TARDIS

Ochako hacked and spluttered as she emerged from a pod of viscous pink fluid. Giant tesla coils and intricate mazes of cables loomed overhead, and far above, a thick, roiling veil of clouds smothered any trace of sunlight.

"No way," Kaminari said breathlessly. "We were actually stuck in the Matrix? Was it all a lie? Even the cake?"

"We're in Bakugo's dreams, remember? Looks like we've hit the second layer." Seeing Kaminari's stupefied expression, she added, "Do you really think the robots would make a movie detailing all their evil plans in their own simulation?"

Kaminari shook his head. "Come on, let a man dream a little."

"Isn't that what Bakugo's doing?" Tokoyami quipped.

"Your idea of a dream is to be trapped in a simulation of a late-stage capitalist hellhole while the real world is a barren, sunless wasteland where people are used by machines as batteries?" Momo asked.

"No, but it's Bakugo's," Kaminari quipped back.

A hole opened beneath their collective feet, and they all fell screaming down a long tube. They emerged miles underground, tumbling to a stop in a warm cave illuminated by swathes of glowing moss and bulbous mushrooms.

Bakugo stood before them, shirtless, with black paint smeared under his eyes. "Welcome to the resistance." He offered a hand and helped Momo to her feet. "What you see is the last hope of mankind."

"Dude. It's just like the movies!"

"Of course it's like the Matrix. The Wachowskis didn't make a movie. They made a survival guide." He guided them through labyrinthine hallways, past massive forges churning out guns and bullets by the thousands, men in mech suits hauling supplies back and forth, and a giant, open room where thousands of men and women mingled in steam-censored nudity, undulating to the beat of a massive drum."

Noticing them gawking, Bakugo said, "Aversions to nudity and sex are inventions of the machine, meant to thin our numbers before they go for the kill."

"Then why aren't we in there with them?" Kaminari asked.

While everyone else glared at him, Bakugo said, "We have more important tasks ahead of us. As we speak, the robots prepare their next assault. It could happen any minute-"

A deafening explosion rang out. In the massive central chamber, thousands of robots poured in through the hole blasted in the dome. Machine guns and mechs opened fire, filling the opening with piping hot lead. Robots fell like bugs hitting an electric lamp, but the few surviving robots wreaked havoc amongst the defensive platforms.

"With me! Cover them!" Kaminari fried robots, and Momo threw powerful magnets around.

Into the fray, Mei ran in and said, "It's done!"

Bakugo grinned. "Excellent. Everyone, into the TARDIS!"

Dragged away from the fight, the 1-A students piled into the blue box. Bakugo grinned and said, "Gentlemen, today we end the robot menace forever. Today, we pay the man who started it all a little visit."

He pulled the lever to 'Alan Turing', and the police box vanished.

500

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor's sitting in a lawn chair, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sipping a pina colada. "Hi guys. Do whatever, I'm on vacation."