Wind whistled past Momo's ears as she swung away from the barricaded office window. Her grappling hook, created minutes ago from her arm, caught the ledge two floors above with perfect precision. She landed on the concrete ledge, her boots making barely a sound.
The fear still curled in her stomach like a cold knot, but something else burned brighter now: the weight of Yukio's trust. He was down there, fighting Yuzuriha, buying her time. Taking wounds meant for her.
"The plan is sound," she whispered to herself. "The tools are available." Her hand touched the remaining capture tape at her belt. "Hesitation is not an option."
A hero's job wasn't to try hard. It was to win.
Momo created a small mirror from her palm and used it to check inside the window before breaking the lock with a tiny pry bar. The hallway was clear. Rather than creeping cautiously, she stepped through with deliberate footsteps, letting them echo against the walls.
From her shoulder, she produced a simple megaphone, the creation flowing smoothly from her skin. She was not an assassin skulking in shadows. She was an architect, and this building was her blueprint.
Momo checked her watch. Two minutes, thirty seconds until Yukio would expect results. She continued toward the center of the floor, where their drones had located the mock weapon before Yuzuriha had destroyed them.
When she turned the final corner, she saw him: Manga Fukidashi stood guard by the weapon, his speech-bubble head displaying large block letters that read "VIGILANCE!" He spotted her immediately on their team's last functioning drone feed, his posture shifting to combat readiness.
"INTRUDER ALERT!" appeared on his face as he prepared for battle.
Momo raised the megaphone to her lips. "Fukidashi-san!" Her voice echoed through the hall. "I have a proposition for you!"
His head changed to display "???"
"A true hero deserves a worthy stage, does he not?" She gestured at their surroundings. "This drab office is an insult to your power. Let us have a proper duel, out in the open!"
Manga froze, his speech bubble shifting rapidly between expressions before settling on "NANI?!" His entire body language transformed from defensive to intrigued.
"You wish to face me honorably?" His voice carried the enthusiasm of a shonen protagonist. "Not with sneak attacks or trickery?"
"Of course." Momo lowered the megaphone. "Our battle deserves an appropriate arena."
Manga's head changed to display "A FATEFUL DUEL!" He stepped away from the weapon, giving her clear space in the center of the room. "Very well, Yaoyorozu-san! I shall not hold back! This is the climactic battle of our hero training arc!"
Momo set aside the megaphone and centered herself. She understood his power now. Onomatopoeia made physical. Sound effects with tangible impact. A creative, unpredictable Quirk that required equally flexible countermeasures.
"Begin whenever you're ready," she said, her tone betraying nothing of the calculations racing through her mind.
"CRACKLE!" Manga shouted, his voice booming through the room.
Blue electricity arced from a nearby power outlet, surging toward Momo with blinding speed. Without flinching, she created a copper lightning rod from her arm and drove it into the floor, grounding the electricity safely away from her body.
Manga's eyes widened. "IMPRESSIVE!"
He pivoted immediately. "SHATTER!"
The glass in a nearby window exploded inward, razor shards flying toward her like crystalline bullets. Momo's palm glowed as she manifested a thick shield of bulletproof acrylic, raising it just in time to catch the glass fragments with a series of sharp plinks.
"You countered both!" Manga's excitement was palpable. "But can you handle this? FLASH!"
A blinding light erupted from his mouth. But Momo had already created a pair of mirrored welder's goggles, slipping them on smoothly before the light could blind her.
"How are you predicting my attacks?" Manga asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.
"I'm not predicting." Momo created a metal baton, twirling it experimentally. "I'm analyzing the fundamental properties of your Quirk and applying scientific counters. Electricity requires grounding. Glass requires shielding. Light requires filtration."
Manga's head displayed a small smile. "You are a worthy rival, Yaoyorozu-san!" His expression changed to determination. "BUT THIS IS THE END!"
He took a deep breath, his chest expanding as he prepared for what was clearly his ultimate attack. Momo didn't wait to find out what it would be. This was her moment.
Her back glowed with brilliant light as she created her masterpiece – a massive, perfectly insulated iron cannon, ornate and powerful. The weight of it should have toppled her, but her stance was perfect, braced for the recoil.
Manga paused mid-breath, his speech bubble displaying "WHAT THE—"
Momo loaded the cannon with a large, rubberized cannonball she'd been discreetly creating while they talked. She aimed not at Manga, but at the wall ten feet to his left.
"Cover your ears," she advised calmly.
She fired.
The cannon roared, "KABOOM!" The explosion was deafening, the concussive force shaking the entire building. Plaster rained from the ceiling as smoke filled the room. The rubberized projectile punched through the wall, leaving a perfect circular hole.
In the split second of Manga's shock, Momo abandoned the cannon and sprinted directly for the weapon. Her mind calculated the distance, the timing – three steps, two—
"A clever feint, rival!" Manga recovered faster than she'd anticipated. "SPLAT!"
A sticky, gelatinous wall of words materialized between Momo and the weapon. She skidded to a halt, nearly colliding with the viscous barrier.
She was blocked, mere feet from victory.
Then All Might's voice crackled through their earpieces, audible to everyone: "VILLAIN YUZURIHA HAS BEEN CAPTURED! HEROES HAVE THE ADVANTAGE!"
Manga's concentration broke, his head displaying pure shock. "IMPOSSIBLE!"
Should she stall? Wait for Yukio to arrive as backup?
No. That was a loser's mentality. He had done his part. She would do hers.
In one fluid motion, Momo created a massive sheet of insulated metal from her arm. She threw it over the sticky wall, creating an improvised ramp. Without breaking stride, she vaulted up the makeshift slope, her body arcing gracefully through the air.
She landed on the other side with perfect balance, her hand slapping against the mock weapon just as Manga turned back around, his speech bubble displaying nothing but "!!!"
"HERO TEAM WINS!" All Might's voice boomed through the building.
Manga's shoulders slumped for just a moment before he straightened, his head displaying "WORTHY OPPONENT!" He extended his hand to Momo. "You fought with honor and strategy, Yaoyorozu-san! Our battle will be legendary in the annals of Class 1-A!"
Momo accepted his handshake, allowing herself a small smile of satisfaction. "Thank you for the challenge, Fukidashi-san. Your Quirk is truly remarkable."
"Your counters were perfect! How did you know exactly what to create each time?"
"My Quirk requires extensive knowledge of molecular structures," Momo explained, finally catching her breath. "I've studied physics, chemistry, and materials science since I was a child. When you understand the properties of matter at a fundamental level, countering becomes a simple equation."
"Simple for you, perhaps!" Manga laughed. "And that cannon! What a dramatic finale!"
Momo glanced at the massive weapon she'd abandoned. "I needed a distraction. Something unexpected and overwhelming."
"It worked!" Manga's face showed an animated explosion. "Though I wonder... was that the signal for your teammate as well?"
Momo nodded. "Yukio and I agreed that when the time was right, I would create a diversion loud enough for him to hear. The cannon served dual purposes."
"Ingenious teamwork!" Manga's enthusiasm was infectious. "Though I must ask, why challenge me to an honorable duel? Was that part of your strategy too?"
Momo considered the question. "Partially. I knew from watching you that you value the theatrical aspects of heroism. The drama, the narrative. By offering you a worthy stage, I appealed to your ideals while creating a controlled scenario for myself."
"Most impressive! A psychological tactic worthy of a true strategist!"
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Yukio and Yuzuriha, the latter still bound with capture tape. Yukio looked slightly disheveled, with a few scratches visible on his face, but his trademark smirk was firmly in place.
"I heard your little cannon from two floors down, Princess," he said, casually leaning against the doorframe. "Subtle."
"It served its purpose," Momo replied, feeling a strange new confidence in her voice. "I see you managed to contain your opponent."
Yuzuriha's tail swished behind her, her expression amused despite her defeat. "Your partner is full of surprises, Yaoyorozu. You should keep him."
Momo felt heat rise to her cheeks. "He's an adequate teammate."
"Adequate?" Yukio clutched his chest in mock offense. "I'm wounded, Princess. After all we've been through together."
"All right, young heroes and villains!" All Might's booming voice called from the doorway. "Let's return to the monitoring room for review!"
As they filed out of the room, Yukio fell into step beside Momo. "You didn't wait for me," he observed quietly.
"Was I supposed to?" she asked, her gaze forward.
"No." His tone held something she hadn't heard before – respect. "You saw your opportunity and took it." He paused. "Your Quirk is even more impressive than I thought."
"Thank you," Momo said simply.
"That cannon, though?" His smirk returned. "That was badass."
Momo allowed herself a small smile. "Perhaps you're rubbing off on me."
"Heaven forbid," he chuckled.
===
Hey there, beautiful people of the internet. Rikisari here, coming at you from the void between chapters with my deeply sincere apologies for the checks calendar week-long absence. Yeah, my bad.
Turns out that juggling college deadlines, a soul-crushing job, two original stories, this fanfic, AND trying to maintain something resembling a social life is... harder than it looks? Who would've thought, right? Not me, apparently, when I was making all those confident promises about update schedules.
I've been buried under MSS drafts for days now. You know how it is—one minute you're writing a simple fight scene, and the next thing you know it's 3 AM, you've consumed nothing but coffee and instant noodles, and you're staring at your screen wondering if that one line of dialogue makes any sense or if you've finally lost it. (Spoiler: it's usually both.)
The good news? If MSS takes off—and early feedback has been promising enough that I'm cautiously optimistic—I might actually be able to quit my job and focus on writing full-time. Which means more chapters here AND more content for that story! The dream, right? Getting paid to write about superpowered teenagers making questionable life choices instead of having to deal with my manager Dave's passive-aggressive notes about how "The closers didn't clean correctly."
So here's the deal I'm making with myself (and by extension, with you): I promise to try to upload 3-4 times a week when things are going well, and at absolute minimum, twice a week even when everything's on fire. That seems... realistic? Maybe? I've written enough fiction to know better than to make promises I can't keep, but I'm also stubborn enough to try anyway.
Anyway, enough about my chaotic life. What did you think of the battle trial? Our boy Yukio is finally seeing what Momo's made of (literally and figuratively), and I'm having way too much fun writing Manga.
Next up: the aftermath of the battle trials, some dorm shenanigans, and the sequel of what might be the world's most dysfunctional dish-washing duo.
Thanks for sticking with me, seriously. Your comments and support keep me going through the late-night writing sessions and the existential crises that inevitably follow.
Plus Ultra,
Riki