Chapter 35: Hunting Sights
As the news of the hopeful U.A. Sports Festival, and the dire, fear-inducing news of Ingenium spread far and wide within Japan, one particular bar in Kamino remained as turbulent as ever.
"So your crumbling league… holds no common goal, or passion to fight for." Stain's snarling voice echoed, as the so-called *leader* of the League of Villains laid at the bottom of his feet, bleeding from his shoulders.
Kurogiri looked helpless, as he was frozen solid, slumped over the counter and clenching his own bleeding shoulder.
All the while, the rest remained vastly incurious.
"Explain…" Stain demanded with the dagger clinking as it descended to his neck. "...How an organization can be of use to anyone, when it is weak at its foundation."
Shigaraki, whined with a tired and intoxicated tone.
"Kurogiri!.." He said. "Take this guy back. Our party doesn't need any crazed, toxic nut jobs."
However, the bartender could only shiver with his head.
"Apologies master, however… I can't move."
Shigaraki's bloodshot eyes ever slightly widened, as one dagger currently inside its sheathe on Stain, started to drop blood from its handle. Albedo couldn't help but scoff.
"Such is the way of savages that only have *one* contingency plan…" He said.
Kurogiri, despite being unable to move, glared at the remark as the tech patterns around the dial flickered, leading to Albedo's eyebrows knitting in the meantime.
Watching the scene unfold, Winston didn't act. But he wasn't ignorant either… He was observant.
"It may be due to his quirk…" He pondered, before turning to his master. "Enoch, sir..?"
However, the gold cloak himself didn't seem to even spare a passing glance, as his hand was on his ear. It was quite disconcerting.
"Sir, we have a bargain to uphold…" Winston approached– right as Enoch's black, void glare turned to him.
"And we will have one, after the fact." He said, reassuring him. "Now, if I may."
Winston nodded, as Enoch put his hand on his ear and secretly muted the sound in and out of his helmet.
"My mind is made up, Enoch. Management of our relations with the allies of All for One will be left to my trusted ally, Sir Cyrus. He's by far the most qualified." His liege stated from the opposite end.
"And I understand the reasons for your decision, my liege–"
"Then, you would do well to respect them." The Forever King cut him off.
Winston saw Enoch's hand clench over the table, as the wood of the table creaked.
"We're finished here, Enoch." The Forever King followed up. "Do not do something to throw away your position at this table."
"I need to forewarn you of this decision, *because* of my position at that table!" He said, unable to prevent himself from losing his composure just a little.
He cleared his throat.
"Quality, Sire, is a measure based on a standard. Which this group has none of." He stated. "A man of his discipline wouldn't bring a group like this together. He would tear it apart."
The line went silent. Enoch could hear his own heart beating, before his king spoke.
"You would claim this, as if you have an alternative?"
Enoch put his hand down from his communicator, and assembled his hands on the bar table before getting up. Winston was left staring at him.
"We are in a society where the word 'Hero' has lost all meaning and criminals only ever chase petty dreams." Stain twisted his dagger, digging into his shoulder and ran ever closer to Shigaraki's neck.
Enoch put his hand back on his ear.
"They can't be disciplined, that concept being gone is more than evident for them. However if you desire order… they must be given chaos beyond their endurance."
He put one hand on the slits of his eyes, as if he's having a headache.
"Thankfully for them, I know just the person to allow them to live it."
"They must all be purged." Stain continued to declare on the other side of the room. "Just. Like. Y–!"
In a fast move of his own, Shigaraki grabbed hold of the dagger. "Hey, now. If you touch these hands, I'll kill you."
Stain's eyes mildly widened, as cracks suddenly appeared on his blade. The cracks grew and expanded both in depth and length. Shigaraki's eyes glowed as an orange-yellow corrosion diluted the metal.
He jumped back, allowing Shigaraki to get up onto even ground with him.
"Conviction? Yeah, maybe I don't have anything grand like that. But if you want desire… It'd definitely be All Might."
Shigaraki's hands opened.
"If this world wants to worship trash like him, I'll destroy their beloved symbol. I'll crush them while they're in shambles!"
Stain shivered as Shigaraki's blood soaked the very shirt he wore, trickling down to drip from his wrists. And when he saw them, his eyes became that much more red… and crazy.
"Hmph… it's been a while since someone managed to put a scratch on me like that. Weren't you ever told to not play with knives maybe? We don't have a healer, you know."
Shigaraki started itching the side of his face. Winston got up from where he stood out of caution. Stain drew another dagger.
"I see." He remarked.
However, after that, he put the dagger back into its sheath. It surprised Winston, however Stain's expression didn't change.
"So." He said. "The goals we have are fundamentally at odds."
Both Shigaraki and Winston paused.
"Huh?" The leader of the league stopped itching.
"However, we seem to agree on one possible front: The present we live in must be destroyed." Stain said.
Shigaraki instead lowered his hand.
"Okay, you stab me only to then spout some nonsense…" He let his arms hang, rolling his eyes as his body also slouched.
"I'm done with this. Go home or drop dead, I don't care which. After all, I'm still the type of person you hate the most, am I not?"
"Yes, you were." Stain placed his other daggers back into their sheathes. "However when a person is near death, their true resolve surfaces."
An increasing seriousness enveloped the bar.
"I was looking for that, and even though what I found is different, it isn't nothing." He declared. "You may not know it yet Tomura Shigaraki, but there is quite the will budding inside of you, a warped sprout of conviction."
Kurogiri finally put his purple smoky hand on the bar table and straightened up. He looked into his own hand. "Huh, I can move again?"
Stain glanced at Winston with the Forever Ninja before turning to the purple warp gate, and then Albedo still working on the table.
"And with the tools at your disposal, there is no telling how it'll bloom." He opened his hands to his sides. "But if you turn out to be a disappointment instead… know that I will take care of you."
Shigaraki put a hand on his wound, and scoffed. "You're going to take care of me?-"
"All I'm saying is that you have quite the ball of yarn in your hands. Spin it well… like your life depends on it."
Shigaraki's eyes narrowed.
"Kurogiri. Send this guy back. Like I said, I don't want any crazies detrimental to the party."
Winston narrowed his eyebrows, and tilted his head. "It's a shame that I can't tell who he refers to."
Kurogiri sweated as he sneaked a glance back to one of the "Audio Only" screens. He still seemed pressed to be resolute, as well as a little awe-struck. "I would have to urge you to please reconsider, Young Master–"
"I'd agree, mate!"
Suddenly another voice cut into the conversation.
A tall broad-shouldered man with a body fully covered in bluish-silver Forever Knight armor stepped forward. From the helmet that only covered the top half of his face, they could see the little stubble under his chin and the missing teeth in his smile.
Shigaraki uninterestedly looked over, before glancing at Winston's direction. "And who is this tank?"
Winston shook his head. "I'm… unsure of them myself."
"Ah, so Enoch's not too chatty about me then." The brute put his hands on his hips. "That's hurtful Goldie… guess we're gonna have a chat once I see that golden calculating muck of his again."
Everyone stayed silent, as the Forever Ninja straightened in recognition.
"Goldie?" Winston thought. "Master E–"
"In either case, for you lot, the name's given to me's Morton. Sir Morton to be all proper and stuff."
From the slits of his helmet, he took a glance at everyone as he circled around.
"Where's Master Enoch?" Winston managed to ask.
Sir Morton soured upon hearing his name still, but answered.
"On some special task of the King, sprout. I don't even know all its niceties." Morton answered. "But I'm 'ere to fill in!"
Lifting his hands, he cracked them. Winston noticed the spikes over the knuckles, and the lack of any sort of weapons over his belt or braces.
"Stain, mate. I agree with the smokescreen. It'd be such a terrible waste to break the band like this." He claimed.
The killer's glare narrowed from under his mask. He let his hands hang around his sides.
"Whatever you may think of it, soldier." His glare stuck on Sir Morton, as the knight in question also circled him. "You can never sail on two boats, no matter how developed they may claim to be."
Sir Morton smirked as his head tilted in amusement.
"You're willing to die on that hill? Then you wouldn't mind a test." He said.
"What do you have in mind?" Stain asked with little irritation behind his tone of voice.
From his crossed arms, Sir Morton pulled out a remote and changed the channel on one of the small analog TV's to the news which aired the Sports Festival footage.
"Ya see, I came here with a lil set of my own orders as well."
Sir Morton looked back as with a bored attitude, Albedo became the one to meet his gaze.
"But now that I see this, I'd say screw it! Let's do both! I'll give you a look-see at how the present crumbles…"
An animated, wild glow unique to him appeared from behind the slits. He pointed to himself with his left thumb.
"... when I'm the one on yer case."
Ben 10: Hero Force
Chapter 35
Hunting Sight
In the meantime, following the days after the Sports Festival ended, the student body were left to their own devices for a little bit to recover.
Some did exactly as they were told, taking it easy for their injuries to pass. Some embraced this as a time for goofing off. After all, U.A. didn't exactly give many chances to its students to do that. And some… took in the feedback of the experience, and looked to hone themselves further for the future.
"Hmph…" Kirishima Eijiro laughed with a closed mouth, grinning.
However, the remaining? Well, they were too busy to do that.
Currently he was riding the extremely crowded subway train, as if he were a can of sardines, to Hosu city all the while looking at his phone.
He took a deep breath.
During their meeting earlier this morning, they had drafted their roles to go after the league, Stain, and the Forever Knights.
"Okay, so we adjourned then." The transforming hero had said. "Yaomomo, you and Kirishima are checking out the alleyway to look for any clues on Stain. I'll check out the Team Idaten offices, and see if there's any tech left from Manny and Helen's stash to find leads about the knights."
"Understood." Yaomomo had nodded her head, while he himself had given a thumbs up.
"You got it, boss man!"
He could feel the nerves getting to him. Even though they had made that plan, Yaomomo had then gotten called by her family.
They needed her to be present elsewhere.
"Yaomomo crossed her heart that she would come around twelve." He muttered, before tensing up. Taking his phone out, he checked for the time. It was eleven right now. "Only one hour…"
He clenched his fist. "Yaomomo. Midoriya. You two both already pitched in."
Inputting the location, the redhead went ahead, steeling his resolve.
"This much… is going to be my adventure."
"There's a spot right there."
"I already see it, dear."
Surrounded by the whooshing wind, roaring plane engines, and rumbling cars, the Tennyson family arrived at the airport.
Sandra, channeling a glow to her eyes, instantly pulled up to a newly emptied parking spot.
"Well." Gwen opened the car door, smiling. "See you in the summer break."
"Yeah, goodbye dear." Carl also started getting up from the passenger seat before glancing at his wife. "Ugh… I can already feel the twelve hour flight."
"Have a safe flight back, you two." Sandra said to them.
"Of course we will." Carl said, before giving a kiss to his wife and getting out. Gwen followed after him.
He leaned on the window. "Goodbye, champ. Be good now."
"Dad, I'm fifteen." Ben waved.
"And that's why I said what I said." His father clapped back.
Ben shook his head with a smirk but opened his door as well, after minding the traffic.
"I'll help with the luggage." he said.
He got outside. The trunk was already open, so he grabbed the bag and put it down.
"Thanks." Gwen said as he set it down. "Guess I really have to leave you be for a while."
"Yeah..." Ben responded. He put his hands on his hip confidently. "You said summer break, right?"
Gwen nodded. "You're thinking we'll see each other before that?"
Ben shrugged. "Oh, you know… I wouldn't doubt it with our luck."
The two smiled… before Gwen lightly hit him in the shoulder.
"Stay safe."
"Trying to." Ben lightly hit her back. "Starting today–"
"Hey!"
The two turned as they saw someone approach them with wide-eyes.
"Excuse me, I apologize, but are you Tennyson from Class 1-A?" The crowd noise at the airport suddenly quieted down…
"Yep, who's askin?" Ben said, only to completely reignite the crowd!
All of a sudden, he was surrounded by fans, telling him good job, fanning about his quirk and his matches–
"Do your best, hero!"
"I will!" Ben gave them a thumbs up, as he barely saw his cousin shaking her head with a smile before leaving.
"The squads have been prepared as per your instruction, Master Morton." Winston announced, as a hologram of the map laid on one of the bar tables.
Along with himself at the front, Albedo, Kurogiri and Stain had gathered around–
"That was hella fast, sprout!" Sir Morton said, slamming his hand to Winston's shoulder, knocking the air out of him by accident.
Stain leaned forward, his hands assembled behind his back.
"I'll be charitable." He turned to Sir Morton. "Your plan certainly holds the element of surprise."
"However, heroes are known to be resourceful." Kurogiri raised his hand, intervening himself.
He had much more dread in his voice, as that hand raised up to his neck brace… where there was a blast mark.
"Given time, it's very plausible they could catch on in time–"
"As in exploit one of the numerous assumptions and risks of what you call a plan." Albedo rolled his eyes.
He paced back, before stopping and turning in front of them all.
"Seriously it's not ingenuity they have, it's foresight that *you* lack." Albedo faced Stain. "You're wasting time, considering their offer."
Stain's eyes widened ever so slightly, whereas Sir Morton pursed his lips and Kurogiri's yellow slits couldn't help but narrow.
"I would watch what I would say, Albedo." Kurogiri clapped back, as he turned to look at another table.
A slim and sleek device laid on there, made up of dark gray bands and metals.
"May I remind you that half of this plan… is actually in service to you as well."
Albedo however disappointedly shook his head.
"It's in service of both of us, human." He assembled his hands. "And our agreement is only based on sharing of resources. I never claimed to be in support of your ideology, your… corruption."
Leaping off from the table, Albedo landed next to his device. He let his four fingered hand slide across it, as the glimmer in his pupils quivered… while looking deep into its circular center.
A center which had the design of an hourglass.
Winston watched as the frog picked up his fabled device with a frown, and hearing his accusations, he couldn't help but shift around his place uncomfortably. He sighed–
"Don't be a worrywart, sprout!" Sir Morton's voice instantly snapped him out of it. "It's gonna be like takin candy from a lil squirt… just hunker down your ass and watch us go."
Hearing that, the squire gulped, before nodding diligently. Sir Morton then clicked a button on the braces of his armor, and teleported away.
"Man, I'd kill for a smoothie right now." Jetray thought. As the villains did… probably something evil behind their backs, his and the team's plan was in full swing.
Now that he dropped Gwen off at the airport, he could go and do his part… if only getting there wasn't a little bit of a problem.
"Maybe I could have taken the bus instead." He thought. His appropriate instincts had activated since this was a Plumber mission, but he forgot that this place was a lot stricter with quirks than his hometown.
And flying fast to obstruct himself wasn't going to work quite as effectively in broad daylight.
"Then again though…" He reflected on how Gwen's farewell back to America went. "I also put myself in a hell of a pinch with all the fame."
He facepalmed, before going back to flying between buildings.
"Ugh… whatever."
He swerved to the right, and did a flip, before landing in a green flash back in his human form.
Ben walked out onto the street. "It should be around here anyway."
He took a look around, and almost instantly he saw an electronics shop with TV's on its display window. And even though they were scrolling through many channels, including the news, yesterday's festival was still on there.
"Man, even the Superbowl doesn't make that big of a splash in the states." Ben couldn't help but laugh. As amazing as it was, it also felt a little insane. "Guess Mr. Aizawa wasn't too far off the mark when he compared it to the Olympics."
After a bit of walking, and being recognized by onlookers, he then arrived. A high-rise building with a glass facade, a plaza surrounding it from all sides, and most importantly, the word "INGENIUM" plastered on top of it.
"Okay." he thought to himself, and remembered Yaomomo's limo. "I wonder who's the richer one out of the two."
Then again though, there was also Todoroki who was the NUMBER 2 hero's son, so…
In either case, even in the plaza there were so many other heroes of different shapes and sizes. It just made him wonder what kind of organization there was, WHAT KIND of organization could manage all these sidekicks!?
"Man, how fun would it be to work here…" He thought. "Team Idaten, huh."
But… as he took more of a look at it, the glamor of it kinda died down.
Now that he had a second look, he also noticed something very minimalist around it. Besides the plaza, the only thing left to see were the parking areas for bikes and the entrance of an underground car park.
Sure it was cool and tall but, more importantly, it was functional.
"I'll make mine more complex looking." He smirked and put his hands on his hips. "In due time–!"
"Hello, Tennyson."
Ben almost jumped, as someone very familiar had just tapped his shoulder.
With her straight teeth, long dark hair that was styled into plaits, and black eyes in the shape of ovals, there was no mistaking her. It was Enigma!
"Hey, Enigma–"
"Or would you prefer, Water Hazard?" She blatantly stated, and instantly all of Ben's self-confidence went out the window.
"I see that hearing this has made you nervous." Enigma then stated the obvious.
"Yeah… Yeah, it did." Ben raised his hand to the back of his neck– before she just walked to the building!
"Hey!" Ben followed after him, putting his hands together. "Umm… now, Enigma, if you could please hear me out–"
"Why so?" she asked, going through the rotating door along with him. Ben sweated.
Ah… Her expression wasn't changing, but he had a real good guess about how she was feeling thanks to his own crew. She was probably angry with him, and considering that she now knew he wasn't a pro-hero…
His eyes went to the security guards inside, with badges on their chest and guns on their hips, they then looked at him in response. The most grim thoughts went by–
"Oh." It clicked in her head. "Is it because you believe that I've informed others?"
Ben's nervous face, along with his entire body, then just suddenly stiffened.
"Eh?" he uttered.
"Oh. Was that not it?" Enigma followed up with a finger under her chin.
"Y-Yeah!" Ben looked back at her. The security guards then stopped looking at him at the same time. "How!.."
He realized his tone was still a little loud, considering all the eyes he was attracting. Instead, he covered his mouth and spoke normally.
"I thought this kind of info would be shared, especially after the Sports Festival."
Enigma stopped at the currently empty reception desk, and so he stopped with her.
"What happened?.. Or is it some kind of secret info that you can't say." He asked, before raising his hands. "Not that I *want* to be arrested though, you know."
She assembled her hands behind her back.
"No, I suppose I could tell you." she said, once again very bluntly. ""After the said event I brought the report about you directly to my boss, Ingenium. At the time, he ordered the charges of illegal quirk usage to be put off, due to the agency increasing their focus on another operation."
"Five bucks says it had something to do with Stain." Ben thought to himself.
The news were quite extensive in their reports. There was a massive team-up between the Team Idaten agency, Fat-Gum and Best Jeanist to put Hosu in complete lockdown, and finally capture him.
"If the knights hadn't intervened, or the league…" Ben gritted his teeth, and clenched his fist–
"Are you okay?" Enigma asked, snapping him out of it.
"O-Oh." Ben said, opening his hand as an embarrassed expression manifested on his face. "Sorry."
"It's fine." she said, before continuing. "In either case, since then, that decision has not been overturned, and none of the people that were involved with the said event have submitted a complaint. So, currently, there is no one charging you and hence, no action taken against you."
"Somehow I can think of a couple of people that surprise me." Ben thought, taking a sigh of relief. "But, it's no time for what ifs."
Crossing his arms, he looked up, glad that his future was still safe!
Enigma's expression remained deadpan though.
The receptionist then arrived. One of the Team Idaten sidekicks, Onemu Shinya. A drowsy young woman with short, slightly curly hair and horns, wearing a mini dress with long funnel-shaped sleeves.
"Hey, Enigma. What do you want?" she said sleepily.
"Uh… I was looking for the Records room."
The receptionist sidekick sighed.
"Third floor." she pointed to the elevator. Enigma nodded, and went on her way–
However, Ben didn't let her.
"Wait." he held out his hand after her. "What about you?"
Enigma turned around.
"What do you mean?"
"Uh…" Ben's eyes glanced at the receptionist. Even if she was sleepy, he didn't exactly want to discuss a sensitive topic like this in front of her.
"Oh." The realization hit Enigma like a mild punch from a kindergartener. "You mean why I didn't charge–"
"Yes, yes!" Ben waved his hand, preventing her from finishing that sentence.
"Hmm." She put a finger under her chin. "Oh, because the decision hasn't been overturned."
Even though she only ever seemed to have one guise on her face at all times, Ben could swear that the following words held reverence and loyalty.
"It was Ingenium's decision to do what he did. And… I may not know what he was thinking, however going behind his back is not what a teammate would do."
Ben backed down.
"Was that it?" she asked blankly.
"Yeah." He responded, and raised his hand to wave. "See you later, Enigma."
"See you…" she mimicked him, only to look at her hand. "Wait, you didn't respond to my earlier question. What would you like to be called?"
Ben laughed.
"Tennyson, of course." he said sheepishly. "Or Ben, whatever you want."
"Okay." she said, and then waved. "See you later as well, Tennyson."
Enigma pressed one of the buttons of the elevator, and to her luck, one of the doors instantly opened. The inside was crowded, but she still managed to squeeze in there before the doors closed.
Ben lowered his hand.
"Man, that's one I really owe you, Ingenium." he thought, as that glee he got from meeting back up with Enigma, added even more fuel to the fire that was burning inside.
"Hey." The receptionist then called out to him. "Welcome to the Team Idaten offices where teamwork becomes the dreamwork, what would you like to ask?"
Ben turned around, still keeping his smile on the outset.
"Let's see here…" He thought. Now, Grandpa Max liked hiding his Plumber stuff where he lived, the Rustbucket. Some place where he could easily reach them if needed.
By that logic, Ingenium should have been doing the same. However, unlike a Plumber who had been retired for most of his time… it wouldn't be his house where he kept his stuff.
"Umm, could you tell me where's the bathroom, please?"
The receptionist rolled her eyes.
"Down the right corridor, you should be able to see the sign."
"Thanks." He said, and started walking there.
Midoriya had told them what he heard of Ingenium's past, and nothing he heard was probably this inspirational.
Iida's brother wanted to fulfill the Plumber directive, help aliens and humans alike, referring to it as being heroic in just another medium.
So… why denote two different bases?
"The answer, you wouldn't." He thought to himself, before entering the bathroom. Thankfully, even in a building as crowded as this, it was empty.
"Let's not waste time." He said, quickly throwing himself into a stall without locking the door, and reached for the Omnitrix's dial. "A building where you're leading a hero agency, AND where you're the boss? Yeah, no, there's definitely a secret room around here somewhere."
He turned the dial, taking a look at the holograms one after the other, but clearly looking for something specific.
"Either on the top floor, next to the office or…"
He stopped, landing on the hologram he wanted.
"...underground."
Slamming it down, a green flash enveloped his body!
As his body was brought together, his skeletal system rapidly started to slim down, and his skin hardened, turning black with blue patching running along his body, as four dark-blue moth-like wings and wing-folds grew out from his back.
They wrapped around him as a robe, while the clothes vanished off his body and further icy cyan patches appeared on his body. His five toes combined into two with another toe coming out from his heel bone. As his fingers also combined, his face lost some serious features.
His nose submerged into his skull,and as his eyes became fully green with further darker spots; his teeth elongated and merged into four, making his default expression a frown… all the while the dial appeared on his chest.
"BIG CHILL!" He opened his arms, shouting with a deep and raspy tone as his body's features faded.
Becoming only a blue silhouette of his features, the moth submerged into the ground, phasing through it.
"Yessss!" Even his thoughts had the raspy tone to them. But he couldn't find it in himself to care, as he was literally flying full speed through solid ground!
"Thank you, Todoroki!"
Earlier that day, during the car ride from the airport to home
"Chill? That's it?" Ben asked into his phone, as he drove shotgun next to his mom.
"Yes." Todoroki stated, and… Ben found himself waiting for an explanation that didn't come.
So, he asked.
"Why?" Ben uttered and the answer, though it was delayed from the fire and ice user's end, sank into his stomach like a stone, instantly.
"Because it was going to be my hero name."
The transforming hero's jaw dropped. As his mother stopped at the red light even she saw fit to ask.
"What happened, Ben?"
He however, didn't answer and listened instead.
"I was only going to use my right side in hero work. So I wanted to pick something far from my father's flames." The fire and ice teen continued. "Chill, was the first one I wrote down."
"And… You don't want it?" Ben asked, apprehensively.
Yet again, the answer was delayed.
"No." Todoroki said, and this time it was his turn to wait.
"Are you still there?" he then asked.
Ben looked at himself from the side view mirror, and a smile was clearly plastered on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, I am." He said. "Thanks, I'll use it."
Though his head then tilted.
"But… do you mind if I added a little more flare to it? " Ben raised his hand, as he looked down, and opened and closed his hand, mimicking explosions or fireworks. "Something with magnitude. Like, something that'll make people say: 'Oh, it's the so-and-so hero!' You know?"
He then closed one eye, and waited for Todoroki with a bated breath–
"Big Chill."
The deadpan answer had caught him fully off-guard, making him unsure on whether to deadpan himself or laugh.
"That would have more magnitude, right?" Todoroki then asked.
Ben chose to laugh under his breath.
"Yep." He answered. "Yep, it would. Thanks for indulging me."
"No problem." Todoroki answered, as the call then came to an end.
"Who were you talking to, Ben?" His mom asked, and with his chest swollen with pride, he answered.
"A friend from school."
Big Chill looked around with both eyes peeled.
"Gotta find that secret room." he thought. Too bad he couldn't scale the entire building, as Big Chill didn't have the invisibility that Ghostfreak had…
But, if it was underground, the second he did find the room and then the terminal from Manny and Helen's base, accessing it would be a cinch for Brainstorm.
However, as his gaze was locked onto below, looking for any signs of concrete or a room… he would miss the underground electrical wires above him, as well as the sparks that came out of them.
Right across from the street of Midoriya's household, the same lightning bolts emerged. Rising up from the phone lines, they went to the top of street lights… only to pause and linger.
Any of the onlookers who noticed the surge either ignored it, or reached their phones to report it in.
However, before they could do so… the electricity moved yet again.
Waving as some of his fans had seen him, Eijiro smirked–
*Brrrrrrr!* *Brrrrrr!* His phone vibrated. It was the map app.
This was the place.
"Oh hey!" He crossed the crosswalk, before arriving…
"The alley where Yaomomo and Tennyson's cousin fought the knights." He thought as the entrance of it was now free of the police barriers and cars it had on the news.
It… actually looked quite serene. Kirishima took a deep breath, and basked… before turning around.
People were going in and out of buildings, walking on the street, laughing and going about their day… like a pro hero hadn't been put into hospital a day before.
And not a normal one either, an ex-Plumber who fought–
"Wow, this is just so surreal." Eijiro put a hand on his red hair. He wasn't exactly expecting the world to be on fire, but still, stopping for a second to take in what he knew over a vast amount of the population… it still wowed him.
He shook his head.
"Enough sightseeing. Time to get to work." He checked his phone again. Forty two minutes remained.
Sneaking between the buildings and slipping under the black&yellow tape, he arrived before the real version of the grounds.
An absolute wreck of a place. Both the walls had cracks and dents scaling all over, the floor was an absolute tripping hazard with how much of the gravel had been cracked or ripped out.
"Makes sense they'd clear out this fast. I mean, between the knights and Kevin, there wouldn't be that much left to stick around for."
Hence the place had sort of been cleaned up. At least some of the rubble, and old garbage containers were taken away in place of new ones just next to where the tape was.
He smirked nervously. "I won't just find a treasure map to the knight hideout, will I?"
Now that he saw it, there was no doubt. It would definitely be a blessing and a half for Kevin to be here, or Yaomomo.
Both of them had more of an eye for detail anyway, so he could have left all the work to her, and it would probably lead to the same result anyway!
However, Gwen was quite clear this morning before she left. He wouldn't go too far off the handle, but only at the cost of letting him do things on his own.
"Him and Tennyson didn't have the best kind of bonds, so I… guess I get it." Kirishima thought to himself.
And, even if he had them… that wouldn't be in spirit.
He crouched down.
"The goal's to solve this knight problem by the root, but… if I can make any kind of headway by the time Yaomomo gets here and begins… then it's going to be worth it."
He steeled himself once more.
"The last thing I'm gonna do… is regret I didn't do more!"
Not seeing anything noteworthy, he leaped back onto his own two feet!
There weren't any manhole covers or anything of the sort at the passageway here, between the two buildings. So, he turned his gaze up.
"What about topside? If I'm remembering right, the two had a bit of a chase…"
Hardening his fingers, he stabbed them to the wall, and climbed up to the roof. Instantly running to the edges, the first thing to do was checking the surrounding buildings.
However, there was still no dice.
"The police hadn't skipped out on anything, did they!? Man…"
Whatever blood that was splattered by either party had been most likely examined, photographed, and cleaned up afterwards.
"Damn." Eijiro muttered between his teeth, before going back and giving the alley a birds-eye view.
Even though he had the heart, it didn't change the fact that he was short on some enhanced senses or just some extra hints on what to look out for.
"Okay…" He pressed on both sides of his head. "I'm up against an alien hunter group in medieval armor. I just… have to think like… one of them, right? Is that how it works?"
Closing his eyes, he attempted to put himself in their shoes. Holding a high-powered laser gun, wearing that heavy armor, teleporting in and out of locations…
"Hmm…" He mused, before his eyes snapped open with glee. "Got it! I just have to look for something out of the ordinary!"
There was only thirty one minutes left on the clock but putting his hands on his hips, he straightened up–
…Right before a jolt suddenly passed by his face!
"What?!" His arms hardened instantly. "Who's out there?"
It felt as though the wind whooshed behind him, so he turned… and saw sparks coming out of one of the air conditioning units.
"Okay, that… That qualifies."
Wearing caution on his sleeve, he approached it. "Gently…"His hardening allowed him to withstand electricity a little better than other people, but it wasn't by much and it still stung.
All of a sudden, the bolt flew out!
"Huh–"
Kirishima crossed his arms, and leaped out of the way. It swerved, and went into an antenna, supercharging it instead.
"Okay…" He took a nervous breath, before getting up. "Maybe a bit more gently…"
He approached the antenna slowly which clearly had the source now, but… this time he saw the electricity crackle more intensely. It was looking to jump again.
So, he took a step back.
The wild electricity then calmed down.
Eijiro tilted his head. "Interesting…" He thought about what Yaomomo would do now. If anything, she would experiment.
So, he looked around. With his hardened hand, he pulled out a piece of stone from where he stood, and tossed it. The electricity didn't react one bit.
"Hmm…"
He tried tiptoeing, but the electricity erupted.
"So, you…" Eijiro spoke outloud. "It's for sure now, it's reacting to something about me, but what–"
He attempted to cross his arms, only to realize that his arms were still hardened like stone.
"Oh."
He relaxed his arms. "Okay, I'm now unarmed, dude."
Kirishima held up his hands to the sky. As he stepped forward, the electricity didn't fidget.
"That's it." He felt giddy, now he was getting somewhere–
The bolt of lightning suddenly shot forward again–!
However this time he stood his ground, even though his feet had hardened and clenched the ground for dear life.
It went up, circling his leg… only to completely vanish. But he could still hear the crackling. Ever so lightly, something tapped on his right shoulder.
Feeling his heart jump, Kirishima took a deep breath, and turned.
To his surprise he saw nothing–
*Ha ha ha ha ha!*
…only for the lightning to appear from his left!
"AH!" He screamed, right before a static laughter hit his ears. The bolt materialized midair into two one foot tall, black and cylindrical creatures with yellow accents, three fingers on each hand, and pointy legs.
"Huh?"
Both of them were pointing at his shoulder and laughing with closed eyes, clutching their stomachs. Taking a second, Kirishima realized how they suckered him.
"Oh, ha ha ha… You got me." Eijiro laughed a little.
One of them stuck out their tongue and blew. They had to be children… with mutant quirks and stuff, right?
"They're a little far from the nearest cul-de-sac though."Kirishima tilted his head, before shrugging. "Oh, whatever. Okay, little dudes… *buzz off* now."
He opened his arms. "Big bro here kind of needs the field to work."
The two battery creatures then landed in front of him, still smiling with wide glowing eyes. Kirishima decided to humor them.
"Because you see, big bro is looking for not just anyone. He's looking for the scary of the scary, the coldest of the cold…"
Both of the batteries, intrigued, sat down with their three fingered hands on their faces.
"... The warriors in armor! Called the Knights!" He raised his hands, and jumped up as if he exploded!
But the batteries remained calm… and just gave him a nod.
*Bzz.*
"Huh…" His enthusiasm died down, as his hands also lowered. "And here I was thinkin that'd get a bigger reaction. Man, you are tough."
*Bzz! Bzz!* The two creatures got up, and put their hands together.
"Woah!" Kirishima jumped back as they charged up and blasted the ground. However, this didn't feel like any prank.
The redhead watched… as they seemingly carved out a shape. Once they were done, the two of them started jumping. They first pointed to it, and then him.
Eijiro on the other hand, couldn't believe his eyes. What was carved on the ground… was an hourglass symbol inside a circle!
"Tennyson?.. You guys know Tennyson?"
The two looked at each other, and while one gave a 'so-and-so' sign, the other crossed its eyebrows and waved its arms angrily.
"No?" Kirishima tilted his head. "So, you don't know hi–" He stopped himself. "But you dudes gave me an answer, so you recognize the name."
The second one nodded with anticipation.
"Which means…" Kirishima followed his train of thought, even though he could feel the smoke coming out of his brain. "You were just trying to tell me something else."
The second battery jumped with hands in the air, confirming him. Redhead smirked. "Now, it was time to figure out what that is…"
"Kirishima!"
His ears perked up. Quickly getting up, he looked down. Wearing a blue cardigan, black patterned shirt and black skirt, Yaomomo had just arrived!
She put her hand next to her mouth. "Where are you? Please give me a sign!"
Eijiro could hear desperation in her voice, but he beamed instead. "Up here!" he called out, raising his arms. "Perfect timing!"
Hardening all his body, he gestured to the small batteries before leaping down on the ground.
"Kirishima..!" Momo shielded her face, as Kirishima kicked up all kinds of dust. Once it settled, she saw him landed on his knees.
"Geesh, you know that's bad for your knees."
Kirishima got up, and brushed off the dirt. "Not if your knees are hard as bricks."
She shook her head exasperatedly, and in disapproval, before sighing.
"Thank goodness." She muttered under her breath.
"In either case though…" Kirishima checked his phone. He still had sixteen minutes. "What are you doing here ahead of schedule?"
Her eyebrows went up. "Oh. Right."
She reached into her purse, and took out her… state-of-the-art smartphone and pressed its side. The screen that showed up however was almost pure static.
"It started about ten or fifteen minutes ago… I thought this may be an attempt by the knights to disrupt communications–Ah!"
Suddenly the phone itself lit up with yellow electricity, shocking her hand and making her drop it as from its charging port, another battery creature popped out.
*Bzzzz!*
"Who… What were you doing inside–?" Yaomomo got on one knee curiously, as suddenly the same static sound came from the rooftop.
Two more of the same creatures waved, before quite literally, bolting down to their level. The three of them cheered for each other. After picking up her phone, Yaomomo confusedly turned to Kirishima. He knew that was his cue.
"So basically, I came here early to do a bit of my own investigation on the place. These guys… happened to find me instead and they're trying to tell me something."
She nodded in understanding, and so he continued.
"The first thing they did was draw the Omnitrix symbol, and then point between me and it. I tried guessing Tennyson, but that's not it. It's something else."
She put a hand under her chin.
"I figured they had watched the sports festival." Kirishima opened his arms. "What else could it be?"
As she gave it some thought, her eyes widened almost instantly.
"Plumbers?.." She uttered. Simultaneously, the batteries started to point at her in affirmation.
Kirishima turned to her, and she responded plainly.
"Magister Labrid had a badge with the exact same symbol. And they were pointing at you… for which *we* were made into honorary Plumbers."
Kirishima's eyebrows raised, as it clicked.
"Oh… but, how did *they* know that?"
Yaomomo's expression went blank, before the two turned back to them. One out of the three put its hands around its eyes, as if it were shading them from the sun.
It clicked for Yaomomo again.
"They could have been watching us." She said, before letting her mind run again. "You mentioned the sports festival. They must have seen Tennyson's Omnitrix dial there."
"And if they saw us hanging around Tennyson, they could have put two and two together."
"They could have even seen our morning meeting." Yaomomo mentioned, and the three batteries only got more excited, nodding their heads enthusiastically.
One of them put their hands on their wrist, mimicking turning and slamming motions, while another put their hands around their head and let their eyes glow.
"That's the Tennysons." Kirishima thought.
The three then put their hands under their chins, before they snapped. One of them held out their hand with two fingers put together. As they then flicked, the other jumped back, as if they were knocked away.
"That's Midoriya." Momo pondered.
One closed his fists, and suddenly raised his hands before lowering them as if they armored up. All the while, one of them picked up a pebble before crossing their arms. It then channeled electricity next to its elbow, before dropping it from the same place.
"And that's us." They said at the exact same time.
Yaomomo assembled her hands, before getting back up.
"I suppose the question now is: 'What is exactly their reason for contacting us?'"
Kirishima however looked into their eyes, and with as much enthusiasm as they had… he could also see one wincing, tensing up every time they looked at him and Yaomomo.
"No." He put his hands on his hips.
Yaomomo turned to him.
"That's not what Crimson Riot would ask." he thought. "The question is why they haven't contacted us so far?"
Unlike her, Eijiro got on both knees. "What's got you and your group shook up?"
The small battery closed its mouth before putting its hands together again for another blast. This time Yaomomo got to witness it.
Drawing itself was no better than a stick figure, but it got some main figures across. Based on the two curls on the circle that passed off for the head, they could tell that this person was a girl.
Other than that, the frown with the jagged teeth, triangles for eyes and then the wider, lankier limbs gave off an uneasy air. As if there was fury, simmering anger.
Lastly… as that specific one finished the five fingers on the hands, the other two then finally pitched in and added the last details.
Two more lines extending off from each hand. Lines which didn't quite click with either of them.
"What are those?" Kirisihma asked, pointing at them.
The three looked at each other, before they gasped and– vanished from sight.
"Hu–"
"Kirishima, dodge!" Yaomomo screamed.
Almost instantly, the sound of clinking armor reverberated in his ear.
He threw himself to the side, right as Yaomomo rolled behind the garbage container!
The laser hit the gravel in front of him.
"Who…" Kirishima shook his head, only for his pupils to shrink as he turned and saw three Forever Knights–
With light and space distorting, more of them warped in.
"Obstacles sighted!"
Barely getting up, Yaomomo pulled her cardigan's sleeve back and created her staff. Kirishima on the other hand armored up.
"Forever Knights?!"
Drawing their swords and equipping their guns, they surrounded the two teens!