A/N: Today is Poland's national holiday, and being of Polish descent myself, I want to say to everybody in the Polish diaspora: Wesołego dnia niepodległości!
After Lava Lord was hauled away in a special prisoner transport van, Todoroki and his women reconvened at their headquarters.
"All right, according to the information I got from Lava Lord, the People's Reactionary World Order has their headquarters on the top floor of One America Plaza. I've had Deko alert the CHP's San Diego office, too. According to this floor plan, here are the possible chokepoints." Todoroki pointed out the chokepoints on the paper floor plan. "For this operation…"
"Excuse me, Todoroki…" Jiro raised her hand.
"Yes, Jiro?"
"I probably should've told you before, but while you were out, I got word of a possible bomb threat at the US Bank Tower. LAPD and LAFD radios are going crazy about it."
Todoroki stroked his chin. "Then the PRWO must be trying to draw attention away from their headquarters. Deko, did your team get any intel on who else the PRWO has working for them?"
Deko shook her head. "Aside from Lava Lord, we haven't."
"That aside, based on the intel we do have, here's the plan: Deko, Uraraka, Ashido, Hagakure, Kendo, Tokage and I will be conducting a raid on PRWO headquarters. Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Asui, Shiozaki, Kodai, Utsushimi, Hatsume, you'll be infiltrating the US Bank Tower and defusing any bombs you come across. Any questions?"
Nobody had any.
"Good. Before we begin, Deko, I'd like a word with you in private."
Deko nodded and followed Todoroki into his office.
"What's up, Todoroki?"
"In case neither of us makes us out of this operation alive, I just wanted to thank you again for being the first person to sign up for my agency. I feel like if it hadn't been for you, then none of this would've been possible."
"Awww, you're welcome! I'm so happy to have been a part of it!"
Without question, Deko gave Todoroki a big hug, which he gladly returned. Considering this might just be the last time that either one would see the other alive, they valued it more than anything else at the moment, but were nevertheless hopeful that they'd come back alive for more. Soon enough, Deko backed away, but kept her arms around Todoroki as she looked into his heterochromic eyes.
"Todoroki…you're one of my favorite people ever."
"You're one of mine, too, but…are you trying to make me cry?"
Deko chuckled. "Not really, but I'll give you another hug if you are going to cry!"
"Thanks, but we can't delay any further. We've got some villain ass to kick!"
"Right!"
Todoroki and Deko returned to the break room.
"All right, enough screwing around!" said Todoroki. "Let's get out there and show them what women can really do!"
"Right!" The women thrust their fists into the air.
For their part in the operation, Todoroki's team "borrowed" a step van from Cintas and headed for One America Plaza. Because the front door was likely to be heavily guarded, they drove in through an entrance usually used for delivery vehicles. After Todoroki parked the van, him and his team hopped out. Because the members of the PRWO were likely to be extremely dangerous, Todoroki brought along a last-ditch weapon, a Browning AN/M2 machine gun modified with an M1919 pistol grip, which was fed through a very long ammo belt that he carried in an ALICE pack. To go up to the top floor, the team took a service elevator. Thus far, things were going smoothly. Granted, Todoroki and the women didn't exactly know who was waiting for them when they got to the upper floors, but no matter who came at them, they vowed to meet their opponents with maximum firepower. Then, unexpectedly, the elevator stopped, and a bunch of the women readied their guns.
"All right, everyone, stay calm," said Todoroki. "I had an idea about this. Uraraka, can you float us up to the next floor?"
Uraraka nodded. "I'll try."
"OK. I'll exit first. Deko, give me a boost."
"Right!" said Deko.
After opening the hatch on the elevator's roof, Todoroki took off his backpack and threw it along with his Browning up the hatch before getting a boost from Deko. He then assisted the women in getting on top of the elevator. Fortunately, Uraraka's Quirk wouldn't be needed for long – if at all – for the nearest shaft door wasn't too far above the team's heads. Nevertheless, Deko gave Todoroki another boost, and slinging the AN/M2 over his shoulder, he forced the shaft door open. He couldn't see any villains, but once he climbed up, he readied his big bad machine gun and stood point while Deko helped the rest of the women climb up, and Uraraka floated Deko up. Those two got up there in time, too, for…
"We've been spotted!" exclaimed Todoroki. "OPEN FIRE!"
While Todoroki's team was infiltrating One America Plaza, Yaoyorozu's team was heading to the US Bank Tower in another step van, this one painted in Frito-Lay colors. Unlike Todoroki's team, they didn't have to go far, for the US Bank Tower was only a stone's throw away from where the Shoto Agency had their office. Thus far, things were going smoothly, that is, until they got to the intersection of 5th Street and S Olive Street, where an LAPD roadblock was positioned.
"Excuse me, but the area around the US Bank Tower is off-limits to civilians," said an LAPD officer.
Yaoyorozu flashed her ID. "We're with the Shoto Agency. We heard about the bomb threat, and we're going in to check it out."
"Oh, sorry about that. Go on through."
A couple of LAPD officers moved their cars, and Yaoyorozu drove the van on through. When they got to the US Bank Tower, they found more LAPD units along with CHP units and LAFD apparatus. As they debarked from the van, an LAPD sergeant approached them.
"What's the situation?" asked Yaoyorozu.
The sergeant gestured towards the building. "A guy inside threatened to detonate explosives in the building unless all heroes agreed to surrender. We don't know how many suspects are holed up in there or even if there are any bombs. ETA on the bomb squad was 20 minutes last I checked."
Yaoyorozu turned to Jiro. "Jiro, see what you can find."
"Got it!"
Jiro headed over to the building and plugged one of her earphone jacks into the building to scout out any threats. After listening in for a bit, she turned to Yaoyorozu.
"I can't detect any explosives, but this building's definitely wired up for something, and it's coming from a guy on the 65th floor. The first floor's clear, but there are at least 40 other villains in this building."
"Then we'll take the lobby elevator up," said Yaoyorozu.
Yaoyorozu readied her M60 and took point, while her squad followed her in. True to Jiro's word, the lobby was unoccupied, but Utsushimi wasn't too happy:
"I don't like this. Like, it's too quiet."
"Keep your eyes open, Utsushimi," said Yaoyorozu. "We won't be alone."
Yaoyorozu hit one of the elevator buttons, and the team readied their weapons in case of enemy attack. Fortunately, the elevator arrived without anyone coming out at them, and they hopped in. Thus far, things were going smoothly…that is, until the elevator stopped between floors.
"What's going on!?" said Hatsume.
"They must've known we were coming!" said Yaoyorozu.
"I'll get us out," said Tsu. "Just open the hatch for me."
"Right!"
Yaoyorozu opened the hatch, and Tsu used her tongue to pull herself up onto the top of the elevator. She then proceeded to hoist everyone else up, and just in time, too…
"Uh-oh, I don't think we're alone!" said Yaoyorozu.
Meanwhile, back at One America Plaza, Todoroki and his squad had come face to face with a villain wearing an angular black costume. The villain attempted to shoot a bunch of crystalline spikes at the heroes, but Todoroki used an ice shield to protect them and returned fire with his Browning, shredding the villain with 1,300 rounds per minute of .30-06 death.
"Come on!" said Todoroki.
After melting his ice shield, Todoroki charged forth with the rest of his women. However, it was clear that this wouldn't be an easy jaunt when another villain seeped through the cracks of the ceiling tiles and attempted to ambush them. Deko swung around and attempted to ventilate him with her M16A1, but the villain absorbed her bullets without taking so much as a scratch.
"Midoriya, I got this!"
Ashido shot some concentrated acid at the villain and melted him, and the heroes moved on. By now, more villains were closing in on them from all sides, but the heroes had more than enough firepower to take them on, and when firearms weren't enough, they had their Quirks to help out, too. One helpful Quirk was Tokage's, which enabled them to respond to villains that much quicker because she could see them coming. Even so, some of the villains made things challenging for them by bringing their own guns, but considering the members of the PRWO had trained at the Imperial Marksmanship Academy, they were pretty much hopeless against Todoroki and his squad of gun-wielding ladies. In another notable instance, a villain attempted to dodge the heroes' bullets by turning into water, but Todoroki simply dealt with this villain by freezing him and moving on. Soon enough, they came to a door leading to a stairwell.
"Hagakure, check to see if that stairwell is clear!" said Todoroki.
"Right!"
Readying her M76, Hagakure opened the door to the stairwell and poked her head around the corner to see if there were any villains awaiting them. Satisfied that things were clear, she gave a thumbs up. Todoroki nodded, and he took point again, and the women followed. For a couple of floors, things were clear. Then, when they got to the 11th floor, a villain burst out of the door, but Todoroki blasted him. Nevertheless, he had a close call when another villain materialized behind him and attempted to put him in a chokehold, but Deko blasted that guy, and they continued on. A few more villains charged up the stairs from lower floors, but Kendo and Tokage – who had been covering the rear – saturated them with lead.
"Where are we?" asked Uraraka.
"We're on the 13th floor," said Deko.
"Hey, when we get to 20, tell me!" said Kendo. "I'm gonna throw up!"
While Todoroki's squad was fighting their way upstairs, Yaoyorozu's squad had to deal with a bunch of villains opening elevator doors higher up and trying to come at them with their Quirks or assorted weaponry. However, aided by Yaoyorozu's M60 – which was being fed by a bullet belt that Yaoyorozu was conjuring from her body – the heroes gave the villains some nasty cases of air conditioning. Yaoyorozu then used the M60's sling to support the gun while she pulled out her grappling hook gun.
"We'll have to pull ourselves up," said Yaoyorozu. "Shiozaki, can your vines reach that far up?"
Shiozaki nodded. "They are more than adequate for that task."
"Good. Asui, can your tongue reach that far up?"
Tsu shook her head. "I don't think so, but I should be able to climb the walls of the shaft."
"OK, then go to the nearest door and find out the closest floor!"
"Got it."
Tsu climbed one of the walls and forced the nearest shaft doors open. A couple of villains attempted to bust her up, but she laid waste to them with her dual Uzis.
"I'm at the 15th floor now!" said Tsu.
"Got it!" Yaoyorozu turned to Jiro. "Jiro, can you use your earphone jacks to pull yourself up?"
Jiro looked up. "That looks pretty high up, but I'll try my best."
"Then here's what we'll do: Kodai, you grab onto my legs, Utsushimi, you grab onto Shiozaki's legs. We'll pull you up."
"Got it!" said Kodai and Utsushimi.
Yaoyorozu and Hatsume shot up grappling hooks, while Shiozaki shot some vines up and Jiro used her earphone jacks as grappling hooks, and the women began to ascend, with Tsu scouting ahead. While not the strongest member of Shoto's Angels, Yaoyorozu nevertheless had enough strength to pull up with her grappling hook while having her M60 in the other hand and Kodai hanging on for dear life. She was thankful that the particular grappling hook gun she conjured had a strong enough cable and motor for the job as well. Various villains attempted to pop out at them from random floors, and even though the M60's recoil was a bit much for somebody holding it with one hand, she did all right with it. Jiro and Tsu also did a manageable job with their Uzis, and considering Shiozaki didn't need to hold anything in her hands to pull herself up, she was free to concentrate on using her M16A1 with both hands. Kodai, Utsushimi and Hatsume weren't nearly as lucky, however, having picked primary weapons that required two hands for optimum control. Nevertheless, they did well with their Model 66s and 1911. At one point, however, the women nearly got in trouble when a villain with scissor jaws attempted to cut whatever they were using to climb with, but with a daring leap, Tsu cut him down with her dual Uzis before he could do any damage, and she managed to jump onto the ledge.
"Asui, how much further!?" shouted Yaoyorozu.
"I'm at the 49th floor! Keep it up!"
"You heard her! Let's not give up now!"
"We better get there soon!" said Jiro. "Pulling myself up like this hurts!"
"Well, the sooner we get there, the less time it'll hurt!" said Yaoyorozu.
Despite the fact that pulling herself up by the ears wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, Jiro elected not to give up. After all, she was well-known amongst her fellow heroes for keeping her cool in difficult situations, and she didn't want to think about what would happen if Todoroki found out she gave up. She didn't have to worry too much, however, for the floors in the 50s were largely devoid of villains, barring one who attempted to dump boiling oil on them. Fortunately, nobody got hurt. Then, in the 60s, a couple more villains came at them, but they too got cut down. Finally…
"Yaoyorozu, the 65th floor is over here!" cried Tsu.
"All right! Ladies, let's do this!"
"Right!" said everyone else.
In little time at all, everyone made it to the 65th floor. Yaoyorozu and Shiozaki let Kodai and Utsushimi jump off first before dismounting along with the rest of the women, who got a nasty surprise…
"What the…!?" said Yaoyorozu.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.
