Hello again, everyone. Well, things are certainly ramping up. The mission to reduce Pietro Granin's ranks and save the people of Gagaringrad is well underway. I hope you've all been enjoying it so far, because there's no slowing down the momentum of the rest of this arc if I have anything to say about it.
I would, however, like to say that, given recent events, there's an element to this chapter that might be considered to be in bad taste, so I want to set the record straight with that right out the gate: I'd already written this chapter a whole week before said recent events occurred, and the rest of this arc had already been planned out well before, and there was simply no time for going back and completely rewriting this chapter by this time. I'm a strong advocate for creators and artists sticking to their visions when it comes to going with their original ideas, so long as they actually work.
It's an unspeakable tragedy that said events occurred that necessitated my having to include this disclaimer at all, but I've seen enough responses from people on different platforms who have clearly lost the ability to differentiate reality from fantasy, and thus express outrage at the slightest thing that resembles real life events to a ludicrous degree (i.e. the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series), that it simply would be nothing short of unwise to not explain myself here from the start in order to avoid even a little of the same response.
We come to stories like this to provide ourselves even a temporary escape from reality, so let's just try to continue to enjoy ourselves here from this point going forward. Your continued readership and support is infinitely appreciated. I just wish more people would be willing to actually leave reviews, is all.
I would like to express my thanks to my two beta readers and friends, Mizu and Jonny. The former has been especially busy, but I know they still care, and that's just as important. I would also once again like to give thanks to the three artists that have provided for this story thus far: syyndev, Akane Kahomi and Suki-Chan2509. Their works are all amazing, and I can only hope to keep accumulating more to provide visuals for this story as time goes on.
My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them.
A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.
Chapter 80
Mina Ashido: Origin
(Мина Ашидо: Происхождение)
Mina, Pony and De-Condenser could all feel their hearts racing the entire time once they had seen Gagaringrad's fawn-headed schoolteacher ushering all of her children into the school/orphanage in the midst of the Heroes' battle in the town square; all of them armed with guns just like all the other townspeople. Such a sight had set all of their protective instincts into overdrive, deafening them to all else as they pursued them right through the front door.
[[I can't believe Pietro would actually go and indoctrinate such young children into chaos like this! Such disregard for life is unforgivable!]] De-Condenser exclaimed mainly to himself once they were finally able to hear themselves again; the entrance hall to the building suspiciously devoid of any and all life, as though the children and teacher they had just seen mere seconds ago had vanished into thin air.
[[How are we supposed to cut dem off from his Quirk in here, though? I don't wanna hurt kids wit' fightin'! Dis place is so cramped, I wouldn't even be able ta really use my horns, anyway!]] Pony immediately pointed out, her tone conveying just as much of the same worries as Mina was feeling as well, although her eyes were solely focused on finding the very first sign of movement so they could act. [[We're not gonna fight them for real if I can help it, Pony-chan. Heroes don't hurt people, and that's exactly what we are, remember? We can find a way, I know we can.]]
Of course, Mina couldn't possibly tell her mentor or her Class B partner that she was trying to convince herself of this outcome just as much as them. This was a time she needed to have it all together more than any other. Their friends and schoolmates, all their mentors, these children, the whole town, Maja and her friends and their families, were all counting on her to do just that.
BZZT!
In an instant, with a single buzz, all of the lights simultaneously shut off, instantly plunging the three Heroes into complete darkness, since the windows were all shuttered closed to keep the daylight out. On top of the chill in the air from the still-running air ventilations system boxes flushed to the ceiling; the persistent silence, save for the muffled ruckus of everyone else's fight outside, did not help to alleviate all their growing senses of apprehension, especially since a Pro like De-Condenser, even when fighting against the growing pain in his left hand from the Snake Quirk-afflicted bite upon it, could still smell an ambush from a mile away in circumstances like this.
Unfortunately, his momentary grunts and winces of pain were not lost on the two interns with him, as Mina and Pony both looked back worriedly; having since noticed the discoloration of his hand, only to now see how much worse it now was. [[Sensei, are you really sure you should be doing this? Your hand looks so bad now.]]
Despite Mina's very valid concerns, De-Condenser stubbornly shook his head, insistently pushing onward at the head of the three-person line. [[It would take a greater army than this to stop me, Pinky-kun. No way am I leaving you two to face whatever could be in here by yourselves just because I'm hurt. Although…]]
At this momentary pause, his eyes fell to his hand in question, and the wince of pain on his face hid the worry in his eyes. [[…what worries me is that it's the hand I absorb density with. It hurts like hell to even try and move it, let alone use my Quirk through it…and I've already used up a good amount of my stored density protecting the others up until now already. If I use the rest of it up here…]]
It was obviously a very big deal that the Density Hero was actually admitting such concern to the two girls behind him, which only further cemented just how serious their situation was. At the same time, though, Mina and Pony both exchanged similarly worried looks that carried with them a single understanding: for the sake of everyone, now including De-Condenser among them, they needed to sever Pietro's hold on the people in this building as quickly as possible.
PSSHT!
Before any of them could take a step further, the shutters on the windows all simultaneously opened, bringing with them a blinding wave of sunlight that made the three Heroes instinctively shield their eyes in order to better adjust. However, even as they were doing that, they could all still hear the unmistakable sound of a shotgun slide being pumped back from the end of the hall.
As De-Condenser still stood at the forefront, it was his role to try and identify the threat, and even as his eyes were halfway to recovering, he could make out the figure of the fawn-headed schoolteacher standing dutifully ahead, with a pump-action shotgun leveled against her shoulder; the barrel aiming right for Mina and Pony just visible past his side.
[[BOTH OF YOU BEHIND ME!]] De-Condenser's warning rang in both girls' ears as he threw himself directly in front of them, arms and legs spread out to cover as much area as possible, just at the same moment the woman in front of him pulled the trigger. The resulting burst of the heavy-caliber weapon firing echoed up and down the hall like Mina and Pony couldn't believe, while De-Condenser's whole body nearly jerked back right into them as the buckshot rounds pounded straight into his center mass.
On the one hand, he was glad he still had the density stored in his body to be able to take that shot at such relatively close range without feeling the full extent of the pain; but on the other hand, he knew that was now that much less extra density stored in his body for the rest of the battle.
Seeing that the Density Hero was acting as their shield, the teacher hurriedly pumped the next round into the barrel and just as quickly doubled back around the corner and out of sight. Of course, hearing the sounds of their attacker's footsteps retreating had Pony's own sense of urgency skyrocket, as she hurriedly popped off the set of her horns from her head, handing one to Mina while she held onto her own. [[C'MON, WE CAN'T LET HER GET AWAY!]]
Before either Mina or De-Condenser could tell her to stop, Pony was already zipping right down the hall by the horn in her hand; the moment she spared to look back to her allies to hurry along with her, preventing her from seeing the multitude of invisibly thin lines glinting off the sunlight that extended across the mouth of the hall.
TW-TW-TWA-TWANG!
Before Pony could even gather it, her whole body went crashing, flipping and ultimately stopping in midair, as she and the horn she'd been flying with both came crashing and entangling in a series of what felt like especially strong spider webs; their disruption now allowing them all to start reflecting the light from outside, thus revealing the cleverly hidden trap to De-Condenser and Mina, as they both came rushing after to try and help Pony get free.
[[I'm coming, Pony-chan!]] Mina tried to assure her ally as her hands were already beginning to build up an acid coat, ready to melt the lines away and cut Pony free.
Before, with a metallic reeling sound, all of the lines filling the hall, not just the ones ensnaring Pony, all suddenly began to retract further down the hall and around the corner the teacher had retreated through, ultimately forming into a makeshift net, as Pony was reeled away like a fish, unable to keep from exclaiming her fearful surprise the entire way, as Mina and De-Condenser sprinted after her and whoever was taking her away.
As they rounded the first two corners, the sunlight once again was able to catch several undisturbed lines blocking their way; meaning that whoever was taking Pony was clearly very fast in laying traps with their Quirk. None of that mattered to the two pursuing Heroes, however, as Mina easily used her acid-covered hands to chop right through the lines without herself or De-Condenser getting caught in them, too.
Their pursuit ultimately led them to a pair of double doors, but upon nearly tackling right through them, Mina's adrenaline came to an immediate stop in her veins, as she and De-Condenser were now finding themselves in the middle of being stared down by three small children with guns all aiming their way. What was worse was that the pink young Hero recognized these three kids as the same ones she had tried to befriend from all across this week before, ever since seeing them at the car accident site with the dog so long ago: a little girl with white hair and matching cat ears and clawed paws; another little girl with lilac-colored hair and a single upright unicorn's horn sprouting from her forehead, and a little brown-haired boy with six arms lining his back…and each one of them between the trio was aiming a single gun their way, with unmistakable killing intent and fear alike reflected in their eyes: fear of the two Heroes in their sights.
Despite the fact their guns were all aiming her way, and no matter how much she was constantly mentally screaming at herself to get out of the way or at the very least throw up an Acid Veil to protect herself and De-Condenser, Mina couldn't get her legs to move. Even the acid coating her hands had all fallen away, leaving her ultimately defenseless, as the kids all began to squeeze their triggers; the unicorn-horned girl even charging up an unmistakable laser through it at the same time.
[[MOVE!]] De-Condenser bellowed as he threw himself forward, yanking Mina by the collar of her vest and all but throwing her back out the doorway from whence they had come, all while he stood steadfast and kept his arms crossed over his chest and face, as bullet after bullet hammered into him.
As Mina's head stopped spinning and she finally looked back to her mentor, she felt her eyes sting with anguished tears and her heart shatter over and over again as she saw De-Condenser step back and jerk with the next several rounds that pounded against him. He was still somehow managing to stay on his feet, but the fact he was being forced back was an unmistakable sign that his stores of extra density were near to running out.
Unsure of what else she could possibly do in this moment, Mina hurriedly jumped back to her feet and returned her mentor's favor, grabbing him by the collar of his costume and yanking him back behind the corner of the door just as the last of the bullets flew and slammed into the wall; the two Heroes now momentarily protected behind the edge of the door frame.
De-Condenser was already hacking up a storm as he felt at the numerous contusions already making themselves evident across his limbs and torso. [[Well…never thought I'd be saying this in front of one of you kids…but that's about it for me.]]
Even though he was trying to put on a humored smile as he said this, there was no mistaking the surges of sadness and guilt written all over Mina's face as she saw the pain he was in. [[I-I-I'm s-so…I'm so sorry, Sensei! I-I don't know what happened! I-I-I w-wanted t-to move, but I-I couldn't…I just couldn't!]]
As her guilt-ridden tears rained down on the floorboards, De-Condenser tried to sit himself up straight and grabbed onto Mina's shoulder, forcing her to try and swallow the endless sobs coming up her throat as she looked into his eyes, momentarily shocked at how resolute the man looked.
[[You said it yourself, Pinky-kun: you don't want to fight these children, because Heroes aren't supposed to hurt people. That still rings true, even now. You've clearly had a soft heart for everyone from the start, but especially when it comes to children; Solovei-kun told me that much after seeing how you carry yourself around them. There's no shame in that…but now, it's up to you to let that same heart that's brought you this far already…carry you through to saving these children, Pinky-kun. If I go out there in the state I'm in, I'd just be a liability…but I can still use what little power I have stored in me to help you get that tiny bit further.]]
With that, and another deeply pained wince on his face, De-Condenser reached for the nearest of the double doors they had just escaped through, planting his right hand against it, and clearly transferring what little extra density he'd still had into it. As his action instantly became devastatingly clear for Mina, her eyes once more fell upon his as he spoke through his exhausted and pained wheezes: [[Rocketti-chan…those kids…they're all counting on you, Pinky-kun…but you've already proven the strength of your Quirk…and your spirit, by making it this far. I know you can do this…and deep down, I know you do, too.]]
As Mina instinctively wanted to both thank De-Condenser for his vote of confidence in her, and also express her own doubts of how she could so that, her ears picked up the sound of the three tiny pairs of feet beginning to make their way back further into the building, clearly retreating…but not before she could make out one of the little girls exclaiming: [[Come on, we gotta go rejoin the others, before that monster-looking Hero comes back!]]
Mina couldn't even begin to know if she was able to hide the look of absolute cutting pain those words had left her feeling, let alone the instinctive fidget in her body from the sheer impact of them. All she knew was that those words being directed towards her from one of the people she wanted to save, had hit her with a kind of pain she'd hoped never to experience again.
However, remembering what responsibility now laid upon her shoulders on top of De-Condenser's encouraging words, Mina knew she had to fight through that pain, because this wasn't about her, this was about saving countless innocent lives, the very thing Heroes were born to do above anything else.
And so, after quickly melting away the hinges to the door De-Condenser had fortified for her, Mina held the door before herself like a massive shield, before finally looking back to the smirking De-Condenser.
With a sharp and shaky breath inhaled through her clenched teeth, Mina stated with as much assuredness as she could possibly force in this moment: [[I won't let you down, Sensei…any of you. I promise!]]
She couldn't even hear De-Condenser answer through an exhausted exhale: [[I know you won't,]] as she charged her way down the hall the kids had retreated through, keeping the door tight in her hands as her shield the entirety of the way; her heart racing with the desire to save everyone here, trying to reason with whatever kids could hear her all the while.
[[I'm not going to hurt any of you! I wanna save you all, please! That Pietro guy is a Villain, he's using all of you!]]
As Mina continued trying to implore the children as she ran forward; her mind, on the other hand, wasn't able to simply put aside what that little girl had referred to her as so easily. With every step she desperately took further into the depths of the school and orphanage, she found her mind thinking further and further back on complete impulse, thanks to those cutting words on top of De-Condenser's assurances of her own capabilities.
'For as long as I can remember, there have only ever been two things I've always wanted: to be a Hero; and to be friends with everybody I possibly can. It's crazy to think about now, but there was actually a time when I didn't think I'd ever get to be any of those things.'
Indeed, for the tiny four-year-old girl with pink skin, frizzy pink hair, little yellow angular hook-shaped horns and eyes of black and gold; it was so hard to imagine getting to one day be either of the things she wanted more than anything, when every day she couldn't even walk in line with the rest of the kids who went to her kindergarten without at least one of them making fun of the fact she either couldn't wear her sunhat like the rest of them because of her horns, or for just how weird her eyes looked.
The fact she hadn't even manifested a Quirk yet didn't make things any better, as with her already outlandish looks, there was no telling from anyone just what her Quirk could possibly be once it came to her. That didn't stop the other kids from making guesses of their own, with the most popular one being that she would give nightmares to absolutely everyone who saw her. Combining her name with the Japanese word for monster, 'bakemono'; and calling her 'BakeMina' was a particularly cutting favorite of theirs.
It was an especially cruel hypocrisy, considering at least a couple of said kids had whole animal Quirks of their own, but at least their mutations were straightforward, unlike hers. But no matter how much they teased and taunted her, either to her face or behind her back, the smiling faces of her parents always waiting for her, always managed to make the moments of hurt and sadness go away.
'Of course it hurt like crazy whenever they'd say those things, but everybody knows kids can be mean, even when they aren't really serious about what they say. They say a lot of the time, it's because those kids feel insecure too, and so try to find a way to feel better about themselves. I didn't want to think they meant what they said, so every day I really tried not to let it get to me. After all, my parents would always tell me that kids can just sense strong spirit, good hearts and kindness, and they'd eventually get drawn to those, and that was all I wanted then. So I just tried to keep my head up high, not get angry, and just keep being nice to them, hoping it'd get through to them soon.'
BMBMBMBMBM!
Mina's involuntary rumination was swiftly broken by the sound of heavy footsteps and dragging echoing from the other side of the ceiling just above her position. They were definitely too heavy for it to be any of the children, which could have only meant one other person in Mina's head: 'Pony-chan!'
Her uncertainty was all but forgotten as she immediately took off charging with her door shield again, emerging out into another cross hall, with the beginning of a stairwell already just visible to her right. Without another thought, she went rushing right for it, only to catch the beginnings of a human shape; several of them, just lying in wait at the level between this and the second floor just out the corner of her eye as she emerged into the open.
The ensuing gunshots that followed left Mina's ears ringing as her legs had taken complete control of her reasoning, kicking herself backwards off the floor and out of their sight, with the door thankfully taking several rounds in that single moment that could have easily killed her otherwise.
'Dammit, they were just waiting for me! Now how am I supposed to get up there and save Pony-chan and the kids?!'
This was the one most pressing question Mina could think to herself as her straightforward advance had been stopped dead in its tracks. However, her momentary panic gave way to the obvious, as she looked up to the ceiling. 'Duh, of course! I could just melt a hole and climb my way up! The floor plan should be the same, right?'
However, even as she was already building another coat of acid over her free hand, her motor reflexes couldn't follow through, as her already frantic mind started drifting elsewhere: 'Wait…they're pretty much expecting me! We showed Pietro our Quirks the first time we met, he could've told everybody here what our Quirks are, including the kids! They could have a trap just waiting for me up there, then Pony-chan, Sensei and the kids are screwed! And even if there isn't a trap, what if one of the kids could be standing right there? They could end up getting burned or fall and hurt even worse! I can't do that! I won't!'
With the acid now falling uselessly from her hand, Mina's head turned back the way she had come, specifically to the window at the end of the hall to her back. Just the sight of it had her anticipation and optimism skyrocketing again. 'If I can climb my way in from the outside, I could slip past all their traps just like that!'
Making sure to keep her door shield over her body in case any of the kids were to come chasing after her, Mina went racing to the window, ready to throw another glob of acid to melt her way out. However, an unnatural glint of light in front of the window pane nearly had her come to a screeching halt just before impact could be made.
Upon closer observation, it was already clear this wasn't the same kind of metallic webbing that had caught Pony earlier. These were much finer…and ultimately, far more dangerous, as quickly following them with her eyes, Mina felt her heart plummet when she saw they were tripwires, taut connected to a series of barely visible square objects plastered around the window frame. Even for someone with a nonexistent knowledge of military-anything like Mina, it didn't take a genius to realize she was looking at some kind of explosives. She'd seen enough action movies to know how grenades worked, and she could clearly see the same kind of triggers on these explosives that those grenades did; those were what these lines were tied to. For all she could figure, if a single one of these lines got severed, it could end up activating one of those triggers, and set off a chain reaction that could probably take down this entire building and kill everyone inside. If this one window had such a security setup, there was no way the others weren't, too.
As much as Mina was fretting what she ultimately would have to do, take the most straightforward and risky route, she likewise knew that the clock was ticking, not just for herself, Pony, De-Condenser and all the kids, but all their friends and the townspeople outside, the people they all needed to save above all costs. Looking to her door shield and the several bumps already formed on the side facing her because of the bullets it had taken, Mina had to take a deep, shaking breath through clenched teeth, her eyes focused on the beginning of the stairwell.
'Aww, man! If Yaomomo, Iida-san or Kolya-kun were here, they'd probably have come up with a way better idea already! God, c'mon, Mina; they're not here, you are! You need to solve this! I know I'm not as smart as a lot of the others; I can be pretty annoying sometimes to some people, and I know I get scared when things get dangerous, no matter how much I try to be brave all the time! But everyone needs me to be brave…I need me to be! Heroes are always brave, even when they're scared…and I wanna be a Hero!'
With that, Mina took off into a speedy Acid Slide, already hoisting her door shield up as she emerged into the open again, the following gunshots hammering into the shield as she brought herself to an immediate halt, building up another thick coating over her free hand.
The moment there was a pause in the shooting, time seemed to slow down for her, as she finally let the shield turn, giving her enough of a view to see the several kids in the middle of reloading, and the teacher dutifully standing beside them with her shotgun aimed. The moment Mina saw this, she immediately kicked her door shield up and forward, sending it flying just in time to take the whole load of buckshot that followed, sending it flying back, but Mina was already spinning on her feet out of the way, before just as quickly stopping with both her hands flat together and aimed at all of them.
[[ACID SHOT!]]
In less than two seconds, a high-speed flow of her stickiest non-corrosive acid came spraying out from between Mina's hands, aimed specifically at all of their guns, instantly encasing and jamming them all before anyone could pull the trigger again.
With her adrenaline already racing, Mina immediately grabbed her door shield and came racing up the stairs, while the teacher and the kids took off running, forced to abandon their weapons upon realizing they'd been rendered useless. All the while, Mina's inner voice kept echoing in her head in a show of incredible self affirmation: 'I want to be the kind of Hero that everyone can call their friend, the kind of Hero that children can look up to! I don't wanna be a Hero who hurts people, not if I can help it! But the one thing I don't wanna be, even more, is someone too scared to follow their heart and do what they know is right for everyone, what they were just born for! I've already been there before; never again! It doesn't help anyone, least of all me and my friends!'
Mina practically came charging out into the hall at the top of the stairwell, but barely had time even think of which direction to go next, before she suddenly found herself being jumped by a multitude of the children, as though they were simply the backup in case the team on the stairs had been forced to double back.
Even as she felt one kid's extending hair wrap around her legs and pull them out from right under her, Mina was still able to get her shield up just in time to meet the six-armed boy as he came down from above with all his arms swinging for her with tight fists; the door finally buckling under all that combined force. This spurred Mina into finally tossing the door up and over herself and down the hall behind her back, sending the boy away with it.
Immediately after did she spot the now-familiar glow of the unicorn-horned girl preparing another laser shot right for her center mass. Her reflexes immediately kicked in at the sight of this, as she quickly pulled her legs and back and threw herself into a chaotically spinning and rolling evasive break-dance maneuver, causing the shot to instead cut right through the hair that had been wrangling her by the legs, thus allowing Mina to break free.
However, she couldn't form even a haphazard plan fast enough, as the Cat Quirk girl came flying in from the other end of the hall behind her, hissing aggressively as Mina let out an instinctive yelp when she felt a pair of claws rake her across her left arm and leg.
Even despite the burning pain; not helped when the six-armed boy came rushing in again and managed to leave several considerable blows on Mina's arms and right side as she brought them up in self-defense when hearing his battle cry; she could not bring herself to even think of using her Quirk, even as more and more of the kids were continuing to either try and beat her down, blast her with any number of their combined Quirks, or trying to trap her the same way.
Her personal conscience wouldn't allow it, nor would she have done it even if it would. Even faced by such uneven aggressive odds stacked against her, all Mina could keep thinking to do was keep either blocking, evading, or simply trying to move to keep as much distance between herself and them as possible. This was ultimately made even more difficult when a few of the kids hanging in the back of the persistent mob finally began bringing their pistols up again, taking pot shots when they could; with Mina only barely managing to avoid those on top of everything else.
As the kids continued to pursue and attack her, and she kept trying to avoid or deflect their attacks, Mina kept backing away down one hall and around to another; somehow managing to keep her eyes open not only for any more trap webs to quickly melt her way through, but just for any sign of Pony at all. In circumstances like this, this outwardly small-looking school and orphanage felt so much bigger, and therefore much easier to get lost in.
But none of that mattered in comparison to her conflict against all these brainwashed children. Even if her sense of reason knew she needed to use her Quirk for defending herself, Mina still vehemently refused to break her own sworn oath to lay even a finger on these kids in any circumstances, even in the heat of this battle. The memories that took this terrible opportunity to come rushing back made it all so.
'I think they call it "irony" when something happens that has the opposite result you thought it would. Whatever they call it, that's exactly what it was like the day my Quirk finally came to me. That day, my always being nice to the kids at kindergarten had finally paid off. During recess, they'd actually invited me to come play tag with them, no jokes or anything. I was so happy. I remember thinking that, even if for whatever reason I didn't end up getting an actual Quirk, if I could at least still be able to make friends from this point on, I would be totally okay with that. But then my turn to be "it" had finally come.'
"Haruo-kun, are you alright?! What happened?!" "It was BakeMina, she touched him when it was her turn to be 'it', and she burned him!" "Yeah, it's all BakeMina's fault! She really is a monster! Don't let her burn us, too!"
It had all happened so fast, Mina hadn't even realized what she'd done until it was already happening. She'd just been so excited to finally be playing with the other kids and being accepted, that somewhere in the middle of her turn, her fingertips had started to secrete a cloudy runny liquid just as she'd reached to tag one of the boys in her path. The next thing she knew, the whole game had come to a stop, that boy was clutching his arm and crying, and everyone was now staring at her with horrified, angry and accusing eyes, and she had no idea what to say.
It was when she saw the red marks on her playmate's arm through holes in his shirt that hadn't been there a few seconds ago, and then looked down to see the cloudy liquid dripping from her right hand that was leaving smoking marks on the grass, that it all finally clicked for Mina Ashido just what was happening: her Quirk had chosen that moment to manifest, and it was apparently something that melted through whatever it touched, including burning people.
The poor pink-skinned girl felt like she wanted to throw up with horror as her eyes stung and blurred with painful tears, all the way through the teachers and caretakers treating the boy's thankfully mild burns and calling both their parents to let them know what had happened. Her guilt and fear of her Quirk ultimately deafened her to all the other kids, and the boy's understandably horrified parents throwing all kinds of harsh words her way, not the least of which was "Villain-in-the-making."
'For a long time after that, I didn't even want to show myself at kindergarten again. The teachers had all tried so hard to explain everything, but I knew the other kids all either hated me, or they were scared to death of me. They kept saying before that my weird looks would scare people, so I'd never be able to be a Hero…and now that we knew that my Quirk was Acid; that only seemed to prove them all right, and I couldn't help but believe it, too. Who would ever want to be friends with someone who had a Quirk that could so easily destroy stuff and really badly hurt people, if not worse? And how could someone with such a scary Quirk ever be able to be a Hero? I felt like everything I wanted was taken away from me. I hated the way I looked and my Quirk, to the point that I never even wanted to leave the house.'
The speed with which Pony had gotten reeled through the width and breadth of the school and orphanage was enough to have made her head spin, not helped by the sheer force with which she'd been ricocheted off the walls along the way, leaving her ears ringing and her whole body aching, all while she was still struggling against the lines binding her. By the time it had all finally come to a stop and she could feel the net around her loosening, but her bindings remaining as firm as ever, the blonde horned Hero now found herself and her one entangled stray horn now dangling in what really looked and felt like a human-intended spider web, in a room lined with empty bunk beds, thankfully still illuminated by the light from the windows.
Just as she was instinctively about to start calling for either Mina or De-Condenser to come to her position for help, her wide eyes caught sight of movement from within the shadows in the rafters; from which quickly emerged an adult woman with a rifle slung over her back, long messy grey-and-black hair, and a lower body of a massive spider.
[[Don't bother calling for your cohorts, so-called Hero. The others are forcing the other one back here as we speak. Even if she's somehow melting my webs, she won't have anywhere else to run to once she ends up here, and then it's over for all of you.]]
Indeed, Pony could likewise hear the ever-approaching sound of a vicious struggle echoing up the hall outside this room, with Mina's voice prominent among all of them. However, pony once more couldn't call out to get her partner's attention, before her frantically searching eyes not only caught sight of numerous explosive-looking objects with strings attached to all the windows lining the wall to her left, but more prominently that the Spider Quirk-woman was likewise listening in, and subsequently shooting her webs directly into the walls, threading them through with intense focus; and what Pony could only assume was shooting them out through the other side further down the hall in order to lay down her trap lines to begin with; if the sound of several punctures through the wall a short distance away was any indicator.
From what Pony's captor had said, it sounded like Mina was keeping herself from getting caught so far, but with how much more intense the conflict outside seemed to be getting as she and the kids fought their way further and further down the hall towards their location, the Class B girl couldn't justifiably guess what she was going to do if she got forced to the wall all the way back here with nowhere else to go, especially while Pony herself was still trapped like this.
That didn't stop her from continuing to struggle against her binds, though; and at the same time as she could feel a few threads snared around her right horn at just the right angles that she could pop it off with just the correctly angled jerk of her head, her wandering eyes also realized there was an empty room with what looked like some emptied storage lockers on the opposite side of the hall from this room through the open doorway.
At just that moment, with a few more sizzling sounds to punctuate the numerous battle cries and pained grunts outside, Mina finally came flipping backwards into sight, visibly scratched up and bruised all over from continuously trying to defend herself without actually fighting back against the kids that were still seconds away from overtaking her. The moment she'd come into view, the light from the windows momentarily drew Mina's attention, and her black-gold eyes instantly widened with instinctive relief when she saw Pony still in one piece.
Seizing this one chance, Pony finally jerked her head, allowing her right horn to pop off from her head, already aimed directly at her pink ally: [[Mina-chan, grab my horn! Use it and get outta here!]]
She didn't even give her a chance to process what she was being told, before Pony sent that horn flying her way; Mina instinctively reaching up and grabbing it, the force behind it miraculously sending her flying back off her feet, out of the children's direct path of attack, and banging through the door into the empty storage room just on the other side.
As the horn stabbed into the wall and she simultaneously crashed her back into a line of emptied lockers, it thankfully became clear just what Pony was buying her a chance to do, as Mina went with her first gut reaction, and hurriedly threw a handful of her acid onto the floor between herself and the door, which the kids were already forcing their way through.
Within seconds, there was a hole leading straight back down to the first floor. Mina knew that if she could keep the crowd moving after her, and kept from getting herself cornered, she could still have a chance to come up with a plan to sever Pietro's influence over all of them, and finally bring this personal moral torture to an end. Her body was in such pain from all of these collective scratches, singes and bruises; there was no telling how much longer she was going to be able to keep up her insistence of not using violence to defend herself if things got desperate enough, and she didn't want to even think of taking that chance, especially not here.
And so, as Mina hopped down through the hole in the floor, the kids predictably began to jump in after her two or three at a time. All the while, watching the young Hero's desperate escape, the Spider Quirk-woman immediately began threading several more lines of her web into the wall of this bunk room, and out into not only the hall immediately outside, but through all the others, practically acting as a central hub for them. Not only did that explain to Pony how she'd managed to get reeled all this way from so close to the entrance, but it was also giving her an especially desperate idea.
[[Your friend is a fool. She can run all she wants, she can even melt as many of my webs as she wants. Eventually she's either going to end up running into one in her desperation, or the kids will take her out. Either way, you all lose.]]
[[Wanna bet?]] This was all Pony could think to say as she tried to focus on the one horn she still had entangled right beside her, as well as the one she'd helped Mina escape with. Before her captor could even think, the Class B girl had managed to angle her entangled horn to just the right direction to where it could slip out from between the lines holding it; while at the same time, she also managed to pull the other out from the wall and back out into the hall.
Before the spider-legged woman could stop her, Pony immediately focused and sent both her remote horns flying at bullet-speed down the hall back the direction Mina had come from, all but hoping her aim would be true…
…which it miraculously turned out to be, as the moment she heard the metallic twanging sound of her two horns getting caught in and pulling on the web lines down the hall, while her captor was still connected to them; the assailant herself was suddenly getting reeled right back down the room, crashing through several of the bunks, as Pony's horns pulled back at the lines; effectively turning the fishing rod-like trap against its own user.
And to add further luck to her side, this complete reversal broke the spider-lady's focus enough to where the lines holding Pony suddenly went completely slack, finally allowing the blonde-haired girl to get herself free, and to finally put her real finishing touch to work: [[HORN CANNON!]]
Before the spider-woman could even recollect herself, she was being slammed repeatedly head-on before ultimately crashing against the opposite wall with a rapid-fire barrage of horns from Pony's head, giving her no chance to even try and deflect or block, and ultimately leaving her slammed into unconsciousness; leaving Pony panting with anxiety, while also feeling simultaneous waves of relief that she was no longer trapped, and regret that she had to resort to knocking out one of the townspeople with such forceful tactics.
However, she couldn't dwell on such things before remembering the situation Mina and De-Condenser were still in; taking off into a near gallop of a run back down the hall to help.
From the moment she had gotten back on the first floor, Mina's head was racing all over the place, right now mainly hoping De-Condenser had gotten himself somewhere out of her direct path, because by the number of the children actively chasing and attacking her as she ran, the last thing she wanted was to bring them right on top of him when he was in the state she'd been forced to leave him in.
Speaking of attacking, she could only spare a moment to realize they were no longer actively firing at her with their guns. Whether that meant they had run out of ammo, or were simply biding their time made no difference. They were still actively trying to capture or kill her, so she couldn't spare a moment to stop. The only reason she was now even able to keep herself even partially protected was that, in mid-sprint, she'd managed to fire two fingertip squirts of acid to melt the hinges to another door in the hall, keeping it over her back as another shield; albeit one that wouldn't last nearly as long against their Quirks.
On the bright side, she was quick to notice that there were no longer anymore lines stretched across the halls for her to have to melt her way through. After seeing the state Pony had been left in before being forced to descend in one giant roundabout escape, Mina could only hope that this meant her Class B partner had somehow managed to take care of whoever was responsible for them in the first place.
Of course, even two seconds of focusing on anything else but running and keeping the children following after her would be a recipe for disaster; even a natural scatterbrain like Mina knew this all too well. Her eyes were constantly scanning for the first sign of a room big enough that she could lure the children and their teacher into, seal them in, and be able to get them knocked out and free without having to physically fight back against them.
Of course, not only was there the issue of her having used up her sleeping gas grenades earlier during the battle at the harbor, but even if that weren't the case, there was the matter of how she would've hoped to get away once they'd followed her in. The constant reminders of how much of a disadvantage she had was physically stomach churning, especially when she could feel the kids physically impacting with the door shield at her back, nearly breaking it apart; each time being punctuated by at least one of the children calling back to their fellows: [[Don't let the monster get away! We can't let her hurt us!]]
Even with as much of a frenzy as her mind and heart were both in, it still deeply hurt for her to hear the same children she was trying to find a way to save refer to her like this, and with such vitriol and hate. No matter how much she tried to block it out, the memories this pain kept bringing back just could not be escaped.
After a good few weeks, in the aftermath of what had happened on that fateful recess, Mina had finally made the immensely difficult decision to start showing herself in kindergarten again, although it had taken a great deal of convincing by her parents to get her to do so. Even then, for whatever she told herself it was worth, she insisted on completely covering herself up in the thickest clothes she had, complete with gloves, hats and sunglasses.
Thankfully, an explanation from her parents of the emotional anguish she'd gone through in all that time had convinced the teachers to leave her be about it so she could work her way through it at her own pace. Unfortunately, that did nothing to stop the other kids from still giving her fearful looks every chance they got, which only left the poor girl to curl herself up into a ball underneath her clothing bundle all throughout the days to follow.
'I thought that if I could cover myself up and not go near the other kids, maybe they wouldn't be scared of me anymore, or at least not keep saying mean things about me. I was desperate, what can I say? For the last few weeks I'd tried to get some kind of a handle on how my Quirk worked, and had ended up burning so many holes in the floor at home, and melted so much of my stuff because of it. By the time I'd come back to kindergarten, I'd at least figured out how to not let my acid come out, but I still was too scared to get near anyone just in case. I even told my parents as much when it was time for me to finally start going back, but just like before, they kept smiling and giving me all the emotional support a parent could ever give.
"We know you're scared, sweetie, but locking yourself away at home isn't a way to live; especially not for a ball of sunshine like you. You have an energy about you that made you born to make friends. We know this has all been so hard, but it won't last forever. If you want the other kids to not be afraid of you anymore, you need to show them you're not afraid to approach them, too. They'll see that, and they will ultimately reciprocate, regardless of your Quirk. You'll see, Mina; there is a way past all of this, and we know you're brave and strong enough to get there."
'I couldn't have been more grateful for them always being there for me, especially then…even if I couldn't bring myself to believe them at that point. Still, I didn't want to disappoint them by keeping myself locked up, and I was so lonely not being around all the other kids, no matter how we all felt, so this just felt like the only right thing to do. That just made them all still looking at me so scared, hurt even more. Even on the off-chance any one of them would ever want to speak to me again, I was still convinced my dream of becoming a Hero was gone forever.'
As much as her parents always were there to comfort and encourage their daughter every time she went and came back from kindergarten just as dejected as ever; even they were beginning to find themselves hard-pressed on how they would be able to get her to find the courage to try being sociable with her peers again. It didn't matter how many different ways they could give her the same reassurances, she was the one that needed to find the strength within herself to take action in order to make this all better. And with each day that passed wherein she said the children didn't want her anywhere near them, they found themselves feeling sadder and sadder for their little girl.
But then, after a week of this morose routine, shortly before it had been time for her to go to bed, Mina was sitting in front of the TV, and what she saw on the screen that night would ultimately change everything.
'That night, there was this lady on TV, a Pro Hero from Okinawa; I think; with a human body with really pretty and fluffy clothes, but the head and wings of a moth, all sparkly and glittery. Even though she had an insect face, she still looked so pretty altogether, and they even said she was a Hero that was super popular with children all over Japan, even though I hadn't heard of her until then. I remember they were asking her about how she managed to find such popularity with such a specific crowd despite having a look that could have easily frightened them. I'll never forget what she'd said then:
"I choose not to let my mutation or my Quirk define who I am in the eyes of anyone who doesn't know me. Peer pressure can be such a hard thing for kids to deal with when growing up, especially when it comes to their Quirks and how they look because of them, but they can all make that same decision, too. Our Quirks don't define who we are, we do. I know I can look scary, but being someone who is approachable, loving and kind to everyone around me has always been my guiding principle through it all, and it's allowed me to help so many people, and become their friend in the process, and I couldn't be happier for it.
"Children out there who want to become Heroes should always remember: don't go actively trying to make friends with people just for the sake of being accepted and becoming popular. Make friends with honesty and compassion from the bottom of your heart, and let their acceptance and those of others come naturally, because having friends and people you love with that kind of strength is one of the most precious things in this world. In that way, a Hero with a truly loving heart incapable of hate can be a true friend to anyone, no matter how they look or what their Quirk is. Those things don't define you. You do."
To hear those words in that moment, it genuinely felt as though that moth-headed Hero on the TV was speaking directly to Mina herself, as her head finally began to lift, and her eyes had grown wide and sparkling with a genuine surge of inspiration.
'It felt incredible, like I'd suddenly become as light as a feather. She was right, and I'd let all my sadness, guilt and fear make me forget just how much I'd just wanted to be friends with people to begin with…how reaching out and being a friend to someone would be no different than being that person's Hero when they're sad or lonely. Despite telling myself I wasn't letting the kids' words get to me, that was exactly what I'd been doing all this time, and I needed to change that with myself if anything else was ever going to improve for all of us. It was time to stop being so scared of losing control of my Quirk, and start really practicing with it…just like it was time to finally stop letting what people thought of it or my looks define who I was, to myself or anyone else.
'From that day forward, I was still really nervous, but I still made the effort to show myself and approach all the other kids, whether it was offering my crayons, sharing lunches or asking if they wanted to play. Yeah, at first they refused, but in time…they finally started to accept, and everything began to fall into place from there, just like my parents had said they would. Even the boy I'd accidentally burned the first time ended up becoming one of my friends. Before too long, I was finally able to control my Quirk all the time, and I was playing with all the other kids in kindergarten and the neighborhood as my friends. I was starting to be able to talk and get along with all the other kids I met so much easier; I was so, so happy, it felt like a dream come true!'
From that day forward, Mina Ashido greeted every day that came and went with the same glowing smile of unbounded optimism, confidence and all-around heartfelt joy that had made her so naturally charismatic and magnetic to virtually everyone around her; it was like a complete transformation.
From kindergarten to elementary school, Mina had magically skyrocketed from being an outcast to being one of the most naturally popular kids in her whole neighborhood and school alike, not only being able to get along with everyone, but even being able to help other kids befriend each other likewise, even soon developing her innate talent for dancing to be able to diffuse even the most heated of interpersonal arguments between her friends or even complete strangers when needed.
As the years passed, every single kid Mina befriended was always kept in contact with, in a show of heartfelt friendship and loyalty from her and themselves alike that many other friendships could only dream to have. She truly loved and cherished every single friend she made along her life's journey, and she made every possible effort to always let them know how much they all meant to her, and they in return.
'Ever since then, I always wanted to be the kind of Hero who could not only be friends with anyone and everyone, and not even the kind that could help everyone else get along with each other. I also wanted to be the kind of Hero that that moth lady on TV was for me that night: the kind that could hopefully help inspire other kids with outwardly scary Quirks or weird mutations to know they could be able to make friends and even become Heroes, too.
'No matter how mean the kids in kindergarten had been at the beginning, I never felt any anger towards them. My parents had always told me how much that kind of feeling hurts to hold onto. I'd always ever felt a desire to be friends with them, and all my feelings for people that came from that have helped me so, so much in becoming the person I am today, the Hero I'm still trying to be today, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of it…'
'…and yet, even despite that; despite knowing that Heroes have to go into danger to help people all the time, I still feel so scared, even now. It's not even just for me or my friends, but for everyone here, especially all these kids! How am I gonna be able to break the connection that Villain has on them if I don't even have any sleeping gas on me anymore? I'm not smart enough to find another way that doesn't involve fighting, but I can't possibly fight against these kids! It's not their fault, what they're doing, I know that! Heroes are supposed to help the people caught in the middle of danger, not hurt them! What can I do?!'
By this point, Mina had broken into another desperate Acid Slide, only barely managing to buy herself a few extra feet ahead of her pursuers and their distanced Quirk attacks either just barely missing her, or breaking away her door shield bit by bit as she kept trying to serpentine her way; all the way to the same stairwell at the far end of the school all over again.
However, this time, now that she knew she had all the children chasing her, Mina didn't bother with the long way up, instead finally going through with melting a hole into the ceiling to climb her way through, buying herself that much more precious breathing room, and none too soon, either. As she made her way back down the second floor hall she had gone down previously, she immediately ran into Pony.
However, the two girls couldn't spare even the moment to express relief at the Class B girl having gotten herself free, as Mina quickly noticed she was setting up a number of those metallic web linings across the hall, just like her captor had before, only manually, to which the blonde girl hurriedly explained: [[If we can slow da kids down even a little, dat can give us time to make another plan, Mina-chan! Did you see De-Condenser-sensei down dere on your way here?]]
Mina hurriedly climbed her way past the lines as she urgently looked back, already hearing all the kids either rushing up the stairs, or climbing their way up through the hole she'd left. [[No! I really hope he found a safe place to hide! We gotta find some room in here we can seal them off in so we can knock them out and cut Pietro's control, Pony-chan! The problem is I'm all out of my sleeping gas grenades already!]]
However, upon turning back, Mina was met with the sight of Pony holding out a single sleeping gas bomb in her hand, all but telling her to take it for herself. [[Dat's my last one; Momo-chan, Yui-chan and Reiko-chan used all theirs earlier, I just got real lucky. We should make it so dey can't go anywhere else but after us and herd 'em.]]
As she gratefully took the small cylindrical object and tucked it into the inside pocket of her vest, Mina gave Pony a resolute nod of agreement, already getting to work on reducing their pursuers' means of getting the drop on them by hitting all the doors lining the hall with her stickiest non-corrosive Acid Shot, practically gluing them shut, prompting an aside from Pony as she too got to work pulling down whatever standing furniture she could find to further block up the hall: [[Your Quirk is super-duper handy, Mina-chan! I never would've expected you could stick stuff together like Bondo-kun!]]
CRASH!
Pony's wayward train of thought was swiftly broken when she and Mina heard a heavy crashing come from further up the hall, in the direction of the stairwell, quickly followed by the struggling sounds of De-Condenser's voice. Both girls' adrenaline spiked at the thought of their Pro ally in the state he'd been left in, now in the heart of danger; as they both came rushing down to the stairwell, just in time to find the visibly weakened-looking Density Hero trying to reinforce several fallen dressers and other pieces of weighty furniture with his own body weight at the mouth of the stairwell, with the struggling voices and violent shouts of the children trying to force their way through from the other side.
Of course, Mina and Pony both realized the futility of such action once they saw more of the kids climbing their way through the hole in the floor Mina had made for her escape, and thus they both immediately grabbed onto De-Condenser, all but dragging him along with them back down the hall, with the entire school's worth of kids and their teacher immediately breaking their way through and coming up from the stairwell after them.
As they ran for everything they were worth, both girls instinctively looked and felt their skin rise with goose bumps and their stomachs twist when they saw the borderline necrotic discoloration of De-Condenser's left hand, made even more tragic a sight at just how pale and sweaty his face now was, as it was taking everything he still had to keep pace with them in their escape.
However, once they had all three miraculously managed to maneuver their way through the web traps Pony had set up to slow their brainwashed little enemies' pursuit, they were met with a far more distressing sight: that of even more of the kids having decided to go for a full-blown pincer maneuver, making their way for them through the original hole Mina had made to escape from the second floor in the first place.
While Pony's trap was already at least working in slowing down the kids to their backs, they now found themselves still completely exposed on their front, with no viable side exits to speak of, thanks to the window traps and Mina having sealed the side doors already.
She and Pony could already feel their hearts beginning to plummet at just how royally overwhelmed they were in these circumstances. A part of Mina even felt like simply curling up into a ball and letting the fear take complete control. But no matter how strong that feeling was, the racing of her heart, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, and the sheer defiance of the voice echoing in her head were all too powerful to simply ignore: 'NO! Not again! I'm not gonna let my being scared stop me again…and I'm not breaking my promise, not for anything! I'm not gonna fight you kids…but I will save you, no matter what happens! You deserve to believe in Heroes again, so let me be that for all of you!'
[[ACID ENTRAPMENT!]]
With her voice ringing with incredible emotionally-driven intensity, Mina practically threw herself not only into another evasive break-dancing maneuver, but one that was even incorporating spinning leaps, rebounds off the walls, the works; all while proceeding to throw and spray her non-corrosive quick-drying trapping acid from her hands and feet like a human sprinkler, forcing the oncoming hostile crowd of kids back, and ultimately finding themselves getting covered and overall stuck in it within seconds.
Mina's reflexes, sense of personal control of her Quirk, momentum, motion and all around weightlessness as she masterfully swerved and dove her way past all of the kids that tried to get the drop on her and her partners, was nothing short of a wonder for Pony and De-Condenser to behold. However, the blonde-haired girl knew they couldn't afford to just stand here either, as she quickly turned her attention to the kids already about to start worming their way through the makeshift web traps.
[[HORN CANNON!]]
With the utmost speed and precision, she sent four of her horns flying one after the other, hooking onto the lines she'd set up, and ultimately yanking it back into another makeshift net that spanned the whole width of the hall, pulling all of the kids and their teacher into one another before ultimately pinning into the wall at the end, ultimately leaving them restrained and granting her and De-Condenser some much-needed breathing room.
Of course, how long either the net or Mina's trapping acid would keep the kids all immobilized couldn't possibly be much, and thus Pony hurriedly popped off another pair of her horns, hanging onto one while handing the other to the Density Hero. [[Hang on tight!]]
The moment he grabbed on with his one still good hand, Pony had them both swerving and flying up and over the head of the trapped kids to their backs, immediately catching up with Mina as soon as she'd reached the same storage locker room the kids had tried to get the drop on them through. Of course, the urgency and rush with which they'd flown in hadn't allowed for the most graceful of landings, as Pony and De-Condenser had simply let go of her flying horns, allowing them to stab right into the wall, with one getting itself stuck in a large metallic ventilation box on the wall just up against the ceiling, the subsequent rattling momentarily grabbing Mina's attention, and just as quickly, her consideration.
Unfortunately, a sudden crashing sound and the growing cacophony of emboldened young battle cries echoing made it clear that they had no time to put a plan together, at least not an extensive one; as Mina urged Pony and De-Condenser down to the first floor through the hole.
Once they were through, she hurriedly melted the hinges to the locker room's door, and holding on tight to it, she proceeded to hop down through the hole after her two partners with it in hand, ultimately bringing it down as a block over the hole, immediately throwing two handfuls of her trapping acid against it and the edges of the hole the moment her feet touched the ground, sealing it in place.
[[Get your masks on, you guys! We only have one chance at this!]] Mina's focus as she said this was unlike anything De-Condenser had seen from her yet, but he and Pony hurriedly did as she asked, fitting their gas masks over their faces while Mina hurriedly did the same, all the while looking across the ceiling of the entrance hall, until finally spotting an identical ventilation block like the one upstairs, perhaps even the main one connected to the power supply for the whole building if she was lucky. While the lights had been shut off, the interior of the building was still a relatively cool temperature, more so than any natural temperature in this part of the country at this time of year. That surely had to mean the electricity to the building was still running, and the ventilation with it.
It was a long shot, but it was the only shot they realistically had, as Mina pulled the last sleeping gas bomb from the pocket in her vest, turned the dial at its end, and took a running jump for the ventilation box, melting the grill away with the acid on her fingertips, before finally tossing the bomb inside, shoving it further inside just seconds before it finally went off with an echoing BOOMF!
With the assisted air flow of the ventilation system working in the Heroes' favor, the sleeping gas was accelerated down the numerous shafts lining the entirety of the school and orphanage, spreading out from all the other boxes all around. At first, the three Heroes could hear the countless rushing footsteps and frantic shouting of the kids and their teacher as they had already been making their way back downstairs to finish the trio off.
And yet, with slow but steady efficiency, as the pale yellow gas became further and further prominent inside the halls, and as the three could only wait with anxious and bated breath…in the end, the charging footsteps and shouts came to an end, as the schoolteacher and all of the manipulated young children ultimately succumbed to the tranquilizing effects, finally falling asleep, and bringing this nightmare of theirs to an end.
Once this had finally become clear to all of them, the three Heroes simultaneously hunched over, gasping for breath within their masks, with De-Condenser letting out a deeply pained groan as he sat himself down against the wall. [[That…that was damn fine improvising, Pinky-kun…damn fine…and none too soon. I think…I think that's about it for me as far as this mission is concerned.]]
As Mina looked with unmistakable sadness at her mentor's decrepit-looking arm, Pony was likewise looking at the numerous scratches and bruises all over her schoolmate's arms, legs (through the tears in the bodysuit-portion of her costume) and face, visible through the visor of her gas mask. [[Oh, man, are you okay, Mina-chan? Dey really did a number on ya through all dis, didn't dey?]]
It was obvious that seeing one of her fellow Heroes, especially one as young as her, in such roughed up shape deeply hurt Pony emotionally, and there was no way Mina could possibly lie that her body wasn't in considerable pain right now. However, despite all of that, she actually felt like she could stand here and speak with a pride in herself like she hadn't felt before: [[Yeah, it hurts really bad…but you know what? I'm okay, honest. Yeah, I know Heroes are supposed to be willing to fight Villains in order to save people, I get that. I don't wanna hurt anybody if I can help it, but I get it.]]
As she said this, Mina found herself thinking back, not to the memories of so long ago like she'd been forced to throughout this battle…but to everything she'd gotten to experience over the course of this year alone; not just the scariness of all the fights they'd been through, but the fun and pleasant times altogether. The memories of all the friends she'd made, their smiles of excitement and happiness when with her, were already making her tear up with a joyous nostalgia. [[There's already been all kinds of crazy times this year where I've actually had to fight to save myself and my friends. It's scary as all hell, but I wanna think I'm finally getting used to it, at least a little bit. But there's no way I'll ever do that against a kid, no matter why they wanna fight me.
[[I promised myself I'd become a Hero who can help, save and be friends with anyone and everyone, and I don't want to ever break that, no matter what. I know I'm not all tactical and smart like Yaomomo, Iida-san, Midori-kun or even Kolya-kun; maybe I never will be. Maybe I'll never be able to really stop being scared when things get all tough and dangerous, y'know? But helping people with determination, and being nice to everybody has gotten me so far already, and it's helped me make so many amazing friends all this time. So many people have told me this year that I have the heart and spirit of a real Hero, so maybe…maybe acting with my heart like I have been can be my way of making up for not having regular smarts like my friends have.
[[I don't want to change that part of what I want to be as a Hero if I can help it. Someone with love in their heart for everyone is exactly the kind of Hero I've always wanted to be, and if I have to get hit a bunch in order to stay that kind of Hero that can still save everyone through love and kindness as much as they can…then even these scratches and bruises are totally worth it.]]
Despite how self-assured in her own goals and how she wanted to pursue them as she felt inside, there was still a part of Mina that couldn't help but leave her smiling with awkward embarrassment, all but certain her little speech had come across like utter rambling and nothing else.
However, the look in Pony and De-Condenser's eyes through their masks reflected pure inspiration and the kind of pride that only a teacher could feel when seeing what a leap their student had made in pure mentality and maturing.
With all the chaos in the school having finally been quelled, there was nothing to stop the three Heroes from being able to hear whatever was going on outside in the town square, and to all their surprise, and subsequent relief, it sounded like everything outside had quieted down considerably, almost as though the fighting had actually come to a stop, at least outside the doors.
[[Well, it sounds like the others have managed to get a handle on things out there. I can't imagine that goes for the whole town, though, but at least we finally have some kind of foothold,]] De-Condenser noted as he valiantly got back to his feet, despite the pain encroaching over half his body.
With nothing further to be done here as of now, and knowing they would get everyone in the school tucked away somewhere safe with the rest of the townspeople once they reunited with the others, Mina let out a sigh of indescribable relief as she began to follow Pony and De-Condenser out the double doors into the light of the town square, eager to just see the faces of all her friends out there so they could take that moment and—
THWIP! THWIP!
Before the doors could even finish fully opening, Mina saw her two partners suddenly jerk the moment they had stepped outside, almost as though they'd just gotten stung by something. The moment she began to reach out to see if they were alright, however, they both suddenly ended up getting yanked forward as though by invisible strings, neither of them even letting out a yelp of surprise the entire way.
All at once was Mina suddenly able to see that the rest of her friends and their teachers; with the exception of the absent Tenya, Tetsutetsu and Knightfall, were all standing together in the middle of the square, completely frozen in place, looking like they had all been in mid-sprint the moment they'd stopped. Immediately, she could see the unmistakable look of pure fear in their eyes, even from the cover of the doorway she was still hidden within.
[[You Heroes are so damn easy to get the jump on, it's pathetic! Goddamn, this stronger Quirk feels incredible! All the puppets I can possibly control all at once! Where has that Giver girl been all my life?!]]
Mina could hear the now-unmistakable sound of Eliška's voice echoing across the square; from atop the church roof from the sounds of it. The young Czech woman sounded downright manic, like she was on the verge of a hysterical laugh as she was gloating. Her presence, and what she was seeing out of all her friends and teachers outside, made it all suddenly click for Mina in the worst possible way, just what was going on:
They were all being controlled by Eliška's Quirk right now, completely at her mercy, and with Tetsutetsu and Knightfall undoubtedly having gone after Tenya if they weren't here, then this meant that, in the blink of an eye, Mina was now the only Hero around with any possibility of doing something to get all of her terrified allies and friends out of this mess.
[[You, the pink one, I know you're in there! I've been watching you all fighting out in this square, I saw you go into the school! You Heroes have all been a thorn in Commander Pietro's side for long enough! Come out and show yourself and step out into the middle of the square with the rest of your lot, now! If you don't, your friends will suffer, you hear me?!]]
There was no mistaking the deathly serious intent in Eliška's tone, but Mina kept nervously switching her gaze from the church roof; from which that head of red-and-gold hair was just barely visible; to all her friends just stuck standing out in the open amid all the debris scattered everywhere. There was no way she could just leave them all to whatever sick plans that woman was thinking of; as the one remaining Hero here, it was up to her to save them all, and she was more than ready and willing to do that, even if she wasn't exactly sure how in this moment.
All of a sudden, with an eerie inhuman motion, every single one of the others before her all reached down to the ground and picked up the first, and most noticeably sharpest piece of debris they could reach, and held the pointed ends directly to their throats, to the point where it would barely take even two pounds of pressure moving their heads forward to completely impale themselves on them.
[[Goddammit, I mean it! Get out here and stand with the rest of your ilk, or watch them all die and just get taken out a minute later! Now what's it gonna be, you little brat?!]]
The already abject terror that had been visible in their eyes had only grown to downright frantic levels, but not in the way Mina was expecting in that moment. She naturally would have assumed anyone in these circumstances would have been begging the person in question to just do as they were being told.
Not here, though. No, if anything, the fear on her friends' faces was telling her not to do it, and instead to keep herself safe, no matter what. But there was no earthly way possible she could justify doing that and having them all pay the price for her own fear. That was even worse than the idea of living in her fear to begin with. Her friends needed her, and she couldn't do a damn thing for them from here.
And so, with her racing heart all but deafening in her ears, Mina took a resolute breath, her fists trembling, and finally stepped out into the open, prying off her gas mask as she made a steady line for the middle of all her gathered friends, never even sparing a second's glance towards the church, lest Eliška saw that, took it as a threat, and decided to follow through on her words.
Mina had to swallow a painful lump of emotion in her chest with every one of her friends she had to pass on her way to the middle of the gathering, seeing the fear and regret in their eyes for having let themselves get caught off guard this badly, and the situation the young pink Hero now found herself in.
[[That's it, right to the dead center with you. Don't try anything clever, you hear me? One flick of my wrist and that'll be it for the lot of them!]]
Eliška's taunting voice continued to echo down as Mina finally came to a stop in the middle of the gathering, where Nikolay was currently set up right in front of her; the fear for her in his green eyes downright palpable. Mina was trying so hard to maintain an already fragile stoic exterior, no matter how much her fists were shaking.
However, that was when her barely moving eyes noticed the single line of dark red running down Nikolay's neck, as the glass shard he'd been forced to pick up had its very tip just barely pushing and puncturing his skin. And yet, Eliška's control over him wouldn't even allow him to whimper with that pain. He could only express it along with his worry for his best friend before him through his eyes, and the beads of frigid sweat on his brow.
The sight of any one of her friends being held hostage like this was torture enough, but to see the boy before her actually being forced into hurting himself like this, it had Mina's stomach tying up in knots. She couldn't possibly hope to fight back the tears blurring her vision, as she wanted so badly to apologize to everyone here. She'd gone ahead and stepped out into the open to keep them all safe, but now that she was here in their enemy's sights, what was she going to do now? With her position relative to Eliška all the way on the church roof, how was she ever going to be able to defeat her and free her friends, when all it would take is a second for the Czech soldier to have her friends all take themselves out?
With this question echoing in her head, Mina could suddenly hear Eliška's laughter to her right once more. [[God, are all you Heroes seriously this predictable? You know there's a greater good for you all to pursue, and yet you're so sentimentally attached to each other, that you actually put yourself up on the chopping block when the others are being threatened? What the hell kind of priorities do you have, kid?! How stupid are you?! Now you're all gonna die here!]]
As Eliška continued to laugh upon seeing how much Mina was shaking, trying and failing not to start crying; Mina herself could feel that the burning sensation in her blood from her overwhelming regret, fear and sadness, was now intensifying even further…this time from a righteous anger deep in the pit of her hammering heart.
In fact, it was the very same kind of anger that took complete control of her body and reasoning, much like it had when facing Wolfram alongside Nikolay and Izuku on I-Island, and when trying to save Nikolay from Ocean Master just a day ago. All at once had her attention gone from her friends to Eliška alone.
At that moment, with her aim focused and true, Eliška couldn't help but smirk with immense satisfaction as she finally flicked the waiting strand of her hair from between her fingers, flying straight for the side of Mina's neck. Within a moment, she would have the majority of her comrades' Hero infestation become a thing of the past.
TSST!
However, instead of the expected sensation of feeling a physical connection to her target, she was instead met with a single sizzling sound. The smirk immediately disappeared from her face as she looked to see Mina's black-gold eyes were now focused directly on her; all the fear and sadness previously on her face now replaced with an intimidating seriousness and furrowed brow; her pink fists no longer shaking, but already noticeably tighter.
Eliška could feel a sudden chill go up her spine as she hurriedly plucked five more strands from her head and hurriedly flicked them all one after another for any spot of the young Hero's exposed skin.
TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST! TSST!
One after another, she was once again met with that same sizzling sound, and Mina was still standing defiantly, before finally taking her first step forward. And with her finally beginning to move, Eliška could see exactly what was happening, just the same as all of Mina's allies could now.
The way her pink skin was starting to glisten against the sunlight was unlike anything anyone had seen from her before, including Mina herself. With all of her emotions having gone into an absolute maelstrom when seeing all her friends in danger and in pain, on top of the Czech woman's constant mockery of her compassion and love for all of them; it had triggered a complete emotional eruption inside of her, and with that, a change in the mechanics of her Quirk.
With every fiber of her being focused solely on stopping the female soldier before her and saving all of her friends; Mina was in a state of pure and simultaneous mental, physical and emotional drive that she'd never experienced before, and it was reflecting through her Quirk. Where before, her Acid had only been able to manifest through her hands and feet, and then from her arms and legs as a whole; now the cloudy liquid was starting to secrete out from her skin all over, producing a glistening Acid sweat over her entire body; effectively rendering Eliška's Quirk useless against her. After all, one couldn't exact control over someone they couldn't actually touch.
This realization hit the Czech woman hard, but just before she could at least follow through on her threat against all the other Heroes around her; Mina's reflexes were already one step ahead of her, as with a heartfelt and intense [[ACID SHOT!]], she had a concentrated stream of her Acid already flowing out from between her hands, flying straight for Eliška's position on the roof, and forcing her to scramble back out of the way.
Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, Mina broke into a frantic sprint before transitioning to a blinding Acid Slide mid-stride, already throwing two more handfuls of Acid for the base of a large nearby tree, causing it to tip over and land against the side of the church, forming a makeshift ramp she was already leaping onto and sliding up onto the roof.
Her once panicked racing heart was now steady and pounding intensely against her chest as Mina came sliding and landing on the roof, already staring down the visibly furious Eliška before her; who was in that moment too blinded by her own anger at having been caught off-guard and having her Quirk rendered ineffective, to even think of using the leverage she still technically had; instead in the middle of pulling out another machine pistol from her hip.
Even with the Acid all over her, Mina still instinctively threw up an Acid Veil at the same time Eliška opened fire; every bullet melting upon impact, before Mina finally came splashing right through it in a mad slide, bobbing and weaving past every shot and flick of her hair strands that she threw in desperation.
[[It's true, I may not be as brave as I look all the time, and I admit I can be stupid at some stuff, even some actual Hero stuff. But I won't let you call me stupid for loving and wanting to protect my friends; especially when you do something so cruel and cowardly with them to try and win, treating them and everyone like they're just toys!]]
Eliška already had another clip slammed into her gun before opening fire once more, only for Mina to not only throw another Veil to shield herself, but to immediately afterwards throw herself into a spinning handstand, shooting a precise squirt from her free hand while doing so, that landed right against her weapon, forcing the Czech soldier to let it go before it could burn her hand.
That break in her defense was exactly what Mina was counting on, as she sprung up from her handstand into a far-reaching leap, both her hands already coated in yet more acid as she reared her right arm back; her black-gold eyes wide, and her golden irises constricted with incredible focus.
[[I know some people who think raw strength is all it takes to become a Hero, but I choose to believe that kindness, love and the desire to help everyone is what gives me my strength to be a real Hero!]]
Seeing the attack that was now coming her way, Eliška resorted to the one last-ditch effort sneak attack she could always rely on, forcing out the single strand of her hair she'd been keeping in her mouth on standby, and shooting it out from between her teeth right for one of Mina's eyes.
However, the pink young Hero's reflexes were still running at full speed, as she immediately brought her reared back hand over so the strand would simply melt against her Acid again, but this momentary distraction still allowed her opponent to dive out of the way, now behind Mina's back as she finally landed.
[[You, though…you always seemed so distant and cold, no matter how nice you tried to sound before, like you don't even feel that kind of happiness from the people you say are your comrades. That just sounds so lonely and sad to me.]]
While Mina's body language lost none of its intensity, her voice was now growing much softer and compassionate, as she quickly turned to face Eliška head-on; the Czech woman's hands slowly inching for the two smaller pistols tucked into her belt behind her back.
[[You probably won't believe me, but I do really feel sorry for you, Eli-chan. There is still a part of me that wishes we could somehow be able to be friends after all this. You probably think that sounds dumb, but it's the truth.]]
By this point, the red-gold-haired young woman was done letting Mina waste either of their time with her sentimental words, and instead drew both her guns from behind her back, hammering down on both triggers and sending a veritable wall of lead her way.
For Mina, though, time had all but come to a crawl, as she was already shifting her body weight and the resulting momentum so she could circle around Eliška's side, past her barrage of gunfire. In that moment as she realized Mina was no longer in her line of fire, she turned and met her eyes of black with golden irises, glistening with so many emotions all at once; conveying the Heroic drive burning in her heart, while her face was as soft and sympathetic in expression as could be; all while she once more had her Acid-coated right and left fists reared back.
[[That being said, though; I also can't forgive you for hurting and using my friends like that!]]
In a show of incredible speed and precision, Mina threw one hand after another, with Eliška barely managing to sidestep, weave, duck and all-around avoid getting hit full-on by her Acid-covered hands.
Further and further was she backed across the church roof; all the while never allowing herself to stop to try and shoot Mina; all but certain that hesitation would spell the end for her. What she never stopped to really pay attention to in her instinctive panic, though, was that for as fast and precise as Mina's punches, jabs and swings were, they were never directly aimed for her center mass, her limbs or even her head.
This didn't occur to the young Czech until she finally could feel her heels just barely meeting the edge of the roof, the last warning that she'd evaded as far as she was going to be able to. At the same time, Mina's speedy assault had likewise come to a stop, as the resolute-looking pink Hero now stood mere feet in front of her, watching her intently.
The fact her opponent wasn't capitalizing on this opportunity like literally anyone else would have, got Eliška to eventually start laughing in disbelief again. [[You're going to wish you'd just finished me off, you-!]]
She'd already instinctively begun to reach for her head, but her taunting words died instantly when her fingers were meeting nothing but air just over her head.
Both guns fell from her hands, one even bouncing off the roof and down to the ground, as she began anxiously reaching and touching her head with both hands, only to be met with nothing but a now tingly-feeling scalp, with only a few short and burnt patches of her hair to be felt, and she could even feel those crumbling in her fingertips into nothing.
When her pink irises and x-shaped pupils met Mina's watchful eyes; the young female Hero could see the disbelief, confusion and outright shock in Eliška's gaze, finally prompting her to speak: [[I don't want to use my Quirk directly against people unless I absolutely have to. I know how dangerous it could be if I'm not careful all the time…but I have had lots of time to get the hang of controlling and aiming it, so I decided to give your Quirk a big-time trimming, for all our sakes.]]
Eliška was already starting to shake her head in frantic denial of what she was now dealing with. That's what had happened, that was why Mina was never outright aiming for her in their fight; it was her hair. Without even paying attention to it, she'd just had her Quirk all-but literally taken away from her. Now she wouldn't be able to enact control over anyone.
Right on the tails of that shock came an anger bordering on downright genocidal, as the now red-faced and scowling Czech soldier suddenly kicked up the gun to her right, screaming at the top of her lungs all the while: [[YOU LITTLE BITCH; HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?! I'LL KILL YOU!]]
All of her training in accuracy and discipline had already gone right out the window, as Eliška nearly had her finger holding down the trigger to her pistol, she was firing round after round so quick, but in a display of personally impressive forethought, Mina expected a reaction like this, as she was already swerving, ducking and jumping over every shot fired her way, firing a tiny Acid squirt from her fingertips in the middle of said jump, melting the pistol in her opponent's hand.
At the very same moment Eliška realized her last form of distanced attack had been taken away from her, Mina was already sliding in on her knees upon landing, closing that last bit of distance to Eliška's then-blind side, and at the very same moment the soldier's eyes shifted to meets hers once again…
POOOOW!
With all the emotions that had driven her to this moment still burning hot in her chest, and with even memories of this near exact-same moment from the Sports Festival replaying before her eyes, Mina sprung herself up from the floor of the roof, recalling her Acid just the moment before finally driving that tight pink left fist straight into Eliška's jaw in a devastating uppercut that had every ounce of her weight and momentum powering it along, sending the now bald-headed Czech woman into a complete backwards flip, before ultimately crashing onto the ceiling completely out cold. Mina couldn't even describe the sound of such a clean impact as satisfying, as much as simply the fact that it meant the battle between them was finally over to be indescribably reassuring; letting out the heaviest shaken sigh as all the tension in her body felt like it had left her all at once.
The sound of all her friends and their Pros letting out cries and expressions of relief to each other down below, spurred Mina to all but jump back down from the roof, the Acid sheen over the rest of her body now fallen from her to the ground once she was back on solid earth.
The moment everyone saw her returning to their side, Mina found herself instantly being all but showered with several sincere embraces and the most heartfelt thanks and expressions of pride and relief from De-Condenser, High Noon, Momo, Pony and Kyouka especially, before the latter promptly took that moment to get back to putting her pacification plan through the church's loudspeaker system into action, since they could still hear the numerous aggressive battle cries and orders being given among the townspeople still in action, outside the ice wall lining the town square still.
[[You were incredible, Mina! We all owe you our lives today!]] Nikolay finally expressed with no sign of hesitation once Momo had likewise finished expressing her own pride in Mina's quick-thinking and reflexes. All the same, Mina was back to smiling from ear to ear, simply knowing that she'd managed to save all of her friends; only broken out of that euphoria when Momo's natural curiosity came back to her: [[The means you were able to avoid that woman's Puppet Master Quirk was most surprising as well, Mina-san. Have you been able to secrete your Acid over your entire body like that this whole time?]]
Now that it was finally brought up, Mina was looking herself over with clear surprise on her face as well. [[No, I always thought it was just my hands and feet that could do it. I didn't think I could make it come out of my arms or my legs until I tried to save Kolya-kun back at I-Island. When she was making fun of me trying to help you guys, I just felt…well, all the feelings at once then, just like I did there before. This was even more intense, actually. *Gasp* Hey, hey, Yaomomo, you don't think this could be my going-?!]]
[[Plus Ultra? It's too soon to say for certain, but it certainly sounds like the beginning of it at least. It'll definitely be something worth studying and practicing more…assuming we're able to finish this mission successfully, of course.]] Momo ultimately finished, clearly just as intrigued as Mina was ecstatic at the idea of figuring out what her Plus Ultra use of her Quirk looked like.
Nikolay, Pony and High Noon both looked similarly excited for their pink savior of the day, before Mina herself looked back with that heartwarming childlike smile, until her eyes fell upon the tiny puncture wound on Nikolay's neck, which ultimately brought her attention to the numerous injuries on herself and the rest of them to boot. [[C'mon, everyone! Let me put some Pinky-class healing touches on your wounds, okay?]]
Even as Mina was still trying to convey her return to her normal energetic self as she began building up her healing salve in her palms to apply to Nikolay's wounds even before her own, he could see the deeply troubled emotion building within her eyes as she kept looking over every wound he had.
Unwilling to leave them both in silence, he finally spoke up: [[You're everybody's Hero today, Mina, we all mean that…but when I saw you actually go after Eliška up there like you did, and when I heard those gunshots going off…God, I was so scared! I was trying so hard to fight that hold her Quirk had on me, but it just wouldn't budge. I know how strong and fast you can be, but I couldn't stop thinking…if she'd gotten the best of you, and I wasn't able to do anything…I-I…]]
By this point, as Nikolay's expressions of the utmost thanks, like everyone else's, had started to crumble into emotionally overwhelmed stuttering; Mina had already managed to apply her salve to her own injuries as well upon having finished with his. The weightiness in his voice as he tried so hard to put his words together, after all of the devastated and fearful emotions she'd just been put through in regards to him and everyone else, had left Mina with no remaining willpower to fight her own tears of inexpressible gratitude for her friends all still being in one piece.
Words couldn't express her own feelings right now in a way that could do justice, and thus she once more left the teary-eyed Russian boy silent as she instead comforted his lingering fears with the single most emotional and warming embrace she'd given him yet; that single gesture giving him all the comfort of her current safety he could have asked for. Almost immediately after, Nikolay too was finally bringing his arms around her in return to express his own gratitude for everything; bringing Mina to suck in a shaky breath through her teeth as her whole body trembled with pure relief in response.
As though to punctuate that moment between them and the rest of their allies, knowing they'd come out of such a terrible predicament in one piece; a number of incredibly calming electrical music chords suddenly emanated through the loudspeakers lining the church; Kyouka finally managing to use her Earphone Jacks and Blast Beat's Quirk-infused patches and collapsible guitar together to send a resonating wave of pacifying energy through the rest of Gagaringrad in a matter of seconds. Like magic, all of the remaining aggressive voices outside the ice wall had died down, as if the remaining active townspeople had all been immediately tranquilized. Through blood, sweat, tears and absolute luck on their side; the Heroes had ultimately managed to remove one of the biggest advantages Pietro had over them.
As soon as Mina had finished applying her healing salve to the rest of her teammates, Whiteout finally took that chance to remove the ice wall around the square into another frigid mist; on the other side of which were the rest of the townspeople as they knew of, all lying peacefully together across the perimeter, fast asleep.
As reassuring a sight as this was, the Pros that could still actively work knew this was still no time to be lax, as De-Condenser announced while he was helped back to his feet by a visibly worried High Noon; having seen the sorry state he was now in: [[Alright, everyone, we may have put a stop to the battle here, but we're still far from finished. Ingenium-kun, Real Steel-kun and Knightfall-san have been buying us some much needed time, regarding Ljubomir and this new Mortar-level to his Quirk. We need to take advantage of that time and start getting the townspeople into the vehicles Rule-chan provided us. Am I to assume you were all able to get the ones provided you into their assigned places when possible?]]
Upon High Noon and Whiteout both confirming as much, the Density Hero gave a single affirmative nod to the patiently waiting Yui, who with a silent nod of her own, proceeded to bring her fingertips together; causing all the shrunken busses and ambulances strategically placed throughout the now silent streets of the town to immediately grow back to their normal sizes.
With that, Whiteout proceeded: [[Okay, everyone, once we get the people all loaded in and secured, Rule-chan can have them all shrunken back down for us to carry securely to a safe place removed from the active battlefield. We must not let any one of the citizens here be left in danger, no matter how things may look right now.]]
[[And once we do that, we need to hurry to the hospital. Listen.]] Nikolay suddenly chimed in, and at his suggestion, all the other Heroes fell silent, and soon enough, they could hear the much further booming sound of Ljubomir's Quirk in action, but without the accompanying descending whistles from before.
As soon as he could see the same look of understanding cross his fellow Heroes' faces, the young Russian continued: [[Just because he hasn't been hammering us down recently, doesn't mean he may not be giving Iida-san, Tetsutetsu-san and Knightfall-sensei trouble. We need to give them all the help we can as soon as we evacuate everyone from here, so we can rescue the people trapped in the basement, and put a stop to Pietro's plan before it's too late.]]
[[Then what're we all waiting for?! Let's get a move on and put an end to all of this!]] Monoma exclaimed with surprising enthusiasm in response to the words of a Class A student. With that being the spark to ignite the driven flame within them all, the Pros and all their Hero interns hurriedly got to work carrying one citizen after another to the nearest of the restored evacuation vehicles as quickly as they could; every second spent hoping that their three allies who'd headed for the hospital were managing to hold their own for just that little bit longer.
And there you have it everyone; Mina Ashido finally gets her own Origin chapter, much like how Deku, Bakugo, Shoto, Shigaraki and, to an extent, Kirishima got in the actual manga. I find myself considering changing one of the earliest chapter titles to serve the same purpose for Kolya, but then there's the chance I plan out a chapter later on to ultimately serve as his own origin for the Hero he would ultimately become, then I'd be left in a tight spot.
I hope you all enjoyed what you read here today. I know I keep asking this, but we're getting so close to the end of this arc, and I really, REALLY want to know what all your thoughts are on how it's been unfolding thus far, so can you please, please, PLEASE take the couple of minutes out of your day to write a review and let me know what you think? I really don't think I'm asking for too much, just a little honest feedback, that's all.
Anyway, I hope you all have a good rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 06/11!