Beautiful Disasters- Hawks x OC

Chapter 105

         She glanced at the space in the staircase. They needed to be fast. Sublevel three was the bottom floor. Could they just jump?

         Mariko glanced at her watch. They had a time limit of two hours and it was already almost three in the morning. At this rate, they wouldn't have enough time to get back to the portal before Shiguraki disintegrated the building.

       "We're gonna have to jump," she told him.

          Before her partner could question her, she launched herself off the railing.

         "Fuck," he cursed as he did the same thing.

        Mariko stopped herself from further at the second floor so that her momentum didn't build-up to the point where she would seriously injure herself when she fell. Grabbing onto the railing, however, still hurt like a bitch and she was almost positive she dislocated her shoulder doing it.

          Falling down one more floor, Mariko rolled to absorb most of the impact. Dabi landing next to her a few seconds afterward.

          "You're fucking insane," he cursed at her.

          Mariko popped her shoulder back into place, biting down the sharp pain she felt as she did so. "We're running out of time. Do you wanna get out of here alive or not."

        He said nothing.

         Bursting into Sublevel three, the pair was surprised to find the floor deserted, no doubt the scientists who had been inside having left as soon as they heard there was a breach. Mineko was psychotic, but she had to hand it to her for creating an efficient evacuation system in the case of emergencies.

         The two circled around the perimeter carefully, checking for any other leftover villains before making their way towards the center.

          It turned out Mariko was right; just as she had said, Mineko was waiting for her right in the middle of the laboratory, cleaning up her workspace when she heard them approach.

         "It's about time you two arrived," she said. She wore a crazed smile on her face as she turned towards them. "I've been expecting you."

        The brunette tensed as she sensed Mineko's stance shift microscopically. She was getting ready to attack.

        Suddenly, Dabi was thrown into the side of a large container. She hadn't seen anything touch him.

         She narrowed her eyes as Mineko cackled maniacally. "This is the same shit she pulled last time. Invisible guards," she thought. She focused on the feeling of the air around her. Even if she couldn't see them directly, they had contact with the air and she could feel how it moved according to their shifts. It wasn't much but at least it was something.

         Mariko barely had enough time to duck before she let a gust of air above her head. She swept her legs underneath her- successfully making contact with something and hearing a satisfying thud as her attacker hit the floor.

         She backed up slightly, cursing herself for not being able to cause them to spontaneously combust anymore. She was dangerously close to surpassing her quirk's limit and had to save what was left in case of an emergency.

      She felt the ground beneath her vibrate slightly as her attacker stood up, and feeling them begin to charge towards her, Mariko attempted to launch herself into the air and summersault over them, but she had underestimated her opponent's speed. Faster than she thought possible, they grabbed her leg and threw her to the ground with a sickening crunch.

       Mariko yelped at the sharp pain that erupted in her chest- she had broken a rib again. She didn't have a chance to recover before she had to roll out of the way of her attacker, preventing them from landing a punch that would've surely crushed her spine. She dashed towards Dabi, who was only semi-conscious from being thrown too hard. Shaking him, she quickly helped him stand back up before needing to push him back into the floor, the same second that something tackled the container they had been standing in front of just moments before.

        "Jesus Christ," she cursed staring at the side of the container that had been completely crushed. "You good?" she asked him as he shook off being tossed around for the second time that day.

          "The fuck is that thing," he asked looking at the empty space they both knew some horrible creature or large human was currently unconscious in.

        "No clue, but she's our priority right now," Mariko informed him.

          "Bravo, I wish I could get a video of this for my observation report, but I'm afraid my phone is dead," Mineko chimed sighing disappointedly at the device before slipping it into her pocket. She circled around both of them, Dabi and Mariko stood back to back as they watched her every movement carefully.

        "Don't let her touch you," the brunette advised him.

         He nodded slightly, his eyes following the raven-haired woman who smirked in front of him.

       "Dabi how far can your fire spread right now?" she asked lowly.

       "3 meters and she has to be still. I won't be able to keep it up for long," he told her.

          Mariko sighed. "Okay, I can keep her busy long enough for you to turn her to ash."

          Dabi nodded and in a flash, Mariko had tackled Shimizu.

         The two women fought relentlessly. They were merciless with every, kick and punch. Mariko swiped a knife from her utility belt and slashed at the woman's forearms. She only successfully cut one, but that was enough to make her lose mobility in her right arm. That didn't mean she wasn't any less lethal. Mariko didn't know what kind of effects her quirk was presently giving her, so she couldn't assume the blood loss would make her go unconscious anytime soon either.

          "You bitch," Mineko cursed, running at her again.

           The brunette tried to sidestep, but Mineko adjusted quickly and in a split second, had fractured both her legs with just a touch.

        Mariko grunted as she fell, and cut her hand slightly on her own knife as she put her hands out in front of her to stop her weight.

          Mineko was on top of her instantly, her hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed tightly, trying to asphyxiate her.

            Mariko struggled, her hands grasping at the one around her and desperately prying off. It was no use though; she wasn't sure how but the dark-haired woman had increased her strength and was squeezing even tighter.

         "Dabi," She croaked, trying to signal for the male to burn her now that she was still. This was as good as it was going to get. Hopefully, she wouldn't die in the process.

         The dark-haired male, however, hesitated. If he risked her life now or even worse she died, there would be hell for him to pay. 

        With her weakened arm, Mineko grabbed the knife a few inches away from Mariko's head and brought it up to stab her. Mariko's eyes widened, and she desperately thought of a plan. The knife began to come down just as she managed to grab her gun from her utility belt.

     Bang

    Bang

    Bang

        Mineko slumped down on top of her, three bullets in her head.