Hatsume had joined the search and rescue party; Arrow and I had set out to locate the villains and stop their evil scheme.
"Do you have any idea how we're supposed to find them?" she asked me. I shook my head.
"I suppose...we'll have to improvise." I thought hard on the task at hand. "That crate was unwieldy; they won't be far from here. They're going to need a large operating base in order to produce robots. We have speed on our side; we should make a list of the major basese of operation they could be using, and check each one as quickly as possible."
"Bases of operation, like a power plant? But it'd have to be an abandoned building."
"Perhaps. Or it could be going on in secret, underneath the nose of an upstanding citizen. At this point we have very little to go upon." I looked about. "The abandoned warehouses are a place to start."
We checked each one on the list in quick succession, but the majority were indeed abandoned, inhabited only by lonely desperate people, if inhabited at all.
"Arrow," I asked, feeling something like despair, "You don't think Manual is..."
"No. He can't be." I heard something in her tone that indicated this was what she needed to believe.
There was a sound in the back, and we both turned around. Had we found them at last?
"Let's go!" said Arrow. We sped through the building, following the noise.
"Reveal yourself, villain!" I shouted into the void.
Thunk - thunk - thunk -
Something backhanded me into the opposite wall. It was easily one of the strongest blows I'd ever experienced.
As I sat up, dazed, I saw a being - a human, yet one with a glistening metal skin - of course, one of our opponents!
"Heroes shouldn't snoop where they don't belong!" it called. I started up my reciproburst. Arrow, however, grabbed my arm; she'd dashed over to me.
"Not so fast!" she cautioned. The villain was coming towards us.
"You'll wear yourself out. Be flexible, remember?"
What should I do, then? I wondered, trying to think through what Manual had advised. The villain swooped; we both dodged. "You know. You must be eliminated."
"Your scheme has already been exposed, criminal!" I told him. I moved then - in the opposite direction of where he was swiping. Evading, as Arrow successfully shoved him aside.
What can I do? ARrow said not to -
Perhaps - we need backup.
I clicked my communicator. Hatsume, hurry!
The villain was coming towards me. I decided, it was time.
"Recipro-Turbo!"
"Ingenium, wait!" said Arrow, but I gave her a wink - pausing just close enough for her to see me.
The villain looked confused, but I figured ten minutes should be enough to keep him busy until Hatsume and the others got there.
I bounced - zoomed - moved around, and an idea occurred to me. The place was filled with what looked like equipment - the equipment the villain didn't want us to find.
"Come now, you can move more quickly than that!" I called. The villain ran at me - he was faster than he looked - and I pulled out of the way un time for him to slam his fists into the control panel.
"So slow, aren't you?" I called at him. "Can't you outrun even a snail?"
"Cease your taunting!" he snarled. I aimed at another importantl ooking control panel and paused long enough for him to see me.
"Then hit me with everything you've got!" I called. It wasn't the sort of thing I usually said; I sounded more like Bakugou or Midoriya, shouting such taunts, but well - that certainly wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
The villain had hit this console to as I jumped out of the way. Arrow called "Don't forget about me, you stupid lug!" tossing a pipe at his head. She'd cottoned on, and he ran at her.
We kept it up - until at last the villain paused.
"What's the matter?" I shouted, feeling in my head that time was running out. "Tired?"
"Clever, you damn heroes!" He snarled. He'd noticed the destruction. And I could tell, we'd really angered him. "The boss' lab - our plans - you've -"
"Uh -uh," I corrected him. "You have."
It wasn't the kind of thing I'd ever thought I'd say, but it seemed to be working.
"You die for this!" he screamed, running full tilt at me, and missing me by seconds. I could lead him outside - but -
Snip.
My Recipro Turbo timed out. I couldn't move. THe villain was standing over me.
"Get away!" Arrow shouted, trying to shove him back. He tossed her to the side. I was trapped.
"GEt ready to die!" he shouted, holding up his arms.
"Ingenium!" screamed Arrow.
Suddenly, his arms froze in place.
"Why can't -" he stopped. I grinned, and looked over at the entryway.
"Yeees! My circuit immobilizer baby worked like a charm!"
Hatsume and the other sidekicks were standing there in the entryway, Hatsume carrying a control board and grinning maniacally.
"You got my signal!" I called to her, as the sidekicks ran in to subdue the villain.
"Yup. My precious tracker baby heard you were in trouble."
"You were stalling for time," said ARrow, looking at me. "Until Hatsume could get here."
"Very flexible thinking, Ingenium," said a familiar voice. WE all turned. I couldn't believe it.
"Manual!" I shouted, as hte Normal hero walked in behind Hatsume.
"We thought you were - "gasped out Arrow.
"I'm sorry about that," he told her. "I thought I'd let the enemy think me dead so I could track them. I knew I could trust all of you to handle the public search."
"So sneaky! Not what I'd expect of you, sir!" I gasped.
"You've learned new tactics yourself, it seems, Ingenium," he smiled at me. "Very flexible thinking back there. Good work trusting to your teammates."
I recalled, for a moment, how I'd failed to do so in the past, and decided to acknowledge Hatsume. I gave her a bow.
"Thank you, Hatsume, for your fine contribution!"
"Make sure to advertise my babies when you go pro!" she told me, barely looking my way - though I thought I saw a tiny smile.
"From here on out," Manual told us back at the office, "I will be heading a task force to look into these villains. Ingenium, Hatsume, you'll be returning to UA soon, but thanks for your work here this week."
I bowed, and Hatsume smiled.