Super Science
Ch 34: A New Home
"Okay, drop the package.", Izuku spoke over a radio as he, Egon, and Hollyhock oversaw the dropping of the tweaked Reset Bomb, now called the Island Bloom, on a boat in the ocean.
Egon and Hollyhock watched as the boy stood unsteady on the ship despite it not rocking at all, rubbing the newly formed dark rings under his eyes as he yawned. The two adults looked at one another, and Hollyhock motioned with her eyes. He nodded and walked over to the boy. He jumped when the man placed a hand on his shoulder and turned around with eyes full of adrenaline like a surprised animal.
"Izuku…are you sure you're okay to be out here?", Egon asks in concern.
Izuku bushes off his hand, waves him off, and replies nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Egon, we've taken every precaution possible. There were thousands of nautical miles from any sort of continent and hundreds from a human-inhabited island. Sure, the Reset Bomb is much bigger than the last, but we're over a hundred nautical miles from it and pointed in the opposite direction, so if it does get bigger than anticipated, we can easily move out of the way. We're literally in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
"That's not what he's referring to, sugar, and you know it.", Hollyhock interjected with a firm tone.
Egon breathed and told him, "Izuku, you nearly got killed by some quirk enthusiast. Your mother was crying while holding you for hours as police and heroes investigated the whole thing. It was such a big scandal that every news station is covering it."
"Not very well, I might add.", Hollyhock rolls her eyes at the memory of how a few news outlets reported on it.
"Aren't you in any way affected by this? What are you feeling?", Egon adds, looking at him with worry and fear.
Izuku looks off the side of the boat, his gaze distant as he replies, unconvincingly, "I feel….fine, just fine. Better to get back in the saddle than let the horse run off on you."
"You didn't have an equestrian accident; you almost died!", Egon exploded, making Izuku jump and look like a frightened rabbit. Egon calms down, breaths deep, and tells him, "Izuku, I'm just worried about you. Most people would be freaking out or trying to hide away after such an event. But not you."
Izuku thinks it over, shrugs, laughs, and tells him, "I guess I'm just built differently? I gotta keep an eye on these readings. 1 minute before sea bottom impact."
Egon and Hollyhock walked out of ear shit as Izuku had his eyes glued to the tracking screen. Once on the other end of the ship, Hollyhock stressed to him, "Egon, I'm worried about him."
Egon nods while putting his hand on his cheek and saying I'm stressed, "Me too, Pam. That kid went through a whole lot before I found him. I thought that by redirecting his interests and energy, I could help him. But I'm not sure if that's helped completely."
Hollyhock sighs as she looks over at him and says, "We all have to keep an eye on him. I think that the villain's attack might have changed something in him."
Egon nods and replies, "I think so too."
"Uh, professor?", Izuku suddenly calls, making Egon walk over to him, where he tells him, "The Island Bloom has reached the sea floor and is quickly expanding up and out."
"That's great to hear! That means it's wor-.", Egon tried to say congratulations before he was cut off.
"I said it was expanding out.", Izuku stated with more firmness and exaggeration.
Egon raised an eyebrow and said, "I heard you the first time, Izuku."
"Expanding out and fast! We gotta go!", he yells at the man, grabbing him by the collar.
Surprised and then aback by his sudden and rough actions, Egon pulls him off and assures him, saying, "Go? Izuku, we're over a hundred nautical miles from the drop point, so we should be perfectly safe. The island should be no bigger than 75 to 89 miles wide or long-.", but before he could continue, something forces him to look off the boat a before his eyes he saw an ever-growing and expanding land mass coming towards them! Egon panics and yells, "HOLY SHIT! Punch it, captain! Punch it!"
The captain sees what he's yelling about, panics, and kicks the boat into the fastest gear possible! The boat rocks hard, and the scientists on board have to hold on for dear life to keep from being thrown off! The boat pushes through the waves as fast as it can, but with its size, that is easier said than done.
Eventually, the rapidly growing island catches up and swallows them up! The boat makes landfall and crashes into the forming land, causing everyone to black out.
After some time, Izuku wakes up from his blackout session and sits up from the cold deck of the boat to run his throbbing head.
"Oh god, my head. What happened last night?", he asks himself before remembering what happened and shooting his eyes open to look around. From there, he tries to find his friends but can't, so he calls out to them in a panic. "Egon?Hollyhock? Captain? Where are you?!", he yells with increasing volume on each name, becoming more and more terrified.
"Right here!", Egon's voice calls out as he pulls himself out from one of the cabins.
"Man, that was a ride!", Hollyhock complained as she pulled herself out from some boxes.
Once Egon pulls himself up and out of a cabin, he helps the other two. From there, he cracks his back and tries to look over the boat to see where they are, but he doesn't see anything—just black darkness.
Had they been unconscious until the middle of the night? Then, his nose picks up on two things: dirt and pollen. He looks up and sees bits of light peaking out from something covering them. Then he realizes that they aren't at sea but underneath the canopy of a thick forest. Eventually, the other two realize this and look out with him as he stares in wonder.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, wow.", is all Egon can say.
"I think it was far bigger than 89 miles there, professor.", Hollyhock says in a snarky tone.
Egon raises a finger to her and says firmly, "Don't even start, Pam."
"My boat! You brainiacs owe me!", the Captain bursts out from the control deck and yells at them.
Realizing what their experiment had done, Egon assured him, "Don't worry; we can easily compensate you."
"So does that mean we can transport Torch Wick?", Izuku asks.
Egon looks around at the new environment, seeing it still grow in several smaller parts, and tells him, "I'd say we should wait for this place to…ripen a bit before doing anything. For now, let's try to get back to the mainland."