CHAPTER ELEVEN
Quantum Doo-wop
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
"SHUT UP, DEKU!!!"
Currently, the gang was being transported across the fabric of space-time, in an effort to find their friends and get everyone home. Their first stop: Tsuyu Asui, currently located on Mars of all places. Let's just say, not everyone anticipates the feeling of their body being mildly altered by the forces of reality.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
"SERIOUSLY!!! SHUT UP, OR I'LL SEND SOME EXPLOSIONS PACKING UP YOUR--"
"Relax, Bakugo," said Kirishima, completely unfazed by inter-dimensional travel at this point, "It just takes a bit of time to get used to it. Just breathe, Midoriya."
Deku managed to get himself to stop screaming, now just mildly hyperventilating. He had had his eyes screwed shut, but he soon began to slowly open his eyes, getting a glimpse of the others floating around, as wind seemed to whip their hair about. They seemed to be flying through all manner of space, as if the colors and bright shining of billions of planets and stars whipped past them at the speed of sound. Everywhere he looked, he only saw more space, yet it seemed to bend together like a giant cylinder, worming its way across the cosmos. (If you want to get a clearer picture, just watch Interstellar.) It was incredible. Unreal. And also... nauseating...
"I think I'm gonna be sick..." said Deku, putting his hands in front of his mouth.
"Try to keep it in," said Kirishima, "Trust me. I don't think you want to see what happens when you--"
"Blegh!!!"
"--hurl..."
As Deku's barf flew out, it quickly began to shift and morph, transforming into a burger, fries, and ketchup. Then into raw meat and veggies. And then vanishing from existence.
"Wh... what the heck..." muttered Deku, eyes wide in confusion.
"Yeah, like I said, inter-dimensional travel has a way of changing the laws of just about anything," said Kirishima, "Also, don't use your quirks while we're in here. It can get very deadly, very quickly."
"How so?" asked Uravity.
"Well, you guys remember when that terrorist group Humarise was releasing that gas around the globe, causing people's quirks to become so volatile and out of control that it killed them?"
"Trigger," said Deku through gritted teeth.
"Yeah. Well, I found out that if you use your quirk while traveling between dimensions, it reacts in the same way, but with a slower overall reaction. One time, I ended up activating my quirk when a Drolian tackled me once I got warped in. We had a bit of a scuffle before I activated my quirk, but it was like my body began to add more layers of hardened skin repeatedly. I luckily managed to get out before it killed me, but the Drolian wasn't so lucky..."
"What do you mean?" asked Shinichi.
"Well... he might have been enveloped in my expanding form... and... and died..."
Deku and Uravity's eyes widened at this revelation, while Bakugo was a little more reserved in his shock. Though they couldn't blame him, as it was something out of his control.
"Kirishima..." said Uravity, a look of sadness and sympathy in her eyes.
"It's ok, guys," said Kirishima, as he cast a sullen look, "I'm just... I'm just glad to see you guys again..." He then gave a hopeful smile, until suddenly, his Slip-Disc began to chirp. He quickly whipped it out of his pocket and glanced at a series of words that danced across the top of it.
"Well, looks like we'll be dropping in about five seconds. Brace yourselves, everyone."
Everyone readied themselves, except Saitama, who hadn't done or said a thing the entire time, instead just floating about without a care and staring off ahead of himself.
"Uh... Saitama," said Deku, "We're about to drop..."
"Ok..." said Saitama, giving a slight shrug in return.
Suddenly, a portion of space opened up alongside them, before the group was promptly sucked up into a blinding light.
Deku quickly closed his eyes at the light, but then began to slowly open them as the sound of cars and chattering could be heard around them, yet he still felt the breeze blasting at his face. Upon opening his eyes, he saw a large city surrounded by a great wall, with the land beyond the wall being dusty and red. It was a beautiful site seeing such a large city upon the surface of Mars. And they were falling right towards it.
"Uraraka. Midoriya. Use your Zero G and Blackwhip quirks to get us down. We should hopefully be able to make a steady landing," ordered Kirishima, his experience with inter-dimensional travel shining through as he took command.
Uravity and Deku nodded, as Deku pulled everyone in with his Blackwhip quirk, before Uravity went around and tapped everyone, activating her Zero G quirk. Then, Kirishima climbed his way to the front of the group and activated his Hardening quirk, though this time, he was able to spread his layers out so they shielded the entire front of the group, enclosed by his shield.
"Holy woah! You can stretch yourself out?!" said Deku, wishing he could whip out his hero notebook and not down the new movie, but he was too focused on keeping the group together with his quirk.
"Yep," said Kirishima, delivering a prompt thumbs-up and a beaming grin to go with it, "You're not the only one that's been practicing to the extreme with their quirk."
He then faced forward and continued, "Alright, everyone. Brace for impact. Uraraka. On my count, deactivate your quirk."
"Right," said Uravity, giving a quick nod, and taking the opportunity to snuggle a little extra closer to Deku, who thankfully didn't seem to notice the move.
"Alright... 5..."
The tops of the skyscrapers we're now only a few hundred feet below them now.
"4..."
They past by the rooftops of the buildings in a blur, as the bright neon lights and wafting smell of alcohol and spent cigarettes wafted up to their noses.
"3... 2..."
They were now close enough to make out people's faces, as some seemed to notice the large group falling towards them. Some pointing up in shock, while some ran away with loud screams.
"1... Now!!!"
"Release!!!" exclaimed Uravity, pressing her fingers together, as her quirk's effect shut off.
Kirishima felt the change in weight, but a little weight difference wasn't going to throw off Ole' Red Riot now.
"HERE WE GO!!!" he yelled, hardening his quirk even more, as he stuck his feet out. Soon, he made impact with the ground, using his hardened legs to leap off the ground as they touched down. They were in the air once more, before they touched down again, yet this time, Kirishima dug his feet into the ground, helping them come to an abrupt but complete stop.
"Thank you for riding Red Riot Airlines," said Kirishima with a cheeky tone as he deactivated his quirk, "We hope you enjoyed our successful crash landing. Please make sure to thank your flight attendants and please watch your step as you disembark. We hope you have an excellent time here on Mars."
"Can it, Pinecone!" yelled Bakugo as he practically flung himself out of the ensnared tendrils of Blackwhip, which Deku quickly deactivated.
The group quickly dusted themselves off, until Uravity pointed out, "Hey, where's Saitama?"
At that, the group looked amongst themselves, and sure enough, he was nowhere to be seen.
"I was sure that I got him with my Blackwhip..." said Deku, rubbing his chin.
"Uh, Midoriya. You might wanna take a few steps to the right..." said Kirishima, as he pointed up high. At that, Deku turned around and saw the blank-faced Saitama plunging at top speed, not even attempting to slow down.
As he got closer, the group quickly leapt out of the way, as Saitama plunged headfirst into the pavement, his head carving a deep gash into the roadway, before he came to a stop upon hitting a lamppost. He then promptly lifted himself up out of the rubble, dusted off his clothes and bald head, and walked over towards the group.
"Crazy Mr. Saitama," said Kirishima with a chuckle.
"Couldn't you have just used your weird superpower to slow me down?..." said Saitama to Deku.
"Yeah... heh heh... Probably... Guess I kinda forgot in the heat of the moment," he said, rubbing the back of his head and grinning sheepishly.
"Eh, no sweat," said Saitama, "Although, I don't think they'll take to kindly to the damage."
He then pointed to the gathering crowd, which drew closer as they took on the form of an angry mob.
"Who the heck are you people?" yelled an old man as his two buddies also aired their anger.
"Yeah, you just tore up the road," said one of his buddies, "Y'know, I spent several years of my life working on this very road, as a legacy to leave behind to my grandchildren."
"We all worked on this road, idiot!" said the third old man, clobbering the second man on the head, "And for the last time, it only took us a few days. This ain't even the road we did!"
"Is that so, wise guy?!" said the first man, before proceeding to tussle with his buddies, each of them grabbing at the throats of the others.
"I'm reporting you to the police," said a bystander, as they whipped out a strange smart device.
"Woah woah woah, there's no need for that," said Kirishima, putting his hands up in an effort to keep the peace, "You see, we're actually bounty hunters, and we were just bringing in this guy to collect our reward." He then grabbed Saitama and yanked him over, "This here is the notorious Giovanni Bandini, an intergalactic weapons smuggler that the cops have been after for the last ten years."
"...what..."
"Just roll with me, here," Kirishima whispered to him, before turning his attention back towards the crowd.
"Wait a minute..." said a street vendor that had wandered over, "Yeah... I remember hearing about him. I heard that he singlehandedly blew up a research facility on the moon. He's as deadly as they come, man."
"Sorry again for the damage, folks," said Kirishima, "You won't have to worry about this fella anymore. Let's go, gang." He then gestured for the others to follow him, while he pulled Saitama along. They looked amongst themselves before slowly following Kirishima and Saitama, noticing the strange looks they were getting from the bystanders.
"Odd looking bunch of bounty hunters, eh?" said a woman.
"I'll say," commented a tall, teenage boy, "They almost look like superheroes..."
"Sorry again about that, guys," said Kirishima, "Couldn't quite think up anything else, so I figured I'd play the bounty hunter card."
"Next time, I want the spikey blonde to be the bounty..." said Saitama, pointing at Bakugo.
"As if, Cue Ball!!!"
At the moment, the group had managed to get away from the growing crowd without drawing too much attention, and were now resting up atop a small diner not far from where they had landed.
"So we're really on Mars, huh?" asked Deku, looking out towards the surrounding cityscape.
"Yup," said Kirishima, "Wild, huh? Trust me though, you haven't seen anything yet. There's a lot of other strange and mysterious worlds out there."
"Still though, to see a world where people have managed to colonize Mars to this degree... It's... Nothing short of incredible..."
Uravity noticed the way Deku talked and couldn't help but smile and blush at his apparent cuteness. Seeing how he could be so easily amazed always managed to cheer her up and brighten her day.
"So, what's the plan, now?" asked Shinichi, snapping the others out of their own musings.
"Yes. It's important we come up with a plan of action soon," added Migi.
"We know that Asui is here somewhere, but we don't know where exactly. Is there a way we could fine-tune where her exact coordinates are?" asked Deku.
"I think so," said Kirishima, "Though we're gonna need a better vantage point to pull it off. Like up there." He then pointed to a tall skyscraper with a spiral formation. "Think you could give me a lift up there?"
"Yeah," said Deku, using Blackwhip to wrap him up.
"You guys wait here. It should take just a minute."
"Fine. Whatever," muttered Bakugo, leaning back against a wall with after having slid his gauntlets off.
With that, Deku began to swing across the rooftops with his quirk, while Kirishima was pulled along in tow.
About a minute later, they finally landed at the top of the skyscraper, as Deku released Kirishima from his quirk's bindings.
"Ok, this looks like a good spot," said Kirishima, who then pulled his Slip-Disc out from his pocket.
"What are you doing?" asked Deku, leaning in as Kirishima pressed multiple buttons on the device.
"I'm gonna have it scan the city for any trace of her. That way, we'll know exactly where she's at, give-or-take within a 25 foot radius, but as long as she doesn't move around or anything, the location should be rather exact." He then pressed one last button, before tossing the disc up high into the air. The disc then froze up above, before a strange blue laser shot out from the side and began to slowly rotate around the edge of the disc. After a total of ten rotations, the laser submerged into the disc and Kirishima caught it as it fell back down.
"Just a few more buttons to press... There we go!" he said, as a 3D digital reconstruction of the city formed above the disc.
"Holy woah..." muttered Deku, mesmerized at the technological capabilities he was witnessing, "Hatsume would totally go crazy over something like this..."
"True that. Kinda surprised she hasn't cracked inter-dimensional travel at this point... Wait, has she?"
"Uh... no..."
"Ok, now we just got to wait for a signal--"
A loud ding echoed out of the disc as a hazy orange dot formed on the map.
"Alright. That's where she is."
Deku then walked over towards the buildings edge after having gotten a glimpse of her destination. "That must be where she is," he said, pointing out towards where she was located, "It looks like some sort of dock along the river."
Kirishima walked up beside him, looking towards where he pointed, and then back at the map and the orange light signifying Asui's location. "Yep. Looks about right. In that case, let's go grab the others. We've got a friend to get back home."
Once Deku and Red Riot had returned to the group, they informed them that they had Asui's location and they all set out to the dock to go find her.
"Man it reeks here. Though I'm not surprised Frog Legs would be out here somewhere chilling by the water," said Bakugo.
"Wherever she is, I hope she's alright," said Uravity, worried at the state her friend might be in.
For the most part, their surroundings indicated that this was like every seemingly ordinary dock, with bearded men traipsing about on the creaking wooden boards that made up the boardwalk, buckets of fish guts and other sea-like oddities strewn about and reeking of dead fish, old, ramshackle boats, some with layers of barnacles built up on the underside, poking out above the crests of the water every so often. What wasn't normal was the fact that spaceships were landing and taking of from the water, the sound of the jet engines roaring over the groups banter. That, and the fact that Asui's signal was coming from a large spaceship resting out on the water.
"The Bebop," said Shinichi, reading the italicized wording on the side of the ship, "What the heck is a Bebop?"
"Not a bebop. Just bebop. It's a type of jazz," said Kirishima, matter-of-factly.
The group just looked at him, wondering how the heck he knew what bebop was.
As if reading their minds, he answered, "I've seen things..."
That seemed like the only answer they'd get from him, so they just shrugged it off as nothing, for now...
"Alright, let's go get our friend back. And be careful, everyone. We don't know what kind of people are holding her onboard."
"Since when did you elect yourself as the leader, huh?" huffed Bakugo.
"Like you could do any better," Uravity countered, "And he clearly has more experience in these types of situations."
Bakugo grumbled to himself, but chose to keep quiet. Without so much as a second thought, Saitama leapt onto the ship, as the others each used their own abilities or held on to others to leap across. Soon, they were all gathered on the airstrip of the spaceship.
"Isn't this basically breaking and entering?" asked Deku, "We don't even have a warrant or anything like that."
Saitama just gave him an exasperated look, before saying, "Look. We're in an alternate dimension trying to save one of your hero friends who's trapped in a spaceship on a noir-reminiscent Mars colony. I don't think now is the time to worry about potential legal issues. Also, it's not breaking and entering if the door is already open." With that, he stepped inside as the darkness within enveloped him completely.
Deku merely sweat-dropped, but still followed the group in as they walked through the small entrance of the ship. Once inside, they began to hear the echoes of their footsteps on the hard floor,and the sound of the engine humming underneath them.
Kirishima held his disk out again, and began to zoom in even further on the digital map, to the point where he was able to project a complete layout of the ship they were in.
"So much detail!" said Deku in hushed excitement.
"Shut up, nerd," interjected Bakugo.
"Yeah, pretty cool, huh," said Kirishima, ignoring Bakugo's comment, "My Slip-Disc is able to pick up the most finite details through analysis on the quantum level. For example... Hey, Ronda, how many hairs do I have on my head?"
"As of the last scan, you have a total of 115,235 hairs, Mr. Riot," the female robot voice said.
"Nifty, huh?" said Kirishima with a grin, but his smile faltered as he caught the strange looks directed towards him.
"What?" he asked.
"I don't know what's weirder," began Uravity," The fact that you named your disc Ronda, or the fact she calls you Mr. Riot."
"What's so weird about that?" said Kirishima, his grin returning to his face, before he passed the group and lead them on, "C'mon. Asui should be close by now."
"Oh, I'm sooo using this as prime teasing material when we get back," said Bakugo with a mischievous grin.
"I don't know about that," retorted Uravity, "he might be able to best you now that he has several more years of experience over you." She then flashed him a snarky grin before passing him by.
He followed them, but not without some external grumbling and mumbled name calling.
After a few minutes of going down the many hallways of the ship, they finally came to the end of a hallway, and as they got closer, they could here the sound of enthusiastic voices coming from the room ahead.
"Alright, guys. Get ready to throw down," said Kirishima, hardening his hands. The others also readied themselves, save for Saitama, who merely gave a quick, dismissive thumbs up.
Kirishima took a few deep breaths before leaping into the room. "RED RIOT READY TO RUMB-- huh...?"
Directly in front of him was a corgi, who looked up at him with inquisitive eyes, while behind him on a small table, what looked like a strange television set was playing some sort of game show style news reel, with the two hosts sporting almost comical cowboy outfits.
"Aww, hey there little guy," said Kirishima, immediately deactivating his quirk, and proceeding to pet the dog, the corgi panting with joy as he rubbed up against him. "What's your name, buddy?" He then glanced down at the tag on his collar. "Ein, huh? Must be your initials or something. Who's a good boy? You are. Yes you are. Hey guys, come check out the-- oh, sweet. You're all here."
Once again, he found himself getting strange looks from the rest of the group.
"Dude, now's not the time to be playing around with dogs," said Bakugo with his usual grim tone.
"Sorry, man. He's just so darn cute though."
"C'mon, we gotta find Tsuyu," said Uravity, not sure whether to be annoyed with his idleness, amused by his antics, or blush at his quick tangent from his manly self. A part of him totally reminded her of Gunhead.
"I guess you're right," he said, and then redirected his attention to the dog, "Hey, Ein. Do you know where our friend is? See if you can pick up her scent from this." He then pulled out her cell phone from his pocket and put it in front of Ein. Immediately, the dog began to sniff at it eagerly.
"Heh, like that's gonna work," said Bakugo.
Suddenly, the dog spun around and ran out one of the hallways connected to the living room, yapping as he went. After a few seconds, they heard a familiar voice becoming clearer the closer they got to the room.
"Ok ok, Ein. Calm down. What's got you so riled up... this... time..."
Deku's and Uravity's eyes widened, as Tsuyu Asui now stood before them, her face also showing the same level of, if not more, shock than theirs. Her green hair was done up like it usually was, but she also wore a stained lime green shirt, a pair of overalls with holes in the knees, covered in black grease splotches, and a set of black metal-toed work boots.
Suddenly, tears began to build up in Asui, and she covered her mouth with both hands and said, "You guys found me *ribbit*." Before they knew it, she leapt towards them and tackled the two others in a big hug.
"I'm so glad we found you," said Uravity, unable to hold back tears, as they began to stream down her face.
"I'M SO SORRY, ASUI!!!" bawled Deku, as his own tears were released like a dam burst through.
Asui quickly got up, pulling the two with her, as she wiped her own tears from her eyes, "*sniff* This isn't your fault guys. And I told you *ribbit*. Call me Tsu." With that, she pulled them in again for another hug, ruffling their hair simultaneously.
While Uravity tried to stop Deku's waterworks, she glanced over at Kirishima and said, "Wow, when'd you start taking steroids, Kirishima? *ribbit*"
"Nah, nothing like that," he said, chuckling at her apparent bluntness, "Just grew up is all."
"You'll have to tell me more later," she said, leaning in and giving him a hug as well, before letting go and facing Bakugo, "I'm even glad to see you too, Bakugo."
"Of course you are. I'm Katsuki Bakugo," he said with a proud huff, crossing his arms in the process.
"Nice to see you haven't changed your arrogant manners one bit," she said matter-of-factly.
"Watch it, Frog Face!" he retorted.
She croaked cheerfully at his reaction. Then, what came as a bit of a surprise, she leaned in and gave him a hug as well, shocking Bakugo to the point that he couldn't get himself to react in any way.
"I missed you too, Bakugo," she said.
Uravity couldn't help but chuckle a little to herself at the sight. It wasn't every day you caught Bakugo speechless. And was he... blushing?!
"Uh... yeah," he said in his stupor, "Just... trying to get you lame extras back home... Ok, get off me, Frog!"
"I told you, call me Tsu."
"As if!!!"
She merely shook her head, and then she noticed Saitama and Shinichi standing off to the side, with Saitama kneeling on the ground to pet Ein, a slight grin on his face and not paying any attention to the friendly intimacy unfolding in front of him.
"Who are these guys, then?" asked Asui
"This is Saitama and Shinichi," said Kirishima, gesturing to each of them, "They're from other dimensions. What happened to you also happened to these guys."
"Oh. Nice to meet you two."
"Hey kid."
"Nice to meet you as well."
"Greetings," said Migi, appearing from Shinichi's right hand. At that, Asui's eyes widened in minor shock, but only for a second.
"Woah, who is that?" she said, leaning in for a better look.
"Oh, right, this is Migi," said Shinichi, gesturing to the creature in question, "He's an alien parasite that's trapped in my right hand, so we're kinda stuck each other."
"Huh, interesting," said Asui.
"Um," started Deku, "Asui--"
*annoyed ribbit*
"Right, sorry. Tsu, how long have you been here for?..."
"Hmm," she said, scratching her chin in thought, "I think it's close to being about five months now."
"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here," he said, "They haven't hurt you here, have they?"
Asui started to chuckle a little, and then said, "Classic Midoriya. Always the one to jump to worst case scenarios still, I see."
"He sure is," said Uravity.
"Don't worry, guys," said Asui, "I've been doing good. In fact, since I got here, I got taken in by the crew of the Bebop, helping them collect bounties. And I do a pretty good job too. Not much different from when I did my internship with Selkie, other than the fact that most of my work isn't on water, let alone Earth."
"I'll admit, she has been a big help since joining us," said a suave male voice from behind.
At that, the group looked around, and saw standing in the doorway they had entered in a tall man sporting a purple suit, with a yellow button up and a loose black tie poking out on the upper half of his torso. He was leaning against the doorframe, running a hand through his thick brown hair, before proceeding to light a cigarette with his lighter.
"So," he said, after having taken a puff of his cigarette, "Mind telling me who these folks are, Tsu?..."
*Tank! Plays In The Background*
Hey, y'all. Once again, another chapter update after a month of inactivity. Heheheh... Whatiswrongwithme...
Anyways, time to welcome the man, the myth, the legend, Spike Spiegel. Things are only gonna get more wild with the Bebop crew in the mix, so hold on to your butts!
Also, shout out to NewMystery356 and also that one guest account with the awesome suggestions. You guys rock! Thanks for the feedback, tips, and overall superb motivation.
Hope to have another chapter out soon, and I hope you all enjoyed the length of this one. Also, this particular collision of worlds and anime universes has a name now. It won't be mentioned until later on in the story, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell you it now. So until then...
See you, Space Cowboy...
And welcome to the Ani-verse...
(Get it, cause it's anime and multiverse combined!!! I'll see myself out.)