She stood, "I will never work for you. So I suggest you let me out of here, or I will make you."

Kenji shifted uncomfortably behind Astrid. She could feel his nervous energy. Spade seemed uncomfortable too, like he could feel her power, but didn't quite know if she'd use it on him or not. They were scared of her- all of them were. And that was good. That was very good.

But Spade straightened. "I will have to restrain you again, should you attempt an escape, Miss Aizawa." That infuriating calm was back, "so sit. Let's talk. You don't need to be a pain in my side. In fact, you, Hunter, and Kenji would make a great team."