The heroes quickly ran into the building as the police and other heroes fought outside.
"So where's the passage? How are we supposed to get underground?" Zoro asked.
"Hmm...wait. I think I know." Hope said as they stopped in front of a statue. "I remember this from my younger years. We can open the passage through the right tile sequence and…" he said moving the tiles quickly before a passage soon opened. "We'll need to move fast though. They'll likely have noticed the chaos outside and might be getting ready to flee."
Just as it opened, a couple of thugs came rushing out before Nighteye's sidekicks started fighting back.
"We can handle the ones out here. Go ahead on in." Centipeder said.
"We'll catch up when we can." Bubble Girl said.
"You have our thanks and our best wishes! Tallyho, teammates!" CP said as the group made their way through the passage entrance.
They headed deep underground, into the maze of tunnels below the building. They then saw that the way forward was blocked by a stone wall.
"What the? How is this…" Lucy said.
"Chisaki. He likely put up the wall to make sure we lost time going around." Jexi said. "We need to break through."
"He's gotta be an idiot if he thinks this wall will stop us!" Eijiro said as he and Izuku broke right through it.
"We need to keep moving." Mirio said.
Elsewhere…
"Sounds like the party is really kicking now." Heat Wave said.
"Good. They'll rescue Eri and we can watch Overhaul fall." Ultraman said.
"So...you three decided to betray us after all." a voice said as Mimic stood there. "You have a lot of nerve betraying the yakuza."
"Your master has a lot of nerve using Eri as his personal blood bank." Ultraman shot back.
"And since when did we ever betray you bastards? Chisaki forced us into serving you." Heat Wave said.
"Yeauh, yeauh! We ain't nobody's slaves! You and your flock have had your day! Now those heroes will make sure you pay!" MR added.
"Oh...I think it's way too early to claim victory." Mimic said holding a syringe as he shot it into himself.
"Oh no...that's Trigger!" Ultraman warned the other Elders.
"Now...you all get to die along with them." Mimic said breaking free of his little shell as he went and merged with the passages as they started to shift and change.
"Now might be a good time to run like hell, guys!" Heat Wave said.
"Yo, you think?! Let's blow this sink!" MR yelled as the three took off, the passage shifting all around them.
"It doesn't matter where you run….you will never escape!" Mimic shouted.
Back with the heroes, they soon felt the walls and path shifting and changing too.
"What's going on?" Eijiro said.
"I get it. This has to be Irinaka's Quirk." Leopardmon said. "From what I understand. He can transfer his body and mind into solid objects and control them."
"But the guy's not supposed to control anything bigger than a refrigerator." Rock Lock said.
"Do you think…" David started.
"Yes. He must've used it." Cheetah said.
"Yeah, let's not forget who these guys are." Fat Gum said.
"Still, if he's resorting to controlling everything solid in these tunnels, he must be putting a huge strain on himself." Hope said.
"Eraserhead, can't you stop him?" Miles asked.
"I can't do anything without seeing his real body." Aizawa said.
"This is bad. With the pathways shifting and changing like this...they can create as many escape routes as necessary. We have to think quickly if we want to catch them. Who am I kidding? They're going to escape with the girl and we're going to die down here." Amajiki said.
"Don't give up, Tamaki!" Hope said, catching his attention. "No way that's gonna happen, we won't let it. You can do this, you're the Sun Eater!"
"Besides...these walls mean nothing to me." Mirio said as he went on and passed through each wall in his way just as a hole opened under the group as they fell through with it sealing back up.
"Ow, dammit." Vashyron said. "That Irinaka's Quirk is really starting to get on my nerves."
"Goku, can't you sense his energy so we can track him?" Glimmer asked.
"It's hard right now. With him controlling the walls, his energy is all over the place. I'll see if I can find the place with the largest reading, that might be where he started." Goku answered.
"That'll have to wait. We've got company." Hope said.
"Well well...looks like some state authorized thugs just crashed our party." said one of three thugs in the room.
"And who the heck are these guys?" Inosuke asked.
"Members of the Eight Bullets. The Hassaikai's first on the front lines guys." Jexi said.
"Let's get these guys." Natsu said before Amajiki raised his arm.
"No. You guys should save your strength for up ahead. These guys just want to slow us down. Go on, I can handle them myself." Amajiki said.
"Tamaki…" Hope said. "He's right. Let's leave these three to him."
"Are you nuts? We can clear 'em out all together. They don't stand a chance against all of us-" Nana said.
"But that's exactly what they want us to do." Hope said. "And besides, we all read the reports on the Eight Bullets. Those of us with weapons will get disarmed in an instant by that guy." he pointed to the blonde haired yakuza member holding the long katana.
"Toya Setsuno. His Quirk, "Larceny", lets him instantly move objects into his hands." Mark said. "Good thinking, Hope. Don't want him getting his hands on our weapons."
"Too bad we don't need our Quirks to deal with you." the larger guy said before Amajiki's tentacles grabbed them.
"I know all about these guys. Yu Hoji, Crystallization. Soramitsu Tabe, Food. I read about them and Setsuno in the briefing. And I've been pretty down on guns since I was shot." Amajiki said, destroying their weapons by using his hand transformed into a lobster claw.
"Let's keep moving. Tamaki will keep these guys busy here. We have to preserve our strength as much as we can so that we can take Eri back." Hope said.
"You're right Hope." Fat Gum said. "Let's move, everyone!"
The others then continued on.
"What's your deal, Hope? I thought you were always one for sticking together." Eijiro said.
"I was. But when David and I saw Tamaki in action a few days ago when we discovered the Eraser Bullets, we saw just how talented he was." Hope said. "We both know he's more than up to the job."
"Yeah." Fat Gum agreed. "Besides, I have faith in him. He's stronger than most of the people here. His only weakness is a lack of self-confidence. If he believes in himself, I believe in him."
Back with Tamaki….
"I just need to keep these three down. Doesn't look like Iranaka isn't going to use his Quirk to help them. Sorry...but I need to...ah!" Amajiki said as Setsuno rushed at him with a knife hidden in his mask.
"Sorry kid, but you never know what nightmares these masks might be hiding." Setsuno said.
"Not sure what that one guy's Quirk was but...it's worn off." Hojo said, creating various crystals as he broke free.
Tamaki stepped back and manifested a clam shell, but Setsuno was able to snatch it in an instant.
"You can't really kill us, can you? Sucks to be you." Setsuno said.
"We may be trash...but even trash has its worth!" Hojo said going for a punch but was surprised to see Amajiki changing his hands into thick octopus muscle plated with shells as he blocked the attack.
He quickly threw Hojo off as he changed his body using various features. "Vast Hybrid! Chimera...Kraken!" he shouted whipping multiple tentacles across the room.
"Hey, hey… hey, hey, hey! This isn't looking good. Tabe, wake up! It's time to eat!" Setsuno shouted at the passed out member before he awoke and bit right through Amajiki's tentacle.
"Yum...seafood." Tabe said before viciously going and ripping through each tentacle.
"Hahaha! He's got teeth that can rip through just about anything and devour it. He also digests whatever he eats within seconds. He'll never get full!" Setsuno laughed as the three started beating him down against the wall.
"We may be a bunch of trash, but we still have strong bonds. We have no futures to look towards. One of us didn't fit into society, one was betrayed by his lover and buried under a mountain of debt, one was used as a tool for someone obsessed with money but when it was discovered the jewels he produced were worthless fakes he was beaten within an inch of his life. That is why Overhaul means so much to us." Hojo said. "Who cares what happens after this? He gave us worth again. I'll kill anyone who gets in his way."
In the shadows, the three Elders watched as they continued to try and find a way out.
"So that's it. It's not because of fear they're following Chisaki, it's like they believe they're tools." Heat Wave said.
"God...what did this world do to them?" Ultraman said.
"Oh boo-hoo, so they got it bad! That's no excuse to serve a damn psychopath!" MR said.
"You got no place to insult 'em, Rapper!" Heat Wave snapped. "Lest you forget, you were thrown away by the people who used to adore you too."
Master Rapper was silent for a moment...then chuckled. "Heh, you think they went limp? Ha, hell no, I quit! The fame, the fortune, it wasn't my game! All I wanna do is cause losers some pain."
"(Damn psycho…)" Heat Wave thought.
"(Master Rapper...you really are a scumbag.)" Ultraman thought. "Look, that doesn't matter. We need to keep moving and get out of here."
"But...the kid…" Heat Wave said.
"Don't worry about him. He's going to get out of this. He may look down...but heroes...always rise at their lowest point!" Ultraman said as Amajiki changed his foot into a chicken's and kicked a crystal into Setsuno, breaking it into chunks as he quickly ate them.
"He ate my crystals?!" Hojo said.
"Yeah...when you weren't prepared for it!" Amajiki said as his foot infused with the crystals he ate as he went and smashed the trio right against the wall, taking all three of them down.
"See...he's going to make an amazing hero one day." Ultraman said. "Come on. Let's keep moving. And we need to be cautious. Chisaki might be looking for us down here too."
"Right." Heat Wave said. "(Chisaki and Irinaka are the ones we should be aware of in this maze… but when it comes to watching our backs, the one we should be aware of is with us. Friends don't eat friends. But I'm worried he doesn't see that.)"
MR was hiding a sadistic look. "Heroes, Villains, anyone in m' way….. I'll kill 'em all….that's the name of the game!" he silently laughed as the three continued on.