Chapter 49 - Goodbye

Bakugou and Kirishima pushed the doors open, Todoroki standing just a pace behind them as the glass panels swung inward.

The lobby was a tall, two stories with dark stone tiles that reflected back the white ceiling. Four large pillars ran from left to right, providing support to the high room. A set of marbles stairs snaked along either side of the back wall, coming together at the top of the first landing, a railing separating the spaces. At least a dozen cameras were focused on the various angles of the foyer.

The moment Todoroki's foot tapped on the stone entryway the room became an ice rink. Four villains were instantly immobilized.

CRACK! Three... three villains.

A giant man, easily eight feet tall was pressed against a stone pillar. His jacket ripped along its seams before falling to either side of his swollen frame. Buttons popped from his shirt. Every muscle in his body was pulsing and growing. The ice around his feet and legs cracked before he kicked forward with his left shoe. The shattered pieces scattered along the slippery ground and knocked against your boot. He roared, a deep throaty sound that ricocheted around the open foyer.

Fuck. Well, there goes our stealth.

"Shouto thaw the floor. Red, Zero take 'em out," you ordered as you started to shatter the cameras closest to the door.

"With pleasure," Bakugou growled before leaping forward and releasing a torrent of explosions on the large man. Kirishima barreled into the giant's swollen torso, his skin fully hardened, delivering hit after hit.

With the villain under control you moved further into the lobby, snapping more cameras from their hooks with your tendrils.

"[y/n]!" Yaoyorozu's voice pulled you from your task and out of the corner of your eye you could just see the shine of sliver swipe past your head.

A knife?

You dodged and pushed a smoke screen toward the blade. The outline of a person emerged within the haze. Invisible? Or camouflaged? With no time to figure it out you set the wisps ablaze. The shape buckled to the floor and screamed, dropping the weapon.

You sucked in the smoke and fire and found a weedy little man huddled in a ball on the ground. His skin was already trying to match the color of the slate grey tiles. You walked toward him and stomped on the back of his neck with an exhale.

"Creati?" You motioned for her to provide sometime to tie him up. You released your foot and flipped him over, flames dancing at your fingertips, ready to release as you leaned down to whisper to the man. "Where's your boss?"

He spat in your face.

WHY YOU LITTLE...

Suddenly a sheet of ice cocooned around his prostrate body. You whipped your head to see Todoroki glaring at the man. Cold puffs of air emanated from the chameleon's mouth and his lips turned blue. You knew that feeling but didn't feel a hint of sympathy as you wiped the spit from your cheek and mask.

"Where's your boss?" Todoroki's calm voice was rather unnerving in the present situation, with a man at his mercy and a full explosive beat-down occurring no more than fifty feet away.

"You heroes make all our lives a living hell. He'll win. He'll win and it'll all be new. It'll all be-" You stepped forward and sent a none-too-delicate heel to his head, ending his ramblings.

"Guess we'll have to figure it out on our own," you huffed. Todoroki thawed the now unconscious man and motioned for Yaoyorozu to pass him the rope she'd produced. She took a shot of olive oil from her hip flask to keep up her lipid levels. Eww.

A loud thud boomed from over your shoulder and you spun to see Kirishima holding up a hand to Bakugou in the hopes of a high five. The giant man was down, his face flat against the tile with a large crater shape below his knees and torso from the impact of his fall. With a roll of his eyes Bakugou slapped his palm against his best friend's. Kirishima pumped his fist.

"Who's next?" Kirishima's voice echoed in the tall lobby.

"We are." Every head swiveled up to the first-floor landing. A wall of a dozen guards with pistols and rifles were aimed at you.

Before you could even think to react a wall of ice rushed forward blocking the barrage of bullets that echoed around you. You ducked low to the thickest part of the wall and saw Bakugou dive behind from the corner of your eye.

"Now what do we do?" Kaminari's eyes were wide.

"Red Riot." Kirishima looked at you and smiled. "Go have fun." He ducked out from behind the ice and started sprinting up the stairs, stray bullets ricocheting off his hardened skin.

"Why does he get to go?" Bakugou snarled as you held him back.

"Because he's bulletproof you idiot. Creati, riot shields?" Yaoyorozu nodded and started pulling a sheet of aramid composite from her torso. Once it was roughly four feet long, she stopped production and handed it to you, clearly tired.

"Here you go GZ. Go join your buddy. Shouto and I will cover you." You winked at Bakugou and he grinned wickedly, grabbing the shield and sidestepping around the corner. Bullets immediately started bouncing off the armor.

You gestured for Todoroki to take the right flank so he could use his ice while you peered around the left and sent a pillar of smoke into the face of one of the villains. He was caught off guard and rocked back on his heels, his shots flying up into the ceiling. With that small opening you saw a flash of red before the villain flew over the railing and onto the hard tile below.

***

"Have you seen anyone since we left the city center?" Uraraka's voice was quiet as she and Tokoyami ran along the strangely deserted streets.

"No. It's too quiet," Tokoyami replied. The only sound either of them could hear was the faint shriek of Jirou's blasts from several kilometers away.

"The Hero Association building!" Dark Shadow swooped down from the sky. It had been acting as a lookout, scouting for stone figures. Uraraka and Tokoyami both stared at each other for a heartbeat before making a sharp right and heading toward the HA building.

Of course! There would be so many heroes together in one place! The villains must be overwhelming the building!

A kilometer later Uraraka and Tokoyami stood before the massive HA tower, a forty-story building that housed several hero agencies along with the HA governing body. Stone bodies littered the concrete surrounding the base of the building, heroes and police officers making their rounds on a normal Sunday evening.

The breath caught in Uraraka's throat and she could feel anxious tears prick her eyes.

"C'mon," Tokoyami beckoned in his deep, serious tone. Uraraka steeled herself and followed his dark form as it rounded a small boutique. He placed earplugs into his ears and passed a pair to Dark Shadow. It has ears? Uraraka shoved her hand into her pocket, her fingers searching for the waxy buds before popping them into her own ears.

Tokoyami placed his phone into Dark Shadow's hand and sent it toward the closest statue, a young-looking police officer who had been frozen mid-step. The noise screeched around the plaza and heads snapped at the sound.

"Oh no. They're all going to come over here!" Uraraka bit her lip as a wave of villains marched toward the sound. Tokoyami ordered Dark Shadow to lay the phone on the ground by the statue and retreat so as not to give away their position.

"What the hell is that?"

"What's that noise?"

"Who cares! Let's just keep smashing!"

Angry voices came closer and closer. Could they take them all on? There were at least two dozen large, scarred men, and a few pissed off looking women barreling toward the phone. Uraraka took a deep breath and flexed her fingers, hoping she could touch them all before they reached the statue. Tokoyami too looked on edge and was about to release Dark Shadow.

"Thank you for rounding them up." Uraraka looked up as Aizawa bolted from behind a stone wall and out onto the plaza, lowering his goggles to his eyes and gripping his scarf.

"Sensei?"

"Erasurehead..." Tokoyami's voice almost seemed upbeat as he watched your homeroom teacher take down villain after villain while keeping his back to the statue, ensuring no one damaged the body. Tokoyami swept from behind the boutique and into the plaza, sending Dark Shadow into the swarm of arms and legs, fresh tentacles, walls of wood and shards of steel emanating from released quirks.

Uraraka's eyes snapped to the young officer. Cracks were appearing all along his body, chipping off chunks little by little. The sound was working.

***

"Take this and see if you can break anyone else out of the statues," Uraraka instructed the officer once he was free. After a brief moment of realization, he grabbed the flash drive she held in her right hand and bolted out into the night. Uraraka exhaled as she watched him go.

"What do you two think you're doing out here?" Aizawa's voice snapped her from her thoughts and she turned around to see her teacher marching toward her and Tokoyami, a mess of bodies littering the plaza behind him. He pulled his goggles down and she could see how heavy his breaths came.

"[y/n]... I mean Cinder said this sound could break everyone out of the stone. We didn't know how many heroes would be effected so we came to help." The meekness was gone from Uraraka's eyes.

"You're all out here?" She could almost see the exasperation in her teacher's expression but a hint of relief as well. They would need as much help as they could get.

"Yes," Tokoyami spoke, scanning the plaza for more villains. "Most of us are on the streets but Cinder went to the broadcast tower to try to stop the Hacker directly."

"Of course she did." Aizawa put his head in his hands for one moment before looking back up at his students. "Please don't tell me she went alone."

"She took Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Kaminari, Kirishima and Bakugou with her," Uraraka answered.

"Midoriya?"

"Haven't heard from him." Uraraka's heart tightened with worry. "We haven't heard from anyone. We can't use our phones or coms or anything else. They've all been hacked."

"Do you have more of that sound?" Aizawa set his palm out in front of him.

"You should have it in an email from Kaminari. He and Jirou sent a link to the entire UA list serve." Uraraka showed the blue link on her phone.

"You should know I would never open a link sent by Kaminari," Aizawa said blandly before pulling his own phone from his pocket and opening the file.

"Here. Cinder made hard copies too. Pass it on to someone you save." Tokoyami dropped his flash drive into Aizawa's hand. He nodded solemnly.

Suddenly the muffled noise of Jirou's speakers got louder. The trio turned their heads toward campus. Aizawa's lips quirked up.

"Mic..." He shook his head, knowing that side of town would be in good hands. "I'll handle the rest here. You two go find the nearest hero agency or police station and break out as many people as possible." Uraraka and Tokoyami nodded in unison before running down the adjacent side street.

"Be safe."

***

You were all panting as you made it to the top of the landing. The twelve gunmen were down and had been stripped of their weapons. Kaminari tied them up and pushed their slumped bodies into an empty office. Bakugou snapped off the doorknob.

"Where now?" Todoroki asked thawing his right side so the icy chill wouldn't set in. You jerked your thumb over your left shoulder toward a directory sign.

"Control room is on the fourteenth floor," you coughed out, hands still planted on your knees, the extensive use of smoke making you just the slightest bit lightheaded. You stood too quickly and felt yourself rock but your back knocked against something firm. Looking up you saw Bakugou's taut jawline.

"You okay?" he whispered down to you as your other friends headed toward the stairwell. You turned and saw bullet grazes on his biceps and forearms, likely from when he lifted his arm to send out an explosion from behind the shield.

"I'm fine. You're the one who-" You pointed at the wounds.

"I can't be worried about you here. If you're not able to..."

"Katsuki, I'm 100%," you said, determination gleaming in your [e/c] eyes. He nodded and the smallest smirk touched his lips.

"Alright, then stop being so damn slow." He kissed your forehead and grabbed your hand before dragging you toward the stairs.

***

You climbed staircase after staircase, breaking every camera you saw.

Floor 4.

Floor 7.

Floor 9.

"This must be the end of the main building." Yaoyorozu paused your party with a gentle hand as you came to a thick metal door.

While the main part of the building had been large and rectangular, filled with office spaces, the tower was a steep, circular structure with stairs spiraling along its exterior and machinery filled rooms populating the center.

"So?" Bakugou growled behind you.

"It looks like you need a key-card to enter," the dark-haired girl stated running her fingers over a lit pad.

"You want me to bulldoze it down?" Kirishima slammed his fists together, ready for another round.

"No," you said quietly.

"Blast it?" Bakugou smiled.

"No."

"You can't fucking pick a lock like that Ashtray," Bakugou hissed.

"I don't plan to," you snapped back. "Chargebolt, can you zap it?" You fluttered your lashes at Kaminari, eliciting a stupid grin from the boy.

"What's the magic word?" He bounced his eyebrows at you playfully.

"Murder." Bakugou locked eyes with the sparky blond and nudged his chin toward the key-card pad.

"You guys are no fun." Kaminari pressed his hand to the pad and a small hiss of smoke emanated from the shorted wires. The locking mechanism popped and Todoroki took the handle. The door flew open before he could pull it back.

A young, lanky girl with curly, shoulder length green hair blocked the way. The sudden flash of bright light from the open door forced you to avert your eyes to the floor for a quick moment.

"Hello heroes."

You started to raise your head but noticed the stony feet that surrounded yours.

"Or should I say goodbye?"