After a long climb down through the tunnel, they found themselves atop a snow-capped mountain, albeit Sora didn't feel the slightest chill from it.
" As expected, it's all an imitation and can't reproduce the real coldness of snow…" she mumbled, holding a handful of it. " More importantly…"
She looked up, unable to glimpse the slightest sigh of the green head who presumably reached there before them. Could it be that he dealt with whomever or whatever erases the Quirks by himself?
She didn't have time to ponder on that much for the next moment, the ground disappeared from underneath them, and they found themselves spiraling down through another tunnel.
When they stopped, thankfully with the snow that dropped with them softening their landing, they found themselves out in a completely different place. A city with the statue of the fake All Might above them.
" How did we…" Just as she struggled up, her eyes landed on the woman clad like a witch. She looked down at them as if she had been awaiting their arrival.
" Welcome."...
—-------------------
" You called it, baggy eyes," Bakugo muttered as he unleashed his explosions relentlessly at the wall Yuu just pointed out. " The last boss is indeed here!"
They stepped into a large room with a throne at the center and several hologram screens showing other rooms and hallways of the underground maze.
"Huh! What!" The man occupying the throne looked back and forth between them and his screens. " You made a shortcut? How? Why didn't I see it?"
Sato patted Yuu's shoulder at that. " Finding the blind spots for your cameras was child's play for him."
Yuu returned the gesture with a small smile.
" That doesn't explain why you managed to make it to here?! How did you know which way to go? This is a maze!" He jumped to his feet and turned to them, flinging his staff angrily in the air.
" Dungeon Adventures," Yuu stated calmly, and the man flinched. " I knew something felt familiar about this labyrinth. It was made with Dungeon Adventures' maps in mind."
" Such an old video game… how do you know of it?"
" I used to play that game a lot with my uncle when I was a child. It was his favorite. Still playing it from time to time even now. I've memorized every floor map of it."
" You think you can break the rules and ruin my perfect game?! What do you think entertainment is?!"
Bakugo had no intention to listen to the nerds talk, so he pulled the seal of his gauntlet and unleashed his annoyance at the poor man. " Cheating is yet another part of the game."
Yuu merely gave a lopsided smile at the blonde's relentlessness.
They snapped when a hole appeared underneath the villain, and he fell through it.
" Well done!" Dark Might's picture appeared on the screen, clapping, this time clad in the white tux they had seen in the broadcast. " But that was just the first act of the show!"
As if on cue, more monsters morphed out of the walls, surrounding them.
" Now this is cheating. We already cleared the game." Yuu clicked his tongue.
" I won't mind an extra level," Bakugo shot off with an eruption…
—-------------------
Where… Am I? Sora looked up at the scenery before her. It was of the countryside, green fields extended before her eyes, the grass blades swaying with the gentle breeze, and the sky bore no hint of clouds.
Sora stood still, allowing the wind to ruffle her hair. She was clad in a summer dress, and a large hat protected her from the bright sun.
" Sora!" She looked back as someone called her name, only to see a man with blue eyes and long hair tied into a low ponytail walking up the trail towards her. He bore a wide smile and held up a watermelon. " Let's go eat this with your grandma."
Sora's lips pulled into a large smile as she sprinted down towards him, tackling him into a tight hug that almost made him fall back. The man laughed, patting her back. " Let's go, dear."
The girl looked up with bright red eyes at her father and nodded. He took her hand, and side by side, they made for the large traditional house waiting for them with her grandmother sitting on the porch, burning some incense and smiling at them…
—-------------------
Unbeknownst to her, outside of her peaceful dream, Anna had grabbed her hand in hers, and red flowers bloomed all around them. The woman with the witch hat smirked in satisfaction as a red rose manifested on Sora's hair…
—-------------------
Sora munched on the red fruit and leaned her back, admiring the sky. Sitting there, with her father and grandmother on both sides of her, enjoying a summer day without a worry in the world.
How peaceful and heartwarming it felt.
She didn't know what she had been doing before this, but she didn't think it was of any importance to her by that point.
She only wished to stay that way. She thought as she held onto Yui and Subaru's arms, pulling them into a hug as if they might disappear any moment.
—-------------------
Meanwhile, Midoriya and Giulio, who had just caught up with them, were too entrapped in a dream induced by the witch woman. She took one glance at the man who had been chasing them so far and held a hand up.
Sora stepped towards the man, eyes unfocused. She unfurled her wings and grabbed him by the throat, almost strangling him as she flew off the ground, pulling him in tow till his feet found no perch.
It was then that his eyepatch moved up, revealing the mechanical eye beneath it.
If a dream-induced Quirk affected the mind, then it probably had no effect on the support items he was wearing, and using them, he might actually shoot the witch in real life.
But that's only if it could locate her. Sora's large wings doubled as a shield against that very strategy.
And the man would eventually meet his end at her hand.
—-------------------
" Sora…"
The girl looked back at her father as he smiled down at her clinginess and patted her head. " Sora, Angel is…"
" Stop! Sora!"
The girl's eyes widened slightly as she heard Yuu's voice and looked over her shoulder.
Was she… supposed to be there?
" Angel is…" she looked down, gritting her teeth as she willed her mind to struggle, to fight, to grasp reality. " A Quirk to help everyone!"
—-------------------
The girl's eyes snapped into focus momentarily, and she let go of Giulio. The moment he dropped to the ground, he immediately shot the witch in the shoulder.
And it seemed as if she had woken up from a long nap.
She looked around, grappling to understand what was happening around her.
She saw Bakugo and his team standing at the entrance of a hole he blasted in a building. Yuu, by his side, breathed a sigh of relief.
It was really Yuu who called out to me.
The red-haired man, Giulio, pointed his arm-rifle at Anna, only for Midoriya to deflect it before he could shoot.
Not that it would have hit anyway, Sora could tell that much.
It was then that Anna and the witch floated into the air, as though pulled by some invisible force. Up on a balcony that manifested in the sky, a short man stood, gesturing with his hands as if pulling something.
" Oh no, you won't!" Sora shot off towards him.
" Bakugo-san!"
" Don't order me around!" Bakugo blasted forward.
Giulio continued to shoot as well, but all of their efforts were thwarted by a force field that slowed them all down while the other three, unaffected, dived behind the balcony's doors, which vanished immediately.
The slow motion was revoked, and Sora and Bakugo almost ran into the wall while Giulio's bullets ended up punching holes in it.
" Giulio-san-"
" Why!" The man rounded on Midoriya, as if he wanted to direct all of his frustration and anger at him. " Why did you interfere! That might have been my only chance!"
" Don't you blame Midoriya," Sora stated calmly as she drifted to the ground and picked the picture he had dropped in his rush. A picture of Anna. " You wouldn't have hit her. I could see your aura already. You would have missed eventually."
" Shirogane…"
" I wouldn't! I made a promise!" The man snapped back at her.
Sora took in a deep breath. " Giulio-san, right? I don't know what promise you made or what you're trying to convince yourself. But humans' consciousness and intentions don't work like that. You wouldn't have shot her. You can't shoot her. I can already see it. Not on your first try at least."
The man gritted his teeth and let go of Midoriya. " Giulio-san, when you aimed that gun, you looked like you were suffering."
The man didn't respond.
" In reality, deep down, what you want is to save her."
" Obviously!" The man shouted at the sky. " I want to save her! But it's too late now… There is no option but to kill her…" The man's voice broke down as he staggered and sat on the stairs, apparently losing all hope.
One by one, the unconscious members of their class came to and approached them or tended to the wounded as Giulio explained everything. Who Anna was, her Quirk that allows others to improve or even be altered, how he came to serve under her with his ability to neutralize her Quirk when he touches her with his right arm, and finally, how she was taken by the Gollini family.
Sora looked down at the metallic right hand he sported. " I see. Now that you lost your hand, you can't neutralize her Quirk. So before she loses control, you want to put her at peace."
" Ah…" the man covered his face with his hand and shook with the knowledge of his failure to save his master.
" How pathetic…" Bakugo clicked his tongue in annoyance, which made Giulio snap in his direction. " So you're practically saying you're going for the easy option."
" What-"
" Listen here, you cyborg butler!" Bakugo pointed a finger at Giulio, who had been taken by surprise by the name. " You would never achieve anything with that mindset of yours. You lost your Quirk, so your only option is to kill her? That's the words of someone who already admitted defeat!"
Bakugo's eyes sharpened at that. " I would never accept any half-baked victories. We'll defeat that fake All Might, save everyone here, and that includes that girl. There are a thousand other ways in the world her Quirk can be neutralized. You're not the only one with superpowers."
" 5-0 with no casualties. That's the victory I'm aiming for!"
Yuu could only smile softly as he looked at the other boy. " That's just like you, Bakugo-san."
" Let's save Anna-san," Uraraka said as she stepped over to them. It wasn't a suggestion. It was an affirmation.
One by one, the rest of their class joined in, all of them refusing vehemently to ignore her or go with Giulio's plan.
" That girl still didn't lose control, right?" Jiro asked. " Then she is just another damsel in distress."
" First, let's save her," Mineta added.
" Then we can figure out what to do later," Kaminari assured.
" Even if the chances are too slim…" Todoroki stood up.
" It's too early to give up…" Shoji agreed.
Sora smiled as she walked over to Giulio, handing him the picture he dropped. " Giulio-san, Anna-san is waiting."
" We'll save her, all together." Midoriya urged.
The man hesitantly took the picture, torn between believing in the words of those children or carrying out his own plan...