Chapter 5: I Am a Translator, Fear Me
Friday, September 7th
11:12 am
"And now, not only do I have to help a lost girl that came from who knows where, we have that stupid presentation due Monday. Who the heck assigns a major group project on the second day of class!?" Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair before grabbing a fistful at the end in a brief hold. "Mrs. Atterbury is a sadist, I swear!"
The armchair the Fenton sat in was rust red, the fabric a hideous paisley that screamed outdated. On the other side of a black coffee table, Tucker slouched into an identical seat, glaring at a laptop screen as he listened. Both chairs hugged a wall, trying not to intrude into the Health and Science building's hallway.
"You really suck sometimes, you know that Danny?" Tucker grumped at his best friend. The boy's arms crossed as he slid further into the cushion, shoulders pulling up in a sulk.
"I suck? How does that even make sense? I told you to take the computer class with me." The pale boy leaned back, affronted.
"Dude—"
"Mrs. Atterbury sucks! She's the one on the power trip!" Danny cut Tucker off, already invested in the tirade. A searing glare, however, clicked the bellyacher's mouth shut.
"A cute, superpowered high school girl worthy of being an anime protagonist just fell through the universe and landed herself in your lap. Yet somehow you find a way to complain about it?! I wish I had your problems!" Panic crossed both boys' faces momentarily as they glanced around desperately. When no green smoke swirled up from the shadows, Danny leveled his friend with a deadpan stare.
"Tucker, I don't even know what she looks like. But more importantly, ew. She's sixteen."
"That's no different than a senior dating a freshman," Tuck defended, the words reflexive. The techno-geek refused to meet the halfa's gaze, training back in on the glowing screen of his laptop. Finger double-tapping on the trackpad, he amended, "Okay, I spoke before I thought too hard about it. I just—the mini-skirts, Man!"
Danny rolled electric-blue eyes. "Hagakure-san is currently decked out in Jazz's old clothes."
"I meaaaan—" Tucker's mouth quirked at the corner, trying to suppress a grin.
"Don't."
The familiar shutdown sent the heckler into a fit of chuckles. Smirking, the shorter male set his device on the coffee table and sat up, giving Danny undivided attention.
"So when am I gonna meet Hagakure-san? There's no way you're leaving me out of this one! Even if she wasn't a supe, she'd still be from Japan." Tucker's tone lifted up at the end, nearly croaking in excitement.
"Besides dinner last night, I haven't really had a chance to hang out with her, myself. I've just been so busy with this stupid project. She's still a bit skittish from what I saw, though, so I might have to rain check you for now," Danny admitted. Then, seeing a crestfallen look, threw a bone, "Sorry, Tuck. If it helps, I plan to spend all day tomorrow with her to see what I can find out. I'll keep you updated; even before Sam."
"You wouldn't dare." Tucker's tone was skeptical. Then, seeing the ghost boy's smirk, a grin split his own face. Switching thoughts, he asked, "Why hasn't she said anything yet, though? Normally when people come to Phantom for help it's with some great sob story."
"I actually have a theory on that. I think it has to do with her invisibility. She's clearly human; I don't get even a hint of ghost sense around her. But she gets tense when ghosts are mentioned, and keeps insisting she wants help from Phantom." Danny airquoted, then shifted in the chair. "I don't think she trusts normal humans all that much. She said she was lost, but I think she escaped from somewhere."
"Oh, crap. Like some kind of human trafficking? Do you think the Guys in White are involved somehow?" Tucker turned serious, immediately grabbing for his laptop again before popping it open and placing a thumb on the touchpad. As soon as the login screen flashed away, the hacker was launching an .exe file with an F as its icon. A homebrew program took up the screen, a search bar floating dead center. Dragging and dropping a file labeled "GIW" into the white rectangle, he relaxed and turned to Danny. "I wis—" A glare had the Foley quickly rephrasing, "I mean, it would be better if I had my desktop. Cassandra's fast, but she's limited by her hardware." The tech addict subconsciously stroked the chassis, comforting the computer after the verbal slight.
Danny shook his head fondly at Tucker's movements, causing the geek to peek down and jerk his hand away, a barest hint of red darkening already dark cheeks.
"I don't think we have to worry about the GIW. I think we were thorough enough last time." The boys shared a malicious grin. "But I'm going to ask around, just in case. Could be someone like Apex."
"I thought you left them with Walker?"
"There've been breakouts before." Danny shrugged. "I hope it's not them, though, Apex is creepy as all get out."
"Well I'll let you know if Cassandra comes up with anything. But until then, why don't you just talk to Hagakure-san as Phantom?" Tucker asked. "That seems like the simplest way to get information to me?"
"Ugh. I would, if she was staying with someone else! But I don't think I can pull off keeping my identity safe while she's living with us if she gets a close look at Phantom. Anyone with half a brain would figure me out after just a couple days."
"True, you don't always think ahead. Remember when you used to just change out in the open? Or just randomly talk about your alter ego in public places? The good old days." Tucker's eyes danced.
"Oh shut up; I'm listening for people and that obnoxious whine cameras make. Plus I'm putting out a scrambler," Danny huffed.
"And you just 'appearing' in the living room when Hagakure-san first arrived was a calculated move to keep your secret, huh?"
"Ugh, seeee? I can't let her interact closely with Phantom."
"Alright, Danny. I see your point. Just don't come crying to me when it comes back to bite you in the butt."
"Thanks for the encouragement. I knew I could count on you," the Fenton sassed and glanced at his phone. "Oh shoot!" Grabbing a discarded red backpack off the floor, he stood. "Tuck, it's 11:59. Mrs. Atterbury's gonna have an aneurysm." The college student froze at the thought, eyes tracking down to the paisley chair longingly, then the halfa sighed and they snapped back up. "Let's go…"
Friday, September 7th
12:10 pm
Hagakure woke with a start, heart pounding. A cozy silence drifted around the room, at odds with the adrenaline pumping through the girl. A slight thump and clatter sounded from below, and the teen jumped out of bed. The final clinging cobwebs of a nightmare cleared from the back of her mind, and the hero-in-training's posture sagged in relief.
Side-eyeing a small clock on the nightstand, Toru was flooded with surprise. She'd slept nearly fourteen hours! Exhaling heavily, the sixteen-year-old glanced around again, taking in a room that had barely registered last night.
Everything was very….pink. One of the only exceptions being a worn, one-eye teddy bear that sat reclining on the desk beneath the window, its white lab coat flopped open around it.
Hagakure yawned and stretched, white flamingo pajamas lifting up with the motion. The invisible female then hobbled to the room's exit, feet still tender, and peeked out into a deserted hallway. Darting several doors down to a bathroom, the teen slipped inside, turned the shower hot, and scrubbed several days worth of dirt off, leaving skin that should have turned lobster-boil red as clear as ever. Drying and dressing, Toru used a toothbrush Maddie had supplied yesterday before a knock at the door had her jolting just a bit.
"Yewsh?" A foamy paste was spit into the sink, followed by a much clearer, "Yes?"
"Good afternoon, Hagakure-san! I hope you slept well. Jack and I are making pancakes, would you like any?" Ah, so that was the clatter that woke her. Kitchen pans.
"Yes, please. I'm starving!" The answer came quickly, Toru finding death by poisoning less and less plausible the more she was exposed to this family.
They seemed like good people. Weird, but happy enough.
Yesterday, when Jack and Maddie-san had mentioned having hot dogs for dinner, Jazz-san had chased them out of the kitchen, instead finding and making a hamburger noodle dish that came from a box.
Even though Hagakure hadn't understood many of the words thrown around the table, there seemed to be quite a bit of laughing involved in the affair. The Fentons clearly teased each other a lot, Jack-san taking the brunt of the jokes. The family banter had been heartwarming.
Toru was still inclined to be careful with her words, but the constant feeling of fear that had stalked her like a mountain lion was gone, allowing the lostling to behave more like her normal self. It was a weight off the bubbly girl's shoulders when she was able to open the bathroom door with a gratuitous smile.
"Awwwww." Maddie grabbed the sleeve of Hagakure's pajamas. To Toru's credit, she didn't flinch as the mother rubbed the flannel between a thumb and forefinger. The adult then turned to face the landing that overlooked the downstairs and yelled, "Jaaaack! Jazz kept her flamingo pajamas!"
Toru tugged back on her arm lightly and Maddie let go, embarrassed. Coughing slightly into a hand, the Fenton went on, "Sorry, I just had so many rememberings. Jazz wore that for her sixteen year old party. Her friends wore same clothes for sleeping."
"It's fine; they are very cute pajamas."
Maddie brightened and beamed at the invisible kid's change to a positive attitude, "They are! Now let us grab pancakes before they are cold. Jack and I have a good surprise for you!"
A slight tenseness went up Toru's back. She'd had more than enough surprises lately. Still, the highschooler followed Maddie's retreating form down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen where a spread of sausages, bacon, pancakes and syrup awaited.
"TA-DA!"Jack held up a strange gadget roughly the size of a smartphone. Except it looked nothing like one. The metallic, circular-on-bottom/square-on-top device sported two screens. The one on the upper half had a grid-like pattern across it while the one below was covered in touchscreen-style buttons. The oddest part, though, had to be two tall, green light bulbs that stuck from the top and gave the thing an almost cartoony, mad scientist feel.
Hagakure blinked, vaguely uneasy, but with a growing curiosity. They hadn't actually figured out how to send her home already, had they?
"What does it do?" she asked, turning to Maddie while trying to squelch rising hopes.
The woman just smiled mysteriously and nodded at Jack, who practically smashed the power button in excitement.
Hagakure waited.
Nothing.
It did nothing.
"Is-is this a joke?"
"Is this a joke? Fear me." Neon lights glowed and the instrument's top screen gained a moving, jagged line.
The foreigner stared in bewilderment at the talking English device, now more confused than ever at the feminine voice that had emanated from it.
"So what do'ya think, Hagga-curry?!" Jack blurted.
"So what do you think, hog a curry? Fear me." This time the machine's speech was in choppy, robotic Japanese.
"It still has some kinks to work out, since we modified some old tech, but it's pretty good for one day's notice, huh?" Maddie challenged with a wink as the device translated her words, switching "kinks" for "knots", "modified" for "changed" and "pretty" for "beautiful". For all that, it was still understandable, dropping Toru's jaw in stunned silence.
Taking advantage of the lull, Jack proclaimed, "You know. Sometimes my genius, it's—it's almost frightening."
The machine agreed, parroting the egocentric mindset as the hulking man wiped a small tear from an eye, once again ending the sentence with, "Fear me."
Saturday, September 8th
7:59 am
A large, circular room filled with panels and electronics hummed quietly. The morning chill could not penetrate the Fenton Ops Center despite all the windows in the futuristic space. The servers and gadgets around the circumference vented too much warmth, even in hibernation.
Which was a marvelous thing for anyone staying in the emergency sleep hub—AKA one of the light proof, bedding-filled pods that could pop up through the floor at the touch of a button.
Currently, one such capsule was occupied.
Just outside, on a small brown dresser that didn't match its surroundings, sat a simple, digital clock. The numbers on the cobalt device read 7:59.
In less than a minute, the machine bellowed to life, blaring an obnoxious beep to the world. It got out all of three calls before a masculine, sleep-filled groan resonated from the pod nearby and a void opened up beneath the clock.
Silence.
Danny Fenton rolled over in his temporary bed, Technus now a key player in his dream.
Saturday, September 8th
8:16 am
Hagakure walked quietly this morning. The invisible girl made her way down the stairs in a taupe sweater and Carolina blue jeans, crouching all the while to hide beneath the banister. She hoped that the neutral, plain colors would camouflage somewhat with the house's decor, as she planned to do some sleuthing.
Today was a recon day.
After the introduction of the translator, yesterday had been devoted to a tour of Fenton Works in which Jazz, Maddie and Jack-san had explained more about "ghosts" and what the family did for a living. But something was off when certain topics came up about Phantom. Where the hero lived, and how they contacted him made the three uneasy and evasive. It happened enough times that the tiny strangeness had snowballed into a bottom-section-of-a-snowman level of suspicious behavior.
But the weirdest thing was, Toru didn't sense any malice.
It made her wonder.
Secret identities may have fallen out of favor in Japan some time ago, but it'd make sense to have one here. Or maybe there was such a thing as part-"ghosts" in this universe.
Toru doubted that "ghosts" were spirits of the dead, but they could be another species. It was easy to imagine relationships between "ghosts" and humans being taboo, so what kept people from hiding hybrids away from the public eye like some crazy aunt in the attic?
The guy at the train store could definitely have been one. She never did shake the feeling of him being some kind of small mammal cross.
Another person immediately jumped to the forefront of Hagakure's mind when thinking of the possibility.
Jack Fenton.
The man's size just couldn't be natural. He was built like an absolute tank. There had to be something to that.
Crawling along the wall of the living room, Toru tucked herself just behind the cased opening to the kitchen. Inside, Maddie stood making breakfast, while beyond, Jack sat tinkering on a box of random wires that the UA student recognized, parts spread around him.
Toru's eyes dipped down to focus on the father's plate before nearly bugging out of her head.
Ham.
Not, like, slices of ham.
But a whole freaking ham sat partially eaten in front of the massive male.
Seeing Jack reach a limb that rivaled Death Arms in thickness over to grab several cookies off a plate, Toru's thoughts re-arranged themselves. Fat Gum. He was more like Fat Gum than Death Arms.
"Mads! Can you solder this wire on for me? My hands don't fit in the corner." Jack didn't look up from the project, instead leaning closer, welder's goggles fogging slightly as moist breath bounced back from the confines of the box.
"I'm a little busy right now. Just wait a bit until I finish theseeggs." Maddie's violet eyes crinkled close as she stifled a yawn with the back of a hand, stirring the contents of the pan with the other.
A disgruntled expression soon gave way to a smirk as Jack moved sausage-sized fingers even further up on the pen-shaped soldering iron. Tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth, the impatient inventor lowered it back into the corner. Predictably enough, the tool immediately slipped and dropped down into the box. Smoke rose from inside as Jack fumbled frantically, pulling the pen out by its cord. The tip swung back, branding the hand that grabbed for it. "Shrieking shades; that's hot!"
Turning down the food and pulling the eggs off the heat, Maddie ran over to Jack with an aloe-based burn cream in hand. "You couldn't wait two minutes, could you?" she asked dryly.
Toru nearly snickered when her brain managed to translate.
"Nope!" Jack answered unapologetically, reaching up to grab Maddie's head and pulling her down for a kiss. "Thanks for the Fointment, Sweetcakes!" The redhead sighed, but smiled nonetheless while drawing back from her husband.
"Where's the wire you needed soldered?"
Jack grabbed the box and slid it behind him, arm nonchalantly covering the top so the contents stayed hidden.
"You broke it, didn't you?" The question was rhetorical, the wife used to the antics.
"I needed to redesign that circuit anyway!" Jack boomed, smiling brightly.
Maddie went back to the stove top, sending covert peeks at the orange man as she turned the potatoes back on high.
Jack grabbed the device, pulling it front and center again. After a quick inspection of his other half, to verify she'd stopped watching, he grimaced. Picking up a screwdriver, the inventor started chipping away at something inside. Simultaneously, the scientist reached over for another caramel apple doodle, eyes still fixated on the box. Confusion clouded his face, and he glanced at the "cookie" held in his left hand.
As Jack examined a large titanium nut that had somehow made its way onto the confectionary plate, a muted crack sounded from the box where his right hand disappeared.
A tiny, strangled cry came from the bumbling male when he peered inside the invention in dismay.
Well, Jack-san wasn't Phantom's alter ego, if the hero even had one; that much was for sure.
Unlikely to find anything new by spying on the pair's morning routine Toru shuffled away, crawling back through the living room. Upon reaching the base of the stairs, she stood; and, instead of going up them, walked into the formal dining room that was adjacent to the front door. Making her way to the basement's entrance on the far side of the space, the sneak was frustrated to find it locked.
The Fentons had talked about their portal during the house tour; but they'd refused to open the giant, hexagonal gateway for safety reasons. The caution painted frame had sure looked legit, though, and had definitely piqued Toru's interest.
Trying the handle one more time, Hagakure was startled by a sudden, disembodied comment.
"Voice Authorization Required."
"Hagakure-san? Is that you?" Maddie called shortly after. Toru soon heard footsteps starting in the kitchen, and rushed to make it to the base of the stairs before her host could spot what was going on. Just as the UA student rounded the corner, the adult did as well, and they bumped into each other.
"Oh!" Maddie gasped, hand flying to her chest. "Sorry, I didn't know you were that close."
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Hagakure was quick to feign concern, hands reaching out to steady Maddie. "I'm always sneaking up on people by accident!"
"It is okay, there is no problem."
The scrutiny the mother gave her made Hagakure squirm, sure she'd been caught. Until an unexpected query left the older woman's lips, "I am sorry if hard question, but can you not become looking?" Maddie's face scrunched up in thought. "Wait just a second, please." The Fenton turned and ran back to the kitchen, leaving a confused Toru behind, before coming back with the translation device from yesterday in hand. "I'm sorry if this is a hard question, and you don't have to answer, but can you not become visible?"
Holy crap! The machine already sounded so much better just one day later; and it didn't even have that weird "fear me" bit at the end.
Hagakure paid closer attention, really taking Maddie in for the first time this morning. She'd been so focused on Jack that the bags under the inventor's eyes, the ruffled state of her jumpsuit, and the constant blinking had gone unnoticed. Not to mention the slight hint of onions in the air.
"Hagakure-san?"
Snapping out of the musings, Toru desperately replayed the question in her head, "Oh, sorry! I'm still pretty tired. Your translator distracted me is all. I can't actually become visible at will. I'm always stuck like this."
Pure horror stared back at Hagakure, Maddie's body language shouting that she'd been struck an emotional blow as the woman's eyes started to glisten with unshed tears.
"Jack! We're needed in the lab, pronto!" The translator continued to work, even though the conversation clearly wasn't for Toru any longer.
The heavyweight male was there much quicker than his bulk should have allowed, and he studied Maddie's face in concern as one hand reached up to grip the stair's railing."What's up?"
"Hagakure can't turn visible. At all. Ever."
"That's terrible!" Jack appeared nearly as unnerved by the news as his wife.
Hagakure stood awkwardly, unsure what to do in the face of such a reaction. At home, people barely batted an eye.
"We're going to help," Maddie directed at Toru after noticing the quirk user's extended silence. "We work with ghosts, who turn invisible regularly, so I'm sure we can figure something out." A steely conviction coated the words, a solution sure to be found.
"Ah, you don't have to do that. That's low on my priorities right now," Hagakure played off. Seeing a no-nonsense expression on the woman, the teen tried again,"Really, I would rather work on finding a way home. Even paying the thrift store back is higher on my to-do list."
"Thrift store?" Jack asked, not following.
"Ah…I kind of….borrowed clothes from a place called—" since the Japanese speaker didn't know what the words meant, she opted to say the sounds she'd read off the sign, "—Barugen Besumento." Continuing after the slight pause, she defended, "I kept the price tags, but they got left behind in my other clothes. I don't actually know how much I owe." Avoiding their gazes was silly, she knew, but the habit still won out. The teen rubbed at her head nervously, taupe sweater lifting with an unseen arm.
"Well, that's one thing I can check off your list," Maddie assured. "I already paid the eleven dollars and twenty-five cents with the town's ghost insurance fund."
Hagakure was instantly on guard.
They already knew about her? They must have been stalking her after all! The teen dropped incrementally lower, ready to spring past them like a startled hare. The front door was just behind them; she could make it.
"Before you panic, we had no idea it was you. I mean, I suspected, but Team Phantom is in charge of ghostly disputes, remember? An invisible person stole a bunch of clothes. There was no point in arguing over small change, so we just paid out. Eleven dollars and twenty-five cents is only a little over a thousand yen."
Hagakure blinked. Okay, that was plausible. Likely, even. Feeling embarrassed, the aspiring hero just managed to squeak out, "Thanks, I'll do my best to pay you back."Throat closing and cheeks burning, she straightened.
"No need, Hagakure-san; It's really no big deal." Seeing shuffling socks, Maddie added, "But I can always use some extra help around the house if you have some free time."
"I'd…I'd like that." Egged on by shame, Hagakure debated internally, before deciding to admit something else, "How I got here, and why I'm so edgy; they're related. I fell through a portal. I think I was kidnapped, and I have no idea why."
Maddie and Jack exchanged concerned glances, the redhead's brow furrowing before Jack blurted, "Was it green?!"
"Yes, actually." Hagakure's unseen eyes narrowed, but she didn't give in to the need to flee, already feeling stupid enough.
"Most ghost portals, both naturally occurring or not, are green. There are some exceptions, of course, if the energy of the ghost creating them is another color, but that's incredibly rare. Equally as rare as the ability to make portals. It takes a great deal of power to create a wormhole between worlds," Maddie mused aloud, backing up to give Toru some space.
"Well, maybe we can go take a look to see if there's any leftover ectoplasm where Hagakure came through? Narrow things down," Jack added, already reaching past Maddie to grab the GAV keys off a hanger.
"Sweetie, Hagakure-san was the one at Bargain Basement. Remember, Sheryl called us up in arms on Tuesday? That means she's been here at least four and a half days."
Jack's face immediately fell. "Oh."
"What? Why is that bad?" Toru questioned, bud of hope quashed.
"Ectoplasm disappears quickly. Unless the ghost tries to keep it around, or there's a lot of it, not even Fenton tech can detect it after about a day and a half," Jack informed, causing Hagakure's shoulders to sag.
Maddie's face softened. "Phantom was already gathering intel from other ghosts in the Zone about your situation, but now we can point him in a specific direction. Since we know there was a portal involved, we can also do some of our own research. I'll even message an old colleague who helped with the original Fenton Portal blueprints and loved to theorize about natural-occurring portals and the multiverse for extra clues." The redhead settled a hand on Toru's shoulder and attempted to meet the teen's gaze with marginal success. "If Phantom can't find a ghostly method to get you home, there might be a way to modify the Fenton Portal. We'll let you know if we come up with anything, but something of that magnitude would take a lot of time."
Toru's eyes watered of their own accord. Three days ago she would have balked at the offer of such generous, oddly specialized help, picking the likely trap apart and refusing it entirely. But today a tear trailed down her cheek, inconspicuous until the exact moment it left her face.
"We'll see what Phantom comes up with before we delve into anything too complicated, but there's nothing that says we can't spend today figuring out how to make you visible. We don't have to wait on anyone for that," Maddie declared.
Wiping the salty water and a small line of snot off with a sleeve, Toru took a deep, steadying breath and responded, "Sure, let's give it a shot."
Saturday, September 8th
1:07 pm
Thump.
"Ugh."
Danny gripped his head in the dark, reaching his other hand up to touch a solid metal surface above him. Following the curved ceiling down to a little shelf on the left, he groped around. A second later, the male squinted into a blinding light, face and chamber washed in blue.
1:07 pm.
"CRAP!" The halfa unplugged his phone and launched through the side of the capsule, not bothering to open it. It was only after he'd done so that the absentminded adult realized his error and belatedly scouted the space. "I'm starting to understand why Jazz kicked me out of my room," whispered into the empty Ops Center.
Remembering the need to hurry, Danny made a clone that dashed off to the small bathroom in the corner. Rushing to change and throw on deodorant, the original finished loading keys, wallet, and cellphone into jean pockets right as the other-him came out of the bathroom, drying mussed hair with a towel. It was only as the counterpart sauntered toward Danny with a devilish smirk that the superhero felt his stomach drop in realization.
"I'm so screwed."
The copy's smile widened even further.
Too late to take back the blatant display of powers he'd literally just got done telling himself not to use, Danny sighed. It was a small blessing when only a whispering echo of you know what you did fluttered along the halfa's mind during the re-merged.
Such light teasing was practically sweet nothings when it came to one of his doubles, as he and his duplicates had a horrible habit of trash talking each other in a demented form of self-therapy.
Danny felt his hair miraculously dampen, and the boy's skin took on an almost humid feel. At the same time, his teeth lost their grittiness, and a minty freshness flooded his mouth. Ready to go, the halfa took a breath and glared at the ground before shouting "One to the kitchen!"
The floor opened beneath the super, and, with the sound of a vacuum, sucked him down through a large tube. Landing lighter than should have been possible, but not by much, Danny smiled.
"Hey, Sleepyhead. I was gonna check on you soon. I was worried you'd died," Jazz commented from the kitchen table.
"Har de har har," Danny acknowledged. "I've never heard that one before." Despite the backtalk, the halfa fought to keep a grin off his face. What could he say? Cheese was his thing.
Hushing, the ghost kid stilled beyond what a normal person was capable of and listened. Other than Jazz scratching a pen across a notepad, the house was quiet.
"Where is everyone?"
"In the lab. When I got home from grocery shopping they were already down there," the older sister informed. The raven-haired male started for the living room when Jazz's voice called again, "They put up the do not disturb sign."
Danny's eyebrows raised as he continued toward the basement and inspected a little carved ghost hanging from the door, "Beware!" painted across it in childish handwriting.
"Wow, I didn't know we even still had that sign." The twenty-year old's voice raised just enough for the other Fenton to hear him.
Jazz's response came semi-muffled through the walls, but for Danny it was crystal clear; "Dad's a packrat and Mom loves keepsakes. The more surprising thing is that they were able to find it."
Leaning forward, Danny placed the side of his head against the soundproof door to the lab. Clanking sounded from below, barely audible to enhanced hearing, before a slightly louder yelp halted the tinkering. Had to be Dad.
Danny just shrugged. Who was he to intrude on something private. If it was important, his parents would fill him in later.
Well, so much for rushing to spend time with their guest.
Danny grabbed into a pocket, pulled out his beat up cell phone, and sent a quick text.
Less than a minute and the boy's jeans were humming, a Star Wars' sonic boom vibrating a reply.
R u sure ur free? U were supposed 2 give me the deets on Hagakure 2day
Danny sighed, before typing back, Yeah, parents and her are in the lab. They even used the DND sign
They still got that?
Apparently
Well, u know im always down 2 game. My timelines for work r…fluid
Danny snorted. Tucker was such a procrastinator. But for some incomprehensible reason, the tech genius always somehow turned work in on time.
Just a sec. Danny ambled up to his room upon finishing the text. Waking a sleeping computer, the gamer opened up a Doomed file on the desktop, only for a lengthy update bar to pop up on the screen.
Ugh. It's gonna be a bit. I have to wait for the new Eternally DLC to download
I keep telling u 2 set up auto-update, noob :P
Oh, shut up
Saturday, September 8th
3:39 pm
A rodent-like fetus lay twitching on a vinyl dentist's chair, the shudders that wracked the small frame splashing up a clear liquid. Above the dying animal hung loose belts of leather held together by several buckles. The aftermarket restraints didn't match the chair, but the leather was worn and faded along the inner edges, showing signs of age and use. Industrial shelves pressed tight to the back wall and an electrocardiogram monitor lay quiet and lifeless on a wheeled stand. Likewise, a mobile medical tray stood at the side, bare of any instruments that would normally adorn its surface.
A spritz of the organic matter that was not water, but thicker, splotched onto a snow-white Armani sneaker nearby.
"Hhhhsssh." An indrawn breath hissed through a plague doctor's mask, the beaked fabric muffling the noise until it sounded of TV static.
The wearer's lemon eyes glared down at the filth, and the dark-haired youth kicked off the shoe in disgust as a mild rash crept up the side of his face. Reaching down, he pulled off a glove and touched the footwear, causing it to explosively disintegrate into a fine powder. A second later, the particles drew back together as if magnetized to a singular point and reformed into their original shape, the fabric whiter than before.
A fully ivory-cloaked figure stepped into the room behind the first man, hood drawn down over a similar, but altogether different plague mask. The contrast between the two people was striking, as their color schemes were essentially inverted.
"What is it?" The words were calm, lacking much emotion. The speaker slid the newly constructed Armani back on, lacing the material before standing and tapping its toe on the concrete.
"Second, I've heard a rumor that may prove fortuitous," the other person replied; then held up his cloak a moment later. Shielding the darker male as the mammal in the chair threw liquid with one final kick, the subordinate continued, "Something 'revolutionary' is being tested at Detnerat, according to several contacts. I think it has potential in helping us halt the extreme devolving issue."
Trying not to scratch at the hives on his face, the young, germaphobic adult stared with impassive eyes at the chair.
"Hm."
Chapter 6: Some Real Deus Ex Machina Horsecrap
Sunday, September 9th
8:46 am
The quiet hum of the Ops Center was disturbed by a shuffling. Unhurried, Danny pulled things from his dresser, worn sleep pants hanging loosely on the young male's hips. Left arm clutching a wad of clothes, the halfa took a quick peek at his cellphone. Still forty-five minutes before he had to be at the college. Plenty of time.
Moseying over to the bathroom, the raven-like youth grabbed the handle to the door and opened it. He smiled down at his entirely solid hand before passing through the opening.
A frosted mist gasped from his mouth, taking Danny by surprise.
"Seriously?" Danny groaned, closing and locking the door behind him. Jumping into the air, a white light flashed from one side of the male's lean body to the other, eating away at soft grey pants and replacing them with a form-fitting costume. The Kevlar blend acted like some alien infection, spreading rapidly from nothing to consume any bared skin.
In a moment, Phantom was dropping the armful of clothes to the floor and rocketing through the metallic ceiling. Popping out the other side, the halfa scanned his surroundings. Seeing only a grey and brown cityscape covered in a foggy drizzle, the white-haired superhero closed neon-green eyes and focused on his core.
A tug to the left. Eyes springing open, Danny flew in the direction of the pull, watching for motion as the feeling of "other" got stronger. Buildings sped past and he found himself approaching a small park, only about one square block in size. A lilting tune of a wind instrument just barely teased his ears, wisping notes that danced away if he focused on them. The core he followed continued to feel just out of reach, spurring an increased pace. So when the ghost suddenly appeared in a shower of leaves, Danny nearly ran into it.
The hero swerved, avoiding the autumnal being just in time, then twirled around to face it. Knowing the ghost had triggered his sense because it wasn't a local, Danny yelled a greeting, "Hey, Kid. You know you aren't supposed to come to Amity without petitioning for a visitor's pass, right? If you want an application, they're at Queen Dorathea's castle."
A mouth filled with tiny, sharp teeth smiled too wide back at him. The creature tilted its rounded head, sage grey skin complementing the fiery glow of its eyes.
Danny expected the…guy's(?) pointed hat to slide off-center, but the tawny accessory seemed unaffected by the motion.
Slightly unnerved by the silent stare of the nightmare scarecrow, the halfa tried again, "If that's all you need, I can point you in the right direction." The ghost just reached behind his back with jerky, puppet-like joints. Danny tensed, ready to dodge knives, but managed to stay motionless when the kid pulled out a flute.
He could do this; he could be civil. Even when one of his subjects freaked him the frick out. This little guy could be like Lyrica. Maybe he just talked through music. That could be it.
That was not it.
The child lifted the instrument to his lips and played a short, four note ditty. In seconds, a swarm of mosquitos descended from the nearby trees, buzzing a battle-cry as they tried to bite at Danny through his suit. The halfa went intangible, gaze jerking back to the brat when a melodious laugh taunted from beyond the cloud of insects.
The kid was gone, a puff of leaves drifting to the floor where his tapered brown shoes had been. The keen surrounding Danny lessened as well, the bloodsuckers departing.
Dropping the temperature around himself, Danny watched the moisture in the air turn to diamond dust and the wave of tiny attackers flash freeze.
He hated mosquitos.
Phantom's sense spread out again, and the super flew fifteen feet up, spotting his opponent through the fog. On the far side of the park, the little brat twirled atop a leafless tuliptree, the twiggy branches setting an eerie stage for the creaking, jagged dance.
Danny rushed him, just missing his chance for a quick grapple. Passing through another spray of foliage, that teasing, alto laughter chafed along his skin.
Tapping his wrist, Danny glanced down when the spot lit up lime green with the time. 8:55. That was going to cut things a little close for his meet up with Julien and Tucker.
"Jeeze Kid, don't you have something better to do? Like scaring birds?"
Five new notes trilled from behind him, and a nearby dogwood rattled as several crows burst from it, their bodies a dark contrast to what was left of the scarlet leaves. Danny just raised an eyebrow, easily avoiding the attempted murder.
The child stomped and flailed his arms, the branches beneath his feet remaining miraculously unbroken.
"You know, you don't seem particularly outstanding in your field; you might want to hit up Oz." Danny surged forward again, fists aimed for a double punch. "I hear he's handing out brains!"
Fast as a whip, the flute lifted again.
"Oh no you don't, Pied Piper!" Danny yelled, shooting off a low-powered ecto-ray. A single, long note got cut off by the blast, and the ghost fell from the tree. The halfa zipped after, throwing a circular construct around the kid before he hit the ground. "Gotcha!"
Tapping a neon green button on his belt, Phantom curled the hand not directing the sphere into a fist and aimed it loosely toward his corralled opponent. Pushing ecto-energy into his suit, Danny's arm illuminated, and a wide-spray beam of light flashed toward the capturee.
Who was gone. Again.
Frowning, Danny surveyed the area. The tiny woodland space around him had filled with creepy-crawlies wiggling to the surface from underground. Must have been the single note the kid got out. Well, at least the weather was dreary. Not even a dedicated picnicker would be out today, and it wasn't like he'd be bothered up here by things that couldn't fly.
Seeing the little monster atop an apartment complex's roof, merry feet kicking as they dangled over a ledge, the halfa closed his eyes for a second and exhaled. Patience.
Checking the time again, Danny grimaced. Then facepalmed and created a duplicate.
The clone looked at him quizzically. "You sure you want to split our strength just for a shower?"
"Yeah, I'll be fi—" A blob of mud exploded over the original's face. Spitting dramatically and wiping wet dirt from his eyes, the ghost hero turned to belt up at the rooftop, "No more going easy on you, Kid; that was the last straw!"
"Dude. That was corny. Even for us." A cheeky smile greeted Danny as the clone reached over and swatted the back of his head. Numb-nothingness spread from the point of contact and the pale boy watched as the mud fell a dozen feet to the ground.
The doppelganger just saluted, before darting off in the direction of Fenton Works.
Danny turned back to the pesky scarecrow, tossing a volley of electric green air-sickles at him. The trickster burst into yet another puff of leaves before they could hit, that singing "he he he" lingering in the air longer than the child. Canceling the attack before it could cause property damage, Phantom groaned.
"Dang it! How is he so fast at teleporting?"
Legs merging into a tail, Danny's eyes narrowed. Spying the rascal on top of a stop light, the half ghost blasted off, wind whistling past his ears and flipping snowy hair backwards. Before he got close enough to try and attack, the twit was gone again.
Creating yet another duplicate, the two Dannys tag teamed their slippery opponent. But like a wet bar of soap, every time they thought they had him—regardless of invisibility, pincer attacks, or ambushes—the scarecrow just slipped away like magic. An obnoxious game of chase ensued, forcing the Phantoms to pour more and more power into speed and acrobatics when the kid decided near-perma teleports were a wonderful idea.
Finally catching up to the brat when the antagonizer took a breather on a telephone pole, Danny peeked an invisible head out from beneath the sidewalk.
Only to fade back into sight.
"Aw man, not again." The adult frowned and tried to bring back the instinctual feel of "so still a predator passes" to no avail, clenching and unclenching his fists.
Noticing the movement, the child drifted up from his perch in what Danny recognized as the ghost's signature "teleport" form. Phantom raised a hand out of the earth, ready to zap that stupid smirk right off the scarecrow's face when the enemy changed expressions. Panic. An ice-ray shot from above, the hit landing just before the "poof".
The kid reappeared only five feet to the side. Frantically discarding a giant leaf-cloak before the frost could spread to his body, the autumn imp ran with jolty, lurching motions down the telephone wire.
Somehow, losing the forest green backdrop made the ghost appear spindly, elongated limbs stretched and pulled like too little taffy.
"Looking a bit twiggy, Kid; you look like you could use a knuckle sandwich!" Phantom's clone taunted, going in for a strike while Danny floated up from the ground, searching for an opening to help him(self?).
Somehow, despite being off-kilter, the little creature twisted away, teleporting just to the side once again. The duplicate swung around to retaliate, but the kid was already blowing his blasted flute. Danny got an eyeful of his doppleganger phasing through a massive wooden puppet before he himself was slammed by a full body tackle.
"Already stuffed. Got it," Danny commented with a grin as he righted himself, legs reappearing on instinct and bracing against the ground. Phantom wrestled (held, really) the second puppet in place, protecting the car behind him from the impact as his copy spared an amused glance, staying intangible.
Swinging in a circle, the halfa used the momentum to toss the mindless hunk of wood into the air, satisfied when it collided with the second marionette and drove them both well above the telephone lines.
Other-him took the cue and the wooden constructs exploded in a shower of splinters. Danny was fast behind, a shield erupting around the detonation. Catching the little bits, he minimized the size of the barrier and levitated it over a dumpster, dispelling the power when it lined up.
Seeing his new least favorite wind instrument raised yet again, Danny shot off a barrage of finger rays. Two met their target, and the scarecrow fell off the telephone line. As the ghost plummeted, his clone powered up an arm with white light, sucking the troublemaker into his suit.
"You know, you kind of suck," Danny-3 called from above.
"As if," Real Danny scoffed, "I totally dealt the final blow!"
"Along with getting clobbered by mud, tipping the kid off by losing your invisibility, and getting tackled by ye old Pinocchi—"
The original floated up and forced the double into a re-merge, brain filling with laughter. The white-haired youth sighed, then winced when he consulted his wrist. 9:38.
Sending a mental ping to the Fenton Works duplicate to meet at the college, Danny turned around.
Only to be hit by a delayed air strike.
"UUUUGH. PIGEONS?! Seriously?!" Danny phased the poop shower off, the laughter in his head turning cacophonous.
Monday, September 10th
-One Week Since Hagakure's Disappearance-
7:17 am
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
An alabaster paw grabbed at an antiquated phone, lifting the device out of its cradle and raising it to a delicate, furry ear.
"Hello, UA principal's office, this is Kocho Nezu speaking," the rodent informed, leaning back in an executive-style chair.
Hello, Kocho-sensei. This is Saito Hideaki from the Chugoku police department. I am calling to inform you that a Shiketsu highschooler went missing yesterday morning, a tired voice spoke over the line.
"What?!" Nezu squeaked out, slamming a paw down on his desk. A stack of papers fluttered in response, the top sheet drifting to the floor. "Why wasn't I informed sooner!?" the principal demanded, biting back several choice, uncouth words.
Shiketsu High had only allowed one day off campus per week, and had implemented increased security measures following the licensing exam. The timing was way too convenient to be an accident.
You'll have to excuse the lateness. Closer schools have priority right now, and we only have so many staff. Everyone here has been up all night making calls and trying to keep this off the news as long as possible.
Nezu's anger simmered down, empathy overtaking the mammal. He knew the feeling of a rug unraveling beneath him, the fraying strings impossible to grasp.
Sighing, UA's head replied, "Thank you for telling me. What details can you give me about the disappearance?" Pushing wouldn't get him far with an ongoing investigation. Best to let the policeman say what he was able.
A student from the support course went missing early yesterday morning on a shopping trip with her family. That's all I can say at this time. There was a break when someone else's voice mumbled in the background, before Saito continued, I have to go. There's still so much to do.
The call ended and Nezu closed his mouth, too late to ask a final question.
Black eyes narrowing, the adult grabbed the wooden top of his desk and wrenched his body, rolling his wheeled chair in front of a monitor. Nezu logged into the Shizuoka school district's website and used several links to navigate to a Shiketsu dorm attendance list. Technically, he shouldn't have had access, but extreme intelligence, and by proxy, hacking, had its perks.
Ignoring everything but the support course's curfew check-ins, Nezu found three absences from yesterday. Excluding two males, since the officer had said "she", the investigator had his answer.
Monday, September 10th
8:00 am
"In light of recent events, UA will be going into lockdown. The faculty and I have deemed it a necessary measure in protecting our student's safety. From today on, leaving campus will be forbidden for all students and dorm curfew will be moved up two hours. If an excursion off campus must be made, it will require preapproval and an escort," Nezu informed a conference room, lights flashing around him.
The head of UA stood alone at a podium, a booster platform beneath his feet. Even with the added height, the animal felt tiny, dwarfed by everyone in the space.
Leaning forward, the mouse spoke more directly into a black microphone. "This is not meant to be a punishment. Guests may still visit students under supervision, and family members will be allowed inside the dorms. Copies of the necessary paperwork for a visitor's pass will be available on our website shortly."
"Kocho,"—Nezu had to stop himself from narrowing his eyes at the reporter's disrespect—"Your own student was kidnapped on school grounds; do you really expect that to be enough?"
Guilt twinging at the reminder, the principal kept his voice even and made sure to address his entire audience, "I have spent the last week interviewing, researching, and hiring thirty heroes to supplement our campus patrols. In addition, we have brought in a new cybersecurity expert to upgrade our network and systems."
Pinning the journalist who'd asked the question with a stare, he added, "There will be eyes everywhere, I assure you; but I refuse to have my students feel like they're in prison."
A new shout came from the back of the room, "How long do you expect the lockdown to last?"
"Only as long as absolutely necessary. When the villain behind the kidnappings is apprehended I intend to lift lockdown. The increased security, however, will be permanent."
"Have you gathered any new information on the whereabouts of your own missing student?"
"I cannot report at this time, as that is an ongoing investigation, but I can say we've made progress."
"What do these kidnappings say about the future of heroes?"
"Do you think it is time to let Aizawa-san go?"
"Who has been hired to the security detail so far? Did any local heroes make the roster?"
"How has All Might been handling the kidnappings?"
The questions just kept coming. And for the next hour, the stressed principal did his best to answer them.
Monday, September 10th
9:38 am
1A settled into the seats of a basic classroom—normal desks, blue chairs, a teacher's stand, and a smartboard furnishing the space. The green-tinted blackboard that had long since replaced erasers and chalk stretched nearly wall to wall and was covered in a paragraph of English writing. Tapping on a tablet near the blackboard stood a teacher clothed mostly in biker's leather. The text behind the male's cockatoo do disappeared, and the blank screen lit up with a new lesson.
Mishirao Ojiro reclined at his desk, scrolling through a cell phone and tuning out the Denki last-minute-homework mumbles coming from behind him. Scowling, the martial artist checked the news one more time. There'd been a failed robbery downtown, a vandal tagging city buses, a porcelain cat collection stolen from an old lady, and a hero protest in Hosu among other things. Only a single article had anything to do with the Shiketsu student's disappearance, and it was just a regurgitation of UA's press conference.
Ojiro tapped his finger on the desk and tried to keep the end of his tail from twitching like a cat's.
The media was garbage; his class had already found out more than the supposed "journalists", even with lockdown limitations.
Todoroki-kun had texted Yoarashi-kun; and, despite the pair's rivalry, the Shiketsu wind-user had been very forthcoming in what he knew.
Haru Kamada, a second year support course student, had gone missing over the weekend during a family outing. Yoarashi-kun had even met her a couple times in the past when the nervous teen was caught watching his class' hand-to-hand fighting practice. The "plain-faced", "klutzy" girl supposedly admired heroes, but was otherwise pretty unspectacular.
Unfortunately, none of that brought him any closer to finding Toru-chan. Which was why Ojiro kept obsessively checking his phone, a hungry man frequenting an empty fridge.
A hush overtook the room in the minute before class started.
Unsettled, the close combat fighter used a meditation technique, breathing deep and even through his nose to calm the roiling mood.
He really missed his best friend.
Putting away his phone and focusing forward, the blonde shoved his feelings down as a lesson on adverbs began.
Monday, September 10th
4:36 pm
Have you found anything yet?
The small, waving dots of a "typing" icon mocked Izuku from his phone's surface.
It had been hours since the initial text, without a word. But now, All Might was responding, and it churned Midoriya's stomach to wait.
The strength-enhanced student did another push-up, the screen getting closer to his face as his body dipped down toward the dorm room's floor. The gym had been booked, so the teen did what reps he could sealed away in the privacy of his bedroom.
Finally, the cell dinged and the new message displayed, causing the greenette to practically throw himself out of the push up in a grab for his phone.
I told Aizawa-sensei I needed to talk with you. Come to the front door, and we can go for a walk. If your classmates ask, you requested quirk tutoring.
The aspiring hero didn't have to be asked twice. Midoriya dashed out the door and lunged down the stairwell to the first floor in less than thirty seconds, muscles sparking the tiniest bit. Before opening the metal door to the lounge, however, he stopped and steadied his breathing. Walking through the heavy atmosphere of the main area, Izuku felt his heart clench as a couple classmates swiveled his way.
"Hey, Mido. You doing alright?" Mina asked, a slight hollowness to the question despite a paired smile. They were just words to say. A semblance of normalcy.
"Yeah. I was told All Might-sensei could squeeze me in for a little tutoring, so I'll be gone for a bit." Izuku almost left it there. But it ate at him, seeing someone normally so bright be so forlorn. "Maybe we can all do a group study session when I get back? Take our mind off things." The sunshine child forced a smile and chose his next words carefully, "We can even brainstorm more on our ultimate moves, see if we can come up with any variations."
Gratitude shone in Ashido's black-sclera eyes. "Yeah, I'll get anyone together that wants to!"
The horned girl snatched her phone and sent a text. A second later, Izuku's pocket dinged, as did two other phones in the lounge.
Aizawa's gaze shot up, attention pulled from the papers he graded. The ragged man hunched over one of the kitchen tables, studying his students for signs of "insubordinate planning" from the middle of the room.
Midoriya pretended not to notice.
"Be back soon!"
"You better!" Kaminari yelled from the kitchen, instant ramen boiling on the stovetop beside him. It was obvious the electricity user's next words weren't meant for Izuku, however. "You know it's been a rough week when you're stoked for studying."
"Do your best, Deku-kun!" Half-napping on one of the TV area's couches, Ochaco waved goodbye over an armrest.
Izuku traded indoor slippers for a pair of high-backed scarlet sneakers and exited the dorm.
"Midoriya-shounen!" the emaciated form of Yagi Toshinori greeted, already waiting on the porch. "I heard you wanted to talk with me about your quirk!" The retired hero started walking, motioning for the younger kid to follow. The fanboy fell into step beside his idol, the two actually talking about strength quirks as they walked (just not One For All). When they got well away from the Heights Alliance building, Midoriya finally burst at the seams.
"So what did you find?" The words were whisper-quiet, anxiety not enough to quell the intelligent boy's good sense.
All Might answered loudly, laughter in his words, "Yes, we ordered the new fighter drones! You'll have your chance to try out aerial combat soon, but you have to be patient!" The man's sunken blue eyes cast about and the protege took the hint, spying one of the new security staff—Raptor, his hero-obsessed mind idly supplied—watching from behind an evergreen.
The two continued to the main campus, their conversation now having mostly to do with manipulating air pressure.
Passing between the white pillars supporting UA's entrance, Toshinori badged Midoriya and himself through one of the three brown doors. The hallway lit up, motion sensor lights emphasizing the stark emptiness of the space. When the door closed behind them, the gaunt hero sighed heavily, the exhale turning into a wet cough.
"Sorry about that, Midoriya. Kocho-sensei has asked that the faculty be very careful with information regarding Hagakure-san's disappearance. The less people that know details, the better."
"All Might." The words were watery as Izuku's chest tightened. The number one hero trusted him enough to share a closely kept secret.
A skeletal hand reached up to clasp Midoriya's shoulder amiably as the two shambled into an elevator. "You really need to learn to control those tear ducts."
Vision blocked as he wiped his leaking eyes, Izuku felt the hand on his shoulder turning him to face his mentor.
"I have both bad and good news. Kocho-san contacted a search-quirk user from Africa. Tafuta's ability is known for being infallible and can find an object or person anywhere in the world with just a name and a picture."
Something felt off in the way All Might's tone came across, sending Midoriya's stomach into a series of flips unrelated to rising nine floors.
The man shuffled in place and couldn't quite look his student in the eyes, "He found nothing. All he could tell us was that Hagakure and Kamada-san's readings were muffled. He described it as if they existed, but didn't, at the same time. He's never encountered the feeling before."
What did that even mean? Were they trapped somewhere? Was it like being held in one of Compress' marbles? Were they somehow being kept in a pocket dimension? The possibilities were endless.
"Does that mean they're dead?!" Expecting the worst, panic seized the chronic worrier.
"Sorry, Midoriya-shounen." The teacher's head tilted back, and he suddenly sounded very tired. "Tafuta can only see things he looks for as objects. Even if they weren't 'muffled', he still wouldn't be able to tell us that."
Izuku bit the inside of his cheek, determined not to add his thoughts to All Might's stress pile as the elevator slowed to a stop.
The teen snapped back to attention when the lift's doors opened, and Toshinori spoke again, "Now that we've covered the bad news, I do have some promising leads to share. We still don't know who left the energy behind; but we have confirmed that it is indeed a portal quirk, not a look-alike power or machine that spirited the two away."
The dyad exited the elevator and made their way to the faculty lounge, settling on a couch in the far corner. Midoriya sat up straight, too tense to relax back into the cushioned spot.
"The Chugoku team got better readings on the radiation than our team did; and, I can't say that I understood the science behind it, but apparently quirk-made portals create a certain pattern when they deteriorate."
"Do we know if it's the League again, or someone new?" Midoriya asked, unable to hold back the question as his head flooded with thoughts, the deluge washing away a conviction to not interrupt again.
"The signature did not match either the liquid portals or Kurogiri's."
Another portal user? But the power was so rare! Even Izuku's notebooks had nearly nothing on them.
"I still believe it is likely the League, since only major schools are being targeted, but Kocho-san wants us to stay open-minded," the older male explained.
"The only thing that makes sense to me is the League," Midoriya blurted. "Three portal users showing up in Japan all within two years of each other is astronomical odds if you don't add All For One to the equation. It makes the most sense if it's a quirk from a decade or two ago that is just now being put into a new host. I mean, the last time we saw any portal user in Japan outside of the League was eight—"
"Midoriya-shounen."
Izuku startled at his name, and the mumblings cut off.
"Y-yes?!" His teacher gave him a wry look, and a rush of blood heated the kid's freckled ears.
"That's not all." Slouching forward in his chair, Toshinori's gaze dropped and focused intently on the floor as he laced his fingers together in front of his mouth. "The new data gave us one more, very important clue. It looks like we're dealing with an ectoplasm-based quirk. Power Loader and Ectoplasm-sensei are fairly certain of it now that they've looked at the Chugoku data."
"That can't be!" Izuku's mind was racing so fast he felt dizzy. "There's only been three recorded cases in the history of the world!"
That did it. It had to be All For One.
If it wasn't, there was some real Deus Ex Machina horsecrap going on.
Monday, September 10th
6:54 pm
As soon as the announcement had been made about lockdown, the first thing Katsuki had done was reserve training slots at the on-campus gym every day for the next three weeks. If he wasn't so pissed at literally everything, he'd laugh at the stupidity of all those ridiculous extras. It was obvious that the time slots were going to be worth more than gold in the foreseeable future, and there'd been so many open ones when he'd booked.
This student body had scat for brains.
The aggressive male kicked a cement pillar, feeling the jar all the way up his spine despite the black boots of his hero costume taking the brunt of the blow. His resulting grimace immediately turned into bared teeth, and he kicked again. Harder.
No one at this freaking school could do anything right!
Throwing his hands down as fire tore out of them, Kastuki vaulted into the air. Roughly twenty feet up, a tingling, cramping pain flared in the quirk user's right hand, and he squeezed it into a fist, snuffing out the source of propulsion. Ignoring the tremors that started in his left immediately after, the enraged boy redirected his fall, pencil diving at an innocent training dummy across the lot.
The faculty wasn't ever fast enough.
Slamming feet first into the cotton-stuffed armor, the gifted athlete used the resistance to launch backward, catching himself with a handspring as the faux villain snapped off its pole. The boy landed the gymnast's move and pivoted on the ball of his left foot. Muscles bunching, he sprinted at a geological outcropping.
The security sucked at their jobs.
Lifting an arm, Bakugo pulled his costume's corresponding grenade pin. The exposed bedrock exploded in a spray of stony shrapnel, little cuts opening up on the blonde's shoulders, neck and jaw where his costume offered no protection.
That nobody prep got herself abducted.
Gritting his teeth, he screamed, punching a nearby boulder. The rock cracked at the same time as his knuckles. Clutching the break, the boy stood rigid.
And he. He was the worst one.
For all his training, all his work to ensure he'd never feel vulnerable like this again, Katsuki Bakugo had been just as useless as last time.
Monday, September 10th
8:03 pm
Nezu stared down, heart weighing heavy in his chest. It was only the first day since the announcement had been made; and yet, thirteen papers lay spread in front of him, "unenrollment" glaring at the principal in black ink.