Beep! Beep! Beep!
REEEEEEE! REEEEEEE!
The alarms didn't stop.
That steady, pulsing tone mixed with the higher-pitched urgency signal, creating a sound that made Ryuu's teeth ache.
Red emergency lights painted everything in that horror-movie glow, turning familiar faces strange and shadows deeper.
"Everyone stay calm," Dr. Yamada repeated, but her hands were shaking as she pulled up something on her tablet. "We just need to proceed to the nearest safe zone in an ord—"
BRRRRRRING!
The third alarm cut her off.
This one was different, lower and more ominous, with a mechanical voice that somehow managed to sound genuinely worried.
"Security breach detected. Unauthorized quirk usage in Sectors C through F. All combat-certified personnel report to stations immediately."
Ryuu felt his stomach drop.
Security breach.
Unauthorized quirk usage.
That wasn't a drill or a false alarm or some equipment malfunction.
Someone was attacking the institute.
Aizawa was already moving, his capture weapon fully deployed now, eyes scanning every corridor and exit point with that predatory focus that meant he'd shifted from teacher mode to pro hero mode.
"Class 3-A, tight formation. Now." His voice cut through the rising panic. "We're moving to the safe zone as a single unit. Nobody separates, nobody plays hero. Understood?"
A chorus of "Yes, sensei" came back, some voices steadier than others.
Mina pressed closer to Ryuu's side, her usual cheerfulness completely gone.
Momo was on his other side, her dark eyes sharp and focused as she analyzed their situation.
Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Jirou had naturally folded into their group, forming a tight cluster.
Midoriya looked pale but determined, already muttering analysis under his breath.
"Dr. Yamada," Aizawa said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "What's the fastest route to the nearest designated safe zone."
"East wing, Section B," she replied immediately, professional training overriding her obvious fear. "Through the main corridor, past th—"
BOOOOM!!!
An explosion shook the building.
Not close, but not far enough either.
The floor trembled beneath their feet, and somewhere in the distance Ryuu heard glass shattering and people screaming.
"Change of plans," Aizawa said grimly. "East wing might be compromised. Alternative route?"
Dr. Yamada's fingers flew across her tablet, pulling up facility maps. "We can loop through the research archives, come out near the south entrance. There's a reinforced safe room in that sector designed for exactly this kind o—"
KABOOOOOM!!!
Another explosion, closer this time. The lights flickered, and for a heart-stopping second everything went dark before the emergency systems kicked back in.
"Move," Aizawa ordered. "Archives route, double-time. Stay together."
They moved as a group, Dr. Yamada leading with Aizawa bringing up the rear, his eyes constantly scanning for threats.
The research wing's hallways suddenly felt like a maze, all the careful layout and open spaces becoming a liability when you didn't know where the danger was coming from.
Ryuu kept Mina and Momo close, one hand instinctively finding Mina's while Momo pressed against his other side.
His quirk was already humming beneath his skin, responding to the adrenaline and fear flooding his system.
They passed researchers fleeing in the opposite direction, lab coats flying behind them as they ran.
Security personnel rushed past toward the sounds of combat, quirks already active and expressions grim.
"Stay focused," Aizawa barked when some of the students' heads turned to follow the action. "Eyes forward, keep moving."
The archives section was eerily quiet compared to the chaos behind them.
Rows of old filing systems and digital storage towers created narrow corridors between displays, the emergency lighting casting everything in that same unsettling red.
They were halfway through when Ryuu heard it.
Footsteps.
Multiple sets, moving fast too. Coming from ahead of them, not behind.
"Sensei," he said quietly, and Aizawa's head snapped up.
The pro hero had heard it too.
His hand went up in a fist, the universal signal for "stop," and the entire class froze.
For three long seconds, nobody breathed.
Then figures appeared at the far end of the archives corridor.
Five of them, dressed in dark clothes with face coverings that hid their identities. Not institute staff. Not heroes.
Villains.
"Well, well," one of them said, and Ryuu could hear the grin in his voice even through the mask. "Look what we found. Baby heroes on a field trip."
Aizawa's capture weapon lashed out before the villain finished speaking.
The cloth moved like a living thing, wrapping around the lead villain's arms and yanking him forward.
Aizawa's eyes glowed red, Erasure activating, and whatever quirk the villain had been about to use died before it could manifest.
"Run," Aizawa said, his voice deadly calm. "Alternative route, back the way we came. Go."
But even as he spoke, more figures appeared behind them, cutting off their retreat.
They were surrounded.
"Class 3-A," Aizawa said, his capture weapon now holding two villains while his quirk cycled between targets, "new plan. When I say move, you scatter. Find the nearest exit, get outside, regroup with other pros. Do not engage, do not try to fight. Your only job is to survive and escape. Clear?"
"Sensei, we can't just leave you—" Midoriya started.
"That's an order, Midoriya." Aizawa didn't look back, his full attention on the villains who were slowly closing in from both sides. "You're students, not heroes yet. My job is to protect you, not the other way around. Now get ready to—"
WHOOOOMPH!!!!
The ceiling exploded.
Ryuu barely had time to process what was happening before chunks of concrete and twisted metal rained down, smashing into the corridor between them and Aizawa.
Dust billowed out in choking clouds, and through the gap in the ceiling he caught a glimpse of another floor above, more fighting, more chaos.
When the dust cleared enough to see, their group was cut off from Aizawa by a pile of rubble too high to quickly climb.
"Sensei!" multiple voices shouted.
"I'm fine!" Aizawa's voice came back, muffled by the debris. "New plan, same order! Find an exit, get outside, regroup! Move!"
Dr. Yamada grabbed the nearest student, which happened to be Ochaco. "This way, there's a service corridor that connects to—"
"Oh, I don't think so."
The villain who stepped out from behind a filing tower was massive, easily seven feet tall with arms that looked like tree trunks.
His quirk was obvious from the stone-like texture of his skin, some kind of hardening or earth manipulation.
"You kids aren't going anywhere," he said, and cracked his knuckles with sounds like breaking rock. "Boss wants the amplifier, and I'm betting one of you fits that description."
Ryuu's blood went cold.
They were here for him.
This wasn't a random attack on the institute. Someone had known he'd be here, known about his quirk, sent villains specifically to capture or kill him.
"Ryuu," Momo said quietly, her hand finding his, "we need to move. Now."
But the stone villain wasn't alone.
Two more stepped out from the shadows between displays, flanking them, cutting off the obvious escape routes.
Dr. Yamada looked terrified but determined. "Students, stay behind me. I may not be a combat hero, but I won't let the—"
"Oh, shut up."
One of the other villains flicked his hand almost casually, and Dr. Yamada went down like her strings had been cut, unconscious before she hit the floor.
"Sleep quirk," Midoriya muttered, his analytical mind still working even in crisis. "Ranged activation, line of sight required based on the gesture—"
"Midoriya," Ryuu cut him off, "analysis later. Right now we need to—"
The stone villain charged.
He moved fast for someone his size, closing the distance between them in three massive strides.
His fist came down like a sledgehammer, aimed directly at Ryuu's head.
Mina reacted on pure instinct, sliding forward and spraying acid at the villain's feet.
The concrete hissed and melted, throwing off his balance just enough for his punch to miss, cratering the floor where Ryuu had been standing a second earlier.
"Run!" Mina shouted. "Everyone move!"
The group scattered.
Ryuu grabbed Mina and Momo, pulling them toward what looked like a side corridor between two rows of filing systems.
Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Jirou went the other direction, Midoriya with them.
The rest of the class split into smaller groups, all of them following Aizawa's final order.
Survive. Escape. Don't fight.
But the villains had other plans.
Ryuu heard quirks activating behind them as they ran, heard shouting and the sounds of combat.
One of the other students screaming. The crash of something heavy hitting something else.
The side corridor opened into a smaller research room, filled with equipment and computers and no other exits except the way they'd come in.
A dead end.
"Shit," Ryuu breathed, spinning around to look for another way out.
But the stone villain was already there, blocking the doorway, his massive frame filling the entire opening.
Behind him, Ryuu could see the sleep quirk user and one more, this one with some kind of energy crackling around his hands.
Three villains. One exit. No backup.
"End of the line, kids," the stone villain said, and smiled. "Now, which one of you is the amplifier?"
Mina stepped forward slightly, acid already dripping from her palms. "How about you come find out?"
Momo's hand was already glowing, creation quirk activating. Metal began forming in her grip, the beginning of some kind of weapon.
Ryuu felt his quirk surge in response to their determination, to the danger, to the sheer need to survive this.
He'd promised himself he wouldn't use Resonance in combat until he understood it better.
Looked like he was about to break that promise.
"Mina, Momo," he said quietly, "I need you to trust me. I'm going to amplify you both, and it's going to feel intense, but I need you to stay focused. Can you do that?"
"Always," Mina said immediately.
"Yes," Momo replied, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes.
Ryuu reached out with his quirk, finding the familiar signatures of their power. Mina's acid generation, the chemical reactions in her cells that produced it.
Momo's creation, the complex lipid conversion process that let her manifest objects.
He grabbed onto both and pushed.
The Resonance hit like lightning.
Mina gasped, her entire body lighting up with that now-familiar pink glow.
Her acid generation went into overdrive, stronger and more potent than normal. But more than that, Ryuu could feel her emotional state feeding back through their connection, her fear transforming into fierce determination.
Momo's reaction was different but equally intense. Her quirk stabilized in a way it normally didn't, the creation process becoming smoother, faster, more efficient. The metal in her hand finished forming into a combat staff, but she didn't stop there, immediately beginning to create something else.
The stone villain's eyes narrowed. "So you're the amplifier. Boss is going to be real happy when I bring you in."
"You're going to have to catch me first," Ryuu said, and he was surprised by how steady his voice sounded.
---
Author's Note: *sigh*