Triple Nightmare /Bakudekutodo

Chapter 76: Goodbye Minotaur!

Todoroki POV:
The hallway seemed to never end. At least there were no turns to get lost in. After a few minutes of walking I stoped paying attention to the path ahead until the others suddenly stoped walking. I looked up. In front of us was an elevator. It looked the same as the one getting  us into the labyrinth. Izuku took a step forward and pressed the button. A few seconds later the doors opened. Inside was just one button. I pressed it and the doors closed. The same female voice as before started speaking. "You are 23rd in line. Please wait patiently for your turn. Until then the elevator won't move nor the doors will open. After the elevator has reached the reception area please head straight to the exit doors." "Great, how long will we have to wait?" Katsuki complained. He took off our backpack and leaned it against the wall. Izuku and I sat down on the floor and the waiting began.

While we sat there Katsuki started telling us about his conversation with Kirishima. After a few minutes he suddenly stopped. "What is it Kacchan?" Izu asked. He hesitated. Then he took a close look at us. His expression had a weird sadness to it. "Oh, it's nothing." He finally said. His eyes wandered to the ground in front of him. "We couldn't really figure anything else out from there. If you ask me the Spectator didn't have a reason for wanting to show them the exit and killing them right as they reached it. He probably just enjoys watching us get our hopes up and crushing them afterwards. Some sick hobby, if you know what I mean." Even if Kats wasn't someone who always held eye contact I couldn't miss the fact that he was actively avoiding it now. Izuku must've noticed two but before he could let a noise exit his open mouth he was interrupted by a bell ringing. "Thank you for your patience. You are next in line. Please get ready to exit the elevator." The women's voice followed. Katsuki broke his staring contest with the ground and held out both his hands. As soon as Izuku and I were back on our feet and Kats had picked up the backpack again the elevator finally started moving down.

Just a few seconds later the door on the opposite side opened and we could enter the surprisingly empty reception area compared to how full it had been when we arrived. Only a few people in suits were standing around, looking at us as if we were the three heroes they had been expecting for centuries. As soon as we got out of the elevator the suit people started pointing towards the big exit doors.

After getting down the stairs we were suddenly stopped by a guy about double our size. His shirt was way oversized and looked as if it could be big enough to be a tent for the three of us. It actually distracted me so much, that at first I didn't noticed his tiny goat head. "From here on you will have to move separately. *high pitched bleat* One after the other. But don't get your panties in a bunch *high pitched bleat* you'll see each other again outside." I was too stunned to do anything but stare. "Alright. I'll go first" Izu said. "You sure?" Kats asked. Izu nodded. Then the odd man in front of us moved out of the way and Izuku started heading towards the exit. After he was outside we pretty quickly lost sight of him.

About a minute passed. "Katsuki, can I ask you a question?" "What?" "The thing you didn't want to tell us about in the elevator, is it bad?" He didn't answer. I looked at him. There it was again. That sad expression from earlier. "Shoto, can I ask you a question?" "What is it?" "If you had to choose between Deku and me, how would you go about it?" I was surprised he would ask a question like that. "I guess I would start by finding a solution in wich I wouldn't have to choose." "What if there was none?" I thought about it for a moment. "Does it require one of you to get hurt?" "You could say that, I guess." "Then I'd probably go ask you two. I have no right to make a decision like that on my own." I could see that my answer wasn't satisfactory to him. "Ok, but what if you knew that we might choose an option that wasn't there to begin with." "Who decided wich variants should be an option and which not?" He wasn't able to answer that one. All he said was: "Forget it." It was probable better to leave it at that for now. And it was a good choice because a few seconds later the next person could go through. "You go first." I said and he didn't argue.

When it was finally my turn I took one last look at the goat and started heading for the exit. Right behind the big doors was a tunnel, declining. The floor was made of wooden planks and sealing plus walls were made of fabric wich moved due to the wind outside. After about 10 meters I could finally see the tent Izuku had spoken of. I took a deep breath and entered. It was quite spacious. Inside were multiple groups of related objects. For example there was an easel with a bunch of paints and brushes and canvases. Right next to it was a small kitchen consisting of a stove and a table filled with pots and pans and ingredients including- I halted. Once I saw the cold soba between the carrots, shrimps and flour I immediately remembered what Izuku had said before. As if those cold soba were the only thing I cared for in this world I started walking towards the cooking section. Before I was able to reach for the it Minotaur entered the tent from the opposite side I did.

"Young man. If you feel capable of following me." I stoped what I was doing and followed the bull human into another tunnel. Behind it was a smaller tent with a table and two chairs. Next to both the entrance and exit of this tent stood each two tall creatures also wearing black suits. "Don't worry we're nearly finished here. Would you care to sit?" I sat down and Minotaur took a seat across from me. "Let's get straight to it. Do you enjoy cooking?" without hesitation I answered "No." Minotaur seemed surprised. "What is it you like?" "Cold soba." He rose his eyebrows. "Anything else." I shook my head in confusion. Minotaur smiled. "Alright, you passed. Before I can let you go I have to advise you to keep anything and everything that has happened on this ship a secret. What I am doing here is for all our goods and the protection of our world. Because this trick won't work on people who know of it I ask you to help save us all by keeping your mouth shut. You understand?" I nodded understandingly. "Alright then. Please head to the exit and an enjoyable rest of your trip." I thanked him and got up. This had been way too easy. Was this really all it took to trick him?

As I was about to pass by his chair he suddenly grabbed my arm. I froze. "Be careful out there. The place I have brought us to isn't a safe one. It sure won't get easier to survive from here on out. Dare to make one wrong move and one of you might die, another has to be left behind and who knows what will happen to the third. Make sure this won't be your last destination" He grinned at me. "Good luck out there little skunk." As soon as his grip loosened I continued to walk. The two guards moved aside and held open the tent opening.

To be continued ...