Chapter 26: Survived

*Third Person POV*

(Just before Kyudai turns on the power)

Ever since Kirari entered this abandoned laboratory in the methane zone, she had been on high alert. That's why she was so jumpy.

Her phone vibrating, the level up notification, and the sudden movement of electricity that she sensed when the monitor turned on. All of them triggered her senses and caused her to react.

When Kirari first heard the person on the monitor, her first thought was to run away.

She was in a volatile location where an explosion was just waiting to happen and an unknown person she couldn't physically reach was monitoring her while she was in her vigilante getup.

That was trouble that she did not want to deal with.

But after some thinking, she figured that the situation was not so bad. Her face and voice were still disguised thanks to her mask so her real identity shouldn't be exposed yet.

With that out of the way, Kirari's thoughts shifted to a new direction.

How could she benefit from the situation she found herself in?

Kirari was blessed to be born in a good family. She was provided with everything she could possibly need and the only thing she was in desperate need for was exp to level up.

Could she get what she wanted from the person on the monitor? Was he a bad guy worth killing for exp and karma?

'Definitely.' She thought.

He admitted to having a hidden underground lab beneath an abandoned orphanage, and that screamed "I'm full of bad karma" to Kirari.

Additionally, as the creator of Nomus, he should have some more of them guarding him, which means more delectable exp for Kirari to harvest.

So the next thought she had was to find a way to somehow get information out of him, find his location, and then reap the karma and exp.

While she distracted him with talk-no-jutsu, Kirari mentally instructed Oz to go to the source of electricity that was powering the monitor and the surveillance cameras that she detected. Maybe there was a control room that could provide clues about Kyudai.

Unfortunately, before Kirari could get any useful information from him, Kyudai decided to turn the power on.

She instantly knew that shit was about to hit the fan real fast.

Fortunately, Kirari had created a trump card for tight situations like these.

She came up with it long ago when she unlocked the Gamer's Mind mod to make full use of it.

It was a move called Mega-Mind, promptly named after the Gamer's Mind mod and a certain movie from her past life that she enjoyed.

It worked similarly to Electro-therapy where she used electricity to stimulate and enhance her muscles, but instead, Mega-Mind makes use of electricity to enhance all her brain functions. Because electrical charges are responsible for brain activity, a little electrical stimulation can be used to boost her brain power.

However, this was a very risky move as just one mistake could lead to Kirari becoming a brain-dead vegetable. This was why she rarely used this move even after creating it.

Another reason was because after using this move, Kirari would end up in a state similar to her brother's short-circuited mode. It was a recoil that she would rather not experience again. If any of her family or friends see her acting idiotically, the cool, calm-headed, genius façade that she had built up would instantly crumble.

Indeed, if she did not have the Gamer's Mind mod, which allowed her to remain calm while literally electrocuting her brain, Kirari would never use such a move.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

She only had seconds to think of ways to reduce the chance of death via gas explosion.

With no other choice, Kirari used Mega-Mind and time seemed to slow down in her eyes.

Her thinking and processing speed were enhanced, and her ability to sense electrical charges with Electromaster was raised another level.

When she first used this move, Kirari wondered whether this was how the speedster superheroes from comics in her past life saw the world.

She could sense everything that was going on within the range of her Electromaster skill. Even the tiniest of electrical charges could not escape her senses in this state.

But although she can think at super speeds, her body could not move as fast. The brain boost she got from Mega-Mind exceeded the physical boost she could do with Electro-therapy.

Good thing she had an electric bird familiar that was currently configured with a fast physical setup, and he just so happened to be near the source of power for this lab.

'Oz! Cut into the main line near you with your talons and absorb as much of the incoming electricity you can without letting it flow out! When can't hold on anymore, unsummon so I can get the energy!'

'Understood!'

Since Oz can use the moves that Kirari can, he can naturally use Electro-charge. With it, they can absorb and overcharge up to three times Kirari's max energy capacity.

Oz is a familiar created out of Kirari's energy. Kirari discovered that he uses this energy to remain summoned and if he runs out, he will disappear.

While near Kirari, she constantly supplies him with energy and with her energy regen, he can stay summoned indefinitely. While away from her, he would use Electro-charge to absorb electricity from somewhere and convert it to energy so that he can remain summoned.

Whenever Oz is unsummoned, the remaining energy will be transferred back to Kirari. It's similar to that one ninja that restored chakra when he dispelled his shadow clone while fighting the guy with weird eyes.

When Kyudai turned on the power, Oz did his best to absorb all the electricity, but he could only delay the electric current for a moment before it bypassed him. Still, he bought enough time for Kirari who was in Mega-Mind mode.

She had changed all her free points and those from Sonic to Iron Wall to increase her defense. She also reluctantly unequipped Full Rest just to increase her chances of survival. No point in sleeping to recover if she was already dead.

Iron Wall (9/10): Increased defensive capabilities by 90%.

Since Kirari recently leveled up, the mod change took effect immediately.

After changing her mod setup, Oz was unsummoned and Kirari got the energy.

Energy: 869/290

With the excess energy, Kirari prepared to use another move she created.

"Father, do-"

Kirari "tried" to say one more line as a final act to Kyudai before the electricity reached the exposed line caused a spark.

Nearly instantaneously, thanks to Mega-Mind, Kirari used the Warframe Volt's skill that she recreated with Electromaster, Electric Shield.

Electric Shield could only coat her body with an electric force for defense. She still hadn't found a way to keep it deployed like the original skill without it immediately dissipating.

With the amount of energy she put into it, the Electric Shield should provide a good amount of defense, although it's unknown how good it will do against the explosion that it's about to cause. Using Electric Shield still caused sparks after all.

With the exposed wire and the Electric Shield as two sources of ignition, the methane in the air could finally show Kirari what art is.

*BOOOOOM*

(Scene Break)

In a random alleyway somewhere in a city, two men were walking towards their car after a night of drinking at a bar.

"Oi. Rojiya, you're drunk, huh? You're thinking of swiping that manhole cover, aren't you? Jeez, when will you get over this bad habit…"

"Considering this habit of mine has saved our lives countless times, I wouldn't call it that bad. Right, Tetsu?"

These two men were known as "Manhole Rojiya" and "Tank Tetsu".

[Here's how they look. Image]

They were top brass from a Yakuza gang called Abegawa Tenchu-Kai which was declared as a villainous organization a while back.

In fact, most if not all Yakuza gangs in Japan were being considered as villains in these times. As a result, the Yakuza had fallen from their once glorious past as rulers of the criminal underworld. Now, there were only few Yakuza gangs left and Abegawa Tenchu-Kai was one of them.

Despite being labeled and treated as villains, the members of Abegawa Tenchu-Kai stuck to their old moral code and acted more like chivalrous gangsters than the average everyday villains shown on TV.

Sure, they couldn't be called good but they weren't bad either. They were more around the grey area, and perhaps this was why they were one of the few surviving Yakuza gangs to date.

"Well, I guess… But couldn't you use something better besides manhole covers as your weapon of choice? Heck, even I could make a nice Frisbee shaped shield for you." Tetsu proposed to Rojiya who chose to ignore him and continued to reach for the manhole.

Whenever he was drunk, Rojiya had a tendency to steal manhole covers. He even used them as weapons, throwing them around at enemy gangs, and using them as a shield to block incoming bullets.

"It's fine, Tetsu." Rojiya replied while starting to grab the manhole cover. "There's that old saying. If it ain't broke, don't fix-"

*BOOOOOM*

Before Rojiya could finish speaking, the manhole cover he was about to take was blown into the air and a jet of fire burst from the manhole.

As a Yakuza, Rojiya had experienced countless life-threatening situations where he was jumped and ambushed. He had honed his senses as a result and the same goes for the other top members of Abegawa Tenchu-Kai.

Rojiya quickly reacted and jumped away from the manhole just before the blast, though he was still a bit disoriented from the sudden explosion. He had activated his quirk and used his arms to shield himself so he only received a few scratches.

Tetsu, who was observing Rojiya at the time, saw the whole thing take place. He saw that the manhole cover, along with another object that came out of the sewer, had flown into the sky with that explosion and were now falling, coincidentally towards the dazed Rojiya who hadn't noticed yet.

"Shit! Rojiya! Above you!" Tetsu shouted out and activated his quirk while dashing towards Rojiya. A suit of bulky armor seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and completely covered Tetsu's body.

Seeing that he wasn't going to make it in time before one of the objects arrive, "Tank Tetsu" used the jet boots of his armor to boost himself.

"ROJIYA!"

Tetsu's shout brought Rojiya out of his daze. It only took him a single glance at the frantic Tetsu to understand the current situation. The countless battles they had fought together had developed this sort of connection between them that allowed them to have an instant communication similar to Kirari's and Mei's "eye talk".

Rojiya immediately raised his quirk enhanced arms.

*Bang*

With a loud thud, he caught the first object which was the manhole cover. He twisted his body and spun around like an Olympic discus thrower to reduce the impact.

As Rojiya finished spinning, the second object was about to land on him.

But just in time, Tetsu appeared in front of him and was about to fire a repulsor beam from his armored palm to deflect the object.

But after seeing what the object was, he quickly changed his mind and opted the catch it instead.

*Thud*

Tetsu caught it with ease unlike Rojiya who had fallen to a knee with the heavy metal manhole cover in hand. He looked like someone who had just done the "superhero landing."

"Ugh. That could have gone better. Wasn't expecting to be on the receiving end of a manhole cover." Rojiya groaned while standing up. "Usually, I'm the one throwing these things at the enemy. Thanks for the warning, Tetsu… Nani?"

Rojiya blinked twice. His brain stopped functioning for a split second after seeing Tetsu's current image.

Tetsu was holding onto the object, or the person rather, that came out of the sewer with the explosion and had almost landed on Rojiya.

It was an unconscious little girl with slightly scorched, shoulder-length blonde hair. She looked to be around 1.2 meters tall and was wearing dusty black clothing that had holes in a few places.

The holes allowed one to see the jade-like white skin of the girl. Even her naval was exposed. She seemed to have a few burns, cuts, and bruises in some places.

Her cute, round face showed signs that she would definitely grow up to be a beauty.

There was some blood leaking from her nose and the corner of her mouth, but that didn't affect her beauty.

This person was Kirari Kaminari.

The explosion of the methane zone and the underground laboratory had blown her out of the sewers and into a princess-carry in the arms of the middle-aged Tetsu.

The sight of an adult man in bulky armor carrying a beautiful, young, delicate, underage girl with a risqué appearance caused the corner of Rojiya's mouth to twitch.

"Oi, Tetsu. I know you are a playboy and all, but there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed no matter what…" Rojiya spoke while pulling out his phone from his pocket and starting to dial the number for the police.

As a chivalrous Yakuza member, it was his duty to report heinous crimes even if the one committing them was his long-time comrade and fellow gang member.

"Hello, FBI? Yes, I would like to report a case of pedo-"

Rojiya quickly dodged the repulsor beam that Tetsu fired at him.

"What the hell, Rojiya?! Quit playing around! It ain't what it looks like! I just caught her after she came flying out from the sewer!" Tetsu tried to explain but only received a doubtful gaze from Rojiya.

The quarrelling of the two seemed to have awoken Kirari as her eyelids twitched. The two men noticed this and stopped fighting.

"Ugh… No… No hospitals. No hospitals… Please, Iron… man…"

Kirari squinted and said a few words before fainting once again. Thanks to this, the side effect of using Mega-Mind wouldn't be shown to others.

She did not want to go to a hospital because she didn't want to expose her vigilante identity, and she thought that she could trust the man in armor who looked like a certain hero from a popular movie in her past life. Perhaps her judgement was impaired due to the usage of Mega-Mind.

Rojiya and Tetsu shared a glance. As Yakuza members, they knew what it meant when an injured person insisted on not going to the hospital.

Most likely, something illegal was going on. They could have just disregarded Kirari's words and brought her to a hospital to get treated before washing their hands free of this matter.

But they were Yakuza. Going against the law was part of their nature. Also, they couldn't just leave a helpless little girl that they found alone. That would go against their moral code.

So they instantly came to a decision.

Tetsu stopped using his quirk and his armor disappeared. He gently carried Kirari in his arms. Rojiya, who still had his phone out, called someone from his gang to prepare for a room for an injured guest.

They soon got into their car and drove to their base in Tokyo.

Chapter End.

A/N:

Hello and sorry for the long delay. Long story short, I am immigrating to another country. I was too busy to write. Managing the paperwork, going to the embassy, and training other people to take over my duties at work.

Don't worry, I have not dropped the fanfic. Chapter releases will just be sparse, at least until I finish dealing with everything.

Once again, sorry for only mentioning this now.

Now, let's talk about the chapter.

Fischl is now level 29 and she showed the new moves Mega-Mind and Electric Shield. Also, Oz is revealed to be an energy battery. Hahaha.

Abegawa Tenchu-kai is canon in MHA Vigilantes chapter 9.5. Decided to use them because honestly, I felt the manga did them dirty. They were treated as fodder to introduce a certain vigilante despite their cool background.