Chương 17: Roleplay Ends

Ren Akiyama stepped over the yellow boundary line, and the world did not punish him immediately. That was the problem. Rules were easier to break when they shattered loudly. A siren. A command. A teacher shouting evacuation. A villain appearing directly in front of him. A wall collapsing. Anything obvious enough to make disobedience feel like obedience to a higher order. Instead, for one breath, the Ruins Zone remained almost still. Artificial concrete leaned where it had leaned before.

Foam debris sat in arranged piles. Green evacuation lights glowed dimly through a half-collapsed storefront. Kenta stood frozen near his assigned position with both hands slightly raised, as if some part of him still believed a staff member might tell him he had broken role incorrectly. The girl by the cracked wall stared toward the central plaza with her mouth open. The staff member at the zone edge kept pressing his radio even though the device had already become a block of static in his hand.

Beyond them, through the narrow slice of visibility between ruined facades, black fog unfolded across the central plaza. Villains stepped out. Not robots. Not teachers. Not actors. People. That distinction entered Ren's body before thought finished naming it. Robots moved according to programming. Teachers moved according to safety constraints. Actors moved according to scenario rules.

People moved according to hunger, fear, cruelty, improvisation, and whatever private logic had led them through a warp gate into a school facility full of children. Ren could plan for systems. People made systems bleed. The staff member finally looked back at them.

"Stay where you are" No. The word rose in Ren immediately. Not out loud. Not yet. The staff member's face was pale, but his posture remained official. He pointed toward the three students placed in the Ruins Zone.

"Stay in position until evacuation is called" Kenta nodded automatically. The girl near the wall whispered "Okay" Ren looked at the black fog expanding in the central plaza. Aizawa moved. Even from this distance, Ren recognized the shift. One moment he stood near the Hero Course students. The next, he was down the stairs, capture weapon unfurling around him like a gray ribbon with a mind of its own. He hit the first villain before the man seemed to understand a teacher had entered the fight.

Another turned, Quirk beginning to activate, then failed as Aizawa's gaze took it away. Eraser Head. Real combat looked nothing like training footage. It was faster. Ugly in its efficiency. The Hero Course students behind him erupted into motion and fear. Thirteen moved to protect them. Kurogiri's mist widened. Ren's memory supplied the next shape before the facility did. Scatter. The staff member shouted into the radio again.

"Central, respond! Central!" Static. Ren spoke clearly.

"Roleplay is over" Kenta looked at him.

"What?"

"Roleplay is over" The girl by the wall shook her head.

"The teacher said stay""He has no communication, no evacuation confirmation, no line of sight to all threats, and no authority over the central intrusion response if he cannot receive orders""That doesn't mean" A deep boom rolled through USJ. Not an explosion. A Quirk impact. Someone screamed from the central plaza. The girl flinched. Ren pointed toward the west evacuation lights.

"Move toward the west corridor. Stay low. Do not run unless I say run. Do not speak to unknown people. Do not answer questions from anyone you do not recognize as staff or student" Kenta's eyes widened.

"Why not answer?" Ren thought of Shinso's Quirk. Then of every villain who might have something worse.

"Unknown Quirk conditions" The girl swallowed.

"What about him?" She pointed to the staff member. He was still at the zone edge, now half turned toward central plaza and half toward them, trapped between official duty and unfolding reality. Ren raised his voice.

"Sir. West evacuation corridor" The staff member looked at him.

"I said stay in position""Your radio is down""The evacuation order has not been" Another burst of static screamed from his radio, followed by half a voice, distorted beyond recognition. Then the black fog moved. It did not flow like smoke. Smoke obeyed air. This opened. A slit of darkness widened near the central plaza stairs and swallowed space between one heartbeat and the next. Ren saw Iida lunge. Saw Thirteen raise an arm. Saw Kurogiri turn his mist-body like a cloak unfurling.

Then the fog surged outward in several directions at once. One tendril slid along the floor toward the zone entrances. The staff member saw it too late. He stepped back, hand reaching for something at his belt. The fog opened beneath his feet. He vanished from the knees down, then the waist, then entirely, cut off mid-shout. Kenta made a sound like he had been punched. The girl screamed. The black slit collapsed. The radio fell to the ground alone. No staff. No order. No role. Ren's body went cold. Not fear only.

Clarity.

"Move" Kenta did not. Ren crossed the distance in three steps, grabbed his sleeve, and pulled. That worked. Kenta stumbled forward. The girl by the wall still had both hands over her mouth. Ren pointed at her.

"Name" She stared at him.

"Name""Nana""Full name""Nana Fujita""Good. Nana, look at the green lights" Her eyes flicked toward them.

"Walk to them. Now" She moved. Too slowly. Acceptable. Ren grabbed the dropped radio as they passed the zone edge. It spat static into his hand. He clipped it to his belt anyway. A useless tool could become useful if the reason for uselessness changed. He looked back at the central plaza. Aizawa was fighting too many people. That was the first complete thought. Not villains are attacking. Not USJ is real. Not memory was right. Aizawa is fighting too many people.

The underground hero moved through the mob with terrifying precision. A kick to a jaw. Capture weapon around an arm. A twist. An elbow. A villain dropped before his Quirk could become relevant. Another lunged and collapsed when Erasure cut power from whatever transformation had begun. Aizawa was efficient. Efficiency did not make numbers disappear. More villains kept coming through the fog. The Hero Course students were still clustered. Thirteen was speaking. Iida was moving.

Bakugo and Kirishima launched forward toward Kurogiri. Canon. The word was useless here. Reality did not care whether it had been seen before. Ren turned away. Looking at the central fight would not save the people beside him. Kenta stumbled again.

"My role card said bad leg" Ren looked at him.

"Do you have a bad leg?"

"No""Then stop acting" Kenta blinked.

"Oh" The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Nana gave a shaky laugh that sounded too close to crying. They reached the first green light. The west corridor sign was partially hidden by a collapsed fake signboard, exactly as Ren had noticed from the ground. In simulation, a Hero Course student was supposed to spot it and give clear directions. In reality, three General Studies students reached it alone and found the passage door shut. Not locked.

Ren pressed the release. Nothing. He pressed again. No response. Power interruption. Manual override? He looked along the wall. Emergency panel behind transparent cover. Good. He pulled it open. An alarm chirped once, then died halfway through the second sound. Inside were a manual latch and a red switch. Ren pulled the latch. The door shifted one centimeter and stopped. Mechanical obstruction or security failure. Kenta grabbed the edge.

"I can pull""Pull slowly" Kenta pulled fast. The door jammed harder. Ren closed his eyes for half a second.

"No" Kenta froze.

"Sorry""Do not apologize. Reset grip lower. Nana, watch the corridor behind us. If anyone appears, say student, staff, or unknown. Do not speak to them" Nana swallowed.

"Okay" Ren crouched by the door track. A small chunk of artificial debris had slid into the lower rail, probably from facility vibration. Simulation-safe material. Light enough. He dug his fingers into the gap and pulled. The debris did not move. His healing palm protested. Not today. He changed angle, used the radio casing as a wedge, and levered the chunk upward. It popped free. Kenta pulled again. This time the door opened halfway. Beyond it, the west evacuation corridor stretched into dim green light.

For one second, Ren felt relief. Then someone inside the corridor screamed. Nana clapped both hands over her mouth again. Kenta released the door. Ren caught it before it slid shut.

"Hold" Kenta held. Ren looked into the corridor. Two figures ran toward them. Students. General Studies by uniform. One boy Ren recognized from 1-C's back row. A second-year? No, first-year from another group. Behind them, farther down the corridor, a man in dark clothing staggered into view holding what looked like a metal pipe. Unknown. The two students were panicking too hard to answer clearly. Ren stepped aside.

"Through" They stumbled out into the Ruins Zone. The boy from 1-C gasped "There's a guy in there""I see him""He hit Okamoto-sensei" Kenta's grip on the door tightened. Ren's mind adjusted. West corridor compromised. Unknown villain inside evacuation path. Okamoto possibly down. Route unsafe. The man with the pipe saw the opening and grinned. He was not wearing a U. A. uniform. His face was long, with a nose bent from old breaks and eyes too bright with excitement. Metal rings wrapped around both wrists.

The pipe in his hand scraped the wall as he walked.

"Well, well. The kiddie exit" Nana whispered "Unknown" Good. Late. Good. Ren placed one hand against the door.

"Kenta. Close" Kenta stared.

"But exit""Close" The villain started running. Ren and Kenta shoved the door. It moved too slowly. The villain threw the pipe. Ren ducked. The pipe struck the door edge and bounced into the Ruins Zone. Nana screamed. The door slammed shut with the villain still several meters away. A heavy impact hit the other side. Then another. The door held. For now. Kenta backed away.

"Oh my god" Ren grabbed the pipe from the ground. It was real metal. Not a prop. That answered several questions badly. The second-year student was shaking so hard he could barely breathe.

"He was just there. He came from the side door. Okamoto-sensei told us to run and then he""Okamoto alive?" Ren asked"I don't know!"

"Did he move?"

"I don't know!"

"Blood?"

"I don't know!" Kenta looked sick. Nana whispered "What do we do?" Ren looked at the west corridor door. Unsafe. Central plaza: hostile concentration. East service path: staff only, possibly accessible, near collapsed bus prop. North maintenance passage: behind collapsed office structure. Supposedly unnecessary. Likely best. He turned to the group. Five students now. Kenta. Nana. Back-row boy. Name? Tamura maybe. Unknown second-year or another 1-C group student. Himself. More may be in the zone.

Mannequins irrelevant. Unless someone hid near them. He looked down the Ruins Zone street.

"Kenta. Take Nana and the two who came through. Move toward the collapsed office structure north side. Stay low. Do not enter central plaza. Do not use west corridor. If you see staff, confirm identity before approaching" Kenta's face went blank.

"What about you?"

"I check for remaining students in this zone""No" Ren looked at him. Kenta looked surprised by his own answer. Then firmer.

"No. That's stupid. You're not staff" Correct. Useful. Inconvenient. Ren said "Someone has to check""Then we all go""No. Larger group moves slower and attracts attention""You just said don't become isolated" Ren stopped. Kenta was right. That was annoying. More than annoying. Good. He adjusted.

"Fine. We move as a group along the inner route. We check only visible placements. No deep search" Kenta nodded too fast. Nana whispered "Are you in charge?" Ren looked at her.

"No""Then why are we listening?" He had no clean answer. Because I recognized this first. Because someone vanished through fog. Because adults are gone. Because I have spent years preparing for the shape of this disaster and that is horrible but currently useful. Because if you wait for authority to reappear, you may die correctly. The second-year student answered before Ren did.

"Because he's giving instructions" That was enough for panic. Maybe enough for now. Ren pointed north.

"Move" They moved. The Ruins Zone had changed without changing. Same walls. Same props. Same green lights. Same artificial dust. Now every shadow had intent. Every gap became a mouth. Ren kept the pipe low in his right hand, not like a sword, not like a hero, but like a tool he did not want to need. His palm ached around the grip. Good. Pain meant he knew where his hand was. Kenta stayed near the back because he was taller and seemed less likely to collapse.

Nana walked behind Ren, breathing too fast but still moving. The two students from the corridor stumbled between them. One kept whispering that Okamoto had fallen. The other had gone silent in a way Ren disliked.

"Silent one" Ren said The boy looked up.

"Name""Fujimura""Any injury?"

"No""Can you use your Quirk safely?" He shook his head.

"What is it?"

"Light flash""Do not use unless I say. It may reveal position" Fujimura nodded.

"Other one" The shaking boy blinked.

"Tamura""Quirk?"

"Sticky feet""Can you climb?"

"Walls, sometimes""Good. You may scout over low debris only if line of sight remains and no unknown person is near" Tamura looked terrified by the idea. Ren added "Not now" He looked relieved. They passed the first mannequin placement. No student. Second placement. Empty. Third. The girl who had been assigned there was gone. Not necessarily bad. Maybe evacuated by staff. Maybe warped. Maybe hiding. Maybe taken. Ren crouched briefly and looked at the ground. Dust disturbed. Two sets of footprints.

One student shoes, one heavier. Toward inner ruins. Bad. Kenta whispered "What?"

"Someone left this position with an unknown person""Staff?"

"Unknown" Nana's voice trembled.

"You said no deep search""Yes""You're going to search" Ren stared at the footprints. If he followed, he risked five. If he did not, one might be taken. If he split, worse. If he waited, unknown. Rules did not remove cost. They only made cost visible. A shout came from the central plaza, followed by a crash large enough to shake dust from the fake walls. Aizawa. Maybe. The group flinched. The footprints disappeared behind a collapsed office facade near the north maintenance passage. Same direction. Good. Maybe.

"We continue north" Ren said "Eyes open" They reached the collapsed office structure. It was a three-story facade bent inward, with a reception area exposed beneath broken beams and false ceiling panels. Behind it, half-hidden in shadow, Ren saw a gray maintenance door with no green light above it. Tertiary route. Staff only. He moved toward it. The door opened from the inside. Everyone froze. A woman stepped out dragging a student by the collar. Not staff. Too old for student. Short hair shaved on one side.

Black jacket. Red scarf. A crescent-shaped knife in one hand. The student being dragged was the missing girl from the third mannequin placement, face pale, one hand clamped over her own mouth. The woman stopped. Ren stopped. The distance between them was six meters. Too close. The villain's eyes moved over the group. Then she smiled.

"More little civilians" Nana made a tiny sound. Ren kept the pipe low. Do not engage. Evacuate. Obstacle: villain holding hostage. Unknown Quirk. Knife. Student restrained but not bleeding. Maintenance door open behind villain. Possible route blocked. The woman tilted her head.

"You're not screaming" Ren did not answer. Unknown Quirk conditions. No verbal engagement. Her smile widened.

"Oh, smart one?" She lifted the knife to the missing girl's cheek. The student squeezed her eyes shut. Kenta took a step forward. Ren caught his sleeve without looking. The villain noticed.

"Good boy. Stay there" Ren did not respond. She frowned slightly. A talk-trigger? Command trigger? Fear response? Maybe she wanted verbal engagement. Ren looked at her hands. Knife right. Left hand gripping collar. No visible emitter signs. Could be speed, edge manipulation, voice, fear, anything. He needed Shinso. Shinso was in central plaza. Wrong zone. The villain jerked the girl closer.

"I said stay there" Ren kept silent. Kenta whispered "What do we do?" The villain's gaze snapped to him.

"Aw, he talks" Ren moved before the next word. Not at the villain. At Fujimura. He shoved the boy's shoulder downward and said "Flash" Fujimura's eyes widened. Then he clapped both hands together. White light exploded through the ruins. Not heat. Not sound. Pure brightness. Ren closed his eyes before full activation, turned his face, and moved on the count he had given himself. One. Two. He threw the metal pipe low. Not at the villain's head. At her knees. The pipe struck one shin. She cursed.

The hostage girl dropped instinctively as the grip loosened. Kenta surged forward, too early, but his body mass helped. He slammed into the missing girl, not the villain, knocking her sideways out of knife range. Ren opened his eyes into afterimage and pain. The villain slashed blindly. The knife cut across his left sleeve and bit shallowly into his forearm. Sharp. Real. His old scar burned in answer. Ren stepped back before the second slash. Too slow. The woman's foot caught his ankle. He fell. Mrs.

Takane's voice, years old. Make the floor less expensive. Ren tucked, rolled over his shoulder, ribs protesting from the old exam bruise, and came up on one knee behind a broken desk. The villain's vision recovered faster than expected. Her eyes locked on him.

"There you are" Ren pointed behind her. Kenta had the girl. Nana and Tamura were pulling her back toward the group. Fujimura stood frozen, hands shaking.

"Run" Ren said This time, everyone did. Good. The villain looked over her shoulder and snarled. She moved after them. Fast. Too fast. Ren grabbed a loose desk drawer from the debris and threw it at her legs. Bad throw. It clipped her hip, not enough. She kept moving. Ren pushed off the ground and lunged toward the maintenance door, not away. Her attention snapped back. Yes. People followed movement near exits. He reached the open door and shoved it wider. Inside was a narrow passage lit by emergency strips. Clear?

Unknown. Better than here? Maybe. The villain changed direction toward him.

"You think you're clever?" Ren still did not answer. She slashed. He retreated through the doorway, grabbed the inside handle with his right hand, and pulled. The door swung inward toward him, not shut. Wrong hinge assumption. Stupid. The knife flashed toward his face. He jerked back. The blade caught his cheek. A thin line of heat. Ren slammed his shoulder into the door from inside, using it as a moving barrier. The door hit her arm. She cursed and shoved back. Stronger than him. Of course.

He braced both feet against the floor, ribs and shoulder screaming, and held for one second. Two. Three. Behind her, Kenta shouted "Ren!" No. Do not come back. Ren released suddenly. The villain's own push carried her forward into the doorway. Ren stepped aside and kicked the back of her knee as she crossed the threshold. Not enough to drop her. Enough to make her stumble. Then something wrapped around her ankle from behind. Sticky feet.

Tamura had climbed the wall halfway, shoes adhered to the surface, face terrified, one leg extended awkwardly to hook the villain's ankle with both arms from above. The villain looked down.

"What the" Fujimura flashed again. Weaker this time. Ren closed his eyes and drove his shoulder into the door. This time it slammed shut with the villain half through. Not clean. Her arm remained inside for a fraction, knife scraping the wall. Kenta grabbed the arm from the other side and wrenched it away from the gap. The door closed. Ren found the manual lock and turned it. A heavy click. Silence. Then a body hit the door. Once. Twice. The lock held. For now. Ren opened his eyes.

Everyone stood in the narrow maintenance passage. Kenta with one hand clamped over the rescued girl's shoulder. Nana crying silently. Fujimura leaning against the wall, nose bleeding from Quirk strain. Tamura sliding down from the wall, shaking so badly he almost fell. The rescued girl sobbing into both hands. Ren breathing too fast, left forearm bleeding through the torn sleeve, cheek warm with a shallow cut, ribs angry, shoulder worse. No one spoke. Then the villain hit the door again. Everyone flinched.

Ren looked down the passage. Emergency strips led north. Unknown destination. Possibly outside zone. Possibly deeper facility. No staff. No radio. No clear route. But the door behind them held a villain. The central plaza held many. The west corridor held another. The maintenance passage was terrain. Terrain could be crossed.

"Move" Ren said Kenta stared at him.

"You're bleeding""Yes""Your face""Shallow""Your arm""Also shallow" Nana made a sound that was almost a laugh and almost a sob.

"You don't know that" Ren looked at the blood running down toward his wrist. Pain sharp but not deep. Finger movement intact. No arterial flow. Manageable.

"I know enough" The rescued girl whispered "Thank you" Ren looked at her.

"Name" She blinked through tears.

"Reina""Can you walk?"

"Yes""Good. Thank us later by walking now" Kenta said "You are terrible at comfort""Yes" They moved. The maintenance passage forced them into single file. Ren hated that. Single file made the first and last person vulnerable, but the passage allowed nothing else. He placed himself second, behind Tamura, who could scout corners by climbing a little if needed. Kenta stayed last despite Ren's objection because he said if something came from behind, at least he could hit it with a shoulder and feel useful.

Ren did not have time to argue. He did say "Do not die feeling useful" Kenta stared.

"That is the worst advice I have ever understood""Good" They reached the first junction. Left: unmarked. Right: faint green light. Forward: stairs down. Ren chose right. Green light did not guarantee safety, but in U. A. facilities it usually indicated evacuation logic. Unless overridden. Unless trap. Unless villains had learned the system. Too many unlesses degraded movement. Right. The passage opened into a small service alcove overlooking part of the ruins zone through a reinforced observation window.

From there, Ren saw the disaster expand. Aizawa was no longer only fighting at the base of the stairs. He was surrounded. More villains had spread across the plaza and zone entrances. Some engaged Hero Course students. Others moved like they were searching. Kurogiri's mist pulsed near the central staircase, cutting space apart. Thirteen had advanced toward him, one hand raised, Black Hole ready. Iida shouted something.

Several 1-A students were being swallowed by portals opening beneath them, beside them, around them. Scattered. Ren gripped the edge of the window. He saw Bakugo and Kirishima disappear into mist while attacking. Saw Todoroki vanish under a dark fold with perfect stillness breaking only at the last instant. Saw Yaoyorozu reach toward Jiro before both were swallowed in different directions. Saw Uraraka grab Izuku's sleeve and miss as the floor opened between them.

Saw Izuku fall through black fog with Tsuyu and Mineta, their shapes twisting toward the Flood Zone. Water. Of course. Ren's breath stopped. The pattern was no longer becoming real. It was real. Kenta whispered "They're separating them""Yes""Why?"

"Divide strength. Create isolation. Control matchups. Prevent coordinated response. Target All Might when he arrives" Everyone stared at him. He had said too much. Too fast. Nana whispered "All Might?" Ren looked through the glass. Aizawa fought below, alone against numbers. Thirteen moved to contain Kurogiri. All Might was still absent. His stomach turned.

"They came for him" Ren said The words escaped softer than thought. Kenta heard.

"What?" Before Ren could answer, the observation alcove speaker crackled. Not static this time. A voice. Distorted, low, and not U. A.

"Found more" Ren went still. A second voice answered from somewhere beyond the wall.

"General kids?"

"Looks like it. Boss said grab leverage if they're easy" Leverage. The word entered the alcove and changed every face. They were not only casualties. They were useful to the attackers. Ren turned away from the window.

"Lights off" Fujimura whispered "What?" Ren pointed at the emergency strip controls beside the door.

"Cover them" Kenta and Nana moved, using torn cloth from a hanging maintenance tarp to cover the brightest strips. The alcove dimmed. Footsteps approached from the passage ahead. At least two people. Maybe more. No staff. No safe exit. Group status: seven students including Ren. Quirks: flash, sticky feet, unknown Kenta maybe no active? Nana unknown. Reina unknown. Others not assessed. Need avoid verbal engagement? Maybe not. Shinso absent. Villains may want hostages. Do not be easy leverage.

Ren looked at the group.

"Listen. If they enter, do not answer questions. Do not bunch near the window. Tamura, wall above the doorway if you can. Fujimura, no flash unless I say. Kenta, if they commit through the door, push the second one into the first. Nana, Reina, stay behind the equipment cabinet" Nana's voice shook.

"What are you going to do?" Ren looked toward the door. The footsteps came closer. His arm hurt. His cheek stung. His ribs throbbed. His body had spent years learning the difference between pain and permission. Today, pain had become background.

"I'm going to be a bad civilian" he said Kenta looked at him. Despite everything, he smiled once.

"Yeah. You really suck at it" The door handle turned. Ren raised the metal maintenance rod he had taken from the alcove wall. Not a sword. Not a hero weapon. A lever. A barrier. A mistake waiting to be priced. The door opened.