CH. 3: Escape
Alex fastened his pace as the Nomu's massive blade dragged closer behind him in the ventilation shaft. His body screamed in protest, limbs aching and burning from exertion, but he pushed onwards, ignoring the pain.
The Nomu was relentless, its transformed arm shredding through the metal ductwork as it closed the gap. Alex's heart pounded in his chest as he scrambled forward, chunks of debris raining down behind him as the vent was being completely destroyed.
Up ahead, he spotted a possible turn in the vents. Gritting his teeth, Alex activated his weather manipulation Quirk, using a concentrated wind burst to propel himself into the new pathway like a bullet.
The sudden turn caused the Nomu to lose sight of his figure. Its huge arm skewered straight through the wall, becoming stuck as it let out an enraged roar.
Alex didn't pause to watch and crawled frantically as sweat beads ran down his brows from the immense Quirk strain. Every movement felt like tearing his muscles apart from the inside. But he refused to be recaptured by that maniacal doctor after coming this far.
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In the shadowy security room, Dr. Garaki watched the heat signatures on the monitor with mounting frustration. He did not understand how Nine could have enough strength to walk, let alone crawl in the vent, after all, he had only been given food through tubes, and it was only the necessary amount.
"Damned fool!" The doctor muttered, eyes narrowing behind his goggles. "Why must he make this so difficult?"
Seeing the Nomu losing ground, Garaki swiftly typed in commands on his remote control, sending instructions to all the other guards patrolling the facility. They needed to stop Nine and ensure he didn't reach the exit under any circumstances. He also gave commands that said it doesn't matter if Nine was heavily injured but he should not be killed and only captured.
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When Alex rounded another corner in the vents, he felt the floor shift beneath him. With a lurch of panic, he glanced over his shoulder to see the ductwork completely detaching and retracting. The Nomu had pulled its blade free and was physically dismantling the ventilation system piece by piece.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Alex snarled.
The Nomu was practically pulling back the whole shaft backwards, making it impossible for him to move.
"Well, it seems this is as far as I can go through this route." Saying that, he twisted his body, trying to activate his Laser Quirk. A thin ruby beam shot from his fingertips, slicing through the floor beneath him.
While he could feel the other Quirks inside his body, for some reason, he could only use weather manipulation and the Laser Beam Quirk, and that is at a very minimal power.
The makeshift hole allowed Alex to pass through relatively unharmed as he crashed into what appeared to be some kind of storage space.
Gasping for air, he stood up to get his bearings. The room was dimly lit, walls lined with shelves and crates stuffed with obscure lab equipment. But that wasn't what immediately caught his eye.
In the center of the room, a figure was bound to a reinforced metal chair, their body strapped down by thick restraints and various electrical gadgets.
Alex froze as his gaze landed on the person, who was a woman. She stirred at the sound of his entrance, lifting her head to reveal a face left partially exposed.
Long blue hair and delicate facial features and blue eyes that widened upon seeing the unexpected visitor.
"You..." The woman's voice was low yet clear, tinged with surprise. "How did you get in here?"
Alex didn't answer right away, still trying to process and think of a way to get out. His chest heaved as he gulped down air, fatigue weighing on his limbs. By all accounts, the sense of alarm should have faded from escaping the Nomu's pursuit. After all, the Nomus were far away from him, on the other side of the lab. Yet anxiety still lingered in his gut.
Eyeing the metal chair, it was obvious this woman was some kind of detainee or an experiment subject. Her arms and legs were bound by intricate mechanisms, leaving only her head and part of her torso freed.
'Is she that strong that she has to be held with so much force?'
The woman seemed to read his apprehension, her lips quirking upwards faintly.
"Well? Aren't you going to say something?" she spoke. "You're the one who came crashing through the ceiling like a wild animal."
Alex frowned at her mocking tone, bristling. "Is there a way I can get out of this room?"
The room was too small, and the walls seemed to be reinforced. There was only one door that seemed to lead out from the room, but it too needed a password, which was all he observed.
The vent tunnel ended right in this room, so he didn't have a chance of using that.
"You're escaping? That sounds like fun! But I'm afraid there is no way out of this room. However, if you release me, I promise I will take you out from here." Her voice became amicable as she stared at Alex after offering the deal.
"Release you? Seriously, you think I trust you? Even if I release you, how will you help me escape?" He asked, knowing that there was no way out.
Maybe his only option was to take the gamble, with his Quirk being this weak. He couldn't break the reinforced concrete walls.
Before she could respond, a loud rumbling echoed through the room. Alex spun around as he saw the door of the room cave in, like someone had punched it. He threw up one arm to shield his face from the falling dust and debris.
When the chaos cleared, Alex found himself staring straight into the hollow eyes of the same Nomu that had chased him relentlessly. It glared at him through the newly formed hole, its grotesque tongue lolling out between sharpened teeth as it prepared to leap in.
"Shit!" Alex backpedaled away from the threat, activating his weather Quirk to summon a forceful wind to push back the Nomu's advance.
The blast of air pressure caused the creature to stagger, nearly falling back into the hole. But only for a moment. The Nomu simply dug its claws into the floor, then jumped into the room with earth-shaking force. Alex stepped back as the hulking beast straightened to its full height, easily dwarfing him.
No sooner had the Nomu come in, more movement flickered in the shattered door. Two more Nomus came into the room, sealing off any chance of escape. Alex rapidly cycled through his limited options, gritting his teeth as the creatures fanned out in a loose semi-circle to box him against the far entrance.
He needed to think of something fast before they overwhelmed him for good. Suddenly, the woman's voice rang again from behind.
"You there! Over here!"
"If you want to get out of this, release me from these locks. That's the only option. I can't tell you to trust me, but you don't have many options." She spoke in a calm voice. "My Quirk will allow us to escape together."
Alex wavered, his mind racing as he weighed the questionable decision. On one hand, freeing this unknown woman seemed incredibly risky. Yet she also seems to possess a Quirk which will help him to escape. And at this point, what other choice did he have left?
He put forward his arm as he clenched his jaws, huge gales of wind started blowing towards the Nomus, which stopped their movement. The Nomus started sliding back with the wind pressure, and Alex's arm started tearing down as blood ran down it.
The Nomus bellowed in unison, the sound reverberating through the chamber.
"Fine." Alex growled, walking towards the woman's restrained form. "Tell me what to do!"
He was still keeping the Nomus from moving.
Her eyes glowed with triumph, though her expression remained outwardly passive. "Do you see my left arm?"
Frowning, Alex leaned closer to inspect. To his shock, where the woman's left arm should have been from the elbow down, only a spiraling mist of obsidian smoke and shadowy tendrils remained.
Alex suddenly realized what this woman's Quirk was. It was the same Quirk All For One used to teleport all the members of the League of Villains, that Quirk which looked like black liquid coming out from their mouths. Maybe this woman's Quirk was stolen by all for one or it just similar to that quirk.
"This is my Quirk. It allows me to manifest this dark energy and utilize it for various purposes." The woman said, her eyes telling him to hurry. "However, its primary function is spatial displacement - more specifically, teleportation."
So that's what she meant by an escape solution.
"All you need to do is release the locks on this side of the chair." She instructed, glancing pointedly to Alex's right. "That will disconnect these machines' sensors, which will allow me to use my Quirk."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than a loud bellow resounded through the room. One of the Nomus had grown impatient by walking on the air treadmill, and used its Quirk. Its body started to grow bigger as it slowly started moving forward.
Alex instinctively held up his hands, his weather Quirk forming a condensed cyclone to batter the hulking figure. Yet it simply bulled through the winds, closer and closer with frightening speed.
"Quickly!" The woman shouted over the mounting chaos. "Before it reaches us!"
Gnashing his teeth, Alex spun towards the indicated side of the chair. His fingers fumbled over a row of electric wires as he started burning all of them with his small laser beam.
Immediately, the inky black smoke and tendrils expanded outwards like an enormous storm cloud. Alex stumbled backward as the dark mass rapidly enveloped the woman, spreading across her body in pulsing waves.
The Nomu showed no signs of hesitation, only increasing its speed as it closed the remaining distance in seconds...
Then everything went dark.
Alex felt a sudden sensation of falling, the world seeming to implode in on itself before inverting into a swirling vortex of shadowy shapes and eerie crimson light. The floor vanished from his feet, causing him to tumble head over heels through the bizarre space. Something brushed across his mind like a ghostly caress, leaving a lingering sense of emptiness in its wake.
Just as abruptly as the freefall began, it ended with a jarring lurch. Alex slammed back-first onto a solid surface, wheezing as agony exploded through his already battered body. The world gradually came back into focus - the eerie silence, with pitch black surroundings the dirt floor, the scent of fresh air. Looking around, he noticed he was in a forest.
Groaning, Alex rolled onto his side and forced himself upright, clutching at his throbbing ribs. His gaze snapped left and right, searching for any sign of the woman when a slight shift of movement across the bushes caught his attention.
He used his quirk to create a laser beam at the tip of his finger, which showed what was in front of him in the dark.
A hazy plume of smoke was just dissipating, revealing the same blue-haired beauty still restrained to her metal chair. Only this time, perspiration beaded her pale brow, lips contorting in a displeased frown.
"Damn it." She muttered through clenched teeth. "Only made it this far. My depleted strength is becoming a hindrance..."
Taking a shuddering breath, the woman lifted her head and looked at Alex.
"Rather than laying there, maybe you can help me remove these restraints."
Alex gathered his wits and climbed to his feet, every muscle screaming in protest. He paused to properly take in their new surroundings - a calm and silent night forest, which was creepy as hell.