Chapter Sixty-Six
After we finished our drinks, Melissa was more than happy to show us around, talking more about the work she did at the 'Academy', as Ochaco and Asui's dispositions towards the woman that'd been showing their totally-not-boyfriend around finished thawing, realizing the Ms. Shield was just naturally friendly. I also listened in, the girl's generalized talk not enough to trigger Science Talent, but hearing about this place was interesting anyways.
"So, if we have all of this, why haven't we started colonizing Mars or something?" I finally asked, as Melissa talked about a plane that was space-capable which utilized an omni-medium engine that her father developed, which did give me a trickle of knowledge via my Talent. I knew just enough to understand that, with the tech on display, reusable, comfortable, and relatively inexpensive spaceflight should be possible. The answer I'd gotten from Power-Loader when I'd first asked was, 'There's enough problems here on Earth,' the man not explaining, and trying to research it on my own had turned up conspiracy theories so complex and documented that they looked as good as the real 'is true but we don't want to talk about it' reasons would be.
The blonde winced. "Ah, it's, um, complicated?"
Yaoyorozu perked up, "Oh, Denki, I think I believe I know why!" She hesitated, turning to Melissa, "But I would also like to hear your thoughts on it, Shield."
"Shield?" I-Island native asked, a little taken aback. "Right, Japanese grammar," she reminded herself, before smiling at the heiress. "Please, call me Melissa. And, well, I guess to put it simply, who owns Mars?"
"No one does," Ochaco replied automatically, before pausing. "Oh. Oh, yeah."
Momo nodded, "There are moon bases, but the Lunar Treaty holds, just like the Antarctic Treaty makes the south pole a non-colonizable zone. However, there is nothing like that for Mars."
"Then, couldn't people just go there?" Mina asked. "Like, the American Old West or something?" She giggled, taking a wide stance, tucking her thumbs into the waist of her costume as she turned to face me, "Howdy there, Space Cowboy!"
Melissa tilted her head to the side in a 'not really' gesture. "Well, you would need to have the technology, and everything developed on I-Island has to be approved before being released. And most of the time, it's just the equipment, not the technology behind them."
"Meh, I could do it," Mei scoffed, looking my way. "Sparky, you wanna build a spaceship?"
I considered it. "After we graduate, and make our first few mil. It won't be cheap, though I've got a few ideas myself that might help." Or, more accurately, I would eventually be able to start pulling from other dimensions. While I'd like to believe the rest of our time at UA would be peaceful, that my disabling of Shigaraki, and the extra protections we'd have at camp, would be enough to further blunt any of the League's efforts, All-for-One was still out there, and I had a feeling I'd have the opportunity to make the handful of points I needed to get my pocket dimension sooner rather than later.
With that, I'd get a door to other dimensions, each with their own systems of Science and Magic. Something like Star Trek would be ideal, but I remembered the World Ratings, back before I'd become Denki. Star Trek was a two, akin to present day where I came from, or was somehow a seven, on par with Worm, the grimdark setting where the planet was a few years from getting destroyed, and everything always got worse. This place was a solid four, and, given how the Company had presented itself, I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to pick the lower tiered version to travel to without additional conditions.
I'd looked over the generalized list of accessible dimensions at my Tier, assuming I wouldn't be able to move between them at all, and, to be honest, it wasn't that bad a list, though some of them I didn't know that much about. For instance, I vaguely remembered Macross as something involving spaceships, a ludicrous amount of missiles, and, for some reason, singing. So with 'Macross Zero' as an option, that might've been a good pick. Then there was something called 'Legend of the Galactic Heroes', which I knew nothing about, but, by definition, would have to take place in space.
More solidly, there was Starcraft, either before or after the first game, or the Empire era of Star Wars. Given I wanted to take Mina with me, I was probably going for the second as, while, yes, Palpatine's regime was literally an Evil Empire™, the conflict was actually pretty localized, and my girlfriend's appearance could easily be passed off as being just another of the numerous alien species that existed in the setting.
Star Wars, I thought. Definitely Star Wars. The look on Mei's face when I gave her a repulsorlift was going to be priceless.
Ms. Shield paused mid-step, looking at the two of us in confusion. "You, you can't just build a spaceship," she stated, frowning.
Mei pointed at the spaceship we were currently walking away from.
"I, yeah, I guess you can," Melissa agreed, before specifying, "But there's rules about it. We can, because I-Island is a special development zone. If you tried to do that on your own, you couldn't."
"Who's gonna stop us," the pink-haired inventrix scoffed, complete with air quotes, "the 'government'?"
Wincing, I replied before our guide could. "Um, yeah. I think she's saying they will. Either way, that's a problem for the future. Now, what's-" I started to ask, before the sharp crack of ice instantly forming rang out, and all of us, except Melissa and Mei, turned in the direction it came from, hands up and at the ready.
It was a rock formation, with an enormous, and very distinctive, glacier sticking out over the top.
"Oh, that's the villain course that was set up!" Melissa informed us, "Wait, you're heroes! Why don't you give it a go?"
Looking around, the other girls just shrugged, so we made our way there, arriving as Todoroki finished melting the glacier he'd just created. "Sorry for making a mess," he told the girl who was doing the announcements.
She just smiled broadly, in a way that almost seemed fake, but, given her job, just came across as perky. "It's no problem! And with an amazing time of sixteen seconds, you're well in the lead at first place! That was amazing! Is there anyone else that thinks they can beat that incredible performance?"
Mina gave me a questioning look, and I gestured for her to go ahead, as she was just as much a hero as I was. With a cheeky grin, she smiled, and leapt over the railing, coming down and sliding forward on her acid, stopping in front of the announcer. "I'll give it a go!" my girlfriend smiled, just as perky as the woman running this event.
"Great!" the woman cheered back. "The robots are reset, so start in three, two, one, Begin!"
Mina wasn't in her new costume, as its 'power-armor' designation meant she couldn't wear it around the Expo without special dispensation. As a trainee heroine, especially one without even a preliminary license, she did get it. Regardless, even in her old costume she still took off of on a streak of low-level acid, skating forward and then up the mini mountain that'd been set up, spinning about, practically pirouetting as she sprayed concentrated jets of corrosive fluids at the enemy robots.
My girlfriend slowed a little as she went higher, her control not enough to let her keep her momentum yet, as she skated back and forth the rock formation, getting close enough to douse the 'Villains' completely and render them non-functional, lacking any long range, or even medium-range attacks without her armor. She could cup her hands a little, but it wasn't the same as the cannon that Mei and I had made for her, though the potency of her fluids was enough to eat through the sealant protecting the joints, eroding the internals in about a dozen seconds even without her in physical contact to improve the effect.
Reaching the top, she leapt, surrounding herself with acid like a living water-balloon that burst when she tackled the last robot, the fluid unnaturally reaching around it and shoving itself inside, the reinforced machine coming apart in a single second, bits spraying everywhere as the hardened, metal pieces were torn asunder and thrown around the battlefield.
"Wow, what a performance! And at twenty-six seconds, Mina Ashido is number six in the rankings!" the woman running this announced, all of us cheering as she came back.
With a burst of low-level acid, she leapt up to the wall, using more to help bring herself up to the rest of us. "Not bad! You're up, Sparky!" My girlfriend smiled, clapping me on the back.
"But you don't have your equipment," Momo frowned, even as I jumped over the railing, extending my legs as lightning to land smoothly.
"I've got enough," I called back, jerking my hands forward as I ran a bit of current through my bracelets, activating them. The internal locks disengaged, and the kinetic force helped extend the insulated metal plates down over my fingers, which I kept carefully straight, and then down my arms when I jerked my hands back. The brassy metal locked into place, sealed as well as it could, and only then did I allow my fingers to curl.
"Let's all give a hand for Denki Kaminari, our next challenger, as the course resets!" the announcer cheered, though she frowned, adding more quietly, toggling off her microphone, "Um, kid, the systems says you're a designer, not a hero."
"I'm both," I replied, looking at her, trying to see what she was reading. "I go to UA."
Her eyes moved, seemingly randomly, and I caught a hint of light, realizing that she was wearing some kind of advanced contact lens that was feeding her information. Taking a closer look at the headset she was wearing, I realized that, with the tech level this place worked under, even the slim headband she was wearing was far too big to just be a microphone.
It's a computer, and the contact lens is the monitor, I realized, impressed at the level of miniaturization needed. Mei was good at it, but her wheelhouse was more taking known phenomena and utilizing them in new and interesting ways. Making the screen/interface that small, with a power source that would last the hours needed to run this attraction, was beyond our level.
For now, I amended, glancing back to Mei, who was paying close attention to my gloves, likely using her Quirk to examine them closely even back in the stands.
"Okay! Everything has been reset!" the woman in pink announced, mic back on. "Ready? Go!"
With electric limbs, I pushed myself forward, a blast of energy through my gloves sending me flying up the mountain towards my first target, pulling on OFA as strength filled my limbs and pushed me even faster. Falling on the first target, I'd worked on enough of these sorts of things to know its weak-points, and drove a piercing fist of solid lightning into its central joint. The hardened spike of electricity broke through the protective covering, my fingers tingling as I hit its interior power distribution system, allowing me to dump far more charge into its circuity than it could handle.
The electronics sparked, and I leapt away, tearing across the landscape for my second target, having taken down my first robot in less than a second after impact, but I had to get close to each, darting around punching limbs and avoiding canons that shot beanbag rounds at blistering speeds. Pushing myself, I focused fully on taking them out, not how long I was taking, only on the kill, as electricity sparked more from my form.
Finally, one was left, at the very top, and I landed on the near-vertical stone, narrow-tipped feet digging into the rock face. Flaring energy through my gloves, which were getting uncomfortably warm, I let loose with as large a blast as I could manage, accelerating up as I pushed myself with my legs in turn, rocketing high and slamming into the last machine hard enough that it came apart under my feet, blown to pieces from the sheer force of my blow, as I went through it, going high up over the arena, and starting to fall back down to earth.
It was easy enough to let my legs snap back to normal, shifting my arms instead into wings, and gliding down to the starting platform, landing at a jog as the announcer cheered, "What a show! And at twenty-one seconds, he comes in at third place! Is there anyone else that wants to try?"
I felt a twinge of disappointment at that, but smiled regardless, waving to everyone before leaping back up to my friends. "You're up next, Deku," I told him, and the boy looked hesitant, but as he glanced around, seeing everyone's encouraging looks, he smiled.
"I will," he announced, jumping down to the arena floor, his thin lines of red energy already spreading out across his body.
Mei stepped up next to me, lifting my arm, and putting her hand over mine, careful not to touch the gloves directly. "How is it?" she questioned, quickly tapping the metal once she felt it wasn't hot enough to burn.
"Not bad, started to hit the limit, but that was expected," I reported. "Pity we couldn't put in the dispersion fins."
"Stupid 'safety regulations', holding my Babies back," the inventrix grumbled as the announcer gave Midoriya's pedigree as a UA student, and winner of the Sports Festival, much to the boy's chagrin.
Mina gave me a questioning look. "Heat channels to lengthen flight time," I explained. "But they'd either be sharp, so blades, so 'weapons', or heat up to the point that they could burn people while keeping me safe, so, again, a 'weapon'. Making it so that it burns me if I overdo it, at the same time I could use it to burn someone else, means it's a flaw in the design, so it's okay."
"Well that's dumb," my girlfriend frowned in annoyance. "You should be able to make them so they protect you!"
My inventing partner shot the pink-skinned girl a commiserating look. "I know, right? It's practically child abuse, to hold my Babies back from greatness!"
"Guys, Izuku's gonna start!" Ochaco interrupted us excitedly, pointing at the field as the green clad boy took a runner's stance.
"And begin!" the announcer yelled, before having to shield her face from the blast of wind All Might's successor created as he shot forwards, faster than I could move on my own, taking off and leaving an emerald streak of lightning in his wake.
As he hit the first target, and not only hit it, but blasted through it with a kick that let him land and take off for the next target one without pause, I was once again reminded of the gap between us. My finishing move, the one I'd stressed myself to pull off, was Deku's opener, and, as the boy darted back and forth, destroying robots with ease, I had to shake my head.
I knew he'd surpassed me at the Sports Festival, but he was getting better even faster. My own growth rate, according to All Might, was impressive, but Midoriya?
Stupid Shonen Protagonists, I couldn't help but laugh at the disparity, as his time of eleven seconds was announced. No way I can compete, even when I'm literally cheating using out-of-context bullshit.
On my other side, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to see Momo looking at me, a small smile on her face. "Lifting a car," she murmured, quiet enough so the others wouldn't hear, glancing down to my gauntlet, and I looked at her in confusion for a moment, before I realized what she meant.
I chuckled, but this laugh was warmer. "Thanks," I whispered back, understanding what she meant. Yeah, in terms of this challenge I couldn't compete with Shoto or Izuku, but this was just a single metric. Neither of them had the understanding of Support Items that I'd gained, even if I'd been helped along greatly by my various Talents, and there was more to this place than just punching robots in the face.
On Momo's other side, Mina gave me a questioning look, but I shook my head. She just glanced at Yaoyorozu and grinned lasciviously, and I rolled my eyes as Izuku returned. Tenya also made his way over, the engine-legged boy congratulating Mini-Might, pretending that nothing had happened earlier in the day, and everyone let him.
"Damn good job, Izuku," I told the green-haired boy, clapping him on the back, my gauntlets only warm now. "But about what I expected, given what we've seen of you."
"I, really?" he asked skeptically, everyone else nodding. "Oh... well, okay then," he grinned, as we all went back to exploring the expo, Melissa continuing to show us around, though I did catch the older girl giving the newest holder of OFA considering glances now and then, when everyone else was oohing and aahing over some new piece of tech.
The sun was starting to set, and a drone flew over to Ms. Shield, dropping a sealed envelope in the blonde girl's hands, before flying off. "Let's do one last thing," she suggested and the rest of us shrugged, heading back to the café, which we'd passed a few times, both Mineta and Sero hard at work. Handing them a pair of tickets to that night's expo reception, which was what was in the envelope she'd called for while we'd been walking around, they tearfully accepted, Tenya even offering words of encouragement for their dedication to their jobs.
With that, Ida announced that we would all arrive as a group, which was a bit presumptuous, but I didn't object, as it'd be easier to manage things if, or more likely when, things went wrong if we were all together. The girls, except for Mei, had made appointments to get mani-pedi's before the party, the inventrix getting dragged along with them as Mina had 'seen this coming' and reserved a spot for the engineer as well.
"I don't need one of those; I need to spend time double-checking my Babies!" the dreadlocked girl had objected, but my girlfriend would not be dissuaded, and I just smiled and wished everyone a good time.
Then it was just Melissa, Midoriya, and I left over, the older girl wanting to say something, but hesitating. Looking right at her, I asked, "This about All Might?"
Called out, the college-girl deflated a little. "Kind of. I wanted to show Deku something, but..."
"Don't worry," I replied, assuaging the guilt Melissa was obviously feeling over excluding me from whatever this was. "You two have fun. See you later!"
Walking away, I wondered if whatever was going to happen would occur when the two were alone, but, well, they would've been going that way even if I hadn't attended, probably, so it should be fine. Right?
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Dressed up, and waiting in the lobby, trying not to pace as the time dragged on, I felt an increasing sense of dread. Did I do something wrong? Have things gone bad already, while I wasn't there? The fact that literally every girl was late didn't exactly help either, Tenya outright calling Midoriya and demanding to know where the boy was. Think in movie terms. Bakugo isn't here like he was supposed to be, since he didn't win the Sports Festival, while Midoriya and the girls still haven't shown up. It could be starting now.
I didn't know what 'it' was, but it was enough to carry the plot of a movie, and in the world of MHA that meant nothing good. It was only the fact that, along with Sero, Mineta, Tenya, and I, that Todoroki was here with us, in a white suit, because of course he'd wear a white suit, that kept me from truly getting worried. The boy had some serious 'Protagonist' energy, along with Deku and Angry McSplodesalot, though Bakugo was more like an angrier Sasuke, only less shit.
Screw it, I thought, as I texted Mina, Momo, and Mei in our group chat.
Sparky: We were supposed to meet almost an hour ago. Did something happen?
Pinky: Mei doesn't want to wear a dress.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Okay. Mundane shit. Not Villains. I can deal with this, I thought, smiling as I read the next message.
N3c3ss1ty: thy r dmb.
Creati: They are not, they have a great deal of aesthetic appeal, and are required for formal settings.
N3c3ss1ty: no pckt = dmb
Packet? I thought, confused, before I realized she meant it didn't have any pockets.
Pinky: dresses can have pockets
N3c3ss1ty: this 1 no pckt = dmb
I sighed in fond exasperation, as I hadn't checked what Mei had brought to wear myself, handling the other aspects of our trip.
Sparky: Mei, you said you brought formal clothing.
N3c3ss1ty: I DID thy sd no
Pinky: You brought a suit!
N3c3ss1ty: I brght PCKTS
"Bit of a wardrobe issue with the girls," I told the others, shaking my head.
Sparky: Momo, Quirk use is free here, please make a dress Mei will wear. Mei, please explain what you want. Mina, help make it look good.
N3c3ss1ty: I wnt pckts
Sparky: I meant explain to Momo and Mina. Mina, Mei prefers a steampunk/Victorian aesthetic.
A few minutes later my phone buzzed again, with three messages, almost at once.
Pinky: Whatchya think Sparky? Got her to let her hair down.
Creati: Mei claims you said she could bring a gun‽
N3c3ss1ty: I hve pckts
Sparky: Looking good!
Sparky: Security had no problems with it, and you're more dangerous by far, Factoria.
Creati: I suppose you are correct. My apologies for doubting you.
Sparky: It's fine, but you three should hurry. I think Ida's about to have an aneurism over how late you girls are.
Pinky: On our way!
Sighing again, I turned to Tenya. "Mina, Momo, and Mei are on their way. Bit of a wardrobe malfunction."
"Wardrobe malfunction, huh?" Mineta commented, giving me a sly smile. "Bet you wish you were there, huh?" I gave him a flat stare, under which he broke, looking away sheepishly. "Sorry! Just, you know, old habits. I mean, man, the line was right there."
"You have been trying," I admitted, "and you didn't do it in front of them, but... you get into the habit away from the others, you'll slip up and do it in front of them. Just... keep trying."
The purple-haired boy winced, "I will man, it's just... they're all so hot!"
"Mineta!" Ida reprimanded, but fell silent as I held a hand up.
"They are, and when we're all famous there's gonna be creeps that use their appearance to justify their own messed up behavior," I said, Ida nodding seriously. Given that the man came from a Hero family, he probably had aunts that dealt with just that thing. "But that's just another kind of 'It isn't my fault, it's her fault for wearing that!' bullshit. That 'You're so beautiful, I couldn't help myself' stuff you hear about? That girls talk about like they like? It only works if the girl already likes you, and even then, it's... not good."
I stopped pacing, trying to put why into words, and was surprised when Todoroki spoke up, the taciturn boy stating with quiet confidence, "If you can't help yourself when it comes to her, you won't be able to help yourself when you cheat on her.'
"I, um, yeah," I nodded to the boy in thanks, who gave me a measuring look, then tilted his head in acceptance. "It's one of those 'romantic' things that gives the girl a bit of a thrill, since most take pride in their appearance and like having that validated, but it opens the door for a lot of bad things if it actually happens. Yeah, all three are smoking hot," I smiled, as Tenya sent me a mildly perturbed scowl, "but while appearance is one part of it, character is another, and, honestly, a more important part. So even if you're a pretty boy like Todoroki-"
"What?" the boy in question asked, confused, one hand lifting up to self-consciously touch his scar.
"If you were an asshole, or worse, weak, they won't stay," I continued. "And yes, even with that, you're bishonen, Shoto. Up to you to decide what to do with that."
"Wait," Sero spoke up, lifting a hand, like we were in class. "Why is weak worse than being a jerk?"
"Because as a jerk, you're still strong, and women like strength, no matter what they might say," I shrugged, having learned from two lives how people acted, despite what they claimed, 'white lies' forming restraints so tight they choked. "Some girls don't understand that you can't always be strong, and will dump you as soon as you show vulnerability, also not understanding the difference between that and actual weakness, but you don't want to be with them anyways. No, if you're weak, you won't help them when they need it, while if you're an asshole, then even if you hurt them yourself, they'll think you'll still protect them from the worst of the world, and will follow you even then."
"He's not wrong," Shoto added, looking depressed yet thoughtful, which was kind of the boy's default state.
"But, what about confidence," Mineta questioned, frowning. "Fake it 'till you make it, ya know?"
I waved a hand in a 'kinda' gesture. "Confidence based on what? If you're undervaluing yourself, then yeah, 'faking' it can work, as you're actually just being an accurate level of confident, but just being 'confident'?" I shook my head, "Trust me, if you don't have anything to back it up, it's just a lie. And starting any kind of a relationship based on a lie is... trust me, you don't want that."
Sero frowned, "So, what? Be a jerk?"
"If it's that or be weak, then yes," I answered simply. "But we're training to be Heroes, which means we need to be better."
The tape-dispensing boy scoffed, "Tell that to Bakugo!"
"Heroes can be bad people too," Todoroki stated quietly, "But we shouldn't be."
There was a moment of awkward silence at that statement, thankfully broken when one of the scanning room doors opened, every entrance requiring you to be electronically searched before being let it in. Midoriya walked through it, in a brown striped suit with yellow undershirt, giving him a vaguely tree-like appearance, when paired with his dark green hair. Amusingly, he was still wearing his greaves, the pant-legs of his trousers pulled down over them, the black and bronze shoe-portions peeking out.
"Sorry about that... you... guys?" he asked, seeing the five of us standing there. "Uh, where is everybody?"
Ida, visibly thankful to have a safe topic, stepped forward, chopping his hand for emphasis. "They're not here yet! Does a proper meeting time mean nothing to you people!?"
A different set of doors opened, revealing Uraraka and Asui, the former in pink dress with a short poofy skirt, the latter in longer emerald outfit, the cloth hanging down but slit to let her move easily with her altered gait, while also showing off her legs in the process.
"Sorry we're late!" Ochaco offered with embarrassment. "It took me a while to get ready."
"I'm still not sure about this dress, ribbit," Tsuyu added, not quite hiding behind the other girl, but very obviously nervous.
"Daaaamn," Sero remarked appreciatively, Mineta just giving a solid nod of approval.
Midoriya smiled brightly, informing them, "You both look amazing!"
Both girls straightened at that, blushing slightly. "You, you really think so?" Uraraka checked, truly unsure, and not just fishing for compliments.
"It, looks really good," the boy answered guilessly. "Like, you both look perfect!"
Ochaco's blush threatened to go nuclear as she looked away, waving a forestalling arm in his direction. "Oh, Deku, stop, you don't have to flatter me so much!"
Asui just smiled, "You could flatter me more."
The doors opened again, and the other three girls walked out.
Momo was in a pale green shoulderless, and sleeveless, full dress that seemed as if it were one long stretch of fabric, showing generous cleavage and looking almost Grecian, along with an understated gold necklace and ruby earrings, her hair done up in its normal style, but with a golden, ruby studded clip holding it in place.
Mina was in an almost eye-searingly orange dress, with a skirt-like bottom, and a green cloth around her waist tied into an oversized bow at her back. The effect almost drowned out the pink of her skin, making her look almost like she had more normal tones, and I really wasn't sure I liked the effect, to be honest.
Mei, meanwhile, was wearing exactly what she was in her picture, the jet black lipstick really bringing out her mouth, which shifted from annoyed to a wide smile as she saw me. "Sparky!" she shouted, darting forward and launching herself for me in a flying tackle. "I have pockets!"
I caught the girl, spinning her about before placing her down by my side. "I heard," I smiled, looking to the other two. "Good job! She looks great, and it's really... her."
"It was mostly Mina who came up with the design," Momo deferred. "I just created what she sketched out."
"Pfshaw! I couldn't've made it without ya, YaoMomo," my girlfriend replied, not willing to take the full credit if she could share it with her friends. "And you're looking practically electric there, Sparky!"
I laughed, as I was wearing a jet-black suit that seemed to drink in the light, with bright yellow lightning bolts along the sleeves and pant legs, with a yellow undershirt, and lightning themed tie. Themed clothing was actually much cheaper than I thought, but Power Loader let me create this in the lab, so I got it for the low, low price of free. Given how a majority of my money was going to hotel rooms, I was okay with that.
Mei, meanwhile, tugged on my sleeve. "Hey, Partner, I've got an idea." I turned to look at her, and she pointed to my girlfriend. "Threesome," she stated with utmost seriousness.
There was a moment, akin to a record scratch of absolute silence.
"WHAT!?!" Ida shouted, something echoed by pretty much everyone except for myself, Mina, and, of course, Mei.
I sighed, having an idea of what she was actually saying, but still asked, "And by that you mean..."
"Junior Partner! You and I can handle the parts that actually do stuff, and she makes them look pretty. A true genius would understand that function is form, but like when we made Araraku her stuff, we had to make it all pink for some stupid reason!"
"I'm right here," Uraraka commented, trying to be offended, but still blushing as she sent embarrassed looks Midoriya's way.
Mei just glanced at her, commenting blandly, "Oh, hey, you are." And just like that, the inventrix looked back to me, dismissing the anti-gravity girl. "And she didn't try and mess up our designs when we made our Acid Armor Baby! Not like... well not like some dumb people that don't matter!"
I looked at my partner, who never talked about her past, ever, and wanted to ask, but now wasn't the time. "I wouldn't say no, but it's ultimately her decision," I replied.
"I wouldn't mind helping, but you two can get kinda intense," my girlfriend replied, laughing. "Thanks, Mei."
"It'd be stupid to ignore talent," the inventrix offered with a shrug, very pleased with herself.
The doors opened, and Melissa came running out, with her hair down and back with a red hairband, with contacts instead of glasses, and with a two-toned dress with a skirt-style bottom, a black sash around her waist secured with a flower dividing the deep blue top from the ice-blue bottom.
"Oh, good, I thought I was gonna miss you guys!" she announced, the fact that she was older, and thus more physically mature, on full display.
Mineta, unable to contain himself, announced, "And the headliner has arrived! Oh, deciding to work here was worth every minute!"
Rolling my eyes, the boy at least kept his praise PG and well intentioned, the girls all oohing and awing over each others' dresses. Tenya, to his credit, let them do so for a couple minutes before finally announcing, "The party has already started, and we really should get going!"
"Ida's right," I seconded, getting a surprised look from the high-strung boy. "Besides, then we can do this while we eat."
Any objections the girls might have had were quickly silenced by the siren call of high class hors d'oeuvres, and we moved to the door, only to stop as a feminine, but obviously artificial, voice started to speak.
"This is an announcement from the I-Island Security System. We have received a report that an explosive device was discovered somewhere on the I-Expo grounds. I-Island will now be in high alert mode. Your safety is our top priority. Residents and tourists should return to their lodgings at this time. If that is not a possibility, please locate and locate yourself to the nearest secure building. Anyone remaining on the streets after ten minutes will be in violation of the law. Please clear out public areas."
The windows above the doors were quickly covered by steel shutters that slid down, one after the other, the doors leading outside locking, a red light appearing above them. "As a precautionary measure," the voice continued, "most main I-Island buildings will now be sealed up. I repeat, we have received a report-"
It shut off abruptly, and, from the way Melissa flinched, that wasn't supposed to happen.
"I'm not getting any signal," Shoto announced, looking at his cell phone. "It looks like my service is completely blocked."
"Are you serious?" Mineta demanded, visibly unnerved.
"The elevator's offline too, ribbit," Asui added.
Mineta glanced her way, "What's going on here?"
Melissa, meanwhile, looked troubled, muttering to herself, "It's strange that the system would go on high alert. That's not the protocol whenever explosives are discovered."
"Wait," I said, "How often does this happen? Wait, no, better question, aren't warnings like that supposed to repeat?"
"They are," she nodded. "It sounds like they were overridden, but that shouldn't happen either."
Then something messed up is happening, I thought, simultaneously worried, and relieved. The other shoe had dropped, but not nearly as hard as it could've. We were all together, and though we were out of uniform, none of us truly depended on our Support Items, except maybe Midoriya himself.
Speaking of Mini-Might, his expression firmed with determination as he walked over to me. "Denki, let's go to that party."
"Because that's where All Might will be?" I questioned, getting a serious nod from the boy.
"All Might's here?" Mineta asked, the small teen had not been part of the conversation when we'd mentioned Midoriya's side-trip before, and I nodded. "Oh thank goodness! We don't have anything to worry about, then!"
Midoriya turned to our local guide, "So, Melissa, do you know of any way we can get down there without the elevator?"
Down? I wondered, before remembering that, with how the tower was built, the ballroom was technically subterranean, as was a good portion of every building on the 'island'.
She nodded, waving an arm to the side, "Yeah, sure. We can use the emergency stairs. That will at least get us close."
"We'll follow your lead, then," the boy stated, with a commanding presence that I hadn't seen from him in person before. Right, Serious Deku is very different than normal Izuku.
We quickly made our way down several back passageways, Ms. Shield seeming to know exactly where to go, until the steel corridors opened up into furnished hallways, and, eventually, a circular chamber, which overlooked the ballroom, glass inset into the bottom of a circular pit in the chamber's floor, with railings to prevent anyone from falling in.
Through the glass bottom of the pit, looking into the ballroom, we could see everyone huddled down, sitting or on their knees, with people in costumes, likely heroes, bound by glowing teal ropes, while several men in helmets and armor, armed with assault rifles, stood around, watching. And there, on a platform at one end, was the Symbol of Peace, similarly bound.
"Why doesn't he break out and take them down?" Mineta asked. "Are those ropes that good?"
Melissa shook her head. "No, the Emergency Restraint System is strong, but Uncle Might should be able to shatter them easily!"
"Could it be he can't do it fast enough to stop them from killing the hostages?" Shoto put forward, but this time it was Midoriya who answered.
"No, he can. There must, there must be others somewhere. So that if these Villains are taken down, the others are still free," Izuku stated, with quiet confidence. "I wish we could talk to him."
I stared at the glass, and the area below, trying to come up with something. Talking to him, without being heard by the others, was something we couldn't do. But. . . "What kind of glass is that?" I asked, looking to the Melissa.
"Oh, um, it's actually not glass at all, but a transparent aluminum alloy," she told me. "You won't be able to break it."
I turned away from her, to my partner. "Audio receiver?" I asked, ideas already forming.
Mei blinked, looking down, considering it. "Resonance amplifier?" she questioned back, and I nodded, no way to really target it, but everyone seemed quiet, at the very least, so there shouldn't be that much interference.
"Have to be, but limited parts," I argued. "Cannibalize?" I asked in turn, holding up a bracer.
The pink-haired inventrix frowned, shaking her head. "No..." She looked around, spotting the lamps around us, turning to Melissa, "Hey, are those variable spectromatic lights?"
"I, um, yes?" the college girl replied, looking a little lost, while everyone else just stared at us. "But, they're part of the wall. You can't just pull them out with your bare hands."
Mei grinned broadly, reaching to her satchels and pulling out a pair of multi-tools, "Then it's a good thing I've got pockets!"
It only took us a few minutes, with a little brute-force help from Midoriya, a few needed parts from Momo, some targeted acid etching from Mina, some targeted piercing from my electric fingers, and an extra hand from Melissa, who looked a little lost as we cobbled together exactly what we needed, the older girl commenting, "I would've needed my lab at home to do half of this. This is... rough, and the tolerances-"
"Don't matter!" Mei grinned, happy as a pig in shit. "Because we only need this Baby to work for a few minutes, in non-combat conditions! Though we should make something better when we get home, Sparky!"
"I doubt I'll be coming across this kind of thing that often, partner," I chuckled, "though a more generalized one, maybe for glass, might be good. If we can get it compact enough."
With the device done, we primed the gel contact and I carefully reached down with elongated arms of lightning, glad the not-glass was there or else the gunmen would've certainly heard me crackle a little, as I pressed the lead down, making sure it sealed correctly. The wire ran up to the ad-hoc amplifier, which I, carefully as I could, ran a charge into, powering it up. Next to the speaker, Mina had her phone recording, just in case we had trouble hearing what was said, with no time to calibrate it whatsoever.
Nodding to Midoriya, the boy stood up to the railing, flashing his phone light, with a focuser Momo had created for him, to send a beam of light down at All Might's face, and only at All Might's face. "You can talk to us," the boy whispered, which was stupid until I realized that All Might could probably read lips. "We're listening."
The device picked up a susurrus, people whimpering, cloth rubbing as people shifted, but when All Might talked, it was soft, but clear. "Hope you can hear me," the man said, and Midoriya nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "Ah, Young Jiro must be with you. Some Villains have taken the tower! They have control of the security system and everyone on this island is now being held as a hostage! That includes the heroes that are at this party. It's dangerous. Get away from here as soon as you can!"
There was a moment of silence, as we all looked at each other. "Let's discuss this when we're safely away," Ida put forward, and we all nodded, heading back to the emergency stairwell, leaving the device in place. While it might be conspicuous, we were lucky not to be spotted the first time, and I'd rather not draw attention to the quarter-sized sensor if I didn't have to.
Everyone made their way back down the lavishly decorated hallway, Midoriya and Melissa at the front, Mei and I at the back as we pushed the receiver out of sight of the ballroom below.
"Partner," Mei asked quietly by my side as we stood up and followed the others, Mina and Momo waiting for us, "did you know this was coming?"
"Not this," I replied, just as low, as we walked up to the other two, who fell in step with us. "If I'd known specifics, I would've made sure we all had our Support Items. But... I had a feeling."
"Like before the USJ?" Mina questioned, frowning, and I nodded. "Well... shit."
"Pretty much," I replied, a little tiredly, but also with no small amount of confidence. The shit had hit the fan, and now I knew what we were dealing with. It was a bit like a punch you knew was coming, but not when, and now that it hit, the fight had started, and I could react. As the other three looked at me, concerned, I smiled. "Now let's see what we can do to save the day. We are Heroes, after all."
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Gathering back in the stairwell, the others shared worried looks, while all I felt was a calm, grounded, confidence. The shit had hit the fan, and, honestly, compared to some of the things I'd worried about, like an engineered plague, or a rogue AI, terrorists were pretty low on that scale. Hell, most of them had guns, so they weren't even true Villains, by the letter of the law, at least in Japan. It'd be dangerous, but we could take them.
My classmates, however, had different ideas.
"We've received All Might's orders loud and clear," Tenya stated with authority he did not possess. "He's our teacher. I suggest we follow his instructions and escape this place. Otherwise we'd be going against his will."
Momo shot me a regretful look, adding, "I'm afraid I have to agree with what Ida is saying. We're still only students, Denki. We can't fight these Villains if we don't have our Hero Licenses."
"Ah, because it's okay not to do the right thing and help if you don't have the proper paperwork," I shot back, mostly without heat, rolling my eyes. "I forgot that was how morality worked for a second."
"What if we get the word out?" Sero suggested, glancing between Yaoyorozu, as she winced, and me. "Get the experienced heroes out there. The ones in there were tied up, but there's gotta be others."
Ms. Shield shook her head, "It's not going to be very easy to escape, or communicate with the others. The security system here is on the same level as that of the Tartarus Prison, which is where they keep the most dangerous criminals in the world."
The prison, located on one of Japan's smallest islands, yet only a couple miles off the mainland, had gotten support in its construction thirty years ago, All Might's presence nearby being the deciding factor. After all, if there was ever a breakout, the Symbol of Peace would be able to stop it in its tracks. Thankfully, there never had been one, and, hopefully, never would be, at least while I was around, as that was a can of wyrms I didn't want opened.
"Okay, so we can't get out, but this tower is huge," I replied. "Is there something here we can use? Some kind of way to override what's going on out there? Security systems usually fall apart when the people who are supposed to maintain them aren't able to keep them up, and being forced to the ground at gunpoint definitely qualifies."
"We should just stay here," Mineta argued, sitting on the ground already. "We won't get in the way, and they got All Might trapped; there's no way we can stop them ourselves if the actual Pros are stuck!"
Todoroki looked at his right hand, a single spark stirring in his palm, "Aren't we trying to be Pros ourselves?"
"Well, yes," Yaoyorozu agreed, "but we're not allowed to work as heroes, you know that!"
"Oh, I must've missed the point when we all refused to use our Quirks during the USJ attack, since we didn't have explicit permission," I countered, annoyed at her reticence. "I-Island isn't Japan, Momo, and Quirk use is free here. This isn't a question of bureaucracy, it's a question of morality, and courage."
Todoroki nodded, "And is standing by while people are in danger, is doing nothing at all, really the right thing to do?"
"Well, no," the heiress admitted. "But it's more complicated than that."
Crossing my arms, I stared at her. "Is it? Really?"
Before she could respond, Midoriya did, his quiet declaration of "I want to help," carrying in the empty stairwell.
"Are you sure, Deku?" Ochaco asked, worried, having been quiet, along with Asui, since the lockdown started.
Midoriya stood straighter, looking around the ledge at the top of the stairs, as if daring us to challenge him. "I want to save them," he insisted.
"Well, I'm in," I smiled, Mina nodding in agreement, even as Mineta jumped to his feet.
"Are you insane!?" he demanded. "You want to go fight those Villains? Didn't you learn anything from the USJ, Midoriya? We lost someone then, and we'll lose someone here too!"
"This is totally different!" the green haired boy objected. "We don't need to fight them. We just need to figure out a way to rescue All Might and everyone else at the party without facing the bad guys."
Yeah, this is a movie, no way that's actually happening. "You know we're gonna end up fighting someone, right?" I asked him.
"I know, but I still want to try!" he declared, full of passion and resolve. "We can figure out what the best plan of action is and keep these criminals from winning! We can save everyone!"
"I'm saying let's go for it, just be realistic," I laughed, shaking my head. "To be honest, I was still gonna try even if you guys said no. That said, saying we're gonna do this is a lot easier than actually doing it."
"Are you sure, ribbit?" Asui asked nervously, and Midoriya nodded firmly. "Then I'm helping too."
Melissa spoke up, "I know where the security system controls are, they're on the top floor of this tower. If these criminals managed to take control of them, then the authentication locks and passwords have probably been disabled."
"Which means that anyone can just walk in, including us," I nodded, this entire thing becoming much easier.
"Yes," the college girl replied. "We should be able to reboot the system ourselves. We just have to stay off the villain's radar until we can get to the top floor. That's all. If we do that, the whole island will be safe again!" she declared, Midoriya's determination spreading to the blonde.
"So it's possible," the boy in question breathed, and I had to look at him, wondering why, if he'd thought it was actually impossible, he was still going to do it. Right. Shonen Protagonist.
Momo frowned, "That sounds like it may work, but how do we keep from being seen? Surely this location has more than adequate security measures to spot us long before we finish our ascent."
Ms. Shield shook her head, "The security system hasn't discovered us yet, when we shouldn't even be having time to have this conversation. That means the Villains probably don't know how it works very well."
Mei nodded, "A lot of people are kinda dumb."
Ignoring her, Todoroki mused, "So we avoid fighting anyone and get this place back to normal. That could work."
Turning my hand to lightning, I grimaced, "If I had full control, I could just go up there myself."
Mina, however, just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, and? If I was stronger I could just melt through the walls and carry us all up. Work with what ya got, Sparky, not with what ya wish ya had."
"Most of our foes will likely be gathered at the top floor," Yaoyorozu observed, still unsure, but now actively planning.
"But if we're fast, we won't have to fight them!" Midoriya countered, the boy's enthusiasm overriding his intelligence. Even if it was just as simple as pressing a single button, we'd still have to make it to that button, and they would try and stop us. "When the security system goes back to normal, All Might and the others will be released. They'll immediately jump into action and stop the Villains. I know it!"
Ochaco nodded, hands balled up into fists, trying to look serious in her pink floofy dress and almost succeeding as she announced, "Let's do this, guys!" From the others' looks, though, the effect worked better on them as she stated with conviction, "I don't want to sit around here being helpless! Not if there's something we can actually try! What's important is that we're helping people, even if we're not real heroes!"
"Preach it!" Mina cheered, Asui nodding in agreement, as Izuku stood straight.
"That's exactly the way I feel about things!" he agreed. "We'll follow our hearts and save the island!"
Now kiss, some stupid part of me thought, the two of them adorable together, but I just shook my head as Todoroki stepped forward, announcing, "Midoriya! I'll go with you too."
"Samesies!" Mina added, giving them both a thumbs up.
I just opened my arms, "Hey, you already know I'm in."
"The moment I think we've gone too far, it's over," Ida announced, and I frowned, as the boy did not have that fucking power, but Mina shot me a look and shook her head before I could tell him to go screw himself. "If that's something you can agree to, I'll join you as well."
It wasn't, but that just meant that Ida wasn't an asset that could be trusted, something I was coming to realize more and more. The others added their own agreements, Mei just rolling her eyes at me when I looked at her, telling me, "You're my partner, partner. Of course I'm going! Oooh, I wonder what I could learn to make by poking around this place!"
Well, it's the thought that counts.
I tried not to laugh when Midoriya suggested Melissa stay behind, as she was Quirkless, the sheer hypocrisy of it undercut by the fact that he meant well, and I actually laughed after she slapped him down, pointing out that she was the only one here who actually knew how to reset the security systems.
"I know I might just get in your way," she said, looking down, "at least until we get up to the top floor, but I want to help. People are in danger!"
Walking up behind Izuku, I clapped him on the back. "'Sides, you don't need a Quirk to be a hero, isn't that right Midoriya?" The boy's head snapped to me, eyes wide. "Yours hadn't kicked in yet when you tried to take on that slime Villain, after all. After Bakugo bitched about it enough, I looked it up. Yeah, you couldn't win, but if you hadn't done what you did, our resident explosion in human form might've died. Kinda unfair to stop her now. Shield, you any good with a gun?"
The girl shook her head.
"Pity. Might want to pick up the skill. You'll stay in the back with Mei, and let us take the hits," I smiled, jerking my hands forward as I extended my gauntlets. "We'll be the brawn, and you'll be the brains. That sound good, Deku?"
The boy sighed, nodding. "Yeah, alright then. Let's do this. We'll save everyone!"
Melissa smiled, nodding back. "Yeah!"
It was one thing to say 'we're gonna go to the top!', it was quite another to climb over a hundred sets of stairs. After Midoriya went back to 'go tell All Might what we're doing', we started climbing. And climbing. And climbing. After the we reached the thirtieth floor, someone finally thought to ask how many levels this building had, which turned out to be an even 200.
After the 40th, I started pulling on OfA, and picked up Mei, who was starting to flag a little, the girl having not been one for cardio, in-shape because of the heavy lifting required for her profession, and for her tendency to skip 'unnecessary meals', which, if she had her way, would be all of them.
After the 50th, Melissa was starting to flag, the lack of the foundational Atlas Quirk starting to show itself, as everyone else was breathing hard, but otherwise fine. Mina, Midoriya, Tenya, and weirdly enough Ochaco weren't even winded at all. Mina had Body Talent, Midoriya had OfA as well, and had started to copy my low-level use, and running was Ida's thing, but Uraraka didn't seem to be using her Quirk on herself, so I wasn't sure how she was keeping up so easily with the rest of us.
However, the college girl didn't ask for help, just slipped off her heels and started running barefoot, which was surprising, but she obviously knew what she was doing, and caught up with us, pushing through the fatigue she was obviously feeling.
By floor 70, Mineta was just as bad as Melissa was, but with the boy's size he was essentially taking the steps three at a time, so the fact that he was keeping up with us at all was impressive, and everyone but Midoriya and I were breathing hard, even Mina's Company-granted physical upgrades not enough to keep up, though she was doing better than pretty much everyone else.
Unfortunately, at the 80th floor there was a metal security latch blocking the stairs up to the next level, stopping us completely. "How thick is this, and will the systems pick it up if we just burn a hole through it?" I questioned Melissa, hoping it was just the one barrier, as if we had to do this on every floor Mina wouldn't be able to keep up, and it would slow our progress tremendously.
Ms. Shield held a hand up to ask for a moment of time, desperately getting her breath back, but waggled the hand in a 'kinda' gesture. "There's sensors, but not throughout the door. If we bash it open, it will, but if you can take out part of the side, maybe."
"Thickness?" I questioned the blonde, turning to Mina. "And you think you could control your acid enough to do that?
While we talked, Mineta, stumbling from tiredness, walked over to the entrance to the floor itself. "Why don't we just go through this door instead?" he asked, reaching up and grabbing the handle mid-sentence.
"No!" Melissa, Midoriya, and I all yelled at once, but the stupid boy pulled the handle, a light turning on next to it as the door swung open.
"Jesus Christ!" I swore, but the damage had been done. "You fucking moron! Aizawa would tan your hide for that! Will, when I fucking tell him!"
"Wha?" the small boy asked, confused, taking a step back in fear. "What's wrong? It opened, din't it?"
"And likely created an alert for the Villains," Ida snapped, as the small boy's eyes went wide. "But the damage has likely been done. We should press on this way, and find another route." He started to move through the doorway, as my arm snapped out and caught him on the shoulder, yanking him back. "What?" he demanded. "We don't have time to waste!"
"One, that's literally the same dumb shit we just yelled at him about," I told the arrogant speedster, jerking my head at the cringing Mineta. "Two, Melissa, is that a good idea? There's not laser grids that'll slice us apart, or cameras that will see us, or an army of robots that'll shoot us, or something."
"The laser grid isn't in this building," she offered, which didn't help, "but they know we're here, and unless they look through the cameras directly, they won't see us. We've passed dozens already."
Sero, looked around nervously, and I asked our guide, "Is there another way up?"
"If we run all the way around, there should be another stairwell," she offered with a shrug.
"Okay, then let's double time it," I commanded, looking around, "Mina, carry Melissa. Midoriya, Ochaco. Sero, tag Todoroki with some tape and let him pull you behind him on the ice. Ida, Mineta. Momo, make some skates, and Asui, you can jump fast enough to keep up, right?"
Ida looked like he wanted to argue, but everyone nodded and we took off at speed, blasting out the door and down the slowly curving hallway as fast as we could, almost there when metal doors started to close in front of us. Midoriya slammed a powered kick, but only managed to dent the metal; whatever these things made of they were strong.
"We have to fall back, I saw a door!" Tenya announced, taking off at a run, the rest of us having to follow him or be separated.
There were probably only a couple doors, I thought with a grimace, We probably could have made it through them. Thankfully, with our speed we were able to move faster than the doors closed, reaching the entrance only to see the large metal panels had been coming down from the other direction, trapping us with only one way to go.
Ida, with a yell and a flare of his Quirk, slammed a kick into the doors so hard they blew open, and I wondered if that was entirely necessary, as they seemed to be made of a lesser material than the security gates.
Regardless, we ran inside, into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Aperture Science edition.
"What is this place?" Deku asked, still carrying Ochaco, who looked around in wonderment alongside him.
"It's a plant factory!" our guide informed us.
"Plant what?" Yaoyorozu asked, looking around as well, as we all moved further inside, with speed, but not the mad dash we'd been at moments ago.
"And where are we going?" I chimed in, looking around at the space that must've been ten floors high on its own.
Melissa, glancing around, almost absently answered, "It's where we test what effects Quirks have on Fauna. And I'm not sure."
Mina slowed a little, looking back at the girl she was carrying, "Wait, you don't know where we're go-"
"The elevator!" Sero called, pointing at the column that ran through the center of the room. Sure enough, there was an elevator door at the base, the numbers quickly counting upwards. "It's coming up!"
"Don't tell us the villains found us!" Mineta gasped, and I had to turn and look at him. The metal gates closing in wasn't a clue?
"We should hide, and let the Villains pass!" Midoriya declared, and I turned around to look at him instead.
The others started to move for the shrubbery nearby, while I just set down Mei. "Guys, what the hell!? They know we're here! They closed the gates and everything! They're not gonna go 'oh well, must have been the wind' when Ida blew up the doors!"
Mei stood next to me, regarding the teenagers with similar derision, nodding, though the girl had so little sense in other things herself, she really didn't have a leg to stand on here.
"M-maybe they think we've left?" Mineta suggested, and I just groaned.
Glancing over, the number were clicking up, in the thirties now. "Actually, can we just use the elevator to go up? We'll have to fight our way out, obviously, but that was gonna happen no matter what."
Melissa shook her head, "No, only authorized people can use the controls, unfortunately. And it's built like a bomb shelter, so we can't even break in and try!"
I just stared at the girl. "You're saying we can't get into the elevator?" she nodded. "The elevator that has to open to let the Villains out?"
Said elevator was now in the fifties, as there was a moment of silence.
"Well, we still won't be able to," she said, though I could tell even she doubted her words.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I looked at my fellow students, most of whom were looking at me like I was the crazy one. "Am I the only one here who studied tactics? No, no I know I'm not, just... ugh."
"We're tryin' not to fight," shrugged Mina, helpfully explaining the others' reluctance.
Shaking my head, I turned, tapping Mei on the shoulder, and motioning for her to move towards a column that'd give her line of sight on the elevator door opening. "Cover me, shoot if they don't go down in the first hit."
"You got it, partner!" the girl smiled, dashing over to her spot, even as I took a runner's stance, letting my hands and feet turn to lightning, the ground metallic enough for me to attach to.
"What are you doing?" Ida demanded, as the elevator hit the mid-sixties. "They'll see you!"
I didn't bother flipping him off. "How quickly do the doors open, in seconds?" I asked Melissa instead.
"Two seconds, and there's two layers of doors," the girl answered, as the counter was now up in the seventies.
Okay, figure out acceleration, distance, and they're almost certainly not going to come out shooting, but if they do I can dodge, I judged, as the counter hit eighty and a bell chimed, and NOW!
With OfA pushed high, I threw myself forward with muscle power, taking that initial momentum and riding along the ground as I pushed myself even faster with my Induction Grind, a little wobbly as I couldn't just following a single wire, but it was easy enough to correct as the first set of doors opened and I flared my gauntlets, twin bursts of gold expanding behind me as I shot forward into a spinning leap, feet first, for the center seam of the doorway.
It opened, and I saw they were heteromorphs, or close enough, one guy thin and gawky, the other a dwarf, though still taller than Mineta. They both looked relaxed and bored, but both their eyes widened as I shot past them, spinning in mid-air and catching both in the face with grasping, electric hands, arms shifting electrically to the elbow and shooting them backwards to slam their heads against the far wall of the elevator with a ringing smash that dented it. Both men started to move, the smaller one growing while the taller one's hands expanded, but that was just step one as I pulled down and force-fed them half a million volts each, the flow smooth and consistent, as it always was, as it passed through them, causing both men to spasm as they were electrocuted.
Smoking, they were both limp as I dropped them, turning to the others with a mocking smile. "Tactics people! I'm literally a living stungun! And, now we have an elevator!"