Blooming in the Dark

by Jon Wight

When Izuku and his friends come across a body-snatching villainess obsessed with debauchery and hedonism, they are forced to deal with the darker aspects of hero work .But through determination and cleverness, Izuku will overcome. Sadly, overcoming the trauma won't be easy. But it is the nature of good to emerge even in the dark. And perhaps even love can blossom in such places

7. The Date

"Wow, Midoriya, you really know how to treat a girl!"

Izuku Midoriya sat opposite Mina Ashido in the same mall he had been at yesterday. He was in quite a lot of emotional turmoil, but for Ashido's sake, he had a smile on his face as he sat opposite her. True to Momo and Ochaco's suggestion he had taken her for ice cream before going to the arcade.

He had told her to get whatever she wanted, and she hadn't hesitated at all when given that kind of freedom.

Her ice cream bowl was filled to the top. Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry scoops with quite a lot of whipped cream, sprinkles, and peanuts. With of course, a cherry and hot fudge on top. Contrasted with Izuku's very simple single scoop of vanilla, it was an interesting sight to say the least.

But it did cause her to smile, and that helped Izuku deal with his own problems just a bit. Brain-Jacker, for whatever reason was less talkative than she had been ever since last night. Which was both a good thing and a troubling thing. While he was relieved to not have to hear her constant whispers in his head… it also made him suspicious.

"Ahhh. That was good!"

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts by Ashido's declaration. His eyes bulged as he was shocked by her empty bowl.

"D-did you eat all that already?!"

"Sure did! It was delicious! Thank you Midoriya, it was a great start to our date!"

"Ah! Oh, um. Th-thank you! I'm glad you liked it." He couldn't believe she'd finished all that before he got done with his. He decided he didn't want to delay anything. So, he gathered Ashido's things and his own and disposed of them.

"Aw geez, Midoriya, you didn't need to throw yours away. I would have waited you know."

"It's ok. I don't really need the extra calories, anyway."

She gave a bit of a pout.

"Oh, and I do?"

"N-No! N-not at all! I d-didn't mean-"

Ashido giggled and wrapped an arm around Midoriya's neck.

"Relax! I was just kidding. You really need to loosen up. And I know the perfect game to do it, too!"

"Oh, do you come to this arcade a lot?"

"More than I probably should…"

The two walked together arm in arm, mostly due to Ashido's insistence. Neither realized that they were being followed by a blonde-haired woman in casual clothes. Nemuri Kayama, otherwise known as the R-rated hero "Midnight" had been tasked with tailing Izuku Midoriya on Saturdays and Sundays. And while she'd normally be rather apprehensive about giving up her weekends, she couldn't let one of her precious students be in danger. If All Might was right, he was in the invisible clutches of some nefarious fiend. And the world be damned if she ever let some poor boy not enjoy his springtime of youth!

She followed the two at a distance, wearing a long blonde wig and a very modest outfit unlike what she'd typically wear. Hopefully neither would suspect her, nor would Midoriya's stalker… wherever they may be.

"My my, those two do look cute together. Don't you worry young man, I'll make sure you two are safe."

She moved at a brisk pace to keep up with them.

Meanwhile, Ashido and Midoriya found themselves at the arcade, and got to start Ashido's favorite game. Space Marine vs Alien Hive 5: The Hunt for the Queen. It was a tag-team shooter game, and while she'd never gotten past the 1st level, she was absolutely in love with it.

"Alright Midoriya, let's see how we do!"

She picked up the plastic laser gun and handed one to Midoriya. He looked a little out of place, as if he'd never handed anything even remotely gun-shaped before.

"You, uh, ok there Midoriya?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I just, um… give me a minute."

"No time! Here come the aliens!"

He let out a bit of a yelp as Ashido started up the machine. With a few experimental shots, however, he soon found that it was intuitive enough. In fact, as the game progressed, he found he was particularly good at it. He had played video games before, and the addition of just pointing where you wanted to shoot actually seemed to make it easier. He actually found himself having fun for the first time since the entire Brain-Jacker ordeal.

Ashido must have noticed his change in demeanor as they progressed, a smile on his face the first time in a week.

"Wow, Midoriya, you're really good at this. You're score's almost as big as mine."

"It's not as hard as I thought it would be. And just you wait! I'll beat that score of yours!"

"Oh? Is that a challenge?"

The two of them ripped through the underground bunker at a pretty good speed, getting farther than Ashido had ever really gotten before. She didn't mention that though. Didn't want Midoriya getting a big head. Up ahead, the hive was ready and waiting. An entire room covered up to the ceiling in really gross looking eggs.

"Oh god! There's so many!"

"Don't wimp out on me now, Midoriya!"

In the end, they didn't make it past the first level, being swarmed by hundreds of bug-like aliens being hatched all at once. However, Midoriya did notice that his score of 7865 was quite a bit higher than Ashido's score of 3478.

"You did pretty okay there, Midoriya… you know, for not knowing what you were doing."

"Huh? But my score is higher than yours."

"Pssh. I was going easy on you. C'mon, let's go play some more games, I think I saw Galactic Space Racers open."

The two teens bounced from game to game, from racing to shooting, to pure money sinks. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost, but most importantly, they had fun. Midoriya forgot the strange and confusing circumstances of his current life for a few minutes, and actually enjoyed himself. He wasn't a hero in training, or a blackmailed abuse victim. He was just a normal teenager on a date with a pretty and hyperactive girl. And he found he enjoyed it. Ashido was much of the same mind. Though she wasn't in the same predicament as Midoriya, her own life had piled on stress in its own way. The USJ incident, failing her finals, the camp incident, just everyday school drudgery… it got to her. And she was finding that this first date of hers was a really fun way to relax.

It was also a lot of fun to tease Midoriya.

Every once in a while, though not often enough for him to notice, she'd hold him a little too tightly to her chest, or press her cheek up to his, or place her hand on the small of his back just to see him redden and start stuttering. It was way too much fun. Not every game let her do that, though. So, she was eager to find excuses to get him flustered.

Of course, she was oblivious to Midnight hiding amongst the others in the arcade, eyeing every movement.

"Looks like Mina is quite the flirt." She said with a smile.

Ashido found as they continued their escapade that Midoriya was much more skilled at video games than she had thought he would be. As it didn't seem to matter what the game was, he always seemed to beat her. She almost commented on it. After all, shouldn't a gentleman let his lady win? But she decided against it. She liked that he was coming out of his shell a bit, and she didn't want to come across as a poor loser. However, as they continued, she found she really wanted to beat him at least once. As the two of them were running about, Ashido spotted the one game she was sure Midoriya would stand no chance at.

"Ooh! Midoriya, over here! Let's play this one!"

He looked over to a large platform and seemed to pale.

"D-Dance Dance Explosion?! Why that game?"

"C'mon, Midoriya. What are you, chicken? Afraid to get your butt whooped?"

"I don't really know how to dance, Ashido."

"Its not real dancing, you know. I'm sure you'll do fine. You've kicked my butt at every other game, its only fair we play this one."

"… you chose all the games we've played today."

She waved her hand in a dismissive fashion.

"Details, details."

Without waiting for the timid boy to attempt another way out of it, she climbed on the platform and entered enough credits to get them started.

"Get up here, Midoriya! I don't want to dance all by myself!"

Izuku, not wanting to disappoint her, hesitantly got up on the platform.

"Alright, Midori, here we go!"

"M-Midori?"

But Izuku had no chance to question it as the lights began to flash and the game began with a ready, steady start!

The game was much like any other dance based game with arrows in eight directions on the floor, with an added camera that could watch their arm movements too. The goal was to hit the arrows at the right time, for the right length of time, while also clapping and moving your arms in the same positions as the dancing cartoon characters on screen.

Ashido moved with liquid grace and finesse, looking much like she was actually dancing. Midoriya on the other hand, looked like a very awkward nerd shuffling his feet and occasionally clapping. Ashido couldn't help but laugh at the funny faces he made while he tried to keep up with the machine.

But, when it was over, she was the one making the funny faces.

"Oh, we tied, Ashido."

She kept a smile on her face, though it was a bit strained. She was going to win at least once.

"Let's go again, Midori!"

"Wah?! I-I could barely keep up last time! And what's with Midori? You've never called me that before…"

"Well, if it helps, you can call me Pinky. I won't mind, ya' know. I mean, people dating usually have cute nicknames they give each other, right?"

Midoriya's eyes comically bulged at the comment, causing Ashido to laugh.

"W-well, I mean, this is just one da- I mean, um…" He was cute when he was nervous, Ashido realized. "Ah, ok. T-then… could I just call you… Mina?"

For some reason, Mina found herself blushing.

"Oh. I guess so… if you want."

The two of them were silent for a moment, neither knowing what to say. Mina, however, was able to bypass the silent awkwardness by starting the machine up again, this time on a harder difficulty. In a few short seconds, Izuku and Mina continued their dancing. Or rather, Mina continued her dancing and Izuku continued to flail in a way that still seemed to please the machine. He had no real grace about him, yet, when the song ended and the two teens were short of breath, the scoreboard was once again tied.

"Dang it! Not again!" Mina said, her face violet with exertion.

"Wow. I-I have no idea how, M-Mina. I mean, you're actually dancing."

"I don't believe in excuses Midori! One more time! This time, if I lose… then I'll buy you lunch!"

"Mina, you don't have to do that…"

"And If I win," she pointed at him with determination, "Then you have to kiss me!"

"WHAT?! Mina-"

"So, if you don't want to kiss me, you better win!"

Izuku had a horrendous blush on his face as Mina ignored his protests and started up the game a third time. For a brief moment, Izuku wondered if Brain-Jacker had taken over Mina when he wasn't looking. Is that why she was so quiet? But he didn't have time to think as the game began in earnest and he had to react to the flashing lights and cartoon dancers. This was just supposed to be a casual date, right? They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend! So why did she have to make that kissing bet? Would she be mad if he won? She didn't seem too happy losing all the time. He should have just let her win once on one of the other games. How would Ochaco and Momo feel? They… they liked him, didn't they? Or was that just Brain-Jacker messing with them? With him?

His brain was a jumbled mess, and he just was not in the proper headspace to contemplate Mina's actions rationally. Did she… actually like him? Did he like her?

You're thinking too much.

Izuku froze at the familiar invasion in his mind. She was back. The monster was back.

"YES! I WIN!"

Ooh. Now you get to kiss her. Nice.

Izuku glanced at Mina, who was too busy jumping up and down in victory with a big smile and twin peace signs to notice his apprehension. He narrowed his eyes and became serious for a moment, wanting answers from Brain-Jacker. He lowered his voice, so as not to be heard.

"Where have you been? And why have you been so quiet lately?"

Now, now, that would be telling. But I must say, I absolutely loved the show last night. Such a beautiful gooey mess. It seems your quirk has some nice benefits.

"Stop messing with me. With us. It's wrong."

Oh, Izuku. We've been over this before. Do I really come across as a woman who cares about right and wrong? I just have fun. And you, are very fun. I'm already thinking about what to do with Mina. She's such a cute girl.

"Don't you dare! I swear, I will get rid of you… and when that day comes, you're going to want mercy. I'll give it to you now if you just stop!"

A very generous offer. But I must politely decline. I'm having way too much fun.

Little did Izuku know, that even if he was whispering, his mouth was still moving, and that meant that those with the knowledge to read lips could very easily see that he was speaking. Supposedly to someone that could not be seen.

Nemuri Kayama observed with fascination one Izuku Midoriya, reading his lips, and confirming all the suspicions the teachers had. But of course, there were more questions now. Like who was he talking to? Where were they? Who else was being messed with? She quickly wrote down Izuku's side of the conversation on her phone. This was a vital clue as to what was going on with Midoriya.

She nearly dropped her phone as she was bumped by a stranger who looked quite out of place.

"Ah, sorry about that Miss."

She acted natural, "Oh not a problem! No harm no foul, right?"

"Right."

The strange man was an average looking Japanese businessman in a suit that seemed much too fancy to be in a mall arcade. Suddenly, Nemuri felt her instincts blaring that this man was trouble. He didn't seem villainous, or evil in anyway. His appearance was so bland. But something within her was warning her that he was trouble.

Could he be the person blackmailing Midoriya?

"I apologize, but I couldn't help notice you were spying on those two. Are you related to them?"

Nemuri was startled to have been caught out like that by a stranger.

"Oh, yes, you see that boy over there is my nephew and this is his first date." She lied smoothly. "I was worried about him so I just thought I'd stick around."

"Ah, I see. That does explain the wig."

She blinked. He had noticed the wig?

The stranger smiled and laughed.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I'm just in a bad mood is all. I'm tracking my sister, you see. She's a bit of a black sheep. It's embarrassing really. She's run off and the family always makes me retrieve her. She likes to dress up too, so when I saw your wig, I thought you might be her. Even worse, I thought I smelled her perfume."

He smiled and shrugged his arms.

"But I see I was mistaken. If you'll excuse me, I'll continue my search."

Nemuri didn't trust letting this man go just yet.

"Oh? Well why don't I help you. What's she look like?"

"That's very generous, but your nephew over there looks like he's on the move. You probably want to keep up with him, right? So, I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to keep going on my-"

Suddenly, the man stopped speaking, and his eyes become unfocused. He ignored Nemuri and his eyes drifted to Midoriya and Ashido as they rode the escalator back up to the food court. Nemuri didn't like the sudden change in the man's countenance, as a very wicked looking grin split across his face.

"So that's where you're hiding you little SLUT!"

Before Nemuri could make heads or tails of what he meant, the man pushed her to the side as he began to run straight at Ashido and Midoriya.

In an instant her heroic instincts came to life, and she dashed after the man, readying her quirk.

"Man Midori, I almost think you might have just wanted to kiss me you lost so bad." She said smiling as they headed to the food court for some lunch

"N-No! That wasn't it at all! You won fair and square, Mina!"

"Relax, silly, I was just teasing. You're really easy to fluster, you know that? It's kind of cute."

"W-what!?"

She giggled at his reaction.

"Yeah! Like that!"

He ducked his head in embarrassment, but that didn't stop Mina from playfully ruffling his hair.

"Hey now, don't be like that. I'm having a lot of fun! This is a pretty good date so far."

"Yeah?" he asked, almost sounding like he didn't believe her.

"Well, I mean… there really shouldn't be any big plays on a first date you know? Usually, you're just trying to get to know the other person. But we're classmates, so I feel like I know you pretty well. But I do think we ought to try and see new aspects of each other you know?"

"Is that why you mentioned… k-kissing?"

It was her turn to blush. In truth she hadn't been thinking when she said that. It had just kind of… slipped out. Was she really going to kiss him? It was strange, but she didn't think she'd mind. He was pretty cute. And he was brave, and strong. Wait, did she have a crush? She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"W-well, I mean… people kiss who they date right? It just kind of slipped out. Y-you don't have to if you don't want to."

Izuku rubbed his head as a blush spread across his face and the two made it to the food court.

"Well, it isn't that… I don't want to. I'm just not sure if I'd… do it right."

That caught her attention. Did Izuku actually like her? Like really really like her? When he had asked, she was fairly certain that it was just an impulsive move, brought about by the… unusual circumstances. That's what caused her to say yes, so in her mind, that seemed to be why he had asked in the first place. Did she misread him? Probably. She wasn't a mind reader after all. Although that would be a pretty cool quirk.

She was starting to see why Yao-Momo, Ochaco, and Tsuyu all liked the boy. But, she smiled, they weren't the ones on a date with him. Suddenly she felt very lucky, like she had won a prize she didn't even know she wanted.

"Well… you know, Midori, the thing about kisses is that what makes them special is the one giving them, not how good they are at it."

Izuku stopped for a few moments, touched by Mina's words, and filled with a sort of happiness at their innocence. It was such a contrast from the horrible words Brain-Jacker spoke. And he could feel their sincerity resonate deep within him.

"Mina…"

The two locked eyes, and Mina was surprised to find herself engulfed by the brilliant green eyes of the adorably awkward boy that she hadn't thought much of. She found herself drifting closer to him, wanting…something. Izuku too found her eyes particularly beautiful. So unique, black sclera, golden iris, shining like the sun…

An explosion stopped both of them in their tracks.

Both of them snapped out of their little trance in an instant, and shot their gaze towards a cloud of dust and debris down at the bottom floor of the mall. It was eerily quiet for just a few seconds, and then screams began to echo across the building as civilians ran in all directions trying to escape the chaos.

Mina grabbed hold of the railing and leaned over, trying to see what was going on down below.

"What's happening?!"

Izuku had no idea, but a certain someone inside his head didn't seem to like it.

Shit! Shit! I can smell him! I knew it! I knew it! The bastard's here!

Izuku didn't know what that was about, but Brain-Jacker seemed scared for the first time he met her. She was terrified of what was happening. And she seemed to know why.

Suddenly, from the cloud of dust down below, a gray translucent tentacle burst out and slammed some poor woman against the ceiling of the mall, retreating to drop her to the food court below.

Izuku didn't even think about it. He activated full cowling and dashed to her aid, catching her before she fell to the floor and came to more harm.

"Are you ok, Miss?"

The woman groaned and shook her head, revealing the blonde hair she had to be a wig. While that surprised Izuku somewhat, it was the woman's face that shocked him the most.

"M-Midnight Sensei?!"

"Oh, hello Midoriya. Fancy meeting you like this."

Her jovial attitude was in stark contrast to the trickle of blood flowing from her head down her face.

"Midnight sensei, you're injured!"

She nodded weakly as she flopped out of Izuku's arms, softly shaking her head and standing wobbly on her own two feet.

"Yeah, Its- It's not too bad though. You got your provisional Hero license, right?"

"Huh? Um, Yes! Yes, Ma'am!"

"Good, from now on I'm giving you permission to help me out. I think I'm going to need it."

"Midori, Look out!"

The two of them heard Mina's cry in the nick of time, Izuku once again scooping up Midnight and dashing away as another large tentacle came crashing down shattering the tile he had been standing on. From below the food court, countless gooey grey tentacles latched onto the railing and hoisted up an insane looking man with a Cheshire smile. He would have looked like any other man if it weren't for his back melting into those very tendrils, and his arms taking on a translucent quality.

"Found you, you little harlot! Thought you could run from me?! I'll drag you back like I always do! You've had enough fun ruining our family name!"

Midoriya was extremely confused. Was this guy talking to him?

"Midnight Sensei, who is this guy?"

"Let me down, handsome, and I'll tell you."

With a start, he realized he was holding his teacher bridal style, and let her down with a very sincere apology.

"No need to apologize, my brave student. You acted quickly and professionally. As expected of a UA student! As for this guy…"

The two of them leveled their gaze at the man who seemed quite happy to be facing them, not at all nervous or upset. His gooey tentacles waved about in the air like cobras ready to strike.

"I have no idea who he is. All I know is that he's after you for some reason… and he thinks you're a slut?"

Midoriya went red in the face at that. What was this man talking about? But then it hit him. Brain-Jacker freaking out, this man coming after him, yelling about sluts and harlots… family name… a slime-like quirk.

This was Brain-Jacker's family!

He wondered briefly if this person couldn't be made an ally of some kind. He said he wanted to take her back somewhere, and Izuku definitely wanted to get rid of the parasitic villainess. But somehow, looking at the man, he had a feeling he wasn't the kind to talk things out. Of course, with how Brain-Jacker was acting he doubted she would let him talk.

FUCK FUCK FUCK! KILL HIM, KILL HIM, KILL HIM! I'M ORDERING YOU TO KILL HIM!

He ignored her. He wasn't going to kill anyone. But he was going to stop this guy before he hurt anyone else. Izuku took a fighting stance, and powered up All for One full cowling to 10%, his current maximum. As green lightning flashed across his body, the strange villain across from him quirked a brow in response.

"Oh? Looks like you're going to fight. Alright then, no big deal. Though I gotta warn you, I've killed my fair share of pro- Heroes. Its going to take a lot to drive me off."

Nemuri tousled her hair and took her own fighting stance, though she felt a little odd wearing such a modest outfit to fight in.

"Who are you, and what do you want with this boy?"

"Who am I? Who are you? You're no casual observer, and I doubt you're this guy's aunt like you claimed. In fact, I wonder if you aren't my sister's play thing too. She would get a kick out of you."

"I am the Pro Hero, Midnight! And I'm taking you in!" with a quick motion, she dashed forward much more quickly than Izuku thought she could move, and tore back her sleeve. With a punch-like motion she shot a stream of her Somnambulist gas.

"Sleeper Stream!"

It hit the villain straight in the face, and for a blessed second, Izuku thought that was the end of the fight.

Until the villain shot out another tentacle at Midnight, this time the edge changed its shape into a razor sharp blade.

With no time to think, Izuku exploded forward, grabbing his teacher by the waist and throwing her to the side, saving her life as he dashed backwards himself. He saw Mina off in the distance, calling someone on her phone. Hopefully it was the police.

"You already tried that, you idiot. Gas doesn't work on me!"

Izuku wasn't sure what his quirk was exactly, but he had a good guess. Like Brain-Jacker, he suspected his entire body was made up of slime. In that case, he wouldn't have any lungs. Which meant Midnight might as well have been quirkless. He grit his teeth in frustration.

"Hey! You wanted me, right! And- and I think I know why! There's no reason to hurt anyone else! In fact, I want to get rid of h-"

He held his head and screamed as his head felt like it was about to burst apart.

You want to get rid of me, huh? You idiot. You don't know anything! How do you think he'll get me out of you? Go gently in your ear like I did? He's not that nice!

The man began to stalk forward, smiling as he correctly guessed what was going on.

"She won't let you finish huh? Yeah, I thought so. She's a real bitch, and I apologize for her behavior. But I'm also guessing she told you how I need to get her out. See my quirk isn't made to go inside of people, and it's just not a skill I ever picked up. So, I had to learn a different method of dragging her ass back. I found the easiest way was… well," he chuckled. "Let's just say parasites can't live without their hosts."

At that, his many swarming tentacles all changed shape to various pointed and sharp objects. Swords, drills, axes, saws, and spikes all manifested. And with how they seemed to gleam, Izuku was fairly certain they were all just as deadly as the real things.

It gave him more insight into the villain's quirk, however. From what he could surmise, this villain's slimy quirk was an actual shapeshifting quirk. But instead of being limited to just people, he could also imitate objects with his malleable body.

Izuku got into a fighting stance, ready to defend himself. The villain was focused on him, so if he kept him busy, he shouldn't attack anyone else.

"Eat acid, you jerk!"

Izuku and the villain both looked over to find Mina barefooted, skating toward them on her acid as she cupped her hands together and shot out a powerful stream of acid.

"Acid Shot!"

The villain didn't seem too impressed as one of his many tentacles formed a shield at one end and placed it in front of himself. However, as the acid hit, he let out a howl and dropped his impromptu shield, letting it dissolve back into slime.

"Fuck! That hurt, you little shit. Your acid can get pretty strong, huh? What a pain."

Mina skated right past him and stopped next to Izuku, getting into a fighting stance herself. The two were joined by Midnight, who summersaulted her way back to Izuku.

Mina was surprised to see her there.

"Midnight sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Complete coincidence. Also, Ashido, you have your provisional license, right?"

"Sure do! Todoroki and Bakugo were the only ones who didn't get it."

"Good, then that means we won't be breaking the law. You're with me and Midoriya, got it? We're going to take this guy down before people get hurt."

"Awfully confident, aren't you?" the man smirked as he replied. "Fine then, I don't mind a bit of fun. I suppose since I'm in Japan, I ought to use Japanese customs. I'm supposed to give you my name first, right? Then I can ask you yours?"

The three heroes did not respond.

"Tch. Fine. Be that way. My name is Goo. Not a pretty name, but there it is. Now who are you three? The one with the gas called herself Midnight, but I don't know who Green Boy and Pink Girl are."

Mina responded, "I'm Pinky! The… Acid Hero?"

"You don't sound so sure of yourself, Pinky. And how about you, host? What's my sister's puppet called this time?"

Izuku flit his eyes to Mina and Midnight, wondering if they were picking up on what this villain was saying. While he wasn't happy the villain was here… essentially to kill him. He was glad someone knew the situation and was revealing what was going on. He hoped those two weren't drowning it out.

"My name is Deku, the Hero that can do anything." He focused his attention on his opponent, gripping his hands tightly.

"That right?" he said with a grin.

In a flash, the man pounced, using his tentacles to jump to them at an incredible speed. His arm shot out and from it several dozen projectiles shot forth like a machine gun.

Izuku dashed away in a flash, easily dodging while Mina spread out her hand and spread out a wall of congealed acid.

"Acid Veil!"

Her acid dissolved every shot, keeping her and Midnight safe. But in an instant, Goo had reached them and swerved his body like it was made of rubber, getting behind their Acid Veil. With a wicked grin he held out his hands ready to fire more projectiles full force and up close.

In an instant his face was smashed to the ground by Izuku's axe kick to the back of his head.

"Manchester Smash!"

He didn't stay down, however. Several hundred tendrils erupted from his back to impale the three. Luckily, Midnight's quick reflexes kicked the two kids away in time as she herself backflipped to safety.

Goo's body then began to better represent his namesake, the human parts jellifying into grey goo as a pillar emerged from the puddle and reforming into the semblance of a man. Though this time, he appeared as he truly was. A grey slime that only took on semi-human form when it suited him. His vague eye-shaped holes narrowed at the heroes as he began to shrink and compress his form.

"What's he doing?" Mina asked, not liking that though the villain was getting smaller, the ground under him seemed to crack under immense pressure.

Midnight didn't like it either.

"I don't know. But I don't like it."

Izuku, meanwhile wasn't going to wait to find out. He dashed forward and swept his leg up high, to kick him square in the face.

It landed with a satisfying splat, his head blowing up into a thousand different slimy pieces. But just as Izuku was about to be traumatized at his first murder, the headless gooey body twisted like a corkscrew and slammed him in the ribs with a closed fist. The hit was far more intense than Izuku had been prepared for and he flew back several feet onto his back, the wind knocked out of him.

"Midoriya!"

"Midori!"

Midnight and Mina called after him, both worried that the villain was about to take advantage of him. But Izuku didn't stay down long. He stumbled to his feet, holding his ribs as he felt them still burning. Goo's headless body stalked forward as a new head formed from the stump of his neck.

"My body, as you might have noticed, can alter its shape. But I can also alter my density. The denser I am. The stronger I am."

He dashed forward at a greater speed than before, slamming a fist into Izuku's stomach.

"Say goodbye, Deku the hero that can do anything."

As Goo's fist erupted into a hundred blades, several things seemed to happen at once.

Midnight had covered their distance and grabbed hold of Izuku, paying back the times he had saved her by throwing him to the ground several feet away, and Mina came from the other side, both hands covered in acid as she shot forward as much of the corrosive substance as she could.

"Double Acid Strike!"

Goo screamed as his arm was severed with a sizzling bubbling corrosive liquid.

"DAMN IT!"

Mina didn't let up, firing more and more acid shots at the villain. He had a powerful quirk that seemed invulnerable to both Midnight and even Izuku's quirks. But luckily, he seemed to be a really bad match up against her. Sure, she had to use her strongest acid, but if it worked, it worked.

"YOU LITTLE PINK, SHIT!"

Goo spread out his fingers and shot them out as tentacles, each curving to surround Mina to avoid her Acid Veil.

"DIE!"

Mina brought up both hands to save herself with a double Acid Veil, but the direction of the piercing blades was going to go around them. But before they did, Izuku sped between each one as a green blur of lightning, kicking them into oblivion.

Goo wasn't having any of that, however, and shot forth to repeat his previous maneuver. But Izuku was ready for him, and kept his distance, bolting in a zig zag pattern to keep as far away as possible. Goo was right on his tail, and piercing the walls and floor with spikes every chance he could, trying to skewer the young boy.

"STAY STILL AND DIE ALREADY!"

Midoriya stayed safely out of the way, though he felt his body have to use 14% of One for All to do so. It was beginning to strain him.

"Not gonna happen! Pinky, use your Acid Shot! There's only so much of him and the more of him you dissolve, the less dangerous he becomes!"

Goo laughed.

"Is that so?"

From all around Mina, the bits of slime that had been kicked, punched, or even melted off began floating up into the air. Thousands of sparkling grey droplets covered the air around them, and all three heroes become quite nervous at the implications.

The droplets in the air reformed into millions of razor sharp needles, surrounding Midnight and Mina in every direction, leaving no room to dodge or escape.

Though he still pursued Izuku, Goo laughed as he spared a glance at the two heroines.

"You heroes, always so cocky! Now DIE!"

"NOOO!"

Without thinking, Izuku pointed two Delaware Smashes at both Mina and Midnight. Powering up to what felt like just enough power to blow the needles away. As the deadly rain fell, he let loose, a powerful gale force wind sending the slime of the villain far away.

And also knocking Mina and Midnight to the floor, hitting their backs along the railing with more force than he liked.

"S-sorry!"

Izuku didn't have time to check up on them, his would-be killer was still hot on his tail. Goo had quite the scowl on his face, clearly angered at being foiled. But Izuku had realized something.

His fingers weren't broken.

He also noticed something else, his body wasn't using only 14% of One for All anymore. It was using 20%. The increase was causing his body to feel sore, but he found it necessary to keep out of range of Goo, who was extremely fast in this new compressed state, running, twisting and turning on a dime. His body was quick to act like rubber one second, and like an unstoppable force the next, digging whole footprints into the cement as he chased Izuku from ceiling, to floor, to wall.

Izuku knew this couldn't go on, he needed to go on the offensive. His body was keeping up now, but he feared it was only temporary. He could already feel his fingers twitching. But, with the success of the last attack fresh on his mind, he twisted around and aimed two Delaware Smashes straight at Goo, who was too close to dodge.

"Smash!"

The gale force winds instantly turned him into his namesake, and he went flying towards the ceiling of the mall, crashing through the glass ceiling and being blown far away.

Everything was blessedly calm, napkins and newspapers falling to the ground below as the sound of battle faded.

"Did- did I do it?"

Izuku stopped in a crouch, amazed at the sudden abrupt end. Had he neutralized him?

No, you idiot. He's just scattered. Run now before he pulls himself together!

For the first time, Izuku felt like he should take Brain-Jacker's advice. He ran over to Mina and Midnight, who were both rubbing their backs, groaning as they stood up.

"Sorry guys, I saw him make all those needles and I didn't know what else to do. Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, kid." Midnight groaned as she stood up straight. "We're fine. Good job. We would have been goners without you."

Mina was a little more dramatic as she continued rubbing her back and grimacing.

"Midori, that really hurt! Next time you save my life, try not to do that."

Izuku smiled as he apologized.

"Sorry about that Mina. But I think we ought to get out of here. I don't think that's the end of him."

Midnight, nodded, agreeing.

"C'mon, let's get you two to safety. Its clear that Midoriya is his target. If we leave, he won't have any reason to go after civilians."

"Why is he after Midori, though? Something about his sister?" Mina asked, quite perplexed at the odd things the villain had been saying.

Izuku became nervous, worrying what Brain-Jacker might do if Mina came to realize the truth.

"I don't know what he's talking about. He's probably just confused. Or crazy."

Midnight was good at reading people, and she could tell that the boy was lying. Well, it didn't help that he was terrible at it. He knew exactly what that villain wanted with him. In fact, she remembered Midoriya trying to tell the villain that he would cooperate. And then hadn't the villain said something about his sister stopping him from talking? She hadn't expected to learn as much as she had, today. But she had a fairly powerful intuition that All Might had stumbled upon something big.

Sadly, she'd never have a chance to tell him.

Midoriya suddenly stopped speaking, and started heaving, as if he was about to throw up. Mina patted his back, concerned.

"Are you ok, Midori? What's wrong?"

"I-URK. I-OOH. I-I don't-"

Izuku heaved a giant puddle of purple slime, shocking the two women he was with.

And terrifying Izuku.

Before he could react, two tendrils shot up into Midnight and Mina's face. Izuku tried grabbing at them, but the slippery goo could not be held. Before Mina could use her acid, the slime filtered through her mouth, nostrils, and nose. Izuku desperately reached for their faces, trying to get ahold of the slime, but it escaped through his fingers in active defiance.

In only a second, the slime was gone, and Izuku stood trembling in fear at what had happened.

"Brain-Jacker… you didn't."

Oh, but I did. You didn't think I'd let them get away with hearing that much about me from my blabbermouth brother, did you? I would have been found out for sure. Besides, why do you think I've been so quiet lately? Splitting into copies of myself takes a lot of time and nutrients. Now c'mon, let's get going before Goo comes back. He won't stop at killing you now. He'll want to kill them as well.

"You- you-"

"Watch your tongue, young man. Someone as sweet as you shouldn't go spoiling yourself. After all, I'm going to want that tongue squeaky clean for later tonight~."

Izuku looked on in abject horror as Midnight put her hands on her hips, and eyed him up. She licked her lips and gave him a wink, and all at once Izuku realized that what he had feared had come to pass. Brain-Jacker was going to spread and spread if she wasn't stopped.

"Damn it! Brain-Jacker, Get out of Midnight Sensei and Mina right now! I won't forgive you otherwise!"

"Oh, don't be silly," Brain-Jacker spoke through Mina's body as she hugged Izuku from behind.

"You were never forgiving me anyway."

As angry as Izuku was, he knew Brain-Jacker was right. Her brother was going to come back and this time he would indeed try to kill his teacher and friend. He clinched his fists in anger, not liking any of this. Why? Why did this have to happen? He had been enjoying himself with Mina, as odd as the circumstances were. Now… now it was ruined. Terrible things were about to happen and he was going to be completely unable to stop it.

He swallowed, looking at the smug self-satisfied grins of his date and teacher. It was time to leave.

"Mina, Midnight sensei, I know you two can hear me. I'm sorry for this. I tried to stop it. I will stop it! But right now, we have to get out of here before that guy comes back. He wanted to kill me to get that woman in your heads out of me. Now he'll try to kill the two of you as well."

It didn't really matter what he said, they weren't free to respond to him. But he felt he had to say something. The two women nodded along with him and began to flee

Before a swirling mass of grey goo blocked their path.

"Crap! We took too long!"

The first to form was Goo's head, which seemed far too happy to Izuku.

"So, you're quite the prize aren't you, Deku? I see why my sister chose to stay with you. Usually she'll jump from host to host after a few days. I'll admit it, I'm impressed. But I'm afraid I can't let you go. She's just not someone you can let out into society, you know? She'll cause utter chaos."

The rest of him formed, a tall grey translucent man with a cocksure grin. Mina and Midnight got into fighting positions, but as they did so, Goo eyed them both up.

"Oh? So, you took them over too huh? How annoying. You really can't keep it in your pants, can you Penelope?"

Midnight's body responded, though it was Brain-Jacker speaking.

"Shut up, Lawrence! And don't call me that! It's Brain-Jacker!"

"More like horny loser who ruins people's lives."

"You kill people!"

"I meant my life. Do you know what a pain it is to-"

With a sudden blast of wind, Goo was scattered once again, Izuku having given another 20% Delaware Smash. Izuku didn't wait for him to reform, picking up Mina bridal style and lifting Midnight into a piggyback. He was going to get out of here, and let a professional deal with Goo.

With a burst of lightning, he sped off into the mall, looking for the exit. The place was largely abandoned now, most civilians having left. He turned on his heel as a long tendril snaked its way to him. Goo was following him in the form of what seemed a stream, flowing like a rapid trying to keep up with him. Izuku repeated his earlier performance, jumping up to the walls and ricocheting about much like Gran Torino. It was harder with Mina in his arms and Midnight on his back, but it seemed to do a good job of keeping Goo away.

As Izuku came to the end of the mall, he heard the gelatinous villain scream in frustration. He looked back to see hundreds of bladed tentacles coming from a hundred directions.

But Izuku had seen this trick plenty of times before. He may not have had his hands ready, but he still had his legs. He jumped up and in one swift move, kicked with enough force to blow back every tendril.

"ST. LOUIS SMASH! AIR FORCE!"

Goo's body couldn't keep itself composed and blew apart as Izuku used the opening to zoom forward and get to the building's exit.

For a moment, he was blinded by the sun, then he noticed something that actually gave him some hope. He smiled, his eyes tearing up.

A very large deployment of police was outside the mall, guns at the ready. And not just any police. They had villain capture equipment with them, and had formed a very solid defense with barricades and many of them had riot shields at the ready. Mina had indeed called the police. Though, with the havoc Goo had caused, it was likely many people had.

"You there, stay where you are."

Izuku did as he was told and let Mina and Midnight down. But then, as he saw who was giving him the orders, he found himself a bit starstruck.

Mirko, the rabbit hero, trod confidently towards him, flanked by police escorts.

"You're Izuku Midoriya, right? And these are… your date and the R rated hero, Midnight?"

Midnight nodded and stuck out her hand in a friendly gesture.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mirko. I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances."

Izuku became nervous at the gesture, wondering if it wasn't a trick for Brain-Jacker to control yet another pro-hero. However, Mirko batted the hand away dismissively.

"Not right now. There's work to do."

She gestured for the police officers to get to the opposite sides of the door.

"M-Mirko! I have information on the enemy's quirk!"

The rabbit hero turned toward Midoriya with a neutral expression.

"Well then, out with it. What are we dealing with?"

The boy nodded and began to explain.

"He's a slime-type villain. A lot like the sludge villain All Might fought just before becoming a teacher! Only he can control himself a lot more! He can alter his density, making him stronger and he can change his slime into a type of rubber material too. Not to mention bladed weapons! He can also appear just like a normal person if he wants! It's a really powerful shape shifting quirk!"

Something in Mirko's eyes changed at the mention of shapeshifting.

"Is that so… Tell me, Izuku, when did you meet this villain?"

"Huh? Um, just a few minutes ago, I think."

"That so? Mind if I borrow your phone?"

"N-not at all!"

He handed his phone over without any hesitation. But was quite shocked when she pulled back the neckline of her leotard and dropped it between her cleavage.

"WHA-WHUH? HUH?"

"Relax. I'll give it back in a bit."

With that, Mirko jumped into the mall, leaving Izuku and the others behind. Izuku's first instinct was to jump after her to help, but he was stopped by the police that were present. He tried to explain that he had his provisional hero license, but they refused to let him through. Instead, they escorted him, Mina, and Midnight to a nearby ambulance to check for injuries. And though Izuku was hesitant, Mina reminded him that she was barefoot and she probably had glass stuck in her feet that should get looked at.

Izuku bit his tongue, hoping that Brain-Jacker would just play along and not do anything stupid while she controlled the pretty pink girl and his Art History teacher.