This can't be the mystery event. If I remember right, it's supposed to be a type of team scavenger hunt this year. What's with this rumbling too?

  More importantly, why can't I activate my ability? A fluke? Damien? Principal Kushida? What the hell is happening?

  I tried again with success. A fourth rumble was just starting, and it was far more intense than the previous ones. Our group remained perfectly still as they started to try to keep their balance. I held Chika in my arms and ran to an exit. Once she was on a patch of grass deep into one of the parking lots, I ran back for the others.

  It almost felt selfish, but even with my level of control, it would be extremely difficult or nearly impossible to get everyone out. I swooped up Hiro and threw him on my shoulders before doing the same to Kaori. My training definitely has paid off since they both seemed extremely light. The third trip, I pulled out Rito and Ino and struggled with Fujiwara as the third. After navigating the frozen sea of people again, I turned back for one more person: my sister.

  People were visibly scared as I passed by them, even faculty members from the schools and event staff. They would have been the first ones clued into the mystery event and what it entailed; whatever was happening was outside of all of this. I picked up the pace as I ran to the football field. As I broke through one of the bulk wards surrounding the stadium, I saw a large group of people standing in the middle of the field. As I got closer, I saw three outliers standing opposed to all of them.

  One was lighter skinned than the other two. She had long jet black hair that seemed to flow unnaturally. The second was a darker man with almost white hair and sunglasses. He stood in the middle and seemed to be the one in charge as best as I could tell. The third made me stop cold in my tracks: it was the Geo meta that Kawasaki had brought that day.

  I knew he hadn't died then, but he shouldn't be able to move around — the concrete surrounding his body couldn't have protected his nervous system from all that electricity. All the same, he stood to the left of the blond in the middle. He seemed to tower even higher now. I took another look around and saw a gaping hole in the side of the stadium where he had presumably charged through. People were starting to climb through, armed and dangerous people.

  Even dead, Kawasaki is proving to be just as much of a menace as before. Why are they here? There's no way they could be after us, is there?

  I continued to the crowd that still stood perfectly still. I found my sister and the vice president and threw each of them on my shoulders before turning and running back to where I had left the others. Finally, I made it back to Denki, Nina, and Natsu. After a few moments of regulating my breathing, everything began to move again.

  "Kazuma, what's the — ahh," Denki sighed in relief. "'Get everyone out' was probably your first priority."

  "Something's wrong here," I said in a quiet voice. The four of us huddled as the crowds around us swarmed. "This isn't the mystery event. We need to get everyone out because something's happening on the football field."

  "Easier said than done," Nina replied. "This stadium is packed with people. How do we get —"

  SCREECH SCREECH SCREECH

  The swarm grew more restless, but found a direction to point their feelings in. The fire alarm was blaring over all the noise that anyone was making. I looked over to Natsu who had a proud smirk on his face.

  "It's been too long since I've done that," he chuckled.

  "That's one way to get people out," I remarked. "Now comes the tricky part."

  I explained to them what I had seen on the football field. The geo and two other likely metas breaking into the stadium. The flow of grunts is probably from Kawasaki's outfit.

  "I guess it goes without saying that we won't be getting the authorities involved?" Nina raised an eyebrow at Denki.

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  He shook his head. "No, even with the few dozen or so here, their priority is going to be crowd control. They won't realize what's happening until it's too late. This is up to us." His face bore a determination not unlike the fire that burned during competitions.

  "Awesome, from delinquents to vigilantes," Natsu joked. "Look at us go."

  "Let's go save those people on the field," I affirmed.

  Nina went off towards the field, and Denki did the same as best as he could. Natsu and I made our way after them. His ability still only worked where he could physically see, and like any muscle, the mental muscle that my ability came from was still tired from the last time I used it. As soon as we caught up to the two of them, I did my best to reassess the situation.

  No one seemed to notice that Yui and Fujiwara were no longer in the group. The three standing opposite of the crowd talked among themselves -- well two of them did, the Geo stood there staring down at the people across from them. It almost seemed like he was waiting for something or looking for someone.

  I wonder if he's waiting for Rito or Denki. I can't imagine that going well for the former even with his luck.

  "There are about two dozen people in that crowd that are probably hostages if these guys are anything like Kawasaki was," Nina whispered.

  "The big ugly one is the same one he brought against us," Natsu added. "Good thing Rito's not here: something tells me he's looking for payback against you two."

  "Thanks to a certain someone's training, I shouldn't need luck on my side this time," Denki smirked.

  "When you two are done being muscle heads," Nina interrupted. "I recognize the other two, and that's a bad thing."

  "Let me guess, metas?" I asked apprehensively.

  "What else would it be? The grunts aren't enough for something like this... whatever THIS is."

  "I'm getting really tired of hostage situations," Natsu jumped in. "Can I do it? Absolutely. Do I like it? Absolutely not."

  "We'll save them all," I added.

  "Anyway," Nina continued. "The girl is Alexandria Black. Her hair is as strong as steel, and she can control it with her mind — grow, shrink, turn into a weapon or a shield. The guy that everyone heard earlier is Anthony White; his ability has something to do with his tattoos."

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "For example, the old radio microphone tattooed on his throat is how we all heard him earlier. He used it to hijack the intercom system. His body is covered in various tattoos that he can use to do all sorts of things... all of them are bad news for us."

  "Ray of sunshine as usual," Natsu commented. "She's not wrong, though. Those two were rising stars when we were a part of his outfit; I'm sure they've come for payback for that ogre too."

  "So, the sooner we get these people out, the sooner we can bring the pain is what I'm hearing?" Denki looked at me.

  I nodded, but he did nothing in response. None of them did: they were frozen in place like everyone else in the stadium. The real challenge of clearing the field came next. I stood up and made my way to the center. It would take several trips, each dragging on longer than the previous and dreading the next. Twelve trips later, I made it back to the three of them, and they nodded in response to the plan.

  "Done."

  "What do you say we send these clowns back to the circus then?" Natsu asked Nina with a smirk.

  "I can't stand you sometimes," she rolled her eyes in response.

  What happened next could only be described as a violent gale ripping through the stadium. The winds blew with tremendous force as Nina tore through the ranks of grunts in seconds. Their bodies flew against the walls and over the railings before crashing into the rows of seats. She came back to us with a sledgehammer and pieces of reinforced steel from a nearby construction site.

  "For us to take down the behemoth," she said, handing the bars to Denki.

  "Nice," he grinned as he bent them into a sort of brass knuckles.

  "What about me?" Natsu asked, offended.

  "You're going to warp Denki and keep the Geo from hitting him," I jumped in. "Since he's probably the biggest threat, we need to take him down first."

  "Fine," he begrudgingly agreed. "Let's get down to — "

  "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" The venomous voice called out.

  The three of us turned around and peered over the ledge to see two people standing off against the three. One stood tall and proud while the other seemed to try to pull them away. I looked closer to see masks made of ripped t-shirts covering both of their faces. One sported a long braid and the other had large headphones over their ears.

  There's no way...

  "Whatever," White continued. "Sato, take care of them."

  The Geo seemed to whirl up like a machine and began charging the two. The girl stood ready to meet him, but the boy held out his hands and met him with an ear-splitting blast of sound. He stopped as he got pushed back by each sound wave.

  Onodera and Yamato? What the hell is happening?