MHA: GAMER PATH

Chapter 155: UA's Underground Dungeon (2)

~Third POV~

[Final Weeks of December, UA Highschool, Heights Alliance, Musutafu, Japan]

Tokoyami put down his paper bag and reached for the object. Kirishima said in excitement, with a sparkle in his eye, "Ooh, that brings me back."

Ren dared to say in a confused tone, eyeing the decoration and raising an eyebrow, "What is 'Batboy,' dare I ask?"

Ida was equally confused as Kirishima began to explain to them in an excited tone about the origins of 'Batboy,' "A real popular American movie from way back when. Batboy! The kid superhero who controls bats! Kinda cool how he was more of a dark hero, y'know. You've never seen that flick?"

Ren kept a calm expression, but inside his thoughts, he argued, offended by the existence of 'Batboy' for many reasons, 'Really, MHA? Just… really? Did they dare to bastardize the modern Batman?! And his not even Quirkless to make it good, you damn American comics of this universe bastards!!!'

Ida apologized for not realizing 'Batboy' as Kirishima asked curiously, "So lemme guess, Tokoyami – you're a Batboy fan?"

Passion filled Tokoyami's voice as if this talk had revived within him emotions from years past as he said fondly, "Indeed… The young loner who commands jet-black bats to carry out justice. A character I admire very much."

But then his paper bag fell over, and its contents spilled out, including ripped black clothing, a tapestry with a geometric pattern, and a crystal ball about ten centimeters wide. Though the ground was relatively flat, the slight slope began to carry away the rolling ball as Tokoyami cried out loud, "Ah, my Dark Night Crystal!"

It was too late as it had already rolled into the nearby woods. As he rushed off in pursuit, Ida tilted his head and raised a question as he said out loud, confused, "That looked to me like an ordinary transparent crystal ball, so what exactly was 'dark' or 'night'-like about it?"

Kirishima shook his head as if to say, "Don't ask, man."

Shinso rubbed the back of his head as he said, "It's cuz, y'know…"

However, Ida tilted his head, looking more confused as he asked in a confused tone, "I know what, exactly?"

Ren sighed as he began to explain to Ida, even though he understood what the two were saying in a calm tone, "There's a time in a kid's life when he's just gotta give names like that to stuff…"

Ida still wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he could accept that everyone went through phases. It just so happened that during the height of Tokoyami's middle schooler syndrome, the boy had named the crystal ball after the hero he idolized—Dark Crystal.

*CAW*

A murder of cawing crows flew overhead. Tokoyami still hadn't returned. As Shinso glancing worriedly toward the forest asked, "You think he's okay?"

It wasn't as if much time had passed, but it had been more than long enough to retrieve the ball. Ren suggested with his arms crossed, "I guess he couldn't find it right away?"

The four remaining boys crossed the tree line, determined to help Tokoyami search, but he was nowhere to be found. Ida shouted for him, "Tokoyami!"

"Over here."

They followed their friend's voice through the dense trees and found him staring at a certain spot on the ground. Ida asked confused, "What's the matter?"

Tokoyami raised his head and pointed down with a conflicted tone and said, "My Dark Night… erm, the crystal stopped rolling here, but… the ground seems soft."

Ren's eyes blinked as he looked at the spot, asking curiously, "Soft? How so?"

Ida moved toward Tokoyami as he spoke, and sure enough, that first step gave him confirmation. Not only was the ground soft, but it collapsed under Ida's weight, crumbling apart and swallowing the boys with an earth-shattering rumble.

*RMBL*

"Wahhh?!"

//////

[UA Highschool – Underground Dungeon, Japan]

The voice of [Dark Shadow] echoed, trying to wake up the students, "Hey… Hey! Wake up, fellas!"

[Dark Shadow's] voice had roused Ida as he muttered out loud, "Urgh... Hrm? Is that you, Dark Shadow?"

Ida then tried to lift himself up, and he groaned in reaction to the pain shooting across his back and arms. That's when he noticed how dark it was. Ida pushed the pain aside and fixed his askew glasses. How had they been transported from the forest to a dimly lit cavern, surrounded by walls of boulders?

It was when Ida remembered their eyes widening as he thought, recalling the event of falling in, 'Right, of course. The ground collapsed… Some sort of cave-in?'

Ida realized he must have blacked out, so he shot up with a gasp and said, "Is everyone okay?!"

[Dark Shadow] had floated up to the top of a rock pile, where it was trying to wake up Shinso. Nearby, a hardened Kirishima burst out of a pile of rocks and yelled, "Phew, thought I was a dead man!"

Tokoyami and Ren had also just opened their eyes, and their pained grunts alerted one to the other. The boys confirmed that everyone else was relatively uninjured, and a relieved Ida began examining their surroundings.

The ceiling was an arch-shaped slab of stone, and it seemed that the hole they'd fallen through had been naturally plugged by rocks during the cave-in. It was hard to tell just how far they'd fallen, given the whole blacking-out thing.

Since the cave was more than large enough to swallow up the massive quantity of rocks that had fallen in, Ida assumed that this hollowed-out space was responsible for the ground crumbling beneath their feet to begin with.

[Dark Shadow] yelled, getting everyone's attention, "Hey, hey! Check this out!"

The darkness had put some pep in Dark Shadow's step, and Tokoyami's shadowy familiar now pointed beyond some of the rocks. The boys fought past the aches and pains to stand up and investigate as Shinso says, "What could that be…?"

Their eyes had begun to adjust to the darkness, but they didn't need night vision to see a string of red lights that seemed to burn, faintly. The lights led down a passage, like a beckoning trail of bloodstains, informing the boys that surely not everything about this space was entirely natural.

In fact, when they got a closer look at the first red glow, they realized it was coming from a basic light bulb.

//////

[UA Highschool – Underground Dungeon – Security Room, Japan]

"Hmm?"

Alerted to the presence of intruders, a shadowy figure elsewhere adjusted a screen for a better look. The curious students had no idea that the lights that had captured their attention were, in fact, also capturing a live feed of them.

The shadowy figure paused as he muttered in a stunned tone, "Nezu is gonna kill me for this."

/////

[UA Highschool – Underground Dungeon, Japan]

The passageway illuminated by the faint red lights was broad and tall, about five meters across and three meters high, so plenty large enough for an SUV to drive through. Despite the lights, the darkness was pervasive, and the boys couldn't see an end to the passage through the gloom.

They could, however, see several offshoot tunnels, each as wide as the main one. The walls appeared smooth from a distance, but a closer inspection revealed them to be coarse and rough-hewn as Ida murmured in a stunned tone, "I never imagined such a cave structure existed beneath U.A."

Kirishima gasped as if he'd had an insight and asked in a surprised tone, "Maybe it's a new school facility?"

Thinking of the possibility, Ren answered, seemingly convinced, "That could explain it."

Shinso nodded in agreement. Tokoyami, observing the underground dungeon, couldn't help but voice his opinion out loud, "If they've been constructing this facility, that would also explain the minor earthquakes and the sounds Ren and Jiro have heard."

Ida nodded, agreeing with Tokoyami's assessment as he said nervously, "Yes, in all likelihood."

The creeping unease brought on by the unfamiliar space was replaced with relief at this reasonable explanation as [Dark Shadow] yelped, "Let's explore, then!"

[Dark Shadow], who'd been fidgeting and glancing around excitedly the entire time, but Ida said, shaking his head sternly, "No. As of this moment, we're victims of accidents. We ought to escape as soon as possible and… Ah, Tokoyami! Is your phone working? Or Ren, can't you portal us out?"

Tokoyami had indeed forgotten about his phone, but he yanked it from his pocket and tried. His face quickly clouded over as he said, "No, I have no signal."

At the same time, Ren shook his head as he explained as they continued investigating the underground dungeon, "Sorry, but no. I need coordinates to teleport out. And busting out with our Quirks might cause another cave-in on us. Our best course of action is to explore this underground dungeon for an escape if all else fails, then we bust out with our Quirks if push comes to shove."

The boys nodded in understanding as Kirishima spoke up. The boys explored the paths provided, commenting, surveying the massive underground space, "Makes sense. If someone's building this place, they've gotta have a way in and out."

Ida couldn't help but agree as he voiced his opinion as they moved forward in a curious tone, "Yes, but we are without a proper map, and there's no telling how expansive these caves are."

As they walked around exploring the underground space, Ren couldn't help but think, 'Which escape option seemed safer?'

*Clang*

As class president, Ren was duty-bound to make proper decisions, but his thoughts were interrupted by a brassy clanging from deeper into the cave. The boys all spun around toward the source of the noise.

Something small was moving in their direction. As it approached one of the red lights, the full form of a toy monkey with cymbals came into view. The group exchanged uneasy glances and walked over to the toy.

Kirishima, who, after a tense pause, hardened one hand and lifted the monkey as he muttered in a confused tone, "The heck…? A toy monkey?"

They all stared, waiting for something to happen, but the toy remained a toy. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Kirishima asked confused, "This little dude definitely wasn't chilling over here a minute ago, right?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders but narrowed his eyes on the toy monkey as he suggested calmly, "Maybe it was just too dark for us to notice it…"

Ida couldn't help but wonder out loud, gazing at the toy in Kirishima's hand curiously, "Why would such a contraption be here in the first place?"

Before anyone could answer, the monkey sprang to life and began smashing its tiny cymbals together with aplomb as Kirishima yelped in surprise, "Whoa!"

Kirishima dropped the toy in shock. The others flinched as well before chuckling in the silence that followed, perhaps out of embarrassment over their overblown reaction.

Any shock on their part was soon justified, however, when the monkey's head spun around. Its eyes lit up as if confirming targets, and a powerful beam aimed straight at the boys shot from its open mouth.

*PEW*

"Yikes!"

They narrowly avoided the point-blank attack, but the monkey, now somehow on its feet, wasted no time in firing off more beams. Kirishima yelled in a panicked tone, "What's up with this?!"

Ida shot back, whose fleet feet had put some distance between himself and the monkey, "Obviously, I cannot explain it!"

Feeling annoyed, Tokoyami shouted out loud, "Get it, Dark Shadow!"

[Dark Shadow] replied eagerly, diving in to attack with claws and fangs bared, "Aye, aye boss!"

The dim surroundings neutered the beam blasts' range, but one close-up beam from the monkey hit [Dark Shadow] squarely in the eyes as it yelped quickly, shrinking back and retreating into Tokoyami's body, "Gahh!"

Tokoyami's eyes widened as he cried out loud, his voice wavering with concern, "[Dark Shadow]!"

Kirishima and Ren were up next. The former's hardened body withstood the beam blasts without trouble, but as the duo moved within striking range, the monkey scampered off, so Ren picked up a massive boulder and hurled it straight at the toy.

*Swoosh*

*SPLAT*

When the dust had settled, the boys moved closer to make sure the target had been destroyed, but a good half of the monkey, including its head, was still intact. The toy's mouth popped open and closed, muttering out loud, "… urse… urse… urse..."

Ida gazed at the broken monkey toy as he couldn't help but exclaim in a confused tone, "Nurse…? How brazen to request medical assistance from us at this point!"

However, Tokoyami gazed at the destroyed monkey voice as he corrected Ida darkly, "I believe it's saying 'curse.' Like the sort involving voodoo dolls…"

'Curse.'

The word hung in the air, and it slowly transformed the monkey into something far more sinister than it had seemed even a moment ago. Once again, the toy's mouth opened as it muttered, "Curse… Curse…"

They heard it now, and it seemed obvious that the toy's creator had imbued it with malice and ill will. The boys gulped in unison as Ren's eyes twitched as he thought in an annoyed tone, 'I swear to god, if it's another cursed spirit again, I'll make the next one a fucking my blessed toilet paper!!'

Under different circumstances, they might have laughed it off, but not in this dim, otherworldly space, where they were feeling quite down the rabbit hole already. Suddenly, the monkey's jaw popped open again as if the head might split in two, "Curse… Destroy!"

"Gahhh!"

The boys ran as Ren made sure to follow them, but the mangled monkey toy floated into the air and pursued them as Kirishima shouted, "W-what now?!"

Ida shot back, equally terrified, "Don't ask me!"

The solution might have been as simple as wrecking what remained of the toy, but the premise that it was cloaked in some invisible, unknowable curse made it even more terrifying. Perhaps destroying it would curse them forever?

Motivated by that primal instinct known as fear, the boys' every reflex was suddenly dedicated to escaping, but as they ran deeper into the tunnel, they were surprised to find more than just a few side passages.

They saw countless openings, all evenly spaced apart. Still, it was all they could do to dodge the incoming beams from the pursuing toy as Kirishima asked Ren desperately, "Any thoughts yet, Ren?!"

Listening to Kirishima's words, Ren was about to speak, but Ida's cry alerted them, "Ren! Up ahead!"

Ida's cry alerted Ren to an entire swarm of toy monkeys flying at the group from the other direction, all firing beam blasts as he said, "Where the hell did these monkeys even come from?! Whoa!"

*PEW*

They leaped down one of the side tunnels and were shocked to discover that this one had more branching paths of its own. They kept running, but dodging the curtain of beams was quickly becoming unfeasible as Kirishima said, "Class Rep, they're not stopping!"

Still running, Ren considered their options before proposing a plan in a serious tone, "You keep luring them ahead, Kirishima. Meanwhile, we shall conceal ourselves on either side to make a counterattack."

Ida and Tokoyami nodded in agreement and dove down a passage to the left while Ren ran to the right. Kirishima screeched to a halt, hardened his entire body to withstand the beam attacks, and took the opportunity to smash two or three of the toy monkeys with his rock-hard fists as he shouted in a determined tone at the rest of the swarm before taking off running again, "Come and get me!"

Just as the monkeys flew past, the other three boys leaped out and attacked from behind, prompting Kirishima to once again spin around, effectively catching the pursuers in a pincer move.

A final string of curses echoed like death throes as the toys were destroyed for good, "Curse… Curse… Curse, curse, curse… Arghh!"

Any hypothetical fear of invoking the curse by fighting back had been overshadowed by the much more tangible fear of the ominous talking monkey toys. Having satisfied both their flight and fight instincts, the boys heaved sighs of relief as Kirishima asked, "Seriously, what was their deal…?"

Ren scowled at the destroyed monkeys, no better equipped to answer his third such query than the first two, "I would very much like to know as well."

Sighing in relief, Ida asked Tokoyami about [Dark Shadow ]'s condition, "Is [Dark Shadow] doing okay?"

Tokoyami nodded his head as he explained to them in a calm tone, "Yes… Any damage will be healed after a short rest."

Ida sighed in relief as he replied calmly but was soon replaced by the sense that something was off saying out loud, "Wonderful to hear – wait… Where is Shinso?"

The other three hadn't realized their classmate was missing until that moment. They shouted for Shinso, but the only answer was their echoes. Even the ears on Ren's enhanced senses couldn't detect any trace of their classmate as he muttered, "Just fucking perfect… the only thing we need is a talking dog and we'll be in a Scooby-Doo episode with a villain of the day. Fuck my life."