Rule #15a: Teamwork makes the dream work
It all happened so fast. One minute, they were all waiting for Kage to input the search warrant into the intercom embedded in the outer gate, and the next they were cowering away from flying officers and rubble. Rock Lock, Toru was secretly glad to note, was one of the many that had been sent flying by the attack. She did not like that man. Getting to her feet, Toru looked up with gaping mouth to see the biggest muscle man she had ever seen or even imagined in her entire life. The villain—who looked more like a masked Nomu on steroids—easily towered over the heroes, and the smoking gate behind him. In fact, Toru would say that the man could've easily hurdled the wall and connecting gate without having to bust through, but that wouldn't have been as dramatic.
"What d'ya want?" He snarled, gloved fists clenched at his sides as he swelled up even further. "It's too early for visitors!"
"Aw man!" Rock Lock complained again. This time, it was justified. "Are you kidding me?! How do they already know we're here?!"
"No time for questions!" Fatgum retorted as he placed a wayward officer back onto his feet. "Let's go!"
"That's good" The villain murmured to himself, "I'm waking up a little"
Oh, this is gonna hurt! Toru whined as she watched the veins pop out along his arm and braced herself for the inevitable blow that would no doubt destroy the street.
"Brace yourselves!" Ryukyu called as she placed herself between the villain and the officers, half transforming into a dragon as she did so.
"WHY'RE YOU PEOPLE HERE?!"
"Listen to me!" Ryukyu roared as she gripped tight to the villain's wavering fist, holding him in place. Toru gaped at the sight she saw. White dragon scales melded with pink flesh to form the weirdest looking dragon she'd ever seen. She'd seen the draconic hero on the news before, of course, but it was so much different seeing it in person. "We shouldn't split up too many of our forces yet. The Ryukyu Agency will take care of this villain! The rest of you—GO!"
That was the only word they needed and soon everyone (sans Nejire, Ochako and Tsu) were headed inside. "YOU HEARD HER!" Fatgum stood at the broken gate and directed everyone inside. "C'ME ON! MOVE!"
"THIS IS THE HEROES AND THE POLICE!" Kage bellowed as she ran towards the entrance with warrant in hand. "WE HAVE A WARRANT TO SEARCH YOUR PREMISES! UNDER SUSPICION OF MANUFACTURING AND SALES OF ILLEGAL DRUGS!"
"They got a search warrant?!
"Who cares?!"
"They sure led with a brawler" Rock Lock commented as the group raced up the path, leaving minor heroes to take care of the goons who littered the front lawn like garden gnomes. "These guys ain't scared!"
"QUICKEST ROUTE! LET'S GO!" Fatgum hollered from the front as he bulldozed his way through, his voice carrying across the courtyard. "GET TO THE GIRL!"
"Hate to just barge in like this" Kage sang as she elbowed some guy in the stomach. In turn, Toru couldn't help but smile at the reactions she got when she heated up just enough for others to jump at the heat emanating from her. "But we're kinda in a hurry here!"
"Haven't seen any signs of suspicious activity yet!" Fatgum shot over his shoulder as they ran.
"Yeah bro, same here" Rock Lock agreed. "But hey, we're in it now, right? We got no choice but to see it through"
"Is it possible that somebody leaked our plans for the raid?" Tamaki suggested. "There must be a reason they all came pouring out like that"
"Hey! Don't look at me!" Toru threw her hands up in surrender when more than one set of eyes swung her way.
"If there had been a leak" Kage replied, doing her best to smother the smirk dancing on her lips at Toru's reaction. "Then they'd be fighting more cohesively. Groups like this are used to working together"
"There's nothing that matters more to these guys than the bond with the boss and their brothers" Aizawa explained as the group crossed the threshold. "Being part of the underworld only makes loyalty that much more sacred to them. All those people outside, but we haven't caught sight of the top brass yet. They're probably underground, hiding and getting ready to flee"
"How's the s'posed to be loyalty?!" Kirishima blurted out. "Forcing their henchmen to fight for them while they runaway?! It isn't manly at all!"
"That's 'coz they don't care about manliness" Toru replied. "It's like a chess game—sacrifice the pawns to protect the queen; any good player knows that"
"But they're still people!"
"Not to them"
Several twists and turns later, Sir Nighteye brought the whole group to a halt as he paused in front of a nondescript shrine tucked into an alcove. It appeared only decorative, if the non-existent layer of dust atop the vase was anything to go by. "This is it" NIghteye breathed, shoulders tense as he pulled the flowering vase out of the way. "There's a device here that opens a hidden passage. Pressing the right sequence of panels and—"
"—It's like a ninja hideout! How cool!" Bubble Girl chirped as the secret door began to creak along its hinges. It was only then, as they waited for the door to fully open that Toru noticed Snipe wasn't with them. He must be stuck outside. Toru nibbled her lower lip in thought as her eyes danced between those around her. At least that was until the secret door slid open and three armed thugs swarmed out with a war cry.
Both Bubble Girl and Centipeder made quick work of the thugs, tossing them about like they were nothing more than dolls. The brutality of the takedown certainly made more than one person pause and blink dumbfoundedly at the pair. For such a recluse duo, they sure are violent! Thought Toru before she followed after the others and slipped down into the passageway beyond the door. Once they were through, Toru knew that their small group would have to split off soon enough, herself disappearing off with Kage to find the security room/central command to gather what intel they could. At least, that was the idea.
"It looks like a dead end!" Kage groaned upon spotting the jaggedy wall which blocked their way. "So what now?"
"So much for your Foresight, Nighteye!" Rock Lock snarked.
"Hold on, lemme go take a look!" Mirio pulled his helmet off and handed it to Nighteye as he passed.
"Lemillion, if you go through that you'll be naked!" Kirishima hissed.
Wha—? Toru puzzled. I'm missing something here…
"He'll be okay" Tamaki replied softly, soothing the boy's concerns at Mirio took off. "Mirio's costume was constructed from a special fibre made from his own hair. It's designed so it becomes permeable when he accesses his Quirk"
That's kinda like mine! Cool!
"Oh"
"The hallway's just been blocked with this wall" Mirio pulled his head out of the wall and turned to face them. "Unfortunately, breaking through it's not gonna be easy"
"I knew this Chisaki guy could take crap apart and put it back together, but damn!" Rock Lock whistled.
"It's just a cheap trick!" Fatgum scowled.
"If he did this, it's gotta mean that we're on the right track!" Midoriya decreed as he and Kirishima sized up the wall in front of them.
"Yeah, you're right!" Kirishima nodded. "But he's an idiot if he thinks a dumb wall will stop us!"
SMASH!
That never gets old! Toru smiled proudly as she watched her classmates literally punch and/or kick their way through the concrete wall before them. Although she did have to dance out of the way of falling rubble that rained down as a result of the attack.
"Well…that didn't completely suck…" Rock Lock trailed off as both he and Fatgum relaxed their stances.
"I'll say" Fatgum agreed. "They beat me to the punch! Literally!"
"We need to keep moving" Mirio took point once more and led them down the hallway. All was going well until an almighty roar echoed around them and the hallway began to wobble about like jello.
"Whoa!" Midoriya cried as he toppled over.
"What's going on?!" Kirishima demanded as Toru clung to his arm in an effort to stay upright.
"Everything's moving!" Toru panicked, grip tightening as her feet danced beneath her and a queasiness curled tight in her stomach.
"This is someone different! Maybe Irinaka?" Kage called from behind them as she clung to an exposed pipe. Chisaki's Quirk can't do this kinda thing, right?"
"Irinaka's Quirk let's him enter objects and control them as he would his own body!" Nighteye replied.
"He must've gone into the concrete in the halls down here! Now it's a living maze!"
"It shouldn't be possible on this scale!" Rock Lock retorted. "He's not s'posed to be able to control anything bigger than a damn refrigerator!
"Remember who we're dealing with here!" Fatgum replied, looking far less worse for wear than those around him as he bounced back and forth like a rubber ball. "Dollars-to-donuts, he's using a performance enhancer!
"I was ready for just about anything!" Kage huffed a laugh, "But this is insane! Y'know he could make a living as a bouncy castle connoisseur…"
"Kage!" Toru snapped, "Not the—hic—time!"
"This has gotta be wearing him out though, right?" Midoriya queried, tumbling over his own feet.
"Eraserhead! Can't you stop him?" Fatgum called over his shoulder.
"I can't do anything without seeing his real body!" Aizawa replied, leaning back against Fatgum. Toru knew that she could easily blind whomever was nearby, but the motion sickness was getting to her and that didn't even take into account the allies who'd get hit as well.
"With the passageway shifting and changing like this, they can create as many escape routes as they want" Tamaki despaired as he slowly dissolved into mutters. "We have to think quickly to catch up with them! No—who are we kidding? They're gonna escape with the girl and we're all gonna die down here—!"
"—Tamaki!" Mirio clapped his friend on the shoulder, snapping him out of whatever trance he had fallen into. "No way that's gonna happen, understand? You can do this, Sun Eater! Besides, this is just a stop-gap! They can warp the path forward if they want, but as long as we know the direction of our goal, I can still reach it!"
"Lemillion!" Nighteye called after the blonde as he raced ahead, unhindered by the change in terrain.
"Come back!" Midoriya cried.
"Speed is what matters right now!" Mirio called over his shoulder as he ignored their protests. "Those guys know it too! That's why they're stalling for time! I'm going on ahead!"
That was that. The blonde's rogue cape flapped behind him as he slipped through the walls as he ploughed forward, leaving everyone else behind. Toru glanced back to see that both Nighteye and Midoriya bore looks of worry—one of a parent and one of a friend—as they stared after him, currently unable to help or follow. At least until the floor opened up beneath them and then they were all sent hurtling to the floor below. Thankfully, this hallway remained stable and unmoving which Toru took great pleasure in as she sat still for a moment to regain her bearings and settle her roiling stomach.
"Now where are we?" Midoriya looked about as everyone pulled themselves together.
"Somewhere even farther from the target" Rock Lock replied, coughing around the dust cloud that had sprung up upon their landing. "Those guys are really screwing around with us!"
"Well, well, well! What have we here?" Tabe whistled at the crowd gathered who turned to face the newest masked men."Looks like some state-authorised thugs crashed our party? Isn't that strange?"
Toru—who had been climbing to her feet—shot up ramrod straight at who she spotted amongst the three before them. It was like time seemed to stop. She knew that the likelihood of seeing her captors down here was high, but that still didn't prepare her for the sudden appearance of Setsuno nor the intense hatred that welled up within her. "Wait!" Kage clapped a warning hand on the invisible teen's shoulder fixing her in place, not that it really mattered as Toru had pretty much frozen up.
"That's him…" Toru murmured as her narrowed eyes became transfixed on the blonde who had bought her. "That's Setsuno…"
"Well, lookie here!" Setsuno grinned, head tilted as his eyes roved over her form. "One our chickadees has come home to roost!"
Toru's hackles rose and she bared her teeth in an animalistic fashion as she could other eyes on her and her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. You could practically see the heatwaves emanating from the girl and a few of those around her jumped a step or two back from the sudden intensity of it.
"Prism. Hold" Kage ordered through gritted teeth, her hand now blistering red but remained stationed there nonetheless. Toru could feel the woman's nails digging into her shoulder, warning her not to move even though she wanted nothing more than to lunge across the room and sever his head from his shoulders.
Bloody two-faced psychopathic bird brain—!
"You should save your strengths for when we reach the target" Tamaki—who had moved to place himself between the two groups without anyone noticing—swung his arm out to stop anyone else from interfering in the challenge he had silently accepted. "These guys just wanna slow us down. Go on, I can handle them myself!"
"You don't have to! We can work together!" Kirishima replied, sparing a glance towards his classmate who was doing a very good impression of Bakugou.
"Please everyone, stay!" Setsuno patronisingly implored, "I'll kill you all!"
"Setsuno! We can't use our guns on him!" One of the police officers called out. "It's up to the Pros!"
"You've done your homework! Oh well, that just means I'm free to let loose!"
"Think again!" Aizawa snarled, cancelling the blonde's Quirk as Setsuno lunged for them with hand outstretched.
"Ah! My Quirk!" He stopped short as Toru smiled in vindictive satisfaction. With Setsuno prematurely occupied, Hojo (the normal-looking one of the three) moved forward with pistol cocked.
"Power Erasure" Hojo hummed as he trained his firearm on them. At the same time, Kage manhandled Toru so that she was hidden behind herself and the Pros, less so for protection and more so she wouldn't do something reckless like try to take on all three at once in her rage-filled state. "He's an inferior version of Eri. I'd heard a hero with your abilities existed, but our job is to slow you down. Quirks or no, we still have fists and weapons"
"FIGHT ALL YA WANT!" Fatgum decreed. "BUT SWORDS AND BULLETS JUST SINK INTO MY BODY! YOU HVAE NO HOPE OF BEATING US! SO WHY EVEN BOTHER?!"
"Big talk" Setsuno laughed, setting Toru's nerves on edge as she simmering away, hidden in Fatgum's shadow. "But you just sound scared to me, hero!"
"ERASERHEAD CANCELLED THEIR QUIRKS SO WE CAN USE OUR FIREARMS!" The police panicked, cocking their guns in reply as tensions rose. "SURRENDER YOURSELVES AT ONCE!"
"Setsuno Toya, Quirk: Larceny. Hojo Yu, Quirk: Crystalise. Tabe Soramitsu, Quirk: Food" Tamaki listed as flesh-coloured tentacles exploded across the room and swaddled the three villains tight before slamming them against the far wall. "I read all about these guys in the briefing! I can take these three on! We had tonnes of takiyaki at the Fat Agency, so octopus has become one of my specialties! Y'know I'm pretty done with guns since I was shot in the street!"
"Hold on Sun Eater—!" Kirishima pleaded as Tamaki shattered their weapons and tossed them aside.
"It's not smart for all of us to fight them" He shot back, not turning around. The heat emanating from Toru slowly began to dwindle as she watched the senior take on the three villains, although her eyes did not move from the captured blonde. "They want as many heroes stalled here as possible, let's just give them one. We should save all your Quirks—especially Eraserhead's—for later. You'll need to operating at 100% to get through those moving hallways! FATGUM! I KNOW THIS IS SOMETHING I CAN DO ON MY OWN!"
There was a beat of silence as the BMI hero seemed to digest those words, before he spun on his heel and shoved the stiffened police towards the door. "Let's go! Through here!"
"Wait a minute!" Kirishima protested, not wanting to leave his senpai behind. At Fatgum's command and Kage's behest, Toru was all but manhandled out into the adjoining hallway least she act on her feelings like she really, really wanted to. Logically, she knew that Tamaki could take care of them himself, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Soon enough, she was joined by both of her classmates and the rest of their small group before they took off once more despite minor grumblings and protests from a few. Fatgum was quick to reassure them however, that despite Tamaki's self-confidence issues, he was a capable hero that could more than easily hold his own. Toru grit her teeth, ducked her head and continued on.
"Strange" Aizawa panted as they moved further into the building where they had yet to reencounter Irinaka. "The guy who was manipulating the building, seems to have eased off for some reason"
"Yeah, you're right" Midoriya agreed, not as tired as the Pro. "It's not twisting anymore"
"I'd expected him to throw more obstacles in our way than this" Kage commented, keeping an eye on her charge as the invisible girl stewed within her own mind.
"If he's not, maybe that means his awareness and control don't extend this far, even with the drug?"
"There's also the police squad up above. He could still be playing with them"
"So there's a limit to how much of the building he can tabs on?" Rock Lock puzzled.
"It's just a theory" Kage shrugged. "But maybe he's moving around inside the walls to monitor what's going on"
"So when he does take control of an area, perhaps his true body is nearby?" Aizawa ended as they rounded yet another corner. "If he pokes an actual eye or ear out to keep track of us, then that'll be all it takes. I just need to see him"
And with that the wall behind them shot out, a pillar of concrete taking the nullification out in one single hit that none of them saw coming. It more than served its purpose in pulling Toru out of her swirling mind and she quickly dropped down the index until she was back at her core base temperature once more.
"ERASER!"
"No!" Aizawa cried as he was shoved out of the way by Fatgum who took the hit instead and was shoved down into the dark by the concrete pillar.
"If we don't stop this guy then Tamaki will have stayed behind for nothing!" Fatgum hissed as he zoomed by. "C'me on, Eraser! Time to do your thing!"
"Be careful, Fat!"
"Er…where's Red?" Toru glanced about upon noticing they were down more than one.
"Oh, don't tell me…" Kage rolled her eyes towards the hole that had sealed up shut in front of them.
"At least Fat's with him, right?" She turned to the detective, now much more calmer than she had previously been.
"Eh…"
"Hurry!" Nighteye quickly took command, "We need to catch up with Mirio! Fast!"
"No! Again?!" Midoriya complained as the hallway around them turned to jello once more. "It's moving! The ceiling! The walls! Everything!"
"I'm getting real sick of this!" Kage snapped as everyone tried to find a foothold or a handhold without going ass over kettle.
"They're closing in fast!"
"He's trying to crush us!" Aizawa panicked as he dove out of the way of a pillar made from the ceiling. No way was he getting caught in that again.
"We'll be flattened like damn pancakes!" Rock Lock cried as the walls caved in on them.
"ROCK LOCK! DO SOMETHING!" Nighteye commanded.
"STOP GIVING ORDERS!" The earthern hero irritably snapped back. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! LISTEN TO YOU IS WHAT GOT US INTO THIS MESS!"
Nonetheless, Rock Lock slapped a hand on the closet wall as Toru lost her balance and tumbled to the roiling ground. Midoriya tried to help her up, but it was hard to do when their environment was trying its utmost best to be a hinderance. "Fine! This oughta do it! DEADBOLT!" He rotated his wrist and activated his Quirk, halting anymore movement from the area. "Once I lock something down, it ain't going anywhere! C'me on! Let's go! This stretch won't shift around anymore! It's narrow, but deal with it! It's strong, but it can only hold in so many spots and I'm already hitting my limits"
With partial areas of the hallway now locked into place in the oddest topsy turvy state that reminded her of Alice in Wonderland, the group moved forward with cautious steps, well aware that the villain was still there. Up ahead, Rock Lock bounced from side-to-side along the hallway, locking areas in place and next to her, Midoriya's eyes sparkled. "WATCH THE SPOTS I DIDN'T LOCK DOWN!" Rock Lock warned them as the wall at their backs shot forwards with a vengeance. "HE'S COMING AT US!"
"It's like fighting a rabid mole" Kage noted as Midoriya shot forward to smash apart the incoming attacks with his usual intensity.
"Shame we lost Fat's team, this would be a lot easier with them here. Don'tcha think?"
"Obviously!" Aizawa snarled. Toru blinked at the reaction; she'd only ever heard their teacher sound like that on a handful of occasions—most of them involving Midoriya 'Problem Child' Izuku. "He's pinpointing our location, but where's he watching from? Inside the wall?"
"We're not making any progress here! He just keeps cornering us!"
"NO WAY I'M GONNA LET YOU STOP US NOW!" Midoriya decreed as he shot forward once more, meeting the barrage of concrete head on. Toru wanted to help him, but pure brute strength wasn't really her forte; thankfully she didn't have to as the concrete pillar suddenly retreated leaving them in a large cavernous room that made her feel like she was standing in a bowl.
"It…opened up" Toru mused, eyes glancing about at their new environment.
"What do you think they're planning this time?" Kage wondered.
"Tch" Rock Lock scoffed, and as if on cue more pillars shot out from the room. Only this time, instead of knocking people away, they were each separated from each other, leaving them fenced in and alone.
No one, Toru could safely say as she lay wheezing for breath on the floor of her prison, had been expecting that kind of attack from Irinaka, the villain just didn't really seem to have a brain. "…YOU GUYS OKAY ON THAT SIDE?" Rock Lock's voice sounded faint through the thick walls.
"PRISM? YOU THERE?" Kage called from someplace beyond the rock to her left.
"YEAH!" Toru called back, groaning slightly as she pushed herself to her feet when her breath had returned. Thankfully she wasn't hurt, just a few scrapes and bruises; but a quick glance about did indeed show her that she was alone. There was a beat of silence as everyone examined the new situation they had found themselves in, and Toru found herself wondering what the boiling point of rock was as she inspected the rear wall.
"STAY ALERT!" Nighteye called next. "BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING!"
CRASH!
That's gotta be Midoriya. Toru hummed pleasantly around the gloves she had shoved between her teeth and placed her illuminated hands on the concrete wall before her as she set to work tunnelling her way through. It was slow-going, pushing her way through the stone and she was thankful that she had had the foresight to pull her goggles of before she started. Although Toru wasn't aware of where exactly she was going, she could hear faint voices on the other side of the wall and figured at the very least out was the best option.
Coming out on the other side of the wall, Toru took a moment or two to shake off the dust and debris that had clung to her in that time, before the violet light encasing her limbs quickly blinked out upon spotting the source of the voices. Mere feet away from her, crouched Toga and Twice, two rather manic villains from the League, and she was reminded of Aizawa's warning about not interacting with them. Don't have to tell me twice! Toru panicked, slapping a hand over her mouth to quieten her suddenly thundering breaths as she completely blinked from existence, hoping against hope that the pair of villains hadn't noticed her sudden arrival. She knew that it was cowardly to do so, but Toru wasn't like Midoriya or Kirishima; she couldn't rush in to a stupidly outmatched situation without thinking it through—sometimes overthinking to the point of stupidity.
"… I know you've gotta be hurting" Toga cooed as she cupped Twice's bandaged face. Thankfully they seemed too wrapped up in each other. "You feel the most responsibility for Big Sis Mag's death and it's getting you down! But you've gotta be a good bad boy and power through! So we can do what we came here to do, okay?"
"Wifey!" Twice wept.
"It's gotta be rough in your head, Jean, so sad! But if this whole team-up fails now, we won't get our reward"
Reward? Toru mouthed confusedly behind her hand as her brows furrowed. What's she even talking about?
"NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY THE YAKUZA'S DYING OUT!" Twice bellowed at the ceiling.
Is Irinaka here?! Toru panicked, her wide eyes rocketing skyward.
"Yeah!" Toga cackled, "They really are hopeless losers!"
These guys are insane!
"Cause your real leader's a bedridden old man!" Toga poked her tongue out in the same direction as Twice. "I can't imagine anyone more worthless than that!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Irinaka bellowed, his voice echoing out as the hallway roiled once more, this time far more ferociously than before and several pockets dotted the floor. Feeling sick to her stomach, there was nothing Toru could do as a hole opened up beneath her, swallowing her whole.
Sliding along these jagged dirt tunnels hurt far more than the ones she had climbed out of, but thankfully the motion sickness had stopped, instead giving way to severely misplaced joy as she raised her arms in the air like she was going down a waterslide. Weeeeee! Toru silently cheered as she ignored each rip and tear that she garnered in her costume as she went. She wasn't sure where Toga & Twice had gone, but she summarised that they must've been swallowed by their own hole alongside the others still trapped within. Admittedly, Irinaka's bellow of "CRUSH THEM ALL TO DEATH!" was a little disconcerting, but whatever the case, she soon found herself deposited in yet another hallway. One that, thankfully, led her straight to her initial target: the security room.
