Midoriya boomed across the hall, green arcs of lightning crackling in his surroundings.
From his left, Pop*Step came rushing out as well, carrying the baseball bat in her hands, her single eye behind the mask planted on the gun in Wolfram's hand.
Her sudden appearance had not only shocked Midoriya, but also the Villains — especially because of her get-up.
White lab coat? Black clownish mask?! Dr. Blessed?!!
Yet, the long hair and… obvious curves hinted this person being a girl! Just what was going on?!!
Wolfram, unlike Midoriya, instantly guessed that this was one of the students' attempt to distract him using Dr. Blessed's appearance.
Still, it didn't matter to him if there was one more of these kids here.
With alarming speed, he put his hands on the floor and used his Quirk to create a massive wall of metal between him and the two kids in a fraction of a second.
On the other hand, Midoriya gaped as he looked at Pop*Step from the corner of his eyes.
Who was she? Why was she dressed as Dr. Blessed?! Why had she been hiding all this time, and how?!!
Questions were numerous, but Midoriya didn't have the time to contemplate them. Using One For All's Full Cowling, he had thrown himself forward with so much momentum that he could barely stop himself now.
Not to mention, behind the wall of metal, Wolfram could shoot Melissa anytime.
It wasn't the time to let questions hold him back, regardless of some unknown person's appearance.
Pulling back his hand, Midoriya punched the wall with a massive BOOM, denting the entire structure.
The force behind the blow was so much that it sent Pop*Step rolling backward.
Behind the metal wall, getting punched and dented by Midoriya, Wolfram frowned, creating dozens of more walls around the first one, reinforcing the structure.
Midoriya instantly gave up on pushing his way through the wall.
Like an electric blur, he shot up, landed on the ceiling, and kicked it to go around the many metal walls instead.
In two swift moments, backed by 12% of Full Cowling, Midoriya landed near Melissa, lifting her on his shoulder.
Just as he was about to take her away, though, a massive pillar of metal landed on him. It was like a small train had hit him head-on, sending him flying.
Caught in the attack, Melissa was thrown away as well, her body rebounding against the metallic floor.
"Melissa!" Midoriya shouted.
Letting out a shout, he launched himself toward her.
Bang-Bang!
Two bullets went past Midoriya's ears, forcing him to change direction.
As he kept blurring left and right at high speed, Wolfram kept firing at him, but failed to actually shoot him.
"How boring…" the underling standing behind Wolfram commented. "… We are getting late. If you don't finish it soon, I will leave you here…"
"Tch!" Wolfram tsked with annoyance. He threw the gun away, lifted a passed-out Dr. David on his shoulder, and put his other hand on the floor. "Don't get carried away… kid."
Crrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The entire hall shook.
Under the horrified gaze of Midoriya, uncountable pillars of metal sprouted from all directions, randomly slamming here and there, destroying everything.
"Melissa!" Midoriya shouted. "Go for…"
With a BOOM, dozens of metal pillars landed on him, pinning him down on the floor, making him cough out blood.
One of the randomly fired metal pillars went for Melissa as well. However, just as she watched it coming to flatten her with wide eyes, Pop*Step grabbed her and pulled her back, both barely making it out alive.
"Who are you…?" Melissa asked the masked girl.
"Go to the Control Room and reboot the Security System," Pop*Step hurriedly said. "It needs a password of some sort…"
On the other side, taking care of the nuisances, Wolfram spat and picked up the suitcase. "Let's go…"
Just as the Villains left, Midoriya blasted his way out of the metal pillars and landed on the floor.
Every inch of his body hurt, and he could barely breathe, his hands and legs shaking as he tried to get up.
"Deku!" Melissa came running toward him and helped him get up.
"Melissa, are you… alright?" Midoriya, noticing the blood trails leaving the Storage Hall.
Melissa nodded, looking over her shoulder. "She saved me… Eh? She was there…"
But as Midoriya looked in that direction, there was no one to be seen anymore. Suddenly, his eyes landed on the blood trails leaving the Storage Hall.
"I am going after them!" Midoriya declared, gritting his teeth. "You…"
Melissa nodded. "I am going to the Control Room."
As Midoriya and Melissa left and went in opposite directions, Luke finally left a corner spot he had picked to avoid the random metal pillars from flattening him.
He found Pop*Step hiding behind another pillar, her entire body covered in bruises.
"Do you agree with me now, Ms. Pop*Step?" Dr. Blessed asked. "Even after I let you go, you couldn't change the outcome…"
"I couldn't just stand there and see that girl getting killed!" Kazuho snapped, her nostrils flaring as she stood up. "You want me to have these … powers… to fight against All For One and those THINGS… But this is important, too. You can't expect me not to help the ones in need right in front of me just because there's some danger that we need to deal with in the future."
Luke let out a sigh behind the mask. "We have little time," he said "All Might can come anytime now. Before that happens, let's go to the roof and deal with…"
"Cough…"
A bloody cough, followed by a grunt, suddenly attracted Luke and Kazuho's senses.
Pop*Step rushed to the spot and stumbled back, gasping at the sight.
When Luke walked next to her, he eyed the scene, his eyes narrowing.
On the floor, with his left leg crushed by a metal pillar, was Sam — Dr. David's assistant. If that were all, then it would have been fine. But the right half of his face was mangled as well, as if…
"… He got shot…" Luke observed, remembering Wolfram's indiscriminate firing.
"Help him…" Pop*Step said, her voice quivering. "We need to save him…"
Dr. Blessed shook his head. "We don't have time," he stated flatly. "He is barely on his last breath…"
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter