Chapter 67: Bad Reputation
"Do we need to go over the plan again?"
A chorus of "no's" is the answer.
"Are you guys sure?"
Now it's a chorus of "yeah's."
"Do you really think we'd forget a plan we just went over twice?" Toga asks incredulously,
"Yes? What the hell do you want?!"
"Wasn't calling you, Twice!" Toga turns back to the card game she's playing with Compress. "Now where were we?… Oh, right! Go fish!"
"We are playing Uno, Himiko."
"Oh, oops," the blonde giggles. "But I have waaaay more cards than you, so I'm winning, right?"
"…Yes, your skills are beyond your years, well done."
"Yay!!"
Hirona snorts as Compress collects the cards the pair had been using to play and reshuffles. How the two can stand do such a mundane activity on board a freaking spaceship is beyond her, but since she has insisted the League stay together on their journey to the space station, so as not to risk having members lost and unaccounted for when they arrived at their destination, Hirona supposes there isn't much else to do.
Well, besides stare out at space. Which, admittedly, most of them did do for the first leg of their journey. Hirona wants to chastise herself for being distracted so easily, but considering she had grown up learning space travel was far beyond human capabilities since the dawn of quirks, and spending most of her life trapped wherever All for One had put her, there is just something so freeing about seeing how far she can get.
Not that she had done it alone. Hirona glances around the ship's control center, which is where they had decided to hold up for their journey. Rows of what she assumes are computers line the front half of the room, where humanoid figures dressed in all white, sit and keep the ship afloat, while a woman known as the 'controller' uses her several arms at a circular desk to command them.
According to Loki, he had brokered some deal with their leader to use one of the ships from his fleet to help them in their attack. The god, as usual, had been frustratingly vague on the details, just telling her that the ship, its crew, and everything on it were theirs to use until they got back to Earth.
Nagant's bullshit meter had been faster, and she called out the man first about why the hundreds of crew on the ship would help strangers, and all Loki had done was implore them to talk with one of them. And so they did. Hirona wishes they hadn't.
"You know we're attacking a heavily fortified space station, yeah?"
The young crew member with purple skin nods her head happily. "Yup!"
"And that you could die?"
"Sure could!"
Nagant tries something else. "We're there to take people, you understand that?"
"Oh!" She squeals. "Wonderful! We have plenty of experience in helping our master traffic different beings across the galaxy!"
"No! No no," Hirona is quick to correct. "Just some regular old kidnapping. No trafficking."
"Huh?" She gazes at them, confused. "Are you not forcing someone into your care and transporting them somewhere else with the strict purpose of using them for personal gain?"
"I- I mean, when you put it like that-"
"So, you are trafficking!"
A slap is heard as Hirona smacks herself in the face, running her hand down it. She shoots Nagant a pleading look. "Help me."
"We're not doing this for money." It seems Nagant's way of helping is to move on the topic of conversation. "You're not getting extra pay for helping us. Still okay with it?"
"We don't get paid at all! We do this because we all believe in our master's vision of a perfect universe!" The crew member beams proudly.
"Oh god dammit, kid, we're-"
"There is no god!" The crew member gleefully interjects. "That is why our master had to step in!"
Nagant looks back at Hirona, giving her a flat look. "This is a cult. A freaking space cult."
After that…interaction, the League as a whole silently decided to only interact with the crew when they absolutely had to, deciding instead to go over the schematics of Knowhere and figure out their means of both getting in and out. A plan she hopes they'll remember. But now that they have, there is just one more thing to decide.
"Controller, how long until we get there?"
"We are 88 klicks away from our first jump point. From there, it will be no more than twenty-seven jumps."
Hirona nods, pretending to know what that means. "Alright, everyone, gather up," she announces to the makeshift lounge area the group of villains had created for themselves in the back of the control center. It is complete with comfortable chairs, tables, and couches, most of which came from Mr. Compress' seemingly endless set of marbles. Why he had this stuff, Hirona doesn't care enough to ask why; she's just glad to have somewhere to sit while a little music plays in the background.
"Yeah, I'm gathering," Dabi replies from his lounging position on one of the sofa's. "I'm getting up, any second now, don't worry." He hadn't moved a centimeter.
"Don't be a dick." Magne activates her quirk, shoving Dabi onto the ground. "We have an unprecedented opportunity because of Shigaraki."
"Ah! You bitch!"
"Yes?"
"No, Himiko, he was referring to Magne in a derogatory manner, not calling out to you."
"Whoops! Thanks Compress, that's what I'm used to people calling me."
Hirona rolls her eyes. "Fine, we were only going to decide who gets to attack which kid, but if you'd rather I'd assign it myself, I have no problem-"
"Cease that line of thought at once!" Mustard flies down from above, most of his tech suit painted green as he lands very carefully in front of the League's leader. "Don't you dare even suggest such a thing! After how long it took us just to figure out how to find the hero kids once we got in, I will accept no substitute. Izuku Midoriya is mine!" Toga takes out her phone.
Hirona easily transitions from taken aback a bit from the young boy's sudden entrance, to easily leaning forward with a smirk on her face. "Do your part to get us in, and behave, and then maybe you can have him…" she pauses. "And you also have to admit Die Hard is a Christmas movie."
"Never!" Mustard hisses. "It's not a Christmas movie, the holidays have nothing to do with the movie's plot!"
"It's the reason they were having the party at the tower in the first place!"
"They could come up with a million reasons to have that party!"
Hirona scoffs. "Next, you're gonna say the Nightmare Before Christmas isn't a Christmas movie."
"It's not! The director literally said it's a Halloween movie!"
"Well, then I guess you're both wrong!"
Nagant groans, pinching her nose. "Can someone please…take care of that. If we let them keep going, we're not going to get anything else done, and I'm not listening to them argue for hours again." She sighs, dropping her head at Kurogiri next to her. "You can't teleport them away from each other like at the bar?"
"I am unsure of our coordinates at the moment so apologies, I cannot."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Hey, that's enough." Taskmaster uses the handle of his sword to push Hirona and Mustard away from one another. "No one cares about your centuries old movies, and I'm not making room in my brain for your useless knowledge."
"I mean…" Daken shrugs. "I kinda care," he nonchalantly adds from where he leans up against the wall.
"Heh, old," Dabi chuckles, posting it up next to him.
"Heh, scarred."
"I ain't taking shit on my appearance from the guy who has a mohawk-"
"Children," Taskmaster sighs. "I am surrounded by children. I don't know if any amount of money is worth this…"
"Says the guy who still dresses up for missions like it's Halloween," Daken scoffs. "Yeah, I bet you'd prefer being surrounded by kids, they're the only ones who'd be scared of your fancy costume."
"Yeah, he looks so ridiculous!" Twice points and laughs. "At least he could probably take off his mask every now and then! No one asked you! No one asked you either!"
Daken straightens, strutting up to Taskmaster, looking him up and down. "You got a lot of fancy toys. But take those away and what are you then?"
Taskmaster steps forward. "A master in martial arts, tactics, assassinations, and espionage. What? Your daddy not tell you that before he dumped you on the side of the road?"
Daken scoffs. "Leave it to the assassin to go for the easy shots. But I know a little something about you and that brain of yours. Tell me, how's it feel to not even be able to remember you were married?"
In an instant, Taskmaster's gun is under the mutant's chin and almost just as quickly, Nagant had moved in between them, grabbing hold of Taskmaster's wrist. "What's the plan here, Masters? Blow his brains out right here, right now?"
"Wait!!" Toga holds her phone up, pressing record. "Okay, blow him!"
"P-please don't word it like that…" Mustard covers his face.
"Stop being stupid, shooting him won't kill him or solve anything," Nagant reasons with Taskmaster.
"It'd make me feel better."
Kraven snorts. "You people are so petty… and tiny."
"Shut it and put on a shirt, Fabio!" Daken shouts, multitasking in his attacks on his teammates. He looks back at Taskmaster. "If you're gonna shoot me, do it already! Nothing makes you feel more alive than dying!"
Twice taps his chin. "That makes complete sense to me! Me too!"
"Daken." Hirona brings all of the attention to herself. "Stop picking fights. Save it for your dad."
The son of Wolverine regards her for a moment before snorting and backing away from Taskmaster. "You can hardly blame me when you trap us all on a spaceship with nothing to do." He punches Taskmaster in the shoulder lightly. "No hard feelings, yeah? Just busting your balls. I'll find something else to do."
And he finds his answer quickly when they witness Daken scooting close to one of the female crew members. "Oh, speaking of busting some nuts, hey sweety, what time do you get off?"
"Umm…" She seems unsure. "In about an hour I think?"
"Nice, wanna get off again right after?"
Nagant's eye twitches in frustration as Taskmaster looks back and forth between her and Daken. "Just say the word and I know exactly where I'm putting my next bullet." He cocks his gun, aiming in between Daken's legs.
"Daken!" Hirona yells in exasperation. "Leave the girls alone!"
"Alright, if you say so," Daken replies with a shrug before switching course to the nearest male crew member. "Hey handsome, answer a question for me?" When the man turns to him, he continues, "I love you."
"That…isn't a question, sir."
"And it never will be," Daken winks, giving the man a charming smile.
"I… o-oh," the man blushes, looking around at his co-workers who paid them no mind. "My break starts in fifteen minutes if you wanted to-"
"DAKEN!"
"I shall retrieve him," Kraven sighs, heading over and plucking the mutant up by the back of his jacket, off of his feet, much to his protests.
"I thought the crew was obsessed with their master?" Magne asks no one in particular in confusion. "How is he-"
"It's this thing he can do with controlling his pheromones, just…" Nagant pinches her nose, "just don't ask."
Kraven drops a disgruntled Daken back with the group, who mumbles a few choice words that shouldn't be repeated as he makes his way back to Dabi, ending his string of curses with, "I hate being manhandled."
"That's not what I saw-"
"Do you want another scar?" Daken threatens a snickering Dabi.
"If we're all done being easily distracted…" Hirona prompts, but it seems she finally has almost everyone at attention. "Good. Toga, get off your phone."
"How does a spaceship not have WiFi?!" She complains, having been on the device through the whole exchange, typing away furiously. "Seriously?! No connection on I-Island, no connection here, what gives?!"
"Security," Nagant answers simply. "We didn't need the heroes tracking us just so you can chat with friends. And do I really need to explain why this ship doesn't have WiFi?"
Toga pouts, but complies. With yet another dilemma squashed for at least the next ninety seconds, give or take, Hirona seizes the opportunity to throw their files on the classes onto the table Compress and Toga had been using to play card games. "Okay, last thing we have to do is decide who gets who. Mustard wants Midoriya," she says the last part quickly as the teen boy had started to open his mouth. "My brother is mine, Daken's getting his dad, who else?"
"Ooh, ooh, I know!" Twice raises his hand, a mess of files in the other. "I want Bakugo! No, wait, Kirishima? How about Koda? Shoji!"
To Hirona's surprise, it's Kraven who walks forward next, separating one of the files. "I was unable to ascertain the identity of the one who bested the butcher from your data, so I'll have to find that out the old fashioned way." Hirona cringes a bit at how he basically purrs as he says that. "But until then, I have found prey that is more than worthy of my hunt once we arrive. One that has eluded me for centuries."
Hirona hums, moving the file closer to her. "Setsuna Tokage? She doesn't look hundreds of years old?"
"Jiro!! No no, Todoroki. Wait, I didn't mean that! Tokoyami!" Twice continues.
"It's the alien parasite the girl possesses that interests me," Kraven elaborates.
"Amazing that we live in a world where someone can say a sentence like that and be taken seriously." Taskmaster crosses his arms. "I want the Guardians. I don't care which ones or in what order, but they all have massive bounties on their heads, and I'm looking to collect." There's another beat. "Plus I could use the satisfaction of punching Star-Lord in the face."
"We'll get you over there if the Nomu don't kill them first," Hirona nods.
"Kendo, Shiozaki, Rin, Shishida! Oh there are just so many to choose from!" Twice moans.
"Iida." Spinner stabs one of his swords into the ground, grabbing everyone's attention. "He was there the night Stain was defeated and I know he must have had something to do with it. Probably revenge for Ingenium, even after Stain was merciful and let his fake hero brother live."
"I don't care who I get. Although, I'd prefer to fight an actual hero then some kids." Magne shifts her weapon in her hands.
"Are you suuuuuuure I can't have Midoriya?" Toga asks Mustard. "I've looked through all of the pictures and he's the cutest boy in both classes! Not to mention when he got all bloody fighting the angry blond boy at the Sports Festival-"
"Toga, focus," Compress scolds. "Remember why we're here." He turns his head, "Apologies," he offers to Hirona and Nagant. "And I will go where I am needed as well."
Mustard sighs, taking another step back from Toga. "You can have whatever's left I guess," he mumbles.
"We are nearing our last few jumps before we'll be in Knowhere territory!"
Hirona's eyes widen, her heart quickening more than she'd like to admit. It's happening. It's already here. All of this time they spent planning and preparing and it never even occurred to her just how close all of these plans they were making were. And now they're here. And she can finally have her chance at both answers…and payback.
Taking a deep breath, she looks up at the people she still can't quite believe agreed to follow her into space. But much like with her racing heart, Hirona's not going to admit how thankful of them she is.
"A couple of things before we begin," she starts, getting their attention once more. "Stick to the plan. If you have a problem, call for backup before trying to handle it yourself and potentially getting caught." She grins a little, tilting her head at Nagant. "I've already had to break one person who let themself get caught out of prison and I don't want to have to do it again."
"Watch it…" Nagant warns, a grin on her face as well.
"Aww…" Toga places one of her knives on the table, spinning it. "A prison break sounds fun…"
"It could be a chance to get new recruits if we staged a massive prison break," Magne adds.
"That'd require at least one person on the inside," Taskmaster checks his rifle to make sure nothing is broken, pulling back its lever. "Preferably, you'd have someone as a prisoner and another as a guard. The guard would get us the schematics of the prison and the patterns of the other officers." He pushes the lever back forward. "And the prisoner would start organizing the riots from the inside. But who'd be crazy enough to volunteer being put in-"
"I'll do it!" Twice waves his hand excitedly.
"Why did I even ask?"
"The cloner is the ideal prisoner when you think about it." Kraven strokes his chin. "With his abilities, he could have any one of us inside the prison at any time. But what of escape? Freeing those damned to prison won't accomplish much if they are immediately caught and caged again after. The police would have to be distracted. Preferably by someone who can cause a great amount of destruction in a limited time." He eyes Dabi.
"It would also behoove us if there was someone there who could not be caught or killed easily." Compress draws a playing card from his deck, pointing it at Daken.
"You should've started with the part about me getting to kill a bunch of cops," Daken says with a bark of laughter.
"If we really want to distract them," Dabi creates a spark of flame in his hand, "we could just light up a police station."
Daken hadn't looked that happy the entire time any of them had known him. "I knew I liked you."
"Uh, guys?" Hirona asks flatly. "Can we focus on the break-in we have today first before planning a break out or?…"
"You brought it up…" Toga grumbles.
"Look, as much fun as doing a prison break with you all sounds, I'd rather all of us make it out of there. We'll need everyone for what happens once we get back to Earth, agreed?" Most of the League make sounds of agreement.
Hirona nods. "Remember, we are not there to win. We aren't there to take over the station. We aren't there to kill every hero we find. We are there to take what we want. Punish who we think deserves it. And then get out, together, so we can live to fight another day."
One of the crew members hands some things to Nagant, who begins to pass them out to everybody. "These are comms, just like the heroes use. Keep the group updated on where you are and what heroes you see."
"And unless anyone has any more questions?" Hirona prompts as the rest of the villains stick their earpieces in. When no one speaks up, she says, "alright, let's get this started. If everything goes to plan, they won't see this coming. Compress, Taskmaster, you're up."
'Hope your training's been going well, Tenko.'
The wind whips through Tenko's hair as he swings around the mock-buildings using Blackwhip, just as Setsuna and Venom had shown him. He shifts his weight and lets his momentum do most of the work as he hits the highest point of the arch, coming back down to land with a roll on the ground.
Just as someone else is doing the same.
"You're not winning this time, dude," Sero pants, the boys staring down the tunnel that represented the 'home stretch' of their race.
"Oh yeah? What makes this time different-" Tenko's question is answered when Sero quickly shoots a piece of tape at him, sticking his foot to the floor, before taking off running. "Hey! We're not supposed to attack each other!"
"Because villains always play by the rules, yeah?!" Tenko tugs on the tape but is surprised when it doesn't easily peel off. "Yeah, it's been getting stronger every day, did I forget to mention that?!"
Growling and totally not feeling some of his gamer rage creep in, Tenko decays the tape before taking off after his opponent, firing a thread of Blackwhip at his back, but to continue the trend of Sero surprising him today, the teen jumps just before quick can hit him, barrel-rolling into the side of the tunnel and continuing to run on the wall.
"How did you do that?" Tenko attaches two black tendrils to each side of the tunnel ahead of him before using it to slingshot him forward, much like he did during his fight with Stain.
"I have no idea!" Sero answers honestly, dodging another one of Tenko's attacks. "I also felt something when Tokage was attacking me! I didn't have an answer then and I don't have one now!" He back flips through the air and fires as much tape as he can behind him through the tunnel, creating a proverbial forest of the stuff as it sticks between the walls and ceilings.
"Get back here you cockgoblin!" Tenko shouts, thoroughly annoyed.
Sero infuriates him by saluting as he swings off. "Tell your mom to make your dinner, I'll be home soon!"
"My mom's dead!"
"Tell your sister then!"
"She's a villain!"
"Huh, we should really get to know each other more!"
Growling a little, Tenko raises his arms after swinging and concentrates, focusing on learning what he had started on I-Island and what Venom had shown him since they got here. Blackwhip emerges from his wrist and, getting faster by the second, encases both of his forearms in its power. And then, with renewed confidence, Tenko pushes himself, causing the quirk to harden and grow sharper, creating makeshift blades.
"Yeah!!" Cheering at getting it right, Tenko slices through the tape around him like hot butter, easily clearing Sero's trap. Unfortunately, it's too little, too late as the other boy swings through the finish line, winning the race.
"Great job, you two!" Kitty exclaims ecstatically, looking down at her tablet with Tsu and Mantis as the boys land near them. "You both shaved off even more time off your fastest records with that run!"
"Are we getting close to Tokage's time?" Sero asks, hopeful.
"Uhhhhh…" Kitty laughs nervously, looking toward Tsu, who nods. She shakes her head, looking back at Sero. "What's important is that you're both improving with every attempt!"
"She means you're still not close to Tokage," Tsu deadpans. Kitty looks aghast, but the frog girl shrugs. "I don't like to mince words."
"Logan must really like you." Kitty giggles a little more genuinely this time. "He was never one to 'mince' words either. Or filet them. Or cut them up in any way." She taps her cheek. "In fact, I don't think he makes any effort to hold himself back. But I like that about him. Makes the whole 'socially interacting' thing much easier without the guesswork."
She cringes apologetically at the boys. "Sorry for holding back with you, I just don't know who can handle that kind of stuff right off the bat."
"It's cool." Sero leans against Tenko, who shakes him off. He does it again but this time, the decay user can't shake him off, realizing that Sero had resorted to sticking them together with tape. So, he just opts to glare. "We're big boys, we can handle it."
"Will you get off me now?" Tenko sighs.
"No," Sero answers happily. "If we're going to be training together more then, like I said, we should be closer."
"This is not what you meant."
Tenko attempts to pry them apart, but Sero stops him, leading to a pseudo-wrestling match as the pair constantly swipes the other's arm away. "Accept my friendship!" Sero cries.
"Never! I have enough friends!"
"C'mon! I hear you play video games with Midoriya and Kaminari all the time, let me join!"
"No!"
"Yes…" they both stop as Kitty tilts her head at them. "You are both the pinnacle of maturity."
"He started it!" is the twin reply.
"Mantis!" A Xandarian soldier jogging over to them interrupts them. "You are needed at the prison blocks."
She hums, curious. "Will the rest of you be able to make it back for lunch without me?"
"That's alright, I'm used to babysitting the younger kids back at the mansion," Kitty responds.
"And I've spent plenty of time watching over my siblings," Tsu adds.
"Hey! What are you implying?!" Sero yells, indignant, as Tenko crosses his arms behind him. The girls just give them flat looks.
"Admiral Dran, we just had an unknown ship enter our space."
Vesla Dran, esteemed Admiral of the Xandarian military, raises an eyebrow from her personal terminal of Knowhere's security control room. "Odd," she comments, getting up, straightening her blue and gold uniform. "Ships rarely come out this far."
She walks up to the technician's terminal, his just one of dozens placed inside the crowded control room as she gets around the many personnel walking around the chaotic room to make sure the station keeps running efficiently. He moves back while Dran taps his radar screen, bringing up a holographic image with more details on their potential intruder.
"Initiate a full scan," she commands, placing a headset on.
"Yea, ma'am!" he responds immediately, typing away. "Maybe it's another abandoned ship drifting near us again?"
"Maybe." Dran watches the screen as the three ships they sent out approach their mystery ship. "My money's on smuggler." She has to do a double take when the Admiral finds her tech staring at her expectantly. "Ah, fine. What the hell, give me fifty credits that it's a smuggler."
The tech cheers. "Hey, Draath!" he calls out to one of his fellow soldiers. "Admiral's in a good mood and betting again! Hold this money for us!"
Dran rolls her eyes as several of the men around her cheer. She wants to be more upset, but she knows the importance of keeping morale up during a long deployment. Tapping the mic, she says, "Attention unidentified ship, you have entered restricted Xandarian-controlled space. Reverse course now or we will use deadly force." She turns the mic off. "Anything on the scan?"
The tech's eyes bulge. "It's- It's one of ours, ma'am! It's Scavenger One! They're back!" Several people stand in surprise as he grabs a separate communicator and begins to speak with the hangar crew.
"The patrol ship we lost contact with? Didn't see that coming." Dran exclaims in both surprise and relief. A harsh truth of space is it's impossible to predict what might happen while flying out there, so losing a ship that goes out for a routine patrol is a lot more common than she liked, especially when they're under her command.
"Call back the ships that had been sent out to look for them." She snaps her fingers to a few other techs, hoping not to lose anyone else today, before clicking her mic again. "Scavenger One, this is Admiral Dran, we're reading you now, glad to see you coming back home. Transmit clearance codes now."
"Transmitting."
It takes a little longer than usual, but her tech gives her a thumbs up before ordering the hangar open. Dran exhales, getting back on the mic. "Received." She checks her screen. "You are clear to land in hangar five. Scavenger One…what happened out there? And where's Scavenger Two?"
The mic clicks on and off a few times before there's an answer. "We were engaged by a large unknown ship headed this way. Scavenger Two didn't make it."
"That ship could've scrambled their signal, explaining why we lost contact," her tech informs her.
"It's certainly possible," Dran agrees, looking back up on that radar. "Get that ship back home. I want those pilots debriefed immediately. We need to know what we're dealing with."
"What about the Guardians?" The tech asks, unsure. "Should we inform them? Or Cosmo at least?"
"No need. This isn't anything we haven't handled before." The tech, Draath, walks up to the pair, very much looking he has something to ask. "Yes?"
"I just- the ship turned out to not be abandoned or a smuggler, so what happens to all of the bets?" Dran looks around and sighs when she realizes she has about a dozen of her soldiers looking at her expectantly.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Setsuna waves her hands frantically in front of her. "Back up, dude. You're just messing with me like usual, yeah? You don't mean that?"
"Nah, I do." Kaminari sticks his hands in his pockets, shooting her a cocky grin that she wishes more than anything she could hate more. Somehow, Setsuna can just feel Venom rolling its eyes from inside her. "So, what do ya say?" He leans back against the wall of the empty cart as their maglev train takes them to where they'll be eating lunch for the day.
"Hold on!" Setsuna shouts, pushing back on her approaching defeat. "You have to tell me what you're planning first! Because we agreed that-"
"I rose to the challenge." She can tell he's enjoying stretching this out and infuriating her. "Go ahead, ask me what I rose to, babe."
"If you don't start talking right now, I'm gonna let Venom eat what's left of you once I get done with-"
"Boyfriend standards!" Kaminari answers happily, unfazed by her (empty) threat. "Izuku raised the boyfriend standards when he helped Uraraka's dream of becoming an astronaut come true! And I'm proud to say, I've done the same. So, yeah, um…" Some of his confidence disappears, but he musters what he can back. "Did you wanna go out with me?"
This isn't part of the plan! Her and Kaminari had just made their agreement about who got to ask who out first before the training camp! There's no way he figured out something for her that fast! Her own plan for him isn't even remotely close to ready! And by that, she means she wrote down cheeseburgers and video games and was trying to figure out where to go from there!
"But wait!" Similar to when Kaminari had come up with this plan, a lightbulb goes off in her head in realization. "You're implying that like your cuz' did, you found a way to make my dream come true, but that'd be impossible!" Kaminari's smirk grows. "N-no, way, you're bluffing, man. There's no way we can-"
"It's called the Savage Land." All thoughts drain from Setsuna's head when Kaminari shows her his phone. "Izuku told me about it after he got back from America, and then I read some more about it. It's underneath Antarctica, and if we stay away from the inner part where all of the predators are, we can spend a day chilling with dinosaurs, just like you've always wanted!"
He puts his phone away, unaware of Setsuna's mouth falling. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking, how would we get there? Dr. Strange would take us! My dad is still guilting him over not letting me come with Izuku earlier and he said if I got far enough in the training of my new powers, he could help us get there and-"
"Yes."
"-then we can- wait." Kaminari nearly trips over his own feet as he moves to stand up straight. "Wh-wha- yes? Yes to what?"
"This is the one you're choosing?"
Ignoring Venom in her head, Setsuna rolls her eyes fondly. "Do I gotta spell it out for you?! Y-E-S. How could I say no to seeing actual dinosaurs!… and I guess you being there won't be so bad."
Kaminari's confusion over her answer turns into mock-offense. "Hey! It's because of me that you're-"
He lets out a startled gasp when Setsuna pulls him into a tight hug. "I know… and thank you." She backs up before Kaminari can recover, taking a deep breath to get her confidence back. But not before giving him one last boost. "Listen, if we're being honest, I don't think there's anyone I'd rather see dinosaurs with…"
Kaminari begins to turn red, a few electric sparks running across his head. "R-really?"
"Yeah…so I can finally prove to you how much better the Allosaurus is than the T-Rex!"
There's a beat before the pair snickers together. "Didn't I just say we were trying to stay away from the predators?" Kaminari snorts.
"Oh, honey. You better get used to being prey if you're gonna be dating me," Setsuna replies, letting a little sultry into her voice.
Kaminari snickers some more. "That's hot, but wasn't I just the one to ask you out? Who's the prey now?"
She surprises him by whipping around and shoving him back against the wall of the train cart, Kaminari making a satisfying grunt as she does so, pushing herself against the demigod and getting right in his face. "You were saying?" she whispers dangerously.
The blond goes a bit cross eyed as Setsuna moves her face closer to his, grinning in victorious fashion and watching as his face goes redder and redder. That is, until she feels Kaminari snaking his arms around her waist. "Looks like I got you right where I want you."
Setsuna reels her head back, shaking it in disbelief. "No way, I got you where I want you!"
"Which is what I wanted! So ha!"
Setsuna changes tactics, leaning back in and grabbing ahold of his jacket. "Alright mister big and bad, now that you got me here," she tangles their legs together to get as close to him as possible. "What are you going to do to me?"
He shifts, but Setsuna keeps him pinned, licking her lips and giggling as she sees his blue eyes flicker down briefly. He leans slightly in, testing the waters. She doesn't back up. He leans a tiny bit more. Not only does she not back up, but Setsuna leans forward herself, really trying to get the message across. She watches the corner of his mouth tilt upward in his usual goofy grin, with Kaminari doing everything in his power to suppress it. She wishes he wouldn't. He finally leans in more and-
An alarm screeches overhead, causing the two to separate as an announcer lets them know they're almost to their next stop and to get ready. The teens frantically fix their clothes, getting their heads screwed back on right. Some more literally than others as Setsuna detaches her head, spins it around a few times, and places it back on her body.
"So…" Denki begins after it feels like they're both a bit calmer. "Wanna go after camp before we go back to school?"
Setsuna nods. "Yeah, that sounds awesome. And you can give me the tour while we're there, so we don't waste all that book reading you did."
"Thank you!" Denki says in relief. "Reading that book was one of the hardest things I ever had to do!"
"Didn't you fight off the universe's version of the boogie man and one of the most powerful genocidal robots ever?"
"Again, one of the hardest things I've ever done!"
The pair continue to laugh together as they exit the maglev, with Tokage patting Kaminari reassuringly on the back as they pass Drax with an Xandarian soldier. "Cell blocks," he tells the computer before getting on.
"Again, everyone here is relieved you two made it back okay," Admiral Dran explains as she leads the two pilots from Scavenger One back into the security control room, the pair wearing matching blue jumpsuits and dark helmets. "And I apologize about having you retrieved the moment you landed, but we need you debriefed on the hostile ship immediately so we can begin creating counter measures."
She uses her keycard to unlock the control room, letting the pilots in, before locking the door behind her. "Very good. Now if you gentlemen can remove your helmets, we can begin going over the weapon and shield capabilities of the ship you encountered." She turns around to find the men just staring at her. "Gentlemen?"
"Change of plans," the first pilot says, reaching down at his side, pulling out his blaster pistol, and killing the two men holding rifles behind them. "We'll be the one asking the questions here." Several of the crew members scream in surprise, moving away. "What? Didn't see that coming?"
Dran reacts as quickly as she can, jumping back at her desk for her own weapon as the second pilot sticks his hands into his pocket and drops several blue marbles onto the ground. "Would you like to see a magic trick?"
She picks her rifle up, firing, but her blaster bolts meet a shield created by a teenage girl, smirking at her. Where the marbles fell, a new group of intimidating people stand, drawing weapons.
Mr. Compress gestures to them all with a flourish. "Ta-da."
"So!" Mina claps her hands, flipping over the whiteboard she had forced asked Yaomomo to make for them. "First order of business before lunch, welcoming our newest member to the Strategic Help for the Infatuated Program! Our first member from 1-B, Kodai!" Clone Thirteen and Toru's clapping echoes enthusiastically around the empty girl's dorm, with the clone whistling.
Kodai's expression doesn't change, offering a simple nod in return. "Mm."
"Outstanding, now, back to business!" Mina refers back to her board of names and hastily drawn figurines. "Do we have any potential updates?"
"I do!" Clone Thirteen runs up to the board, looking to grab a marker before stopping himself, laughing a little sadly. "Oh, right. Always forget. Can you?…" Mina nods, smiling brightly while holding the marker up to the board. "Great! I witnessed Denki reading a book about the Savage Lands earlier today! And later, I just happened to be there, not because I was following them, when he boarded a maglev with Tokage all by themselves! I think he's finally gonna ask!"
Toru and Mina squeal as Kodai shifts upward a bit in her seat, the pink-haired girl drawing the names together and putting 'finally' next to it. "Good! Because I was going to start throwing acid if they kept making up stupid reasons not to be officially going out! Now, I have no updates on Tenko and Tsu, I'll make a note to interrogate a frog later, but what about our other top pairing? Oh! Did someone remember to ask Star-Lord or Gamora if they're actually a couple or if it's more casual?"
"I did!" Toru says. "I was gonna ask her at lunch, but Gamora said she had to go to some cell blocks or something with one of the soldiers, but she did confirm it, her and Star-Lord are definitely a couple!"
"Excellent! Any other updates?"
"Oooh!" The clone raises his hand, jumping in the air over and over. "Yaomomo and Jiro spent a lot of time together in Rocket's warehouse!" He gestures to Mina to draw an arrow between their names.
"Hold it!" Toru runs up. "Todoroki was in there for a while! And they spent a lot of time together on I-Island too!" She draws an arrow between Yaomomo and Todoroki.
"Yeah, but Yaomomo and Jiro have been a team fighting against Izuku since the beginning of the year!" Clone Thirteen argues. "That gives her a huge edge!" The arrow is redrawn.
"But Todoroki has that pretty guy with a mysterious past thing going on!" They can't see it but she points to her eye, indicating his scar. "That's like the secret to getting anyone!" She again fixes the arrow on the board.
"You can't rely on stuff you see in movies for real life!"
"Why not? All of the tropes are based on things that have happened in the real world!"
"Yeah, but-"
"Mm!" Clone Thirteen and Toru jump when they realize Kodai is standing next to them, having no idea when she got there. Without a word, she takes the marker from Toru's hand and gestures to the three names on the board: Yaomomo, Jiro, and Todoroki. When she's sure she has their attention, she erases all of their arrows and draws a circle around all three names. "Mm."
It takes a second before it clicks. "Ohhhhhh!" Toru and Clone Thirteen realize at the same time.
"See? That's why you're here!" Mina says proudly. "Anything else you have to offer the Strategic Help for the Infatuated Program?" She slumps. "We need to shorten that somehow…"
The trio watches closely as Kodai picks up her marker and, after glancing back at all of them, draws an arrow between Tokoyami and Yanagi's name. Suffice it to say, they were late for lunch.
"You're never going to get out of here alive," Admiral Dran snarls, her hands cuffed behind her back. Her fellow soldiers and techs are either tied up and gagged in the corners of the room…or dead. With the exception of the few this 'League' had left at their stations to keep the control room running.
It had happened so fast. One moment, the pilot, or 'Mr. Compress,' had dropped a few marbles on the ground, and the next, all of these Terrans had appeared from nowhere and taken over the room.
"You know, for a legendary space station, this place was pretty easy to break into," the one they had been calling Taskmaster off-handedly remarks.
"This place was never meant to be some super secure station." Daken kicks one of the hostages closer to the wall. "It was a drinking hole for the scum of the galaxy for most of its life."
"That doesn't matter because our prisoner is correct." Kraven leans back against a wall. "Leaving is our main concern."
Dran pulls her arm away from Compress, who surprisingly lets go. "When we lost contact with Scavenger One and Two, that was you, wasn't it." It's less of an accusation and more of a fact, supported by Taskmaster's nods. "How did you know how to fly one of our ships?"
"I have an intense background." Taskmaster begins to type on the computer as the other League members bring the last of the techs closer together, probably making it easier to watch them. "And I'm a fast learner."
"That doesn't explain how you got our codes."
"You will be happy to know your pilot's resistance to my questioning techniques surpassed any of our expectations." Kraven chuckles. "You may rest easy knowing they are at peace now."
"But we are not." Hirona studies the camera feeds as they switch over to the ones they want. "Gear up everyone, we still have a few areas to capture before we can start our attack."