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Sora groaned and slumped down in her chair, eyeing the clock wistfully. “C’mon, Sukii, can’t you finish this gadget thing next week?”
“Stop complaining; we’re still waiting for Wings and I’m utilizing my time wisely,” they huffed, cracking their knuckles. “I just want to make sure the trigger mechanism isn’t catching on the base…”
Kio looked up from her computer. “I thought you told us the deadline for this one wasn’t until Christmas break. Why so stressed?”
“Well, if I get this one in early, I can get a head start on my next assignment, something Sora would never understand.”
She gasped, faking offense. “How dare you? I might do everything the night before it’s due, but I still get good grades!”
“I’m sure that’s not what they meant,” Kio assured her, smiling kindly.
Sukii rolled their eyes. “No, it was.”
The three were currently in the science lab at Seika Junior High School, going about their usual Friday afternoon schedule. Friday was club day, when Sukii had Young Inventors Club, and their other friend, Katherine, had Quirk Combat Fulfillment Club. Sora and Kio usually wasted time in the library until Young Inventors Club ended, then headed over to hang out with Sukii, and once Katherine was done, the four would walk home together. On this particular Friday, however, Katherine’s club meeting was taking longer than usual.
“What’s Katherine doing, anyway?” Sora asked, sagging onto the floor and lying there. “Her stupid classes are keeping me from beating my high score in DDR.”
“No clue,” Sukii answered without looking up. “You can ask her when she gets back.”
Kio giggled. “Don’t expect her to give you any information. After all, everybody knows the first rule of fight club!”
She was met with silence. Sukii, again, didn’t look up but raised an eyebrow, and Sora gave Kio a bewildered look. “The heck are you talking about?”
“Wait, you guys haven’t seen that movie?” she questioned, pushing her glasses up. “But it’s so good!”
“What’s so good?”
The three turned to see Katherine walk through the door, stuffing her gym clothes into a bag. “Oh, thank the gods, you’re here.” Sora gave Sukii a look. “Can we leave now, please?”
“Gimme a sec…almost done…”
Sora grimaced and turned to Kio. “Help me out here?”
“Yeah, just give me a minute,” she responded, hugging Katherine. “How was fight club?”
Katherine smiled slyly at her. “We don’t talk about fight club.”
Kio beamed as Sora cleared her throat. “Guys, c’mon, it’s almost 5:00. Katherine, work your magic and get Sukii out of here.”
“Alright, alright.” Katherine hugged Sora before sitting next to Sukii on a stool. “Whatcha up to, Mad Scientist?”
They glanced up for a split second. “Oh, hey. You remember blabbing to me about Arrow Rippers a few days ago, right? I’m trying to make an accessory that mimics how they can shoot off their claws—but, y’know, with real arrows and stuff.”
Kio and Sora gave each other a knowing look.
Here it comes.
Katherine nodded eagerly. “Oh, I see. I could get you some books over the weekend that go in-depth on the mechanics of the Arrow Ripper’s claws if you want. That might help the process, right?”
“Yeah, thanks. I guess I wouldn’t want to get too far on this, then…,” Sukii mumbled, looking at their work in progress, which currently resembled a pair of iron knuckles. “The way it is right now gives me room to adjust. I’ll come back to it next week. We should get going.”
They went to put their prototype in a safe place, and Katherine turned to the other two with a smile. She yelped as Sora grabbed her by the collar. “Teach me your ways.”
“What ways?”
“You know what I’m talking about!”
The group made their way to the foyer, waved goodbye to the school’s receptionist, and stepped out into the brisk autumn air. The trees on the sidewalk bristled as hues of orange and yellow flew by in the breeze and scattered under the kids’ feet while they walked the familiar path to Kio’s house, which was the closest. But as they turned onto one of the streets heading home, they were met with yellow tape and orange roadblocks instead of leaves.
Katherine stood on her toes, trying to see over the crowd of adults. “What’s going on? Is it a villain?”
Sukii snorted. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“How are we supposed to get past?” Kio murmured.
“Whoops, sorry!” Sora apologized as she bumped into a man in a suit. “C’mon, guys, we’ll have to take the long way home.”
Once they were away from the crowd, Kio nudged her. “Get anything?”
“Yeah. The boys in blue have closed off that whole block for a few yards,” Sora told the others, tapping her head. “There’s no getting around. Mr. Business Suit is having a coronary about it.”
Katherine looked to Sukii for an explanation. “He’s upset,” they reiterated.
Sora pursed her lips. “That’s what I said…”
“Weird. I wonder what’s going on,” Kio questioned, pulling out her phone. “There’s nothing on the news yet, so it must’ve just happened.”
“In that case, we’re lucky we didn’t leave earlier,” Katherine declared. “Otherwise, we might’ve been caught up in it.”
“Ooh, but here’s something interesting!” she exclaimed. “One of the buildings on that street is Techprism—it’s the big one with lots of windows and the neon sign, remember?”
Sukii narrowed their eyes. “Those guys are one of the top Support companies in the country. My mom just applied for a part-time job there.”
Kio nodded excitedly. “And get this—I just did a search and one of the most recent headlines about them has to do with a huge shipment of photon crystals!”
Katherine looked to Sukii once more, and they quickly explained, “Photon crystals are a new type of power source. They’re really convenient for inventors because they’re small but they pack a lot of punch. One crystal can power 50 blocks of a city.”
“Ah, guys, this is so exciting!” Sora squealed. “What if the photon crystals were stolen?”
“That would make sense. If they’re as powerful as they sound, a villain could sell them or use them to do a lot of damage,” Katherine mused.
“Oh, better yet, what if it was an inside job? Picture this: a suave young lady struts into the office, gets cozy with the boss, and then BAM! She knocks him out cold, breaks the safe, and gets away scot-free with the crystals!”
The other three stared at Sora. “Where did the safe come from?” Katherine asked.
Sora blinked and shrugged. “I dunno. But you’d think something that important would be kept in a safe, right?”
“Well, whatever happened, I’m sure the Pro Heroes will catch up to the bad guys,” Sukii said, waving them along. “Now let’s get home.”
“Yeah. Just imagine the villains thinking they’re totally off the hook and POW! Hawks comes shooting out of the sky like a bullet and takes ‘em all down, no problem!” Sora exclaimed.
Katherine snorted. “Why Hawks?”
“’Cause Hawks is handsome and he’s also the first hero that came to mind. Probably because he’s handsome.”
“Yeah, but he also wouldn’t be anywhere near Musutafu right now. Ingenium is more likely to find them,” she pointed out.
“Or Ryukyu,” Kio added.
Sora and Katherine turned to her, and she sheepishly said, “What? I like Ryukyu.”
Sukii listened as the three girls continued throwing scenarios back and forth and smiled to themself. They redirected their gaze to what was straight ahead, but something in their peripheral vision made them pause. “Hey, what’s that?”
Katherine screeched to a halt, Kio and Sora comedically bumping into her wings as they flapped out. “What’s what?”
They gestured for her to stay back and turned down an alleyway, making their way to a cylindrical, black container lying on the ground. “Uh, Sukii? What are you doing?” Kio asked nervously.
“Look at this,” they mumbled, picking it up and squinting at it. “Whatever’s inside is glowing.”
Katherine walked over and took it from them. “It sure is. Weird.”
“Well, don’t open it!” Sora scolded. “For all we know, it’s a–”
She unscrewed the lid, revealing several canisters of small, light blue crystals. “Seriously?”
“Woah, are these the–” Katherine began.
“Photon crystals,” Sukii interrupted. “What are they doing all the way out here?”
Kio clutched onto the sleeve of Sora’s sweater. “You don’t think the villains were here, do you?”
Katherine looked at her, taking notice of the uneasy expressions on her and Sora’s faces. She glanced at Sukii, and they, too, seemed apprehensive. She looked back at the container in her hands.
Whoever took these is probably still nearby. They’ll retrace their steps once they realize the crystals are missing. If they had to steal them, then I’d guess they have less than good intentions. What would my dads do?
“We found the crystals…so it’s our responsibility to take them back to the police,” she said finally. “But we’ll be careful. We can leave the big container here to distract whoever comes back for them and put the crystals somewhere else.”
“Would your gym bag work?” Sukii questioned, taking the container from her.
“Mmhm!” Katherine turned to Sora and Kio, smiling reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the villains were in a rush. They might not even know they’ve lost the crystals yet.”
Though the two still appeared worried, Kio relaxed slightly. “Whatever you say, Katherine.”
And so, once the crystals were safely hidden in the bag, the four began retracing their steps. The walk back started in uncomfortable silence, each of them watching their surroundings warily before Sora suddenly began talking. “Guys, hear me out—what if the police think we stole the crystals?”
The statement caught Kio so off-guard that she laughed. “Why on earth would they think something like that?”
“Just think! They’re in Katherine’s bag! Plus, that guy I bumped into could testify as an eyewitness!” she rambled enthusiastically.
“I’m sure that once we explained, they’d let us go,” Katherine assured her.
“But what if they don’t? They could stick us in a cell, and we’d have to call our parents—or your dads could break us out! Actually, now that I think about it, I would pay to see Eraserhead pull off a jailbreak operation.”
“Maybe we’d end up going to court and All Might would appear in our favor,” Kio joked, playing along.
Sora’s eyes widened. “You think he would?”
“Not really. He doesn’t know any of us exist.”
“He knows Katherine! Hey, Katherine, do you think All Might would break you out of jail if you asked him to?”
“Well, maybe, but I doubt he remembers me,” she replied. “He meets a lot of people. And after all, the Heroes Gala was at the end of July. It’s been a while.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Kio told her.
“Okay, so the police probably won’t think we did it, but do you think we’ll get an award or something for returning them?” Sora asked. “We could get medals for community service!”
“Or a year’s worth of red bean buns!” Kio exclaimed.
“Limited edition Pro Hero merch!” Katherine added excitedly.
“Oh, you sweet things. You can get all of that if you give us what we want.”
Katherine’s blood ran cold as the unfamiliar, silky-smooth voice filled her ears. Kio and Sora froze in sync, and Kio clapped her hand over her mouth. Somewhere in her body, Katherine’s nerves steeled themselves, giving her the courage to turn around.
There were two villains behind her—one resembled a Minotaur and was holding Sukii up by their backpack, and the other was a woman with a menacing appearance and sharp, sharp, sharp nails, one of her hands clasped over Sukii’s mouth. She smiled sweetly, gesturing at Katherine. “Come now, sweetheart. Hand over the photon crystals and no one gets hurt.”
Katherine stared at the woman, her gaze darting to Sukii. They were glaring directly at her, their eyes pleading with her, “Get out of here!”
What do I do? We weren’t paying attention to our surroundings and got ourselves trapped. Those two are blocking the other end of the alley, and I don’t know what their numbers are.
She glanced at Kio and Sora, holding onto each other like it might be the last time they ever held anything again.
No…I can’t waste time thinking. I have to get my friends out of here safely!
Slowly, Katherine unzipped her gym bag. Sukii writhed, shaking their head furiously at her, but their outbursts were muffled by the woman’s hand. “That’s right, good girl,” she purred. “Hand them over.”
She slipped the bag off her shoulder and rustled through it, taking something out. She threw a textbook at the Minotaur’s eyes and teleported to the woman, striking her in the stomach with a roundhouse kick before she could react. Sukii dropped to the ground, gasping for air, but Katherine barely gave them time to recover before shoving them toward Kio and Sora. “Take the bag and run!” she shouted. “I’ll give you time!”
“Wait, Katherine–” Sukii had barely gotten the words out when a villain with a scorpion-like tail dropped down between them.
Kio and Sora screamed as the villain raced toward them, but Katherine managed to grab him with her levitation, holding him back. “All of you, run!” she commanded, using her other hand to fend off the Minotaur with a shield.
Sukii stared at her, seeing the determined flare in her eyes, and knew they wouldn’t be able to talk her out of whatever insane plan she had concocted—if she even had one. With a clenched jaw, they took the gym bag and grabbed Kio by the arm. “You heard her! Let’s go!”
“But, Sukii–” Sora started.
“No time! We have to get back to Techprism!”
They kept their hold on Kio’s arm tight, too scared that they’d lose her if they let go. Sukii pushed past the people loitering on the sidewalk, earning lots of dirty looks and muttered insults, but they could barely pay attention to anything other than the feeling of the ground under their feet.
Behind them, Kio’s lungs burned. She was sure she’d never run this fast in her life, and though it felt like she might collapse at any second, her legs kept moving, her hands held tightly to Sukii’s and Sora’s, and above all, she kept her eyes focused on the road ahead.
Sora could hear all of Kio’s panic in her head, coming out in a multitude of languages. As overwhelming as it was, her grip on Kio’s hand stayed strong. She wondered how Katherine was doing—how long would she be able to hold off the villains? She was still a beginner, after all, but she was also smarter than most people gave her credit for. She knocked into someone and heard a panicked voice that wasn’t hers or Kio’s. She glanced back—and her mouth went dry.
“He’s following us!” Sukii heard Sora cry. They didn’t bother looking back to confirm, they just picked up the pace. There were still so many corners to turn…could they make it in time?
They almost fell to their knees in relief when they finally spotted the yellow tape again. The crowd from earlier had since dispersed and it looked like the officers were idling around, waiting for something to do.
“Hey!”
They all looked over as Sukii threw the gym bag at the nearest one. “Get a Pro! The villains are–”
They were cut off as Kio did fall to her knees, holding her glasses to her face. Sora dropped down next to her to help, but the scorpion villain caught up with them. “You brats! You’re gonna pay for that! We were gonna be rich!” he seethed, his scorpion tail gearing up for an attack.
Sora shielded Kio with her body as Sukii jumped in front of them, preparing to use their backpack as a weapon.
“OHIO…SMASH!!!”
The wind force of the attack knocked Sukii onto the ground. They sat up, rubbing their head, and their jaw dropped.
Standing in front of them was none other than All Might himself. The scorpion villain was now unconscious and slumping against a wall. Ingenium suddenly appeared next to him, looking over the villain. “That looks like the guy from the witness accounts. Best Jeanist! Kamui Woods! We’ve got one!”
As the other two Pro Heroes ran over to help Ingenium, All Might turned to Sukii, Sora, and Kio, his wide smile as dazzling as ever. “Now, young ladies–”
Sukii cleared their throat. “Uh, they/them pronouns for me, please.”
“Oh, my sincerest apologies, um…young heroes! Young heroes, can you explain why this evildoer was chasing you?”
Kio whimpered, leaning against Sora. “Well, Mr. All Might, it’s a pretty interesting story—crap, Katherine!” the latter exclaimed, smacking herself in the forehead.
Ingenium looked over. “Pardon?”
“Our friend—there were more villains, but she was holding them off,” Sukii explained quickly as they stood. “I don’t know how far away she is, but–”
Ingenium was already gone, yelling: “Kamui Woods, stay with the kids!” Best Jeanist was quick to follow, and All Might placed a hand on Sukii’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. Your friend will be just fine because I am here!”
Then he was gone with the others, rocketing into the sky faster than a bullet. Sukii watched, then grimaced.
You better be, Wings.
…
Katherine blocked punch after punch from the Minotaur man with her shields, dodging each strike with scarily accurate precision for a twelve-year-old. That didn’t mean she hadn’t been nicked a few times in the beginning, but she was quickly realizing that the only real fighting skill this villain had up his sleeves were basic boxing techniques, something she had already mastered. She landed a rare, albeit powerful blow to his chin and he stepped back, shaking his head back and forth.
She had only been able to hold onto the scorpion villain for a few minutes before the Minotaur man started wailing on her shield. She sent a silent apology to her three friends, hoping they had gotten somewhere safe. In the meantime, she was relentless with her attacks, even though her arms had started aching several minutes ago and the taste of blood in her mouth hadn’t gone away.
The clawed woman leaned against the wall, watching the fight with disinterest. “Come now, Ushi, I know you’re stronger than that,” she chided. “You’re not planning to lose to a child, are you?”
The Minotaur-man shook his head. “I know it must look humiliating, but when I took this job, you told me it was just a heist! I can’t fight a kid, not for real. Besides, this one knows her stuff!”
The woman rolled her eyes and pushed him aside. “Fine. Luckily for you, I’m not held back by such trivial values.” She then turned to Katherine, who had taken a moment to catch her breath, a sweet smile on her face again. “Us girls have to do everything by ourselves, don’t we?”
Katherine glared coolly back, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. “Oh, come now, there’s no need to be hostile. After all, I’m sure your mother is wondering where you are,” the clawed woman stated. “Don’t you want to go home to her? Or would you rather she hear about this incident on the news?”
Katherine’s eyes widened. Her gaze dropped to the ground, but she held her stance. After a moment, she spat out some blood and looked back at the woman, her eyes brimming with tears. “Mamá is dead,” she hissed. “And she was killed by people like you!”
She teleported behind the woman, activating her strength enhancement quirk. The villain was quicker though, and she grabbed Katherine’s neck, pinning her against the alleyway wall. She gasped as she felt the woman’s sharp nails against her throat. The clawed villain stared at her coldly, again looking disinterested.
“Pity. And here I was hoping I wouldn’t have to mar that pretty face of yours. Well, more than it’s already been.”
Katherine stared back, then closed her eyes, gritting her teeth.
Come on, One For All…do something amazing already!
“MISSISSIPPI SMASH!!!”
She was suddenly wrenched from the clawed woman’s grasp and into another’s arms. Katherine immediately grabbed her neck with one hand, activating her healing power, and wrapped the other one around whoever was holding her. “Woah, don’t worry, you’re safe now,” Ingenium assured her.
She looked at him, then glanced at her surroundings, seemingly puzzled. “Heaven is…being carried by Ingenium?” she mumbled. “Really?”
He laughed. “Flattering, but you’re not dead.”
“Young Katherine!”
Katherine perked up at the familiar voice and beamed when she saw All Might come out of the dust cloud, holding the Minotaur man by the back of the neck. “You seem to have gotten yourself into quite the scuffle!” he noted.
“You know her, All Might?” Ingenium asked.
He nodded, ruffling Katherine’s hair affectionately. “We met at the Heroes Gala. She’s Eraserhead and Present Mic’s daughter. Jeanist, you remember Young Katherine, don’t you?”
“I do,” he answered, stringing up the clawed woman. “How on earth did you get yourself wrapped up in this?”
She smiled awkwardly. “Dumb luck?”
“Well, you can tell us all about it while we get you patched up,” All Might stated. “Let’s get a move on, everyone! We have duties to fulfill!”
…
“I don’t remember eating like this after my first encounter with a villain,” Best Jeanist stated, watching amazedly as the four kids chatted excitedly about the fight like it had been nothing more than a part of their schedule.
Once Katherine was reunited with her friends, All Might thanked them all for their bravery and asked if there was anything the Pros could do to show their gratitude. Sora and Kio made very reasonable requests—a phone call to their parents and maybe a chaperone home—while Sukii had asked for one of the photon crystals and Katherine made a comment about craving boba tea.
So, now they were in a café, waiting for the parents to come and pick the kids up. All Might and Ingenium were sitting with the kids while Best Jeanist and Kamui Woods watched the door for any straggling villains who were part of the plot. Katherine picked at her bandages as she described the incident to All Might, and Sukii smacked her hand. “Stop doing that! You’re gonna reopen your wounds!”
“I’m not reopening anything!”
Sukii glared at her, but just as they opened their mouth to scold her, a red sports car came screaming to a halt in front of the café. Katherine immediately got up, smiling brightly. “Oh, hey, that’s my dads!”
“Good luck, babe,” Sora said, taking a sip of her boba tea. “We’ll be praying for you.”
“Glad it’s not my parents,” Kio agreed.
On cue, Hizashi burst into the café, Shota behind him, and both still in their hero gear. “Where’s my baby?!”
“Our baby,” Shota corrected, but Hizashi paid him no mind.
Katherine ran around the table to them, hugging Hizashi tightly. “I’m right here; I’m fine!”
“You’re sure? Are you hurt? Did you lose any limbs?” he questioned worriedly.
“Nothing too serious. All limbs are intact! Including the extra ones!”
Hizashi sighed with relief. “Oh, thank the gods. In that case, you’re grounded.”
She stared at him, then chirped indignantly. “What? What did I do?!”
“Are you kidding?! You tried to fight a bunch of villains! I think that’s reason enough to ground you!”
“I didn’t ask them to attack us. And I’m not hurt.”
Shota raised an eyebrow and poked her bandaged cheek. “Really? What’s that then? And the bruised knuckles? And what happened to your neck?”
“They’re flesh wounds,” Katherine refuted, “I didn’t get badly hurt.”
Hizashi gave her a look. “They’re still wounds!”
Her wings bristled crossly, and she felt a hand come down on her shoulder. “Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Yamada, I get why you might be upset with her, but if it wasn’t for Katherine holding them off, Kio, Sora, and I might not be standing here right now,” Sukii pointed out.
“Yeah, Katherine saved our lives!” Kio turned to All Might and Ingenium with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. You guys were cool, too.”
“No apologies necessary!” All Might stood up and approached Hizashi and Shota. “What the young heroes say is true. If it weren’t for them, the photon crystals might’ve made it to the black market, and then we’d have an even bigger mess to clean up. I don’t think that mandates a punishment, does it?”
Shota and Hizashi glanced at each other. “Y’know, he makes a good point,” Hizashi mumbled. “We didn’t really think that far ahead.”
Shota grumbled to himself, then pointed at Katherine. “Fine. You’re off the hook. Just don’t make a habit of this, okay?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
As the dads and All Might moved to further discuss what had happened with the others, Katherine turned to Sukii and beamed. “Thanks for that, babe.”
They shrugged. “No worries. You did save our butts, after all.” They grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and pulled her in closer. “But the next time you pull a stunt like that, I’m not gonna play defense for you.”
She pouted. “You’re so mean to me…”
“I’m not mean, Wings, I’m stern. You’ll appreciate that one day.”
“Whatever you say, Mad Scientist.”