Y'all have been waiting for Bakugou? He pops up in this chapter!
I'm up in the surface, and it's so cold! And I'm seeing the famed Lenin Library too! I heard that the station and the library was named after this Lenin guy that rebuilt the "old country" after a revolution. I don't know anything about the "old country" or that revolution, but the guy sounded very important in their history. Anyway, I'm about to go inside with Kirishima and Kaminari, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. But I'm sure they'd protect me! And I have this Bastard gun! Funny name. I wonder what's inside the library that's more than just books..
The trio, composed of Kirishima, Kaminari, and Midoriya, have started walking towards the Lenin Library, shrugging off the cold and snow that fell on their faces. Midoriya, not used to the phenomena, was more than nerve-wracked, but equally excited. "So this is snow! It's beautiful!" the curly haired boy said as he looked at a pile of snow that accumulated on top of a rusting car.
Kaminari chuckled. "Just don't try licking it. It's radioactive, y'know?" he joked, which made Midoriya flinch away from the cold substance. Continuing their way to the library, they had to pass by a former street which is now a cold stream of water thanks to the pipelines bursting; the only remnants of the street were a bunch of Moscow's triple-headed streetlamps and an entire line of rusty cars that bunched up in the street; their former occupants were those that were desperate to get out of the city during the day of the bombs. Some cars still had skeletal remains in them, creeping out Midoriya.
After passing through the stream by a bridge made from conveniently positioned cars, the trio trekked through the side of the library, being wary of any falling debris. On getting to the courtyard, Kirishima spent some time trying to open the jammed double doors, while Midoriya gawked at a snow-laden and heavily damaged statue in the middle of the courtyard.
Maybe it's that Lenin guy again? I wonder why he has so much significance..
The sound of something breaking brought Midoriya out of his thoughts, and on looking, Kirishima was able to open the heavy double doors of the library, with said ranger waving at Kaminari and Midoriya to get inside already. "C'mon! You don't wanna be Demon food, now do ya?"
Petrified at the word, Midoriya immediately broke into a sprint and went through the doors, leaving Kaminari; said ranger laughed and walked inside soon afterwards, punching Kirishima on his shoulder playfully. "You don't have to scare him, y'know? Besides, you might jinx us."
Midoriya was having none of it. "Demons?! D-Demons?! I dunno what they are but they sound like something that could kill me easily!" Kirishima went to comfort the curly haired boy by rubbing circles on his back. "Sorry man, but sometimes a Demon comes in here; flying, mutant giants with sharp teeth and talons. Can kill a Librarian too." the redheaded ranger explained while mimicking talons with his hands and a mock roar.
Midoriya looked scared again. "W-what's a Librarian?" he asked. "Oh uh, they're the mutants that roam the library. Very strong, big, and can rip a regular person in half with just their arms." Kirishima explained to Midoriya as Kaminari went to closing the doors they went through.
The curly haired boy lost it. "Why did nobody tell me this before?! As if the surface is s-scary enough, there are scarier mutants here?! That can rip me in half?! This is-" Kirishima shushed him with a hand to his mouth. "Shh! No need to yell. Besides, me and Kaminari are here to protect you, okay?" Midoriya furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips, then nodded at Kirishima.
Somewhat guilty, the redheaded ranger activated his quirk in front of Midoriya in an attempt to reassure him. "Hey man, see this? A Nosalis wasn't able to bite through this. A heavy-caliber machine gun can't pierce this too. What I'm trying to say is that there's no need to worry! We have your back! Kaminari can also electrocute them, and that's usually enough to shoo a mutant away." the redheaded ranger then gave Midoriya a hug to further calm him down, and judging by the curly haired boy's evened breathing, it worked. Kaminari fist bumped Midoriya's shoulder as well.
"Electricity is your quirk?" Midoriya asked the blonde ranger out of curiousity, who nodded. "Yep. Though to electrocute someone, I have to touch them. But that's what this baby is for." he motioned at his currently held gun; it looks nothing like a Kalashnikov, and seemed to have numerous non-gun looking parts and a battery. "I had Hatsume make this for me. It was a railgun, and she changed it to a 'lightning zapper' as I call it. All I gotta do is touch it to charge it, so it's technically infinite ammo! Pretty neat, right?"
Midoriya scrutinized the gun, and nodded. "Yeah! Does Hatsume do that? Make stuff to use with someone's quirk?" the curly haired boy asked. "Ah, yeah! That's what she usually does. Her stuff are expensive too. My zapper costed two-hundred bullets. Man, I had to diet on mushrooms for months just to save that much but hey, it's worth it!"
With what Kaminari said, Midoriya looked at his watch again, wondering what else it could do than tell time. For one, it can't be quirk related since he's quirkless.
Yeah, quirkless..
Kirishima's incessant patting on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. "Metro to Midoriya for the upteenth time! We gotta get going now, bro!" Midoriya shook his head and stood up since he was previously sitting on the floor. He dusted off some snow on his pants and the trio started walking on the hallways.
The entrance hall of the library is huge, and the walls and pylons appeared to be made of marble with some gold-colored trimming, along with a golden chandelier hanging on top of the room; that was vague assumption since the entire place looked aged and damaged, the walls themselves appearing grey instead of white, and the gold looked desaturated. They walked on a staircase situated in the middle of the room, and Midoriya noticed some weird vines hanging on the ceiling of the second floor, but conviently nowhere near the main pathway.
"Uh, don't go near them. Those sentient buggers stab anything near them." Kaminari told Midoriya, keeping his hand on the Brahmin to not stray off. As they've said, one of the vines stabbed a stray rat, cutting it in half, squicking Midoriya. "Yeah, I won't."
Once they're on the second floor, they momentarily stopped at an archives room just before the main hall of the library. Midoriya examined the books on the shelves, looking frosted over but they appeared to be in good condition. Kaminari started stuffing some books into his bag for a hefty payday. "Ooh, Roadside Picnic. Sero might like this." the blonde commented then stuffed said book onto his backpack.
Once the group was done looking for and getting books, except Midoriya since he's supposed to get documents, the group departed the small archives and proceeded towards the massive main reading hall of the library; numerous desks lie scattered about, and two massive chandeliers hung over the ceiling. Most of the bookshelves here have been emptied out by previous Stalkers already, and one notable feature here is a huge hole in the roof, letting snow accumulate on the floor below it.
Not wasting time, and since it's risky to be in an open space, the trio hoofed it quickly towards the other side, and found themselves in a narrow hallway. After rushing through said hallway, they came across a pair of stairs leading to a burnt-out section of the library. As they crept closer to that part, sounds of ragged and loud breathing became more relevant, which were accompanied by low growls.
Midoriya's blood ran cold.
"Librarians. Stay out of their sight, and if they catch you, don't attack or run. Just stare at it right in its eyes, and don't look away. If you can do that, they'll back off for the time being. Just don't turn your back on them, okay Midoriya?" the curly haired boy nodded, but his ragged breathing told the two that he's not calm.
The group slowly ascended the stairs, and saw the Librarian; it's huge, in terms of size and height, it looked reminiscent of apes, and has a pair of really strong looking arms. Its skin is grey, and has black fur on most parts of its body. The creature was facing the window and growled at something, then it started moving to the side slowly, using its feet and arms to move. "Look, there's an elevator shaft there. The documents archive is in the basement, and that's where we're going. We just have to be quiet, and it won't spot us." Kirishima pointed at said elevator shaft on the far left side of the room. Conveniently as they tiptoed past it, the creature jumped into a hole in the ceiling that led to the second floor, and the coast was clear to the elevator shaft.
Kirishima took point as always, and used hand motions to signal the group. Kaminari stayed beside Midoriya to keep him calm, and slowly they tiptoed towards the elevator shaft. Once they're in front of it, Kirishima slid inside the vacant space between the shaft and the elevator itself. Once he's down, the sound of his boots hitting metal saying so, Kaminari guided Midoriya through the spacing, but he slipped and fell with a yelp, luckily getting caught by Kirishima before he hit the ground.
After mumbling his thanks to the ranger, Kaminari followed with ease, and he dropped down to the floor like a ninja. With the basement being a darker area due to the lack of windows and turned off lights, Kirishima and Kaminari activated their nightvision goggles, placing them over their eyes and letting them see in the dark. Unfortunately for Midoriya, he doesn't have one and he can't use his flashlight lest he alert the creatures to their presence, so he resorts to keeping both of his hands firmly attached to Kaminari's shoulders.
They slowly make their way through the dusty and dark basement, the rangers slowly avoiding piles of shattered glass to not alert the Librarian in the middle of the room, sleeping and snoring loudly. Once they're on the far end of the room, Kirishima jiggles the handle of a red door, and it opens noiselessly, to their relief. The trio quickly made their way inside, and fortunately for them, it's just a narrow corridor without any Librarians. They closed the door behind them, and they rested here for a bit. Kaminari used the time to calm down and reassure a shaking Midoriya, who was constantly muttering "I'm gonna die" numerous times; the blonde had to shake the curly haired boy to snap him out of his pessimistic mantra. Kirishima, on the other hand, started reading a map he has of the library.
"Okay, you two. There seems to be a shortcut to the military archives through this hallway, and from what I'm seeing, it looks safe. I don't think any Librarian can fit in here anyway, but be ready for anything." the redheaded ranger closed the map and pocketed it, then he clutched at his Kalashnikov and took point again, motioning for Kaminari to start following him. The blonde ranger helped up a squatting Midoriya and placed the curly haired boy's hands on his shoulders. "We're almost there, buddy. Then you can get to work." the blonde started moving, and Midoriya followed after him.
The corridor looked like a service pathway since it was devoid of any furniture, and only had a few other red doors dotting the walls. Maneuvering the entire hallway towards the military archives took about a few minutes, and once they've reached the end, they come across another red door that's been left ajar. Kirishima slowly pushed it open, and they came into a room with holes in the floor and had documents scattered all over said floor. On the far end, a vault door, the kind with a rotating crank in the middle, can be seen left ajar presumably by the Stalker that gave Kuzmich the sleep experiment documents. A sign on the door read "Армия Архив" in red letters.
"That's the army's archives. It's gotta be that one." Kirishima told the group in a hushed voice. The redheaded ranger made his way towards the room, avoiding the holes on the floor, and inspected the room. Finding no threat, he motioned for Kaminari to bring Midoriya to the room, and the blonde led the curly haired boy towards the room, carefully guiding him away from the holes. Once they're all inside, Kirishima let out a heavy sigh. "Wow! Okay, Midoriya, you can use your flashlight here."
Midoriya turned on his headlamp, illuminating the small room full of labeled, metal drawers; some were opened, some had their documents emptied out, and some of the drawers were even on the floor. "This is the room Mister Kuzmich told us about. This is your field now, and the faster you work, the sooner we can go, okay?" Kirishima said, which Midoriya hummed in affirmation at. "Alright! Me and Kaminari will be just outside. Holler at us if you need help or when you're done." Kirishima and Kaminari then walked out of the room to patrol the room, and to examine their surroundings.
Midoriya went to work immediately, starting with the opened drawers with documents. "Rascalov D.. Glukhovsky D.. Rashkovsky M.. Cherdenko A.. nothing important." Finding nothing, he starts opening some of the closed drawers. "Skadovsk.. Jupiter Plant..? Nah. A Compilation of Anomalies in Pripyat.. What?" he looks to another section, getting increasingly frustrated. "
"Metro-2.. Ramenki-43.. D-6 Complex.. Lomonosov Bunker 'Nauka'? These sound promising." he bags all three documents, and continues along the seemingly valuable sector of drawers. "Bunker-42.. Stalin Bunker? Well, these look promising too.." he bags the other two documents. Confident for another round, he comes up to another sector. "Project First Squad..? Nah. Krukov N.. no. White Forest Launch Complex.. maybe? And.. what's this?" he pops open an ajar drawer with a note in it, surprisingly. He reads the writing on the note.
Что твое, сейчас мое.
"What is yours, is now mine? Hah?" he eyes the note in disbelief, and was about to crumple it and play it off as a prank until he felt cold metal pressed against the back of his head.
A low, raspy voice started speaking behind him in a hushed manner, making Midoriya's blood run cold for the second time. "Yeah, nerd. Your shit is mine now."
Well, cliffhanger. Thanks for reading!
Reviews would be appreciated too!