Chapter Four

Sweet Escape

After having let Izumi eat just about the entirety of the contents inside the vending machine, safe for a bag of funyun chips and a bag of black licorice. The human and alien girl carefully made their way back to the room with the Nomus suspended in their test tubes. Once there, Nelsha made her way over to the control pad that was connected to Izumi's test tube. She quickly inserted her finger into the control pad as Vi began to work on the distraction.

"Once I'm done, you have a five-minute window to get from here to the fifth floor. Once there, you need to take the vents up to the top floor. Once you're out, you should be safe. Understood?" Vi asked as both girls nodded.

"While you're in there, mind downloading everything that this place has?" Nelsha asked as both Izumi and Vi raised an eyebrow at her. "In case we get arrested and need the means to break a deal with them, you always want something that will help in your favor."

"But is this the best time to do that?" Izumi asked as she looked around the room they were in. "What if someone comes in here soon?"

"Then I'll knock them out before they can do anything about it." She said before looking back at Vi. "You think you can do that?"

"That shouldn't be a problem," Vi said as he began to work on reprogramming the Nomus. While the AI was busy with his work, the lesser fellpool looked over at Izumi.

"How are you feeling? Physically, I mean? I know mentally you're still trying to recover your memories and all."

"Other than having that weird aftertaste of that weird liquid stuff still in my mouth. I'm feeling okay, for now at least."

"That's good to hear. Because in a matter of seconds. We're going to have to run for the elevator." She said before hearing a ping coming from the control pad.

"Orders have been programmed. You will have a five-minute opening to get from here to the fifth floor. Once you're there, I'll tell you where the vent will lead you out of this place." Nelsha nodded and unplugged her finger from the control pad. The moment she did that, she along with Izumi quickly ran out of the room and headed towards the elevator. The moment they made it to the elevator, Izumi slammed her fist against the button on the side as the doors quickly opened. The two quickly made their way inside the elevator. As the doors were slowly closing, they heard the sounds of glass breaking and blood-curdling screams echo throughout the area they were in. Once the doors were closed, the elevator began to make its way up to the fifth floor.

"Okay, step one is complete. Now, all we have to do is get to the fifth floor's ventilation system, and we'll be home free."

"...If you don't mind me asking, but what's it like being in space?" Izumi asked as Nelsha turned her attention from the door to the human.

"Hm, well at first. It's pretty much amazing. It's like you're sailing through a sea with stars in them. You see amazing colors from galaxies, stars exploding, black holes sucking up planets with no life on them. Shooting stars soar across the cosmos. I can keep going on, but you get what I'm saying?" She said before noticing a smile appear on Izumi's face like a child excited to see something cool for the first time.

"And you get to travel around without a care in the world?"

"So long as I do my job, then they'll allow me to travel wherever I want to some degree."

"To some degree?"

"Well, there are rules you have to follow when you enter a different section of space. The kappa sector is where Kronos have authority. So I'm allowed to travel within the kappa sector. Anywhere else you need special clearance from the people in charge of the sector, or if you're being sent on a delivery mission."

"I see. It makes sense when you think about it. But aren't you a bit young to be doing something like that?"

"Well yeah, hence why the younger people are given AI companions to keep them from getting into trouble…at times."

"Yet you fall under the category of troublemakers," Vi said as she deadpanned at the AI via her gauntlet. "It's the truth and you know it."

"If I wanted commentary, I would've asked for it. So do me a favor and shut up."

"Defending yourself like that only proves my point."

"I will rend you asunder if you don't shut up!" Nelsha yelled as it caused Izumi to giggle a bit before quickly covering her mouth the moment the alien glared at her.

"You can't take your anger out on an innocent bystander."

"I may not, but that doesn't mean I can't smack her upside her head for laughing." She said before noticing that they were reaching the fifth floor, only for the elevator to stop on the fourth floor. "Ah, shit."

"What do you mean-" Before Izumi could finish her sentence, Nelsha quickly picked her up bridal style as she jumped onto the ceiling of the elevator they were on. The lesser fellpool quickly pressed a button on the side of her boots as they stuck to the ceiling. She quickly placed a hand over Izumi's mouth to prevent her from talking as they both saw two people enter the elevator. From what they could tell, they seem to be the security guards that Vi mentioned before.

"Any idea as to why the boss wants the girl?" The guard asked as the other one shrugged.

"Who knows? Not my place to wonder," he said before pulling out a cigarette. "We're getting paid a shit ton of money for this. So it shouldn't matter what they have us do. I just hope the kid doesn't put up a fight this time."

"She shouldn't be a problem. Especially now seeing how they put sedatives in the tube they put her in." He said before smirking. "Makes our job much easier if they had done this from the start."

"Well she is quirkless, so I could see why she wasn't put under lock & key. Still, you think someone like her would realize that she couldn't escape. Especially without a quirk to fight back."

"Well some people are stupid," he said as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "Come on, let's get going."

"Think we can have a little with the girl before we bring her to the boss?"

"I don't see why not." He said before they both leave the elevator. Once they left, the door began to close as Izumi and Nelsha hopped down from the ceiling.

"Okay, that was close," Nelsha said as she pressed one of the buttons to make the elevator go back up to the fifth floor. She soon noticed a shocked and disgusted expression on Izumi's face. "Disgusting, I know. But try not to think about it right now."

"How can I not when we just heard them say that!?" She yelled before covering her mouth at the sudden realization of her situation. "Oh god, what if they've been doing that to me during the times I've been knocked out?"

"Okay, I know you're starting to have a panic attack, but now is not the time for one. Keep in mind that we need to get out of here before they figure out what we're doing." Nelsha said before placing a hand on Izumi's shoulder. "Once we're out, you can worry about it later. But right now, I need you to calm down and focus, okay?" She asked as she noticed Izumi taking a couple of deep breaths before calming down and nodding. "Good girl. If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure those guys are going to get their asses killed by the Nomu so we don't have to worry about them…at least I hope so."

"A little bit...still makes me sick that they would do something like that…and possibly doesn't paint my planet in a good light from your point of view."

"Oh please, this wouldn't be the first time I end up on a planet with people like that." She said as it caused Izumi to raise an eyebrow at her. "I'll explain later once we're out."

As the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, Nelsha quickly pulled Izumi to the side the moment the doors opened. She carefully poked her head around the corner to see if there was anyone there. So far she didn't see anyone as she grabbed Izumi's hand and quickly ran down the hallway. Just as they were about to reach the door where the vents were located, the sound of the alarms echoed throughout the area they were in as Nelsha grins upon hearing this. She soon opened the door to where they were going and quickly closed it just as they heard a set of footsteps running down the hallway. Once she hears the footsteps past them, she lets out a sigh of relief before looking over at Izumi.

"Okay, looks like the distraction that Vi caused will keep them busy for a while." She said before looking around the room they were in for a moment before noticing the entrance to the vents. The lesser fellpool moved past Izumi and headed over to the vent. Once there she pulled on it and easily opened it. "Vi, run a scan around the building we're in. Something tells me that they placed someone in front of the entrance to this place."

"Acknowledge." He said as Nelsha motioned for Izumi to follow after her into the vents. Once in the vents, Nelsha pulls up a digital display of the vents within the facility they were in as she begins to lead the way to the first floor.

"You think they know that we're here?" Izumi asked as Nelsha shrugged in response.

"Don't know, but something tells me that given what's going on the tenth floor, I wouldn't be surprised if they had guards standing station at the front doors of this place." She said before seeing Vi appear in front of the lesser fellpool, causing her to stop and making Izumi bump into the alien's butt by accident. Nelsha lets out a yelp from what she felt as she looked over at Izumi.

"Um, sorry, but you did stop all of a sudden, so it's not my fault that I accidentally bump into you," Izumi said with a blush on her face. Nelsha rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to Vi.

"Two guards are guarding the entrance. From what I was able to pick up, they're Nomus. Similar to the ones that I unleashed to make a distraction for you both."

"Makes sense. It's a secret underground facility, so it wouldn't be a surprise that they would have something like that set up here. List off what they can do please?" Nelsha asked as Vi pulled up a digital screen of the two Nomus.

"Regeneration quirk and muscle enhancement for the increase in their strength, endurance, and speed." He said before noticing Nelsha reaching for her revolver and a cylinder-like case with black-colored bullets in them. She soon opens the bullet case to her gun and she starts to put the bullets in each chamber. "Going with the black bullets?"

"Pretty much."

"Um…black bullets?" Izumi asked.

"Corrosive bullets that will nullify a person's regeneration abilities. Originally it was a black liquid substance from my home planet that my tribe used for coating our weapons so we can kill the animals we hunted or enemies from the other kingdoms. But thanks to Krono, they were able to make it into ammunition."

"Okay, but even if you nullify their regenerative quirks, you still have to fight them."

"I should be more specific. These bullets will corrode their body from the inside." Nelsha said just as she finished reloading her gun. "It turns your inside into black soup."

"...That's…disturbing…if not sickening at the same time."

"Yeah, hence why I only use it on monsters, killer animals, and evil people or aliens with evil intentions." She said before continuing with moving through the ventilation system. "My job as a seeker isn't something to take lightly. Not all planets are friendly or safe. We're given a certain amount of free range with how we handle our job. But the first rule that we uphold is survival. Do what you must to survive. Your safety and those you consider as your comrades come first before anything else."

"...We're…comrades? But we just met."

"True, but I wouldn't mind getting to know you more once this is over and done with," Nelsha said before placing her gun back into her holster on her hip. "But not as comrades, but as friends."

"I…wouldn't mind that."

"Perfect." She said before continuing to make her way through the vents with Izumi. In a matter of twenty minutes or so, the duo would make their way to the first floor of the underground facility. The lesser fellpool moved to the side of the vent that led to the room below them. Looking down, she noticed that about four people were eating at the table. She soon looks up at Izumi who is still looking down at the people below them as she begins to whisper to the human. "Time to be a little bit sneaky with this approach."

"You're going to take them all by yourself? Wouldn't it be wise to let me help you?"

"Oh no, I'm not going to fight them, but I have a pet that I've been needing to feed," Nelsha said as she carefully lifted the hatch. She soon stretched her hand down towards the group as purplish black-colored symbology circles appeared on her arm. The same circle soon appeared below the group of people as Izumi heard them cursing from noticing a dark light filling the room. "Come forth from the depth of the netherworld, dark devourer!" She yelled as a darkish purple-colored octopus-like creature appeared below them, causing the table to shatter into pieces and the people to scream in shock and fear. Two of them tried to use their quirks as they both fired what appeared to be ice and water blast attacks. But it wasn't strong enough to hurt the creature. If anything it made it angry as the fiend attacked the one with the ice quirk. Upon latching itself onto him, the creature shoved one of its tentacles down his throat and began sucking the energy from him.

"...Pardon my language…But what the fuck is that thing!?" Izumi asked as she noticed a grin on Nelsha's face.

"Dark Devourer. One of the many magic spells that I have up my sleeve." She said before noticing the creature dropping the dried-up man it was sucking the life out of before moving to the next victim. "He's not dead, I have it suck out enough energy to where they can't get up and come after us anytime soon."

"...I…don't even know how to respond to that. I'm both amazed that something like this could exist and scared that you can make something like this."

"Symbology at work." She said before noticing the creature going after another person by lunging at him and slamming him against the wall. "Oh, damn. I almost feel sorry for the bastard…almost."

"I think you might be enjoying this too much."

"I wouldn't lie and say that I didn't." She said before noticing the creature draining the last person in the room. The lesser fellpool soon drops down into the room and extends her arms out as she catches Izumi after seeing the alien girl dropping into the room. She soon releases her hold on Izumi as she stands up, but grimaces at the dried bodies of the people the creature drained.

"You sure they're still alive? It looks like they've been turned into mummies."

"They're fine. They just need about a good month or two to recover. Though given where we are, I doubt they'll let them do that." She said as the creature slowly made its way over to her Izumi flinched a bit upon seeing it nuzzle against the lesser fellpool. "Relax, he's not going to hurt you unless I order him to do so."

"I'll take your word for it." She noticed the creature eyeing her before making its way over to her. Izumi took a step back upon seeing this as the creature started to mirror her movement by taking a step backward as well.

"Vi, how many more people are on this floor?"

"Roughly eighty-five. Forty of them are armed guards, the others are scientists."

"Alright," Nelsha turned her attention onto the octopus-like creature as she noticed it mirroring Izumi's actions. Judging from the annoyed expression on Izumi's face, she did not like it. Though the alien girl couldn't help but chuckle at the scene as she called for the creature she summoned over to her. "Head off into the area of this floor and take care of anyone that looks like these people that you drained. Don't kill them, just leave them like you with these four people." She ordered as the creature burst through the door and down the hallway. The sound of gunfire and screaming can be heard echoing through the hallway as Nelsha and Izumi quickly bolted it down toward the front doors of the facility.

While the two made their way to freedom, a security camera locked on to them for a moment before locking onto the creature attacking the people within the first-floor facility. From a hidden location within the underground facility, All For One watched the scene play out in front of him as a grin appeared on his face. His focus was more on Nelsha and her ability to summon the strange octopus-like creature.

"Very interesting," said Dr. Garaki, adjusting his glasses and focusing his attention on the alien girl. "That girl might be of use to us if we can get her to join us. Though, something tells me that she'll refuse the offer seeing how she's with the girl."

"Perhaps, if she survives against the nomus, then we'll ask her to join us. If not, then her corpse will be useful as a nomu due to the quirk she has." AFO said before pulling himself up from the seat he was sitting in and beginning to make his way over to the elevator. "I will be back shortly. Do make sure you have everything ready upon my return."

"What about the girl?"

"Nothing has changed. She will be made into a nomu," he said before pressing a button on the side of the elevator. The doors soon opened as AFO walked inside and gave Garaki a sadistic grin. "Let us see how this little hero does when facing true evil~"