The Enemy of My Enemy

Though Bertha wasn't keen on the idea of sending away her security - even just part of it - she didn't much fancy stalling negotiations much longer. It'd been difficult enough to get a hold of the two without getting Goliath or his loyalists suspicious. So, after just a moment's deliberation, she turned to one of her men. "Thermos. You're on lookout duty." He didn't speak in response, simply nodding and pacing down the trail to take his post, while Bertha herself turned back to face the other two, determined to get through the discussions now that they could get things underway.

"Long story short," She started, eyeing the two of them harshly while she spoke, "No, I'm not too fond of him. I'm not gonna get into it here, but he's not cut out for leading anything bigger than a book club. Him trying to expand despite all the signs saying that he shouldn't is all I need to know that he needs to be kicked out of the Vipers on his ass. As for blondie over here..." She turned towards Hyousuke, her steely gaze meeting his.
"What about me?" He replied. He barely even tried to hide the venom in his voice - she was the enemy, after all. "He's not been afraid to kick out anyone for good before. I can't imagine someone like him'd come crawling back to offer me a place as the resident whipping boy again."

"Yeah, I was just getting to that, jackass." She sighed after realising she was getting herself distracted, and returned to explaining the situation. "You remember how he operates, don't you? How he draws in and keeps new members?"
"Yeah, he offers 'outcasts and misfits a place to call home,' or something like that."
"Right. See, it goes a bit deeper than that. He convinces you that you're useless, but that you've got a place with people just like you. Once he's got you, he makes sure you start thinking that if you're not part of his little club, you're nothing. You weren't nothing before, and you'll be all that plus a traitor if you step out of line."

She waited for a moment. She didn't think Hyousuke to be the brightest bulb in the pack, but even he had to be able to follow where she was going with it.
"...Wait, but I ain't useless. I got into UA. I was in the Sports Festival, damn it!"
"Exactly. You proved him wrong. Sure, most of his victims manage to get their life back together once they've been kicked out, but it's always small stuff. Things he can keep hidden, or twist to fit whatever truth he wants to tell people. You're the first one he's kicked out that's done something big - and that makes you a threat. He beat you until your face looked like mincemeat, and here you are at Japan's biggest hero school."

Hyousuke had to admit, it felt kind of good to be spiting Goliath. Knowing that the person who'd scarred him probably grew more resentful with every passing day... It wasn't quite eye for an eye, but it was still some sort of revenge, at least.
"So, what, you want me to come in and give some big speech and make people rise up against him?"
"Don't be stupid, convincing them to leave peacefully's gonna take time we don't have. You need to go in there and kick Goliath's ass. He's got this whole cult of personality built up around him - everyone thinks he's untouchable, and that he knows best. But if the living proof that he's wrong comes in and breaks both his body and his ideology..."
"...The Vipers'll start turning against him."

The revelation that Vanish had a body count wasn’t something that shocked Bertha terribly. Violence was inevitable on the streets, and when push came to shove, sometimes killing was necessary. Her goon didn't seem to mind much either - in fact, he seemed more concerned with glancing about the area, making certain that they hadn't been tailed, or that some unfortunate passerby wouldn't need to be dealt with.
“Believe me, I intend to use that vacuum. The faster we get our efforts focussed back on Tokyo, the better. As for Hush, he’s a merc. So long as I can convince him he’s better off working for me, you don’t have nothing to worry about. Not that I’d complain about you putting that creep six feet under anyway. Gives everyone the willies...”

Hyousuke, on the other hand, was far from composed. He'd said that he'd try to keep calm during the meeting, and retain as much composure as he could, but knowing that he was working so closely with killers... He couldn't stop his emotions getting the better of him.

"I’m sorry, are we just gonna ignore that you’re all talking about killing someone in cold blood?!
There was genuine anger in his voice, and though his face was hidden by the shadow of his hood, there was no mistaking the fire in those emerald eyes. The knowledge that they'd taken lives, and could speak so freely about it - that they could speak about killing Goliath outright as easily as they might talk about the weather - it instilled a sickness in him that he hadn't the words for. "You... I'll-"
"Enough, Suzuki."

Bertha was no doubt the more composed of the two, but even she had trouble containing her annoyance at him. She wasn't sure if he was stupid, idealistic, or both, but it was getting on her nerves. "Shut it. This ain't some training exercise at your little group hug facility. This is our operation, and like it or not, you're gonna have to work with is, and play by our rules. So I'm telling you - leave the moralising until after you've knocked our mutual friend's teeth out across the floor, or stay out of our way. Got it?"

He understood what she was saying. But his stance left her wondering if he was going to take it to heart. His fists were clenched, and twitching upwards into a guard. His feet were shifting and shuffling, like he was getting ready to lunge. But that look in his eyes... That was perhaps the most telling thing of all. That wild, furious glare, boring deep into her with savage hated - it was unfiltered rage. Unfocussed, but no less powerful. A wildfire, contained within a person. For a tense few moments, the two stood there, each wondering if that fire would be allowed to burn... Until eventually, he relaxed his stance as much as he could, and let out a deep breath between clenched teeth.

"Got it."
Relieved as she was, Bertha didn't dare dwell on the subject. They had more pressing matters to see to than his indignation at being forced to work with the enemy. "I can get an audience for you, no problem. As much as he fears Suzuki, Goliath still thinks he's better than him. He'll no doubt want to make an example of the 'traitor.' Show everyone in the Vipers that there is no future outside of the group, no matter how hard you struggle. Thing is, he's got every right to think big of himself. He's strong, he's tough, and he's smart. His Quirk's dangerous."

Hyousuke flinched at the mention of it. He was familiar with the Quirk, of course - being slammed into the floor of one of the gang's hideouts had given him as much experience as he thought he needed.
"So what do you expect me to do about it?"
"Simple. You've already got the answer."
He stared at her, clearly unsure of what she meant, though unwilling to state it. "Christ, do they teach you anything at that school? Look - you've fought big guys before, haven't you? Or ones with big, flashy Quirks that'll level a city block or whatever."
"Yeah, plenty of times. Why?"
"What's the one thing they all got in common? All those macho heavyweights, all the heroes firing off big attacks to finish off the fight in the first round?"

He thought. He played back his fights in his mind, and the ones he'd watched. All that power and all that durability was overwhelming, and seemed unstoppable at first. But the more he thought about it, the more it began to dawn on him. There was a weakness they all seemed to share.
"Stamina."
"See, now you're getting it. The more muscle mass needs moving, or the bigger the attack, the more energy they need to keep going. Goliath's large without his Quirk, and with his muscles getting denser, he can crack your skull open by sneezing at you. But a certain someone's not been keeping up with his cardio."

Hyousuke glared towards Kyou while he spoke. He had so, so many things to say, so many emotions to express - chief among them rage - but Bertha kept him in line. That withering stare she affixed him with, the knowledge that it was neither the time nor the place... He kept his mouth shut, though not without reluctance. He would speak of it later. When all had been seen to, and the dust had settled, he would see to it that they had words. But, until then, he would have to listen to the two of them, speaking whenever he was spoken to. Like a mongrel.

Bertha, annoyed though she was by how things had started turning out with the blonde there, still managed to keep her composure.
"To answer your question about using the hero for this, it's to make sure that he'll never rise to power again. We kill him now, and he dies a martyr. The Vipers aren't united by an ideal, they're united by him. You kill him off, they'll just unite to take revenge on your people. Whether you could win that war or not doesn't matter - I think we'd both agree that we'd rather see this through without losing any more of our people than we have to. If we disgrace him, and shatter the image he's built, then it breaks their faith in him - or at the very least, makes it easier for me to do it."

The proposal put forth regarding Hush and some loyalists had Hyousuke look as if he was about to start snarling. That seething anger, boiling just below the surface, threatened to spew from him like fire. Like an eruption, burning all in its path. They way they were speaking so casually about trading lives, talking about handing people over like cattle... Was this truly the price of revenge? Was vengeance worth sacrificing the lives of people that were just brainwashed? Hush had dug his own grave - Hyousuke didn't care much what happened to him. But the rest of those people had him on edge.

Bertha didn't seem too pleased by it either, but she was cold. Ruthless. A woman focussed on her objective, willing to sacrifice anything to reach it.
"So long as you keep your word and let me and my people go, I'll have them delivered right to you. It'd bad for morale if I dragged them into your territory myself, I'm sure you under-"
"I don't."
"Well that's a damn shame, but nobody asked you, Battery Boy."
"You're just handing over people?! Just like this?" He at least had the good sense to keep from shouting - but there was genuine hatred in his hissing. “You said it yourself, Goliath manipulates people! They can change, they’re-”
“An acceptable loss.”

Bertha strode closer to him, that cold glare growing more intense with every passing second. “Look, I get that you hero types are bleeding hearts that can’t stand not saving everyone, but getting them help would take time, resources, and knowledge we don’t have. And what if they can’t be helped? What if they start working against us? They’re dead weight. They’re die-hard fanatics, Suzuki. If he wasn’t taking care of them, they’d be having accidents either way. So let me make myself perfectly clear. People WILL die before this is over, because Goliath’s too full of himself to see that he’s marching us all to Hell. So the way I see it, you can either get lost and let the big boys handle things, or you can take the opportunity to get what justice you can.”

She was right, of course. He couldn't stop them. Even if he went to the authorities, there was no guarantee they'd be able to do much, if anything - not to mention how they'd treat him, given his involvement in it all. It was begrudging, but he relented. He was still fuming and stayed deathly silent, but he accepted it. If that was the reality of the situation, he could at least be the one to take Goliath out.
"Good. Now, if there's now more interruptions, let's talk strategy. I can say for sure Goliath's biggest weakness is gonna be his stamina, the guy doesn't get his hands dirty if he can help it, and he'll always try to finish a fight before he even starts to look tired. You ask me, an old-fashioned rope-a-dope's your best bet. Get him angry, get him making mistakes.This whole situation's already got him on edge, so if you're gonna try and get under his skin, now'd be the time."

“An alliance? Tempting, but let’s leave that kind of talk until after we’re not supposed to be at each other’s throats. I don’t think our people’re going to be too happy about getting buddy-buddy with each other for a while.” Bertha did seem like she’d genuinely considered the option, but ultimately, hadn’t any interest in it. Not at that point in time, anyway.

Hyousuke was calmed, but only just enough to keep himself quiet. The glare he affixed the two of them with spoke loudly enough on how much he approved of their methods, whether or not they involved outright murder. Yes, he accepted that casualties and scars were going to be inevitable. One way or another, people were going to suffer, and Bertha was just limiting how much of either was going to happen. But that didn't mean he couldn't be angry about having to be involved in it - despite a hero's job, more often than not, involving punching someone's lights out rather unceremoniously.

Bertha, meanwhile, pondered Kyou’s point regarding Hush for a moment - until something else came to mind. “Actually… If you think you or your people can take care of Hush and Goliath’s cronies before then, it’d be even easier to get at Goliath. He’ll get angry at first, no doubt - he sees them as tools, sure, but some of his most useful tools being broken’ll no doubt throw a wrench into his plans. And then he’ll get scared. He’ll see that I was right all along. He'll see that we're in enemy territory, and that you can pick off anyone you want at any time. He'll start thinking nowhere's safe. And the best part? So'll the rest of the Vipers."

Perhaps a day - or, depending on how close they cut it, mere hours - wouldn't quite be enough for rumours to start spreading through the ranks before the confrontation. But they didn't need hours. So long as Hyousuke won the fight, those two factors would compound and instil the idea in the Vipers that attempting to muscle in on Musutafu had been a bad idea from the start. Conflict was inevitable, but ultimately, the three of them could end things before anything worse that what had already happened.