An Unlikely Partnership~Tododeku

16~ Maze of Mystery Lv.2

The group cautiously stepped into the darkness; a lot of courage had taken over them. Stepping into darkness without fear was one thing but being prepared for what would come next was another. It wasn't very obvious what would happen either. There was no light to illuminate the way- apart from a small rectangle of light that was gradually getting smaller behind them- no sound apart from their very own footsteps, nothing to tell them what to do.

Kirishima came to a crashing stop as he met face to face with a stone wall. "Guys! There's a wall here, but I feel like this passage goes left. Make sure you don't hit the wall!"

They all sighed with relief, each one thanking Kirishima silently in turn for his warning and quirk reaction to activate his quirk. Luckily, no one got injured.

Walls in darkness could be the enemy. No joke! Bakugou laughed internally.

The path continued down for a while and the heroes walked in pitch black. The idea of lighting a torch had been suggested, but Todoroki had waved it off, telling them that in such a small space it was likely to use up oxygen in a collapse and they'd suffocate earlier due to lack of oxygen. Midoriya had also suggested bringing out their torches to use, but this time Bakugou had advised against it.

He had said, "We might need the torches later and I don't know how long this path goes on for. If it goes on for too long, the torches may die out and when we really need them, we won't be able to use them."

Of course, he was right. Bakugou Katsuki. The man that would be even better than All Might. Dynamight. The second-best pro hero in all of Japan. He was always right.

Then there was Kirishima Ejirou. Ranked ninth in the hero billboard chart. Had great reflexes and was always positive. Someone who saves people from sadness. The one that makes people smile. He was always happy.

Todoroki Shouto. The third best hero in the country. Someone who was good at coming up with strategies and staying calm in a situation. The one that can reassure people and have it backed up with evidence. The one with a lot of experience with pain, the one that turned pain into experience.

Midoriya Izuku. Ranked first in the Hero Billboard Chart and by the approval ratings. The hero that saves everyone with a smile, the hero that never gives up. The hero even better than All Might. The ninth holder of One For All. The one everyone could rely on.

That group had beaten the League of Villains together at nineteen. They had vanquished the comeback of the Shie Hassaikai with a new boss at twenty. They had put All For One back in jail- after All For One had escaped- at the age of twenty-one. They had stopped the anti-hero organisation at twenty-two. And at twenty-three. They'd stop the Black and White Organisation in their tracks. They would be the legendary future heroes written down in history forever.

Todoroki came to a halt. "There's a door ahead and I feel like..." He felt the ground ahead of him with his foot. "There's some sort of carving on the floor. Like... Writing."

"Hello!" They all jumped, a voice suddenly speaking. "I see you've made it to level two of this maze! That is truly amazing. Not many people get this far. Anyways, there's a puzzle here! On this very floor in front of you, to open that door that looks like a wall! You can't use a torch because all electricity doesn't work here and once you start the challenge, shutters will close, and oxygen will be available for forty minutes after that. Once oxygen runs out, you will suffocate and die. If you light a fire, you will have less oxygen. Good luck. Your timer starts in three. Two. One. Start."

Quickly springing into action, they felt at the floor with their fingers. Midoriya frowned. It seemed like they were standing, or rather, kneeling, in a circle of some sort with some strange patterns on. Bakugou ran his hand along the door. There were eight dials, each dial had eight symbols. There was a notch above the dials, presumably to point at the dials to let them out.