Mind Boggled

Chapter 58

I FORGOT TO UPDATE AFTER POSTING ON PATREON HAFJHSJS

Third person pov

The lizard's name was Spinner, and he was surprisingly easy to convince. Harper could tell he didn't want to be particularly bad. He was a product of society's shortcomings, which Harper could understand. Were her situation a little different, maybe she'd have ended up in his position as well. That didn't matter right now, though. His swap over made it easy to detain his companion, Magne. The woman didn't go down without a fight-- she shouted curses mercilessly as Tiger wrangled her into restraints. They tried to detain Spinner too, but Harper was sending him off to fight the Nomu in the woods before they could get to him.

"Harper, are you crazy?!" Mandalay all but shrieked at her, exhaustion and a fair amount of anger present in her voice. Harper didn't have the energy to respond, holding tight onto Kota as her mind tried to figure out what to do next. She couldn't stay here. Not with Kota in her possession, anyway. Katsuki and Izuku were still off in the woods and would probably need immediate help. Tokoyami was losing his collective shit-- or rather, his quirk was. She was sure things back at the main building weren't all sunshine and rainbows either, so there was that to concern herself with as well. Mandalay ignored her niece's blank stare and continued shouting anyway. "What if he runs into your classmates?! Just-- fuck, you have to get back to camp. It's too risky to have you and Kota both out here!" 

God, Harper wanted a nap.

"It'll be fine. We don't have time to be picky about what help we do and don't accept. I made a call." Harper gave her aunt a pointed look, asking her to trust in her judgement. For all their sakes. Harper already had a headache, after all. Mandalay seemed to relax just slightly, letting out a tense breath of air and shaking her head. She was disheveled from her previous fight, but didn't seem injured. 

"Let's just all calm down and think this through. I'm sure Harper wouldn't let him get away if she weren't sure he wouldn't hurt her peers." Aizawa agreed, taking her side without question. Harper let out a huff of air, squeezing a shaking Kota a bit tighter. His terror had faded a little now that they were amongst friends, but it was far from gone. Hell, Harper's heart still felt ready to race out of her chest, and just now was she managing to steady her breathing and gather her thoughts. "I trust you, Harper! That mutant ninja turtle guy didn't seem like a very good villain anyway! Definitely new at this. I'm sure your cutie-patootie self caught on to that right away!" 

"Never call me that again." Harper said, her voice monotoned. She shook her head a bit. "Look, we need to go help the others. Bakugo and Midoriya-- they helped Kota and I escape, but I'm not sure they can do it on their own. And on the way here, Tokoyami was--"

Harper had already said all this, but she felt the urge to continue saying it until something was done. She was beyond worried. She acted like she didn't care, but that was far from correct. If anything happened to any of her classmates, Harper wasn't sure what she'd do. The urge to rush out and aid them was stifling. Mandalay gave her a sympathetic look that Harper honestly didn't appreciate right now. She didn't need thoughts. She needed actions. Results. 

"It's okay, Harper. We'll handle it. That's what we're here for, isn't it?" Mandalay grasped her shoulder firmly. Kota buried his face deeper into his cousins shoulder, not able to look up even for his aunt. Harper could feel him trying his best to muster his courage and center himself. He wanted so badly to be brave. Didn't he realize he already was? "I want you to take Kota straight back to camp. Please. I know you want to help your friends, but it's best we get everyone back to safety. That includes you and your cousin. Okay?" 

Harper grit her teeth. She hated that her aunt was right. Harper could do a lot if she went to help her friends. Though combat wasn't her strength here, there was a lot you could do with one's mind. But with her cousin shaking in her arms and refusing to let go of her, she couldn't justify leaving him just to throw herself back into danger. Aizawa was on it, already racing off into the woods with his cheerful thoughts centered on seriously maiming anyone who dared touch his students. Tiger was pretty much sitting on Magne to keep her from moving, looking ready to jump right back into the fight once they could get the villain to a point she couldn't escape from.