--Friday, July 24, 2172
"Kai-shonen, I'll try to help as much as I can, but we need to investigate this seriously. It's possible that All for One is still alive. I'm entrusting David and Melissa to you." As Kai pondered, All Might spoke in a solemn tone. Kai snapped out of his thoughts and responded calmly.
"Leave it to me. Stay alert for any clues."
The Symbol of Peace nodded and shot into the air. At that moment, two pitch-black Nomus appeared in front of him—one resembling a human-elephant hybrid and the other a feminine figure with a long appendage instead of hair. The female Nomu aimed the appendage on her head at Kai, unleashing sharp, rocky formations that sped toward him at high velocity.
"Kai-san!"
Melissa called out in fear and tried to step forward, but at that moment, Salem appeared in front of her, growling with authority, preventing her from getting closer. Meanwhile, Kai, with a calm expression, began to walk forward at a calm and steady pace, dodging the sharp rocky pillars of the female Nomu with minimal movements. The pillars grazed past him but caused no damage whatsoever.
At that moment, the elephant Nomu descended from the air, encased in a bone exoskeleton, poised to deliver a powerful blow to Kai's head. Shocked, Melissa couldn't breathe as she watched Kai, who continued walking forward with a serene stride. But in that instant, Melissa saw the tip of Kai's sword shift.
As Kai took another step, as if by magic, the sharp rocky pillars and the elephant Nomu in the air were suddenly sliced into finely cut cubes. Seeing the massive, terrifying Nomu fall to the ground in a rain of blood, Melissa covered her wide-open mouth with her hand in disbelief, while the female Nomu's eyes widened in pure terror.
Frightened, the female Nomu attempted to leap backward, but as she did, her head was sent flying through the air, and her lifeless body collapsed to the ground. As the head of the Nomu distorted into an expression of sheer disbelief and terror mid-air, Kai turned to look at Yumiko, Keiko, David, and Melissa, speaking in a calm tone.
"Let's keep moving."
"Let's go."
Keiko couldn't help but lick her lips seductively as she looked at Kai, her voice melodic as she spoke. David nodded and began walking with Melissa, visibly astonished as he commented.
"You're truly impressive, Kai-san. I didn't expect someone as young as you to have such strength. With power like that, you'd be among the strongest heroes in the world."
"I'm not going to be a hero, but thanks for the compliment." Kai replied calmly as a blushing Yumiko and a seductive Keiko approached him, and they all began walking toward the hotel.
…
…
…
"Hurry, run!"
In the middle of a street, a young man dragged a woman along as he ran at full speed, passing by Nomus tethered to the ground by the containment cables of robots. But as they ran, a squad of two flying Nomus and three ground-based ones charged toward them, tearing apart the surrounding robots.
"No!!"
In an instant, one of the Nomus extended a hand at terrifying speed, aiming for the young man, who froze as he saw the danger closing in. The woman screamed in terror. But at that moment, a red blur passed in front of the man, and soon a loud metallic screech echoed, followed by a shockwave spreading in all directions.
"Stay behind me!"
Amid the confusion, the couple heard a masculine voice speaking English with a strong accent, prompting them to look closer. They found a shirtless young man with red hair and metallic, rocky skin. The man quickly nodded and took the woman into his arms. At that moment, a yellow electric flash shone to his right.
In panic, the man turned to look, just in time to see a blond young man dressed in black leap forward, surrounded by electricity, landing squarely on the robust monster in the center. As the electric sparks around the young man intensified, he announced with a wide grin on his face.
"Two million volts!!"
With the young man's announcement, a brutal electric explosion occurred, paralyzing all the monsters on the spot. At the same time, a beautiful pink-skinned young woman in a tight purple and turquoise suit sped forward, skating along the road at high speed.
"Acid Shot!" As she advanced, the young woman announced energetically, acid bullets shooting from her moving hands.
With great precision, the bullets struck the heads of the monsters, melting them into nothing as the blond young man performed a backflip to avoid danger. As the defeated Nomus fell to the ground and new robots rushed in, Kirishima turned to the couple and spoke loudly in English.
"Follow the robots to safety!"
"Thank you, thank you so much!" The woman thanked them with tears in her eyes, bringing wide smiles to the faces of the three young heroes, who soon began running as the blond shouted.
"We'll keep taking down Nomus! Get to safety!!"
"What are your names?!" At that moment, the man asked loudly, to which the young heroes replied almost in unison before turning a corner.
"Pinky!"
"Red Riot!"
"Chargebolt!"
The couple held the hero names of the young trio in their hearts and stood up, following the robots' guidance. Along the way, they also saw a black-haired young woman unleash powerful sonic shockwaves that sent Nomus flying, only to be caught mid-air by some kind of tape. The trapped Nomus were then decapitated by the massive, muscular tail of a blond young man in karate attire.
But as they ran, a small three-story building couldn't withstand the continuous explosions and collapsed right on top of them. Before they were crushed, what appeared to be a tongue wrapped around their waists, pulling them out of danger at high speed and tossing them into the air.
"I'll take you to the bunker!"
Before they fell, the couple was caught by a man in white armor, who announced in a firm, strict voice before darting off at high speed. As everything passed by in a blur, the couple could see a beautiful young woman with short, brown hair wielding a massive column like a bat to crush Nomus.
Just before reaching the bunker, the couple witnessed brutal explosions of fire and ice, along with air cannons powerful enough to demolish buildings, sweeping Nomus left and right. Upon entering the bunker, the man in white armor set them down on the ground, at which point a mechanical voice resonated through the area.
[Maximum capacity reached. The bunker will now close. Please direct civilians to Bunker 44, 300 meters from here!]
"Understood!" The man in white armor replied seriously, before releasing a high-powered flame from the tubes on his legs, rocketing out of the area.
As the bunker doors closed, finally safe, the couple embraced tightly. The woman began to sob heavily, while the man wiped away the stubborn tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.
"You must be thirsty. Have some water." At that moment, a woman in her 40s approached the couple with a couple of water bottles, speaking with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you so much…" The couple thanked her and took the water, turning to look at the interior of the bunker.
The place, far from resembling a dark, rugged bunker, looked more like the reception of a hotel, complete with vending machines and other amenities, along with holographic screens displaying the situation outside. As they watched heroes fiercely battling strange monsters on the screens, the couple couldn't help but marvel at the power displayed by the heroes.
They were particularly struck by the feats of a group of young individuals who seemed more like hero aspirants due to their age but demonstrated power and skill that put many established heroes to shame. Noticing the couple watching the young heroes, the older woman couldn't help but smile and speak in a soft voice filled with gratitude.
"That group of young people are students from Japan. They brought a good number of the people you see here, including me and my family. The young man who brought you is called Ingenium, and the others are his classmates. Strong and brave young people—I owe them my life."
"On our way here, we were saved by some of their classmates, those over there—the pink-skinned girl, the redhead, and the blond…" The woman from the young couple commented, her voice still a bit shaky. The young man added with a tone full of gratitude.
"Pinky, Red Riot, and Chargebolt… They saved us from certain death…"
"They truly are great heroes…" The young woman said with an almost proud smile as she watched the trio attack a terrifying black monster together.
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…
"Why is my access blocked too?"
As they advanced down the street toward the hotel, David couldn't help but comment, full of confusion, while operating a portable terminal at high speed. Meanwhile, Kai fixed his gaze on a Nomu over 30 meters tall fighting a Godzilla in a close battle, watching with visible interest.
But at that moment, a brutal shockwave sent the giant Nomu flying, crashing head-on into I-Island's upper shield, knocking it out of the fight. Seeing the pathetic end of the Nomu, Kai lost all interest and turned to look at David, speaking in a calm voice as three Nomus appearing at a corner fell to the ground in pieces.
"What situation would cause you to lose access?"
"It's hard for me to think of one. Modesty aside, I hold a fairly high position in I-Island's management, only below the general directorate, so I'd only lose access by direct order from them. Which would be rare, as the directorate is made up of representatives from different governments and private sponsors, and it's not easy for them to reach an agreement, especially in a situation like this."
David explained in a thoughtful tone, rubbing his chin lightly while Melissa looked at him with concern. Kai couldn't help but look at the man with curiosity and ask.
"So, either everyone lost access, or you've been sanctioned for some reason you're unaware of?"
"Exactly." David nodded seriously. Kai turned to look at Keiko, who nodded back at Kai and then turned to David, asking seriously.
"Can you at least guarantee me a way to connect to the network? I can contact some people to confirm whether it's just you or not."
"If we can get to a communication tower, it's possible. Though if the entire system is down, it'll be useless since there's no way to communicate with satellites from inside I-Island." David quickly replied in a serious tone. Keiko smiled slightly and responded.
"Even better. If the call goes through, it means you're the one who's been sanctioned."
"…"
Hearing Keiko, David could only nod gravely, which worried Melissa even more. Meanwhile, Yumiko, knowing Kai well, quickly approached and whispered in his ear as several Nomus running toward them were sliced into pieces, their remains continuing to move forward due to inertia.
"Do you have something in mind, Kai? Did something happen with David? Is that why you were deliberately drawing attention with the robots earlier?"
"Heh, you know me well. Turns out I found something curious here, so I was trying to attract attention to see what would happen, but it seems our friend David is more connected to all of this than I am." Kai whispered back into Yumiko's ear with a playful smile while launching a couple more flying slashes. Yumiko let out a small sigh and asked worriedly.
"I knew it… What did you do?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. You'll find out soon enough." Kai replied, sounding deliberately mysterious, which prompted Yumiko to let out a cute, annoyed huff.
Shortly after, the group arrived at a relatively intact connection tower. Kai sliced through the 15-centimeter-thick reinforced steel door with a single cut, leaving David and Melissa audibly gulping in shock. But David quickly recovered from his stupor and got to work to secure a network connection for Keiko.
After some time, with a small mountain of Nomu corpses forming on the ground, Keiko's phone displayed a signal. The beautiful mother nodded to David and initiated a call. To the genius inventor's surprise, the call soon connected, causing his expression to darken significantly. At that moment, Keiko brought the phone to her ear and spoke in a firm, authoritative voice.
"I'm on I-Island. I want to know what's going on."
***
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