The indoor training building felt like a tomb. Momo and I stood at the entrance, the "Hero" armbands stark against our costumes. Our mission: find the nuclear weapon and either secure it or capture the villains—Kirishima and Sero.
"Kirishima-san's hardening makes him a formidable close-quarters opponent," Momo whispered, her brow furrowed in thought. "And Sero-san's tape allows for incredible vertical mobility. They have likely barricaded the weapon room with layers of adhesive."
I leaned against the doorframe, checking the floor plan on my wrist-display. "Tape is just sticky paper, Momo. And hardening just makes you heavy. In this building, 'heavy' is a word I've decided to delete from the dictionary."
Momo looked at me, a small smile playing on her lips. "I see. You intend to negate their primary advantages before they can even engage."
"Exactly. But I can't reach the whole building. I need you to lead the way. Can you make something to track them?"
"Of course." Momo placed her hand against her side, and a small, humming device materialized. "A localized sonar pulse. It will detect vibrations through the walls."
We moved through the hallways with a synchronized rhythm that felt surprisingly natural. Whenever we reached a door that was taped shut, I didn't bother kicking it. I simply touched the frame and expanded a micro-field of the Anti-Gravity System. The tape, losing its gravitational anchor to the door, would peel away like dry skin, and I'd drift the door open without a sound.
"Floor four," I whispered, pointing up. "Two heat signatures. One is stationary—probably Kirishima guarding the bomb. One is moving—Sero is scouting."
"Then we split their focus," Momo said, her voice gaining confidence. She created a pair of high-tensile capture nets and handed one to me. "If you can negate the weight of these, we can launch them with minimal effort."
Suddenly, a strand of tape shot out from a dark corner of the ceiling, aiming for Momo's arms.
"Watch out!" I lunged forward, not pushing her, but pulling the air. I activated a localized Anti-Gravity System burst directly in the path of the tape.
The tape didn't hit. As soon as it entered my field, it lost its momentum and began to drift upward toward the ceiling, spinning uselessly like a piece of hair in a breeze.
"What the—?!" Sero's voice echoed from the rafters.
"Hey, Sero," I called out, looking up at the shadows. "Hard to aim when your ammo thinks it's a balloon, right?"
"Momo, now!" I shouted.
Momo didn't hesitate. She threw her capture net. I flicked my wrist, catching the net in my field just as it left her hand. Without the weight of the steel-weighted corners, the net expanded to its full width instantly and shot upward like a rocket.
"Whoa! It's too fast!" Sero yelled, trying to swing away, but his tape wouldn't stick to the walls properly because I was pulsing my field every time he fired. He was caught mid-air, wrapped in the net, and gently drifted down to the floor like a trapped butterfly.
"Sero captured," Momo said, clicking her stopwatch. "That took forty-five seconds."
"One down," I grinned, stepping over the netted Sero. "Sorry, buddy. I'll buy you a soda later."
We reached the final room. Kirishima was waiting, his arms hardened into jagged rock, standing firmly in front of the papier-mâché bomb.
"Come on!" Kirishima roared, his "Unbreakable" spirit shining through. "You gotta get through me to get the goods! I'm a rock!"
I walked into the room, hands in my pockets. "You know what happens to rocks when there's no gravity, Kirishima?"
I didn't even get close to him. I simply expanded my field to cover the entire center of the room.
Kirishima's eyes went wide as his boots left the floor. He tried to lung at me, but without friction, his legs just kicked the air uselessly. He was a multi-hundred-pound tank of hardened muscle, floating aimlessly three feet off the ground, spinning slowly.
"This is so unmanly!" he wailed, flailing his arms.
"Actually, it's very graceful," I said, walking past him as Momo calmly walked up to the weapon and placed her hand on it.
"The Hero Team... WINS!" All Might's voice boomed over the speakers.
Momo let out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing. She looked at me, then at the floating, spinning Kirishima. "That was... remarkably efficient, Kanata-san."
"Strategy beats shouting, 100% of the time," I said, deactivating the field and letting Kirishima thud gently back to the floor.
As we walked back to the observation room, Momo turned to me. "You know, your quirk is much more versatile than you let on. You aren't just 'floating' things. You're controlling the space around you."
"Don't give me too much credit," I laughed. "I'm just lazy. I find the easiest way to win so I can get back to my nap."
'The easy wins are over,' I thought. 'The real test is coming.'