"Save them?!"
Mineta stared at Midoriya Izuku in horror. "Hey, even All Might has been captured by the villains!" he shouted.
"There's no way just a handful of us can pull off a rescue! And now Kaminari and Class Rep Iida are about to leave!"
Momo placed a hand on her chin, contemplating Midoriya's words before speaking seriously. "I agree with Mineta-san."
"Yaoyorozu..." Midoriya's expression faltered. He hadn't expected even Momo to disagree with him.
"We're still just students. Legally, we don't have our Provisional Hero Licenses yet, which means we can't fight villains directly," Momo continued, her tone firm.
Todoroki raised his right hand and stared at his palm. "But our goal is to become Pro Heroes."
"That may be true," Momo countered anxiously, "but we don't have any real experience in official hero operations. Hero Course students are still just students—not actual Pro Heroes!"
"So... doing nothing—is that really the right choice?" Todoroki replied, still staring at his hand, his voice calm yet resolute.
Momo suddenly fell silent, her expression conflicted.
Physically, she was no different from an adult.
But mentally, she was still a fifteen-year-old girl from a wealthy family, someone who had never truly faced life-or-death decisions.
"I want to save them!"
Midoriya's voice broke the silence. He lifted his head, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.
"Midoriya..." Uraraka Ochaco stared at him in shock.
"I want to save them!" he repeated.
Mineta clenched his fists, his face turning red with frustration. "Are you planning to fight the villains?! After everything that happened at USJ, don't you get it yet?!"
"It's not like that, Mineta-kun!" Midoriya's voice rose, his urgency clear. "I've been thinking!"
"I've been thinking of a way to save All Might and everyone—without fighting the villains!"
At that moment, Kyoka shifted her gaze to Kaminari, who had remained silent throughout the discussion. Instead, he was staring at the automatic doors alongside Iida.
"Kaminari, what do you think?"
The room fell silent again.
In a crisis like this, the opinion of the strongest among them carried a lot of weight.
Kaminari didn't turn around. His gaze remained fixed on the reinforced door as he spoke.
"What do I think? About saving people?"
"Isn't the answer obvious?"
"Are you saying we should fight the villains?" Momo asked, her voice tinged with anxiety.
"Are you saying I should just sit back and let Tetsutetsu, my parents, and the others suffer because of some stupid rules?" Kaminari finally turned, locking eyes with Momo.
"Or should I just hide somewhere and pray for a miracle—so I don't have to fight?"
"That... that..."
Momo and the others who had opposed Midoriya fell silent.
Kaminari scanned their faces.
"Why is it that you only remember All Might telling us to run… but not the part where he said all the Pro Heroes have been captured?"
No one responded.
The entire hall sank into absolute silence.
"And even if you do escape—what then? You're just going to sit in your rooms, crying like civilians, and hope for a miracle?"
"Then why did you apply to be heroes?"
"Why did you join the Hero Course?!"
With that, Kaminari turned back toward the locked door.
"I don't have time to waste here," he said coldly. "Tetsutetsu and my parents are waiting for me to save them. But before I go."
"To me, people who break the rules might be trash."
"But people who don't protect their loved ones—their parents, their partners, their friends—are worse than trash!"
[BZZZZT!]
A surge of golden electricity crackled in Kaminari's right palm, accompanied by the piercing chirping of high-voltage current.
"Rules exist to protect people. But when those two things are in conflict, protecting people always comes first," Kyoka agreed firmly.
"Kaminari-kun, are you planning to attack the door?" Melissa asked, snapping out of her daze. His words had struck her like a thunderous bell.
"It's useless!"
"This tower's defense system is on the same level as Tartarus Prison—it was built to contain villains!"
[BZZZZT!]
The golden glow in Kaminari's hand darkened, shifting into a deep, ominous shade of gold.
He didn't turn around as he responded softly, "No matter how strong metal is… it can never stop the power of faith."
[CRACK!]
[BOOM!]
The next instant, Kaminari, fully charged with electricity, transformed into a dazzling golden flash—slamming directly into the reinforced automatic door.
"This… this is impossible…"
Melissa muttered in disbelief, watching as Kaminari's electric energy clashed against the solid black door.
[CRACK!]
A sharp cracking noise echoed through the hall.
The reinforced door—designed to withstand the strongest Pro Heroes—was now covered in countless spreading fractures.
Iida, Momo, Mineta, Kyoka, Asui, and the others stood frozen, completely stunned by Kaminari's feat.
[!!!]
No one knew how long they stood there, watching.
Then, with a final burst of golden light, Kaminari pierced through the door—ripping through the central tower's security barrier and launching himself into the night sky.
Like a golden meteor, he streaked toward Dock 66.
"So… amazing…"
Melissa felt her worldview shatter.
As Iida stared at the massive hole Kaminari had blasted through the door, he took a deep breath and suppressed the awe in his heart.
Then, activating his Quirk, he shot forward at full speed toward Dock 88.
---
"What do we do now?" Mineta stammered, his entire body numb from shock.
"We need to leave," Midoriya said decisively. "That blast was loud—the villains above definitely noticed it."
"I know we can figure out a way to save everyone—if we work together!"
For some reason, as Melissa stood behind the group, watching Midoriya's back, she felt the same force that Kaminari had described.
The power of faith.
"Everyone, the island's security control center is at the top of this tower!"
"Since the villains have taken over the system, they must have disabled authentication locks and passwords. In theory, we should be able to reprogram it."
"But only if we can get past the villains and reach the top floor unnoticed!"
Hearing Melissa's words, Midoriya's face lit up.
"If we can regain control of the system, we won't need to fight the villains directly!" he said excitedly.
"Once we restore the security system, all the hostages, including All Might and the Pro Heroes will be freed!"
"And when that happens, All Might will take care of the villains. That'll turn the entire situation around!"
---
Meanwhile, Iida sprinted at full speed toward Dock 88, dodging countless restraining wires fired by the security robots.
On the other side, Kaminari soared toward Dock 66 as fast as possible, driven by one thought: saving Tetsutetsu.
To reach him quickly, Kaminari used the most energy-consuming method—high-voltage mode.
As a result, none of the security robots could react in time to stop him.
Below him, countless red warning lights dotted the landscape.
Anyone with trypophobia would have gone insane just looking at it.
But Kaminari didn't spare them a single glance.
Like a golden meteor, he streaked across I-Island's night sky.
"Don't die, Tetsutetsu."
"If you die, I'll never forgive you."
(To be continued.)
***
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