Innovation

To be honest, this situation wasn't that bad.

Yes, I got slammed into the ground once and felt my HP drop to under 5%.

Yes, more Pro-Heroes were coming, and I could feel the strain of fighting already wearing at my body.

Yes, Manami was still completely unaccounted for, and we really needed some additional backup right now.

But it's fine. It'd have to be fine.

I made sure to cut off any newsfeed with an Electromagnetic pulse, but because I wasn't maintaining it, I had no idea what it'd take to get those back online.

I'd give it five minutes at most, and with that thought, I'd set a time limit on myself.

Getting away from this duo in five minutes seemed much more daunting than I wished it would.

Still, I steeled my nerves and met the duo's eyes with faux confidence. They were a little scrapped up, but based on their health bars alone, it wasn't gonna stop them from pushing forward.

They seemed to rethink some plans, taking a moment to glance around.

Civilians were basically off the streets now, and even though cars were still around, no one would get caught in the crossfire of Mt. Lady using her Quirk now.

That'd be… a problem, if she started using that.

Observe told me that the boosts of her Quirk would make her absolutely unbeatable for my current power. She'd be strong enough that she could tank anything I could throw out, and with the additional size granted by it, she could just… step on me and wait until a Pro-Hero who could subdue me could arrive.

No mix of Electricity Manipulation, Seiryu's techniques, and any other skills I had would free me from a situation like that.

The only option was to stop her before she'd do it. Of course that was still easier said than done, but eh, everything I've done for the last month was like that.

I slowly walked up to Dabi, making sure to take my slow time for the show of it.

My seven additional eyes slowly glanced around. The mana in the air was tense. It was collecting around the Pro-Heroes more than anyone else I'd ever seen.

It only made them more menacing.

I pushed the thoughts away with a little help from Gamer's Mind and focused on the problem in front of me. With a thought, Fulgur started funneling excess kinetic energy into my body.

Y'know, I really wanted to fight right now. Not only would it be cooler, but it would probably leave a stronger impact on people if they saw two Pro-Heroes lose against a seemingly unhurt enemy.

That'd shake people to their core, then I'd provide them a solution with my speech.

But that was taking the assumption that I'd win that fight at all.

Now, if I caught them off-guard, stacked all my skills against them, used civilians and the Ultraphone to stop some of their more fatal attacks, got lucky, and got a random power-up, I could probably win.

But I could also win the lottery.

One of those felt a lot more possible than the other.

So, I'd have to take the significantly less cool option, despite how much that would hurt the me from 3 months ago.

I'd have to run away.

It felt like the only option I had.

The worst thing with that is that it'd make me look… worse than fighting. Normally I wouldn't care about something like that, but Meng Zhang's image was one of the most important parts of our plan, so I couldn't just mess it up.

Even running away would have to be done powerfully and confidently.

In that case….

I held in a sigh as I used my 15 stat points to increase my Dexterity. Feeling my old plan go down the drain didn't make me feel good at all, but I ignored it for the time being.

Succeeding at all was more important than my old plans.

As if they had planned it a thousand times, Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods launched at us at the same time.

I silently thanked Fulgur for her help before I was moving faster than I ever had before. The stored kinetic energy exploded out of my legs, and that explosion of energy combined with Flight, Dash, Leap, Mana Empowerment, Electricity Manipulation, and Water Manipulation created enough speed to move before anyone around could react.

The asphalt that weathered my power cracked and shattered as I Flew towards Mt. Lady, trying to ignore the HP I lost from such a reckless move. My hand grasped the Pro-Hero's jaw before I used everything I'd learned yet to Fling her into a building.

The second she left my hand, she flew in a straight line, crashing through the tempered glass of the office.

As soon as my foot touched the ground, I was off it again, spinning in the air and slamming my foot into Kamui Wood's head. He went soaring through the air, disoriented based on his status screen.

I landed on the ground and Dabi met my eyes seriously, if a little bit surprised. I didn't have to speak for him to understand I'd probably answer later, as I'd done many times before.

Dabi was rushing down the alleyways before I was even back on the ground. I was quick―as quick as I could be after so much of my MP was drained―to follow him.

I dashed as fast as I could, but I was still lagging far behind Dabi. I reached into my Inventory and crushed a single mana crystal, attempting to ignore the annoyance that filled my heart after the action.

I Leapt from my spot, catching up to Dabi in an instant. We kept on moving, taking odd twists and turns to hopefully throw off anyone who could've followed us.

We were forced back onto the open streets, annoying as it was. There weren't any civilians out, which made it that much easier for us. From here, we could start heading over to Manami's house.

We'd probably have to still kite some heroes around, but… if we went to Kashifu Forest, we may be able to avoid that.

If I used Wood Manipulation to hide Dabi and myself in some trees, we'd be able to hide in plain sight, and a few hours from now, we'd be able to walk to Manami's home with little to no problems at all.

"Head to Kashifu," I spoke quietly, hoping that Dabi would catch my words despite the wind rushing past our ears during our intense sprint for safety.

I could see his expression harden with a couple glancing eyes, but I was pretty sure he understood what I was planning, at least to some extent.

He was probably worried, and for good reason.

If we went into the forest and still needed to fight, Dabi probably wouldn't be the most help without his fire and all. We were stealing the Ultraphone, but we weren't trying to burn down any forests to do it. Avoiding such a thing would be much more difficult than what it was worth.

It was a plan with fair pros and threatening cons, but I couldn't figure out any different solutions right now. Even with my 50 Intelligence and Wisdom, I still didn't have all the answers I needed. I was still human, but it was times like these that I really wished I did have all the answers.

If nobody with a Quirk like my Map feature, or Ragdoll showed up, Dabi and I probably wouldn't be detected, and we'd get out after a few hours of patient waiting.

That… really did seem like the best option.

We had Pro-Heroes coming for us regardless, and running didn't seem like anything more than momentary relief. Waiting things out felt like out only chance.

So we made a mad dash for Kashifu Forest.

And yet, despite all our speed and planning…!

"We won't let you get away!" Mt. Lady roared, barreling through the streets with Kamui Woods on her shoulder.

I almost bit my tongue as an odd mix of rage and admiration flowed through my body like molten lava filling my veins.

I think I finally understood how villains feel when they say that heroes just don't know when to give up. Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods really didn't know how to give up.

The ground trembled with every one of Mt. Lady's intimidating paces, instilling a fear into my body that I couldn't understand. It was a horrible sinking feeling, the sudden realization that if I fail here, my entire life could be over.

I knew that already, so why am I fumbling now of all times?

Mt. Lady got closer and closer, Kamui Woods leaping from her shoulder, an artificial limb of wood extending to capture us. The giantess slid to a stop, winding up her leg and launching it my way.

"Damn it…!" Dabi cursed, spinning, and readying himself for another bout against the two Pro-Heroes.

Was I just going to sit here and get captured, or was I going to fight?

No, I would fight! I didn't come this far to just stop when things got complicated!

Mt. Lady's foot was coming my way at high speeds. She was probably trying to kick me because I hadn't sustained any visible damage from our fight earlier. She probably thought I could handle it, but I'd definitely die if that hit.

It was too fast to dodge, I could tell. Even if it grazed me, I'd be done. It had too much reach to jump back too. I… I didn't have a solution.

As I could see my life coming to an end, I remembered something I'd long since forgotten.

That Azure Dragon skeleton. That boss from so long ago.

When it attacked, did I hear… rushing water?

I took a slow breath as I remembered the sensations. The power of the skeleton, the fear it instilled in me, the technique within the abilities that I was too oblivious to pay attention to before.

But… even all that power wouldn't save me here…!

As Mt. Lady's foot approached, I grinned.

I must move past imitation!

I steeled my body, focusing my all as I literally rooted myself into the ground, Wood Manipulation assisting the adapted move. My hand stood strong against Mt. Lady's foot, staying strong even when I could feel the bones within my arm shatter.

The energy of her kick flowed through my body, breaking me down. With the flow of water I took the massive power down to my feet, spinning it back around with massive help from Shui and Fulgur.

I held my body in place with the might of a tree, I moved my body with the fluidity of water, and with the speed and power of lightning, I returned all Mt. Lady's energy.

At twice the power and speed.

I could see cracks form within my skin before they were quickly healed. The energy flowed through me, the very air around us stopping suddenly before it picked up with the power of a raging storm.

The giantess' body shot back, stumbling as I sent my everything at her. Kamui Woods leapt back as I could see Dabi glance at me, expression shocked.

The giant Pro-Hero fell back onto the ground, sending quakes out in every direction. I could feel an even wider grin rising to my face as I recognized just what I'd done.

This was no longer imitation. This…

This is innovation!