I tried calling Uncle Aaron again, but he never answered. Could it be that he was too ashamed to face me again? Maybe he was caught and thrown in prison with the others. There was no way for me to know unless I hunted him down myself, but that was easier said than done.
Iida invited all of the guys from 1-A to go on a trip to Universal Studios. He said something about how we men should form brotherly bonds with one another; I learned later that Yaoyorozu had planned a girls' trip that same day elsewhere, inspiring Iida to do the same for the boys. He paid for all of our tickets, so who was I to say no? Plus, it would be a good way to get my mind off the Prowler.
By the time I'd arrived, everyone else was waiting for me at the entrance: Midoriya, Iida, Kaminari, Mineta, Todoroki, Bakugo, Kirishima, Kouda, Satou, Ojiro, Shouji, Aoyama, and Tokoyami.
Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki were standing together; since I was closest to them, I naturally drifted toward them.
"What's up, guys!"
"Hey, Morales," Midoriya said.
Todoroki didn't say anything, acknowledging me with an eyebrow raise and a lazy wave.
"Morales! Great! That makes everyone! Follow me!" Iida, as he does, led the way into the theme park. Apparently, he meticulously planned out our entire day, calculating the average wait times for all of the attractions to ensure that we would be able to see everything.
Our first destination was Hogsmead. The instant we stepped foot through the portico, I was immersed in the world of — whatever Harry Potter's world is called. I've never read the books or seen the movies; they're almost two hundred years old and never really interested me. Regardless, the somewhat Victorian landscapes and architecture felt authentic and as if I'd been isekai'd into the book itself. Actors used their Quirks to mimic spells from the universe, flying on broomsticks and levitating household items.
"I wonder if there's a spell that could make any girl-" Mineta began spewing more of his perverted fantasies. I aimed my hand at him as if I were going to shoot a web, but he covered his mouth with his hands to silence himself. That's progress.
After drinking some butter beer, which I wasn't too fond of, the boys and I skipped the line with our passes and rode the virtual reality attraction. It's apparently one hundred and something years old, but they've updated it over the years and implemented 5-D technology.
I sat beside Kouda, the quiet kid of the class. He and I had never said a word to one another; however, as we flew through Hogwarts, blasted with the sounds, tastes, and scents of the world, zipping past fire-breathing dragons and barely escaping their clutches with Harry and the other guy, I heard Kouda's voice for the first time. The dude was screaming my ear off; despite my eardrum nearly shattering, Kaminari and I were laughing uncontrollably the entire way through.
Having enough wizardry, we ended up in Shonen Jump Land. Midoriya, Kirishima, Bakugo, and I were the main ones running around like children on a sugar high. Most of the anime there were ancient, but I actually enjoyed the classics when it came to animanga. As if our minds were in sync, the four of us stopped upon seeing a sign that read 'What is Your Power Level?' with a massive picture of Vegeta looking through his scouter with trembling eyes. We rushed over, seeing an actor in Vegeta cosplay waiting in front of some machine. As we approached, Vegeta smirked and crossed his arms.
"Who are you weaklings supposed to be?"
Midoriya, Kirishima, and I had to hold Bakugo back as if he were an out-of-control, rabid pitbull. "Who the hell are you calling a weakling!?"
"Well, if you aren't a weakling," Vegeta said, visibly scared of our vicious dog. "Why not step inside the scouter chamber and test your power level?"
Bakugo broke free from us and stepped forward. "Let go of me! I'm going first!"
Bakugo stepped onto the round, silver platform, and a glass-like shield formed around him. I presume it was Infini-Glass, a type of durable glass that was typically used in anti-Quirk police unit shields.
Bakugo's fingertips curled into pointed talons as he roared just like they did in the anime. His voice was so loud, we could still hear it clearly through the glass tube surrounding him. His body began firing off explosions, causing smoke to fill up the chute; still, he roared as if he were a real Saiyan.
There was a meter at the top of the machine ranging from zero to nine thousand. Once Bakugo's screaming ceased, the meter maxed out at about four thousand.
"Not bad for an Earthling," Vegeta said, ensuring he said it before the tube opened and Bakugo could hear him.
"Ha! Four thousand, I'd like to see either one of you lames try to beat that!"
"I'll give it a go," Kirishima said, stepping into the machine as the smoke cleared. Like Bakugo, he screamed with all of his might, though his Quirk lacked the theatrics. After a few seconds, he tired himself out, and the meter maxed out at about two thousand.
"Aw, man..." Kirishima stepped out, and Vegeta chuckled at him.
"Even lower than the other Earthling. Who's next?"
I stepped forward with my hand raised. "I'll go."
I walked onto the machine and was enclosed behind the Infini-Glass. All of the outside noise had been cancelled out, and I felt as if I could hear my own heartbeat. I took a deep breath as I clenched my fists before letting out a beastial war cry. My body was then swathed in golden electricity before morphing into that Nuform blue. My classmates' jaws dropped as my energy caused the entire machine to quaver. Part of me felt as though I was actually about to undergo a transformation and become a Super Saiyan, or I guess, a Super Spider, but I stopped myself before I caused any damage to the machine.
Once my power level had been determined, I stepped outside and checked the meter.
"Seven... Thousand..." Vegeta said.
"Not bad. Hey, I guess that means my power level is higher than yours, right, Bakugo!?"
Bakugo was about a second from letting his rage consume him and attempting to murder me before he closed his eyes and said, "This shit's fake anyway. Everyone knows my power level is the highest."
Whatever helps him sleep better at night, right? Though I'm certain our power levels wouldn't actually be that high if we were in the world of Dragon Ball.
Midoriya silently entered next. That dorky smile and glimmer in his eyes had faded as he held two fists near his chest and let out a chaotic scream. Green lightning burst from his body; just the aura of One for All was enough to crack the glass from the inside. Vegeta stopped the machine prematurely, long before Midoriya had even fully powered up. Once I looked up at the meter, I could see why.
"No way..." I mumbled.
"It's..." Kirishima muttered.
"Over nine thousand..." Vegeta said with a trembling voice. "I didn't even think that the machine would ever actually reach that number."
"What!" Bakugo yelled, grabbing Vegeta by the collar. "Nine thousand!? There's no way that can be right! What gives, widow's peak!"
"Uh, Bakugo, I think you're forgetting he's just an actor, man..." I told him.
Midoriya rubbed the back of his head as he stepped out of the machine. "Nine thousand, huh?"
Even though these numbers didn't have any real meaning, it's obvious why Midoriya's was the highest. Packed inside that small body of his was the power of All Might — One for All. Of course, no machine could measure it.
For being the first person to ever break the nine-thousand threshold, Midoriya was given a t-shirt with Vegeta's famous phrase written on it.
Super Nintendo World was our next stop. They had this virtual reality attraction that scanned your body and put you into Hyrule with a party of four. I was grouped with Tokoyami, Oojiro, and Aoyama — three dudes I seldom talked to. The goal of the game was to gather as many resources as you could within the time limit before taking on Ganondorf at his castle.
The moment we were injected into the game, I was enamored by how much it felt like I'd actually been beamed into the actual world. Our characters looked like one-to-one replicas of our actual selves, except we were all wearing Link's classic outfit in different colors. Pine and grass filled my nostrils and were accompanied by a faint taste of maple at the tip of our tongues. This world enveloped in green was so beautiful, I nearly forgot that there was a time limit.
"Has anyone played these games?" I asked the group. The only retro games I dabbled in were on this really, really ancient system called the PlayStation 2, so I had no idea what was going on.
"I have," Tokoyami raised his hand. "The best gear is usually in a dungeon that requires a puzzle to get through."
Oojiro pointed toward a rock formation with his thumb and his tail. "I think I see a cave entrance over there. Let's go check it out."
And so, the four over us stepped into the dark cave, only to find that it was completely pitch black.
"Allow moi!" said Aoyama before he fired off his belly button beam in short bursts to create a strobe-like effect. This gave us enough light to eventually find a lever, which activated a bunch of torches on the walls.
Before us were three doors, each on opposite walls. Above them were different answers to the riddle etched into the floor.
I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I am even. What am I?
"Aw, man, it's math?" Oojiro groaned.
Tokoyami nodded. "Well, if it's multiple choice, math riddles make the most sense. What are our options? seven, one, and two hundred million and one."
"What's one in English, again?" Oojiro asked.
"The answer is seven!" Aoyama proclaimed, placing his hand on his forehead whilst striking a flamboyant pose.
"Are you sure?" Tokoyami asked.
"He's right," I added. "Take away the S from seven and you get even. Good job, Aoyama.'
Aoyama always confused me. He looked like a Westerner and occasionally spewed phrases in French; yet, he was fluent in English. Was he half French? American? Some other flavor of European? To this day, I still have no idea.
"Magnifique!" Once more, Aoyama struck a pose.
Together, we entered the room labeled with seven; the moment we entered, a victorious chime resonated through the room. As suspected, our answer was correct. The next riddle was more of the same — yet another math riddle.
I am eleven. Add five to me and what do I become?
"That's easy, sixteen," Oojiro said, looking around at all of the doors. However, there wasn't a single door labeled with that number.
"The second puzzle wouldn't be easier than the first," I told him. I looked to Aoyama, "Any ideas?" I asked. He shook his head. I guess English was his strong suit.
I folded my arms and looked at all three doors. Six, four, and one hundred and fifteen were the only answers left.
"It seems as though there's always one laughably wrong answer to these riddles," I said. "We can rule out one hundred and fifteen, right?"
"I was thinking the same thing," said Oojiro. I realized then that Tokoyami had been rather quiet. Just when I turned to him, he hummed and said, "Got it. It's five."
"How'd you get that?" I asked him.
"Add five to eleven on a clock and you get four o'clock."
"Aaaaah..." The two others and I chimed.
It was a simple answer, but sometimes, the simpler ones are a bit tricky.
We entered through the door, submitting our answer. Again, we heard a chime and were presented with the third and final puzzle of this dungeon.
Complete the sequence:
37 # 21 = 928.
77 # 44 = 3993.
123 # 17 = 14840.
71 # 6 = ____
"No tricks this time. Looks like it's all just straight up math," I said.
"What's with the number sign in the middle? Is that an exponent?" Oojiro asked.
"I think it's just saying that something should be done with those two numbers; I don't think it's actually an exponent. A formula of sorts is supposed to go in between. Or something like that."
Tokoyami knelt and started using his fingers to calculate something; when he ran out of fingers, Dark Shadow added his own to help him out. Oojiro started using his tail to draw calculations in the sand provided at the center of the room, but I could tell that he got stumped about halfway through. Aoyama... I think he was just waiting for the rest of us to figure it out.
Luckily, I'd done a similar type of math puzzle in this math game my mom bought me when I was a child: All Math Plus Ultra. Even before I started going to school, I'd completed every level of the game, which went all the way up to fifth-grade math principles. Puzzles like the one before me typically involved taking square roots, sums, or multiples and adding them together. The correct way to go about it is to solve the simplest part first; in this case, it was 37 and 21. At first, I thought that adding the middle numbers, subtracting the edge numbers, then the tens was the solution, but that didn't work for the others. I was stumped for a while; still, I wound up stumbling upon the solution.
"Five thousand and five," I said, walking over to the door confidently.
"What? How?" Oojiro asked.
"You just multiply the difference and the sum of both numbers. Seventy-seven times sixty-five is five thousand and five," I told him.
"Morales... You're a super genius," he told me.
"Nah, I just used to do a lot of math puzzles, it's no big deal."
"It's true," Tokoyami chimed in. "Though, perhaps super genius may be a bit excessive. I commend you for your quick thinking and problem-solving skills. It will be a valuable asset as a hero."
"Mhm, mhm!" Aoyama nodded along. "What he said."
"Thanks, guys. Well, let's see what's behind door number three."
We opened the door to find an armory filled with multiple copies of Link's Master Sword, some armor, shields, and a bunch of health potions. I guess this dungeon was supposed to be a time waster, hence the big rewards for completing it. By the time we found the exit, we were transported to Ganondorf's castle, where he sat on his throne. He began to levitate, his body emanating golden magic as he drifted toward us.
"You foolish children. You dare trespass on the Great Evil King Ganondorf's castle!? For your transgressions, I sentence you to death!"
Ganondorf began hurling balls of magic at the four of us, which we were able to block thanks to the shields we got from the dungeon. Blocking wouldn't be enough, though; we needed to find an opening to attack. It was then that Ganondorf's body started to descend, his body needing to recuperate after expending so much energy. That was our window to attack. Swords raised, we leaped at the eight-foot giant and slashed away. His life-like screams were off-putting; it almost felt as though we were stabbing a real guy to death, and I could even smell his sour blood. Still, I wouldn't let the 5-D effects compel me to stop my onslaught.
A magic barrier began to block our swords before a shockwave sent us all flying backward. Again. Ganondorf began spewing bolts of magic at us, but this time, it was more intense, such that we could barely hold our guards. Despite blocking his attacks, we were still losing health points.
As we struggled on opposite ends of the room, panic began to overwhelm us.
"What do we do!?" Oojiro yelled.
"I can't hold much longer!" Tokoyami grunted as Dark Shadow cowered behind him due to all of the bright flashes.
Aoyama was opposite me, screaming either gibberish or something in another language entirely.
"I have an idea! Everyone move to Aoyama's side of the room. I think the game wants us to work together," I told everyone. Having no other ideas, Oojiro and Tokoyami agreed. The three of us shuffled our way across the room until we reached Aoyama.
"Put our shields together!" I yelled. The three of us created one massive barrier with our shields, which clicked into place as if this were some sort of scripted event. Our shield began to absorb the magical energy before it was all reflected back onto Ganondorf. Struck by his own attack, Ganondorf fell and left himself open for one last attack.
Aoyama was still cowering behind his shield, which made him the perfect candidate to deal the final blow. "Get in there, Aoyama!" I said, throwing him toward the center of the throne room. He panicked at first; however, once he closed in on the villain, he raised his sword and impaled Ganondorf in the chest.
Ganondorf yelled, bending backward as he held onto the blade of Aoyama's sword.
"I can't believe it... Defeated by a bunch of children..."
His body turned to ash. Tokoyami, Oojiro, and I celebrated by rushing Aoyama, who was striking a pose over the ashes of Ganondorf.
"Great work, man!" I told him, hoping that this moment would give him a little more confidence in battle for the future.
"Merci!" he beamed. It can be said with confidence that the confidence boost was successful.
For beating the game, we each got a replica Link hat to take home with us.
The rest of the day went according to Iida's plan. We somehow were able to get on every last ride just moments before closing. For dinner, we stopped by a revolving sushi place not too far from the park. I sat next to Satou and Shouji, and let me tell you, those guys could eat. Satou, of course, needed to eat a bunch for his Quirk. I guess since Shouji had extra limbs, it also meant he had to eat more food.
Come to think of it, that was the first time I'd seen him without his mask. He was growing mouths through his limbs to eat, but the food was coming faster than he could eat using that method. I could tell he was hesitant to remove his mask in front of us, but after a while, he seemed pretty comfortable. I imagine, like a lot of kids whose Quirks produced physical mutations, he was probably bullied for it. That's probably why he kept to himself so much.
After a while, he started opening up a lot more. Despite his appearance, he's one of the most gentle dudes I've ever met, and he's pretty funny too. As my classmates and I laughed together, it hit me just how much closer I'd gotten with some of the guys as of late. I started regretting keeping to myself so much early on; still, I'm glad things were headed where they were going.
Iida made us all go home before it was too late. Midoriya, Bakugo, and I all lived pretty close, so we rode the train home together, though Bakugo sat on the opposite end of it. Once we reached our city, Midoriya and I bumped each other's fists before saying our goodbyes.
Bakugo started walking past us with his hands in his pockets, saying nothing. At least, at first. He stopped and turned his head halfway to us.
"Today was pretty fun, I guess, see ya," he said before walking away.
Midoriya and I looked at each other and smiled. With a little more work, he might be able to say goodbye like a normal person.