"Miss Fairy…?"
Without loosening her grip on her son, Eva asked nervously, but no one answered, which made her even more anxious and caused her to look around cautiously, until suddenly, the barrier of light around her disappeared. That was when she saw nine people running toward her—eight women of almost divine beauty, along with one tall, muscular man.
"Who are you?! Where is Kai?!"
With the arrival of these people, Eva saw a beautiful young woman with black hair asking nervously. For some reason, the young woman seemed familiar to Eva, though she couldn't recall from where. Unfortunately, Eva couldn't understand the language the woman was speaking, but recalling the words of the beautiful fairy, she quickly delivered the message in a loud voice, hoping someone would understand English.
"Kai sent me first, and my son needs urgent medical attention!"
Nervously, Eva saw how the people in front of her exchanged surprised looks, then began discussing something among themselves. At that moment, the one who seemed to be the leader—a stunning woman with an incredibly attractive and voluptuous figure, as though made to awaken impure desires, with blue eyes and long dark-blue or perhaps dark-purple hair—spoke to her in fairly good English, though with a slight accent.
"I understand. We'll give your son medical attention. Follow me."
As the beautiful woman spoke, two other women—one with bob-cut brown hair and another with golden hair and a curious bang falling over her face—quickly helped her stand. Meanwhile, a black-haired woman wearing elegant glasses, who looked quite similar to the first girl who had spoken, very likely sisters, draped a white blanket over Eva, covering her naked, bruised body.
While they walked briskly, Eva looked around and soon noticed they were on what appeared to be a rural estate, featuring a large and very elegant mansion. Over the entire area, a great number of drones of various shapes and sizes flew about, all of them looking futuristic and seemingly armed, ready to attack if necessary.
Before long, Eva found herself in front of a two-story building of fairly simple appearance, set somewhat apart from the mansion. There, the beautiful woman who had handed her the blanket placed her hand on what looked like a fingerprint scanner and then entered what appeared to be a password on the panel. Afterward, she briefly removed her glasses so another sensor that emerged from the wall could scan her iris, at which point the building's doors opened.
On the other side of the doors was a completely white room with several holographic screens and other futuristic-looking equipment. But what stood out the most was what looked like a closed, vertically oriented cabin with a glass door, supported by a thick base connecting it to the floor.
"Where are we?" Eva asked nervously upon seeing the strange place, at which point the beautiful woman who had given her the blanket spoke in perfectly fluent English, though in a serious tone.
"This is a complicated moment, so we should check on your son first. The cabin you see is a MedPod, the latest in medical technology. By the way, nice to meet you. My name is Keiko Yaoyorozu."
"…"
Upon hearing the woman's name, Eva opened her eyes wide, surprised. After all, she knew that name—one of the world's greatest geniuses, and also one of the richest. After looking at her for a few moments, Eva quickly recognized her; the reason she had seemed familiar was because Eva had seen her photos on TV and the internet. It shocked her to the core, as she never imagined that after escaping that hell, she would run into such a big shot.
"Hurry, if Kai said your son needed urgent attention, there must be a reason." Seeing Eva struck speechless, Keiko urged her, snapping her out of her stupor. After biting her lips for a moment, Eva answered seriously.
"Alright… I'll trust you."
With great nervousness, Eva followed Keiko to the cabin, which automatically opened its upper glass section, releasing a strange white mist. Keiko then operated some screens on the lower part of the cabin, before looking at Eva and speaking firmly.
"Lay your son inside the cabin."
"…Okay…"
Nodding nervously, Eva carefully placed her son inside the cabin, then stepped back at Keiko's indication. The glass section of the cabin closed, and a sort of blue laser scanned her son from head to toe.
When the laser finished passing over Oliver, several holographic screens appeared in front of Keiko, who quickly reviewed them and then adjusted some settings. She spoke seriously, though by the way, her brows were furrowed, it was clear she wasn't as calm as she appeared.
"Well, fortunately your son isn't that badly injured. He's got some fractured bones and a small internal hemorrhage—nothing the MedPod can't handle, so don't worry."
"…"
Keiko's words were met with silence from Eva, who watched anxiously, fists tightly clenched, as several mechanical arms emerged inside the cabin and started cutting away her son's rough-spun clothing. Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see a shorter woman with blue hair and an ample chest. The woman looked her straight in the eye and asked solemnly, speaking in equally good English.
"Now that we've taken care of your son, I hope you can tell us what happened to our Kai."
"Oh! Right, he needs reinforcements. That place is a hellish nightmare—there's a giant monster and an army of spiders with Quirks! No, we need more than reinforcements; we need to bomb that place! I can't see how even the heroes could handle those monsters!"
Upon hearing Yumiko's question, Eva answered quickly, her tone urgent and clearly fearful. That response visibly darkened the expressions of everyone present. Keiko then ran over to Eva and clutched the blanket she'd given her, asking frantically, seized by panic.
"What happened?! Where is Kai?! Did they do something to him?!"
"Calm down, Keiko!" Seeing Keiko lose control, Nemuri quickly stepped forward and spoke firmly, prompting Keiko to turn around and reply with anger, panic, and anxiety.
"How can I calm down?! Can't you hear her?! Kai's in danger!!! We have to do something! Argus! Total war mode, kill anything that enters the property and prepare the aerial attack protocol! We're going to rescue Kai, even if it's the last thing we do!!!"
[Understood.]
"CALM DOWN, KEIKO!"
Faced with Keiko's furious outburst and the virtual assistant's response, Yumiko quickly intervened, shouting and shaking her firmly by the shoulders. At that moment, the others also approached Keiko with grave expressions, for they could see outside that the number of drones was increasing, and several strange turrets had emerged from the ground in various spots.
"I can't calm down! If something happens to Kai, I…"
Keiko shouted in panic, but her words were cut short when Yumiko—wearing an incredibly serious expression—slapped her so hard that her head whipped to the side, sending her glasses flying. Yumiko then spoke in a stern tone full of solemnity, utterly different from her usual kind, nurturing voice.
"I told you to calm down. You know Kai—if he's in mortal danger, he'll run away and come up with a better way to strike back. Also, if he was able to send this woman and her son here, it's because he can escape at any moment. More than anyone else, you know his abilities."
Stunned, Keiko held her cheek and turned to stare at Yumiko with disbelief, a sentiment mirrored on everyone else's faces, who, for the first time, were witnessing Yumiko act this way. After a few seconds, Keiko spoke in a low voice, still somewhat shocked.
"Argus, cancel everything. Go back to the initial order."
[Understood.]
"Mom, are you okay?" With Argus's synthesized voice replying, Momo managed to snap out of her shock and rushed toward her mother, asking with concern.
"I'm fine… don't worry." Keiko answered quietly as she rubbed her cheek gently. Yumiko spoke again, this time in an apologetic tone.
"Forgive me, Keiko. You were too agitated, and I had to bring you to your senses somehow."
"It's alright… I understand. But I still don't want to sit here doing nothing. Kai could be in danger." Keiko nodded and replied seriously, to which Yumiko nodded and then responded in an equally serious tone.
"First, let's ask the right questions, then we can contact All Might. Even though he's weakened now, he's still the strongest hero."
"Alright…" Keiko replied gravely. Yumiko then turned to Eva, who had been watching the entire scene with an uncomfortable expression on her face. She addressed her in a very serious tone, speaking in English.
"I'd like to apologize for our outburst. What you said affected us greatly. So I hope you can answer one question sincerely: Is Kai in danger?"
"If 'Kai' is the young man with blue hair and eyes who rescued me, I would say yes. Although I only saw him get hit once, and the last time I saw him, he was still fine and without many visible injuries. That place looked like pandemonium, with purple lightning tearing everything apart, along with massive explosions worthy of a large-scale bombardment happening everywhere..."
Avoiding mentioning the little internal fight they had been having, Eva responded with an incredibly serious tone, which greatly surprised everyone, to the point where Chatora couldn't help but ask in an almost rhetorical manner, evidently shocked.
"Purple lightning? Lightning Mantle in its second form…? Are they really that strong?"
Knowing full well what the appearance of purple lightning implied, Keiko immediately asked, eyes brimming with concern, not caring in the least about the vivid red handprint Yumiko had left on her cheek.
"You said he got hit—was it very hard?"
"I imagine so. Out of nowhere, a giant Drider appeared and sent him flying with a single blow. Then, a beautiful little fairy protected me with a rampart, and later, I saw him again for a moment, drawing the attention of those monsters. After reuniting with my son, Miss Fairy sent me here, so I don't know much more." Eva responded hastily, feeling uncertain, which led Nemuri to ask in surprise.
"A Drider? The half-spider, half-human monster?"
"Yes, something like that, but giant—about five meters tall and more monstrous than human. It was only humanoid, grotesque, and it looked incredibly terrifying." Eva nodded and answered in a serious tone, with a hint of fear in her voice.
"How many enemies were there? Aside from the spiders, was there anything else?" Shino quickly asked with evident concern, her fists tightly clenched, and Eva replied seriously.
"There was a savage tribe, but I think they were all killed by the explosions. The strongest ones were the spiders. In the time I spent on the island, I saw at least a hundred, and that Drider was the first time I'd seen something like it."
"A hundred…?" Hearing that number, Ryuko gasped in shock and worry, and Keiko spoke up in a tense voice, full of urgency.
"Tomoko! Can you locate Kai?"
"No! I can't detect him!" Tomoko replied, her face paling considerably while her eyes glowed faintly. This only darkened Keiko's expression further, and she quickly exclaimed, her voice full of fear.
"Argus, give me Kai's location!"
[Unable to determine Kai or Sage's position. They are completely disconnected from the network, though there are records of their last known location.]
Instantly, the synthetic voice responded, and one of the MedPod's holographic screens changed to show a satellite image of the last known position, revealing a spot in the middle of the ocean with nothing else around for hundreds of kilometers. This caused everyone's hearts to pound wildly.
"Should we call All Might…?" Nejire asked quietly, visibly worried. Tomoko quickly nodded and then spoke in an unusually serious tone, her expression betraying the terror that gripped her heart.
"That's best. If Kai was forced to use that much power, then it's a grave situation."
"I'll get in touch with All Might. It's best he be ready to leave if Kai doesn't return soon. Meanwhile, try to figure out as much as you can about Kai's current situation." Nemuri announced solemnly, and everyone else nodded, looking grave. At that moment, Eva spoke with firm resolve.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you need me for anything, count on me. I'm infinitely grateful to that young man and the fairy for helping me, so I'll do whatever I can to help you in return."
***
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