"Evil is always devising more corrosive misery through man´s restless need to exact revenge out of his hate." - Ralph Steadman

The scientist spun on her heel and standing firmly, "You cannot speak to me after losing the Nomu." She stood in the secret bar managed by Kurogiri and occupied by Tomura. Her voice was eerily calm, yet her eyes breamed with a buried anger, "Recreating these monsters is difficult enough without losing them to the authorities."

Tomura wobbled, "Doctor, what am I supposed to do next?"

She sighed as she turned away from him, "You spat on Yuuei's doorstep already." She shrugged, "Aim bigger. Do worse to them. Damage their reputation." She put a hand on his shoulder, "I will give you as many tries as possible. Our master would've wished that for you." Her eyes met with Kurogiri's before looking back to the boy, "Take your time in making your next plan." She took a breath, turning to the exit, "I'll be in my laboratory, trying to do our master's work without All for One. The more Nomus we have, the better."

Tomura nodded, "Thank you, Dr. Yuu."

Yuu spoke firmly, "Be strong and cunning—you are the only one capable of truly harming this… infallible symbol."

Kurogiri cleaned a pint glass, "Good day, Doctor."

Yuu walked out of their immediate area and as soon as she was out of view and earshot, she sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose, as she took her leave, "Idiots… Incompetent idiots… So 'powerful' with their 'amazing' Quirks, can't even kill a single child in a room filled with them…" She stepped into the alleyway, tucking her hands into her lab-coat's pockets, "Incompetent… Tomura's impatient and childish anger is useful for me, but some horrible weakness as a Villain… and Kurogiri is busy babysitting him…" She sighed, "Haruka… My little experiment went wild… I wanted to research more of its effects before letting your leash loose…" She grumbled as she turned onto the street, "I'll just wait for the police to catch him. Then I'll go grab him myself."

XXX

The days of the students' internships came dwindling to an end, and the students began to return to their homes. Some came home to their empty apartments, others came to their worried and happy parents, and Midoriya came home to his empty room. He wasn't surprised as his mother had already contacted him about the move.

He took a deep breath, in his uniform and with his costume case in his hands.

Inko walked up to her son with a wet tissue in hand and red bags under her eyes, "Izuku…"

Midoriya dropped his case before pulling her into a hug, "M-Mom."

She sniffled, "E-Eat well. S-Stay safe." They parted, "I-I'll visit when I can, a-and if you ever need me, t-then please call."

He nodded, "I will, Mom."

She walked into the apartment before coming back with a metal case that looked the splitting image of his backpack with a sticky-note attached to it, "Some girl came by from the school to drop this off for you."

He took it, rolling it in his hands, "Did she have pink-hair?"

She nodded, "Y-Yes, actually."

He took the sticky-note, reading it, "Hatsume…"

Inko gasped, "Y-You know a girl!?" She put her face in her hands, "I-I s-should've invited her in. Oh, I feel so rude now."

Midoriya peeled his eyes from the note, "M-Mom, it-it's fine…" He looked between her and the note, sighing slightly, "Are you really okay with this?"

She caressed his cheek, "I'm okay with anything that keeps you safe." She took a deep breath, "Yuuei made a mistake with U.S.J., but ever since All-Might battled they've gone silent and nothing's happened at the school ever since. With teachers on campus, you should be safest there."

He smiled warmly, nodding, "Right."

Inko pushed a smile onto her lips, "I just want you to be safe," she began to sniffle, "s-so y-you do what your teachers tell you an-and I'll visit you every weekend an-and when I-I c-call you better answer, o-okay?"

Midoriya hugged his mother as she began to cry, "Y-Yes, always. I promise that I'll do my best to keep myself safe." Tears were welling up in his own eyes, but he fought them in order to comfort his mother.

She sniffled, "T-That's g-good."

He sniffled too, "I'll always come home, promise."

XXX

Midoriya wore his metal backpack, holding onto one of the poles in the train car while his costume case leaned against his leg. He never expected to leave home like this for these reasons. He cycled through his phone, looking for any findings about Haruka since his attack.

The train slid to a stop and Midoriya looked up from his phone to see Jirou, costume-case in hand. She nodded to him, "Hey, Midoriya."

He smiled politely, "H-Hi."

She fished out her phone, "Can I have your number?"

He blinked, a blush flushing his cheeks, "W-What?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I realized that I never got yours."

He breathed and nodded, "R-Right." They began to exchange numbers before he said, "Y-You know you could've j-just asked one of the others for it."

She blinked, shaking her head, "You're right. Can't believe that slipped my mind."

They finished before Midoriya asked, "How'd your internship turn out?"

Jirou shrugged, "A bit of grind…" She crossed her arms, "Almost annoyingly strenuous." She blinked, "Ah, right, my f-"

Bakugo's voice cut into their conversation, "Oi, Deku!" His hair was in this ridiculous slick-back form.

Midoriya flinched as Jirou snickered, "What happened to your hair?"

The explosive blonde spat at him, "Shut it, Triangle-Eyes."

She scowled, "Oi, what did you just say?"

The Quirkless student stepped in-between them, "W-What is it, K-Kacchan?"

Bakugo replied, "What happened with that tentacle freak? Did you get him?"

Midoriya shook his head, "N-No, he got away."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "Of course, he did." He shook his head, "Fucking idiot." He jabbed at Midoriya, "You probably got in the Hero's way—having to waste their time protecting you."

Jirou defended him, "Hey, he didn't have a choice but to be there!"

Bakugo turned his glare onto her, "What the fuck would you know?"

A sudden and loud thud against the metal roof of the train car interrupted all three students and attracted the attention of several passengers. A bone-tipped tentacle popped into view, stabbing through the glass window and wrapping around Midoriya's waist. Several other tentacles stabbed through glass, causing chaos in the small train car.

Midoriya shouted as he was whisked away, "C-Call a Hero!"

Midoriya was pulled into the whirling wind caused by the speeding train before being whipped through the air and slammed onto the train's rooftop. Midoriya grunted in pain as he bounced across the metal—the metal bookbag added to said pain.

Haruka shouted as two of his tentacles kept him in place, "MIDORIYA!"

Midoriya was pushed back on the rooftop by the wind, "S-Shit…" He pulled off his bookbag before slamming it down and shoving his arms within. "Portable-Exo: Alpha Version…!" Metal plates shifted around, locking into place over his body, creating a thin and blockish version of his exo-suit. His mask was lacking, and his suit was overall functional. "Hatsume's note said it would automatically send a distress signal through the Hero Locator App… It's 75 percent as strong as the actual suit… 50 percent as durable… My grapples—nonexistent… My jets—nonexistent… All I have are enhanced limbs…" Midoriya ducked as a skin-colored tentacle swung at him. He leapt to dodge another attack, but a tentacle sped at him, sending him flying back. The green-haired Hero bounced across the metal surface before his fingers dug through the metal, bringing himself to a stop.

He pulled himself onto his feet as Haruka spat, "Not as strong as before, huh?! So much weaker without your Heroes!" The monster sent two tentacles to sandwich the student with a harsh blow. Midoriya flipped away from the attack before dropping onto his stomach to avoid another. Haruka growled, sending two tentacles slithering within the train car. He then sent another string of attacks at the student. Midoriya flipped, ducked, and slid under every attack he could.

Midoriya took a harsh blow to his face, sending him flying backwards, "I have to hold out… For as long as possible… leaving could draw him away, but the Hero could lose track of us and I'll be stuck with Haruka alone… Or, worse yet, he'll use the civilians as leverage against me…" His fingers caught the edge of the metal roof before flipping back onto it, "Can't risk it… Have to stay…" He landed on his feet and narrowly dodged another attack, "Kacchan and Jirou are below… Jirou will contact a Hero… She knows the rules… She won't equip her gear and she isn't in a position to equip them to begin with… Kacchan knows the rules too… He'll use his Quirk in the most minor way possible so that he can't be attacked legally…" He backstepped another attack before leaping backwards, "They'll protect the civilians below me… Once they do, Kacchan will make his way up to me—undoubtedly wishing to join the fray… Hopefully, a Hero will be here by then…" He skidded on his feet, "They'll handle the situation below…All I have to worry about is-"-a bone-tipped tentacle skidded off Midoriya's arm, knocking off plates and causing sparks to fly, "survival…"

XXX

The screams from the civilians were jarring when the tentacles attacked. The battle above damaged the ceiling, putting dents and ripping through the metal like tissue paper. Tentacles were inside the train car slamming into the ceiling from the windows. The sound of painful metal cracking under pressure and screams were mind-numbing. Midoriya was whisked off by Haruka, and Jirou and Bakugo were left to their devices. Bakugo cursed before blowing a door open and screaming at people to get out of there. Jirou fell to the ground, using her jacks to move the glass to find her phone.

Jirou snatched up her phone, "Contacting a Hero is the best thing to do right now…!"

Bakugo turned—his hair exploding into its usual form, "Oi, Triangle-Eyes!" He pointed at the cowering businessmen and women in front of her, "Get those morons to the front cars!"

She shook her head, "Shit… This is insane…!" She shouted at the group, "Oi, you four, follow me, right now! Quickly!" She ran ahead of them before pushing the train-car's door opened, "Hurry, hurry!" The train car shook as ceiling caved underneath the impact, "Midoriya…"

XXX

Midoriya and Haruka grunted as the train skidded to a stop. Midoriya skidded across the metal surface before Haruka sent him flying backwards with a swing. The Quirkless grunted and cried out of pain as he bounced across the metal surface.

Midoriya shook his head before throwing himself in the air to avoid swinging and stabbing tentacles, "Haruka Katashi… Charged with possession of Trigger… the assault and battery of his sister, father, and the Pro Hero, Native…" He flipped through the air to dodge more attacks, "How could someone fall so much…?" While lost in thought, Haruka smacked him out of the air before wrapping an appendage around Midoriya's legs and slamming him into the ground.

Haruka lifted Midoriya into the air, "Having trouble, Midoriya!?" He slammed Midoriya into the side of the train, "You're not strong!" He slammed the metal-equipped student into the metal roof, "You're weak!" He lifted Midoriya into the air before chucking the student onto the empty tracks, "How can someone like you become a Hero!"

Midoriya stumbled onto his feet, "Haruka… W-Wait…"

Haruka's tentacle wrapped around Midoriya's throat, lifting him into the air, "What!? Are you going to beg for your life?!"

Midoriya kicked his legs as he was lifted into the air, "Y-You wanted t-to be a Hero, r-right?"

The Trigger-User slammed the Quirkless Hero into the rooftop, "WHAT'S IT TO YOU?!"

He coughed as he was lifted into the air once again, "T-Then…" His eyes widened as the tentacle tightened, "Then you know t-this is w-wrong…" Breathing became harder, "Y-You were a g-good person once…" Midoriya's legs kicked as his oxygen was cut off, "Y-You s-still… c-can… be…"

Haruka lowered Midoriya, "Sh…" before yanking him into the air and slamming him down, "SHUT UP!" His tentacle slithered away from Midoriya's throat, "I… I…" His skin grew thinner and his tentacles began to shrink. He shoved his hands into his pockets and searched for his next dose. He pulled out the black-filled syringe before hesitating from injecting it.

Midoriya coughed, shaking his head, "It-It's the drug, Haruka. Y-You have to be s-strong." His eyes widened as he spotted Bakugo and Jirou climbing onto the rooftop. The Quirkless student quickly held up his hand to signal for them to stay back.

Haruka's eyes widened, stumbling back, "W-What?!" He spat with his black tongue, "YOU JUST WANT MY DOSE, DON'T YOU?!"

Midoriya shook his head, pushing himself onto his feet, "I don't have a Quirk—it wouldn't work on me." In the corner of his eye, he spotted the swinging wood-themed Hero, making his way over to the train.

Haruka shook his head, "I…"

The Quirkless student extended his open hands, "You can still be a good person, Haruka… You can push yourself to become a Hero still…" He tried to keep himself as calm as possible, "J-Just drop t-the syringe."

Haruka looked between Midoriya and the syringe, "I…" He shook his head, "N-No…" He growled as he stabbed the syringe into his flesh, "No!" He spat with his pitch-black tongue, "I'm-I'm strong now! You just want to make me weak—like you!" His skin festered and bubbled, "I WON'T LOSE WHAT LITTLE STRENGTH I HAVE!"

Bakugo cursed before he lunged forward, causing sparks and flames in the palm of his hand. Haruka lifted his arm and a bone-covered tentacle sprouted from his underarm before swinging it at the two students behind him. Jirou didn't have any time to react, taking the full brunt of the swipe. She grunted in pain as she was sent skidding off the train top and onto the empty tracks below. Bakugo's reaction time was leagues above hers. He aimed his palm downward and blew himself over the attack, letting his classmate go sailing off. With both of his hands, he pumped explosions through his hands and rocketed himself at the monstrous opponent.

Midoriya rushed forward, raising a hand, "K-Kacchan, wait!"

Haruka brought his arms close together before exploding with tentacles sprouting from his chest and sides. The burst of bone-covered tentacles didn't give any time for any reactions, sending Bakugo and Midoriya flying. Bakugo grunted in pain, bouncing across the metal rooftop towards the front of the train. Midoriya got sent flying off the back. The Quirkless Hero bounced on the concrete and metal tracks, losing more and more panels of his suit, as his left shoulder let out a sickening crack. He let out a cry of pain as he struggled onto his hand and knees.

Haruka raised his hand into the air, sprouting tentacles from his flesh, "WEAK! YOU'RE ALL WEAK!" Tentacles grew upon tentacles as they grew larger and larger, melding into a lofting train-sized tentacle that's shadow engulfed Midoriya, "I'M THE STRONGEST THERE IS!"

Haruka brought this tentacle downward upon the Quirkless student. A wood-themed Hero swung under the tentacle and over the student, wrapping wooden-beams around the student. Kamui Woods yanked the student out of the way of the attack.

Kamui released the student, allowing him to roll towards the recovering Jirou. Kamui landed on the train top, facing the tentacle villain, "Get outta here!" Police sirens grew louder and louder alongside a visible helicopter closing in on the scene.

Midoriya shook his head, trying to get onto his feet before his mind rung. He fell to a knee as nausea flooded his senses. Adrenaline had been flooding his system and, combined with shock, the symptoms were numbed. However, with a break from the entire situation, the symptoms slammed against him like a freight train. His mind was numbed by a horrible headache, he struggled to stay up right, and the taste of vomit soured his mouth.

A distant voice suddenly became focused and Jirou snapped him into reality, "Midoriya!"

Midoriya groaned as Jirou pulled one of his arms over his shoulder, "J-Jirou…"

Kamui Woods launched more and more wooden beams from his arms, wrapping around Haruka. The villain spat with his black tongue as his tentacles tried to slip from in between the wooden wrappings. The Hero's eyes widened as a tentacle with bone and hair grew from the Villain's head. Kamui ducked underneath the attack before the wooden beams from his arms grew further, wrapping around Haruka's head. He continued to wrap the Villain with wood, restricting the junkie for the police.

Jirou lifted Midoriya onto his feet, "Come on! Get up!" She began to help him away from the fight, "It's up to the Hero now."

Police cautiously made their way onto the tracks to evacuate the civilians from the train, taking the Yuuei students out of the equation as well.

Midoriya could hear Kamui Wood's shouts as he faded out of consciousness.

XXX

Kamui Wood grunted as Haruka's tentacles pushed against his restraints, cracking the wood more and more. Haruka's tentacles, due to their boneless structure, began to slither their way through the cracks and spaces between the wrappings of woods. "D-Dammit… This… This is Trigger…? It-It's unlike any victim before…" He gritted his teeth as he continued to wrap the villain in wood. He spotted police officers making their way onto the tracks. "GET THE CIVILIANS OUTTA HERE! DON'T COME NEAR US!" The officers nodded as they focused on helping the Yuuei students and passengers off the tracks. The wood that surrounding the junkie's head began to crack and his muffled, manic howling could be underneath the oak. "Tch…"

The wood bursted apart revealing the screaming Haruka who had sprouted bone-tipped tentacles from his face to free himself, turning the once aspiring Hero into a monster out of a Lovecraftian novel. Before the monster could do anything else, however, a thread-like arm shot down the villain's throat before bending as its source landed opposite of the wooden-Hero.

Kamui blinked before his eyes widened, "Edgeshot?!"

The Pro-Hero replied calmingly, as Haruka struggled for a few more moments, "Hello, Kamui Woods." The villain went limp and the ninja-like pulled his arm from the monster's throat, returning it to normal at his side, "Sorry, but it was my initial failure that left this man to lurk in these streets' shadows. I had to return to find him… Once Midoriya's distress signal came through the Hero-Locator App, I knew that it must be him." He flicked his hand, dashing a mucus-like liquid off his arm, "He is unconscious, but I do not know for how long."

Kamui raised a brow as he bound the villain properly with a new coffin of wood, "How did you knock him out?"

Edgeshot explained, "I remember our initial battle. His skin was too thick for me and I couldn't pierce his skin, so I could cut off his blood flow to render him unconscious." He looked at the unconscious villain, "Luckily, the inner parts of the human body remained soft enough to allow me to do it now."

The wooden-Hero nodded, "Well, thank you for your assistance."

The thread-like Hero shook his head, "It is of no problem…" He looked about the train, "Where is Young Midoriya?" His eyes softened, and worry plagued his voice as he spotted his intern in a battered and beaten exo-suit being lifted into an ambulance, "Oh, no…"

X|X|X

AN: Hello... So, the quotes will be a small thing I'll be testing out. I'll give certain chapters quotes not for vanity or that I think the story needs them. I just kinda liked the idea... I'll go back and add them to certain major story chapters, but you know. I thought it'd be a fun little thing.

Chapter-wise, we have a moment between mother and son. Haruka attacks the train carrying both Bakugo, Midoriya, and Jirou, proving that Inko's and Yuuei's worry are completely justified. Finally, Edgeshot and Kamui Woods arrive to detain the junkie

So... Bakugo... Okay-okay... okay-okay-okay. I'm sure several people will want me to explain this. We have been shown that Bakugo places beating the villain over saving civilians. If that's the case, why does he here? The main factors fall in line with the laws about Quirk-usage outside of Yuuei without express permission. He knows that rules at Yuuei and their standards. The last person he saw break these rules and their standards was Hibiki Izumi, the technopath, and she was expelled. So, he places minor uses of his Quirk while ushering possible witnesses farther deeper into the train. He then hops onto the roof, ready to fight.

He accepts Midoriya's signal to hang back due to the danger of the situation itself. Midoriya's life is at stake in this scenario with one wrong move marking his demise. And while Bakugo doesn't like Midoriya, I personally believe that deep down that Bakugo cares slightly about Midoriya. Bakugo doesn't quite care if the Quirkless Hero got hurt, but the blonde doesn't want him to die-despite the remark suggesting for him to do so. Thus concludes the character-explanation portion of this note.

After this chapter, we'll have some wind-down chapters after all this action. After those two, we'll jump into the "Gauntlet" Arc that will provide some patchwork to Midoriya's and Bakugo's relationship (Not repair it, but patch it.) I'll give more of an explanation at that point.

And so, criticize away, leave all your thoughts and opinions in a review, and thank you for reading!