Something flickered in Kenji's expression. Relief, maybe. Or surprise that Ryuu was actually cooperating.
"Good. Now, I need you to do something that's going to feel wrong." Kenji approached him, moving slowly like he was approaching a spooked animal. "I need you to touch my hand and amplify me. Just for a few seconds. My quirk is "Echo-Echo". It lets me copy one ability at a time, but with your amplification, I can copy three simultaneously."
Ryuu hesitated. "You want me to make you stronger before we try to escape?"
"I need to be strong enough to get us both out." Kenji extended his hand again. "I've copied three quirks from guards I've encountered over the past few days. Super strength, fire generation, and barrier creation. With your amplification, I can use all three at once instead of switching between them."
It made tactical sense. But the idea of willingly amplifying someone who'd just revealed himself as a deep-cover villain operative...
"What if you're lying about all of this?" Ryuu asked. "What if the second I amplify you, you knock me out and drag me back to The Collector?"
"Then I would have done that already," Kenji pointed out. "The suppressors are off. You could use your Resonance to enhance your own speed and run right now, right?. I'm not stopping you."
'I-i could wha—' Ryuu looked at his father like he was spiting out rubbish.
"W-what...what do you mean by that?" Ryuu asked, his voice a bit shaken.
"You really don't know?" Kenji's eyes widened when he heard his son's question. "What have you been doing with your powers then??"
"I've been boosting other people's quirks..." Ryuu looked at his father blankly.
"No no no...it can't be—so your saying...you don't know you can use your powers on yourself??" Kenji held Ryuu's shoulders in disbelief.
"N-no, at least...I never thought I could." Ryuu shaked his head.
"I don't have time to explain to you...I will when we escape from here...but now I need your quirk's amplification" Kenji held out his hands while staring at his son's violet pupils.
Ryuu extended his hand.
Their fingers touched.
---
KENJI'S POV
The moment their skin made contact, Kenji felt it.
Not just the amplification flooding into his quirk factor, though that was staggering. The power surge as Echo-Echo expanded beyond its normal limits, suddenly able to hold three copied abilities simultaneously instead of one.
But more than that, he felt the feedback. The emotional connection that came with Ryuu's quirk when used on someone he had deep ties to.
His son's emotions crashed into him like a tidal wave.
Fear. Confusion.
Kenji's breath caught.
He'd known intellectually that Ryuu would be damaged by his disappearance. Of course he would be. But feeling it directly, experiencing the full depth of trauma his choices had caused, was something else entirely.
'I'm sorry,' he wanted to say. 'I'm so sorry. If there had been any other way...'
But there hadn't been. And apologies wouldn't undo eight years of pain.
So instead, he activated the copied quirks.
Super strength flooded his muscles. Fire generation created warmth in his palms. Barrier creation formed a thin shield around both of them, invisible but ready to deflect attacks.
All three at once. Perfectly balanced. No strain on his body because Ryuu's amplification wasn't just making them stronger, it was optimizing how they functioned. Removing the biological limitations that normally prevented him from using multiple quirks simultaneously.
This was what The Collector wanted. This perfect evolution of abilities through emotional connection.
And Kenji was going to use it to tear his organization apart from the inside.
"It's working," he said, keeping his voice steady despite the emotional feedback still flowing between them. "I can feel all three quirks operating in harmony."
"How long will it last?" Ryuu's voice was strained. Maintaining the amplification while emotionally compromised was clearly taking effort.
"As long as we're touching." Kenji glanced at his tablet, checking the countdown. "But we need to move soon. We've four hours, forty-seven minutes."
"Then let's go."
Ryuu pulled his hand back. The amplification faded, but the three copied quirks remained active in Kenji's system. They'd last maybe thirty minutes before his Resonance Echo's time limit expired. Hopefully that would be enough.
Kenji moved to the cell door, positioned himself between Ryuu and potential threats. "Remember. Head down, stay quiet, follow my lead."
"Got it."
The door opened.
The three guards outside looked up, expressions shifting from bored to alert in an instant.
"Assessment complete," Kenji said smoothly. "Subject requires medical attention before morning interrogation. He's already Mildly dehydrated and exhausted. So I'm transporting him to the medical bay."
The lead guard frowned. "The Collector said—"
"The Collector wants the subject functional and cooperative. A corpse or someone who passes out mid-interrogation serves no one." Kenji's tone brooked no argument. "Unless you'd like to explain to him why the asset died in custody?"
The guard's frown deepened, but he stepped aside. "Medical bay is three levels up. You'll need an escort."
"It's unnecessarily. I'm perfectly capable of—"
*BEEEEEP* *BEEEEP*
Alarms screamed to life.
Red lights flashed throughout the corridor. The emergency klaxons were deafening, echoing off concrete walls in waves of sound that made thinking difficult.
The guards immediately drew weapons, eyes scanning for threats.
"What's happening?" one of them shouted over the noise.
Kenji's mind raced. The sabotage wasn't supposed to trigger for another four hours. Something had gone wrong, or someone had discovered what he'd done sooner than expected.
Either way, the plan had just accelerated dramatically.
"Breach in the west wing!" someone's voice crackled over the guard's radio. "Multiple systems failing! We need all personnel to—"
The lights cut out.
Emergency lighting kicked in a second later, bathing everything in dim red glow. But in that moment of darkness, Kenji moved.
Super strength enhanced his speed. He closed the distance to the nearest guard before the man could react, striking precisely at the nerve cluster in his neck. The guard dropped without a sound.
The second guard swung his weapon around. Kenji created a barrier between them, the guard's shot ricocheting harmlessly off the invisible shield. Then fire erupted from Kenji's palm, not enough to kill but enough to make the man flinch back.
Another precise strike. The second guard went down.
The third guard was smarter. He'd already fallen back, weapon trained not on Kenji but on Ryuu.
"Stand down, Commander," the guard said, voice steady despite the chaos. "Or the kid dies."
Kenji froze.
Through his peripheral vision, he could see Ryuu tense, hands clenched.
"You don't want to do this," Kenji said quietly.
"I really do." The guard's finger tightened on the trigger. "Whatever you're planning, it ends now."