Chapter 28: Separated
Now out in the street, Izuku saw something he hadn't seen in a while: machines in the streets of a city. It honestly felt a little nostalgic as he couldn't help but remember the Entrance Exam; meeting Pony for the first time, gaining his wings, and taking down the Zero Pointer using his wits. Or the attack on the school when they took on the three Nomu using overcharged robots. Funny enough, it had been after that that Toga joined their class. But, unlike the robots he had faced in the past, the ones before him resembled red trash cans on four legs. At the end of each leg was a wheel that moved them and a single glowing red light on the top of their head. Honestly, they didn't look imposing.
But, while they lacked in threatening appearance, these machines made up for it in sheer numbers. All over the street were hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. Each of their eyes turned in their direction as they no doubt heard the sound of the motor. That, or they had some other way to sense them, like motion detection.
"This is bad," exclaimed Melissa, looking worried as the group rapidly approached the army of bots. Izuku could see her out of the corner of his eyes, looking back and forth as if to take count of how many there were before finally giving up. Rather, she began looking at a small control panel in the side card. "Maybe something in here will help. This is a pro hero's bike after all." She then closed her eyes before pressing a button, her body clearly tensing as if she expected she might accidentally launch herself out.
What she got instead was…
"Going fast makes me feel alive. My heart beats in hyper drive," came the musical lyrics from the radio, so loud that everyone could hear. Melissa opened her eyes and just gawked at the situation. But before she could press another button, Itsuka just revved the engine of her 'borrowed' bike while Pony flew faster so that she was now in front of them.
"Look at all these fish in a barrel!" she exclaimed while lowering her head and raising her index fingers close to her horns. "Allow me to introduce them to my Horn Cannon!" Suddenly, Pony's horns launched, regrew, and were launched again at a rapid pace. They flew forward, colliding with the robots directly in front of her in the distance. Each time she impaled one, sparks would fly before they exploded, the next horn flying over their remains before colliding with the one that had been behind that one! And to ensure she hit everything, she turned her head from side to side in order to spread her volley of horns.
"Not bad, but it looks like you missed a few," said Izuku with a laugh. Pony said nothing, instead keeping her focus on the enemies ahead, though he could tell she knew what he was talking about. Coming out of the alleyways and side streets were more robots. But these would be no problem for Izuku as he dashed to one on his side.
"Divide," he said, touching one with his left hand. Instantly, he felt the power flowing through him with the extra boost going into his wings. Once it was drained, he extended his leg before spinning around to deliver a roundhouse kick right to its head. The head flew off, colliding with another robots with enough force that it was knocked down. But Izuku didn't stay there long as he flew off, zooming past multiple robots while delivering kicks right into their centers or slamming his knee into their heads. Though to the outside world, all anyone could see was a streak of blue shooting down the lines of robots before they suddenly exploded.
"Would it have killed whoever made this to properly label the buttons?" cried Melissa as she Izuku began heading back. She pressed another button, and what she got was…
"It's gonna be a mechanized melee, a bit of a big bot brawl," came the new song. "When we get through you're gonna know it's true, the more metallic they are the harder they fall."
"Oh, I like this one!" cheered Kendo as she let go of the handle, enlarging her hand real quick to swipe away several robots on her side that were getting real close. "It's fitting!" Izuku noticed that Melissa was now staring at Itsuka in disbelief before turning to look at her other companions. No doubt shocked by how relaxed they all were, given the situation. And the reason for that was simple: because this was familiar. Beating down robots was something they knew, far more than handling actual villains. It helped them ease into what would be happening soon.
So, the group moved down the street with the sounds of music and the explosions of robots in their wake.
-x-
"Thank you again for this," said Hisashi quietly, keeping his head down and looking weak as he led Fuyumi and Natsuo back over to where he had been sitting beside Ms. Pan. Both Todoroki siblings looked like deer caught in the headlights as the man led them, no doubt still processing what was happening. How Hisashi had innocently inquired if it would be possible for his niece and nephew to sit together with him. That they had been separated during the party, mingling with the other guests before everything went down, and just wanted them nearby. That it would ease his nerves if they would just be allowed to sit next to him. Whether it was because the men there didn't care, didn't want to deal with him begging over and over again, empathy, or just wanted people closer together to shoot them together, Hisashi didn't know nor did he care. He had gotten what he wanted.
"Sure don't look like they're family," stated the villain, his gun making a clicking noise as he moved it around and pointed at the two siblings. No doubt noticing their white hair.
"Haha. I can see where you're coming from," laughed Hiashi nervously as he gestured for the two to sit down. "They're actually from my wife's side of the family." To that, the villain eyed Midoriya for a moment with his gun pointing at the fire-breather. Then, as if suddenly losing interest, he turned and continued to patrol the dining hall.
"Uncle Hisashi, why did you-" began Natsuo, only to stop when Fuyumi elbowed him in the side. There was a look in her eyes directed at her brother, telling him to keep quiet because, knowing him, he would say the worst thing possible.
"Look, I'm not losing another one of you on my watch," replied Hisashi in a low tone, his eyes watching the guards carefully. He had counted every one of them and, when they weren't in his field of vision, did his best to listen in on their footsteps as well as sense the vibrations from the ground.
What he said was a hundred percent true. While some may say he should have been trying to get out and go look for his son, Hisashi knew better. If he did try to escape under these circumstances, the villains would either hunt him down or use the other guests as hostages just to get him to come back. Then they would shoot him to make an example of him. But, more than that, he had failed the Todoroki family before, and he would be damned if he didn't try his hardest to make up for it now. Right now, he had secured their safety, claiming the two of them to be his family. So, unless they actually looked up who was attending, as far as these villains were concerned, they were just two random civilians and not the children of one of the top heroes in the world. Plus, he could do more to protect them right here vs across the dining hall.
…Though there might have been a teeny, tiny selfish reason for him to do this as well. That reason was staring at Hisashi right now, his expression neutral, but Hisashi imagined he was wishing he could set his target on fire with his look alone. Yes, Endeavor was still lying there as the lead villain had decided to use the fire hero as his new leg rest. And, like All Might, the man did his best to ignore the indignity of it all. Hopefully, when this was all done, Enji would be more pissed at Wolfram and take his frustration out on him while remembering that Hisashi had been looking out for his kids.
"But, ah, wasn't Izuku supposed to be here as well?" asked Fuyumi, keeping her voice low as she scanned the crowd. "Shouldn't you have asked to have him sit next to you instead of us?"
"…He's not here," admitted Hisashi, feeling his guts twisting in knots before glancing up at the ceiling briefly. An act that the Todoroki's, probably all three, noticed. "I saw him up there, on that upper level, looking down at us. My best guess is that he was on his way with his friends before all this went down. Then, once he realized something was wrong, he went up there to check things out. I didn't bring it up with these villains because if I said I didn't see my son here, they might send a group looking for him."
"And you're ok with that?" asked Natsuo as he glanced up at the ceiling, like he was trying to find Izuku up there.
"Honestly? No," sighed Hisashi. Truthfully, if Izuku had made it, he would have made sure that all four of them were sitting together. He would have dealt with the discomfort of sitting next to his son after all these years just to make sure he was safe. And, if these villains did decide to shoot them, maybe he could use his body as a shield for his boy. At least then, he could have done one good fatherly thing for him besides paying bills.
"But, I can deal with it for now," continued Hisashi after a moment. "He's most likely staying up there with his friends, keeping an eye on the situation. As long as he does that, he should be safe." Smiling weakly, Hisashi then turned to look at All Might, who was just lying there in his bonds while keeping his gaze on Wolfram. "Pst, All Might."
Despite keeping his voice low, almost to a dull whisper, All Might heard it. He jerked a little in his bounds before craning his head to look at Hisashi in confusion. "Yes?" whispered the man, the sound almost making Midoriya chuckle. After all the times he had heard the man being loud and boisterous, it was shocking to know that he could tone it down.
"Look, in case the worst happens," began Hisashi, making Fuyumi and Natsuo flinch. "I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for my son. You've really made his time at U.A. special."
"Your son?" whispered All Might while his face took on a look of confusion.
"Izuku," replied Hisashi quickly. There was then a pause as All Might's eyebrows rose in surprise. A moment later the hero smiled broadly despite the situation.
"Ah, you must be Young Midoriya's father," replied the Number One Hero. "Oh, I had hoped to tell you what a fine job your son is doing at U.A. under less stressful circumstances. You have done a fine job at raising him."
"I…wasn't there much," admitted Hisashi, his gaze lowering in shame. He knew he could have lied and the truth might never have come out. Hell, he still felt like he had lied just by using the word 'much'. But, he had done what he had done for his son's benefit. Hisashi knew he had to be miserable in order to ensure no one else in his family got hurt. He had to suffer until the end of his days. Even if he did have a fleeting daydream here and there about how much further along Izuku would have been if he had stayed and given his boy his support, he knew he had made the right call.
Still, he needed to convey something.
"To be honest, you were more present in his life…even if it was just an image on a screen," confessed Hisashi as the smile on All Might's face faded. "One of the last images I had of my son was seeing him in his room with this…lifeless look in his eyes after the doctor told him he didn't have a quirk. That he could never be a hero like you. It just…crushed his soul. I think he was lost after that, just watching this video of you saving people over and over again. Neither me nor my wife knew what to say to him. Honestly, I wish you could have been there. I bet you would have known what to say to him in order to bring back that spark." Hisashi then stumbled over his next words as he could have sworn he saw All Might sweating. Had the bands around him tightened or something? "But, I guess it didn't matter in the end. My wife says that Izuku is just as stubborn as I am. Never let go of that dream, no matter what the world told him. Just imagine what might have happened if he had given up and stopped trying altogether? He might have never even discovered he had a quirk."
"I, er, suppose you have a point," said All Might slowly, his expression seeming far off now. There was a grimace to it, like he had been stabbed with a knife that was slowly being twisted.
It then looked like All Might was going to say something, but movement from Wolfram caught their attention. Both Hisashi and All Might remained silent out of fear that their talking had been picked up, causing the villains to act. But, instead, Wolfram placed a hand to his ear while a look of frustration grew on his face that was clearly visible despite the mask he wore.
"What do you mean we have a problem?" he shouted, standing up. "Outside on the streets heading towards the edge of the island? Just send those robots to…What? How many have been destroyed? That…Ok, so we have a group of heroes…What do you mean they look like kids?!?"
Hisashi's mind briefly stopped working when he heard that part. Quickly, he looked up, hoping beyond hope that his son would choose this moment to look down. But there was no one. There was no way. No possible way that-
"Change of plans!" shouted Wolfram, speaking to his guards. "I'm heading up to the vault to oversee the doctor myself. I want everyone but you two," he paused, gesturing towards two men in the back, "to head out along with the security room. We have a bunch of kids who are up to something. I don't know if they're planning on leaving the island somehow, have a way to take back control of the system, or if there is some method of making contact with the outside world that we don't know about. Whatever it is, we are going to stop them. I'll leave a few other people behind, just in case but for now we need to hurry! If they cause you too much trouble, kill them!"
As Wolfram and his men began to head out, Hisashi turned to look back at the blonde hero. "All Might," began Hisashi slowly. "My son doesn't have a history of going off on his own to incredibly dangerous situations, does he?"
"No, of cou-" began All Might before he stopped himself and took on a more thoughtful expression. "Ah, well, there was that one time that Young Midoriya and his friends found themselves faced with the leader of the League of Villains and some Nomu. And he did once charge forward to save a girl from a massive robot." A tiny, inaudible noise escaped Hisashi's throat as he sat there, realizing that, yes, his son more than likely was out there destroying robots.
"Well, looks like your son is going to die," said Ms. Pan cooly, earning looks from everyone there as more black sparks seemed to dance along her hair. "Better hope he's not insured by our company. I doubt you'll get a penny."
-x-
As Wolfram's men headed from the ballroom and the top of the tower, rushing towards the security garage where several trucks that would put American SWAT vehicles to shame were parked, the students from Detroit Mercy and Toga rushed up the stairwell.
"Ok, this isn't so bad," said Hydro Claw as they passed floor number thirty-seven while taking a water bottle from his belt. While he continued to climb the stairs, the teen held the bottle out before shooting a stream of water right into his open mouth.
"Speak for yourself," grumbled Prince as they passed floor thirty-eight. "I planned on enjoying a night of fine dining, dancing, and mingling. Not climbing up a ridiculous number of stairs."
"Would you rather be doing this or running away from one of Pack Master's pets?" asked Lady Sting, shooting a grin back at Prince.
"Let's see," began Prince, his face showing that he was actually weighing the pros and cons of the question. "Would I rather be climbing up towards what will most likely be a room full of armed men with guns or running away from that woman's bizarre collection of mismatched animals that are trying to rip me to shreds? Eh, I think they're pretty much even."
"Seriously?" questioned Toga as she shot a look behind her as she ran barefoot up the steps, as her shoes, while more practical than high heels, were not made for anything like this. "You'd rather be running away from a pack of dogs or something?" It was then she noticed the other Detroit Mercy students giving each other uneasy looks.
"Dogs? Are you kidding me?" snapped Elven Prince. "Pack Master has the ability to combine different animals together, mixing and matching them however she wants! Last time we had training, I had to go up against that cheetah that was mixed with a rhino all by myself! Not only was it fast, but I couldn't break its skin! I swear that thing had it out for me!"
If anyone was going to comment after that, it was silenced as the group came to a complete stop. The stairwell was now being blocked by blast doors that were shut tight. Bleak, who had remained silent this entire time, moved his hand towards it while sending out hundreds of tiny tendrils that began to feel around. But, after a minute or two of this, they retreated back into the white mass that covered the teen's body.
"Got it," said Bleak in his distorted voice. The teen then thrust out his hand, fingers pressed together and pointing at a point right in the middle of the door. Once again, several tendrils of the white mass extended from his hand, but this time they were more focused as they slipped through the tiniest space separating the two sides of the door. Then, almost instantly, the shape of the mass shifted! Now Bleak's entire arm looked more like the top part of a crab's pincer or some massive claw that pushed the doors apart. Sadly, this only lasted a moment at the doors shut tightly once more.
Toga let out a groan as the white mass returned to Bleak, who just stood there as if he were examining his failure. Though while he had failed, it was still an impressive feat as forcing those sorts of doors open, even for a moment, was nothing to scuff at. The U.A. student was about to head to the side door to move along the corridors like Melissa had told them to if they encountered this exact problem, but when she turned to look at the American students once more, she saw that Bleak hadn't given up. Now he had both arms outstretched, palms pressed against each other as more of that weird white mass shot towards the door.
Then, she heard it. They all heard it. It was the sound of a machine being forced to do something it was ready to do and fighting with everything it had. At the same time, Bleak's body trembled as the black veins on his arms, chest, and head seemed to triple in size as he repositioned his legs so that they were wider. Grunting and letting out heavy breaths, Bleak began to separate his arms slowly as the tendrils moving to the door became thicker. That's when everyone saw it: the white mass was still in that tiny gap between the doors, getting thicker to force it open. At first, it was just one large white mass but then it changed, becoming more like a dozen or so thick spiderweb-like support system with threads as thick as a ruler. Then, the mass merged into two thick white pillars with black veins, which pulsed as they forced the door open.
By this point, Bleak's legs were uncovered and trembling. More and more of the white bio armor he wore was being moved over to support the pillars, revealing more of the person underneath exposed. Soon enough, it was only his head and arms that were covered, showing to everyone the massive wet patch of sweat that was forming on his shirt and dripping onto the floor. Meanwhile, the pillars of white mass looked like they were straining themselves, quivering under the pressure.
"I can't hold it," grunted Bleak, looking like he was going to fall to his knees at any moment. "Go. GO!" The rest didn't need to be told twice. Toga was the first, having already moved to the other side before anyone could blink in surprise. Lady Sting followed her, jumping past the two pillars while the Elven Prince made a mad dash. Hydro Claw was next, but he hesitated as he looked behind him to see that Bleak had his head down while taking longer, deeper breaths. In that moment, it was clear to everyone that Bleak would not be able to follow them. The only reason Hydro Claw moved was because Gel had moved to Bleak's side, wrapping an arm underneath his stomach to help keep him upright. Then, Gel looked at Hydro Claw, giving him a nod before he turned around and jumped through the open doors. And not a moment too soon as the doors slammed shut, the sound they created in doing so sending shockwaves through the stairwell.
And just like that, the group was down by two.
-x-
None of the other students wasted a moment trying to get back to their friends. Hydro Claw didn't pound on the door, nor did he tell everyone that they needed to go back for them. Lady Sting didn't try to call through the door to talk to them or break out crying. Elven Prince didn't start pointing fingers at everyone. Instead, they all grit their teeth as they continued to climb the stairwell. They all knew what was on the line and that Bleak had done everything in his power to help make this easier. They didn't like it, but now was not the time to complain.
So, as the white substance that was still connected to him even through the closed door returned to Bleak, the other made their way upwards.
However-
"Damnit," swore Hydro Claw, slamming his fist against the next blast door they came across.
"It can't be helped," said Lady Sting quickly, already moving to the door that would lead them to the main corridor. "We need to keep moving."
Once outside, the group sadly came across another issue: they didn't know which way to go! Walking out into the large corridor, it looked like a slip path with no markers telling them which way to go. Doing their best to get their bearings and to make an educated guess, the four of them began to look around at all the doors they could find. If they were numbered, then it would be logical to assume that going in ascending order would lead them upwards. Or they could make their way to another stairwell. But no, every door was labeled with the names of scientists or the project they were working on.
"They probably use a GPS to find their way around here," grumbled Toga as she kicked a door labeled 'Warp Quirk Research: Alternate Universe'. The door next to it said 'Regeneration Quirk Research: Unlimited Food Supply'.
"We're wasting too much time," said Lady Sting, gaining their attention as she began to look around. "Since we don't know which way to go, I think we should split up. Half of us will go one way and the other will go the opposite. If you realize you're heading in the wrong direction, turn around and catch up with the others."
"Oh no, no, no, no!" yelled Elven Prince. "Splitting up is the worst thing you can do in a horror movie! It's in the rules! It's the fastest way for people to die right after saying 'I'll be right back'!"
Toga pressed a finger to her cheek in thought. "But it doesn't feel like this is a horror movie," she said. "More like an action thriller. So what are the rules about surviving one of those?"
"Does it matter?!" yelled Elven Prince, veins popping out of his neck. "It doesn't matter the situation, splitting up is-" The loud teen was then silenced as Lady Sting's stinger that was hanging off the back of her head lunged forward, the tip all but pressing against the space between Prince's eyes.
"You think I don't know this is a bad idea?" hissed Lady Sting, slowly withdrawing her tail as she eyed her classmate. "You think I want to send my friends and classmates off on their own with villains lurking around every corner? Well, I don't. But reality doesn't give a damn about what we want. And right now, your reality is that we don't know where to go. We need to do what we have to in order to save lives. If that means splitting up in order to cover more ground so that we can figure out how to get to the security room from here then that's what we'll do. But if you have a better idea, then let's hear that instead of all the complaining."
For a moment, the Elven Prince just stood there, unable to meet anyone's gaze. He knew, as well as everyone else, that Lady Sting was right. They didn't have a lot of options. Without Shield to guide them, they were on their own. And they had to make tough choices.
So, in the end, they split up. Lady Sting went down one path with Toga while Hydro Claw and Elven Prince went down another.
For what felt like the next several minutes, both Hydro Claw and Elven Prince ran down the windowless hallways searching for anything that could tell them where they were going. A floor number, an elevator, or anything! But no, just the same corridor with random rooms soon began to blur together. There was only one thing that caused them to stop, much to Prince's annoyance.
"Are you seriously doing this now?" grumbled the pointy-eared student as he tapped his foot, watching the back of Hydro Claw as he filled up his water bottles.
"Got to make sure I have plenty of fuel for my quirk," responded the other hero-in-training. "The more I use my quirk, the faster I dehydrate. Nothing I can do about that. Besides, this is the first drinking fountain I've seen all night. Don't know when I'll get a chance to refuel."
"Lucky for you," grumbled Prince as he looked down to his hips, where his swords normally hung. Since they had planned on going to a party, Elven Prince had decided it would be a bad move to bring his blades to a night of dining and networking. Now, all he had were his sheathes.
"Well, hello there," came a friendly voice down the hall, causing both teens to jump in surprise. Almost as one, the pair turned to find a person wearing a grey hoodie and matching sweatpants. While the person's voice sounded like a young man's voice, probably younger than them, it was hard to tell as the hood was up, covering the person's face. That was well as the hoodie and pants being several sizes too large.
And both teens guessed that this person was a villain since they weren't alone. Behind the hooded individual were two other people who were clearly with the villains who had taken over the place. One was a bulky guy with a black buzz cut. The other man was tall and lean, his giant nose rounded with green hair.
"Have you lost you're way?" asked the hoodie villain, still keeping a light and friendly tone. And given the circumstances, that caused the air on both teens' necks to stand.
"Hawk flun bebetuu," said Hydro Claw before his eyes widened in surprise. A hand quickly shot up to his throat, feeling it as if he thought he could find a wound or dart. "Claffer mumu tallie."
"Ah, nothing to say?" laughed Hoodie, their head lifting a little, causing the shadows to part, lightly revealing a sickening smile.
"Talwackie," yelled Prince before his eyes widened in surprise.
"Thank you for making your way up here," said Hoodie as they took a step back. "I was honestly afraid I'd have nothing to do all night. Your struggle will be very entertaining."
"Shouldn't be too much trouble now that they can't talk to each other," grumbled the bulky villain before letting out a roar right before he began to transform. Both Hydro Claw and Elven Prince watched as his skin turned purple like he were bruised from head to toe while muscles bulged all over. His hair even grew longer while his arms and fists enlarged.
"Not that we needed help," said the other villain as his fingers enlarged and became webbed. He then pulled one of his arms back, almost looking like a pitcher ready to throw a baseball. An action that caused warning bells to ring loudly in the head of Hydro Claw. Acting more out of a survival instinct than anything else, he flattened his hand before thrusting it forward towards the long, figered villain while activating his quirk. Highly pressurized water shot out of the tips of each of his fingers, flying towards the villain like blades strong enough to cut steel.
However, that was when the villain threw something. Neither teen could see it anything solid. Instead, it was like the air was distorted and in a ball shape. And when this distorted space collided with the water streams, they just seemed to vanish.
As Hydro Claw stared at the sight in disbelief, the two villains charged forward.
-x-
Elsewhere, Toga had been running through the building along with Lady Sting. With their footsteps echoing through the empty halls, the blonde bloodsucker did her best to hold back a groan. Where were all the villains? The reason her Izu had told her to stay behind was so that she could cause some chaos. All she had to do was get a little blood, and then she could mess with them from the inside. For example, she could plant something on one of the villains that would get them to turn on each other. From there, she could take a few steps back to allow their own paranoia to destroy them without her needing to lift another finger. Or she could call for backup, getting as many villains as she could in one spot before knocking them out, taking their weapons, and leading them on a wild goose chase across the building. She could even just walk right into the security room, becoming the instant backup Izu needed when he and the others showed up.
So, again, where were all the villains? No villains meant no villain blood. No villain blood meant she couldn't use her quirk to transform into them! It was so unfair!
Eventually, the pair found themselves outside on a metal catwalk that was big enough for a truck to drive on. Here, the wind seemed to howl loudly as it blew, feeling like it could fling them off if only it became a little stronger. On one side, both girls could see the lights of the buildings of I-Island spreading out until it reached the walls protecting the island. On the other side, wind turbines spun quickly to generate additional power to the building.
Then, everything went silent.
Toga's eyes widened at this. Everything was still in motion. She could feel the wind blowing against her petite body, but she couldn't hear the howling noise it made or the fabric of her dress as it moved. She could see the turbines spinning, but not the noise they made as they did so. She knew she was panting hard but could no longer hear it. Nor could she hear the sounds of them running on the catwalk. It was like someone had pressed the mute button on the entire world.
That's when she saw it. A shadow, a large one, on the floor of the catwalk that hadn't been there before. Lifting her head, Toga saw her. It was the blonde-haired woman who had been in the dining room. The one with the teardrop styled hair! What shocked Toga was that the woman was several feet above them, standing on an orb of water around the size of a beachball. Just standing there, looking down upon the pair with a cruel smile.
Without warning, pain shot through Toga's side. She cried out despite no sound coming from her mouth as she gripped her arm. At first, she kept her focus on the villain while using her sense of touch to figure out the seriousness of the injury. From what she could tell, she had been shot in the arm with blood leaking down before dripping onto the floor.
Unable to help herself, she turned to briefly glance behind her. The first thing she saw was Lady Sting, on the ground and holding her leg. Most likely, she had been shot there as well. The one who had done this to them was standing in the doorway they had just come from. Whoever this person was, they were small standing no more than four foot something. This person wore an old yellow rain jacket with a hood. The hood was up, and on their head was an old Tiger's cap that looked like it had seen better days. And of course, this person was holding a gun that looked way too big for them.
And, due to Toga's head being turned, she didn't see Miss Drop lunging towards the blonde with an arm outstretched towards her head.
-x-
At the same time, Bleak and Gel were pressed against the wall of a hallway, doing their best to keep their breathing in check. Above them in a connecting hallway was one of Gel's Scout Slimes, looking down at the figure that was currently moving towards them.
Not that the villain was being subtle right now.
"I can't believe they stuck me with that arrogant asshole," griped the pink-haired villain, his voice getting louder as he got closer. "I swear, if the boss gives us permission to gut his sorry ass, I'm taking the first stab! I don't care if the others complain, I deserve-" The villain was then cut off as Bleak moved from his hiding spot and rounded the corner, surprising him. But only for a moment, as both the villain's hands became wrapped in metal before taking the form of swords. The bladed villain tried to swing them both down at Bleak, but the teen hero had already transformed his hands as well. In their place were a pair of double-sided axes made of the same white substance that covered his body.
"Stupid kid," growled the villain as sparks erupted from his blades as they ground against the organic bio-matter. The sword villain was then lifted one arm, ready to press the attack and come down hard, only for Bleak to have other plans. Having read his opponent's move, Bleak knocked one arm away before crouching down to grab the villain's ankle. At the exact same moment, Bleak's cape reached out behind him, the tipped claws at the end digging into the ground before rapidly pulling the teen away from the villain. Because Bleak still held onto the sword user's ankle, said villain fell backwards and hit his head on the metal floor.
Then, before the villain could regain his senses, Gel's Scout Slime fell down upon his head to smother him. The pink-haired villain thrashed about as the one-eyed slime creature wrapped its body around his face, doing everything it could in order to enter his ears, nose, and mouth while its prey tried to claw it off. Then, Gel leapt into the air to deliver a falling axe kick right into the villain's gut.
"Just be glad I didn't use a Battle Slime on you, villano," said Gel with grin as her Scout Slime returned to the air, revealing the unconscious face of the sword villain. The grey-skinned girl then turned to look at Bleak as he approached her, her fanged smile fading. "You doing ok? You should have easily overpowered him."
"Yeah, I'm fine," was Bleak's distorted reply as he rolled his shoulder while his costume returned to normal. "Still feeling the strain from opening that blast door. But I'm recovering quickly, so I won't hold you back."
"You never have," said Gel as the two began to walk. As they did, Bleak noticed that Gel's Scout Slime was searching the corridors, looking for any additional hallways, opened doors, of villains while relaying everything it saw right back to Gel.
Meanwhile, as they moved, Bleak felt his bio-armor working hard in order to massage his muscles. Repairing something like a swollen eye, busted lip, or any of the other things his parents had done to him were simpler fixes that normally took no more than ten minutes. His muscles, on the other hand, were a different story. He hadn't lied about the strain he had been under, as he felt like holding that door open as he felt like his muscle fibers had been on fire due to the effort, while breathing had become difficult. Then, when he could take it no longer, he had all but collapsed, feeling weaker than he had been in so long. The bio-mass that covered him had to move in deep to begin repairing the damage while massaging parts of his body. Which meant, when this was over, he would have to force down some dark chocolate to refuel.
"Say, ah, Bleak," said Gel suddenly, her voice low. Bleak, who had been focused on his own thoughts and keeping an eye out in case the Scout Slime missed something, jumped a little at this before turning to look at his friend. Gel's cheeks had darkened, and was looking away. "B-Before your parents interrupted us, I found an old trade of 'Lady Mechanika' that I haven't seen before. So, well, I was wondering if you wanted to read it with me when this was all over?"
Unable to be seen, Bleak felt his cheeks turn bright red at the offer. Books were a shared passion of theirs. With Bleak, he had a fondness for adventure fantasy novels as well as horror, science fiction, and thrillers. Meanwhile, Gel loved to read a good steampunk novel or comic with Lady Mechankia being her second favorite right after Lantern City. And while reading was always a comforting pastime for him, it wasn't the act of reading with her that got him blushing. It was how they did it last time. The pair had been lying on the couch in their common room with Gel nestled by his side, one of his arms wrapped around her waist as his bio-mass held up the old copy of 'Girl Genius' they were reading. It had been the first time since he had been in Detroit Mercy that he wanted to stop being Bleak for a bit and just be Andrew. So they could be face-to-face with no barrier.
How long had it been since then? Back when their class was whole, when Will was still around. Before, he had to go back to see his parents so often, returning with bruises and a shattered self-esteem. Before he had begun putting up more walls than usual.
"I'd l-like that," Bleak managed to see. Instantly, Gel turned to look at him. The expression on her face was pure joy as she gave him an open-mouthed smile that showed off her pointy, jagged teeth. Yeah, he would like that. Especially if his worst fears came true and his parents pulled him out of Detroit Mercy. At the very least, he would have one more memory with her.
Then, all of a sudden, Gel's head snapped down the hallway. "My Scout Slime found something," she said while grabbing his hand. She then took off, momentarily dragging Bleak with her. "There's a large room right up ahead. Like really big! Pretty sure we can use it as a shortcut."
The room she was talking about wasn't that hard to find, as it was the only open door they found. On the other side, both teens found themselves in what could best be described as a massive indoor park. Along the walkways, there were islands of greenery, fully of plants and trees. There were even trees and vines along the walls with waterfalls flowing down along the edges. Glancing up, Bleak could see that this massive area went up twenty or so floors.
As he stared up, Bleak's mind was already at work, coming up with a plan. He could use the same move he used to climb up that he used during his entrance exam. However, he would need to save some biomass to wrap around Gel. Now all they needed to do was figure out which wall to climb. That would be the tricky part.
Bleak was about to suggest that Gel make two more Scout Slimes to investigate the upper floors when the sound of footsteps was heard. Both readied themselves, Gel mentally ordering her Scout Slime to return to her hair as she prepared to create a Battle Slime while Bleak turned his hands back into axes. And when the figure revealed itself, neither teen dropped their guard.
"Well, well. If it isn't my worthless brother and the freak," said Will as he dragged a smaller figure. Whoever this other person was, it was whimpering and shaking while being dressed in rags that covered its entire body. Meanwhile, Will was still dressed in designer clothing, making the contrast between them all the more apparent.
"Looks like I can finally have my revenge," finished Will, cracking his knuckles.