Chapter 25: RNG, Royalty, and Regret
[Sunny Midoriya POV]
There is a specific kind of silence that only exists at 2:00 AM when you are locked in a digital blood-feud with a girl who owns a private helicopter.
I was currently floating upside-down in the center of my room, my hair defying gravity like a cluster of white anemones. A giant holographic screen was projected into the air via a specialized 'Visual-Gag' projector Mei had built for me. On that screen, the colorful, deceptively friendly board of Mario Party was currently serving as the site of a massacre.
"Sunny! If you hit that Hidden Block, I'm going to tell your mom you've been drinking 'Focus-Fuel' again!" Mina screamed. She was sprawled across my bed, her pink limbs tangled in my sheets, throwing popcorn at the back of my head.
"It's not Focus-Fuel, Mina! It's apple juice with the power of Plot Convenience!" I retorted, my fingers blurring over my Joy-Cons.
To my left, Aqua was slumped against the wall, clutching a bottle of 'Blessed Soda' (which was just regular soda that she had cried into for ten minutes to make it 'holy'). She was currently in fourth place, her character, Peach, having been robbed of every single coin by a stray Boo.
"This game is a sexist conspiracy!" Aqua wailed, her eyes leaking giant, cartoonish tears. "I am a Goddess! Why does the dice treat me like a common peasant?! Sunny, use your Toon-thingy and make the dice show a ten! I'll bless your next pair of socks, I swear!"
"No cheating, Aqua! The RNG is the only thing standing between us and total anarchy!" I yelled.
I looked at the chat window on the side of the screen. @Creative_Composition_100—Momo Yaoyorozu—was currently in first place. She had been playing with a level of mathematical precision that was frankly terrifying.
[Creative_Composition_100]:Midoriya-san, according to the current board state and the remaining turns, the probability of you catching up to my Star count is approximately 0.4%. Statistically, you should simply concede the Bonus Stars and accept your second-place finish.
"Statistically?" I muttered, a devious grin spreading across my face. I pulled a giant, red 'REWRITE' button out of the air and hovered my thumb over it. I didn't press it—I wasn't that cheap—but the threat was there. "Statistically, Yaoyorozu, the dice fear me. They know that if they roll a one, I'll turn them into actual cubes of tofu and eat them."
I rolled.
[10]
"YES!" I roared, my body spinning like a drill in mid-air. "BEHOLD THE POWER OF NARRATIVE NECESSITY!"
I zoomed across the board, stole a Star from Momo, and landed on a Chance Time space.
Five minutes later, the screen displayed the final results. I had played the most chaotic, nonsensical game in history. I had manipulated the board, taunted the CPU, and survived three Bowser events.
But then, the Bonus Stars were tallied.
Star for most coins spent?Momo.
Star for most Mini-games won?Momo.
Star for most 'Red Spaces' landed on?Momo.
The final screen flashed: WINNER: PEACH (CREATIVE_COMPOSITION_100)
I froze. My jaw dropped so low it literally hit the floor with a wooden THUD. I had to reach down and physically reel it back into my face.
[Creative_Composition_100]:Good game, Midoriya-san. Your tactics were... creative, if somewhat primitive. However, structure will always triumph over unrefined chaos. You were... adequate.
"ADEQUATE?!" I screamed at the ceiling. "SHE CALLED ME ADEQUATE?! That's a spiritual stabbing! I've been shanked by a girl in a silk robe!"
Mina was howling with laughter, rolling off the bed. "She wrecked you, Sunny! The Rich Girl got the RNG! She's the Queen of Salt!"
"I am going to bed," Aqua sobbed, crawling toward the door. "May the developers of this game find themselves in a realm without sparkling water."
I stared at the screen, my pride in shambles. I began to type, my fingers trembling.
[Sunny]:Listen here, Princess. You got lucky. The RNG gods felt sorry for your tax bracket. But next time? Next time I'm bringing the full 'Chaos Crew' into the lobby.
[Creative_Composition_100]:Actually, Midoriya-san, I was meaning to mention... I have a scheduled visitation at UA next week for a recommendation meeting. I find myself curious about the 'environment' you frequently mention.
I blinked. The irritation vanished, replaced by that familiar spark of "The Script is getting interesting."
[Sunny]:You're coming to the den of lions? Fine. Come meet the crew. But don't expect any tea and crumpets. We don't do 'polite' here.
There was a long pause. I could almost imagine her on the other side, sitting in a room larger than my entire apartment, debating whether or not she was about to make a huge mistake.
[Creative_Composition_100]:Very well. I accept. I shall see you in person, Mr. Chaos.
I leaned back, floating in the dark.
"Oh, Yaoyorozu," I whispered. "You have no idea what you've just agreed to."
[Sunny Midoriya POV]
The day of the meeting arrived like a parade led by a freight train.
I had assembled the Crew in the common area of the training hall we'd been "borrowing" from the school. I had told them to be on their "best behavior," which, for the Chaos Crew, meant "try not to burn the building down before lunch."
I was wearing my usual white gloves, but I'd added a little bow-tie that spun like a propeller whenever I got nervous.
"Alright, listen up!" I yelled, standing on top of a giant, sentient megaphone. "We have a VIP coming. A representative of the 'Structure' side of reality. She thinks we're just a bunch of loud, sloppy idiots. She thinks logic can contain us!"
"I'LL BLOW HER LOGIC TO HELL!" Bakugo roared, currently using a small explosion to sharpen a pencil.
"Kacchan, no blowing up the guest," Izuku sighed, checking his watch. "Sunny, you're making it sound like a war. She's just a student."
"She's a gamer who called me adequate, Izu-chan! This is personal!"
Suddenly, the heavy doors at the end of the hall creaked open.
Momo Yaoyorozu stepped inside. She was dressed in a pristine, high-end school uniform, her black hair tied back in that signature, elegant ponytail. She looked like she belonged in a museum of "People Who Actually Have Their Lives Together."
She stopped. She looked at the room.
She saw Tokoyami sitting in a corner, Dark Shadow currently playing a game of 'Go' against a literal shadow on the wall.
She saw Jirou and Denki, who were sharing a pair of headphones, Denki accidentally letting off small sparks that were making Jirou's hair stand on end.
She saw Mei Hatsume, who was currently covered in grease and trying to attach a jet engine to a toaster.
She saw Toga, who was practicing her knife-throwing at a target that was actually a crude drawing of a frowny-face.
And she saw Aqua, who was lying face-down on a sofa, groaning about her "Mario Party Hangover."
Momo blinked. She looked at me, then back at the crew. I could practically see the gears in her head grinding as she tried to apply a formula to the scene and failed.
"Midoriya-san," she said, her voice steady but her eyes slightly wide. "I... I expected something loud. But this... there is a strange rhythm to it."
I hopped down from the megaphone, my feet hitting the floor with a rhythmic tap-tap-tap.
"It's called functional insanity, Yaoyorozu! Welcome to the script!"
Mina was the first to move. She zoomed across the room like a pink blur, sliding to a stop in front of Momo and grabbing her hands. "Oh my god! You're her! The one Sunny won't stop complaining about! You're so pretty! How do you get your hair so shiny? Is it money? I bet it's money!"
Momo flinched, her face turning pink. "I... uh... specialized conditioner and a balanced diet?"
"She's adopting her," Toga giggled, leaning against a wall. "Mina-chan has a new toy."
Bakugo walked over, huffing a cloud of smoke. He looked Momo up and down, his eyes narrowing. "Yaoyorozu, huh? The creation quirk. I've seen your files. You're rich, but you're not useless. Just don't get in my way."
Momo straightened her posture, her eyes gaining a hint of that competitive fire I'd seen on the Nintendo Switch. "I assure you, Bakugo-san, I have no intention of being a hindrance. My quirk allows for total tactical versatility."
Mei Hatsume suddenly appeared between them, her goggles whirring. "TACTICAL VERSATILITY?! Can you create a 50-caliber recoil spring from memory?! Can you manifest a thermal-conductive alloy with a melting point of 3000 degrees?!"
"I... yes, actually," Momo said, looking fascinated. "The atomic structure of such an alloy is quite complex, but within my capacity."
"MARRY ME!" Mei screamed.
I stepped in, pulling a giant 'PAUSE' sign out of the air. "Alright, alright! Leave the guest alone! We have a schedule! And that schedule involves a trip to the local arcade because Mina and I have a dance-off to settle and Aqua needs to find a game she can actually win."
Momo looked at me, a small, genuine smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "An arcade? I have never been to such an establishment. My parents always considered them to be... unhygienic."
"Well, Princess," I grinned, my eyes turning into two spinning stars. "Prepare to get a little dirty."
[Sunny Midoriya POV]
The 'Game-Zone' Arcade was currently under a Level 5 Chaos Warning.
The moment we walked in, the sensory overload was enough to make a normal person faint. Neon lights, electronic beeps, the smell of ozone and overpriced nachos.
"BEHOLD!" I shouted, waving my arms. "The Temple of the Joysticks!"
The crew scattered.
Denki and Jirou headed straight for the rhythm games. I pushed Denki toward a crane machine filled with plushies.
"Go on, Sparky! Win her the purple one! Use that 'dirty' voltage for something useful!"
Denki turned bright red, his sparks turning orange. "I-I got this! Watch me, Jirou!"
I turned to Momo, who was standing in the center of the room, looking at a Pac-Man machine as if it were an alien artifact.
"You okay, Yaoyorozu? Too much 'Adequate' energy for you?"
She looked at me, and for the first time, she didn't look like a high-class heiress. She looked like a kid who had just been handed the keys to a toy store. "It's... loud. And colorful. And entirely illogical. I love it."
"SUNNY! CENTER STAGE! NOW!" Mina yelled.
The 'Dance Dance Revolution' machine was glowing like a supernova. Mina was already on the pads, her horns practically sparking. The crowd was starting to gather. When the Chaos Crew shows up at an arcade, people stop playing.
"POSITIONS!" I screamed.
I jumped onto the pads. The music started—a high-BPM techno remix of a cartoon theme song.
This wasn't just dancing. This was a battle of the Toon Force vs. Acid-Pop energy.
Mina was a blur. She used her acid to create frictionless surfaces on the pads, sliding between notes with a grace that defied biology. She was spinning, flipping, her pink hair a halo of motion.
I didn't just dance. I became the music. My legs turned into rubber hoses, hitting four notes at once. I did a handstand on the pads, tapping the arrows with my white-gloved hands while my torso spun like a top.
[PERFECT!] [PERFECT!] [MARVELOUS!]
The screen was a firework display. The speakers were screaming. The floor was literally vibrating.
"GIVE UP, GAG-BOY!" Mina yelled, doing a backflip onto the 'Up' arrow.
"NEVER!" I roared, my body turning into a 2D silhouette as I hit a flurry of triple-notes.
We finished the song in a shower of digital sparks and a 'NEW HIGH SCORE' message that was so large it clipped through the ceiling.
We both collapsed on the pads, gasping for air, laughing like lunatics.
I looked up and saw the rest of the crew watching.
Aqua was actually cheering, having finally won a stuffed duck from a 'Play-Until-You-Win' machine.
Toga was eating a giant stick of blue cotton candy that matched her eyes.
Bakugo was aggressively playing a 'Whack-a-Mole' game, having broken the machine by hitting the moles before they even popped up.
Tokoyami was standing by a fortune-teller machine, nodding solemnly at a card that said 'Your future is dark.'
And Momo? She was clapping. She was actually cheering. Her ponytail was messy, and she had a smear of nacho cheese on her cheek.
"That was... incredible!" she said, walking over to us. "The kinetic energy required for those movements... it shouldn't be possible!"
"That's the script, Yaoyorozu!" I grinned, standing up and dusting off my suit.
I reached behind my back and pulled out a series of small, shimmering objects. I'd used a bit of 'Creative Manifestation' to make them.
"For the ladies!" I chirped.
I handed Mina a tiny, plush version of herself in a dance outfit.
I handed Toga a little doll that looked like a smiling vampire.
I handed Aqua a mini-goddess doll with a crown that actually sparkled.
And I handed Momo a small, elegant doll with a tiny, working notebook.
"A souvenir of the chaos," I said.
Momo took the doll, her eyes softening. "Thank you, Midoriya-san. It's... quite charming."
I looked over at Denki, who was currently sweating bullets in front of the crane machine. He had spent twenty dollars and hadn't won anything. Jirou was standing behind him, trying to look like she didn't care, but her ear-jacks were twitching.
I walked over, grabbed Denki's shoulder, and gave him a heavy, "Toon-Powered" shove.
"Do it, Sparky! For the honor of the Crew!"
I used a tiny bit of my aura to tilt the machine—just a fraction. Denki hit the button. The claw descended. It grabbed a small, purple rockstar-doll with tiny headphones.
The claw carried it to the chute.
[DROP.]
Denki grabbed the doll like it was the Holy Grail. He turned to Jirou, his face a shade of red that could have powered a city block.
"Here," he mumbled, thrusting the doll at her. "It... uh... it reminded me of your bass. Or something."
Jirou took the doll. She looked at it, then at Denki. She gave a small, rare smile—the kind that makes the 'Chaos' feel like it was all worth it.
"Thanks, Jamming-way," she whispered. "It's... not bad."
Mina nudged Momo with her elbow. "See? We're not just loud. We're romantically loud."
Momo laughed. A real, natural laugh. "I am beginning to see that."
Suddenly, Mina's eyes widened. "Wait! I just realized! Sunny, you said she was the gamer girl from the lobby!"
Momo froze. Her face went from 'Happy Student' to 'Deer in Headlights' in 0.2 seconds.
"Wait," Mina gasped, looking at Momo. "YOU'RE the one?! The one who told Sunny he was 'adequate' after wrecking him with three Bonus Stars?!"
The whole crew went silent.
Bakugo: "The rich girl is a trash-talker?"
Izuku: "You... you beat Sunny at Mario Party? That's statistically impossible."
Aqua: "SHE'S THE ONE WHO TOOK MY COINS?!"
Momo looked at the floor, her face burning. "I... I may have become somewhat... invested in the competitive nature of the simulation."
"Invested?" I laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulder (which she didn't even try to dodge). "She was a monster! She called my luck 'primitive'!"
Momo looked up, a mischievous glint in her eyes—the same one I saw in the chat lobby. "Well, Midoriya-san... you did try to win by turning the dice into tofu. It was a highly illogical strategy."
"YOU STARTED IT!" I yelled.
"And I finished it," she countered, her smile widening.
The Crew erupted into laughter. For a moment, the 'Structure' and the 'Chaos' were perfectly in sync.
[Third Person POV - The Yaoyorozu Estate]
Momo walked through the grand, marble-floored entrance of her home. The silence of the mansion was a sharp contrast to the ringing bells and screaming techno of the arcade.
She was carrying a small, handmade doll in her hand. Her ponytail was still a bit messy, and there was a lingering sense of energy in her step that hadn't been there that morning.
"Momo? Is that you?"
Her mother, a woman of extreme elegance and poise, stepped into the hallway. She looked at her daughter—looked at the nacho cheese smudge that Momo had missed, and the strange, cartoonish doll she was clutching.
"You're late, dear. Was the recommendation meeting that taxing?"
Momo looked at her mother. She thought about the 'Nitro-Kettle' drums. She thought about the floating girl with the knives. She thought about the boy with the white gloves who treated reality like a rough draft.
And she smiled. Not a polite, practiced smile for a gala—but a bright, genuine, slightly chaotic smile.
"No, Mother," Momo said, her voice light. "It was... quite educational. I believe I have found a group of individuals who operate on a very... unique frequency."
"I see," her mother said, looking skeptical. "And who was the leader of this... group?"
"His name is Sunny Midoriya," Momo said, her eyes drifting to the doll in her hand. "He's a bit of a nuisance. He's loud, he ignores the laws of physics, and his taste in games is atrocious."
She paused, her smile softening.
"But I think he's exactly what my 'Structure' was missing."
Momo turned and headed up the stairs, humming a techno-remix she'd heard at the arcade.
Behind her, her mother blinked in surprise. She hadn't seen Momo smile like that in years.
"Sunny Midoriya..." the mother whispered. "What on earth did you do to my daughter?"