3.0: https://rentry.org/zuq78
3.1: You are here

ENTER: A palatial penthouse. The sun is setting. INIGO MYOGA is spinning around aimlessly on his stool. No one is speaking. On his forty-seventh revolution, SON JUGO raises his hand. INIGO points at him.

JUGO: So, uh, what are we going to do?
INIGO: I have absolutely no fucking clue.

ASHLEIGH KATSURAGI emerges from the bathroom and looks around. Her expression is tense.

ASHLEIGH: My father just called to ask where I am and when I'm coming home.

INIGO jumps to his feet, but ASHLEIGH silences him with a raised hand.

ASHLEIGH: I told him I was having a sleepover with one of my classmates. He chewed me out for not informing him beforehand, but I think we're good. For now, at least.
INIGO: Shit. Okay.

He glances at the clock.

INIGO: When are they coming back, anyway?

CUT TO: HAILEY CHANG standing outside a convenience store. She's on her phone. CHIHIRO MITSURUGI is listening in.

HAILEY: - yes, the Mitsurugi Dojo.

She pauses. Her face twists.

HAILEY, heatedly: Look, I don't give a shit if its current owner - I don't care about any of that. I go to school with her, okay? Who knows her better, you or me? Just get it done. If no one will do it at the market rate, offer more. It's literally just Wi-Fi, Jesus, how hard can it be?

She hangs up with a huff. CHIHIRO watches her closely as she slips her phone back into her purse.

CHIHIRO, carefully: Thanks.
HAILEY: No problem.
CHIHIRO: So, hm, how much of that is you, and how much of that is -
HAILEY: I don't know. I don't really care.

The door to the convenience store creaks open. HAILEY's driver steps out, trying not to grimace. He's toting several large bags, each carrying a different variety of alcohol.

HAILEY: Great. That's the last item on our shopping list checked off.
CHIHIRO: Are you sure we need that much booze?
HAILEY: Hey, if no one else wants it, I've got the space.

The three of them amble back across the parking lot to HAILEY's pink convertible, whereupon her driver dumps the alcohol into the boot. The boot already contains a sizeable amount of canned and packaged food as well as several stacks of instant noodles. The two girls head into the back, where CHRIS CAIN, NYORO HOGE and SHINKAN SEN are waiting. Once they've all settled in, the convertible drives off into the night.

CHIHIRO: So, did it work?
CHRIS: Yes.
HAILEY: Just like that?
CHRIS: Just like that.

As if to demonstrate, he lifts his right hand, palm facing up, and generates a single string of red thread before reabsorbing it into his body. In the next moment, the barrel of a gun forms from the flesh of his palm. He dispels that too, cycling from quirk to quirk without missing a beat.

HOGE: Told you. This reality? It's created by us. My quirk works exactly the way I imagined it would work. Everything is in its proper place, just with more… detail.
SHINKAN: Hey, Hailey, you got the coal?

HAILEY removes a small package from inside her purse and tosses it over to him. SHINKAN unzips the package, pulls out a small handful of coal pellets, and dumps the lot into his mouth. A thin trail of steam begins to issue from the top of his head. HOGE hastily winds down the window.

SHINKAN, still chewing: This is so, so weird.

CUT TO: The interior of a swanky, spacious lift. HAILEY, CHIHIRO, CHRIS, HOGE and SHINKAN are standing inside. The lift doors open, revealing EDIE LEE, KYODA HIRO, SANDATSU OWARI, SORA TANAKA and TAKARA TAME waiting on the ground floor. They are toting several steaming pizzas and at least six different varieties of fast food. As they shuffle into the lift, EDIE meets HAILEY's gaze and smirks.

EDIE: You got the vodka?
HAILEY: Hell yeah.

They cackle and fist-bump as the others look on, bemused.

HIRO: I think I might be on the verge of figuring out how to bring Sandatsu's issue under control.
CHRIS: It's that easy?
HIRO: I mean, Hiro's pretty bright. And we all know how the setting works. At least, Sandatsu knows. The very concept of One-for-All - well, it's pretty big. Not the be-all-end-all, but fairly significant nonetheless.
SANDATSU: I've also decided that I'm going to refrain from reaping any of your quirks for the time being.
SORA, dryly: Great. Thanks much. We really appreciate it.
SANDATSU: Don't mention it.

As the lift doors open, HAILEY and SORA levitate their purchases into the penthouse. A ragged cheer goes up. HAILEY rolls her eyes and switches the lights on. As the overhead chandelier flickers into life, two dozen hungry teenagers descend upon the food. TAME, however, hangs back, brows furrowed. She looks down at her hands, then places them over where her stomach ought to be. For some reason, she'd been expecting to feel hungry. Instead, she… doesn't.

BOBBY SAMSON: You good?

TAME shakes her head. She feels as though she ought to be hyperventilating, but isn't.

TAME: I'm starting to regret making this build.
BOBBY: How so?
TAME: I don't have a flesh-and-blood body. I don't shit, I don't piss, I don't eat, I don't drink, I don't breathe. And Tame has the advantage, because she grew up like this. She doesn't even remember not being a brain encased in metal. My memories are a liability, not an asset. And I'm not even sure if I can take solid food or if I'm supposed to just… plug myself into a wall-socket or something.

She hunches her shoulders, concentrating. As if by magic, a power plug unwinds from her left palm, dragging itself toward the closest wall-socket. The two teenagers look on, open-mouthed.

BOBBY: That's…
TAME: Yeah. Total body horror, right?

She laughs unsteadily.

TAME: Just need to get through the, uh, adjustment period… without trying to disassemble myself.

CUT TO: A balcony overlooking the Kyoto skyline. The view is fantastic. The interior of the penthouse is once again mostly silent, with the vast majority of its inhabitants lost in their own thoughts. HIFUMI TAKEDA is the only person standing on the balcony at this current moment. He inches to the edge, staring down into oblivion, and closes his eyes.

HAILEY: Hey.

HIFUMI turns. HAILEY is standing in the doorway. His mouth is dry.

HIFUMI: Hey.
HAILEY: Mind if I join you?
HIFUMI: Okay.

She steps out into the night and stands beside him. The two of them contemplate the Kyoto skyline together in silence.

HAILEY, joking-but-not-joking: I hope you're not planning to kill yourself or something.
HIFUMI, unconvincingly: What? No.
HAILEY: Good. Hailey would hate it if you died.

She coughs into her fist.

HAILEY, softer: I would, too.
HIFUMI: You think if I died, I'd find myself back in my body? In the real world?
HAILEY: Fuck if I know. I think we're copies, personally. Like, that's the consensus. Someone made a copy of our minds and transplanted them into our builds. Control-C, control-V. If we died… I think that'd be it. Maybe our memories might get spontaneously inserted into our real-world brains?
HIFUMI: You think Hifumi's in here?

He jabs at his temple.

HAILEY: I can definitely feel Hailey in here.

She mimics his gesture.

HAILEY: We have their memories. That means they're in here, right?
HIFUMI, jokingly: Thought you were dissociating for a second.
HAILEY: Oh, I am dissociating. Just not in that way.

She gestures over her shoulder at EDIE, MINNIE KIM, FAITH KANG and MAX NGUYEN. Five copies of the same mind in five separate bodies.

HAILEY: I have no idea how this - how our? - how our relationship is going to be from now on, but if it helps you to, like, not kill yourself, I'm willing to be your emotional support Korean.
HIFUMI: If it's too much trouble…
HAILEY: It's not.
HIFUMI: Okay.
HAILEY: Good.

CUT TO: REBECCA WEBER, seated in her office. She looks up as the door opens, revealing INIGO, CHIHIRO and HAILEY.

REBECCA, pleasantly: What a nice surprise.
CHIHIRO: Ms Weber. We wanted to speak with you.
HAILEY: You were expecting us, weren't you? Thought I saw a bug skitter out of sight as we rounded the corner.

INIGO's expression is a mask. REBECCA's façade falters momentarily.

REBECCA: I'm not sure -
HAILEY, sounding bored: You're not a surrogate. You were never a surrogate. You're a spy for a guy called Nightmare - or is his name Pax?

REBECCA's face is white.

INIGO: Basically, we have an offer for you, Ms Weber.
REBECCA, strangled: I'm listening.
INIGO: This is going to take a while.

CUT TO: The corridor outside REBECCA's office. NOAH ABRAMS and SALLY MCCATHY are engaged in what appears to be a very public and very intense lovers' discussion. Approaching students veer to the other end of the corridor to avoid them.

NOAH: - Desolator? Did you ask Chris about it?
SALLY: Well, not yet, but we're going to have to deal with him eventually if Inigo wants to continue with his "story".

She shifts awkwardly.

SALLY: Actually, since we're serving as a distraction anyway, I was wondering if -
NOAH: Oh.
SALLY: Yeah.
NOAH: Uh…
SALLY: I mean, you didn't even know if I was a dude or a chick back in the real world, so does it really matter?
NOAH: No, yeah, it's just… weird. You get me?
SALLY: Yeah.

She sounds disappointed.

NOAH: We can still be friends. Uh, I wouldn't rule out a - relationship? In the future? But I think I just need to see if we're really stuck here first.

SALLY opens her mouth, but is cut off by the sound of a door opening. CHIHIRO, HAILEY and INIGO step back out into the corridor. INIGO looks faintly triumphant.

INIGO: She's in.
HAILEY: Fuck, that was satisfying.
CHIHIRO: That's Shiketsu's most dangerous spy dealt with, but we can't relax yet. Are Chris and Imai in position?

CUT TO: A relatively unremarkable corner of Shiketsu High. From where he's standing, CHRIS has an unobstructed view of SOUJYUURO IMAI, who's currently seated on an ostensibly unremarkable bench in one of Shiketsu's larger courtyards. FAITH is standing beside him.

FAITH: She's late.
CHRIS: I know.

Without looking away from IMAI, he holds up his phone. He's been messaging back-and-forth with IMAI for the past twenty minutes.

FAITH: You know this corner of the school is where couples go to make out, right?
CHRIS: Not the time.
FAITH: Oh, Minnie has eyes on Mio. She's -

She pivots on her heel and starts to run. CHRIS follows. They take a left, then another left, and eventually hit a corridor that gives a clear view of Shiketsu's largest courtyard. It is still fairly crowded. Below, a mop of yellow hair is distinctly visible, bobbing and weaving between bodies as MIO KATSURAGI elbows her way frantically in some as-yet-undetermined direction. And behind her…

CHRIS: Sandatsu?

In comparison to MIO's tense, terrified gait, SANDATSU's walk is unhurried and casual. But he is, slowly but surely, gaining on MIO.

FAITH: Oh, fuck. He got Hiro.

Her eyes are large and wild as she stares down at her phone.

CHRIS, dumbly: Got?
FAITH: The three of you headed down to Shiketsu ahead of time to start on his machine, right?
CHRIS: But it's not ready. I mean, Hiro said it wasn't ready.
FAITH: Tell that to Sandatsu.
CHRIS: Is Hiro dead?
FAITH: No. Unconscious.

CHRIS's grip tightens on the railing.

CHRIS: I should -
FAITH: That would raise more questions than it would answer.
CHRIS: He's going to kill her.
FAITH: He might just be - oh, god.

In one smooth swing, SANDATSU lifts MIO off her feet and snaps her neck. As he tosses her limp body to the ground, the teeming mass of students dissolves almost instantaneously into a mad, panicked mob. CHRIS triggers his copy of INIGO's quirk, a jet-black suit of armour forming around his frame as he dives into the crowd. FAITH curses, then dashes for the stairs. The school is in total pandemonium; several alarms are ringing simultaneously, overlapping and interweaving with one another into a hideous cacophony. At some point, she and Max fall into step with each other, taking the stairs two at a time.

FAITH: Should we even, like, fight him?
MAX: No way am I volunteering, dude. That's asking to get pulped.

They skid to a halt on the ground floor. INIGO's instantly-recognizable armour is faintly visible. He stands head and shoulders above the teeming, churning crowd as he searches fruitlessly for SANDATSU. KAYLEE SUZUKI's telltale mop of green hair is also present. As they struggle against the screaming, panting flow of people, FAITH's phone buzzes. She pulls it out of her pocket and shows it to MAX.

@ReapRIP: trust me
@ReapRIP: even if u were to blackmail her into submission
@ReapRIP: u wont be able to hold her at bay forever
@ReapRIP: its better this way
@ReapRIP: ill stay in touch
@ReapRIP: if i ever find a quirk that lets us go back ill let u guys know
@ReapRIP: nice meeting u

CUT TO: The same palatial penthouse from yesterday night. The atmosphere, however, has deteriorated considerably. Almost half of their number is missing, whisked home by their frantic parents. ASHLEIGH, in particular, has a funeral to prepare for. The silence stretches.

YUI SAGARA: So, uh, should we start on the alcohol?

HAILEY exhales gustily and gestures at the fridge, which pops open obediently and disgorges a parade of bottles. KAYLEE sits, cross-legged, on the floor and buries her head in her hands, radiating exhaustion.

FAITH: Should I boot him?
INIGO: No. If he actually does find a quirk…
CHIHIRO: He killed someone.
SALLY: He killed Mio.
CHIHIRO: Mio was someone!

She kicks at the sofa impotently.

CHIHIRO: Damn it all to hell.
HOGE: Maybe he just wanted an excuse to break away and start stealing quirks.
MAX: We should probably, uh, set up a separate chat without him.
INIGO: The cops will want to look through our phones.
FAITH: I'll bury a chatroom somewhere on the Deep Web and post the link in the chat. I'll leave it up for thirty minutes - long enough for everyone to write it down somewhere - before wiping the whole thing.
INIGO: Works.

KAYLEE straightens back up and leans against the wall.

KAYLEE, under her breath: It's only been two days and shit's already hit the fan. If we ever make it back, I'm going to track down whoever's writing this so I can give him a piece of my mind.