Days passed, and the deadline given by the League of Villains ended.
To ensure they wouldn't suffer unnecessary interruptions and to simultaneously mock the Heroes, Ragdoll was demanded to walk by herself to the outskirts of Tokyo, in an area clear of buildings and any obstacles that the Heroes might use to hide.
The Wild Wild PussyCat remained alone at all times, unarmed and wearing nothing but her Hero costume.
She walked with a calm stride, placing her trust in the other Heroes and the plan devised by the boy she had observed during the camp. She didn't have better options in any case.
The air was warm and dry, the sun threatened to leave marks on her exposed skin, and the tension mounted, accelerating her pulse. Professional Hero or not, she had dedicated herself more to rescue than to pure, raw combat.
If things went wrong, she would be surrounded and defenseless. Regardless of her experience, Ragdoll... No, Shiretoko Tomoko was still human, and she had no desire to lose her life, her life.
Did that make her selfish? A bad Heroine? She didn't know, and she preferred not to know the answer.
Her mind returned to the task at hand, her current mission. She was the bait, she was the starting point, the beacon.
Special capsules floated among her gastric juices, while a tiny, imperceptible device lay attached to one of her teeth, a touch away from completing its task as soon as she was dragged to wherever the Villains would take her.
She had to concentrate, she had to be fast. The time window was limited, and a second of delay would mean the failure of the operation and potentially the loss of three lives.
For ethical reasons, she decided to ignore the update to her suit, which was supposed to ensure her survival at a later time, should she need it. She suspected she would.
Finally, her thoughts and worries were interrupted by a blot of darkness that appeared a dozen meters from her position, dancing ominously in the air.
Mist, the villain who had the convenient ability to transport himself and others, and whose range was unknown. It was clear that he would be the one to come for her.
—Good morning, Miss Ragdoll. It's fine weather for a stroll, don't you agree?— the villain greeted in a formal tone.
—Where is Sero Hanta?— the PussyCat asked with a severe expression, with no intention of chatting with the Villain.
—...Of course. Once you are secured, we will release the boy. You have my word— Kurogiri nodded, extending a hand to the Heroine.
Ragdoll rolled her eyes, not believing a word the Villain said. Still, she walked toward the portal obediently, preparing her tongue to activate the device at the right moment.
Kurogiri observed every one of her movements, as well as the surroundings in search of threats or foul play. The last thing he needed was an ambush in which he was defeated, being a key piece for the League of Villains.
But Ragdoll showed no signs of resisting or anticipating anything. Tetsumaru's plan did not involve an ambush at this point, nor a surprise attack on Kurogiri. It wasn't even intended to prevent her from being taken hostage; quite the opposite.
Without further thought and certain of his victory, Kurogiri allowed the PussyCat to step through the dark gate, entering himself an instant later and closing it.
As soon as Ragdoll felt the change in the air and more than half of her body passed through the dark gate, her tongue moved like lightning and activated the device, unleashing a rapid pulse of data in almost no time.
Thanks to the time the League offered for the PussyCat, extremely costly and high-tech preparations could be made, so advanced that Ragdoll herself didn't fully understand the process.
She only knew that she carried a Quantum Transmission Implant in her body, whose emission speed far exceeded that of any radio frequency. It was fast enough to activate before the Villains' countermeasures took effect.
A single signal was sent before the special Nomu blocked any further output, but that first pulse was enough.
Back on the outskirts of Tokyo, a few kilometers above the position where Ragdoll was kidnapped, Tetsumaru and the Professional Hero Hawks waited with cold expressions for the report from Principal Nezu.
Thanks to UA's vast wealth and given that it was their student they had to rescue, the institution and Nezu himself disbursed funds to finance this operation.
In the days leading up to this exchange, Professional Heroes and police officers were deployed across Japan's main Prefectures and Cities, along with a series of complex receiving devices, called Zero Frequency Detection Nodes.
The idea was for Ragdoll to act as a beacon, emitting a signal that would be picked up by one of the deployed Nodes, giving Tetsumaru a much smaller area to fly over and track with his Satetsu, that sand and the residual chakra in it being the only emission source that the Nomu couldn't completely block.
But of course, this was still a difficult gamble for most of those involved to accept. After all, no one could guarantee that Ragdoll would be taken to the same location where Sero and Pixie-Bob were being held.
Only Tetsumaru was confident, because although he didn't remember the city where this incident occurred in the original work, he was sure that the bases were close to each other.
At the very least, in the same Prefecture. But of course, it wasn't like he could explain this fact with logical reasons to the others, so he had to convince Nezu and Ragdoll to put their trust in him.
In the end, no one had a better idea, and no one else had the Satetsu or the Magnet Release.
Tetsumaru silently crossed his fingers, wholeheartedly hoping he hadn't made a mistake. Otherwise, this would be a real disaster.
And while the shinobi began to sweat coldly due to the lack of information, the communicators that he and Hawks were wearing suddenly crackled, with Nezu's voice squeaking a name in their ears.
The signal was received, the city identified, and the forces began their mobilization.
—Oh, look at that. You were right, little friend— the winged Hero commented with a smile, extending a hand to Tetsumaru.
Reluctantly, the shinobi stored the sand they were floating on into his seals and allowed himself to be carried like a princess by Hawks.
—Be fast. I can tolerate high speeds— he urged the Hero in a serious tone.
—I'll take your word for it— Hawks nodded, flapping his wings and rocketing away with Tetsumaru in his arms toward Kanagawa Prefecture, to the city of Yokohama.
At the same time, the available Heroes in that area were alerted and prepared, while all the remaining ones began the journey with renewed determination.
Inside the UA facilities, All Might was notified of the general location, and the residual energy of One For All flared up again, his battle spirit gradually increasing.
Yagi Toshinori's hollow eyes shone with the iron will of the Symbol of Peace, more than willing to give his all for the values he believed in.