Good... whatever time of day it is, my Zesty friends. I've got a real quick piece of news for y'all before we get started.

Some of you may have noticed this chapter is labeled 'Part One'. Here's why.

As I was reviewing this chapter, it occurred to me that this chapter is... significantly longer than any other chapter in the story. Like... my average chapter length (by design) has been around 5 or 6k words. This one is over 16k. Because I have a problem.

Now, I don't think anyone here really cares if one chapter is really long, but I thought, eh, let's just go ahead and break them into two to prevent reader fatigue. So I'm posting part 1 of chapter 19 today, and part 2 will be posted on Tuesday. We will still get the final chapter of the story this upcoming weekend (though it may be delayed until 11/9 just because I have to work this weekend). But yeah. One extra chapter, except not really cause I just split it in two cause it's so long. Sorry about that? But also two updates this week?

No one probably cares. Haha. Whatever.

On to the chapter!

Chapter Nineteen (Part One)

As luck would have it, Kyouka wound up being the closest to the PLF's temporary hideout when Detective Nakamura sent the message out that a location had been received from Denki's ring.

She'd been with her sidekick Gizmo, racing up and down the abandoned alleys and less-busy sidestreets sprinkled in between the soba shop and the general location that Denki had first run into his long-lost sister so many weeks ago. This was an older, less populated part of town, so there were fewer civilians on the streets, but that didn't stop her from getting odd or concerned looks from passers-by. Using her earphone jacks, she'd been scouring the city for any potential sign of her children's location; looking for secret underground rooms, conversations about villainous activity, hyper-focusing on every individual heartbeat to see if it matched that of her children or her husband…

That was how she'd found Denki all those years ago. After the dam had blown, after he'd stopped responding over the radio, everyone else had given him up for dead. But Kyouka, desperate, heart-broken, and delusional with grief, had refused to give up. She'd wound up saving a lot of lives in her search for Denki, but when she'd heard his heartbeat under the rubble near the river bed, the same one she'd used to secretly listen to in class every day, pretending like it was just Quirk training and the fact that she chose his heartbeat every time had no deeper meaning… The sound had been like a bolt of lightning, illuminating the clouds that had been clogging her vision all night. Her first spark of hope.

She was experiencing that same sensation now, even as she raced to the location Nakamura had sent them, only a couple of blocks away. For the first time since her children had been taken, she felt like she'd found a secure line leading her to them. She wasn't going to let this lead go. Single-minded determination had seen her through the worst of times before, and it would see her through again.

The only problem was, literally everyone was trying to hold her back.

"We can't charge in, guns blazing!" Momo was shouting over the headset. Her best friend wasn't far away; she and Mina had both split up to cover more ground but had stayed near enough to Kyouka and Gizmo so they could keep their promise to Detective Nakamura about keeping an eye on her. "We don't know how many PLF members are in there! We're facing unknown numbers with unknown Quirks, and they have hostages! I know how you feel, Kyouka, but we need to be smart about this!"

Momo was right, of course. She usually was. But just as Nakamura had feared, logic had seemingly vacated Kyouka's brain entirely, leaving behind nothing but a ravenous, all-consuming fury.

Her kids and her husband were being held captive by a cult of deranged homicidal lunatics with a bone to pick, and they really thought she was going to stand around outside the building and wait?!

Her friends were on the way, of course. Not just Momo and Mina, but Bakugou, Kirishima, Todoroki, Mineta, Sero, Kouda, and others. All bringing along sidekicks. They would be here within the hour, most within a few minutes. Considering how far apart most of their typical stomping grounds were, even within the same city, that was quite a feat.

The problem was, her family may not have minutes. There was no telling when Renjirou was going to follow through with his threat and kill them. For all she knew, they could already be dead.

The street the hideout was on was wide and, predictably, abandoned. It looked like a warehouse district, albeit a defunct one. Most of the buildings here were large but had seemingly gone out of business years ago. Dirty windows, unkempt trees, litter on the streets… Some of the buildings had signs out front indicating that they either were for sale or had already been sold.

The building in question, however, did not have any such sign. Ten years of abandonment had done a number on its facade; some of the windows on the ground floor had been boarded up, the grass out front was dead and brown, and the heavy chain that sealed the double-doored entrance was rusted with age. Even so, it was obvious to Kyouka, now that she was looking, that it was much more heavily trafficked than the buildings that surrounded it. The walkway up to the building from the street had less dust, and if you looked, you could see footprints in some of the dirt patches mixed among the dead grass.

This must be one of the old Detnerat Inc. warehouses that had somehow flown under the radar during the purge a decade ago. It was a large building, around four or five stories high, give or take, with a cracked concrete exterior and haunted, empty windows. There was a road leading around to the back of the building, presumably where trucks would load and unload cargo. She was willing to bet that was where the actual entrance was.

She immediately started back in that direction, using her jacks to sense for human presence, when Gizmo caught her by the arm.

"Boss," he said, sounding equal parts nervous and firm. "You know you can't go in there by yourself."

She shot him an annoyed look over her shoulder. In her aggravated state, everything seemed to be irritating her, even him. What with his height, his stupid lab coat, his dorky tool belt, his flyaway hair. He never used to tell her what to do before. Clearly, she'd been too lax on her sidekick.

"I'm just doing recon, Giz," she said, fully aware of how tense and snappy her voice sounded. "That's my job, remember?"

"Sure, yeah," he said, releasing her arm and scratching at the side of his head awkwardly. "Of course. I knew that."

Of course, if she 'happened' to stumble across the entrance and then just 'happened' to take the guards out herself, well… sometimes, that was the way things went.

Unfortunately for her, before she even made it half of the way towards the back of the building, she was interrupted yet again by the arrival of Mina, skating swiftly on her acid-squirting shoes. And Mina wasn't as easily cowed as Kyouka's naive little sidekick.

"Where do you think you're going, Kyouka?" her pink-skinned friend demanded, sliding around Kyouka and Gizmo and coming to a stylish and athletic halt directly in front of them, blocking their way.

"S-she's just doing recon!" Gizmo piped up, either defending her or, more likely, defending himself for allowing her to do it, his hands held up in a way that was probably supposed to be placating but instead made him look like he was surrendering.

Mina shot him a flat look that seemed to say 'and exactly how stupid do you think I am?'

Excuses weren't going to cut it for Mina. She wasn't book-smart like Momo or Gizmo, but she was a genius when it came to reading people, and she could see through Kyouka like a windowpane.

"We're running out of time," Kyouka said, dropping all pretense. "Hell, we may be out of time already!"

"The others will be here in a few minutes-!"

"A few minutes we may not have!" Kyouka cut in, taking care not to shout just in case they were overheard, though it was admittedly a struggle. "And what's going to happen when they do get here? We'll stand around for a couple of minutes debating and then someone is going to have to conduct recon so we can find out where the hostages are and how many enemies we're up against! I'm not a fighter like Bakugou or Todoroki, and I'm not an all-around genius like Momo, but I am the best Support Pro in the city, so stop wasting time and let me do my job!"

After a moment of stern frowning, which was about as mad as Mina usually got, she relented.

"Fine," she mumbled, clearly sulking. "But I'm coming with you."

"Me too," Gizmo chimed in, not wanting to be left out.

"Whatever."

So long as neither of them tried to radio Momo or Bakugou to tell them what they were up to, that was fine. But now that Mina was here, they suddenly had more options.

Stepping closer to the wall, Kyouka stabbed the metal tip against the outer stone, warm from a day of baking in the sunlight, and focused all of her attention on listening.

It came to her in undulating waves, in echoes that wafted up out of the void. She sometimes wondered if this was how bats or whales saw the world. She'd need to ask Kouda one of these days. Eventually, a picture began to form in her head.

"What do we got?" Mina asked after a moment, whispering as though that would interfere less with Kyouka's Quirk.

"It's big," she replied softly. "Maybe… four floors in total above ground, but they're unusually tall. Lots of shelves - like, lots of shelves - and wide-open space for merchandise. Can't tell what kind. There's a basement as well."

"And bodies?"

Kyouka grunted, then shook her head.

"Too many to get an accurate count. I'd say around three dozen, spread all around, including a few near the back where the entrance probably is. I can't pick out Denki or the kids from here, not with all the distractions. They must be too far away."

Mina made a disgruntled face.

"Three dozen? And we don't know any of their Quirks aside from Renjirou's and Emiko's. This could turn ugly fast."

"But there's good news," Kyouka continued, shooting Mina an expectant look.

"Oh?"

"There's no one on the other side of this wall."

It took Mina a second to see what Kyouka was getting at. When it finally clicked, she blanched.

"What?! You want me to melt a hole through the wall?!"

"It's the safest way in," Kyouka countered hastily. "We'll sneak in, and once we're closer, I'll be able to use my Quirk to pinpoint Denki and the kids' location. We'll transmit that info to the others once they arrive and we can coordinate our attack. It's our best plan."

Kyouka would have found a way into the building regardless, but the best part about this particular excuse was that she was right. None of the other Pros who were on the way would be able to pinpoint the hostages from outside of the building. They were mostly specialized in taking down large or violent villains, subduing groups, or quick apprehension. Perfect for a raid, but less so when they didn't know what they were up against or where the hostages were. Sure, a couple of the sidekicks her friends were bringing had sensory Quirks like hers, but none had Kyouka's range or her familiarity with her family.

There was very little that was professional in Kyouka's reasoning if she were being honest, but even if she was actually motivated by rage and fear, it didn't matter so long as she was right.

"I don't know, Kyouka…" Mina said, trying to deflect, but Kyouka held her gaze.

"Mina, please… My kids are in there."

It was a cheap move, and it wouldn't have worked on someone more serious like Iida or Momo. But Mina wore her heart on her sleeve, for better or for worse, and she quickly gave in.

A moment later, a hole had been melted into the outer wall by Mina's powerful acid, and the three Heroes slipped their way quietly into the building.

They'd entered into what appeared to be a bathroom, though, from the layers of dust on the floor and the hollow sounds from the pipes under the tile, it wasn't being used. After checking their surroundings again with a jack to the wall, Kyouka gave a signal indicating the coast was clear, and together they snuck out into the outer room.

They were in the warehouse proper now, and Kyouka was instantly grateful that Nakamura had sent along blueprints of the building when she'd sent out the address because it made her job of scurrying around under cover of darkness that much easier - though of course a villain hideout could have made any number of modifications since the construction of the building and they weren't always completely accurate.

The bulk of each floor consisted primarily of storage space. The backside of the ground floor was the loading bay, where shipments had been dropped off and loaded up when the warehouse had been up and running. Much of the intervening space was filled with row upon row of shelves or pallets stacked high with old, unused merchandise. The rows ran perpendicular to the wall along the north and south sides of the building, but in the central-eastern portion of the warehouse, they switched direction and ran from north to south, forming a large 'U'.

Detnerat Inc had been Re-Destro's business, a front and source of financial power that he used to fund and support the MLA. They sold everything from clothing for Quirk users of all body types to support gear for Heroes (or villains, more often than not), and the shelves and pallets were stuffed to the brim with everything from dusty coats and specially designed footwear to belts and shields and more specific tools that would be of more use in combat.

The warehouse itself was dimly lit, and Kyouka was immediately grateful that they'd entered in through the bathroom. They could close the door behind them and hide the sunlight streaming in from the hole they'd made in the outer wall which would have immediately given them away. As it was, they'd exited the bathroom in an untrafficked part of the warehouse, if the layers of dust were anything to go by. To their left was a wall and a few rows of old forklifts, as well as a freight elevator that presumably led up to the higher floors. To their right, rows and rows of shelving that served as perfect hiding places.

As the trio ducked down behind a nearby pallet full of what appeared to be rolls of capture tape, Kyouka carefully used her Quirk to sense around for any sentries who may have drawn near since her last scan. Surely they must have a few; they had to be prepared for the possibility of the Pros coming after them.

From what feedback she was getting from her ears, however, it seemed like the bulk of the villains were up on the second floor. There were a few on this floor, of course, slowly pacing around the center of the warehouse or stationed back near the rear entrance, and there were a couple in the central walled-off portion that held the front entrance as well as the returns area. However, there didn't seem to be any nearby.

What held Kyouka's attention, however, was the fact that she still didn't sense her husband or children. She should have been close enough now, but... with so many bodies in the building, it was hard to get an accurate reading. They must be upstairs with the rest.

Unfortunately for them, the staircase on the south side of the building, where they'd entered, was apparently being guarded. But from what she could gather with her ears, the staircase on the north side was not. Whether these PLF remnants were being lax, or someone had slipped away for a moment, she didn't know, but it worked in her favor, so she didn't question it.

Thanks to Kyouka's Quirk and the endless rows of tall, packed shelving, sneaking past the handful of sentries on the ground floor proved fairly simple. She could hear each of their locations, tell from their footsteps which direction they were facing. Because there were only a few, slipping past them, even across such a large warehouse, wound up being surprisingly easy. A little too easy, if she were being honest. Though that would change once they reached the second floor, where the majority of the PLF members were apparently waiting.

The northern stairwell was cold and dark, just like the warehouse proper. Thick cement walls cut off sunlight and prevented the outer summer warmth from seeping in. She couldn't hear anyone here, but the trio made their way up the stairs as quietly as possible so as to not draw attention to themselves.

They paused once more in front of the doors to the second floor so Kyouka could use her Quirk again. She stabbed her jack into the wall, closing her eyes and focusing all of her attention on the multiple vibrations echoing out from all over the large, old building.

The first thing that caught her attention was some sort of commotion upstairs. Someone was running, though not towards them. It was an adult, though from what she could tell, they were smaller than Denki. Female, perhaps… or just a small male. It didn't matter. It wasn't her husband or her kids, so they could wait.

She still couldn't hear her kids. She refused to consider what that might mean. There were a lot of bodies on the second floor; they might have been masked by sheer numbers… though there was something up on the third floor that might have been them. There was something off about the heartbeats, though. Almost like something was muffling the noise. Were they… wrapped up in something? Or was that just a villain with a strange body?

She wanted to investigate, but that was up on the other side of the building, and it sounded like there were people right above them, just outside the stairwell entrance to the third floor. They could climb all the way up to the fourth floor, which sounded mostly abandoned, cross the building again and descend the southern staircase, or they could try crossing floor two and ascending there, even though it had the most people on it.

What made up her mind was a familiar thumping sound echoing from close by. She hadn't noticed at first because she'd been looking for her kids, but there, only a dozen or so meters away, in another room, was the sound of her husband's heartbeat.

"Denki," she breathed, speaking aloud without realizing.

"What? Is he close?!"

Rather than answer, Kyouka pushed the door to the second floor open and strode out into yet another warehouse floor stuffed to the brim with shelves and pallets full of junk. Her Quirk had alerted her ahead of time that the path was free and devoid of PLF members. Why was that? Even a group of renegades had to have known how to better guard their own base. The PLF members she'd fought ten years ago had been much better organized.

Whatever. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. She was only here for her family. She would focus on the PLF later.

From what she could hear, most of the PLF members here were gathered around the central part of the warehouse. Much like the ground floor, the warehouse portion formed a large 'U' shape around a walled-off 'room' near the front of the building. On the ground floor, that room was the front entrance and reception area. On the second floor (and also the fourth), according to the schematics, it was a break room; the third floor held offices for the warehouse management.

Kyouka and co. had exited the stairwell on the north side of the building, on the side of the breakroom, hidden from the other PLF members who were somewhere to their left by the many walls of shelving. To their right was a dead-end that held nothing but a pair of bathrooms, a cluster of old, rotted push brooms, and a janitor's closet.

"He's in there," she said, pointing to the janitor's closet. He was so close. "Mina, would you-?"

"Hold on," Gizmo cut in even as Mina strode forward, "you should probably let me handle this. Don't want to leave too many breadcrumbs…"

Mina shrugged, stepping back, and Gizmo approached the old wooden door, fishing two small bits of metal out of his toolbelt.

Part of Kyouka wanted to argue. Using Mina's acid would have been faster. Plus, it's not like leaving the door intact was going to fool the PLF for long. As soon as they opened it, they'd know Denki had escaped, and all hell would break loose.

On the other hand, she knew she wasn't in the right headspace to be making decisions right now. Even if it only bought them a couple extra seconds, it would be worth it if those seconds saved their kids.

A moment later, Gizmo managed to successfully pick the lock, and with a soft creak, the door to the janitor's closet swung open.

And there he was. Denki, her husband. Alive and seemingly unharmed.

He was sitting on the floor, handcuffed to an empty shelf. He looked up when the door opened, his expression guarded, only for it to change into a slack-jawed gape when he saw who was standing on the other side of it.

"Kyouka-?!"

"Shh!' Mina hissed, looking alarmed, but a moment later Kyouka had swept into the room, fallen to her knees, and wrapped her husband up in a tight hug.

She didn't say anything. She wanted to - there were so many things she wanted to say. But she couldn't get the words out, so she let it be. A moment later, she let him go and got back to her feet, hastily wiping at her cheeks.

"Giz, Mina, could you-?"

"Already on it, boss," Gizmo said, stepping closer and kneeling down so he could touch Denki's handcuffs. A moment later, his Welding Quirk had sliced through the metal, freeing Denki's hands, and he was helping the older man to his feet.

"Good to see you're alright, Kaminari," Gizmo said with a friendly grin, only to be shoved away by Mina as she grabbed him in a tight hug.

"Denki!" she squeaked, overcome with emotion. "I'm so glad you're ok!"

"What are you doing here?" he asked after Mina stepped back, his eyes and attention focused on his wife.

"Saving you, duh," Mina responded.

"B-but what about the kids?!"

"We haven't found them yet," Kyouka replied. "They might be upstairs though. We snuck in through the outer wall to find you. I thought I heard-"

"Wait, you snuck in? Has a fight not started yet? But then who was screaming?"

There was a pause as he looked at each of their faces expectantly, but when no one supplied an answer, he began to panic.

"I haven't heard any screaming," Kyouka said slowly, and coming from her, the statement had more significance. "When did you hear it? From where?"

"Upstairs, I think," he said quickly. "I thought… I mean, I assumed it must have been you guys, but…"

"What did it sound like?"

Her question was too vague, too demanding. Her panic and anxiety were getting the better of her. Someone screaming could mean her kids.

Thankfully, Denki knew her well enough to know what she meant.

"It was male," he said, "young, maybe, but too old to have been Rai. This was a few minutes ago. It might have been before you entered the building. But… there was another sound after that. Female. Definitely quieter than the first scream. It… It's hard to say from here, but… It may have been Aika."

Kyouka's fury had abated temporarily upon recovery of her husband, but if anyone had laid a hand on her daughter…!

"Do you know where they are?" she asked, her face tight.

Denki shook his head.

"I haven't seen them - or anyone, really, except for Emi - since they locked me in here."

A shame. But then, with Kyouka's sense of hearing, they wouldn't be able to hide them from her for long.

"Come on," she said, turning to exit the room. "We're running out of time."

Denki caught her wrist before she could exit the closet, however. Mina and Gizmo both pushed on ahead, giving them some space.

"Kyouka…" Denki said softly, looking down at the ground, unable to meet her eyes. "I…"

"Not now," she cut in, voice barely more than a whisper.

"But I-!"

"Not now," she repeated firmly, and she reached up to grab his chin and force him to match her gaze. "There is a lot I need to say to you, but now isn't the time. Until our kids are safe - until my family is out of here - nothing else matters."

He nodded, looking equal parts determined and defeated, and he followed her out of the closet without another word.

There was a lot she wanted to say to him. She wanted to scream at him for risking their children's safety, for ever allowing himself to begin trusting his sister, for racing off by himself when he knew it was a trap. Truth be told, she wanted to beat him senseless with her fists. But there was also a part of her that had just experienced nearly losing the man she loved for the second time in her life, and she just wanted to hold him in her arms and cry.

No time for that now.

First, her kids. Then, revenge on Renjirou and Emiko and the entirely of the PLF. She'd deal with Denki after that.

Only, she discovered as she and Denki rejoined Mina and Gizmo behind yet another large, dusty, junk-covered shelf, there was a problem.

The PLF members on this floor were far too many to sneak around. And they were all still clustered around the central part of the room.

They could barely see them through the shelving, but with Kyouka's Quirk, that didn't matter. Most of them were just lounging around, not patroling or anything. It was like... they were waiting for something. Only, that 'thing' clearly wasn't the Pros, because otherwise, they'd be taking this a bit more seriously.

"Shit," Kyouka hissed, digging her fingers into her knees. "The stairs are on the other side of the room, but there's too many to sneak around…"

They could always go back to the staircase they'd come up before, but she'd heard guards standing around the third-floor entrance. They could try fighting them off, but they'd cause a commotion that would alert everyone on the second floor to their presence...

"We could try that freight elevator we passed," Mina suggested, but Kyouka shook her head.

"No chance they wouldn't hear that. If only there was a way to knock them all out at one time…"

Mina looked instinctively at Denki, but after a pause, he shook his head.

"At least some of them have Quirks that resist mine," he said softly. "When they captured me, someone who could turn into a large stone golem caught me from behind. I didn't get a good look at their face, so they could be in there with the rest of them. If we mess up, he'd go wild, and that would ruin everything. I get the feeling he could tear this building apart."

Kyouka was literally growling under her breath.

"If only my Quirk had a wide-enough range… but at this distance, with them that spread apart…"

"Actually," Gizmo cut in, sounding thoughtful, "we may have a workaround."

The other three turned to stare at him, and he shrugged.

"Look. These shelves are full of unused merchandise. A lot of it is just junk, but Detnerat prized themselves on having options for 'Quirk users of all types' - that went for their clothing line as well as their support gear. And some of it," here, he paused to pull something off of the shelf that resembled a small speaker, "we may just be able to repurpose to give Jirou's Quirk a little… boost."

Kyouka looked around with the others. It was true; the shelves around them were apparently loaded with different kinds of speakers and amps in various sizes. Some of them looked normal. Some of them were clearly designed to be worn on one's head, or arms, or chest, or... tail? But Detnerac didn't sell just normal amplifiers - definitely not ones meant to be worn. These must have been for Heroes or Villains - amps and speakers meant to be used with Quirks. Maybe one of these could do the trick… or, failing that, Gizmo might just be able to put something together for her.

Her sidekick was already at work pulling various speakers off of the shelves and giving them a look-over.

"Yes… Yes, this should do the trick," he murmured, clearly talking aloud to himself. "I'm familiar enough with Jirou's support gear since I tinker on it from time to time, and these look similar… I should be able to outfit them… only…"

"Only?" Jirou parroted, already helping Mina and Denki pull more speakers off of the shelves for Gizmo to play with.

He sighed, scratching at the back of his head.

"Well, most of these appear to be missing their power sources. I don't know if they're just old, or maybe they never had them, but… Part of the problem with your gear is that they're just not powerful enough to create a soundwave of sufficient size. Unless we can find some really long extension cords, I don't see how we're going to have enough juice to weaponize a big enough speaker."

Kyouka and Mina exchanged a look before rolling their eyes in tandem.

"Giz, I think we'll be fine. We have a power source."

He blinked, looking up at her in confusion, then followed her thumb as she jabbed it towards her husband.

Denki smiled and waved.

"Hey, one human battery, coming right up."

Gizmo slowly pressed his palm against his face.

"Wow… I'm so dumb."

"Doesn't matter. Just get to work. Mina, use your Quirk to help him break the gear apart so he can get at what he needs. Denki, you keep watch." That last she said mainly because she knew he was hopeless when it came to machines - they already had her keeping watch, but he'd just get in Gizmo's way.

"And you?" Denki asked, still pulling down speakers.

"I'll radio Momo and let her in on the plan," she said, reaching up for her headset. "This is bound to make a lot of noise, but I know roughly where the rest of the PLF members are stationed. If we can time their break in with our attack, we should be able to capture the rest with limited fighting."

And hopefully, avoid getting her kids caught up in the ensuing battle.

"Actually, this is kinda exciting," she heard Mina confiding to Gizmo as she tore through the devices and he used his Welding Quirk to arrange the pieces into something usable. "Team Thunder and Lightning, back for one night only."

"Not gonna lie, I'm kinda geeking out," Giz joked back in barely more than a whisper.

Kyouka resisted the urge to join in. As true as it was that this was the first and likely only time that she and her husband would be able to use their Quirks together for Hero work, she had other things to worry about for now.

Nothing else mattered until her kids were safe, especially not some silly teenage daydream.

Still. It was hard not to focus on the small smile on Denki's face.

It took about a minute for her to explain the situation to Momo, who had already arrived outside the warehouse along with Todoroki, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Sero. Needless to say, none of her friends were pleased with her and Mina, but after enduring several choice insults from Bakugou, they agreed that the plan had actually worked out in their favor. It only took them a minute to arrange themselves around the building according to where Kyouka could sense the PLF members waiting. As soon as she gave the signal, the cavalry would charge.

On Gizmo's end, his proficiency as a mechanical genius was on full display. With Mina tearing apart and him putting together, they'd managed to swiftly Frankenstein together a large collection of powerful speakers and had fed their old power cords to Denki who was holding them gingerly in his hand like they were fuses to a bomb.

It wasn't pretty, exactly, but it didn't have to be. So long as it worked.

Within just a few short minutes, Gizmo announced that he was done. At Kyouka's instruction, the three gathered behind her as she inserted her jacks into the makeshift sonic canon.

"All of you, cover your ears and open your mouths," she said, even as Denki's Quirk activating, illuminating the row of shelves in golden light.

It was war, finally. And the first shot was hers.

By the time Emi had made it to the third-floor break room, it was too late.

She stood in the doorway, out of breath, staring at the carnage and struggling to comprehend what it was she was seeing.

The cage was open.

The kids were gone.

Some of the lightbulbs overhead had apparently broken, leaving the room dim and shadowed. Shards of glass glinted dimly on the floor. Yaso was here, but he was lying on the ground, blood all over his face, senseless and unresponsive.

And there, sitting on the floor beside the dog cage, was Yuu. And he didn't look so good.

Emi entered the room, ignoring both Yaso and the way the glass crunched under her shoes, crouching down beside her surrogate little brother. She reached out, cupping his cheek, checking his eyes, looking for injury.

"Yuu?" she asked, struggling to make her voice sound soft and comforting and not give in to the steadily-rising panic. "Yuu? What happened? What's wrong?"

He met her gaze blearily, blinking a few times, but didn't respond right away. He looked out of it, like he'd just been roused out of a deep sleep. He didn't have blood on his face like Yaso did, but his eyes looked glassy and red and there were tears on his cheeks.

"Emi…?" he croaked after a moment. "I… s-sorry, I can't hear very well…"

He couldn't hear? What did that…? No, wait - Denki's wife, Earphone Jack, had a sound-based Quirk. Had she showed up and rescued her kids?

"Where are the kids, Yuu?" she asked, saying the words slow and loud, exaggerating her mouth movements so he could read her lips if he needed to.

He seemed to understand because he shook his head slightly as if to clear it and said, his words slightly slurred, "Y-Yaso… came in. Opened the cage. I tried to stop him, but he… His Quirk… hurt the girl. The boy did… something… They ran out the door about a minute ago."

Emi remained where she was for a moment, processing Yuu's story.

So then… the screaming she'd heard, it wasn't the sign of the Heroes arriving. It was Yaso being a bastard and hurting Yuu and Aika while she was away. Yuu's hearing loss must have been from Rai using his Quirk to save his sister. She must have just missed them.

They hadn't been rescued yet. In fact, it was somehow even worse now. They weren't being held hostage by the MLA; they'd run away and were now lose and alone in the MLA's hideout.

If someone else found them first… Someone who didn't care about their safety… Someone like Hotaru…

"Stay here," she said, absently patting Yuu's head. "Don't leave this room. I'll find them and bring them back."

He said something in response, but it came out as more of a hoarse grunt. She frowned at him, concerned. His disorientation was due to more than just Rai's Quirk. She recognized the symptoms of someone who'd been at Yaso's mercy.

Standing up, Emi left Yuu behind in the relative safety of the breakroom, trusting that he'd be safe here if and when the Heroes really did arrive. Her niece and nephew, however…

Before she left the room, she stooped down and placed her hand on Yaso's bony back.

A brief, powerful electric shock coursed throughout his body, making him spasm violently on the floor.

There. She only had so much juice stored up in the battery packs she had strapped to her body, but at the very least, that would keep him down for a while.

Then she kicked him in the face for good measure. She left him there, lying unconscious on the floor, blood pooling out of his broken nose.

Sick bastard.

Back in the hallway, she looked around. There was no way of knowing which way the kids had gone, but odds were, they'd escaped out into the main section of the floor and were hiding somewhere among the many shelves and pallets full of garbage that littered the warehouse. With any luck, they were still on the third floor. It shouldn't be too hard to find them.

The third floor of the warehouse wasn't as full as the two floors beneath them, and the fourth floor even less so. Still, if they'd gone up to the fourth floor, they probably would have been caught already. That was where most of their sleeping quarters were. That was also where her father should be. That, or down in the basement. She wasn't sure.

But that didn't matter now. What mattered was finding Aika and Rai, and then getting them and Yuu out of here.

There weren't very many MLA members on this floor. Most of them were gathered on the second floor, where her father had instructed them to wait. That was where he'd planned on executing Denki, on full display in front of everyone. But that was too much to think about right now. Her feelings about her brother were too tangled up and confusing. She just needed to focus on what was right in front of her.

Back in the main section of the warehouse, Emi had to resist the urge to call out Aika and Rai's names. It wouldn't do to alert the others that their hostages had escaped. Plus, there was no guarantee they'd respond to her calls. Not after she'd kidnapped them. They probably didn't ever want to see her again.

She'd made it about halfway across the massive room when it happened.

There was a… boom of some kind. Not quite an explosion, but whatever it was, it made the entire floor vibrate beneath her feet, and the shelves around her all clattered together in reverberating unison like an army of metal skeletons.

Emi stared at the grimy cement floor in surprise. What on earth was that?

Was it Rai again? Had they actually made it downstairs?

Before she could decide on a course of action, there was a second explosion. Except this one was real, and it was right in front of her.

The outer wall of the warehouse literally burst open amidst a torrent of smoke and bricks and broken cement. The shelves creaked again, some of them falling over, knocked down by the blast, toppling into one another, crashing down in waves like dominos and sending dust and junk flying through the air.

Her cry of alarm was lost under the cacophony of falling, unsold merchandise. But as terrifying as this sudden, unexpected explosion was, it wasn't anything compared to what she saw next.

There, standing in front of the newly formed hole in the eastern wall, his figure silhouetted through the smoke and sunlight, stood someone she'd only ever seen on television.

Japan's current Number Three Hero and son of a previous Number One - Shouto Todoroki.

The Heroes had arrived.

Emiko didn't even think about it. She turned and ran.

Already?! So soon?! Denki had barely been here for an hour! He hadn't been followed - they'd checked. How had the Heroes known where to find them?

It didn't matter. She'd known they'd show up eventually, even if it was faster than she'd expected. All that mattered was finding Aika and Rai before someone else in the MLA did. Before they got caught up in all of this fighting.

She ran away from the fire-and-ice Hero, heading towards the southern staircase, praying that the kids hadn't hidden themselves amongst the shelves in the other half of the warehouse, most of which had now crashed to the ground in a tangled, disheveled heap. Part of her wanted to curse at the Pro for entering the building so recklessly - but then again, it was her fault the kids were here in the first place, and they had probably counted on them having the kids locked up somewhere safe, not randomly roaming the warehouse…

From the sound of shouts and crashing behind her, it seemed like the MLA members who'd been on this floor had moved to engage Shouto. Good, let them buy her time, even if they didn't stand a chance against him.

Try as she might, she couldn't stop the rising hysteria from building within her. What the hell had they been thinking?! Three of the top ten Heroes in Japan worked out of this city, and they also happened to be close, personal friends with Denki. Her father's plan had been insanity from the get-go! How many times had she told him that?! How many times had she tried to get him to see reason?!

Why had she gone along with it?!

She reached the staircase, taking the steps three at a time, arriving on the second floor and throwing open the doors.

Chaos reigned.

This was where most of the MLA members had been stationed, but from what she could see, the only member who was fighting was Takeshi, who had turned himself into his massive stone golem form and was going wild in the center of the room, staggering around drunkenly, knocking over shelves and causing absolute pandemonium.

Where were the others?! There had been almost twenty people here when she'd come to visit Denki for the last time. They can't have all been capture already… could they?

That explosion before… could it have been…?

Over the madness, she could hear the sounds of battle echoing out from the floors above and below her.

The Heroes really had arrived in force.

They had lost this fight before it had even started.

This wasn't a repeat of ten years ago. That had been a war. This? This was barely even a skirmish.

The kids, she reminded herself. They were here, somewhere. Lost amidst this madness. She needed to-

Takeshi lashed out with a stone arm, smashing through a row of shelves, sending a wall of garbage careening toward her.

Emiko darted to the side, using up some of her stored electricity to increase her speed, barely making it out of the way before she would have been crushed.

Coughing violently as a wave of dust assailed her, she ran around the remainder of the row of shelves, past what appeared to be several outdated winter coats and an entire shelf of just backpacks before arriving at an open walkway that she could try to use to cut through to the other side of the room.

She came up short and literally felt her heart skip a beat.

There, standing in front of her, having just come out from behind a different row of shelves, was a familiar dark-haired Hero.

Denki's voice seemed to echo back into her mind.

"You had better pray that someone else gets to you before Kyouka does."

Both women stood still for a moment, completely stunned.

Then, the other woman smiled.

"Well now," Earphone Jack said, breathless and covered in dust and yet no less intimidating for it. "Hello, sister-in-law. We finally meet."

Jirou was shorter than Emi had expected. She'd seen her on TV before, or on posters in music stores, but never in person. Her hair was in disarray, her clothing filthy, and yet… Her eyes were wide and blazing with hate. She didn't look like a Hero right now. She looked like wrath incarnate.

All of a sudden, Emi found herself wishing she was back upstairs fighting Todoroki. At least with him, she knew he'd do his best to arrest her without hurting her too badly.

Truth be told, Emi was fairly confident that, in a straight-up brawl, she could take her sister-in-law. She was bigger, her Quirk could knock her unconscious with a single touch so long as she had the juice, and even ignoring that, she could also use it to enhance her physical strength. She was stronger than the average person. Faster than the average person.

But that was the problem.

She was faster than a person. Not faster than the speed of sound.

And Jirou had every one of her speakers pointed directly at her.

Emi licked her lips and slowly backed away.

"Hold on," she said, lifting a beseeching hand as she wracked her brain for some avenue of escape. "You don't understand. Your kids got out - they're here, in this mess. I'm trying to help!"

"Thank you for that," Jirou replied, her tone oddly high and soft, slowly walking forward, matching Emi's pace. "But I'll take care of it. I'd rather my children never see you again."

Emi opened her mouth, trying to find the words but unable to think of anything to say in her defense, to placate the monster who was slowly bearing down on her.

Finally, she just gave up.

Throwing as much juice as she could into her legs, she tried to escape. She leaped up, into the air, aiming for the top of one of the shelves, hopeful that she could climb on top of one and escape Jirou that way as she wouldn't be able to outrun sound by racing along any of the straight paths between the shelves around them.

She underestimated Jirou's reaction time.

The wall of sound hit her before her feet even left the ground. It was almost like she'd been clubbed over the head. Her vision swam, the world spun, her eardrums burst with a shrill, painful ringing. Worst of all, she still jumped - her body launched into the air, not physically impeded by the powerful attack, and she wound up slamming face-first into the side of the shelf about six feet off the ground.

She caught on by reflex more than anything, but with everything spinning around so dizzily, she couldn't quite manage to pull herself up, and a moment later, she fell, crashing heavily back to the floor.

The wind was knocked out of her lungs. Terrified, disoriented, she sent electricity crackling all up and down her body to keep Jirou at bay, to prevent her from attacking her. It was a pointless endeavor. Electricity would stop her from physically touching her. It didn't do anything to stop the sound waves.

The attacks came relentlessly. Brief, powerful explosions of sound, one after another, assailing her, making her skull rattle, the world tremble, her ears bleed. The vertigo was intense, every new attack sending the world spinning ever faster, and she pitched to the side, struggling to get up, to crawl away, to escape, unable to tell up from down.

Finally, after an eternity, the attacks stopped.

Emi opened her mouth to cry out, or maybe curse the Hero, or maybe beg her to stop, and instead vomited everywhere.

Slowly, her vision came back into focus. She couldn't hear very well, but it seemed like the battle was still going on around them.

She felt sick, like she'd been stuck on the teacup ride at Tokyo Disney Land for three straight days. She reached out, feeling her shaking fingers close around the edge of the nearest shelf, letting the cold metal ground her, pull her back to reality.

Jirou was standing over her. Her eyes were cold and murderous. Just like her father's.

She was talking, but Emi couldn't hear what she was saying. It didn't matter. Her eyes were saying enough.

This is what she got. She took away this woman's children. Brought them into this dangerous situation. Emi had no right to hate Denki for what he'd done, to demand that he pay for it, if she wasn't willing to pay for what she'd done in turn. It was a circle.

But it wasn't over yet… She could still… get away…

A shadow loomed overhead. Jirou looked up, eyes growing wide and fearful.

It was Takeshi, still in his powerful stone golem body. He wasn't facing them, didn't see them there, as he slowly backed away in their direction, away from whatever it was he was facing.

His rock arm hit another shelf, sending it toppling over into another, and into another. Directly towards them.

They were going to be crushed.

And she was too dizzy to move.

Jirou ran forward, out of the way of the falling row of shelves. At first, Emi thought she'd left her behind to die. Then, to her complete surprise, she felt something wrap around her wrist, jerking her backward.

The shelf came crashing down right where she'd been laying. It would have crushed her legs if she hadn't pulled them up in time.

She came to a stop beside Jirou's feet, and her sister-in-law quickly unwound her earphone jack.

Emi gaped up at her, confused and still disoriented.

"Y-you… saved me…?"

Jirou looked down at her and frowned.

"I'm a Hero, not a murderer," she muttered, just barely loud enough for Emi to hear over the still-deafening ringing in her ears. "And you are going to jail with that bastard you call a father."

Her father…

Jirou was close now. If she was quick, she could reach up and shock her. Knock her out. This was her chance.

Another explosion rocked the building, only this time, the ceiling above them suddenly caved in.

Chunks of brick and cement rained down on them, along with entire shelves and pallets full of merchandise. From her vantage point, she couldn't see what caused the ceiling to give out, but it didn't matter. She seized her opportunity.

She didn't shock Jirou, however. Instead, she sent the electricity down to her legs. Still lying on her back, she placed her foot on the fallen shelf that had nearly crushed her and kicked with all of her might.

She slid backward down the aisle like a bobsled, propelled by the force of her kick and aided by the years of accumulated dust on the floor. Jirou let out a shout, rising to her feet to follow, but Emi was moving too fast, and with debris falling from the ceiling, it was too dangerous. She came to a stop when she crashed into a pile of boxes that had fallen off of a nearby pallet, but it was good enough.

Pushing herself upward, Emi fought her way past her lingering dizziness and vanished into the chaos of the fight, letting endless rows of shelves and pallets and the chaos of battle separate herself from her sister-in-law.

That had been too close. She had thought for sure she was going to die. But now… Now, she wasn't the only one who knew the kids were out here. And since it seemed like the Pros were more likely to find them than she was… Maybe it was time she got out of here herself.

Her father's plan had completely collapsed anyway, and if she were being honest with herself, she was finding it hard to be too upset that Denki was more than likely going to escape. Killing him hadn't been what she'd wanted from this anyway.

All she'd wanted was to set her father free and live a quiet life with him and Yuu, her new family.

And maybe… Maybe, now that everything had fallen apart, now that he could see that it was futile… Maybe she could finally convince her dad to leave with her.

She'd leave her niece and nephew to their mother like she wanted. Instead, Emi would find her father and Yuu and get them out of here. Let Denki live out the rest of his life with his family, living with what he'd done… And Emi would live out her life with her family. And she'd have to live with what she'd done as well.

With that somber thought to sustain her, Emi pushed forward, holding to a shelf to support her as she made her way towards the staircase that led back up to the third floor.