First Person POV, Melodia

I let the wind whip through my hair as I sat astride of my shiny Alpha Gyarados nicknamed Maelstrom, my Nen helping us stay concealed as we traversed the air and through the clouds.

Lucario sat behind me, cross-legged as he took in the view before him, whilst eating a Cheri berry, one of his favorite berries. I have donned my newly repaired vigilante outfit with my new Pine Bandit outfit worn underneath the haori and donned some red tribal face paint and a new necklace with teeth shed from the Krookodile and Gyarados as a decoration, while wearing my white lily Baneful Fox mask on the side of my head.

(A/N: picture this but with her vigilante outfit and replace the sleeveless shirt in the first image with the Bandit outfit; also this is added as one of her outfits for her character profile as part of the newly formed group with the Miss Fortune Trio and Zinnia)

I also have my Sneasler bag (a gift from Lady Sneasler) holding my usual weapons like my Smoke Bombs and my Scatterbangs. I decided to do some patrols on the mainland, while also give our new and time-displaced friend a taste of what daily life is like in this day and era. Instead of doing my usual night patrols, I decided to throw myself and any of those Pros hanging around a curveball and be out in broad daylight to see what will happen. We are also going to rendezvous with Zinnia and the Miss Fortune trio somewhere downtown and patrol together into the night unless something back on the island needs our immediate attention.

Interpol and the Ministry of Defense have asked me to case the city and look for the whereabouts of a man named Kai Chisaki, aka Overhaul. Apparently this guy has become trouble for the Pros as he developed a weapon that erases Quirks, in the form of a bullet. I have orders that if I need to, then I can defend myself however I see fit. I can either bring him in alive for the guys in the Defense to grill themselves or I can kill him myself (should the need arises, such as self-defense) and take his precious "merchandise" and bring it back to Interpol to confiscate and destroy it. This is also my girlfriends' first mission (aside from Zinnia as she was already iniated into the Defense's ranks and have already been made my assigned partner in Interpol), so I have to make sure they come out of this alive so we can continue doing missions and patrols in the future.

We decided to take on different parts of the city where our intel claimed that Overhaul was last sighted and cover ground by taking different parts of town and rendezvous at Dagobah Beach and inform our boss of any clues or the like.

Sabi, Lian, and Mitsuru wanted to come with, but I deemed it much too dangerous for them, and someone has to watch over the other youngest members of the gang back at the castle (new recruits I rescued some time before my coronation). They gave in, though it was with pouty faces, so I promised them that I'll get them some ice cream mochi for them and their "apprentices" to make it up to them, which made the tears miraculously disappear.

I'm starting to think they know how to use Baby-doll Eyes and Fake Tears, because how else can the eight of them (counting our said five new youngest recruits) make me cave so fast?

"So this is what the world looks like now since I have been sealed in Sir Aaron's staff?" Lucario mused with his telepathy.

I sighed. "Well, while this isn't exactly the world you were born in, yes, this is what it looks like..." I told him in a forlorn tone, missing the world I have grown to love and flourish in, despite the dangers it had, Hunters or not.

Despite our first meeting going off the wrong foot, Lucario (who was revealed to be the partner of the famed Sir Aaron that had gone missing during the final clash between the Aka and Midori Armies in the Rota Kingdom) and I have finally found common ground when we set out to find Mew and Uxie to find out the truth of what truly happened during the war and why Sir Aaron had sealed him in his staff. But that is a story for another time.

As of now, Lucario has stuck by me, like a bodyguard of sorts. He isn't tied to anyone via Pokeball so as far as anyone was concerned he could do as he wishes on the island as it is also his home as it is everyone else's in the royal court. He doesn't necessarily have to follow me (despite what my girlfriends say in regards to my so-called tendency to gravitate to trouble) as he has seemed to taken to doing ever since Uxie and Mew revealed the truth to him at the Tree of Life.

But when I tell him this, he always tells me that someone aside from Mother Cogita has to watch me as the new Aura Guardian to fill in Sir Aaron's long vacated position. That and he wants to see what he had missed whilst being trapped in the staff.

As I reminisced my stomach let out a hearty growl, making me flush with embarrassment

Lucario gave me a deadpan stare. "You skipped breakfast again, didn't you." he stated than asked, making me turn my face away from him.

"Maybe..." I muttered.

I decided that it would probably be a good time to stop and grab something to eat before we picked things back up with patrol. I asked Maelstrom to land us in an alley so we can scope out a place to grab a quick bite.

We landed in the area where the Shie Hassakai have been sighted so Lucario and I were on alert as we began to exit the alley we landed in. Some people have given us a few odd looks (both my outfit and Lucario) but with a quick glare from Lucario was enough to make them stop staring at us. We have walked down a few blocks looking for a less-crowded eatery when my Aura senses made my skin prickle, meaning that someone was coming, and fast.

Before I could look up, I felt a bump to my leg, making me look back down quickly to see a small girl with crimson eyes and a small horn on the side of her forehead wearing a tattered hospital gown and a concerning amount of bandages on her legs and arms.

She took a tumble when she ran into me, and was now looking up at me with fear in her eyes. But something told me it was not because she was scared of me.

Lucario then walked into her line of sight, making her tense as he eyed her with a calculating look, but I could sense the concern emanating off him, meaning he probably had the same reservations as I was.

"Are you alright, little one?" I asked squatting down to her level.

She just stared at me, shaking as she began to hyperventilate slightly. Another red flag.

In a lower voice I asked, "Is someone chasing you?"

At this, she managed to nod at me shakily. "P-please...." she whimpered, "help me..."

Taking a quick look around me to see if anyone was paying attention, I swung my Snealser bag off my back and opened the top up. She looked at me with confusion, before I tilted the basket towards her.

"Quick. Hide in here." I instructed her.

Her eyes widened but she quickly complied, with assistance from Lucario. I chuckled to myself, remembering how Aniki Volo had liked to sneak me over to his job back when we lived in Hisui and I hid in his giant backpack as he snuck me into the village in Jubilife.

But now was not the time to reminisce the good old days as there were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Namely, the one hiding in my bag like I have seen Uncle Ingo do with Lady Sneasler when scaling the mountains in the Coronet Highlands. There was still the matter of getting food, not just for me and Lucario, but also for our new "friend" (I noticed how skinny and underweight she was with my Aura despite the baggy hospital robe and bandages that were done sloppily and probably haven't been changed in awhile).

But first, food.

Timeskip

We found a McDonald's that wasn't overly crowded in the area. While it is not my first choice in restaurants, I figured that if I'm going to get any sort of sustenance for me and Eri (who introduced herself on the way over), it is best to go with something that is usually popular with her age group. Besides that, the kids back at home have been badgering me to get them Happy Meals, even Lian, Sabi, and Mitsuru.

The manager of the place knows me as I have saved him at one point from being robbed so he lets me in and he never reports me to the authorities as the Kitsune vigilante; same goes with the patrons as I have saved their bacon more than enough times to even count. I guess having the general public on your side really pays off, since I can walk about in the open freely, provided there aren't any heroes on the lookout.

I handed Lucario my Sneasler bag where Eri is still hiding in and told him to pick a place for all of us to sit in while I placed our order. I ordered Eri the Happy Meal with chicken nuggets and apple slices, while I got Lucario a Big Mac combo (we found out he loves cheeseburgers) and I ordered myself a twenty-piece nuggets with a side of french fries.

I also ordered some Happy Meals for my munchkins back home and stored them away using the Lustrous Globe so I can still have room in my bag for Eri once we leave.

"Arigato," I told the manager after I picked up my order and reached into my pocket to pay for the food.

"No please," the manager tried to persuade me, "this is on us."

"No, no, no," I shook my head. "I insist I pay this time." This always happened every time I come here with my girlfriends. "I'm already making a commotion as it is with my presence alone."

It ended with me placing the money in the manager's hand before making it close over the amount before I used Rhythm Echo to make my escape to the table Lucario picked out for us.

I sat next to Eri who was still hidden inside my bag as Lucario sat on the other side, keeping an eye on both doors of the restaurant. I noted the confused looks I was receiving as I spoke in a low yet soothing voice to the bag, until Eri popped her head out shyly from the top of the bag before she took the offered apples and chicken nuggets. Thankfully, no one asked any questions about it, which I dearly appreciated as I did not want to waste time answering said questions.

While Lucario kept a lookout, I made sure Eri ate her food; she really loved the apple slices. Maybe I should introduce her to our famous Galarian apple curry...

I was broken from my musings when Lucario tensed and began to growl lowly; meaning there is trouble nearby.

A huge shadow came over us, making me look up to see a bald-headed man with several tattoos on his person and was dressed like a common street thug. Eri saw him through the peephole in the bag and was visibly shaking at the sight as if she recognized him.

"Excuse, ma'am," I deadpanned at his failing attempt to not sound like a menace, "I apologize that my... daughter had caused so many problems.. If you... erm, don't mind, I'll be taking her home now...." It was exceedingly obvious that he might as well have been reading off some sort of script as his tone held zero sincerity and the less-than-discreet way he stumbled over his "lines."

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked in a blank tone. I sighed before turning my head to the front counter. "I apologize, Manager-san, in advance for what I'm about to do..."

That was everyone's cue to get out of the blast radius as I surreptiously grabbed ahold of one of the straps of the Sneasler bag with Eri in it. I exited the booth with Lucario behind me, who warned me with telepathy that there were several men projecting the same aura as this cheap thug hiding outside, ready to ambush us the second we enter their sights.

I turned to the d-list villain, my eyes sharp despite my dead tone. "Let's take this outside, shall we? And tell your buddies to come out of hiding, unless they don't have any balls to face a little girl head-on."

This caused him to go red with anger as he decided to throw a punch at me, which I dodged and sucker punched him in the gut, making him wheeze as his breath left his lungs.

I then dropped low and kicked his legs out from underneath him, making him fall on his ass before Lucario shot an Aura Sphere to the man's face. With him knocked unconscious we decided this would be a good time to book it. I quickly tossed a bundle of money, several hundred dollar bills inside, before we sprinted out the eatery.

As Lucario warned me, the thugs with the man appeared, readying their Quirks to attack me. After a quick verbal warning to Eri, I activated Ren, making the villains falter at the sudden heavy pressure in the atmosphere. Taking advantage of their stupor, I summoned a Petrfiy Orb and activated it, making them freeze into place before I proceeded to deliver several chops to the back of their necks, making them drop like rocks.

"Hopefully that should buy us some time before the-" my thoughts were cut off as I heard someone yell, "Hold it right there, villain!"

Arceus dammit.

Why now?

Suddenly there were heroes converging on us. One of the most recognizable was Eraserhead.

His eyes glowed red as his capture scarf floated around him, making me roll my eyes at him behind my mask.

"Kitsune, you're under arrest!" He spoke in an authoritive tone.

"I would love to stay and chat, Eraserhead, but I got more important matters to deal with. So how about a much-needed nap?" Before he could react, I summoned a Slumber Orb and activated it, making the heroes including Aizawa fall to the ground and unwillingly close their eyes. "Nighty-night, heroes~" I then used Rhythm Echo to book it out of there as Lucario picked up on the sound of police sirens coming right for our location.

We ducked into a nearby alley, using my Nen to conceal us as many heroes who were called from their patrols in neighboring districts as they ran past us.

As soon as they passed us, I took the bag off me so I can peer inside to check on Eri. While she looked shaken, she was still fine.

"You okay, little one?" I asked her in a soothing voice.

She looked up at me, her entire form shaking like a leaf. "Why...?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping me?"

I felt a flash of confusion. "Why? Because you asked me for help, didn't you?" I pointed out when she bumped into me earlier.

"Y-yes, b-but now he'll come after you... t-then it will be my fault... it is always my fault..." She began to cry, tears leaking from her eyes.

"Who?" I asked, though I had an idea who she meant. "Who will come after me? How will it be your fault is he does?"

Lucario suddenly began to snarl deeply, warning me that someone was lurking nearby.

"Why not ask me yourself?" I whipped around to see a dark-haired man with a green coat with purple fur collaring and wearing gloves over his hands. The most notable feature was the plague doctor mask over his mouth and nose.

I recognized him immediately from the files at the Ministry of Defense and Interpol: Kai Chisaki, aka Overhaul.

"Well, if it ain't the hot shot of Shie Hassakai himself," I spoke in a sardonic tone, catching him off guard at my immediate identification of himself. "So you finally decided to grace us with your presence, eh, to mingle with us lowly commoners?" I spoke in a taunting tone, making him glare at me for a moment before he smoothed his face back out.

"So you know of me," he stated than asked.

"Kinda hard not to, given how much trouble you have given my gang." I snarked back, giving him a slight glare of my own. "Your meddling Trigger bullets have become a thorn in my subordinates' side since your buyers have been attacking them without provocation." He raised an eyebrow at my statement. "I don't care for the heroes nor do I care about what you do in the underworld, but I would prefer that you don't drag my cohorts into your little game." I crossed my arms. "I could care less about your little plan to wipe out Quirks given that I myself am Quirkless, but you would do well to not cross me as I got a temper worse than yours."

"So you understand why I'm here then," he stated, his eyes flashing to the Sneasler bag where Eri was practically quaking inside. "I need to retrieve my, erm, daughter," I bristled at how he chose his words, as if he wanted to use another term but changed his mind at the last moment, "so that my plan can be realized."

"Sorry, pal, not going to happen." I spoke firmly, Lucario getting into a fighting-stance as the aura around Overhaul darkened noticeably.

"I thought you would understand, as you said you are Quirkless, but it seems as if you are just as diseased as the heroes are," he then began to reach for me, which was my cue to activate Rhythm Echo and breeze past him as he blinked in confusion at my sudden disappearance before I delivered a painful chop to the back of his neck, just like I did with his henchmen back at the Mickey D's. He fell over like a sack of rocks, his eyes unwillingly closing as I delivered a quick stomp to his head to ensure he stays knocked out.

Lucario blinked as he realized a second too late that I had neutralized the threat before he could even lift a paw. This was not the first time I did something like this in front of him, but I never really had time to explain what it was as things have been a bit crazy ever since my coronation.

Before he could ask though, his posture became tense again as he sensed someone else coming from the same direction Overhaul appeared from.

A man in a hooded white robe and a mask similar to Overhaul's only it covered his face entirely appeared. I instantly recognized this guy as Hari Kurono, aka Chronostasis, one of the Eight Precepts of Death under Overhaul's rule.

He froze midstep seeing his boss before I sensed rage emanate from his body. I grabbed his knocked out boss by his hair and summoned a Silver Spike before I placed it near his jugular, making Chronostasis freeze in his tracks as he made to attack me before he saw what I was doing.

I could hear the police sirens and heroes shouting nearby, meaning that someone must have found us with all of the racket. I gave a steady glare at Overhaul's second-in-command. "We got two options here. One, I toss you your boss without dismembering him and we get away before the heroes get us, or two, we risk getting caught by said heroes and our little 'discussion' will have to go on hold. And I'm sure you don't want to risk your dear boss's neck, now do you?" To make my point clear, I placed the sharp end of the Silver Spike into Overhaul's neck, a small stream of blood coming out as a result from the slight poke.

Chronostasis weighed his options, either risk getting captured with his boss (who will probably end up dead before the heroes could stop this masked individual) or take his boss back to their base alive and risk his wrath at failing to retrieve Eri. Frustrated, he pulled out a gun, surprising me greatly, but I wasn't worried as I readied to use Rhythm Echo to intercept him and take his head off.

But before I could, Eri suddenly jumped out of the basket, screaming, "No wait!!!!"

My eyes widened in shock and a silent scream erupted from my throat as Chronostasis had pulled the trigger and was too late to stop the bullet that was meant for me; Eri suddenly fell to the ground as the bullet hit her.

"KUSO!!!" Chrono yelled in shock. "That was supposed to hit the bitch!! Now her Quirk is going to vanish!" He tried to attack Lucario when he dashed forward to grab Eri into his arms and out of my way as my face darkened and my Ren began to manifest. Lucario sensed my dark aura and tried to call out to me to calm down as he quickly yet carefully placed Eri back in the Sneasler bag with her wound bounded up to avoid her bleeding out.

Lucario's words of caution did not register as I dropped Overhaul unceremoniously onto the hard ground and used Rhythm Echo to rip Chrono's head clean off his shoulders.

Chrono's beheaded body slumped to the ground, landing next to Overhaul's unconscious body, blood spattering his fur coat. With a disdainful sneer, I threw Chrono's head next to his body and whipped out my Warp Orb and activated it, sending the both of them away to a random location as there was no time to get rid of the bodies before the heroes turned the corner and spotted us.

I turned to Lucario and gave him quick instructions to get Eri to Calaba and Pesselle as I summoned a Guiding Wand and used it on him, sending the Aura Pokemon back to the island to get Eri medical help. If what Chorno said was accurate, he used the quirk-erasing bullet on her and who knows what sort of damage that has done to the little girl's body.

As soon as I sent Lucario away, the heroes and the police showed up.

One of which was Eraserhead as he turned the corner to see us. Thankfully my mask was still on so he couldn't see my real identity. Can't go spoiling the surprise now can we?

One of the police officers yelled out, "Get on your knees!"

I snapped at them, "I'm not your mother last night!"

Let's just say they took exception to that.

One of them fired a few bullets at me, which were intercepted by a green shield suddenly manifesting in front of me. The bullets bounced off harmlessly before I instantly recognized Charm's Gengar hiding in my shadow as he stuck his head out from the ground in front of me.

"Good job, Gengar." Suddenly, my girlfriends, lead by Charm dropped down next to me, doing their famous bandit poses before I joined in, ready to fight alongside my girlfriends.

Eraserhead was the first to attack, aiming directly for me as his capture weapon whipped out in hopes of grabbing me. To no avail as I used Rhythm Echo to dodge and rush him as he tried to backpedal. Charm, Clover, and Coin dealt with the other low-ranked heroes and cops, with the aid of their Nen and Gengar helping from the sidelines as he tripped up the cops by freezing them by jumping into their shadows as Clover delivered a fierce punch to the gut or neck to render them unconscious before Coin hogtied them to keep them from moving.

I intercepted him, letting the scarf wrap around my arm before I used the momentum to knock Eraserhead off his feet. I summoned a Petrify Wand and waved it at him, locking his body in place as Zinnia then proceeded to hogtie him with his scarf. I walked up to him, staring down at him through my mask as he glared up at me mulishly.

Even though he was paralyzed, he still managed to ground out through his locked jaw, "Give.. me... my... niece... back..."

I snorted at him. "Your niece is dead." I spat at him, making his eyes become wide with shock and anger. "Your prejudiced and neglectful ways had killed her. So it is all your fault and the ones who were involved. So live with that regret for the rest of your life, old man." With that, I turned and walked away towards the back of the alley.

With the girls gathered around me as we all activated our smoke bombs, covering our exit as we warped out of there with our badges.

Timeskip

We made it back to our home the castle in one piece.

The girls began to check each other (me, in particular) for any wounds before we headed inside to find the little muchkins and see how our newest addition was coping. With help from Gardevoir, we were teleported to the castle's infirmary, where Eri was recovering from her injuries.

I called Karasuma on the matter, reporting the events that went down during my patrol and the events with encountering Overhaul and one of his lackeys (and killing said lackey). He told me that he will report to the others involved in the Shie Hassakai case and for me to take care of the kid, seeing as chances are given how she took a bullet for me, she was probably going to cling to me.

But what's more concerning is that when I used my Nen to see if there were any extensive injuries that needed to be looked at, I noticed that where the aura nodes that were previously not there due to her possessing a Quirk were now there. Meaning that she is officially Quirkless.

This drew attention of the others, wondering if that meant she can learn Nen like they can since they don't have Quirks.

I had a sinking feeling about this, even after Eri was said to make a fine recovery from both her wounds and the corrective surgery.

AAAANNNNDDDD Cut!!!

That's a wrap. Sorry to cut things short but rest assured more action is to come within the next few updates.

With that said...

This is ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!