—Cole POV, Nezu's Office—
"...so now I know where the Yakuza base is. I think the best thing to do is to strike before they attack the school to get Eri.", I told Nezu and All Might, "A good defense is an effective offense."
"I understand what you are saying, but raids like this have to be processed through the Hero Association and police first. Unfortunately, we can't just rush straight in and subdue them, there are a lot of things that have to be done first.", Nezu advised,
"You are kidding me, right? We have the enemy's base location, and you want to hold off for now. After the accident this morning, they are going to know we are on to them and will make a desperate attack on the school to get Eri.", I pointed out, "Eri's safety as well as the safety of everyone in the school is at risk."
Trying to explain that the rules are rules, I shook my head in disappointment. In situations like this, the rules are meant to be broken because hundreds of lives were at risk. This wasn't a potential threat, the Yakuza were going to get Eri no matter the cost. In Overhaul's mind, a school full of dead teachers and students was a cheap price for Eri's blood.
"If you aren't going to help me, I will deal with it myself.", I stated getting up from my seat.
"Cole, I understand you are trying to protect her but attacking them without authorization will cause you a lot of problems. Not only will it potentially cost you your license, but you could be fined for it.", Nezu warned me.
Looking at him with disappointment, I had really hoped he wouldn't have said something stupid like that.
"I guess for Heroes like you, a paycheck is more important than saving lives. No wonder the world is full of criminal organizations that aren't afraid of getting caught. If Heroes are afraid to take them down because they might lose their paycheck or license, don't call yourselves Heroes.", I spat in disgust, "What do you think All Might?"
Glancing over at him for his input, All Might wasn't sure how to respond to me. Sensing his hesitation, I shook my head at him too.
"This is exactly why Izuku will be left to clean up the mess you and your predecessor couldn't finish. You had Japan's Number 1 villain dead to rights, but you choked when the time came. Now he is out there getting ready for a comeback in a world full of even stronger villains than when you last fought him.", I reminded him, "All you have done is push the burden onto Izuku, a kid that has far less desire to kill than you do. You of all people should know that All For One isn't going to be talked down or convinced to turn over a new leaf. How exactly will Izuku handle him if he won't kill him?"
Looking away from me, he was trying not to admit I was right. A lot of people had died because he couldn't finish All For One, and now many more were going to suffer because of it.
"If you want to tell the Hero Association, by all means, tell them. I am going to take care of this before innocent people are put in harm's way.", I remarked, "In the event, you feel I am unfit for the position now, by all means, fire me. If losing my license saves even a single life, it's worth it. I can always find another job, people can't replace their loved ones."
—3rd Person POV—
Watching Kessler leave the room, the atmosphere suddenly felt heavier. Everything Kessler said was spot on, it was stupid of them to wait weeks for approval. The Yakuza could attack tomorrow resulting in the deaths of hundreds all while they could have stopped it today. Even though they weren't really that threatening anymore, the teachers and children were still easy prey for them.
"He's a lot stronger than any Hero I have met before.", All Might said, "I don't have the strength of will to take another man's life, even All For One's life. Maybe this crazy world is partially our fault because we have restricted ourselves too much and aren't willing to shoulder the responsibility that comes with making difficult decisions."
Nodding his head, Nezu admitted Kessler was a different breed of Hero. Looking at the phone, Nezu thought about how to proceed here. The protocol was to report what Kessler was about to do to the Police and Hero Association, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew too well that the Yakuza were more than willing to kill anyone to regain their place in society. Thinking about the crying families that would be holding their dead family members…Nezu couldn't stand that thought.
"We have to help him the best we can. If we can get public support behind this, we may be able to prevent him from suffering the worst-case scenario.", Nezu told All Might.
"What do you have in mind?", All Might asked curious about how his friend intended to do that.
"I will use my media contacts to get reporters nearby the scene. Hopefully, they can convey the threat to the public that they posed.", Nezu stated, "Either way we have to involve the police, this fight will need to be contained and civilians will need to be kept out of harm's way."
Agreeing that this was the best option they had, Nezu called the Commissioner first. If it was Togo, there was a chance that he wouldn't punish Cole given his recent busts that gave the police valuable intel on many criminals. Ring only once, the Commissioner answered with a cheerful tone.
"Principal Nezu, it's been a while since you called me directly. I suppose this must be very important.", Togo chuckled.
"We have a situation, the car accident this morning involved Yakuza that were tracking Kessler and the girl he saved. Kessler managed to get the location of their base out of them before they died, he is headed there now to take them out.", Nezu stated, "I know the usual policy is to coordinate with the Hero Association, but he is dead set on attacking now."
"Does he have reason to believe something is about to happen with those knuckleheads?", Togo inquired already having an idea of what was going on.
Giving him the details Kessler provided, Togo started laughing. Asking him what was so funny, Togo apologized for it.
"I am sorry, it's just that it's nice to hear the kid's got some backbone. Normally I would frown on this, but the kid is right. Thanks to some of the Arms Dealers we rounded up, we found out that the Yakuza's new boss is cooking up some sort of Quirk Booster and have Anti-Quirk bullets. According to quite a few dealers, it's in early testing but it can completely remove Quirks.", Togo informed him, "We were going to investigate it, then he brought in Chronostasis yesterday."
The expression on Nezu and All Might's faces froze in shock. This new information put a whole new spin on the fallout from waiting for their attack. If they were to use those bullets, they would lose a lot of Heroes leaving the city in a state of panic.
"The kid's got the right idea on this one, we can't let them get the girl. If she is the source of the bullets, it explains the injuries she had when he brought her to the station. My men think her blood is the critical part in making them which means they will likely slaughter thousands just to get her.", Togo advised, "If the kid is making a move, I will have my men ready to back him up. Screw that fucking Hero Association and their bullshit, they were the ones telling me the bullets were just a myth now I have dozens of people telling me they aren't."
'Does that mean we have traitors in the Hero Association?', Nezu thought as those words hit home, 'How much do they actually know, but aren't willing to tell us!?'
"Not only that, we weren't monitoring that old smuggler base because the association supposedly filled it with concrete decades ago. The fact they are using it tells me someone was blowing smoke up our ass to save themselves a few bucks.", Togo growled, "See if you can't get him some Hero backup, if we are dealing with Yakuza using old war tech this is going to be pretty bloody."
Ending the call there, Togo got to work organizing a strike force while Nezu hurriedly made calls to his news contacts and former graduates of UA. Nezu wanted to get Kessler as much help as he could to subdue this group of criminals. Once he had secured assistance from several Agencies, Nezu called his news contacts to get reporters out on the scene when the fighting started.
Knocking on Nezu's door, Midnight and Eraserhead walked in. Giving All Might a nod, they said they were here to help. The other staff members were already enroute to help clear the area near Pier 13.
"For now I will have the students do self-study.", Nezu told them, "This takes top priority at the moment, All Might please inform them of what Commissioner Togo informed us. They need to know the risk involved here, backup will meet you near the pier."
Standing on top of a warehouse, across from Pier 13, Kessler surveyed the situation. While the viewable area looked no different from your normal shipping area, the underground was far more exciting. Judging by the base layout he acquired, via Interface, Kessler was able to determine that this used to be an old smuggler's hideout two hundred years ago. They used submarines and divers to bring in goods under the government's nose, back in the day, it was acquired by the Yakuza about fifty years ago as a debt payment.
'This explains why it wasn't on the police radar, they come in via the ocean. Since this area has heavy traffic, they have higher priorities than watching for small submarines and divers.', Kessler thought, 'They are pretty well armed…if this was the early 2000s. Rocket launchers, armored vehicles with mounted machine guns, a helicopter, and a large stockpile of guns…I don't understand why they didn't get rid of this shit years ago.'
Confirming that the neighboring areas were clear, Kessler heard chatter on the police band that they were headed his way in force. Not only were the cops coming his way, but there were also several agencies sending backup as well. Receiving a text from Nezu and Togo that they were sending aide my way, I smiled as I was happy to see Nezu and All Might had a change of heart.
While Kessler was confirming civilians were safely away from the scene, he started playing with the weather to create a thunderstorm over the city. Kessler wanted to make an example out of Overhaul and the Yakuza tonight, there was no room for people that use children to further their ends in this world. Once Kessler was certain that civilians weren't in the area, Kessler created an Ion Tornado that started tearing the pier to pieces.
Below the pier, the Yakuza heard the roar of the tornado tearing their base to pieces. Running to his command center, Overhaul demanded to know what was going on. Not more than twenty minutes ago it was sunny without a cloud in the sky, and now there was a severe thunderstorm and a tornado tearing his cover to bits.
"What the hell is going on!?", Overhaul asked impatiently.
"Sir, the Lightning Hero: Kessler is across the street! The tornado and the thunderstorm are likely his doing…", one of the Yakuza Commanders said with a gulp, "It seems those two turned on us before dying in their car."
"Or Kessler killed them…", the former Assistant Commander pointed out, "This happened because we strayed too far from the honorable path. Yakuza don't torture children, we never have and shouldn't have ever started it."