Deku wasn't sure what it was about this man that made him so uneasy and afraid. It might have been the mask or the voice. The costume or just the fact that he was the one in charge. But, if Deku really narrowed it down, he would have to say that it was his presence. Standing in front of him like this was like when he and the others had gone to rescue Bakugo and found themselves a little ways away from All-For-One. That crushing weight, that cold grip, all of it came rushing back, wanting to hold him in place. He instantly knew that whoever this was, they were the real deal.
Still, it wasn't as bad with All-For-One. He could still move, still breathe.
"Doctor Doom, huh?" Sero chuckled nervously. "That's kind of on the-"
"Silence," Doom said, raising a finger. Instantly, a wave of force rushed out of it, striking Sero directly and sending him flying backwards over the table and into the wall.
"Sero!" Deku cried out.
"You fiend!" Tokoyami yelled at Doom.
Deku watched as whatever force had pushed Sero kept him against the wall in the air, still pushing as Sero gasped and struggled. Deku tried to go help him but the woman in the mask appeared next to him, her spear forcing him back down.
"Watch and learn," she hissed at him.
"You will learn respect, boy," Doom told Sero. "I am Doctor Victor von Doom, the soveriegn leader of Latveria. And right now, you are in my domain. So, let this be your only warning. Next time, the consequences will be that much more…severe."
With that said, he lowered his finger and Sero dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. Deku tried moving again and the woman just dug her spear into his back even more.
"What exactly do you want from us, great sinner?" Shiozaki asked.
"Yeah…uh, what she said," Honenuki added.
Doctor Doom slowly stood up from his throne, his long green cape flowing behind him. "What I want is rather simple. You all possess unique abilities. Now that in itself isn't too remarkable. The world is filled with unique abilities ranging from the simple to the godlike. I've seen them, fought against and alongside them. And I've studied them all."
Deku frowned, not sure he was following. There was just something about the way he was phrasing all of it that put him on edge. Something he couldn't put his finger on.
"However, yours are different. An inborn ability like with the x-gene or the inhuman gene. Very similar too, it seems. And yet, still different. And completely unheard of on this world. Until now that is."
"This world?" Deku couldn't help but ask. "What do y- AH!" he suddenly cried out as the woman dug the spear in more.
"That is enough, Victorious," Doom said and she stepped back. "Let the boy speak."
"Hmph," the woman said, backing away. "Count yourself lucky, boy."
Deku took a few seconds to breathe before staring up at the metal mask, the human eyes glinting from inside back at him. "What do you mean by 'this world?'" he asked.
Doctor Doom leaned forward, his head now resting on his perched arms. "Exactly what I say. Tell me, have any of you ever heard the theory of the multiverse?"
Deku frowned, a sinking feeling growing inside of him that he was doing his best to ignore because there was no way that it could be true.
"The multi-what?" Sero asked, confused. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"It's the theory of other universes parallel to our own," Honenuki said. "Other versions of ourselves living alternate lives to our own."
"Huh?"
"What does that have to do with us?"
Doom gazed down on them imperiously. "It makes sense you wouldn't be aware. You were unconscious during the transfer. But, to put it simply, the multiverse theory was proven accurate over a decade ago now."
Deku shook his head. "What? That can't be right. We would have known…about…it…" he said, trailing off as that feeling inside him grew bigger.
"Yeah. That's just crazy."
"Dude's lost it," Sero muttered, shaking his head which earned him an extra wallop from Victorious.
"Would you have known about it? If it was discovered on your world?"
Deku froze, those words giving form to that feeling inside. "That…this can't be real."
"Midoriya?" Tokoyami asked next to him.
"'Our world?'" Honenuki questioned. "What do you mean by that?"
"Stop talking in riddles man!"
"You are no longer on your world, your Earth," Doom said, a hollow chuckled echoing from his mask. "You are on a new one. This one."
There was dead silence. All of them stared up at him in shock. Deku wasn't sure how to respond to that. It couldn't be true. Another world? Another universe? That was impossible. There was no way it could be real. Doom had to be lying or crazy or something.
"Ha! I'm calling bullshit on that!" Sero cried.
"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Tokoyami asked.
"Utter nonsense," Honenuki said.
"I'd expect no less from a savage villain such as yourself," Shiozaki declared.
Deku, however, remained silent, his mind going into overdrive. As much as he wanted to believe that Doom was lying or crazy or something, his entire stance said otherwise. What would he have to gain by saying that to them? But…it couldn't be true.
Could it?
"What kind of proof do you have?" Deku challenged. "Otherwise, how would you expect us to believe you?"
Doom regarded him carefully, sending a shiver down his spine. "It seems one of you has brain cells at least. Yes indeed, I do have proof. Here." With a few flicks of his fingers, part of the floor popped open and a holographic computer screen appeared right in front of Deku, startling him. "Use it," Doom urged. "Look up whatever you want. Anything or anyone from your world. Then, you will see."
"Do you just have stuff like that in all your floors?" Sero asked.
"Don't ask ridiculous questions, boy."
Deku ignored them, tuning everything out. He felt his throat go dry as it finally began to dawn on him why Doom was telling them all this. Why he was acting so nonchalant about it all. He took a deep breath and typed in All Might before pressing 'enter' after a moment's hesitation.
The answer was like a knife to the heart.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No news on the Symbol of Peace. No articles, no images, no videos, no fan-pages, no merchandise. Nothing.
Deku tried again, writing in different words as well, but nothing worked. It was like he had never existed at all. So Deku tried other heroes as well. Endeavor. Best Jeanist. Gang Orca. Mt. Lady. Kamui Woods. Hawks. Edgeshot. But none of them appeared either.
He tried foreign heroes like Star and Stripe or Big Red Dot. Nothing.
He tried U.A. High School. Nothing.
He tried everything he could. Nothing turned up.
"This…you…this…" he murmured, backing up, his heart feeling like it would burst out at any moment.
"Midoriya? Hey, you ok?"
"What's wrong?"
"It…nothing turns up," he muttered.
"What? What do you mean?"
"You…you did something," Deku said, glaring at Doom. "You must have…done something." It was the only explanation. He had blocked the internet. Somehow. Except, everything else was working. And he couldn't have known everything Deku would search, could he?
"Wrong. You are just afraid to grasp the truth."
"What truth?" Honenuki demanded.
"See for yourself," Doom gestured. "And then you can understand your predicament."
One by one, the others all looked at the screen, looking up all the things Deku had and more. And one by one, their faces fell, all color draining away as they realized that Doom had been telling the truth.
"This…this can be fabricated, right?" Sero said nervously. "Cause this can't actually-"
"Impossible," Tokoyami murmured.
"Oh lord, please aid us in…" Shiozaki prayed.
"Perhaps this will also help," Doom said, pressing another button. The screen grew larger, stretching over them. All their searches disappeared, replaced by video footage showing a gigantic figure hovering over a city in a blue-and-purple costume, a horned helmet on his head. Four figures attacked him, each displaying a different ability, before the screen changed, now showing two behemoths, an orange and a green one, duking it out in the city, their blows sending shockwaves rippling through the streets. Then footage of an armored figure wielding some sort of hammer appeared where he fought against what looked like ice giants, lighting sprouting from his hammer.
More footage followed. Shapeshifting aliens. An army of robots. Dragons. Demons. Deku stood there, amazed and terrified by it all. He saw so many impossible things that it was frying his brain. He had seen Atlantis and mermaids in one video that quickly changed to a rainbow bridge leading to a mythical city floating in space.
"This is your new universe. Impressive, isn't it? Filled with beings with more power than you can imagine. Now do you truly understand your situation. How hopeless it all is for you."
Yes, Deku understood. He still wasn't sure about all the craziness of this new universe, but he did know what Doom was getting at. "No one's coming for us," he muttered.
"Exactly," Doom nodded. "Your universe has yet to learn of any others. So they wouldn't think to start looking beyond theirs. No help will arrive for you as they will have no clue as to where you have gone. I am afraid, you are quite stuck here."
Deku didn't want to look at the others' faces as the news hit them. He was feeling it himself. He could already imagine his mom at home, anxiously waiting for good news that would never come. And All Might, his mentor, frantically searching without knowing there was no hope. They were all stranded. It made his heart clench, made him feel like he would cry or throw up or breakdown or something at any moment.
"So…" he said after a moment, pulling his thoughts together. He couldn't let himself falter like that, especially when captured by a villain. "So what exactly do you want with us?"
Doom regarded him carefully, leaning back in his chair. He pressed another button and two images appeared on the screen. "This here is a mutant, goes by the name of Magneto," Doom said, gesturing to the first image of a red and purple costume with a cape and helmet. "And this is an inhuman called Black Bolt," Doom continued, looking at the other picture of a man in a black suit with silvery lines down it and what seemed like wings attached. "They represent two races of superhuman beings on this planet, beings whose genetics changed to allow them abilities that defy explanation. Magneto here can control magnetism, mostly in metal, and Black Bolt's vocal cords are so powerful that a whisper from his mouth could shatter a city."
Videos appeared beside the images showing Magneto and Black Bolt in action and Deku gaped at the sight, watching waves of metal surround Magneto as he fought against a group of costumed figures. And the sound wave from Black Bolt…it was more powerful than anything All Might could do. That thought didn't settle too well with him.
"On your world, you refer to these abilities as Quirks. Heh," Doom gave a soft chuckle. "What a silly name. Still, these two races, while much smaller than the rest of the human population, still have managed to carve a name for themselves on this planet with abilities the rest of humanity both envy and fear. And that they'd also very much like to weaponize."
Deku gulped, a new bad feeling coming over him as he began to sense where this conversation was going.
"Unfortunately for them, the mutants and inhumans have formed their own societies and now keep to their own kind. So while there may be a few outliers, no other nation on this planet has super powered individuals like these two races on their side. So, if either of them decides to attack, there doesn't seem like much we can do to stop them. Until now, it seems."
Doom stood up for the first time, his green cape draping down behind him. Deku gulped again and had to stop himself from taking a step backwards.
"Now, a new world has been discovered. A world where superpowered individuals have completely taken over the population and unpowered ones are in fact in the minority. And these individuals, it seems, are neither mutants or inhumans but something else entirely. The secrets of inhuman and mutant genetics have become closed off to us. But your DNA? Your genetics?" Doom gave an evil chuckle. "Well, that all seems to be on the table."
"So you want to weaponize us?" Deku glared, feeling OFA rise up inside him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the others all preparing to fight as well. However, he was surprised with Doom's response.
"Me? No," Doom said. "I have no interest in a war on either the mutants or inhumans. Why you all are here is simple. Your presence in this world will surely cause disruption. I want to understand how your abilities work and how they differ from the others. From that, I can predict how the future will go. Now, shall we begin?"
Deku wasn't even given time to process all that before the floor beneath him suddenly gave way and he found himself falling down a narrow chute.
"AGGHHH!" Sero cried out next to him, tape streaming from his elbows to slow himself down.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami yelled, his dark partner already appearing over him to help keep him aloft.
Shiozaki's hair began spilling out, striking into the walls to slow her descent, but Deku found it wasn't necessary as they all landed a second later, him able to use OFA to absorb the impact smoothly. Sero managed to use his tape to swing aside and land as well while Tokoyami just drifted down and Shiozaki used her hair to descend easily. However, Deku was worried about Honenuki the most but it turned out those fears were baseless as the Class B student had managed to make it to the wall and used his powers to soften the mortar and slow himself down to the point where he was able to drop down easily, albeit clumsily.
"Where are we now?" Sero muttered, looking around. They were in a large chamber with absolutely nothing there. No doors, windows, or anything. Just stone. One glance above and Deku also saw that the hole they had dropped out of was now also gone.
"The bowels of evil," Tokoyami replied.
"Thank you, Captain Sunshine."
"Lord, give us guidance."
"Not the time Shiozaki."
"Wait!" Deku said. "Do you hear that?"
Even as he said it, part of the wall next to them suddenly gave off a groan and rose upwards. They all took fighting stances and Deku gave a small prayer of thanks that he had thought to put on his gauntlets and boots.
"No matter what comes through there, we stay together!" he said.
"Right!"
The door opened all the way and Deku felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the hordes of robots come pouring through.
BEEP…BEEP…BEEP
"What the hell is that?" Crossbones demanded, walking to the front of the plane.
"Sir, something just appeared on the radar coming right for us."
"We should be in stealth mode. Who the hell could be following us?"
"We don't know sir."
"Then do your best to find out," Crossbones growled. "We're close to the headquarters anyway."
As they talked, for what had to be the hundredth time Uraraka tested the strength of her bonds but they were just as tight as all her previous attempts. She wished there was something more she could do but she had no idea. She briefly wondered if this was how Bakugo felt when he'd been captured by the League of Villains way back. Probably not. She didn't think he could ever feel helpless. Just didn't seem like him. She held back a smirk, thinking of all the different ways Bakugo had yelled 'DIE!' at the villains.
Of course, her expression sobered pretty quickly as she looked at her fellow prisoners. The Class B students had woken up next and then Asui a few minutes later and they all looked as miserable as she felt. She had hoped that between them they could figure a way to break out, especially from what she remembered about Rin and Tsunotori's abilities. But apparently these Hydra people were forewarned as Rin's arms were completely bound in metal cuffs, blocking his scales from piercing through. As for Tsunotori, her horns were also covered up. And Asui's mouth was gagged, preventing her from doing anything with her tongue. Uraraka herself had her hands bound so tightly that she couldn't touch anything. There was nothing she could do.
She hated feeling like this. So helpless. And powerless. All she could so was wait until they arrived at their destination and hope some opportunity arose to escape. Or hope that the heroes could come and save them in time.
"They're still on us, sir. And closing fast."
"Definitely tracking us then. Damn. How in the hell do they know where we are?"
Uraraka stopped, focusing on their conversation. Someone tracking the villains? She let a smile grace her face. That could only be the heroes. They'd found them. A wave of relief washed over her. They'd be safe soon and this nightmare would be over. She should have known she could rely on the heroes to save them.
"Take evasive action," Crossbones ordered. "And prepare to attack."
"Sir, it could still just be a random plane of some kind," one of the pilots said. "If we attack, we'll be exposed for sure."
"In this airspace? Not likely. But that is why we'll evade for now. If they follow us, we'll know they're onto us. But keep all weapons hot and ready to fire."
A seed of worry bloomed inside of her but Uraraka did her best to stamp it down. The heroes would be fine, no matter what this Crossbones threw at them.
She couldn't dwell on it anymore as several of the apparent Hydra agents came up to them.
"You better let us go," Rin warned them, still struggling against his bonds. "The heroes will come for us and then you're all toast. Just watch."
"Yeah, what's they all say," the guard replied in a bored voice. "Now sit tight unless you want to go rolling across the plane and break your necks."
He swiftly got them to some seats and strapped them down tightly. And not a moment too soon as the plane suddenly jerked to the left, causing her and the others to gasp in surprise as their bodies were flung sideways, the belts just placed around them the only thing stopping them from going flying around.
"Sir, they're matching us," the pilot said.
"Damn. So they are tracking us. Alright, you make another evasion while you," he pointed to the other pilot, "ready a missile. Hopefully we'll catch them off guard and-"
Beep.
They all stopped as one of the knobs started blinking.
"Sir, they're…hailing us."
Crossbones hesitated for a moment before flicking a switch. "Who is this?" he growled.
"Why Rumlow, you sound disappointed."
The voice was ice cold and slippery, like how a snake would talk.
"Viper," Crossbones grunted. "I'd ask what you're up to but the answer seems obvious. How'd you learn about the damn brats?"
"News travels fast in our circles. More than a score of superpowered kids like that who aren't mutants or inhumans but a whole new species."
Uraraka wasn't really understanding most of the conversation but she could narrow it down to the fact that the heroes weren't coming to save them. At least, not yet. That realization almost sank her but she still resolved to keep her head up.
The other thing she noticed was how Crossbones tensed up the more Viper talked and she recalled how he had asked her how important they all were. She didn't get it herself and was even more confused now based on everything Viper had said.
"So what happens now?" he asked curiously.
"That depends on you," Viper replied easily. "I understand you have four of those children there. Give me two of them and nothing bad happens today."
"That's not up to me," Crossbones told her. "I'm under contract to deliver these four kids to Zemo. If you have a problem, you take it up with him."
"Oh I tried to, but it seems he wasn't in a bargaining mood."
"Well there we have it. I think that's your answer."
There was a soft sigh followed by dangerous silence, setting Uraraka's nerves on fire and taking her breath away.
"Very well then. Have if your way."
The way she said that was so soft and so full of ice that it sent shivers down Uraraka's spine.
"Sir! She launched missiles!" the pilot gasped.
"Launch countermeasures!" Crossbones barked.
There was a slight rumbling from their plane before Uraraka heard something get fired off from the side. A second later, there was a loud BOOM! and the plane rocked a little. She looked at the others who all seemed as terrified as she was.
"What the hell was that? I thought you wanted these kids alive?" Crossbones demanded.
"Oh please," Viper snorted. "I can collect DNA samples from corpses just as well. Besides, if this is enough to take them down then what chance do they have in this world anyway?"
Crossbones glowered down at the panel as if he could somehow glare right through it to Viper on the other end. "Alright then. Game on, bitc- what the hell…she hung up on me!" he cried. He looked ready to punch the whole console but restrained himself. "Alright then boys. And, Dana," he nodded to the only female Hydra agent. "Let's take that green-haired witch down."
Uraraka took another glance at her classmates and saw her expression mirrored there. How were they going to get out of this? Oh how she wished the others were here. Bakugo would already be screaming and blasting his way through. Todoroki would probably have frozen his cuffs off or melted them. Yaoyorozu would have made keys or something to break out. But really any of them would have found a way out of this, would have done something. Especially Deku. How she wished he was here. Even if they were prisoners, his very presence always made her feel warm and safe. But he wouldn't just sit here. He'd be doing everything he could to free them, to find some way to escape, to get them all out of there safely.
But he wasn't here. None of them were. She was though. And it was time she did something about it. She was planning to be a hero after all.
"Honenuki!" Deku cried as the robots came charging in, all of them dressed exactly like Doctor Doom.
"Right," the Class B student replied, already planting his hands on the ground. Almost instantly, the entire floor became liquid and all the robots began to sink into it, floundering in the now pool of concrete and stone.
Deku had about a second of relief before he became worried again. All the leading robots were sinking but that didn't last too long as each of their backs opened up and a torrent of energy came rushing out, propelling them upwards.
"They can fly," Sero muttered. "That's not good."
"I will handle them," Tokoyami said, Dark Shadow already covering him. He rose up into the air and met the bots head on, Dark Shadow's elongated claws tearing into them.
Deku lifted up his gauntlets and began shooting rounds of compressed air at the still-coming horde, blasting them back and in some cases breaking them. Next to him, Shiozaki's vines were ripping through the ground towards the bots, tearing into the ones charging through the entry as fast as she could. Honenuki did his best to sink any new ones that Deku and Tokoyami were able to knock out of the sky. And Sero was sending out streams of tape to tie up as many as possible. Slowly, but surely, they were pushing back the horde.
"What an ego that guy has to have everything look like himself," Sero cried.
"It's more like he's constantly reminding us he's the one doing this," Deku said.
"Same thing."
But they didn't have time to keep talking as one of the bots flew forward and sent a large concussive blast right for Honenuki, sending him flying backwards. Instantly, the ground became solid again and the robots had no problem charging forward now. Even the ones that had been in the ground when it was liquid began ripping their way free.
"Honenuki!" Shiozaki cried. "You foul demons. You will pay for your sins!"
More vines sprouted, ripping into bot after bot and tearing them apart but more kept coming, at least three replacing each one that fell.
"How many of these does he have?" Sero said, wrapping up two bots.
That was concerning for Deku as well. He had been watching the entry and saw the amount of bots coming through and to him it didn't really correspond with how many they'd taken down and how many were still coming.
Wait.
A horrible realization came to him and he looked around frantically for any fallen bots. But there were none. All of them were standing up or flying in the air. He watched as a bot recently taken down by Shiozaki and torn to pieces began to reassemble, all the different parts forming back up until they were standing upright, ready for battle.
"Oh that's just not fair!" Sero complained, seeing it as well now.
"How do we fight these monsters?" Shiozaki gasped.
Before anyone could say anything, one of the robot's faces opened up and blast of red energy came surging out. It was only thanks to Deku's quick instincts that he was able to avoid it.
"They shoot lasers too!" Sero cried. "That's really not fair!"
Deku, however, became aware of another problem and his gaze shot upwards to where Tokoyami was still battling with the robots in the air. "Tokoyami!" he cried. "Watch o-"
But it was too late as several of the bots began firing off laser beams from their faces or their arms or chests. Tokoyami did his best to dodge but there were too many to avoid. Dark Shadow kept him covered up, protecting him, but as the energy bolts began to hit him, Deku could see him shrink just a little. They were made up of light, Dark Shadow's weakness. They wouldn't last much longer.
Without thinking, he leapt into the air, his leg arced behind him. "St. Louis Smash, Air Force!" he cried, whipping his leg around with OFA flowing through him. The air seemed to solidify as he released all the energy, creating a wave of wind that sent all the bots flying backwards, slamming into the wall or the ground, many breaking apart on impact.
Deku didn't give them a chance to recover, activating Blackwhip and grabbing as many of the fallen bots as he could, whipping them up high only to slam them back down again as hard as he could. They may have some sort of self-repair abilities, but there had to be some kind of limit on that. He just had to break them apart so thoroughly that there was no way they could ever reassemble.
"Tokoyami! he cried out. "Can you send all the bots into the hallway with Ragnarök?"
Tokoyami eyed the still coming bots warily. "Perhaps. But I cannot hold them long."
"It'll only be for a second," Deku promised. "Honenuki, can you turn the whole hallway into mud?"
Honenuki looked up at him and then at hallway filled to the brim with robots. "Uh…yeah. Maybe. Yes," he said a little more confidently. "Yeah, I'll do it."
"Shiozaki, once he does that, drag them down and tear them apart even more."
"Right. Wait, even more than-"
"Sero, on my signal, send out as much tape as you can into the hallway and try to hit as many bots as you can too."
"Got it. But what-"
"Tokoyami, go!" Deku cried.
"Right," his friend said, acting instantly. "Dark Shadow!"
"Roger!" his shadowy companion replied, enlarging into his Ragnarök form. His arms extended and grabbed hold of as many of the bots as he could, shoving them all back into the hallway where still more were coming. They began firing their lasers and Dark Shadow began to shrink, Tokoyami wincing with each blow but he kept going. As he did, Deku swung through the air with Blackwhip, taking out any bots that had been left behind.
"Just a little more!" he cried.
Tokoyami merely grunted in response as he kept pushing the bots further and further down the hallway.
"Sero, get ready!"
"Uh…ok. Right!" Sero ran forwards, lifting up his elbows in preparation.
"Tokoyami, drop it!" Deku barked. "Now Sero!"
"Got it!" The second Dark Shadow retreated, all the bots came tearing at them again but Sero unleashed all the tape he had, ribbons unfurling at top speed. The first bots initially ripped through it but there was too much and they quickly all became wrapped up in it but Sero didn't stop, continuously going. He wrapped up the walls too, stopping the bots cold just for a few seconds. But it was enough, the other bots in the back coming to a quick standstill.
It wouldn't last though. This was where Deku stepped in.
He landed firmly on the ground and focused all his power, channeling it into his right arm. He didn't want to risk 100%, not yet. He didn't know how many bots there were and they still had Doctor Doom to deal with. Best not to go full power yet. Instead, he channeled 80% of OFA, feeling the strain and power shaking his arm.
It wouldn't break his arm but it would have repercussions. But, considering the circumstances, he deemed them worth it.
"Texas Smash!" he cried, throwing his arm and all the power into it forward. He grimaced as his arm throbbed painfully but it was worth it as a new wave of wind came charging from him directly into the tunnel, sending the bots still taped up flying back into all the others, many breaking from the pressure.
"Now Honenuki!" he cried, not wanting to give the bots a chance.
Honenuki rushed forward, planting his hands down again. The hallway liquefied again but this time stretched all the way down, submerging all the robots that could be seen into that now stony muck.
"And Shiozaki!"
"Of course," came her reply. Her vines lashed into the liquid hallway, going beneath the surface and it only took them a few seconds before they found the robots, vine after vine latching onto a target and twisting into its innards to tear it apart.
"Break them as much as you can so they don't reassemble," Deku warned her, now using his left arm to fire rapid blasts of compressed air at the bots all the while dodging laser-fire.
"Understood."
Many of the bots still made attempts to swim through the muck but as soon as they started, Shiozaki would target them and rip them apart. Still, there were too many and she couldn't keep up, especially since she had to spend some time to ensure the bots were completely destroyed. Besides that, the bots were now using lasers to slice through the vines, freeing themselves. Deku grimaced as the bots began to swarm the hallway again, charging their way right to them.
"Back, Midoriya!" Tokoyami growled and Dark Shadow surged forward in his giant form, crashing into the leading bots and once more sending them all back.
"Nice one!" Sero cheered.
"You ok Tokoyami?" Deku asked. Like with any Quirk, using it too much had repercussions.
"Do not worry," his friend replied though Deku could see the sweat rolling down his face. "I can hold out a little-UNGH!"
"Tokoyami!" Deku rushed over as his friend grimaced sharply. As he did, he saw a bright light from the hallway as well as Dark Shadow retracting back to Tokoyami, becoming smaller as he did so.
"I'm sorry," Tokoyami said. "Their lasers are too much right now."
Deku saw at least a dozen bots with glowing arms, faces, or chests, having evidently fired in unison their beams of light right at Dark Shadow, incapacitating him. With him down, they rushed forward again, dodging past Shiozaki's vines as they swam through the liquid stone. A few even began scrambling across the walls and ceiling.
"They just keep coming," Sero muttered.
"What the hell do we do now?" Honenuki asked.
Deku scrambled to think of a new plan but all he could do was to keep firing bullets of compressed air at every bot he could see. He was even more thankful now that he had thought to go back for them during the attack. Still, they only took down bots for a second before they self-repaired and even then he only halted a few of them. They needed a new plan to survive this. But what? He took a quick look around at them all. Their Quirks were giving them the edge now but they clearly couldn't take on a whole swarm of robots. And that wasn't even the real problem facing them right now. They needed a way out of here, away from this villain. But Deku still had no idea how to…
He glanced at the softened floor and then looked up at the hard ceiling.
"Hey Honenuki, can you soften all that?" he asked, gesturing up.
"Huh?" Honenuki followed his gaze and seemed confused for a second before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, uh, maybe. Yeah, I should be able to. But it depends on how much stuff is above us."
"We'll deal with that problem when we get to it. Shiozaki, can you give us a wall to block the robots off for now to give us some time?"
"On it," she said, her vine hair already stretching across the ground and forming a green barricade all across the hallway, blocking the robots from entering. Within seconds, Deku could hear them blasting away at it and Shiozaki hissed but he focused his attention upwards.
"Dark Shadow, can give him a lift up there?"
"Ugh, do I have to?" the entity complained. "That lightshow back there was really-"
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami barked.
"Alright, fine! Here," Dark Shadow said, grabbing hold of Honenuki and lifting him up to the ceiling. The second he reached it, Honenuki firmly placed his hands to the stonework.
"You'd all better back up now," he told them and they quickly backed away. As they did, Deku noticed the vine wall trembling more with smoke coming from it. He could hear the snapping sounds as the robots tore through it and yet Shiozaki continued to add more vines. But it was clearly putting a strain on her as she gasped, sweat dripping down her brow.
Deku watched anxiously as Honenuki activated his power. At first, nothing happened. Then, a drop of the ceiling dripped down followed by another and another until all of it came raining down, like ice cream in the hot sun.
"I…can't…hold this…much longer," Shiozaki said, trembling. "They're cutting through…my vines…too fast. Vile…monsters…"
"Just a bit longer Shiozaki," Deku promised, watching as more and more of the ceiling dripped down. It now resembled a waterfall, liquid stone washing down into a large pool below. "Honenuki? Are we close?"
"I don't know! It's too hard to tell."
"How long do I have to keep holding him up?" Dark Shadow complained.
"Just keep doing it Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami said.
This wasn't working. Deku could tell from the laser beams now shooting through the vines and the robot hands appearing periodically. Shiozaki was almost down on her hands and knees to keep her vines going. She wouldn't last much longer and they couldn't just hope that a hole to the next floor would suddenly appear any second. They needed something drastic right now.
"Honenuki, get down!" he called up. "I have one last idea!"
"Are you sure?"
"I…can't…keep going!" Shiozaki gasped. "They're…tearing it all…"
"We're out of time!" Deku yelled. "This is our last shot!"
"Alright. Lower me down," Honenuki told Dark Shadow.
"Don't order me around, you're not the boss of me," the entity sniped back but still lowered him back down.
Deku took a deep breath. He prayed with all his heart that this would work. If not, well, he was out of ideas. He tensed up his legs, powering them up just enough with OFA, before throwing Blackwhip up, latching it to the still hard sections of the ceiling around the melted parts. Using those as anchor points, he launched himself upwards right towards the center of the liquid portion, his left arm raised high. He knew his arms would both be in pretty bad shape after this but that was why he'd been working on his legs as well as Blackwhip, to diversify his techniques.
"Detroit Smash!" he cried out, smashing his fist into the ceiling with 80% of OFA, giving everything he had.
The whole area practically exploded on impact, goopy stone flying everywhere. It wasn't just the power of OFA in his fist but also the massive amount of air pressure he'd thrown as well that send a devastating wave of force upwards. He couldn't help but recall way back at the start of U.A. during the Battle Trials when he fought against Bakugo. Not being able to think of any other way, he had sent all his power upwards, demolishing several floors to give Uraraka her opening, breaking his arm in the process.
A lot had happened since then, his power more refined and under control now as he was able to pull off the same trick with much less blowback.
All of the ceiling that Honenuki had turned to liquid had been blasted away by the force and the still-hard stonework above shattered as well, Deku's strike traveling upwards through it all, sending debris flying everywhere. The whole structure shuddered and the others had to move quickly as cracks spread all over. Even the robots halted their attack on Shiozaki's vines as they took in the impact.
Deku floated there for a second before gravity took hold, dragging him back down. Now his left arm throbbed with pain as well leaving both of them out of the fight for now. But it was worth it. As he looked up through all the layers of stonework and earth, he spotted it. A hole to the next level.
"Guys! There's an opening!" he screamed.
"Dark Shadow!"
"Got it!" the entity cried, this time not complaining as it grabbed hold of Shiozaki and Honenuki. Sero was already using his tape to drag himself up and Deku quickly oriented himself with Blackwhip. He landed firmly on his legs and then shot out with his power, grabbing Tokoyami by the waist. Without wasting a second, he leapt upwards straight through the damaged section and onto the next level, bringing Tokoyami with him who then brought up Honenuki and Shiozaki, the vine girl practically collapsing as she finally released her hold on her Quirk.
"Sero!" Deku called down, using Blackwhip again to bring his classmate up.
"All good," his friend said, shooting him a thumbs up. "Great work Midoriya. That was quick thinking."
"Yeah, and serious power too," Honenuki added, looking down the hole. "But it doesn't solve our problems. Those robots can just fly up here."
Deku nodded, already aware of that. "Use your Quirk again here but contro…oh," Deku stopped, looking down to see Honenuki already doing it.
"You're not the only brains here," the Class B student said as the floor around the hole softened up to the point where it filled up the empty space until it was nothing but stone again with a slight depression since more of the liquid earth had fallen down the hole.
"Still, will that hold them?" Tokoyami commented as Honenuki released his power. "They may just blast through that."
"Then we'd better keep moving," Deku said, taking a look at their new surroundings for the first time. His eyes widened at what he saw and he let out a small gasp that had the others turning as well.
Facing them was a row of five small rooms, the closest ones showing a bed and some fresh clothes. Deku cast a quick look behind him as well and saw one door leading into a bathroom with several stalls and a shower.
"You made it quicker than anticipated."
They all jumped as the voice echoed across the hallway. "Doom," Deku growled. "You knew we'd come here."
"I did an analysis of your different abilities and devised what escape route you might take. And, as expected, I was correct. Well done. You may rest for now. Your next test will commence in eight hours."
"What the hell? A test? Is that what he's doing?" Sero growled.
"We're just his experiments," Honenuki said, clenching his fist.
"Vile…demon…" Shiozaki murmured, still recovering.
"We must find a way out of this place," Tokoyami said, Dark Shadow already moving to look around. "We cannot just let this madman ke-"
"I did forget to mention this. Once you complete all my tests, I will release you."
That stopped them.
"What?" Sero asked.
"Why would you do that?" Deku demanded.
"I already explained why you're here. I need to know what you can really do, what your so-called Quirks will let you achieve and how this might change the system. Once I've done that, I'll have no further interest in you. I'll even take you wherever you wish to go."
"You'll take us back home?" Deku checked, allowing a tiny bit of hope to bloom. "Back to our…world." He stumbled on that last word, still not used to that notion.
There was a slight pause before Doom's reply resonated through the hallway and their minds. "No."
"What the hell man? Why not?" Sero demanded.
"Villainous sinner!" Shiozaki hissed.
"You brought us here in the first place!" Tokoyami called out.
"I did not," Doom said clearly. "I was made aware of your existence through the efforts of others. I have no clue where your dimension is or how to locate it. I would be of no use to you in that endeavor. I took part in your abduction as I wished to learn more about you and your kind. Once I have those answers, you are free to leave."
Deku felt his whole body pulsing with energy. He wanted to bust through all the walls until he found Doom and take him down like the villain he was. Every word he spoke felt like a mix of truth and lie. Deku honestly thought it would have been better if he'd tried to make it sound like he wasn't a bad guy. But no. How Doom talked, it was clear he just didn't care. He clearly knew what he was and reveled in it.
"And how long will these tests of yours take?" Deku asked, gritting his teeth as he talked.
"That depends on you. You will finish these tests when I have collected as much data as I can. Of course, you are also free to make an escape attempt. I am not foolish enough to suggest that you will not be able to pull it off. I am quite curious to see what you are all made of. Do not disappoint me."
They heard a slight crackling sound and took that as a sign that he had turned off the intercom.
"Yeah, cause not disappointing him is real high on my to-do list," Sero grunted.
"So what do we do?" Honenuki asked.
"Do we make an attempt?" Tokoyami asked.
"Not right now," Deku replied. "We obviously shouldn't trust him but I do think, that on this at least, he might keep his word."
"Might?" Sero checked. "Yeah, that's not even remotely comforting."
"What choice do we have?" Tokoyami sighed.
"Caught between such unthinkable options. Oh Lord, give us strength," Shiozaki mumbled.
"I'm not really the religious type but yeah, I could use as much strength as this Lord can give," Sero muttered, rubbing his head.
"I think, right now, we should just get some rest," Deku said, nodding at the beds. It was then he noticed that part of the wall had opened it up in the room, revealing a small compartment with a plate of food and a glass of water. "And get some food as well," he added.
"Should we really…" Honenuki began.
"I don't think we have any other options," Deku told him, hating those words the second they left his mouth. Personally, he wanted to toss that food aside no matter how tempting it looked or how much his stomach growled. "He said the next test will be in 8 hours. We'll need to be at full power by then. For right now, we just rest up and regain our strength. After that…we'll figure it out."
The others all nodded sadly, none of them coming up with anything else to say. They all made their way to their separate rooms, Deku taking the one he'd been facing. He sat down on the bed and just stared at the wall.
He wondered where all the others were. In the hands of all these other villains just as bad as Doom or even worse. Kacchan would probably be fine. He was almost certainly blasting his way to freedom, all the while screaming "DIE!" Deku let a smile cross his face at that image.
But everyone else? And it wasn't just his classmates but the students from Class 1-B as well who were in trouble. How many of them had been taken?
Deku had made a promise to save them all. And he'd let them down when he'd jumped onto that rooftop with no plan, just like what that skull-faced villain had said to him. All he'd accomplished was letting himself get captured too.
Uraraka, he thought. Iida. Todoroki. Stay safe. I promise I'll save you all. It'll…just take a little longer than I thought.
But he would save them. No matter what it took. He would bring everyone back home, be it across the world or across the stars or even across other dimensions. He would save everyone.
Victor von Doom had watched with interest at the exploits of the five young 'Quirk-users' as they were called. What a ridiculous name, he thought. Still, after learning of their different power sets, he had wanted to study them in an actual combat situation. And they had not disappointed.
Especially young Izuku Midoriya.
When the plan to abduct the students of some superhero high school from this other world had come forward, he had immediately asked for all the details on each student. And Taskmaster had delivered, managing to procure all the necessary documents for them all.
According to Midoriya's file, he had been born Quirkless but that had been redacted a little time before he was accepted into the school and now had a power-amplifying ability of some kind that boosted his strength and speed to truly superhuman levels. It also seemed to include some sort of black-whip-like abilities. Doom was suspicious of that but for now put it in the same category as Susan Storm's invisibility and force field generation: two abilities that didn't seem like they should go together and yet somehow did. Many mutants and inhumans had the same in fact.
But that wasn't what interested Doom at all. It was the boy's mind. And he did not disappoint in that respect, able to take command of the battlefield and come up with a worthy strategy that won them a victory. The others, their abilities ranging from extraordinary to seemingly useless (tape-man), had followed him without question too.
That boy regarded further study. Especially that power of his. Yes, Doom would be very much looking forward to seeing all that that power could do.
"Your tea, sir," Boris said, setting the tray down next to him.
"Thank you Boris."
"Sir, if I may?"
"What is it Victorious?" he asked, placing in his voice the tone that stated he would not tolerate any foolish questions.
"You told the prisoners that you did not know the way back to their home and yet…" she hesitated there, clearly unsure if she could continue.
"You are curious as to why I lied to them when I do in fact know exactly where their homeworld is," Doom finished for her.
"Of course, you are under no obligation to tell me, my lord," she quickly added.
"You are correct, I am not," Doom said. "But you are my head of security so you should at least know some of this."
"Thank you my lord," she said, bowing her head.
"Their homeworld is composed of two metaphorical boxes." If Victorious had a comment to that statement, she wisely kept it to herself. "At first, it was Schrödinger's Box as that world that had a superhuman population dominating over the powerless to the point where it reshaped their society completely both existed and didn't exist at the same time. It was only when we went looking for it that it came to exist fully. That's when it became Pandora's Box. Now that it is has been discovered, there is no hiding it anymore. No matter what happens, from this point on there is no way that world will not have an effect on ours."
"You ask why I lied to those kids. Of course, when they finish my tests, I could send them home right away. But that is not the problem. Currently, they are under my control. They pose no real threat to me or to my operations and especially not to my people as they are now. But, once I send them home, that will change. More than thirty children were taken and yet only five are here. And they are students learning to be heroes so they will no doubt do whatever they can to save their classmates. If I send them home, they will return as soon as they can with reinforcements. Thus, they will bring an untold amount of powered individuals into my home."
"Ah," Victorious nodded, understanding now.
"I accepted these five into my home as I know about them. I have the files on them. I even know about the others scattered around. But I know very little about their world. That requires further study. And while I do not fear an attack from another world, I am not foolish enough to invite one here willingly unprepared. Especially when it would threaten Latveria and all its people." He looked out the window as he said this, picturing all the Latverians in the streets below that relied on him and his power to keep them all safe.
"Yes, it would be best to battle far away. Especially from the castle. We just got new furniture."
"Not now Boris."
"Yes, my lord."
"It's not just that. For now, we must limit the interactions between our worlds. Their world is where the powered truly are in control and run society. If more and more begin to appear, how will that affect our world? Every day, more and more powered individuals appear on our own world. More and more mutants and inhumans and other new variants are born that will redefine what our own society will be. And they will undoubtedly be influenced by these newcomers. The Power Broker is a money-making fool who never even thought of the bigger picture or even the smaller picture for that matter. There is no way to put things back in the box now. All we can do is control what we can."
"So, when they finish their tests, I will release them into the wild. And I will monitor them to see what they will do, how they affect the individuals around them. Perhaps it will be simple, small, and unworthy of notice. But it might be grand and catastrophic. But I will keep monitoring them so I can see the changes as they occur and always remain in control of the situation so that no matter what, I and Latveria can weather the storm."
Doom turned towards Victorious who stared at him with awe in her eyes. "Does that answer your question?"
"Indeed it does, my lord. And your wisdom knows no bounds."
Doom closed his fingers together, contemplating what came next. He was also keeping track of all the other children captured. According to his own intel as well as his predictions, they would soon come into contact with powerful players. The great game would be heating up soon. And he was very curious to see how it all played out.
"No matter what, Doom will come out on top."
Peter Parker aka Spider-Man was swinging through the city, performing a double flip in the air just because he could, and enjoying the feeling of the wind against his…well…his mask, though it still felt nice. He was usually wrapped up in stopping one crisis or another so it was nice to enjoy these small moments that being Spider-Man allowed.
RING!
"Hey," he said, answering the phone as soon as he saw it was MJ. "What's going on?"
"Hey, I've got a new lead for you."
"Ok, on what? Last I checked, no one was up to anything the last few days."
"Yeah, and I just got a hint on why."
Peter frowned, not liking the sound of that. He quickly swung to the side and landed smoothly on the edge of a roof, coming to a stop. "Alright, hit me. What are we dealing with?"
"Apparently, there was this big operation recently that the Rhino and Titanium Man were crowing about in some Russian bar. And I just conferred with Ben here and he said that he's been following a trail of stolen tech that he thinks are linked to a certain brand of garbage trucks that have been moving around the city a lot lately. Well, he just did some digging at another bar and overheard two guys talking about a big delivery they made. And guess what? One of them is one of Fisk's men."
Peter sucked in through his teeth, adrenaline beginning to coarse through him. "Is he sure?"
"Yeah. You know how Urich never forgets a face. And this guy made a memorable one after kicking him out of Fisk Tower the hard way some time ago."
Fisk. God, Peter hated him. A major crime boss who had his fingers in everything in New York. And, worst of all, untouchable. They'd finally gotten him a few years ago but the sentence hadn't stuck and he'd been fully exonerated a few months later, him even suing the NYPD. After that, he'd gone a step further by launching a mayoral campaign. It was a depressing day when he won, leaving Peter feel hollow and empty that the city he loved would let him down like that. He knew it wasn't the real people who voted Fisk in but the corrupt politicians who bribed and blackmailed him into office. But still, it grated on him. Ever since, he and MJ had done everything they could alongside Urich as well as other fellow superheroes, especially good old DD but to no avail.
A sliver of hope now made its way in.
"So, there's a chance Fisk is behind these thefts?" he checked.
"Yep. We just have to follow the garbage."
"Follow the garbage huh? Good thing I know someone in that business," Peter nodded, thinking of Eddie. "Great work MJ. I'll let you know if it pans out."
"And I'll keep working from my end. Oh, but apparently it wasn't just him."
"Huh?"
"Yeah. According to Urich, the whole criminal underworld's been stirred up over some major meeting that went down. A lot of the local goons were in on it, asked to help with some deliveries and stuff but they don't even know what they were delivering or to who. It's all very hush-hush."
Peter didn't like the sound of that. Seemed like his short break from superhero was officially over. "Alright. Let's see if we can get ahead of this thing for once."
"Yeah, that would be nice. Seems like another late night. Pizza for dinner?"
"You know I'm always down for that. I'll swing by and grab some. Talk soon?"
"You know it."
Peter ended the call before making another one, this one to a certain official in the sanitary waste department. A few minutes later, he was swinging his way through the concrete jungle to the Upper East Side in search of these mysterious garbage trucks.
"Thanks a bunch Eddie. Now, let's see what ol' Willie is up to, shall we?"
Uraraka winced as she was thrown forward, the belt around her jolting her painfully to stop her as the plane made a quick turn in the air. She could hear these Hydra guys screaming and yelling around her, most of them also seated with their own belts fastened.
"Fire back damn it!" she heard Crossbones yell.
"Another missile incoming!"
"Damn that woman! Evade! Blast it!"
A second later, there was the sound of an explosion outside and the whole plane shuddered.
This was way more intense than almost anything she had been through before. This felt like she was in the middle of a war zone. And all the other times, she had been able to move and fight back. Now, it was like the only choice she had was to just sit here and wait it all out.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
She'd taken a good look at her manacles as well as the others' and found no sign of any keyhole to unlock them. What she had found was a small red, blinking dot right near the base of the manacles and she had made the assumption that it took some sort of keycard to unlock them. It would make the most sense if Crossbones had it but she had to wonder if he was the only one. There was a chance that there were multiple cards among the more higher ranked people here. It was a small chance but she really had no clue how they would be able to get the card off of Crossbones. She didn't really know how she would get it off anyone, to be honest, but that seemed more likely than Crossbones.
Now she just had to figure out who.
But it was hard to tell any of them apart. They were all dressed in the same green and yellow leotards and had masks over their faces. Not that it really mattered. She'd been asleep when the cuffs had been put on, making her job go from sort of impossible to completely impossible.
"Dude, stop playing with that," one of the guards nearby whispered.
"Sorry, can't help it. Habit," another replied.
"If the boss sees it, he's not going to like it. Why do you even have it out like that?"
"In case something goes wrong, duh!"
"I think you freeing our prisoners would be something wrong, moron!"
At that, Uraraka glanced up just in time to see the guard twirl a small card that looked just right for scanning between his fingers.
Ok, so the job just got a little more possible. But now, how was she going to take it from him? He may be near her, but that didn't mean much when tied down on a rolling and jerking plane that being shot at and there were guards literally everywhere. There just had to be something she could do though. She knew Deku would be able to think of something, so she should to.
There was no way she could sneak over to him without being seen. So the next best thing would be to have bring it to her. But again, she was left with how she would do that. How could she make him bring it or better yet drop it?
"Evade!"
The plane jerked to the side and everything not tied down with it. Uraraka grunted, the belt biting into her chest. But that didn't stop her from noticing how all the crates and boxes these Hydra guys had with them had rattled wildly in their restraints. Or how the clasp to one crate's restraints was only a few feet away from her.
The image formed in her mind. It would rely on a lot of luck, way more than she was comfortable with, but it wasn't like she had any better options. So, she very slowly and carefully took her foot from her shoe and then began removing the sock. It went way slower than she would have wanted past that point. Who knew removing a sock without using hands would be so hard? Eventually, by carefully using her other shoe to hold down the fabric, she was able to get her foot lose.
Now came the tricky bit.
"This woman doesn't give up does she!" she heard Crossbones growl. "Dive down. Let's see if we can lose her closer to the ground."
Thanks to her powers, she was used to the different effects of gravity. Still, she felt her stomach rising up suddenly as they all went weightless for a moment, the plane diving down sharply before levelling out a few moments later.
"She's following us through the dive sir."
"Of course she is. Right, head due north. The forest is that ways. We should be able to lose her there."
Uraraka did her best to tune all that out. Instead, she stretched her foot out to the crate and the clasp right next to it. Her leg was currently hidden so no one really noticed what she was doing. But that didn't stop her from keeping a close eye out. She had to act normally or else they all might think something was up.
Her foot managed to reach the clasp and she breathed out in relief. But then came the really hard bit: unclasping it with her foot.
"Damn it," she muttered under her breath, her foot slipping off for the umpteenth time. No matter what she did, she couldn't get a solid grip on it. It should be easy, push the two sections inward to open it all up. Something that went on baby seats and stuff like that. Easy to undo…with just your hands apparently. But with your feet?
"Ugh!" she grunted as they were suddenly all jerked around again, her foot slipping off. She could practically feel the missile outside zooming past before it exploded in the distance.
"Fire more missiles back at her, damn it!"
"Yes, sir."
Uraraka took a deep breath, telling herself that this would be it, before reaching out again for the clasp. She got her foot on it, and did her best to maneuver her toes into position. But, just like all the other times, it slipped off. She took another breath and tried again and this time managed to squeeze her toes around the clasp on those two sections.
Ok, she thought. Now just-
The plane jerked once and her foot slipped off again. She clenched her fist, took a breath and counted to five before trying again. But this time, the plane jerked again causing her foot to slip off just as she'd placed it on the clasp.
It took all she had to not to scream out. She bit down on her lip, feeling tears well up. This was impossible. How was she supposed to do this? She couldn't unclasp one stupid crate with her foot. If she couldn't do that, then…what could she do? Just sit around and wait to either die in this plane or remain prisoners of this leotard-wearing cult?
She didn't want to. But she didn't know what else to do.
"Psst."
She jumped a little when she was suddenly nudged in the side and noticed Rin next to her. He nodded his head and she saw his own shoe and sock off, his foot rising up to the clasp as well.
"Together," he muttered under his breath.
Uraraka blinked and then smiled in relief. "Yeah," she nodded back. They both reached out and she carefully laid her foot on the left side of the clasp just as he put his foot on the right side. It took them a little while with the plane still jostling about and the effort it took to balance their feet right. But finally they both got their big toes up against the two areas.
Please work, Uraraka prayed as they pressed down.
CLICK
For a second, she didn't believe it. She just stared as the clasp came loose and dangled uselessly.
"AGH!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden cry before yelping themselves when the plane made a sharp turn, sending everything not tied down rolling around. And this time, that included the crate which went tumbling right towards the Hydra agent holding the card.
"AGH!" he screamed as the crate slid to him, jerking upwards only to be stopped by his seatbelt. The sudden motion and stop jolted his whole body and Uraraka could only stare in disbelief as the card in his hand flew upwards, spinning through the air until it landed only a few feet away from her.
She was so shocked, she didn't move. She couldn't. Her plan had actually worked against all odds. And the card was right in front of her.
Until it wasn't.
Moving fast, Rin's foot slapped down on the card and then dragged it towards him. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that he couldn't lift it up off the ground when it was lying flat. Uraraka felt her stomach plummet and not just from the plane's movements. Was this all for nothing then?
"What the hell was that for?" one of the pilots bellowed at his companion who had been the one screaming.
"I saw something on the window there! Something holding on to the side like a freaking gremlin or something!"
"Come on, you can't be serious."
"Oh, with everything that already exists in this world don't tell me that gremlins can't either."
"…ok, fair point. But still-"
"Both of you shut up!" Crossbones barked. "Just keep this plane in the air and watch out for any more of these…gremlins, I guess. I wouldn't put it past Viper to pull something unexpected. And you, no more sudden movements like that!"
"Yes sir!"
Rin suddenly gave up on lifting the card, instead sliding it underneath their seat and out of Uraraka's sight. She frowned and stared at Rin in confusion but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes staring ahead at nothing, clearly concentrating on whatever he was doing with his foot.
She didn't have to wait for long as a second later, his foot reemerged and she almost gasped when she saw the card in between his toes. Oh, he used the wall as leverage to lift the card up so he could grab it, she realized. Clever.
"And what the hell happened here?" Crossbones demanded, coming back to the hangar to look at the crate as well as the Hydra agents to whom it had crashed into.
"Get ready," Rin told her, nodding at her cuffs.
She blinked. "Wha- I'm going first?"
"Your power's more important right now," he replied.
"Uh…sorry sir," the Hydra agent who'd had the card and now had the crate slammed into his foot grunted out. "Seems this crate wasn't properly tied down."
"Well fix it! We don't need any more mistakes!"
"Another missile!"
Crossbones instantly grabbed hold of a tied down crate just as the plane made another sharp turn. Just before they did, Uraraka felt another nudge and nodded back at Rin. As they were jerked forward, she thrust her cuffed arms forward and he brought the card up with his foot. It took a second of maneuvering but they swiftly got the card to the small light.
For a split second, nothing, and Uraraka felt her heart clench.
Beep.
The light turned green and the cuffs clinked open. She breathed out in relief, feeling her heart start up again. They'd done it. She was free. They were nowhere near safe yet but this was a fantastic start. She began to pull her arms free.
"Wait," Rin stopped her. "Don't make it obvious."
"Oh, right," she nodded. From a distance, her arms still looked cuffed but the second she removed them the façade would end. She moved them up at an angle so that they wouldn't slip off and it looked like they were still fully on. Still, she had to do something about Rin's cuffs. Tsunotori and Asui would be next to impossible to free right now since Tsunotori's horns and Asui's mouth were the things being tied down. Still, it helped Uraraka when her friend gave her an encouraging nod towards Rin.
Acting fast, she released one hand and took the card from him, flashing it across his cuffs as well which beeped open, sighing once it was done. That was two of them free. Now, she just needed to wait for the right opportunity to-
"Hey, my card!"
Uraraka's gaze shot up to the Hydra agent as soon as he said that as he looked around frantically.
"I did warn you," his companion sighed. "Ok, where do you think I dropped it?"
"It must be around here. I mean, I must have dropped it when the crate hit me but it couldn't have gotten far. Unless…"
His voice turned suspicious and he looked up, his eyes meeting Uraraka's behind the green and yellow mask. And then they landed on the card still in her hand.
She could feel her heart stop, feel all her blood freeze and her throat tighten. She wanted to move, to hide the card, to look away, to just do something. But all she could do was watch in horror as he moved to stand up, arm raised to point at her and call her out.
In one second it would all be over.
BANG!
Everyone jumped as the side door suddenly burst open, the wind suddenly grabbing at all of them as it howled through the new opening to the outside world. But before anyone could react, a figure swopped inside, wings retracting behind his back as he landed, a red, blue, and white shield appearing like magic across his arm that perfectly matched his outfit. Uraraka didn't want to get her hopes up but he did look exactly like a hero. Now she really wished Deku were here. If anyone could identify this man, it would be him.
"Well now, if it isn't my favorite snake cult," he said. "And Rumlow, nice position you got there. Never took you to be into that kind of thing, but you do you."
Crossbones, who was bent over a crate with his butt in the air, growled ferociously and stood up straight, hand going for his holster. "Wilson!"
"And these must be the kids," the man said, giving them a quick look, his expression hardening when he saw the cuffs. "Never took you for a human trafficker, Crossbones, but you always do find a way to sink to a new low."
"Come on boys!" Crossbones cried. "And Dana! Time to clip this falcon's wings!"
"Hey!" the man complained, raising his shield as the Hydra agents prepared to rush him. "The name's Captain America, and don't you forget it."
"Wilson has entered the plane and is engaging the enemy."
"Good," Sharon said. "How close are we?"
"Just a few minutes out."
Sharon turned back towards the tall figure behind her who placed his own shield on his back, the weapon clicking into place smoothly. "You ready?" she asked him.
Steve Rogers, aka Captain America nodded back. "Let's go save those kids."
And we are back. Sorry for the wait and hope you, who celebrate it, had a lovely Thanksgiving and possible Black Friday as well.
More Marvel heroes will show up next time and I hope you're all liking where this is going so far. Because, trust me, you won't be able to guess what happens next.
Br0kenThOrn: the politics will be a big part of this story, mostly surrounding the legality of superheroes (Iida especially). Mutant stuff will come a little later though one particular character will be popping up soon. As for which heroes will like which, just wait and see. And the supernatural stuff will definitely be coming up.
Also, to the guest reviewer, I hope this chapter shines a little more light on Doom's motivation.
Little Shiro-kun: depends on the villain. They all want different things. You'll start to see some of the others' motivations in either the next chapter or the one after.
All New Me: I do read a few modern runs but Marvel is difficult to find a good starting point so I just read them all from the very beginning. I'm more DC with the modern stuff. But I still keep up to date on everything happening.
And here is my Marvel reading:
Fantastic Four: read the This Land is Mine arc about Doctor Doom. Totally awesome and will definitely impact my story going forward.
Amazing Spider-Man: read the Juggernaut two-parter. Some impressive work there.
Spectacular Spider-Man: Cloak and Dagger still the best parts.
Thor: Still waiting for Simonson.
Captain America: praying for Roger Stern to come back.
Avengers: liking the new roster with Hawkeye back and She-Hulk added.
Incredible Hulk: Still not that good. I wish Al Ewing wrote the old comics as well. And Peter David.
Iron Man: I really just want Michelinie and Layton back.
Daredevil: Only one issue of Miller left. That makes me sad.
Uncanny X-Men: wrapping up the Brood saga now. Great story, not great ending but still have one issue left of it so fingers crossed.
Doctor Strange: still dull. I'm so sad.
Thanks again for ready and until next time which should probably be Christmas.