𝙃𝙀𝙔, 𝙁𝙇𝙀𝙓 𝙏𝘼𝙋𝙀 // 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

forty-five

"Explain yourself, Nighteye!" Rock Lock yelled at the wall.

"I'll go take a look!" Togata announced, pulling off his helmet.
"Lemillion, wait! You'll lose all your clothes again..." Kirishima's shout died in his throat as Togata passed through the wall with zero effort.

"Mirio's costume is lined with special fibres made from his hair," Amajiki explained quietly, "it's designed to be able to phase with him whenever he activates his quirk."
"Wow," I nodded, "that's clever."

Moments later, Togata came back through the wall.
"This wall was just thrown up to block the way!" he nodded his head, "though it's very, very thick."

"Guess even stuff like that is possible if Chisaki can disassemble and reassemble at will," Rock Lock's lip curled in a snarl.
"Damn cheap trick..." Fatgum snarled.

"It's as good as telling us he'd hate if we were able to get there!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"You're right!" Kirishima agreed.

"They're taking us way too lightly if they think this'll be a hindrance! I'll clear this one!" I exclaimed, "Double Gun: Ultimate Shot!"

I steadied both hands ahead of me and released an explosion of golden energy. I watched as the wall came down.

"And you've gone and done it," Midoriya sighed.
"Got to it before us," Kirishima said.

"Let's move on... ah, the path!" Togata started.
"Hey, what is this?!" I exclaimed, slightly indignantly.

The corridor in front of us was twisting and snaking like some kind of serpent.

"This ain't Chisaki... it's warping!" the police guy said, "and it may seem unthinkable, but... it's gotta be Irinaka, the chief of headquarters! But this is way too much for him to be able to handle! The most he should be able to slip into and manipulate is an object about the size of a refrigerator..."

"If he got a really ginormous boost then it ain't outta the question..." Fatgum said.

"A quirk that allows the user to enter objects and control them freely... 'Mimicry!' He's slipped into the concrete that makes up the basement floor and become a living labyrinth!"

"I was watchin' out for what he mighta turned into, but I never thought he'd become the whole basement!" Fatgum exclaimed, "the burden on his body won't be small, that's for sure..."
"Can't you erase it?!" I asked Eraserhead.
"Not unless I see the user's body, no..." he shook his head, looking around.

"If the pathway keeps changing... we'll never reach our goal. And during that time, they can prepare any number of escape routes. Dealing with all of this instantaneously... deciding a course of action... ahh, it's no good... I can't..." Amajiki quivered, "it won't only be that girl we can't save. We also will be..."

"Tamaki!" Mirio shouted, "that's not gonna happen! You are Suneater!"

Amajiki looked frightened, or at least disgruntled, by his outburst. I swallowed hard at the thought we could die here.

"Not to mention, all this is a stopgap measure! No matter how much he warps the passage, as long as I know the right direction I can get there!" he continued.
"Lemillion!" Nighteye gasped.

"They're just buying time, 'cause they know as well as we do this is a race!" Togata shouted as he disappeared into the wall, "I'll go on ahead!"

"Mirio!" this was the first time I'd heard Amajiki raise his voice louder than a whimper. His voice wobbled, and it sounded desperate and vulnerable. I could tell he and Togata had been friends a long time.

In that instant, I thought of Hanta, and Denki, and the rest of my friends - I had to stay alive, for them. No matter what, we had to save that girl.

I was broken from my thoughts when the floor opened into a drop and every one of us, par Togata and the police, began to free fall.

"The way back up is blocked!" mom shouted, "it's closed!"
I hadn't even realised she'd been with us - I assumed she'd stayed with Ryukyu.
"We only fell about a single floor down... not deep enough to kill us on impact," Eraserhead said.

"A hall?" I questioned.
"We're getting farther and farther from our objective!" Rock Lock shouted, "they've got us right in the palm of their hands!"

"Well well well, what do we got here? The authority of the government, fallen from the sky," a voice spoke through the cloud of dust, "but stranger things have happened!"

The owners were three masked men - one wore a plague mask, one wore a strange burlap sack, and the final wore a normal mask.

"Looks like someone's cruising for a bruising," I grinned.

"And it look like you're itching for an all-out war here!" the one wearing the plague mask tilted his head, "alright then, I hope you pros'll show me your strength..."

"I'll show you the strength of a pro! To achieve our goal... the only one who's needed to take down these time-eating pawns..." Amajiki's hand shot out and a malicious glint flashed through his eyes, "is me."

"What are you saying?!" Kirishima leant forwards, "let's co-operate!"

"Yeah, you heard him, co-operate," the plague mask guy talked again, "we'll kill the lot of you!"

"That's Setsuno! Any guns I pull on him will be useless!" mom shouted, "I'm counting on you!"
"What, you found out my quirk already? Ah, whatever!" the plague mask guy, now dubbed Setsuno, shrieked, "that just means I can let loose all I want!"

"Afraid not. Drop your sword," Eraserhead spoke.
"What the?! I can't use it!"

All three of them suddenly pulled guns on us.
"I don' care if it's a sword or a hail o' bullets, they'll sink right into this body o' mine! So it'll be easier on ya if you come quiet!" Fatgum exclaimed.
"Threats like that only work on people who value their own lives!" Setsuno shrieked.
"I can use my quirk now that Eraser has you suppressed," Kamikaze said, "resign yourselves and surrender!"

Tentacles from Amajiki's quirk suddenly wrapped around all three opponents, taking their weapons.
"I'll be your opponent!" the third year shouted, "I indulged in tons of takoyaki at Fat's office, so my octopus skills are at their upper bound... and seeing as I got shot not too far back, I'm more vigilant regarding things like these. Squaring off against the clowns is pointless — this situation, where they're keeping so many pros in one place, is exactly what they want."

There was a dangerous edge to Suneater's voice as he crushed their weapons.
"But Amajiki!" Kirishima started.
"This is a race! There's not a single second to waste! With quirks like the pros' — especially Eraser's — they should be moving ahead!" Amajiki interrupted, "and you'll need the raw power to break across the warping underground, too! Not to mention the police and their firearms! Fatgum, I can shut these three down here!"

Fatgum hesitated before rushing us along.
"Let's go, the door's over there!" he gestured.
"Fat!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"H-hey, hold on, wait!" Setsuno shouted.
"Pin down these three while my quirk is still in effect!" Eraserhead commanded.

"Everybody!" Amajiki shouted, "I leave Mirio to you! Knowing him, he'll definitely push himself too hard... so please help him."

With that, we continued on.

"Fat! What're you thinking, leaving him there all alone?!" Kirishima's brows were furrowed with concern.
"The kid's with your agency, so I left it to your judgement, but give it to me straight," Rock Lock turned to Fatgum, "it's not looking good, is it?"

"He's the strongest outta any of us here. But his heart was weak," Fatgum said, "he was crushin' himself under the pressure of needin' to do everything perfect. He climbed all the way to UA's big three under that stress."