"What the hell is wrong with this place?!" thought Ochako, completely baffled.
She had been wandering in the depths of the base for the better part of a half-hour and every time she thought she was making progress she always wound up back where she had started. This marked the third time it had happened and now she was sure there was something far more sinister at work than just her just having the worst sense of direction possible.
She thought for a few seconds before reaching into a pack pocket and withdrawing several small glowrods. She went to the entrance of what she guessed had been a lab, activated one of the rods, and tossed it onto the ground. Then she started her trek through the halls again.
She kept going until she ran into the T-junction and dropped on at the left-hand pathway. She passed several rooms that she knew were once offices from exploring them earlier and got to the four-way intersection. The left lead to more offices, the center went towards more labs, and the right held more offices and supposedly the way to the elevator and stairs. She had tried that way once already and despite every intersection having signs, hadn't managed to locate the exit. The place was also larger than she had expected. It must have been a major lab for the league and it was likely where a lot of missing material from other facilities was sent. She wasn't sure if she was on the lowest floor or not, but if she was as deep as she suspected, then she was probably on the lowest or second-lowest floor. Which meant the stockpiles were probably located on the upper floors. She'd have to keep an eye out when she got out of here for storerooms.
The hallway had been a straight shot for the last minute, and her mind had drifted, so she gave a start when she found herself back at the lab entrance with her glowrod on the floor. She stared at it open-mouthed when she heard in the distance a distinct metal on metal grating sound. She spun around and she felt a bead of sweat roll down her neck. The place had been dead silent up till now and she'd be lying if she said it wasn't a bit creepy. She waited for a moment and then she heard another faint scraping noise. Another two minutes passed in silence until she started moving down the corridor. She kept her gravity armor up at maximum as she went, floating off the ground slightly so as to avoid any undue noise. She floated like a wraith down the hallway, keeping her eyes peeled for any slight noise. As she got near the four-way intersection, she noticed a section of the ceiling hanging down, connected by a few cables and wire. It hung down enough that someone could hide behind it if they pressed themselves to the ceiling. She grinned and floated up to the ceiling and using used the hanging piece of ceiling panel to wait. a hanging ceiling panel waited. She could just barely see around the panel into the intersection and thought it likely whoever or whatever had made the noise would come through the intersection eventually.
She wasn't disappointed.Eventually, she heard the noise of footsteps on the floor and she tensed. The footsteps came from the pathway to the right, where she didn't have a clear view. The footsteps came closer and she heard them stop just before entering the intersection. She heard a whisper of movement, like cloth rubbing up against something then she felt something slam into her side. She jerked backward and landed on the floor, only to feel more objects impact her armor and be deflected. She looked up and saw whatever it was, was already on her. She saw some object speeding towards her head and she instinctually shot a hand forward. Using her gravity armor she allowed the object to hit her forearm and let her armor guide the attack away from her and then spun into the creature slamming her left elbow into it. Or tried to anyway, the creature ducked her attack and then jumped backward a fair distance, sliding across the ground and resting in a crouch.
Now that some distance had been made, she could see her assailant clearly and felt herself freeze in shock. Just in front of her, was a human figure, clad in armor plating, holding a wakizashi, and with two burning red eyes staring back at her, equally surprised.
"What the hell are you doing here," Ochako asked, completely mystified as to why the Hunter of all people would down here.
"The same reason you're here I'd wager, teleported down to the lowest level of the base the moment you entered the main hallway into the base up above. I take it you sped up the timetable for your attack?" Said the Hunter, straightening up and walking to the intersection to pick up the knives he'd thrown at her.
Ochako shook her head and made sure she wasn't hallucinating, then straightened up herself.
"We did, but you only answered half my question," she said, looking the Hunter up and down.
He was, as Bakugo had described, a man about as tall herself, with unkempt black hair, glowing red eyes, and unlike what Bakugo had described as a surprisingly deep voice, his voice sounded like he was in his 20's or early 30's. Due to the darkness, she had a hard time picking out specific facial features but she could see the wear that his face showed, wear and roughness that only came from constant fighting. His eyes also seemed to be locked into a perpetual glare. She also noticed that the Hunter wasn't wearing the face mask Bakugo had also described.
"A voice-altering face mask? Maybe of the kind that Shinso uses?" she thought. It made sense, probably increased the intimidation factor when dealing with villains.
"I don't have to answer your question, and you can't force me to either, but we are both here for the same general purpose. Stopping Zeus and seizing his base, to that end I suggest we unite for the time being. Whatever it is that stalks these halls will have an easier time fighting us if we are divided." He said.
"Have you seen what's down here?" she asked, as she mulled over his proposal.
"No, and that concerns more than if I had seen it. Either it knows we're here or it's on an upper level, where it more than likely makes its lair. It could be that these lower levels are just its 'hunting' grounds so to speak. I've seen plenty of evidence of multiple teleportations's on the lowest floor over time, and plenty of bodies to pair with them." He said grimly.
That wasn't exactly comforting, but she decided she'd rather take the fight to it, rather than let it stalk her. Ochako gave a sigh and ran a hand through her hair in agitation, glad she had declined to use the helmets the techs had pushed her to use.
"All right, until we get out of her and put a stop to Zeus's plans here, we have a truce. The second that's over though, your either going to surrender or I'll have to beat you into submission. Though, considering the number you did on Bakugo, I imagine he'll try and get first crack on you." she said as she started towards the Hunter to head down the hallway behind him.
As they walked in silence, Ochako surprised at how even-tempered the Hunter seemed to be. He spoke quite rationally, albeit bluntly (based on his immediate proposal to join forces) which spoke to a level of practicality and tactical thinking. She had been expecting hostility or disdain at the very least. She had been expecting a miniature Stain, but he seemed to be Stain's polar opposite so far. Instead, contrary to his looks talking to him was rather like talking to a fellow Hero from another country. Granted he hadn't spoken much, but she got the same kind of feel she got whenever she had been forced to deal with heroes from America or China.
She heard Nezu's voice drift through her mind, reminded of what he said when asked about his thoughts concerning the Hunter.
"Personally, I find it disappointing that he never aimed to be a Hero. He likely has a physical enhancement quirk of some kind and it's strong, and he has a great passion for his work. Such commitment and drive are rare even among heroes."
Now she couldn't help but wonder if Nezu had known more about the Hunter than what had been presented at the meeting. Nezu had always been two steps ahead of everyone, especially during the war when he had been pushed to the limits of his intelligence to anticipate and combat the League and it had only made him smarter. Hell, she wouldn't even be surprised at this point if Nezu had actually met the Hunter once. She would never be able to fully understand the mind of Nezu, but she trusted him.
"Where are you going?" asked the Hunter suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Ochako looked over to the Hunter but he wasn't there. She turned around and saw him standing at the entrance to another hallway and staring at her with a frown.
She frowned back and said, "I'm just going the same way you came in order to get to the intersection, you came in straight down the hallway right?"
"I did, but now you're going in the completely wrong direction." He said.
"No, I'm not, I've been walking in a straight line the entire time... right?" She asked slightly worried.
"No, you took a right just a second ago. Are you all right?" He asked now coming over to her and staring intently at her.
"I don't know... i've been trying to get out of here for the better part of thirty or so minutes. No matter what direction I try and go, I just end back where I started. Actually, how did you even end up escaping the lower floor? I would have expected whatever is affecting me to have affected you as well." She said massaging her temples.
The Hunter merely shrugged, "I would have escaped this entire place sooner if it weren't for the fact that the staircases have completely caved in. I had to scale the elevator shaft and that took me a while to find enough material to make it even attemptable. Whatever is down here must traverse via the shafts because the walls were so scratched up and that most handholds were useless. I had to salvage material from the floor just to be able to scale up to this floor. I planned on doing the same thing on this floor, but with you here we can just float up and out. As for some force working against me, I can't say I've felt anything but I'm pretty resistant to most non-mutation quirk effects so I'm not the best judge." he replied.
"Well, that explains why Bakugo's explosions didn't do anything to you and why whatever is preventing me from leaving isn't affecting you. It would probably be best if you lead in this case," she said.
The Hunter merely nodded and turned around and headed down the hallway. They continued walking for another minute before Ochako blinked and she was alone in the hallway. She stopped walking and looked around her, not only was she alone, but the hallway was completely different from the one she had been in earlier. Yet just delete yet she had no knowledge of deviating from the path the Hunter had been taking. She also noticed she was sporting a slight headache, nothing intense, but it felt unnatural considering what was happening. She turned around and started to head down the hallway in the opposite way she had come, only to hear the Hunter call from behind her.
"URAVITY!" shouted the voice from a ways behind her.
"I'M OVER HERE!" she shouted back.
She spun around and dashed down the hallway growing increasingly angrier by the moment, this was starting to get ridiculous. She ran until she turned a corner and nearly collided face-first into something jutting out from the wall. She checked herself just in time and stopped only inches away from it. She backed up and took a closer look at it.
It was a giant spike embedded into the wall, it was the size of her thigh and it was barbed all over and at the point where it met the wall. Upon closer inspection, she could see an old stain around the impact point that she immediately assumed to be blood. Then she noticed the almost pyramidal construction of it and when she ran a finger along it (avoiding the barbs), it felt like touching a beetle's carapace.
"Could someone have cut a piece of the creature off? or did it leave it itself?" she thought. The idea that this came from the creature quite concerning, especially considering how deep it was embedded into the wall. there must have been at least an extra foot she couldn't see, if not more.
Then she heard a noise behind her and she poked her head around the corner to see the Hunter jogging down the hallway. Which should have been impossible, considering she'd heard his voice coming from behind her and there had been no breaks in the hallway until now. She came round the corner and met the Hunter as he slowed upon seeing her.
"I thought you were following me," he said.
"I was, but I blinked and suddenly I found myself in a completely different hallway too. Whatever is messing with my head is obviously becoming more intense the closer I get to leave. I can't think of a way to get around it either, I can't follow you and I doubt a trail or markers would work any better." she said angrily.
The Hunter grunted and started to pace, clearly thinking. He stopped only a few seconds later and turned back to her.
"For now we'll go along maintaining physical contact, but should that fail then I have another idea though you won't like it." he said.
Ochako had a bad feeling about his second idea, but with no better ideas coming to her mind she agreed and they started down the hallway. With Ochako following behind him with the Hunter keep a grip on her wrist.
It seemed to be going well at first but then she began to feel a growing pressure on her mind. As they went deeper it only grew and she began to feel jittery and then a full-body spasm coursed through her and she hit the ground where she blacked out.
When she came too she noticed the Hunter kneeling above her with what she assumed to be lines of concern on his face. When he noticed her looking back at him though, the lines smoothed out and he stood up extending a hand to her. She took his hand and after shakily getting to her feet she steadied herself on a nearby table. She looked around her and she noticed that they were inside some kind of office space, some tables and chairs were scattered about and detritus everywhere.
"What happened?" she asked blankly.
"Well when you had your seizure, you broke my grip and then started throwing rubble at me. Then you sped down the corridor at high speed. I found you several hallways down, and dragged you into the adjacent room here." He said.
"Damn... So it's not an effect on my senses but a compulsion to not leave as well," she said, feeling utterly dejected. At this rate, escape for her was looking iffy at best.
"It would appear so, but I do have a potential solution. I have a drug you can drink that will likely nullify the effects if it's only mental and not something more tangible. Not ideal of course, but I don't think we many more options. It'll be a larger dose of the poison I used on Katsuki Bakugo. Obviously, I can't inject it directly, but enough ingested should suffice. You'll be unconscious during that time and I'll carry you to the exit myself and wait until your back up." he said.
Ochako debated the idea with him for several minutes before she was finally convinced. She hated the idea of willingly subjecting herself to drugs once more, but he had been right. She couldn't escape this floor without her brain being turned off and hopefully escaping the mental effect afflicting her.
She eyed the container dubiously, it was a small plastic cup, from a watercooler in an office that the Hunter had found as neither of them had anything suitable. The clear liquid inside it looked like water, but the smell gave it away as anything but water. She grimaced and downed it one, sitting down and letting the drug put her under. As her consciousness faded she looked up at the dark form of the Hunter above her. His glowing red eyes the only thing she could see until slumped to the side, unconscious.
She awoke with a start, jerking awake and looking around her in a slight panic until she remembered what happened and calmed down. She shook her head, trying to clear the fuzziness that had accompanied her waking up. She stood up and stretched, working any stiffness out of her joints. She knew immediately that the Hunter's plan had worked, as she was in a small T-intersection with cracked open elevator doors facing her. She didn't see the Hunter at first, but when she took a good look around she saw him sitting up against the wall next to the elevator doors, blending into the darkness. She had almost mistaken him for some rubble since he actually appeared to be sleeping, but as if he knew he was being watched he suddenly shifted and looked up at her. He grunted and got to his feet, doing a quick stretch himself.
"How long was I out?" she asked him.
"Three or four hours, and since you're finally awake we'd best be moving. I don't want to be down here any longer than is necessary," he replied, walking over to the elevator and proceeding to push them further open.
Ochako agreed, the place was beyond creepy, it was like something out of one of those old horror movies that Mina liked so much for some reason. She walked over to the fully open doors and leaned into the shaft, looking upward.
She couldn't see much, no emergency lights of any kind glowed nor could she see any kind of handholds either. The walls had a multitude of larges scrapes along them that had worn down the walls and any potential handholds. As she looked down, she saw a messy and complex series of cables, steel beams, and a smattering of other objects all put together to form some ramshackle rope/ladder of some kind, using particularly deep grooves or holes in the wall to anchor it all in place. If the Hunter hadn't apparently scaled it, then she wouldn't have believed it sturdy enough to hold even a child.
"You climbed up that? How did you even manage to get all that to stick together?" she asked incredulously.
"I know how to scavenge and make use of my surroundings in very unorthodox ways. Necessary skills to learn when you're wandering a country embroiled in a civil war." He said.
"Lessons taught to you by Stain?" she asked suddenly.
The Hunter was silent, but she saw his eyes narrow before he said quietly, "Yes... One of the few important skills he taught me."
She didn't press her luck by asking any more on the topic, she doubted he would answer anyways.
"Well regardless, I can definitely get us out of here. Just grab onto me and I'll fly us up the shaft," she said while stepping out into midair and floating there as she turned around to face the Hunter.
The Hunter pushed himself off the wall and came over to her, reaching out grasping her forearm with his. His grip was like iron, and she had no doubts that he would have little trouble holding on during the trip. Then she started to float upwards, she had gone up about 25 feet when she stopped and simply stared at the ceiling above them.
"What the hell is that..." she asked, bewildered.
The ceiling was blocked by some kind of ethereal barrier, rivulets of energy pulsed from it and she could feel some kind of pressure pushing against her as she got closer to it. When she went to touch it, she had to exert an extreme amount of force to overcome the outward force being pushed against her. When she finally did touch it, it pulsed and a wave of power blasted her backward and she nearly lost her grip on the Hunter. She righted herself and looked at her hand, it was raw to the touch and it was as if she had been burned. Strangely though, when the energy pushed against her she got some kind of emotion from it as well, a sense of warning and fear went through her. She got the impression that if she tried to force her way through it wouldn't end well.
"We'd best go down to the elevator door we passed on our way up and try to see if we can't get through the staircase somehow." said the Hunter, grimly.
Ochako left the wall and went down to the shut elevator doors. She reached out one hand and using her quirk, forced the doors to slide open. Causing a horrible screeching noise of grinding metal and gear in the process. She let the Hunter down onto the ground before she landed as well and took stock of the area surrounding them.
This floor actually had power, though it was clear it wasn't much. Some lights were broken or flickering and instead of taking away from the eery sensation, it seemed to add to it. They went over to the staircase next to them and opened the door and looked up. The same barrier blocked their path, meaning they weren't leaving until they found a way to remove it, assuming they could.
"Well, looks like we aren't going anywhere anytime soon," said Ochako irritated.
"It would probably be best to scout the floor, see if the barrier isn't being powered by something or someone. At worst, we might be able to circumvent by blasting through a wall or something and making our own path up." Said the Hunter.
Ochako agreed and so they set out to explore the floor.
