Red Shoes: an MHA Tale

Chapter 22: In the Mouth of Madness

Ochako grunted as she wriggled her wrist back and forth in her right restraint, the side that faced away from the metal door. It was nice of her captors to give her a television to play the UA International Sports Festival, but she wasn't exactly in a position of comfort, having literally been kidnapped and strapped down to a hospital bed.

Luckily, all she could do other than watch whatever they had playing on the TV screen, was focus on her trapped body. So much time had passed yet she couldn't tell how much. Days for sure.

After hours of struggling in between periods of rest, she could feel that her right wrist strap was more loose than the others that held her left wrist and ankles.

"If I really am pregnant, I shouldn't use my Quirk on my bed. I can't do anything until I get out of these straps." Ochako thought.

She couldn't find any obvious way to loosen her strap any further, so she switched tactics to something more subtle. The base of her small hand was tight against the rough edges of the black strap and beginning to mark her skin as she pulled and wriggled. Her muscles in her hand ached as they were tightened up. The only way to pull it through was something truly desperate.

"I have to get out of here and alert the authorities. Not to mention, Deku could make a mistake looking for me..."

She turned her head around and got a good grip of her pillow in her mouth. She bit down as hard as she could as she forced her knuckles through the strap. She screamed and cried out through the thick cushion as she heard her bones pop.

Her thumb and pinky finger were broken, or at least dislocated. But through some pain, she could still move her pointer, middle, and ring fingers in the cool air. Her hand began swelling as she raised it slowly to mess with the buckle holding her left hand.

Before she could pry it open, she heard footsteps outside and quickly swung her free arm back in place, as if it was still strapped.

"Well well..." The female commanding voice hissed in the doorway. She stepped toward Ochako's bed slowly. "While the baby is not Akira's, we can still raise it as our own." She said. "I haven't introduced myself to you properly. I am Miku Hokori, first wife of Akira."

Ochako kept eye contact with her, hoping that it would distract her from her hidden arm.

"You'll learn to like it here." She said. "It's only bad now because you want to escape."

The heroine glanced down at Miku's hand and noticed a syringe.

"Wanna know what this is?" She held it up. "All you need to know is that it'll help you calm down." She approached Ochako's bedside.

As she raised the syringe to Ochako's upper arm, the brunette heroine swung her free hand over and tapped Miku's hand. Her Quirk has grown as she has in her adult years. Similar to Shigaraki's Quirk awakening, Ochako no longer needed to tap someone with all five fingers. The only ones to hit Miku were her pointer, middle, and ring fingers, the only ones not broken.

The villainess immediately yelled out as her feet lifted off the floor as Ochako quickly ripped the buckle open on her left wrist, freeing it.

As she untied her ankle restraints, she arched her back, bent her knees, and kangaroo-kicked Miku's body up in the air right at the ceiling, silencing her yell with a loud slap.

"Maybe nobody heard that and I'm okay, but I be prepared in case they have." She thought as she got off the bed and planted her feet on the ground.

Her legs wobbled at first. She gripped the hospital bed for support and took a step to walk it off. By the time she reached the open door, she could walk somewhat normally, but it still hurt. Not to mention, her broken hand was still throbbing at her side.

Peeking out of the doorframe, she saw a perpendicular hallway that was empty on both ends, but each side lead to more splitting hallways. Rather than navigate her way through a secret evil building that was perhaps bigger than she could imagine, she retracted back into the room and went toward the window.

Ochako pulled back the curtains and lifted the window only to see metal bars standing between herself and a two story drop. Outside was a gated community that looked to be just outside of a suburbs. In the distance, she could make out the taller buildings of the bigger city. And yet, metal bars were screwed into the window, making escape from this end much more difficult.

"Guess I have to navigate this place after all." She thought to herself before looking up at the still unconscious villainess floating on the ceiling.

Deku, meanwhile had reached the sewer and had been keeping up with the UA International Sports Festival. Although his wife came before most things, he was also aware of the three children he once saved standing where he stood as a UA student, in front of the world.

But before the games even started, he heard a noise that broke the ambience of the distant city commotion, mixed with the faint sounds of the sewer.

His Danger Sense kicked in as a large broken piece of rusted pipe the size of a commuter car flew over his head as he ducked. It slammed into the concrete behind him with a loud THWANG!

"Well, well, Deku."

The One For All hero found himself face to face with a villain from the train the other day. Specifically, the one with the black tentacles.

"You must be Eclipse." He stated.

Eclipse nodded. "I hate to cut this conversation short, but you've come far enough, hero."

Deku smiled. "That must mean I'm close to your secret hideout."

Eclipse unleashed a volley of large tentacles as thick as tree trunks, swinging down from his black shirt.

The hero pulled himself out of the way using his Black Whip which gripped a nearby metal railing.

"I've studied your Black Whip for some time now. In fact it's helped me understand my own Quirk much better. And since you're not sneaking up on me this time, I'm prepared to face you properly." The villain glared as several more tentacles split from his clothing and wriggled around him.

Deku's smile turned into a smirk. "Whatever makes you happy. It's not going to last." Lightning sparked over his body as he flashed literally out of frame for Eclipse.

The hero reappeared behind him in a shadow that blocked the sun.

Despite Eclipse's quick and desperate attempt to parry the incoming high-powered attack unloading every tentacle he could until his body was stripped nude, Deku's boot passed through the tentacles like butter and broke his jaw on impact.

The foe fell to the earth defeated with teeth missing and his jawline crooked.

Deku stood tall before charging out the direction he heard Eclipse came from. Playtime was over. No matter what they threw at him, he was determined to save Ochako. Whatever it took.