The moment Kaori and Blink appeared outside the building, the older woman immediately set to work as she sought out her sidekicks. After looking about for a few moments they both spotted the twins standing with the police and quickly walked over.
"Alright, how many are there this time?"
Mold was the one to respond as she glanced over at the sound of her boss' voice. "Looks like its Razorback and four of his old crew. Turns out you were right about them just pretending to behave for the sake of being let out sooner. Not really a surprise to any of us, though."
"I kept warning those idiots at the centre that they needed to put their foot down more whenever people like these guys start acting nice." Blink scoffed with a shake of her head and frown on her face. "I know that Villain's aren't as common as they used to be, but they can't just ignore the fact that these guys have murdered innocents just because they claim that they've learned their mistakes."
Brick spoke up from next to his sister while the police all stood watch to the doors of the building where Bulkhead currently stood motionless. "You might want to go discuss that with them, then. Based on some of the stuff we heard while we had our back door open, it doesn't sound like it's all of them at fault." The man moved closer to whisper in Blink's ear, though they were close enough for Mold and Kaori to overhear as well. "It sounds like there's some sort of payoff going on higher up in the chain of command. They get out and break into a few places, then share some of the money anonymously with the chief that signed off the papers to let them out."
"That's…not a good thing." Blink muttered as she glanced over to her last team member standing at the doors. "What about Bulk? How's he holding up?"
"About as well as you'd expect." Mold responded with a smirk. "They've got guns, but they don't do jack-shit against his Quirk. Especially not since he had Brick and I shrink the doorframe to fit around him."
"Good. That leaves any chance of them escaping out of the question. We know that the police have both the entrance and exit covered, so now it's just a matter of getting the civilians out safely." Blink closed her eyes in thought for a moment before turning to Kaori with a sad expression. "Look, Kaori, I know I made it sound like we might have you help us today, but it looks like everything is already covered up to the point of going in on my own to finish up. I promise though, the next time something comes up I'll find some way for you to help."
"That's fine." Kaori answered with a shake of her head. "You're the professionals after all. I'd just be likely to get in the way."
"Good girl. Stay with the twins. They'll keep you company while I clean this up."
In a flash of light, the woman teleported to just behind Bulk, where she gave the man a few words as the others watched in silence.
"Wanna see her do her thing?"
Kaori looked at the woman with a confused look. "How am I supposed to do that?"
"Security feed. The cops tapped into it to keep an eye on the hostages in case anything should happen. These guys may have broken into banks before, but they're not pro enough to scope out every camera before doing their thing. It's what got them caught last time. Not that they know that. We just made them think that Blink is able to be in that many places at once to keep tabs on things."
"And they bought it?" Kaori asked with a surprised look on her face.
"Hook, line, and sinker." Brick chuckled. "Shows how smart they are. It'll be over in a flash."
The three of them stood around a terminal that the police had set up near the back of their blockade, a viewing screen set on a table in front of them as they saw Blink materialize inside the main lobby. The moment she did, the criminals all immediately turned their guns on her before the man that was likely their leader raised a hand to calm them down. A voice then came through from an audio feed also sent from the security system.
"Put your guns back on the hostages you idiots." A rough voice commanded as three of the men on screen turned their weapons back onto the civilians. "I've got our friend here."
"You sound confident for someone out of options, Razor. You don't exactly have any sort of advantage here. You know what happened last time." Blink replied as she casually crossed both arms over her chest. "Save yourself the trouble and turn yourselves in. It'll be less painful that way."
"And go back to squatting in that dump again? Pass." The man retorted as one of his hands extended into claws. "Nah, I think I'll just take the money we came here for and be on our way."
"Is that where the last one is then? Still grabbing money from the vault while the four of you keep an eye on things out here?"
"Not quite, but you'll find out what he's up to real soon."
"I'm sure I will. But it'll be after I knock the four of you out, first." Blink frowned before disappearing in a blast of light. The leader stumbled due to be the closest to the flash, while his three accomplices all winced at the sudden glare their eyes were subjected to. In that same moment, Blink reappeared behind one of the three armed crooks and delivered a powerful jab to his jugular, the man's body going limp and collapsing to the ground in an instant. His body hadn't even hit the ground before she moved again and swung a leg out to trip up one of the other thugs and tip his body back towards a nearby countertop. The last armed criminal barely had any warning before Blink appeared in front of him and socked him directly in the face with a clenched fist.
Merely seconds ago, there had been three people wielding guns at the hostages and their leader standing confidently in the centre of the room. Now there stood one man still clearing his eyes and recovering his vision while his three comrades all lay slumped on the ground in various states of wear. The first one had frankly been lucky since the knockouts the other two received were…slightly more wince-inducing.
Strangely enough however, the remaining man didn't seem exactly upset over what had just happened. In fact, from the expression on his face…he had almost expected it. Suddenly, his clawed hand returned to its normal state before he raised both of them and began to calmly clap them together.
"Just as fast as I remember." Razor commented with a smirk as he turned to face the woman standing over his lackeys. "You really don't fail to impress as the #6 Hero, huh Blink?"
"Save the chatter, Razor. You've lost." Blink snapped as she began marching towards the man. This only seemed to please him further as his smirk grew.
"Have I, though? You said yourself that you knew I came in with four other people. Maybe next time you should do a little more than just ask where they are and focus on me."
In that instant, Kaori felt her blood run cold as the last member of the group came into view from around the side of cubicle that the camera was unable to see past. Before the two standing in the centre of the lobby was a taller woman with one hand planted squarely on the tops of two people's heads.
Kaori's friends, Yori and Chiyoko.
"Hey, kid, you alright?" Kaori faintly heard Brick's voice coming from off to her side, though it seemed muffled as she tried to react to what she just saw.
"Those two…they're my friends…" Kaori mumbled as the twins gave each other concerned looks. It was bad enough that the Villain had somehow gotten the upper hand on Blink despite her mobility, but to have those in harm's way be two of the closest friends she had.
She NEEDED to do something. NOW.
She felt her body begin to turn towards the building even as a firm pair of hands gripped her shoulders and stopped her from moving. Her head turned back as she came face to face with Mold, a stern look on her face as she stared Kaori in the eye.
"Listen, I know you want to help them. But you can't just run in there. Anything you do could be playing right into the Villain's hands. They knew that Blink would be more focused on the people she could see rather than the ones that stayed hidden. But we have to let this play out. We can't afford jeopardizing the rescue by rushing in."
"THOSE ARE MY FRIENDS!" Kaori suddenly snapped as shouted at the woman trying to reason with her. "And they're being used as bargaining chips by Villains that want to make a quick buck! You can't seriously expect me to just stand by and let that happen!"
"We have to. Everything from this point is up to Blink."
Kaori glanced over towards the screen as the Villain known as Razor began to talk again.
"Surprised? I had to keep some sort of contingency in case these idiots weren't able to put you down. What better way than keeping our best weapon hidden and have her keep a few hostages for herself?"
"Let them go, you monster." Blink seethed through clenched teeth as she glanced back and forth between Razor and the other criminal. "They're just a couple of girls."
"And we're supposed to care about that…because?" The woman spoke up as she kept a tight grip on the girl's heads. "We just want the money and to be on our way. It's up to you whether or not these girls get hurt in the process. Honestly? It'd be you hurting them if you don't work with us."
"I thought your gang was full of fools before, Razor." Blink stated as she clenched her fists tight. "But now I see the truth. You're nothing but scum."
"Why thank you, Blink. I think that's the strongest reaction we've gotten out of you to date. What do you say, Dema? Should we finish this?"
The woman smirked as her hands began to light up atop both of the girls heads. "Sounds good to me. What do you say we give her…45 seconds?"
"Ooooh, a timer?" Razor replied with a look of sinister glee. "Suspenseful and exciting, I like it." His expression hardened into a look of murder as he nodded. "Do it."
"You know how her Quirk works, don't you Blink?" Razor sked the Pro. "Dema here can detonate any object as long as she keeps a grip on it. The longer she charges it, the stronger the explosion. If she no longer is able to touch something with her hands, she detonates the air around her instead even though it poses her no harm. So that effectively gives you two options. You can let her kill the two girls and then take us out, but also risk the safety of the people in this building depending on the damage she does to the structure, or you pry her grip off of the girls and sacrifice yourself in the process. Your choice…Oh, and based on how long I've been talking you probably have…about 10 seconds to decide."
The teleporting Hero's eyes widened as she turned to face Dema, her body disappearing in a flash of light as she reappeared directly in front of the woman and pulled both hands off of the girls' heads. With a determined look she then reached out to teleport herself and about to explode woman out of the building…when her body stumbled in pain as long, pointed claws descended into her abdomen and stopped her in her path. Her eyes moved up to the woman smiling evilly in front of her as her hands began to glow a flaming red.
And then one of the buildings windows exploded.
"She doesn't have much time, we have to help her!" Kaori yelled at the two sidekicks as they looked fearfully at the screen alongside her.
"There is nothing we can do!" Mold practically screeched back as they witnessed the dialogue that the three of them were currently having. "None of our Quirks can stop something like that!"
Kaori's mind suddenly flashed back to that fateful day in the alley where she had witnessed Bakugo being held hostage by the Sludge Villain. Very similar words had been spoken by one of the Hero's on the scene that day as they had been forced to wait for someone to appear that could stop the rampage until Midoriya had charged in and tried to free his classmate. Back then, she had been too afraid to act.
But not this time.
With a sudden spin on her heel, Kaori began to sprint for the building, her training at U.A. kicking in as she weaved back and forth through the various police and vehicles as though they were merely obstacles on her path. Her focus was on one of the windows just adjacent to the entrance where she knew there was no getting past Bulkhead. So she needed to make her own entrance. She could only pray that the windows weren't reinforced enough to stop her from barging in.
Just as she neared the building after sliding between two police officers, she manifested a fist the size of a minivan before swinging her arm in the direction of the window. The sound of shattering glass filled the air even as Kaori felt a series of tickles run across her hand due to the shards brushing up against her projection. Thankfully the hand was large enough that the small shards would barely mean anything due to the size difference.
As she leapt through her new entrance, she couldn't help but notice in the split second that she had that Blink was standing with a slight hunch as the man named Razor seemed to have one of his clawed hands deep in Blink's abdomen while the woman with the explosive touch stood over her with a triumphant look. To Kaori though, the only thing that mattered was the woman's hands as she reached out with her Quirk once again and created an enlarged hand roughly the size of a desk and gripped them tightly around the glowing red hands that the woman had reached out towards Blink. The moment she felt her hand wrap around them, her eyes clenched shut in preparation for the pain she was likely about to experience.
There was no way to prepare herself for this, however. The moment the woman's Quirk went off, it's properties came into full effect. Due to the amount of time she had charged it, the explosive power that it sent through Kaori's projection shattered it in an instant. The backlash was hardly something she was ready for. The instant her Quirk shattered, a piercing scream left her throat as she felt numerous bones in her hand crack as the various nerves lit up like a Christmas tree. She had experienced what happened whenever the integrity of her Quirk had been compromised…but never to this degree.
What it did prevent however, was the deaths of various innocent people as everyone else in the room stared in surprise at what had just happened.
In that same instant, Blink pulled herself away from Razor's claws before kicking Dema in the gut and teleporting in a flash behind her to deliver a punch to the back of her head, the whiplash from her body suddenly moving in two directions at once as well as the sudden onset of pain knocking her flat out in an instant. She was about to move to go after Razor, but in the moments she spent striking down his accomplice, he had managed to poise his claws next to Kaori's neck even as she knelt cradling her now broken hand in front of her.
"Game over, Blink. Even if I don't get away with the money…at least I get to take the life of your new partner here. Consider it a trade for the fact that you were supposed to be the one to d-" His words were immediately silenced as a rock hard fist collided with the side of his skull, sending him flying into the wall just next to the hallway that went towards the vault. His body sagged to the ground, unconscious from the impact of both the man's Quirk-enhanced fist as well as the wall when his head had hit it.
"I don't think so." Bulkhead snarled as he moved to stand protectively in front of the injured girl. "You're not laying a finger on her. Not after what she just did."
Kaori turned her head ever so slightly so that she was facing Bulk's back, despite the tears falling en masse from her eyes making it hard to tell if it was actually him or someone else. For a moment, she thought she saw the shape of her father's back, just like the night she had seen him face off against his former teammate. But she barely had time to process that even as she heard a pair of voices shouting and dragging her attention away from the man standing guard over her.
"Kaori!" The familiar voices of Yori and Chi filled her mind with relief as she realized that they were now safe and unharmed. Her eyes registered the two girls suddenly kneeling in front of her, though her mind was slightly preoccupied with the sheer pain she was in from what she had just gone through.
"Well of course you're going to be in pain after that, you idiot!" Yori snapped even as Kaori saw tears fall from her eyes as well. "What were you thinking?!"
"I couldn't…let the two of you…get hurt…" Kaori managed to say even as the pain in her hand continued to assault her brain.
"So you got yourself hurt in the process? What kind of logic is that?"
"It saved your lives, didn't it?" Blink's voice registered in Kaori's brain as she turned to face the Hero that had moved to stand nearby. One of her hands seemed to be gripping the front of her abdomen as a few drops of blood could be seen leaking between her fingers. "In fact…she just saved all of us." Kaori then felt her body being hoisted by a pair of large hands, her head turning to see Bulkhead gently cradling her in his arms, a look of pride mixed with concern etched across his face. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to get both of us to the nearest hospital. If you want to see her that badly, my sidekicks outside can show you the way."
And with that, the three of them disappeared in a flash of light as Blink laid a hand on Bulk's arm as well as Kaori's shoulder, quickly followed by darkness as the pain finally managed to force Kaori into unconsciousness with the adrenaline that had been coursing through her before having run it's course.
First off, moving is a pain in the ass. That is why this chapter is just a *tiny* bit delayed getting released as I never had the time before today to really do a quick revision and post. It's seriously a straining ordeal, both mentally and physically getting everything sorted out. As it stands though, I have been looking forward to this chapter for some time now as it shows how everything that's happened in the last while has allowed Kaori to grow and be able to do something she wouldn't have been able to do before. Of course, it doesn't mean everything is perfect. Consequences of actions and all that, plus...well obviously there are still other things to come and more obstacles to face. I just hope you all can bear with my rambling until then. For now however, I hope you all enjoy your days ahead - and for those in the US reading this, enjoy your Fourth of July tomorrow! For my fellow Canadians, Happy Belated Canada Day! (which amusingly is also my birthday)