Momo loaded another clip into her rifle and did a quick headcount. Down to half of their original number, and another fourth of their current number injured. Things weren't looking good, but they couldn't go back, and presumably, neither could reinforcements get to them.
Momo navigated her way through the storage room over to Bakugo who was crouched inside the doorway.
"See him yet?" she asked, crouching next to him and whispering.
"Nothing," he growled quietly.
"We give him another five minutes, if he's not back by then, then we'll move on." She said grimly.
Bakugo didn't say anything but saw the annoyance on his face.
"We can't wait for him forever, and our mission here is more important than a single individual," she said.
When Bakugo still said nothing, she went back to the others who were talking quietly. As she approached they glanced at her but their faces fell when they saw she was alone.
"Get ready, we're moving ahead in five minutes," she said shortly.
Their scout had gone off to scout ten minutes ago, using his ability to stick to the ceiling he used an octopus quirk to camouflage himself to look like the ceiling. He made it clear when he proposed he go out to scout, that they leave if he wasn't back in fifteen minutes. While they hadn't heard any noise down the passageway to indicate he'd been found, that didn't mean much.
Reluctantly they started getting their gear together, the break had been a welcome one after all the monsters they'd been forced to fight their way through. When the group was ready they convened near the exit. After three minutes of waiting, Momo checked the time, her shoulders sagged as their time was up.
"Time to move," she said, hefting her rifle.
As Bakugo reached for the handle, there was a quiet tap on the door. Everyone froze, then the tap came again. They waited for another few seconds and then the tap came another two times. Momo relaxed, that was the knock pattern Shinso had thought up. She nodded to Bakugo and he opened the door slowly. The scout slipped inside and the door was closed behind him.
"Cutting it a bit close aren't you?" whispered Bakugo.
"Sorry, but I got trapped between two patrol groups and couldn't come back or go ahead. When they finally moved, I pressed onward and I came to a door leading to another wing of the research area labeled containment," he said.
"You think that's where they're keeping Tsukuyomi?" Shinso asked.
The scout nodded, "Yes,"
"What do you think?" Todoroki asked Momo.
Momo gave it careful thought, they had to get to Zeus and neutralize him, but if she was being honest she wasn't sure how that might go. They had been relying on Tokoyami to help in guarding their rear and fight off any enemies looking to help Zeus. Tokoyami's quirk would fare poorly vs Zeus, but in the darker confines of the corridors, he'd be a great asset to defending their rear and exit.
"We go for it, if we can get Tsukuyomi then that will make defending our rear and keeping our retreat path clear much easier." She said,
"They have barricades set up in the hallway and I saw a few hounds as well," The scout said.
"Doesn't matter what they have, we're getting him back," Bakugo said.
They exited the room, moving as silently as possible. When they moved ahead enough they came to a junction where the path directly in front of them was a set of stairs leading up and deeper into the mountain. The scout guided them down the right-hand path, and they stopped when they reached a set of push open doors.
"It's just beyond these doors, they'll probably have the doors being watched though, I only managed to get in because a messenger from deeper in the base came by." The scout said.
Kirishima moved to the front, along with an infantryman who could create crystals on his body to act as a defense. They counted down from 3, then slammed the doors open and rushed along the corridor. Everyone else followed up behind them and they heard shouts from deeper in the hallway. They heard a howling noise and a band of mutant wolves charged at them as attacks were lobbed over their heads like artillery. A giant ball of water crashed into the infantryman, and while he didn't topple over he did stumble. A pair of wolves lunged at him and he met them head-on by creating a series of spiked crystals on his body. Bakugo sent explosions at the wolves, blowing them backward but more filling their place. The wolves were all tan-colored but had black growths all over that looked like burnt tree limbs. Bullets seemed to do little, and Bakugo's explosions didn't seem to be doing much. It was clear that these were completed hounds, not the incomplete monstrosities they'd fought earlier.
One of the wolves ignored Kirishima and the crystal infantryman who took up most of the space and ran at Shinso, growling and howling while it did so.
Shinso threw his scarf out at it, wrapping it up and entangling it. He ran forward, drawing a twin set of knives, and tried to stab at it. The knives scraped along with fur and now that he was up close he saw that the fur looked like bark. The wolf tried to snap at him and he tightened his scarf around it. In response, the wolf howled and the black branches growing out of it suddenly started to grow and move. The branches started to crawl up his scared like vines and he abandoned his scarf before the branches got hold of him. He used his knives and hacked at the branches uselessly, which were now spreading through the air at him.
The wolf howled once more, and the branches grew larger. Shinso could see he wasn't the only person having problems with this. Kirishima and the crystal man were practically tree's already, and a few had squeezed past the front line and were entangling others. Todoroki's fire and ice did little to stop them, Bakugo was in a similar problem. Only Mina with her acid was able to take care of them, but some people were too entangled to safely use acid.
"Give me back my scarf!" He said angrily, the scarf meant quite a lot to him.
The wolf growled and barked at him, and to Shinso's surprise, he felt a faint connection, like he did whenever someone met the conditions for him to brainwash them. He seized on that connection and to his surprise, he felt himself connect to every wolf simultaneously. It was like controlling six people at once, but it felt simultaneously easier and much more complex. While he tried to sort his brain out, the wolves had all gone stock still and silent. As his companions continued to fight off the branches, Shinso finally figured out why it felt so alien.
The wolves were all connected via a hivemind, whatever strange plant mutation had overcome them, it must have latched on to the wolves' nature as a pack and linked them all together. Perhaps it was the hivemind itself, or perhaps the hivemind gave them a level of intelligence great enough for him to use his quirk on them. Whatever the reason was, he wasn't about to turn down such an advantage.
He smiled and said to the wolf in front of him, "Heel."
While the wolf directly in front of him started to retract its branches back into itself, the others did nothing. He frowned, then tried sending the same command mentally into the hivemind. All at once, the wolves started to retreat their branches until they sat there unmoving.
He sent another command into the hivemind, and the wolves turned and charged at their former masters. There were cries of alarm and they could hear fighting breaking out among their ranks. The team surged forward, while Shinso remained where he was, putting all his focus and effort into managing the hivemind. When attacking, the hivemind became a mass of primal emotions and feelings, and it took all of Shinso's power to keep them under his control.
The wolves weren't particularly strong, more durable than anything they seemed to be trained to restrain their targets more than try to kill them. It made finishing off any resistance easy, and they took care of most of them when Shinso heard noises approaching from behind him. He commanded the wolves to heel and started running away from what were probably reinforcements. As he got closer to the fighting and things came into focus, he saw that most of the opposition had been taken care of. Ahead of them, there was a small group hiding behind barricades with the wolves sitting unmoving between the two groups.
"Enemy reinforcements behind us!" He shouted over the noise to Bakugo who was firing rapid-fire explosions at the enemy.
Bakugo cursed before shouting over the noise, "Creati, Red Riot, behind us!"
The three spun around and started to run back the way they had come along with a small contingent of infantrymen, while Shinso resumed control of the wolves. He sent half of the wolves to back up Bakugo, Momo, and Kirishima, and the other half to resume attacking the opposition ahead of them.
One of the wolves vaulted over the barricades but was shattered into a thousand pieces by one of the mercenaries punching it, shards of white light sticking out of his hand like glass. Todoroki responded by sending a spear of ice hurtling down the corridor followed by a wave of fire. The mercenary similarly shattered the spear of ice, then one of his companions jumped in front of the wave of fire and redirected it back at Todoroki who fired another wave to match it.
The conflagration made seeing anything difficult, but Shinso felt two more wolves vanish from the hivemind. Now that his wolves on this side were gone, he raised his rifle and fired randomly through the fire. Mina fired a beam of acid across the corridor, only to have the acid shot back over their heads. Todoroki slammed a foot onto the floor and a wave of ice shot across the walls, floor, and ceiling. The shattering mercenary slammed a foot into the ground causing the wave of ice to shatter. The mercenary that had yet to reveal if he had any troublesome powers, suddenly raised his hands, and sand shot out of him and down the corridor.
Mina countered with a wave of acid that intercepted the sand, creating a sandy goop that popped and sizzled on the ground. Todoroki sent another jet of fire down the corridor but was redirected. As the twin jets of fire met, Shinso vaulted over his cover and as the fire started to settle down he sent his scarf through the fire and wrapped it around the shattering mercenary. With the mercenary unable to move, Todoroki quickly launched a spear of ice down the corridor, decapitating the mercenary. Then he sent a similar spear of ice at the other mercenaries, The sand mercenary fired a blast of sand at the spears but the spears split the sand apart easily and impaled them.
"Go support the others, I'll find Tokoyami if he's here," Shinso said.
Todoroki and Mina turned and ran down the corridor followed by the remaining infantryman who had gotten sidelined during the battle.
Shinso made his way further down the corridor, checking doors as he passed. Every door was a chamber marked with a containment designation was empty, they had likely held some of the hounds they had faced earlier. A grim feeling had started to settle over him as he reached the end of the corridor. The last two containment chamber doors were closed, which was different up till now. He went to the left-hand door and pressed the button next to it. A red light flashed and he heard a beep. He smirked and removed the pack tied around his waist. Subterfuge and espionage were more his speed, and he'd brought all his gear in case they ran into a situation like this. He pulled out a large box and affixed it over the electronic lock, he activated it and it sealed itself around the lock. He stood there for a few seconds while it worked, then there was a faint green flash from it and he deactivated it. He stowed it away in his pack, then pressed the button once more.
The door opened and he staggered backward and shielded his eyes as an incredibly bright light blasted out of the room. He winced in pain and ducked to the side of the door, out of the light. He blinked a few times and let his eyes adjust before walking into the chamber. Giant floodlights shone from the ceiling, while separate flood lights were plugged into outlets shining light from every conceivable angle toward the center of the room. In the center, he saw Tokoyami suspended from the ceiling by chains and was in a straight jacket, with a leather mask affixed to his head.
Shinso was barely able to see through the blinding lights, so he started disconnecting the floodlights from the outlets. When he was done, the only light came from the ceiling flood lights. He tried to disconnect the chains, but a mechanical lock stopped him. He raised his rifle which he had slung over his back and shot the lights in the ceiling, plunging the room into darkness.
He waited, and as his eyes adjusted he saw two red pinpricks of light growing in size where Tokoyami's head was. Dark Shadow emerged and tore the straight jacket, mask, and chains apart. Dark Shadow caught Tokoyami as he fell and lowered him to the floor where he groaned.
Shinso went to his side and helped him sit up.
"You okay?" he asked, checking him over for injuries.
"I... Think so... thank you." Tokoyami said, reaching up and ruffling his feathers. Then he started scratching himself all over with a groan of satisfaction.
"How long was I captured?" Tokoyami asked, getting shakily to his feet.
"A few days; we moved the timetable for the attack up. Once you have recovered enough, we're heading to Zeus, the original plan will be unchanged." Shinso said, supporting Tokoyami as they made their way out of the room.
As they exited the room, Shinso turned to head back down the corridor where they could hear fighting occurring.
"Wait. What's inside that door?" Tokoyami asked, gesturing to the door across from them which was still closed.
"Don't know, but we should get moving," Shinso said, trying to move forward but Tokoyami wouldn't budge.
"We need to ensure there isn't another prisoner," Tokoyami said firmly.
Shinso sighed and put Tokoyami down and pulled out his lock breaker again. After a few moments, the door was unlocked and it opened silently.
As they entered the room, Dark Shadow flowed to the doorway to keep watch.
There were no emergency lights in the room, unlike the corridors. They couldn't see anything so Shinso clicked on his flashlight and scanned the room. Tokoyami shielded his eyes from the light, going so long without it had made his eyes overly sensitive to it.
The room was mostly empty with nothing of note separating it from the other containment rooms. The only difference was that this room had much shorter, and smaller chains attached to the floor, and nothing in them.
"Do you hear something?" Tokoyami said suddenly.
Shinso focused on his hearing and after a moment he thought he could hear a faint sound.
"The ventilation?" Shinso speculated. It sounded like air moving.
"No... it's not continuous. It's like breathing..." Tokoyami muttered.
Shinso frowned, now that Tokoyami mentioned it, he was right. It sounded like someone was breathing. He shone the light at the ceiling, a sudden suspicion coming over him. He saw nothing on the ceiling and scanned the room again. Again there was nothing to indicate where the sound was coming from.
As he scanned the room once more he heard the chains clink and he focused the light where the chains all flowed to a point equidistant from each point where the chains were affixed to the floor.
Then they saw the chains move, and then they started to clank together as if some force was animating them.
"To... Tokoyami...? Sh... Shinso...?" came a voice from directly in front of them, but nothing was there.
Shinso felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Neither of them said anything, they just stared, it was like they had suddenly been dropped into a horror movie. Shinso immediately thought of a ghost, had Zeus found an actual ghost and trapped it here?
"Hello...?" came the voice again, uncertainty in its voice now.
"How... Do you know our names?" Shinso asked.
"What?" the voice said, confused.
Shinso felt his quirk register its ability to be activated and he immediately used it.
The breathing suddenly hitched for a moment, then resumed.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Toru Hagakure." The voice said.
Shinso didn't even notice that his mouth had fallen open. He looked to Tokoyami who looked back at him, his confusion and even fear mirroring his own.
"Are... you a ghost?" Shinso asked.
"No," Toru said.
"Are you actually Toru Hagakure, our classmate?" He asked.
"Yes," Toru said.
Fear and confusion gave way to bewilderment. He deactivated his quirk and he heard Toru gasp and take a deep breath.
Shinso and Tokoyami made their way to where the chains now hung slightly above the ground. Shinso reached out and his fingers brushed against the unmistakable feeling of skin though he couldn't see anything.
"Oh my god... you're real... you... you're alive..." Shinso breathed out.
"I... I'm not hallucinating...?" Toru asked, and Shinso could feel fingers brush against his face. His breath hitched, and he saw a shiver go through Tokoyami, similarly overcome by this revelation.
"N- No... You're not hallucinating, we're here, and we're going to save you." Tokoyami said, tears running across his feathers. Shinso felt tears come to his eyes as well.
"Dark Shadow, free her," Tokoyami said, his voice shaking.
Dark Shadow flowed into the room and easily snapped the chains. Then it gently broke the manacles around her wrists and ankles.
"I... I've been here so long... I thought I'd died long ago..." Toru muttered.
"Dark Shadow will carry you," Tokoyami said.
Dark Shadow expanded the size of his clawed hands and when Toru crawled onto them, Dark Shadow carefully lifted her up.
"I'm not dead... I'm not dead... I'm not dead..." Toru kept muttering to herself as if trying to convince herself of the reality of her impending freedom.