While Bakugou and Todoroki were busy taking their final exam, I had the big winter cleaning to think of. Of course, as I generally make a great deal of effort to keep my dorm room spic and span, there wasn't too much to do…
"There we go. All the books I've finished reading," I said as I tied a stack of books with string and placed the bundle in a cardboard box.
A satisfied 'job well done' smile rose to my face. Certainly I was never one to neglect daily tidying but even I tend to procrastinate when it comes to cleaning my desk, shelves, the space behind the bed, the gutter…it felt unusually refreshing how tidy the whole place was now. All that's left is to mail the books to my family. My 'to read' pile has shrunk considerably, so I will have to ask my mother to ship over another bundle or two of new ones. With the box in tow I left the room, but a cry from next door caught my attention.
"Uh, I've done it now…" cried Ojiro.
"What is the matter?" I asked him, peeking through the open door. Ojiro had been wiping things down with a rag, but his tail was soaking wet. I felt a strong wave of concern.
"My tail took a dip in the bucket of dirty water," said Ojiro.
"That's a shame," I replied. "Let me fetch you a towel."
"Ah, no need. I'll clean myself off in the bathroom since I gotta rinse the rags wrung out his tail and went back to cleaning; I smiled a bit and went on my way, box still in hand.
I kept down the hallway on my mission towards the first floor, riding the elevator down. As I exited, I saw Koda and heard something like a distant scream.
"Did you just hear a scream?"
"Nu-uh," he replied, barring a black garbage bag filled with his pet rabbit's litter.
"Perhaps not, then…" I though it may help to check on each classmate's progress. Then I spotted Kirishima dragging something towards the entryway.
"And what might that be, Kirishima?"
"Just hauling my busted punching bag off to the garbage," he answered, smiling back, gasping for breath. The punching bag's stand was dented past the point of usefulness.
"How on earth did your equipment end up that way?"
"Got a little too fired up during training, I guess?" He answered.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you train in your own room!" I asked.
"These muscles don't lie, dude! And there's nothing more trustworthy than good ol fashioned hard work."
"What a shame, though. No more training for you now that your equipment is broken, right?"
"Not to worry! You can buy anything online, so I'll have another one before you know it." He was starting to struggle so I set my box down, ran over and grabbed one end of the heavy load.
"Allow me to assist."
"Eh? You mean it? Weren't you in the middle of something?"
"My task can wait, and this is far more efficient."
"I can grab the other side," said Koda. He slung the litter over his shoulder and gripped part of the stand.
"Dang, you really don't gotta! But thanks?" Said Kirishima.
"No reason not to help each other out," said Koda.
"How is your cleaning effort coming along, Kirishima?" I asked.
"I wish I could say 'just dandy, but I ain't so great about sweating the small stuff. Not like Bakugou, who's scrubbed every little nook and cranny."
"AH, despite what one might assume Bakugou does have an eye for detail," I added. "When he and Midoriya were under house arrest, he was sure to clean every corner of our home away from home."
We walked out into the winter air, and continued to chat; our breath was visible, we saw the local cat, discussed training, studies, Mr. Aizawa's moods, dinner…
"Hmm?" Said Koda, and we caught sight of Tokoyami up ahead, carrying a large paper bag.
"The usual garbage spot is full," he told us. "I believe this is our garbage's new destination." He showed up s a map on his phone; it looked to be at the edge of the woods, not far away."
"We're lucky we ran into you," I nodded.
We headed towards the dump with Dark Shadow supporting part of the bag. Power Loader appeared nearby, sitting on a bench drinking canned coffee.
We said hello; he waved awkwardly before heading back to staff lodgings.
"Why dine outside today when it's so chilly?" I wondered.
"Change of pace, maybe? T wake himself up?" Suggested Kirishima.
"Have you three felt small earthquakes at night recently?" Asked Tokoyami. Koda nodded, but Kirishima and I looked at each other and shrugged.
"I have not. Perhaps because I make a point of going to sleep early every night?"
"Same here. After training, it's a quick bath, then snoozeville," said Kirishima.
Tokoyami looked confused. "I see….how odd. I've been checking my phone for any reports of earthquakes but I haven't seen any."
"Maybe just your imagination, dude?" Suggested Kirishima.
"That was my thought at first, but my imagination can't be responsible for nearly twenty instances.
I turned to Koda.
"Jiro said that she hears a strange noise during each little earthquake. Like something's breaking somewhere, or maybe scraping go grinding."
"What on earth could it be?" I wondered.
Is it natural or not? My brow furrowed - then a jangling and rattling joined us from behind.
"Garbage run?" Asked Shoji, holding a number of cardboard boxes. We began walking together and asked him about the earthquakes.
"I was wondering about that too. The noises are too faint to pinpoint, though.
"I can't claim to know. What's going on, but we ought to inform Aizawa sensei posthaste, once we're finished out here," I told them. We finally reached the backup trash spot near the woods and placed the punching bag near the edge of the pile. Shoji and Tokoyami disposed of theirs.
As Tokoyami chatted with Koda, his paper bag fell over and its contents spilled out, including his clothing, a tapestry and a crystal ball. Though the ground was fairly flat it had a slight slope and the ball began to be carried away.
"Ah, my Dark Knight Crystal!" Cried Tokoyami, but it had already rolled into the nearby woods. As he rushed off in pursuit I tilted my head and asked, "That looked to me like na ordinary crystal ball, sos what exactly was dark or night like about it?"
Kirishima shook his head. "It's cuz, y'know?"
"I know what, exactly?
"There's a time in a kids life where he's just gotta give names to stuff."
"You think he's ok?" Asked Koda, glancing towards the forest.
"I guess he couldn't find it right away?" Suggested Shoji.
WE crossed the tree line, hoping to help him search, but we couldn't see him.
I shouted "Tokoyami!"
"Over here!" We followed his voice through the trees and found him staring at a spot on the ground.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"My dark Night - erm, the crystal stopped rolling here, but the ground seems soft."
"Soft? How so?"
I moved towards him and sure enough the first step confirmed it. Not only was the ground soft, but it collapsed under me, crumbling apart and swallowing us down.
"Hey ,hey! Wake up!" "
"Is that you, Dark Shadow?"
I tried to lift myself up, but groaned against the pain shooting across my back. Then I saw how dark it was. I pushed the pain down and fixed my glasses. How had we been transported from the first into a dark cavern?
Right ,of course. The ground collapsed. Some sort f cave-in?
I shot up and said, "Is everyone ok?"
Dark Shadow was trying to wake Koda; a hardened Kirishima burst out of the rocks ad yelled "Phew, thought I was a dead man!"
Tokoyami and Shoji opened their eyes. I began to examine our surroundings.
An arch-shaped stone ceiling, the hole plugged by rocks during the cave-in. It was hard to tell how deep it was. This hollowed out space must have been responsible.
"Hey hey, check this out!" We followed Tokoyami and Dark Shadow to investigate.
"What could that e?"
Our eyes had begun to adjust to the dark but a string of red lights seemed to burn faintly, leading down a passage like a trail of bloodstains. Not everything abut this space, it seemed, was entirely natural.
It was a brand, tall passageway. Large enough for an SUV to drive through, but despite the lights the darkness was overwhelming and we couldn't see an end to the passage. But we could at least see a number of offshoot tunnels, each as large as this one.
"I never imagined a cave structure existed beneath UA," I murmured. Kirishima gasped. "Maybe it's a new school facility?"
"That could explain it," said Shoji.
"If they'rve been constructing this facility," said Tokoyami, "that would also explain the minor earthquakes Shoji and Jiro have heard."
"Yes, in all likelihood," I replied. That felt relieving.
"Let's explore then! Yelped Dark Shadow.
"No," I shook my head. "AS of this moment we're victims of an accident. WE ought to escape as soon as possible and - ah, Tokoyami! Is your phone working?"
"No, I have no signal."
"Then we have no choice but to break free by our own power."
"Guess so," said Shoji.
"Let's freaking do this!" Shouted Kirishima.
"Indeed," added Tokoyami.
"Ah, break free? What's the harm in exploring?" Whined Dark Shadow.
"If this is a fairly new facility, they'll probably schedule a visit for the class soon enough. Be patient," said Tokoyami.
I stared back at the ceiling.
"WE have two potential means of escape. One: Somehow remove the rocks that plugged the hole…"
"Or follow these paths nd hope one of them leads aboveground?" Suggested Shoji.
"Makes sense," said Kirishima. "If someone's building this place they've gotta have a way out and in."
"Yes, but we are without a proper map and there's no telling how expansive these caves really are," I replied.
"S'why we gotta explore!" Said Dark Shadow.
As class President I need to make proper decisions…
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
We all spun around towards the noise. Something small was moving towards us. AS it approached, the full form of a toy monkey with cymbals came into. view. We exchanged glances.
"The heck?" Said Kirishima. He hardened one hand and lifted it. Nothing happened. Just a toy?
"This little dude definitely wasn't chilling over here a minute ago, right?" He asked.
"Maybe it was just too dark for us to notice it," said Shoji.
"Why would such a contraption be here in the first place?" I wondered.
The monkey sprang to life and began smashing the cymbals together.
"Whoa!" Yelped Kirishima, who dropped the toy. We all flinched and tried not to freak out - then - the monkey's head spun around - and a powerful beam shot from its mouth.
We narrowly avoided its attack - and it began firing off more beams!
"What's up with this?" Yelled Kirishima.
'Obviously I cannot explain it!" I shot back, using speed to put some distance.
"Get it, dark shadow!" Shouted Tokoyami!"
"Aye aye!" It dived towards the monkey.- but one close-up beam hit it through the eyes nd it shank back.
Kirishima and Shoji both tried, but even though irishima rested it's blasts the monkey scampered off. Shoji hurled ab older at it, but even then half of it was still there.
'Urse urse urse "
"Nurse? How brazen, to request medical assistance from us at this point!" I cried.
"I believe it's saying 'curse'. Like the sort involving voodoo dolls," said Tokoyami.
Curse. Far more sinister….
Curse….curse…
This toy's creator has imbued it with malice, and ill will. We all gulped.
"Curse….destroy…."
We dropped it and ran - and it kept chasing us.
"W-what now?" Shouted Kirishima.
"Don't ask me!" I shot back.
We ran for it, deeper int other tunnels - countless openings -
"Any thoughts yet, Iida?" Asked Kirishima.
"First we remove ourselves from its range, then wait for an opening - and"
'Iida, op ahead!"
An entire swarm of to y monsters flying at us from the other direction - all firing!