Hello crazy, beautiful world! I'm back! Sorry this chapter came a couple days late, my Beta reader's extended family made a surprise visit, throwing his and by extension, my schedule out the window. But here it is now! Please don't be angry at me! *Cowers*

Here's some good news, we hit 200 followers last week! Woo!

Reviews:

whkestila: Great, now you've got an image of Tina and Pyro having a tea party in my head.

Triton0501: Still onboard for the whole , eh?

Engineer4Ever: Good to see you enjoyed the obligatory training montage! As for the internship...well...

And with that out of the way, on with the show!

Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.

Please rate and review!

"This means someone is talking."

'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'

This means it's a flashback.

*This means it's a sound effect!*

{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}

Angel in a Gilded Cage

The air was heavy with the smell of meat and the sounds of ravenous hunger. Crunching, chewing and slurping abound. Teeth gnashed and tore at their prizes, juices leaking down their owner's chins as they grunted and groaned in relish.

All the while, Angel found herself trapped at her seat, helpless to do anything but watch in horror at the carnage before her.

Next to her, Maya sighed. "Guys, did you forget we have a guest here? Can you maybe take the devouring down a notch?!"

Across the table, Axton and Salvador looked up from their mutilated burgers, grease and sauces dripping down their faces and between their fingers. They audibly swallowed.

"C'mon Maya, I paid for all of this! The least you can do is let me enjoy it!" The former whined, taking a second to lick some mustard off his thumb.

"And it's Dynasty Diner! You know what it does to us! NOM!" Salvador added before taking a big, toothy bite out of his second burger.

Maya rubbed at her temples completely aggravated before returning to her salad, while Zer0 sat off to the side, watching the disturbing scene with a sickened DX on his face. On her other side sat Angel, feeling a little nauseous from the scene unfolding on the other side of the table, her own, comparatively smaller burger innocently sitting on a plate.

Despite how green at the gills she was feeling at the moment, the rumbling from her stomach was begging for food, especially after the strenuous amounts of exercise from training earlier.

Hesitantly, she picked up the burger and took a small bite. Although she couldn't enjoy it fully, being off put at the moment, she still appreciated that it was indeed pretty tasty.

After chewing a bit, she glanced around as everyone continued to eat, minus Zer0.

'Does he even eat?' She wondered.

Otherwise, besides the constant mastication, there was an awkward air, as if no one really knew what to talk about with her there.

Well, if it was her fault she may as well try to fix it.

"S-So?" She tried not to shrink back when they turned to her. "Do we have anything to talk about?"

Axton raised a brow. "I dunno. What do you want to talk about?" He asked, eating a potato fry.

She shifted uncomfortably. "W-Well, I was thinking… maybe, we can get to know each other more? I-I mean, so I can learn more about you all. We're going to be working together for the next week, so..?" She nervously took another bite from her burger so she'd stop talking.

Thankfully, Maya came to her aid, nodding. "I think that's a great idea. A little icebreaker then." She looked pointedly at her cohorts who gave nods and shrugs.

"Cool. So yeah, I'm Maya, but you already know that. My quirk is telekinesis, but you already know that. Hmm…what else...oh, right! My hero name is Blue Banshee."

Angel blinked. "Just Maya? What about your last name?"

"Eh, don't have one." She waved off the question dismissively.

"Uh... w-why not?"

"I'll tell you another time. Next!" The woman abruptly answered, putting a pin on that topic as she gestured at the taller man across the table.

"Oh! Uh, my turn, I guess?" He downed his current mouthful of meat and grease and coughed a little. "So, uh, you already know my real name, so moving on. My hero name is Action Axton and my quirk, ah, well, it's… not that interesting." He mumbled the last bit.

"What do you mean?"

"Eh, trust me, I don't want to bore you-ow!" He continued, about to take another bite of his burger when he got elbowed in the ribs by the dwarf sitting next to him.

"Come on Amigo, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Salvador goaded him.

"Ugh, fine. My quirk is called… Cardiac Control. I… can control my heart rate. Happy?" Axton waved his arms about, annoyed.

Admittedly, it wasn't the flashiest quirk. But Angel didn't voice that thought.

"I think it's cool." She stated. "I'm sure it comes handy, right?"

"Sometimes, I guess." Axton muttered under his breath.

"B-But, I mean, your name is pretty good! It makes you sound like an action figure?" She offered, which definitely got a response as he slammed his off hand on the table, making her jolt in fear.

"Thank you!" He let out in a loud, exasperated tone. "That's what I thought! Unfortunately, it's a little bit hard to merchandise an undercover hero! How can kids buy toys of me, if they don't know who I am?!"

"Didn't stop your modelling career." Salvador snorted.

Axton shot him a dirty look, breaking into a cold sweat as Angel tilted her head.

"Modelling? For what? Fashion?"

"Ahhummm… in a way?" He laughed anxiously. "Sal! Why don't you tell her about yourself?!" He frantically shifted the focus.

"Whatever you say man." The dwarf said, placing his third burger down. "As for me, I..!" He crossed his arms over his chest, brandishing his hands like revolvers. "Am the Gunzerker!" He crowed.

"Gun...zerker?" Angel mouthed the odd name, making Salvador's announcement lose a bit of it's dramatic flair.

"Uh, yeah? It's a play on words? Like, gun and berzerker? Gunzerker?" He floundered.

"So your quirk has something to do with guns?"

"Yeah, watch this!" He said excitedly. He grabbed his beer can and chugged it's remains, then once it was empty, he crumpled it into a cookie shaped disk with his beefy arms. Then, in shock and morbid fascination, Angel witnessed him open his mouth, revealing his now extremely sharp looking incisors and take a bite out of the aluminum with a crunch!

He effortlessly chewed, seemingly without injury despite the fact that the metal in his mouth should be lacerating his insides. But no, he just swallowed and pointed one of his hands, still miming a pistol, at another empty beer can sitting on an end table next to the couch.

Angel's eyes boggled when the tip of his pointer finger swung open like a toothpaste cap and then there was an audible click!

*BANG!* The can flew off the endtable and clattered to the floor, a hole punched in the side!

Angel's jaw hung open and she looked back to him as he gave her a boastful smirk and blew away some smoke from the end of his finger. "And that… is my quirk, Bullet Fed! I can turn anything artificial I eat into bullets for these guns!" He said, flexing his thick biceps.

"Show off." Axton grumbled, stuffing his face with fries out of jealousy.

"W-Wow! That name makes a lot more sense now."

"Yeah, my first idea was Deatharms, but that's taken." Salvador sighed, flicking the end of his finger closed.

"Looks like you're up last Zee." Axton pointed to the tall ninja on Maya's right. He silently nodded and turned to Angel, his hidden gaze making her feel unsettled.

"My name is Zer0… hero name, also Zer0… My quirk? Lightbending."

"Lightbending?" Her eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

"I can disappear…" In the blink of an eye, he vanished in a brief cascade of particles!

"...by making light go through me…" Angel got chills from the sound of his disembodied voice, echoing from nowhere. "...and I can do this…" He continued, reappearing in his chair.

She waited, watching him, but nothing happened. Then he pointed behind her.

She turned to look and almost jumped out of her skin at the sight of another Zer0 standing a foot away from her!

"Wha?! But?!" She sputtered, head spinning between the two completely identical ninja men. She slowly reached out towards the closer one, hand trembling in shock, only to get surprised again when her finger passed through his abdomen, goosebumps running up her arm.

"Ohhh!" She gasped in amazement. "You can make illusions too?"

"Not of anything… I can make decoys of me… and small flashes too." He explained as the duplicate faded away.

"Wow… all of your quirks are so cool."

"Pssh. You're just saying that." Axton rolled his eyes.

"No, I really mean it!" She insisted. "I have this one friend who would gush over every one of you, he loves studying quirks so much!"

"Even me?"

"Of course! I wouldn't put it past him to come up with ideas on how to use it for you."

Her words seemed to placate him, as he got a thoughtful look on his face.

"So with that out of the way, what else do you want to know?" Maya asked.

"Well…" Angel smiled, feeling more at ease. "Can I ask where you got the name for your agency?"

"Oh that's easy, we all use guns." Maya said.

"What?" She froze and blurted out. All four of them unholstered some kind of small handgun, with the exception of Salvador, who just wiggled his fingers.

"Heroes can incorporate guns loaded with non-lethal rounds into their support items, provided that they undergo regular background checks and take a firearm's test every month. Japan has always been super serious about gun control."

"One of my teachers, Snipe, uses a gun, does he have to follow them too?"

"Oh yeah. He's actually a spokesman for firearm safety." The woman replied before popping a grape tomato in her mouth.

Angel nodded, processing this newfound knowledge. In retrospect, that made a lot of sense. Snipe probably didn't want someone emulating him unsafely, as he would be to blame if someone got hurt. There was also the fact that the advent of quirks must have taken the public eye off of firearms. There would be a lower demand she imagined, due to a lot of people qualifying as human weapons.

"So that's why you guys are called Double Tap then."

Maya grimaced. "Well, yeah, but also... Axton has a dirty mind." She shot a glare at said culprit who chuckled mischievously.

Angel's nose wrinkled in disgust.

"M-Moving on… um…" She struggled to come up with another topic. Then a question came to mind, one that she had since she had arrived.

"What's the "thing" that you guys requested me for?"

All sounds of feasting stopped as all four heads turned to her. She swallowed.

"That's… need to know information." Axton said.

"Then when will I "need" to know?" She questioned, her tone slightly annoyed. She didn't like not knowing things, especially when they concern her.

"Soon." Maya promised, squeezing her wrist in a comforting manner. "We need you to sign a confidentiality agreement before anything is disclosed. The paperwork will be here tomorrow, we'll brief you after you sign it."

Angel deflated, satisfied with knowing that she wouldn't have to wait too long. "Alright. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Maya smiled. "Just finish up your dinner and we'll get you set up in my room." She said, returning to her salad.

"OMNOM!"

"MMMF!"

*Slurp!*

Only to stop when the loud, grotesque sounds began anew.

"Seriously guys. This isn't your last meal, but if you keep this up, it will be!"

"Shorry not shorry! URP!"

And so, through completely democratic means, it was decided that Salvador would wash the dishes that night.

The next day, Angel held onto Maya's promise and waited. After a mediocre night's rest on a futon on the floor of her mentor's room, she woke to a new day, filled with more training. They spent hours on the roof with the goal of improving her control over her new defensive technique through more meditation and exercises. All for the purpose of cutting down the time it took to bring her power to the surface as well as wasted energy, she didn't want to pass out in a real fight after blocking a single punch.

Then after they were warmed up, they moved onto improving her CQC by practicing something called katas, a routine of moving through the motions of the attacks and strikes of Maya's improvised fighting style. It reminded Angel of when she would walk in on Moxxi performing yoga in the morning, except she was actually hitting a worn out mannequin with a frowny face drawn on it.

After that, they went further with more small spars. She and Maya would have a pretend fight where they both sought to land the first hit that didn't get deflected by the other. Unsurprisingly, the experienced pro won every time, but Angel would just pick herself back up and try again, which brought an approving gleam to her teacher's eye.

Once they were finished with the spars (and took a break for a quick lunch), they returned to the drill that ended their last session, the one where Maya bombarded her with telekinetically propelled missiles. Thankfully however, she had decided on using bean bags this time. They still hurt and would leave a bruise, but at least Angel wouldn't end up smelling like she dove into a tank of salsa.

All the while, despite the pain and the strain, Angel found that she was enjoying herself. Call it a placebo, but she could feel herself getting better with each exercise. Was this the sensation that Midoriya felt when he worked out? The feeling that every throbbing pain and burning within her lungs was a mark of accomplishment? If so, she could get used to this feeling!

At the same time though whenever she had a moment of respite, Angel's mind was abuzz with speculation as to what the "thing" might be. The reason that Double Tap had requested her and her alone in the first place. With how serious the normally carefree and chaotic members of the team got when it was brought up just inflamed her curiosity.

Thus, when she exited the shower after a long day of training and she was invited to the table, she found herself filled with anxious energy and a bit of trepidation.

She rubbed her hands nervously, fidgeting a bit in her seat as she waited. She briefly glanced up to see Zer0 standing there, arms crossed, his unseen gaze boring into her. She shuddered and looked back down to the scratched surface of the wooden table.

Maya and the other members vouched for the enigmatic individual, but it didn't stop him from intimidating her with barely any effort.

Speaking of, Axton and Maya were currently at the computer in the "office" while Salvador watched television, the screen providing the only sound in the room.

'The intensity in the air. Was it like this for the Raider's when I would brief them on our jobs?' She pondered.

*DRRT!* She shook a little and looked up. The fax machine next to the computer(first time she had seen one of those) buzzed and ejected some papers.

"Forms are here!" Axton declared, picking up the still warm sheets and fanning them. He made his way over to the table as Maya shut off the computer and Salvador the television before they stood up and joined him. Everyone pulled out a chair and sat at the table with Angel except Axton, who stood at the far end.

"This…" He held up the papers. "Is the confidentiality agreement. If you are really serious about taking part in this coming case, then you'll need to sign this. Look through it completely. Make sure you understand exactly what's being asked of you."

With those solemn words, he pushed the papers, as well as a pen across the table.

Angel put two fingers on the sheets, silently dragged them over and began to read. Her eyes flitted back and forth, taking in all of the presented information quickly thanks to years of experience.

It was a straightforward legal agreement. If she wanted to join the case, she had to swear to not divulge any information related to the investigation as well as anything to do with those involved. All for the sake of not compromising the safety of all parties or leaking anything that could compromise the whole thing such as the case's existence or the quirks of the heroes assigned to it, ie: Double Tap. It followed up with an explanation of the legal consequences that would befall her if she broke her word.

It all made sense and she moved onto the second and noticeably simpler section, a warning of the very real risk of bodily harm. It didn't sugarcoat how dangerous that this case might get, listing gruesome outcomes such as injury, kidnapping and of course, death.

'I wouldn't expect anything less in hero work.' She noted, her mind made up, taking the offered pen.

After giving the whole contract another once over, she signed on the dotted lines. She pushed the sheets back. Axton picked them up and checked her signatures before giving a satisfied nod.

"Everything seems to be in order. Welcome to the inner circle I guess?" He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a bit, which Angel appreciated.

"Now that that's out the way, we can get down to brass tacks." He announced, heading over to the desk where he deposited the agreement and picked up a thick manilla folder before coming back.

"So, story time." He said, opening it up. "Two months ago, a string of missing persons cases started springing up here in Osaka. A month back, it was eight. As of today, fourteen."

One by one, he pulled out a sheet with a photograph attached with a paperclip and laid them across the table.

"My God…so many people." She gasped. She hadn't heard about any missing people, likely because the hero killer was taking centre stage in the media at the moment. Does this sort of thing happen regularly? Smaller, yet serious cases not even reaching the public's ear until the victims were forgotten? A cold feeling swirled in her stomach.

"The police couldn't find any leads or if any of them were connected. After number twelve, they turned the case over to us. At first, we were pretty stumped too. We couldn't find anything connecting them at all. Can you?"

She scanned the victim's pictures and bios, only to furrow her brow. On the surface, all of the victims were completely random. There were men and women of all ages, including but not limited to a twenty one year old male office worker to a waitress at forty three.

"No. I don't see anything. Are you sure that they aren't just a bunch of separate cases?"

"We were starting to think that too. But no, we found something." Axton assured her. "It took Maya digging into their financial records a couple weeks ago before we started connecting the dots. The one thing that each of these people have in common…" He paused for dramatic effect and pulled out an envelope of grainy photographs, splaying them out on the table. Each image was a different angle of a tall, glamorous building with big flashing lights. Hanging over the crowded, carpeted entrance was a bright neon sign in the shape of a shiny coin.

"They all frequented the same casino!" Axton announced, triumphantly pointing at the pictures.

Angel's eyes widened. 'A casino?'

"What do you know about gambling, kid?" Maya asked from the side.

Angel looked at her and shrugged. She was pretty sure he owned a few casinos but she had never bothered to look into them, never understanding the appeal.

"You go there to lose money?" She answered, making her mentor laugh softly.

"True, but what an upstanding citizen like you might not know is that for the longest time, gambling has been illegal in Japan. Outside of betting on races or pachinko machines, all forms of betting games were banned, the only places you could find them being in grungy bars and gambling dens owned by Yakuza."

"Which sucks!" Salvador grumbled.

Maya rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that's the way that it's been for a long time. Fairly recently however, as in a few years ago, the government has started to relax some of its laws, allowing a few casinos to open and carry American style games. Things like poker, blackjack, roulette, slots, etcetera, etcetera."

"Thanks Maya." Axton nodded. "As I was saying, all fourteen of our missing persons have regularly visited and played at this establishment, the Pretty Penny Casino. We did some digging on the owner, one Milton Redman or "Pretty Boy" if the rumors are to be believed. Apparently he's been suspected of some dirty stuff back in the US of A, but was never convicted."

He handed her another picture, one of the man in question. He looked the part of a typical mobster(or at least what she imagined one would be), with his greased, black hair, thin mustache and crooked smile. He didn't look pretty, guess his name was meant to be ironic.

"With the ban lifted… he brought his business over… and started anew." Zer0 added.

"All of the victims appearing at his casino is one thing, but with his shady past it can't be a coincidence." Axton resumed. "In a couple days, we're going to search the place once we've gotten our warrants. And that is where you come in."

She blinked. "Me? What can I do? I'm just a hero student in my first year! I-Isn't this a bit out of my league?"

"On the contrary, you're the lynchpin of the whole operation. Even the average casino has high security thanks to all the money it makes per day and the Pretty Penny is no exception. If we're going to convict Pretty Boy, we need to access any files he has, specifically any leads to where the missing persons are. And I'm willing to bet that he will dispose of any evidence of his crimes at the first sight of trouble, probably how he got away from getting arrested so far. Of course this means we can't go in guns blazing."

"Which also sucks!" Salvador complained again.

"It is frustrating… I would go in by myself… but lives are at risk." Zer0 shook his head with a :( face.

"Exactly." Axton sighed. "So for a while, we were stuck, trying to figure out how we'd get past security and get the dirt on Pretty Boy without him pressing the panic button."

Angel's eyes widened in realization. "Then you saw me at the Sports Festival. You want me to hack his systems and find the files!"

Axton snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Got it in one. I mean, assuming you can actually do it. You can, right?"

'If only you knew…' She thought bitterly. "I think I can. But… won't we get in trouble for this? I'm certain that I'm not allowed to use my quirk on other people, not without my provisional licence and I won't get that for years!"

"Yeeeeeah...heh heh. We're kinda bending the rules here." He scratched behind his ear. "Technically speaking you're not allowed to use your quirk in an offensive manner, but… there's nothing about using it to, say, open a door? Turn off cameras?" He suggested, the insinuation of getting her to participate with this investigation via a loop hole making her feel uneasy.

'Now I know what Aizawa-sensei was talking about.'

"I-I don't know..." She shook her head, looking away. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Hey." She felt Maya's hand on her shoulder. "No one said you were doing this alone. We support each other, as a team."

She looked up to meet her silver eyes.

"Everyone will have their part to play and so long as we all do our parts, we can succeed. All you have to do is get inside and get what we need. We will get you there."

"But… won't we be breaking the law?"

"A little, but not really." Maya tilted her head. "But the fact remains that we can't wait around. The longer it takes to bring Pretty Boy in, the longer those people stay missing and others will fall prey to… whatever he's doing. They need us kid, they need you."

Angel swallowed. She was awash with uncertainty and fear. This was a way bigger role than she had expected to play at the start of her internship and a lot more dangerous. The fact that her involvement was just barely legal made it all the worse.

Then she glanced down at the bios. Each photo was staring into her, as if silently pleading for her help. These were people with lives, friends and families. Was she really going to stand idly by while they needed saving, again?

She pursed her lips.

"All I need to do is hack security, right?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, but do remember that you can defend yourself, as is your right."

She took a deep breath. Then she nodded and looked up to the hopeful sets of eyes around her.

"Alright… count me in."

It has been a few hours since then. After vocalizing her agreement to join the investigation, the team ordered dinner and they had a silent meal. Well, she was silent while everyone else ate.

Afterwards, Angel had been given stacks of blueprints and building plans to study, to familiarize herself with the route they would take in their infiltration of the casino. Maya and Zer0 went out on business while Axton and Salvador began to watch a baseball game.

Currently, Angel was laying on her front on the futon in Maya's room, one of the diagrams spread out in front of her. She was still feeling stressed out from the whole thing, but thankfully her mentor's abode made for a relaxing environment.

It was messy like the rest of the agency, but in a good way. A small room with enough space for a bed, the futon and a desk, it was filled with many papers, binders and books, as well as more… esoteric items. The floor was covered with a beaded mat, soft to the touch. On the wall was a cloth banner of sorts, vibrantly colored with a curious design of an open palm, an unfamiliar symbol in the centre. She didn't know what it was, but it was certainly appealing to the eye. The air was lightly scented with lavender, thanks to some lit incense sticks in a bowl on the desk.

All together, it helped make a calming atmosphere that drove away her anxiety, allowing her to think clearly.

"Hah… how did things get this crazy?" She asked aloud, even though there was no one but her.

She sat up and stretched, then she leaned against Maya's bed. It was just one thing after another since attending Yūei. All the crazy school events, the attack on USJ and now she was taking part in a heist-esque infiltration of a casino looking for missing persons. The only consolation was that at least she was on the right side of the law this time, at least mostly.

'Then again, since when has my life ever been simple?' She admitted.

At the reminder of the upcoming raid, some of her doubts began to creep back in. Could she really do this? Was she strong enough? She had assisted the Raiders on the various capers she had hired them for, but now she was going to be in their shoes, sneaking in shadows and stealing from right under their owner's noses?

She held out her hand, looking over her markings just as she had countless times before.

Sure, she was better at using her quirk now, but would it be enough?

'If only I could use my powers as well as Maya or Lilith.' She lamented, thinking back on all the cool things they could do.

Lilith, blasting away her foes in bursts of blazing heat.

Maya, being able to manipulate an object's kinetic force with a flick of her hand.

It all made her feel inadequate in a way. At the same time though, she felt a bit hopeful. Hopeful that one day, she could be just as strong as them.

'Like when Maya does that thing with the ball. That's really cool.' She thought to herself with a smile. Then she frowned.

'Wait. If I can do Lilith's finger blaster and Maya's force field thing, shouldn't I be able to do that too?'

She turned her hand over and molded her fingers into the curled shape that she had seen her mentor do when she created her sphere. She had never experimented on her own before, she had been too afraid too for the longest time. Now though, thanks to the journey she had been on for more than half a year now, she couldn't help but want to try.

Furrowing her eyes in concentration, she willed her power to life. She was still tired from all the training she did earlier that day, but her markings still lit up, illuminating the small room.

Then she tried imagining the feeling of the wind on her skin, this time instead of floating above the surface of her skin she wanted it to gather in the centre of her hand.

In a moment, she could sense the energy within her trail up the sides of her arm. She pushed harder, clenching her teeth and wrinkling her brow in concentration, feeling her temples, but she kept going.

Then, there it was! A glowing of sorts, similar to how her markings did normally, yet different somehow. She continued to focus and keep the flow of power going.

The light ebbing from inside the cradle of her fingers flickered and became tiny tendrils, waving back and forth like a flame on a candle. The trails then swayed towards the centre of her palm where they joined and began to swirl together.

Meanwhile…

"It's the ninth inning of the last game of the quarter finals! Takahashi is up to bat with two strikes and all bases are empty! Will Osaka beat Tokyo tonight or are they going home folks?!"

"Come on! You got this you magnificent bastard!" Axton howled in support.

"Knock it out of the park!" Salvador joined him, the two men leaned all the way forward in their seats in front of the television set, eyes glued to the small man at the plate, ready to swing.

"Here's the pitch!"

The batter swung and there was a crack, sending the ball flying towards the outfield!

"It's good! Takahashi is running! He's taking first! He's going for second!" The announcer yelled.

"Yes!" Both Axton and Salvador stood up, fists clenched as they watched the player run.

"Outfield have the ball, they're passing it to second, but Takahashi is already at third!"

"YES!" They chanted again.

"HE'S GOING FOR IT, HE'S RUNNING FOR HOME! WILL HE MAKE IT?!" He proclaimed as the ball was passed to the pitcher who was winding up to throw to the catcher. The batter, now halfway to home plate, fell on his rear and slid with his foot stretched as far as he could reach!

"YES!"

The energy in Angel's hand continued to gather and coalesce.

"Come on… come on!" She muttered, feeling the strain on her head, but she pushed a little more!

Then finally, the energy curled around itself and floating in the middle of her hand was a resplendent orb the size of a golf ball!

"Hah…" She let out a shaky laugh as the pressure lessened, her eyes glued to the results of her efforts in disbelief.

"I did it! I did it!" She said to herself, smiling at her work.

'I guess after all the work Maya and I put into getting better at controlling my powers is paying off! That wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it'd be!' She thought, tilting her nose up in an uncharacteristic show of pride.

She beheld the orb, moving her hand about and watching it float around, wondering what it would do. She quickly crossed out the idea of trying it out right now however, being in an unsuitable environment.

'Still…' She bit her cheek as she looked at it a bit more. 'Maya's was about the size of an orange. Maybe I can make it grow by feeding it more?'

Filled with determination, she eagerly pushed more energy from her veins up her arm. The glow from her markings and fingers intensified and the orb began to swell.

She continued excitedly, but the moment when it reached the size of an apple was when something went wrong.

*ZZT!* She jumped as a spark arced from her fingers.

"Wha?!"

*ZZT! ZAT!" The sparks popped in greater frequency and there was a sucking sensation as the orb began to grow faster and warp! A low pitched hum rattled her bones.

Immediately, she was reminded of USJ. Of the beam.

"No, nonono! Stop!" She cried but to no avail as it continued to grow!

'Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!' Angel thought and in desperation, clapped her other hand down on her creation!

There was a pop and a wave of sparks swiftly ran down her body, over the floor and walls!

*FOOMP!* The light fixture went out and she was thrown into darkness.

"Uh...oops." She gulped.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" She jolted as she heard Axton and Salvador scream in anguish and she paled.

She scrambled back down onto her futon, throwing the blanket over her head and pretended to be asleep. All the while, she tried to come to terms with what just happened.

Did she just knock out the power?

Closing her eyes, she listened for white noise, ignoring the painful headache. She stilled in shock.

There was nothing. Everything around her was dead silent. She searched further, going beyond the basement, up all the floors of the apartment building. She stopped when she finally heard something, a car on the other side of the street.

She had turned off all devices in the apartment building.

'Is it permanent?' She wondered, reaching out from under her covers to pull her phone out of her bag. She pressed the on button and breathed a sigh of relief when it started booting up.

'Thank goodness. If I broke every device nearby I'd be in big trouble.' She thought, thankful that her folly hadn't caused lasting damage.

Maybe she shouldn't mention it to Axton or Salvador however. They seemed pretty upset that she likely interrupted their game.

'I think I'm done experimenting tonight.' She decided, checking over her recent messages before she went to bed.

Midoriya Izuku has shared his location: Hosu.

She raised a brow. What was he doing there?

Angel yawned. Too tired to think, she just typed a quick "Hope you have a good time!. She turned it off and rolled over to sleep. As she drifted into Hypnos's embrace, she couldn't help but wonder:

'Hosu… where have I… heard that before?'