Midori the Phoenix
Chapter 19: Prison Break
Midori felt like royalty as she was led through the corridors by a circle of guards. She knew they weren't there to protect her so much as to protect other people from her. Still she liked to imagine that her scenario wasn't as grim as it actually was.
The cafeteria for instance wasn't so much a mess hall as it was a royal court, with guests dining, socializing, and prancing around. Since she had no true escort she was free to mingle with all manner of men, and chose the one that caught her eye. She strolled over with her head held high and elegance in her step. She came up behind him, his head perking up and those piercing blue eyes locking onto her. She slid onto the table and crossed her legs sending him a confident smile.
"Hello stranger…" She rocked the seat next to him with her foot. "Is this spot taken?"
"Heh," He sent her a quick grin and lounged back. "Yeah, actually, I'm saving it for a friend."
"Perhaps I can keep you company until she gets here?" Her eyes softened with affection as his laugh rolled out of him. He stood up and plucked her off the table hugging her tightly.
"Glad to see those ass hats didn't break your sassy spirit, Midori." He buried his face in her neck. "Welcome back."
"Thanks, Yuuichi." She hugged him back her eyes closing as the hug eased all the tension from her isolation. "We need to talk." She whispered in his ear.
"I figured." He whispered back eyeing the guards at all the exits. "Security around here has been amped up to the tenth degree. I haven't seen so many heroes around here since some senior kids started a riot last year."
He let go and motioned her to sit down. He offered up his bread roll and she took it and munched down. As she did so her eyes gave a quick scan of the room and she put a bored expression on her face.
"Swallow your food and listen." She told him calmly as if they were having a normal conversation. "They're transferring me to Tartarus in a week."
Yuuichi played with his food for a second, letting the information sink in before he took another bite and spoke muffled through the bites.
"If that's true then how come you're walking amongst the normies?"
"They've either taken measures to prevent me from escaping, or they think I'm obedient enough not to try and run away." Her eyes went hot with temper and she eyed her cuffs. "Either way is insulting to me. When I first came here I was scared, and confused… but I'm neither of those things anymore. I'm tired of being used, and forced into submission. If those fools think I'll just obediently play the damsel in distress, they've got another thing coming."
"So what's the plan?" Yuuichi slurped at his drink and Midori bit into the roll.
"Working on it…" She admitted. "Whatever it is I'm not gonna be able to escape alone. I'm gonna need help."
"Well I'm limited in how much I can help you." Yuuichi belched and lounged back in his seat. "Captain Akira knows we're friends now, and if you befriend anyone he'll start putting eyes on them too."
"Befriend… huh?" Her eyes shift to the side as Max and Slim walk by. Max took notice of Yuuichi first, but then saw the girl at his side and he sent her a quick smirk.
"Ah, I see Wolf Boy has made another friend. This one isn't as shrimpy as the last." He pulled out the seat across from them and sat backwards in it. "Hey, curly top, why not ditch the animal and come hang out with a couple of real men."
"Hmmm sure," She leaned forward on her hands and batted her eyelashes at him. "Do you know any?"
Yuuichi snorted into his drink and had to turn and cough before he choked on it. Max raised a brow at the sass in her tone and rolled his tongue in his mouth.
"You're clearly new here so I'll forgive your little slip of the tongue." He leaned further forward. "The name's Max, and if you want to fit in little miss muffet, I suggest you play nice with me."
"Oooh I'm so scared." She cupped her chin in her hands and leaned her elbows on the table. "As it happens I know exactly who you are Max… and that's exactly why I'm telling you to take a hike." Her eyes flashed over to Slim who stood behind Max. "Unless you want some bruises to match your friend over there."
"What?" Max narrowed his eyes… taking a closer look at the girl now, and he was suddenly up on his feet. "You!"
"Yeah, hi…" she waved her fingers in a teasing motion. "I'm not so shrimpy anymore, so your empty threats and bullying don't scare me anymore, Max. I suggest you find some other poor kid to traumatize."
"Tch," Max grit his teeth and he reached over across the table grabbin the front of her shirt. "I don't care what kinda voo doo science these lame doctors did to make you older. I'm still gonna enjoy teaching you some manners."
"I think it's you who should mind your manners, max. You're touching my boobs." She blatantly pointed out and had him quickly letting go and flustering. "Aww, look at that face. You're such a virgin." Yuuichii snorted at that comment, knowing the inside joke. Max's obvious embarrassment just made the laughter harder to contain, but he did his best to keep a straight face.
"Shut up!" Max pointed an accusing finger in her face. "You're one to talk you-"
"Alright kid, settle down." One of the heroes acting as guards grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "For your own safety, we're gonna have to ask you not to provoke her."
"Hah?" Max whirled around on the hero. "For MY protection? You gotta be fucking kidding me!"
"Oh, you mean you didn't hear?" Midori batted her eyelashes again and spoke in a sing-song voice. "I'm a dangerous criminal. It's far too dangerous to associate yourself with me. Who knows what I might do?"
"Maxwell, if you're finished with your meal then please go out to the field for a freelance period." The hero continued to usher him.
"Tch, this isn't over, short stack." Max shoved a finger at her. "These heroes won't be able to protect you from me for long."
"Weren't you listening, Maxy?" Midori's smirk was quick and confident. "I'm not the one they're protecting."
"Oh my god…" Yuuichi couldn't contain it, he held his mouth wheezing out a laugh and nearly falling out of his chair. "I can't breathe. That was priceless!"
"Heh… and it's gonna get even better." Midori watched Max leave, her eyes sharp as an idea formed in her brain. "I've found my loophole."
~Sometime later~
Max slammed into the boys public bathroom and sneered at some gradeschool kids who were lingering around.
"Buzz off." He jerked his thumb and the two ran out, their hands still sudsy from washing. "Fucking bitch. Just who the hell does she think she is trying to intimidate me? Just because she grew a few feet in the matter of days, now the heroes are labeling her more dangerous than ME? Tch!" He punched the bathroom stall door to open it and let it swing close behind him. He flicked the lock temperamentally and pulled down his pants to squat and take a dump.
Focusing on his task, he didn't notice the long strip of cloth coming from above until it was too late. It wrapped around his neck in a quick twist and a tug from above squeezed and cut off his air supply. He struggled and choked, his red face looking up and seeing Midori hanging from the air vent, her green eyes practically glowing as her hands held the cloth firm like puppet strings.
"Kinda convenient how this air vent connects to both the girls and boys bathrooms, huh?" Her smirk spread wide and sinisterly. "I don't want to kill you, Max… I've seen enough blood shed in my short yet miserable life."
"Mnnngg hurmmpmh…." Max spat up, his legs wiggling and trying to stand to get some relief, but she tightened her grip.
"Shhhh… shhhh… it's gonna be okay… but I need you to listen and listen good. You're the big cheese around here, aren't you? You've been here the longest out of all the others, and you know how this place works. Captain Akira trusted you enough to give your orders to pay "special" attention to me which means you've the inner ear I need to make my plan work."
"P-Plan?" He wheezed and he reached up slapping the stall. "L-let up… can't breathe… I'll listen!"
She did ease the grip enough to let him suck in some air, but kept the makeshift rope around his neck.
"That's a good boy…" She gave a little laugh. "Yes, my plan. The adults have plans to transfer me to Tartarus… but I'm not about to go without a fight. These adults have eyes all around me, and I can't make any moves without arousing suspicion. The same now goes for Yuuichi… but not you. The entire facility knows you've got a grudge against me after what I did to you and Slim. So who better to slip under the radar on my behalf."
"And why…" he choked a little and spat. "Should I help you?" He gasped when her grip tightened again… but then slowly let go. He inhaled deeply and rubbed his throat looking up at her.
"...because if my plan works, I won't be the only one to escape their authority." She reaches her hand out in a sign of truce. "Work with me, and I can promise you that every single kid in this facility get a chance to escape for good."
Max stood up, and turned towards her. He eyed her hand with a narrowed expression.
"You're serious?"
"Deadly…" Her head cocked. "You're more than free to turn me down, but I should warn you that I'll escape with or without your help. If you help me, you get a chance for freedom. Deny me… and you can be sure that the first thing I'll do when I get free is set this damned facility and everyone in it ablaze."
Max looked into her eyes. Though her voice was young and girly, there was something in the tone and in the ferocity of her eyes that made his blood run cold. She meant every fucking word… and after experiencing what she was capable of without a quirk… he didn't have the confidence or the balls to deny her anything.
"Alright, shrimp." He took her hand. "Deal."
"Heh, good choice." She sent him a sickeningly sweet smile and rolled the cloth around her palm. He eyed it curiously.
"What the hell were you strangling me with anyway?"
"What? This?" she held up the cloth and gave a teasing smile. "My underwear." She winked at him and wriggled backwards and replacing the vent. Max's face went bright red as the image of her going commando sent his preteen libido into overdrive.
"Holy shit that chick really is fucking nuts."
~Several days later~
True to his word, Max played spy for Midori while keeping his role as her mortal enemy. Every now and again the two would pick fights just to keep up appearances, while also exchanging information. Using paper from her notebook, she'd find ways to sneak it to him, whether by slipping it into his fist when he made grabs for her. Or secretly stuffing it into his pants and shirt when she provoked him.
Meanwhile, her and Yuiichi also put on a little act of their own. Huddling together at lunch, and during recreation as if they were trying to meet and speak secretly. In truth the two of them were exchanging information of a different nature.
"...and then he just rips off the biggest fart I have ever heard." Yuuichi demonstrated and blew into his fist and put Midori into stitches of laughter. "I swear to god, the sound alone was enough to make the ground shake."
"I bet, oh my god." Midori wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh that poor man. He must have been so embarrassed."
"Heh, not a bit. He stopped mid-stride and actually posed as he ripped it off." Yuuichi flexed his pecs and mimicked it making Midori laugh even more.
"Stop it, I can't breathe…" she shoved at him and then leaned her full weight on him"Oh god I've never laughed so hard in my life."
"Heh, well you can always count on me to make you laugh whenever you like." Yuuichi leaned back into her.
"Hehe," She smiled affectionately up at him and lay her head on his shoulder. They'd found a nice quiet place away from the noise and bustle of kids. Their backs were pressed to the wall, and they faced the tall metal fence that hummed from the electrical currents that flowed through it. Beyond that though… past the prison of the JDC… was a wide and beautiful cityscape. The winding road leading down the hill spread out into a trickle of homes and then even more so with tall buildings from the city. Midori imagined that at night, the entire city glowed like stars in a sky.
"So when we do escape…" he wrapped an arm around her holding her closer. "What's the first thing you want to do?"
"Hmmm good question…" She closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of his hold. "A part of me wants to find the league of villains. I've unfinished business there… and people I know who want to see me."
"I hear a "but" in there somewhere."
"However…" she said with a smart alleck tone. "If I do track them down… I fear I'd be doing them more harm than good."
"What do you mean?" Yuuichi looked down concerned.
"The whole reason I'm here…" Midori sat up straight and pulled a knee up to lean her chin on. "...is to act as bait. The League of Villains have been elusive for years, playing it careful as not to get caught or make any unnecessary sacrifices. If I join them… I feel like they'll be expecting me to lead them out into battle, or war."
"Well you are the queen of villains, after all. Isn't that kinda your whole shtick?" He shrugged it off.
"Not anymore…" Midori lowered her head and clutched her fist. "The whole reason I went on hiatus was because I'd lost my motivation for all that."
"Huh?"
"I…" Midori resisted the urge to touch her stomach. "I found something else that was more important to me than shifting the world's perspective... something I didn't think I'd ever want or saw myself having again."
"What is that?"
"Family…" she laughed a little as the tears burned at her eyes. "I went on hiatus just to take a break and find my resolve again… but all it ended up doing was destroying it." She closed her eyes. "What started off as just a cover… a way to hide from authority and responsibility… became something so vital and important to me. I found myself making long term plans… picturing myself living in that house and expanding the family I'd created. I didn't want it to ever end."
"Why did it?" Yuuichi rubbed her back. "What happened?"
"I woke up, that's what happened." Midori glared off into the distance. "I realized that everything was just a stupid dream, and that I was living a lie. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't change who I was, or hide from my past… and sure enough the very same day I had that stupid epiphany I ran into Bakugo and Todoroki who slammed the nails into my coffin."
Deciding he'd pressed enough Yuuichi didn't push for anymore information. He knew she'd tell him everything when she was good and ready, and was happy that she shared this much with him… and in the spirit of friendship, knew it was his time to share.
"I know what it's like to dream for something you can't have." Yuuichi folded his hands together and looked down. "I was five when my mother sent me here… after I'd mauled my dad."
Midori's head turned up at that. His sudden sharing of information surprised her.
"I got my quirk when I was four… " he motioned to his nose. "My dad's quirk is heightened senses and my mother has a simple shape shifting quirk that allows her to change her appearance some. So we all just assumed that I had a more specific version of my dad's quirk. Come to find out it was way more powerful than that."
He swallowed hard as the memories of it came back.
"My parents often argued, so it wasn't all that new to me… but that night was different. My dad came home screaming, he was so angry and accusing my mom of being with another man because he could smell it on her. When she denied it he kept screaming at her, calling her a liar and a slut. He hit her… it was the first time he'd ever laid hands on my mom and it shocked all three of us. I… I lost it."
"You lost control…" Midori lay her hand over his, knowing exactly how he felt.
"Yeah… it was like something snapped inside me, and this other me came out and just started attacking my dad. I remember both of them screaming at me to stop, but I couldn't. I was just so… angry." He shut his eyes tightly as that night came back at him. "I blacked out soon after… and when I woke up I was in a cage, and being shipped here."
"Yuuichi…" She leaned into him, hugging his arm. "I'm sorry."
"Eh, it's whatever." He shrugged it off but Midori saw the sadness in his eyes. "At least I don't have to hear them screaming at each other anymore. It's not like they came and visited me after it happened."
Midori stroked his arm and she leaned up kissing his cheek.
"Thank you for telling me."
"Heh," he turned to look at her. "Same here. I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me a bit of your story."
"I'll give you full disclosure once we're out of here." She stood up as the whistle shrilled for the freelance period to end.
"You sure this plan of yours will work?" Yuuichi gave her a concerned look. "What if-"
"Shhhh…" she placed a finger on his lips. "Do you trust me?"
Yuuichi reached up and took her hand in his.
"You know I do."
"Then trust that I know what I'm doing." She smiled at him. "We're getting out of here, Yuuichi. I won't leave you behind."
Yuuichi smiled and he pulls her in for a hug.
"So… Do you think the league is still looking for new recruits?"
"Heh.." She hugged him back and looked over his shoulder at Max who gave her the all clear signal. "There's only one way to find out."
~That Night~
Yuuichi and Midori sat companionably as they ate their dinner, everything appearing calm and normal. Suddenly the cafeteria doors swung open, Captain Akira, and a crowd of heroes march in their direction. Midori started to lift a spoon full of soup to her mouth but it jerks away as Akira grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet.
"Your transfer has been approved and finalized." He shoved her at two guards who held her arms. "Time for you to go."
"What? No, you told me a week!" She struggled against the guards kicking and shoving. "There's three days left!"
"You really think we were gonna give you time to plan your little escape?" He looked behind him at Yuuichi who had also been grabbed. "Your both being taken to Tartarus."
"WHAT?!" Midori looked at Yuuichi who had to be pinned down by three different people. "No! You can't! He hasn't done anything! He's innocent! I'm the one you want!"
"Do you really think I'm stupid, Karma?" He stepped up to her and squeezed her cheeks. "Do you really think I wouldn't get suspicious of your little flirtation with the wolf child? You always use the same tactics to get what you want. Once a villain slut always a villain slut."
"Midori!" Yuuichi cried out as he was tasered and he growled and bare his teeth against the pain.
"Yuuichi!" Midori screamed as she was dragged across the cafeteria, students backing away obediently from the chaos.
"Serves yah right, you bitch!" Max sneered at her stepping into the path to laugh in her face. "I hope you enjoy prison."
"You ass hole, you told him didn't you?" Midori spat at him. "You told him about Yuuichi and I?"
"Hah, did you really think I wouldn't after the trouble you caused me?" Max licked his lips. "I was more than happy to earn a few brownie points by spilling your secrets."
"I'll fucking kill you I swear to god!" She jerked a hand free taking a swipe at him but max caught her hand laughing.
"Kinda hard to do that when your being restrained and your quirk's deactivated." He leaned in whispering to her. "Shall I help you with that?"
Midori's eyes got a glint and she glanced down to the hand that was still in his pocket.
"Do it. I dare you!"
"Max get away from her," Akira ordered him. "She may be restrained but she's still dangerous."
"Yeah, no shit sherlock! Which is why I'd rather be on her side!" Max pulled out the unlock device from his pocket and pressed it to Midori's cufflinks and deactivated them. "NOW!"
"You're next, then get Yuuichi!" Midori ordered as she whirled around and for the first time in days set her quirk loose. Sentient aura whipped out snagging Akira and the other guards round the arms and flinging them around like dolls.
"Already on it!" Max whistled and Slim slammed his fists into the back of the guard holding Yuuichi and then pulled out another device from his pocket turning off Yuuichi's cuffs next.
"Time to go wild, wolf boy!"
"I wish you'd stop calling me that!" Yuuichi complained but laughed and got down on all fours. His body shifted and morphed, his fangs bearing and fur sprouting. "Rauuuugh!"
"Shit, we've been had!" Akira shouted.
"That's right mother fuckers!" Max jumped up on the table. "We're through being your science experiments!" He tossed the deactivation gun to another kid who immediately unlocked his own cuffs then started helping others get theirs free. "We're breaking out of here!"
One by one the situation got more out of control as powerful quirk, after powerful quirk was released. Amongst the chaos Midori rushed to Yuuichi and ran fingers through his fur.
"Are you still you?"
"Yeah… for now…" Yuuichi ran a tongue over his maw and crouched down so Midori could climb on his back like mounting a stallion. "Don't know for how long though. The longer I'm in this form, the harder it gets to control."
"Then we better make this fast." Midori whipped sentient aura again as more heroes showed up in an attempt to assist. "Everyone spread out and make for the exits! Run, fight, or blast your way out here if you have to, but don't stop until this place is a speck in the distance."
"You heard the queen! SCATTER!" Max ordered and set his own quirk free. His body liquifying and slithering across the ground like an oozing metallic puddle. He spread his body out encasing the next group of heroes and closing around them like a net. There was a sickening crunching sound as well as muffled screams as bones broke.
Yuuichi dashed through the gap sprinting through the halls and barrelling through everyone in his path.
"How long before his back up arrives, do you think?" Yuuichi asked, snarling as he bit the arm of another guard that aimed a tranquilizer gun at them. Midori then used her own quirk to toss him into a nearby office as they darted down another path.
"Not long, Hawks isn't known for his tardiness. We also don't know who else they may have called in. Be prepared for anything!"
"I see an exit!" Yuuichi shouted, catching the scent of fresh air as a pair of double doors swing open. Some delivery men carried medical supplies and made their way in.
"It's a loading dock! This is perfect!" Midori glanced back making sure the horde was behind them. "Max!"
"I'm on it!" Max darted ahead, his metallic body stretching out like a whip and knocking the two unsuspecting delivery men out cold. He grabbed the keys from their pocket and formed back into a human. "Get in the truck."
"You guys get it started!" Midori dismounted from Yuuichi and stood guard at the door. She snagged the lagging kids with her quirk yanking them by their clothes and limbs to pull them faster down the hall. "I'll make sure everyone gets in!"
"Be careful!" Yuuichi shouted and turned human and jumped into the back of the truck, tossing the supplies out to make room for more kids. He helped them one by one, his eyes looking up now and again to keep an eye on Midori.
"Hurry up! Hawks and the other heroes will be here any minute!" Max shouted from the driver's seat and jolted when Hawks landed on the hood.
"You called?"
"Shit!" Max turned liquid to avoid hawk's feathers, but the more vulnerable kids were being snagged up before they could even get the chance to get on the truck.
"Damn it!" Midori tossed the last kid up at Yuuichi and she slammed her fist into the side. "Max! Punch it!"
"What about-"
"JUST DO IT!" Midori screamed at him and climbed up the ladder on the side of the delivery truck. The vehicle moved forward and shifted as Max pressed his foot to the pedal and tried to look around Hawks in order to steer.
"Whoa, whoa, hey now you don't have a license to drive this vehicle, Maxwell." Hawks tsked at him, and flew up as Midori let out a stream of black and blue flames in his direction. "Yikes that's hot!" He flew beside the vehicle now, leveling himself up so he could see midori crouched atop the vehicle, holding on for dear life while also taking aim. "Wow, color me impressed."
"I'd rather color you burnt!" She hissed at him and let go long enough to whip out several fire streams that he easily dodged.
"You know I can't let you escape with all these kids, Midori…" He sent the bulk of his feathers out, trying to lift the truck up and off its wheels, but Midori thought quick and put a barrier around the truck preventing the feathers from slipping under. Hawks could see a sheen of sweat forming on her skin and her breath was panting out.
"Not used to juggling all those quirks are you Midori? You're a bit out of practice." Hawks teased.
"Yeah… but I'm not the only one you should be worried about." Midori pointed out, and as if on cue Max reached out the window and elongated his arm, sharpening it into a sword like shape so it pierce right through his gut.
"MNNNG!" Hawks' eyes widened and he lost altitude. Midori used this opportunity to then unleash a massive blast of fire that erupted around him, his sharp cry of pain ensuring her that she'd met her mark.
"Yeah! Nice job!" Max hollered as he looked out the window grinning.
"MAX PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD!" Midori screamed and Max's head turned back and he gasped as the truck bolted over a railing. The kids inside screamed bloody murder as they tumble over a cliff. Midori scrambled wrapping her sentient aura around the truck trying to protect it as they tumbled down. Halfway down she lost stamina and blacked out as her body was tossed off and fell separately from the truck.
~Ask Briry~
Briry: Woot! Midori has escaped but at what cost? Further context and details about this will be explained in the next chapter so if you have questions let me know so I can be sure to include any and all details.
Next Chapter: The Phoenix Rebels