Not for the first time, Kanna wished she could fly. Of course, she would very much prefer if it didn’t come with hideous wings like that Nomu in front of her, but that ability would be convenient right about now.
So as it was, the transparent jelly-like liquid settled for simply slithering under the hulking monster’s feet and slipping into the dark building.
According to Cooper’s special tracker, her target was on the fourth floor. Kanna didn’t have X-ray vision, but she was willing to bet that the machine was heavily guarded. The Villain Factory seemed to be on high alert for some reason.
Jelly Girl solidified herself and looked up at the spiralling staircase. Yes, it would definitely be easier if I could fly.
Thankfully, she reached the fourth floor without any trouble. Or any sound, in fact. Even her earpiece had nothing but radio silence. She steeled her nerves. After all, it had barely been an hour since Cooper had dropped her at her destination. Like her, he was probably just starting his own infiltration mission as well, as was Kazuma.
The hero opened a crack in the door before her mind could wander to her children. Any more distractions only increased the odds of failure. Although she had plenty of stealth mission training back in her old school, Shiketsu High, she had no such experience as a full-fledged hero. This was her first ‘combat’ mission in her whole career.
It’s okay. Calm down, Jelly Girl. Just think of the machine as another disaster victim. You’ve rescued hundreds of such people. Be cool! You’re great at rescuing people. Breathe in, breathe out. Be cool, be cool!
Jelly Girl pursed his lips at the sight of no less than twenty men standing around the device. All of them were heavily armed with enough weapons and support items to take down a small platoon of soldiers. To make things worse, there was nothing else in the room, which meant nothing for her to hide behind.
She leaned against the door and closed her eyes, hyperventilating now. Shit, shit, shit. No, I can’t do this. I can’t sneak past them. I can’t fight them either. They’ll kill me once I open the door. Dammit, I’m useless in a situation like this! What was I thinking, volunteering for this mission? I’m going to fail… We’re going to fail, and it’s going to be all my fault!
An unwelcome voice echoed in her head.
What a useless, stupid bitch… You picked the wrong day to grow a spine, Jelly Girl.
Kanna opened her eyes again to blot out the memories of Kusanagi chasing her down the alleyway. She shook her head to fling out the memories of Yamato Gouma holding her life hostage. She clenched her fists as the faces of her children showed up again.
There are always people to save, and there are always people who are against heroes. No matter how tired the heroes get, there is never time to rest.
So they run. They plan. They dive into a raging fire. They fight their own battles, trying to beat destiny. And sometimes they lose because they weren’t quick enough. Or strong enough. Or lucky enough.
But they fight anyway, no matter how tired they get. They fight anyway, even when they have almost no chance of winning. They fight anyway, for the loved ones they have yet to protect. Because they chose this life, and there’s nothing else they’d rather do than see the smiles of the ones they saved.
Jelly Girl stood up again, determination burning in her brown irises. The world smeared into a blur as she dropped to the ground in liquid form.
It’s not just a job. It was her responsibility.
“Hey, what’s that?” A gangster pointed at the strange jelly-like liquid that had slipped into the room from under the door.
Geshi, Touji… Don’t worry. I won’t let them make orphans out of you!
The nearest man only had time to gasp as a costumed woman sprang out of the liquid, kicking him squarely in the face. Gunfire rattled almost immediately as bullets flew towards her. Behind the gun-wielding goons, the back ranks ignited their various support items.
Jelly Girl kept up her concentration as the bullets sank into her jellified torso, trapping themselves within her. She staggered forward, avoiding the occasional swings in her direction. The gangsters were still keeping their distance. After all, it was only natural instinct to want to stay away from gunfire. So she used it to her advantage.
The hero rolled into the centre of the mob, all the while sucking in her core the same way one would when trying to flatten their stomach at a beach. There were no less than a hundred bullets stuck in her body, and she could feel all of them crunching against each other under the incredible pressure.
She released the pent-up energy.
Bullets exploded out of her body like a fragmentation hand grenade, pelting everything that surrounded her. Some gangsters screamed in shock. Some wailed in pain as the bullets went through their bodies instead. Most just collapsed to the ground, their heads split open from the sheer power of the projectiles going through their skulls.
A pained gasp escaped from Jelly Girl as a sharpened pole drove through her heart. Dizziness struck her as she collapsed on one knee, but not before she kicked her assailant away. Only one man was lucky enough to avoid getting hit. He flashed a bloodied grin as he pulled out another stake from the hole in his knuckles.
“Neat trick…” Kanna liquified her chest again and dragged the pole out of her body. Red dissolved as the gaping wound in her chest disappeared. “See, when I do it—”
She tossed the weapon over the man’s head before charging at him. He swung his own pole wildly, only for the woman to turn completely into liquid in mid-air and circle behind him.
A hand grabbed the flying weapon and thrust it behind. The rest of Jelly Girl’s body materialised from the liquid as she drove the weapon further into her foe’s back, ignoring the man’s agonised screams.
“— It’s fatal.”
The woman dragged the pole out, twirling it stylishly before swinging the sharpened edge hard. There was a sickening plop as the man’s severed head fell off his shoulders.
Stillness returned as the headless corpse toppled to the ground. A few men were still groaning on the ground and clutching their wounds, but Kanna ignored them. There was no need to finish them off as long as they were no longer a threat. Jelly Girl was still a hero, and it left a bad taste in her mouth to kill the defenceless.
So she reached for the humming machine in the centre of the room instead.
It was a simple enough setup, just a one-metre-tall cylindrical device hooked up to the ceiling via a cluster of colourful wires. Kanna circled it slowly, looking for the source of the wires. It reminded her somewhat of the Amplus helmet setup that Miles used in her house.
Found it.
She ripped the wires out carelessly as the machine stopped humming. Kanna continued staring at the device. Did that count as ‘destroying the machine’? Did she have to break it into pieces as well? How shattered must it be for it to be considered ‘destroyed’?
A shadow loomed over the small windows on the top of the room without warning.
Huh? Oh, f—
Kanna dived into liquid form right before broken rubble hurtled in her direction. She reformed herself again just in time for the grotesque creature to roar in her face. The Nomu from before had somehow detected her presence inside the building and broken in through the wall.
A huge, hammer-like fist came out in a flash and connected with the hero’s sternum. Something cracked audibly as Kanna fell back, gasping for air. Spots swam in her vision as she winced with every breath. That blow had cracked a rib, maybe three.
She blinked as a fuzzy feeling ran through her body in response to her quirk. The Nomu’s foot poised over her, ready to grind her into the ground. There was no time to transform. She had to get up now.
With a surge of adrenaline, Kanna rolled to the side and snatched the booster machine along with her.
The foot slammed into the metallic floor, leaving behind a cracked dent. She scrambled to her feet and backed further away. There was no room to manoeuvre here, and the Nomu was blocking her only exit.
The monster swung again. Kanna ducked one last time and forced the device into her partially jellified body, squeezing her torso with all her might again. She felt like a one-trick pony, but one trick was all she needed for this situation.
Another screech filled the air, as though the Nomu was announcing her demise. After all, Jelly Girl couldn’t move now. Not when she was trying to swallow such a huge object in her petite body. It lunged at her—
The booster machine shot forward like a rocket-powered missile as Kanna expelled it out of her body. It went cleanly through the Nomu’s head, sending its already-exposed brain splattering around the room.
Without slowing, the machine slammed into the ceiling before dropping anticlimatically. The ground shuddered as the lifeless monster collapsed as well.
Kanna heaved in relief as the devastated booster machine broke into tiny pieces. She stepped on them a few more times for good measure. I suppose that counts as destroying the machine. The hero put a finger to her ear and turned on her earpiece.
“Mission accomplished.”
~ ~ ~
“Nicely done,” Melissa answered into her headset. “Congratulations on being our first customer today. You win… a nice rest back home.”
“Fantastic, that’s exactly what I need. Tell Geshi and Touji the good news!”
Something small prodded the woman’s side.
“Was that Mummy?” Geshi Shimizu asked excitedly, holding his sister’s hand. “Did she win?”
Melissa chuckled, patting the two kids on their heads gently. It was endearing to see how much they cared about their mother, despite how little they knew about what was happening.
“Yes. Yes, she did.”
“Hurray, hurray!” The twins leapt around each other for joy. “Mummy is a hero! Mummy is so cool! I can’t wait to see Mummy again!”
Melissa turned her attention back to the monitor in front of her, the smile still lingering on her face. So far, so good. She was glad that Kanna accomplished her mission fairly easily, but there was still no reply from Miles or Hiro at the moment.
“Calm down, they’ve barely started.” The woman tried to assure herself mentally, glaring at the screen as though she could simply will Miles’ quirk data to come in. It wasn’t that she was concerned about the data, no. But the longer she waited, the more worried she got about his safety.
She fought down the urge to curse herself for being a non-combatant. Truth be told, she trusted her boss when it came to business matters, but she had never seen him in combat before. Sure, he was a certified hero, but it still wasn’t exactly to push down her worry for him. After all, Miles probably hadn’t been in a fight for years as well. Could he really take down a powerful Yakuza boss all by himself?
And then there was Hiro. Skilled and experienced as he was, he was going up against a top assassin— a top assassin who used to be extremely close to him. Was his mind clear enough to go up against her? Could he even bring himself to complete his mission?
Melissa felt something prod her again.
“Auntie Melissa?” Toji pulled on her arm worriedly, pointing at a silhouette of a man outside their house. “S— Someone’s here…”
Three loud knocks rapped on the door. Melissa’s heart skipped a beat, and she gestured for the children to stay behind her. They shook their heads adamantly as their expressions hardened with focus. Literally.
Geshi spread his hands out in a T-pose as his body solidified into some kind of shiny metallic material. Toshi caught his immobile body before it toppled to the ground. Her fingers stretched out as though it was made of rubber as they twisted themselves into something that resembled a huge catapult.
The young girl nodded firmly at the dumbstruck woman, aiming her solidified brother at the door.
Melissa recovered quickly and returned the nod. Kanna’s kids were tough. So she walked towards the door cautiously, every fibre of her body ready to react.
Logically speaking, if the person on the other end was hostile, they wouldn’t be knocking on the door in the first place. But very few people knew Kanna’s real address as well. Whoever was on the other side definitely wasn’t someone to be underestimated. The woman took a deep breath and swung the door open.
She froze.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Melissa Shield. Where is Jelly Girl?"155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbL4b9edlg
and then Add to home screen.