CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Two Minutes to Midnight

"Blackened pride still burns inside/This shell of bloody treason"

"So, you're telling me that Dabi's gone, Muscles got arrested, the boss is MIA, and Toga's gone out on her own to look for this guy whom you sent out to look for the boss hoping he would get arrested or simply skip town?"
Mustard's voice behind the gas mask was almost incredulous. "Allow me to point out the most glaring flaws in your plan, Kuro. If he finds Tomura he'll be back here, so you won't get rid of him, thus making the point of getting the spotlight off us moot. And that's the most desirable outcome. If he gets nabbed by pros, not only you will have made him an enemy, but Himiko will try to kill you and go get him out: not necessarily in this order and with a high chance of her getting arrested as well. She's one hell of an infiltrator, but she'll be alone. If he gets arrested and he breaks out - and given what I've been told he has pretty good chances of doing so - he'll be back here thinking you set him up. So this Dave and Toga will want to kill you. If by any chance he gets killed, Toga will try to murder you and you will have lost not only a potential ally, but another member. Good job." He ended his rather lengthy exposition with a deliberately slow clap. Twice cackled from the couch as he turned on the TV and switched to the news channel, looking for any sign of potential disaster. "I told you it was a shitty idea."

Kurogiri deigned Mustard of one look and returned to cleaning the glasses behind the counter. His voice betrayed just the slightest hint of annoyance when he replied: "At the time I didn't have much choice. His presence here is too dangerous and right now our strength is at an all time low. Not to mention the threat of his... old friend... which ended up involving us and Toga getting, erm, overly attached to him."

Spinner leaned on the counter and shook his head in pretty much equal disbelief. "Maybe if you treated him as a friend instead of a prisoner or a threat we would have his back. I mean, this is the first time we kidnap someone and not only he isn't horrified but actually JOINS US, and you get all up in arms with paranoia. Ok, fine, the other guy seems to have targeted us. But didn't you think that this Dave could have helped us sort it out willingly if you treated him with less hostility? He doesn't seem to be friends anymore with the tall man, no?"

"The only reason he stayed" Kuro snapped back "to my knowledge at least - is because of Toga. I doubt he could give two nickels about the rest of us. Initially, all he was saying is oh, don't drag me into this. Especially when he saw the other one. Of course, our only female member had other plans and apparently she got persuasive enough."

"She's in love, you cretinous puff of smoke." Twice huffed. "Well, as much in love as one like her can be. And he doesn't seem displeased either. That alone could have been good leverage if you'd undertood emotions on a basic level. Lucky asshole. I should gut him."

"Besides" Compress interjected from the other side of the room, raising his face from a book "Kid's okay. Personally, I like him. Admit it, Kuro. You failed this pretty hard. Pray we won't have to suffer further consequences."

The Nomu just grunted and resumed his toiling: all the counterpoints presented by his associates were, much to his chagrin, pretty valid. It was a misstep which could bring more misfortune to their doorstep, but what was done was done.

"How did your scouting operation go?" he asked after a while. Mustard looked at Spinner, who prompted him with a brief nod.

"Pretty good. We have an entry point and a time window... but do we have the manpower? I think not."
"Yeah." Spinner quipped. "Attacking the academy without the boss, or Dabi, or Muscles? That's asking for it. I mean, me, i'm raring to go every day - but that'd be suicidal. We'd get our asses kicked. We gotta save them first."

"That may be problematic." Kuro replied "Dabi's whereabouts are currently unknown. Muscular's probably in a max-sec prison. We can hope our leader will come back once this storm subsides, but as it is, moving by ourselves is too risky. The heroes are still buzzing around."

A thunderous bang interrupted the conversation as Dave appeared in the middle of the room, his eyes fixed on Kurogiri and his lips compressed into a thin line. Spinner immediately grasped the handle of his makeshift sword in alarm but Kurogiri raised a hand almost imperiously. "Stand down. It's him."

"Heya." Twice saluted with two fingers and a sarcastically cordial tone. "Still in one piece, I see. Good."

Dave ignored him as he started walking towards the bar counter in measured strides. "You and I got a bit of a talk to do, you oily little shit. You set me up."

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about." Kurogiri replied coldly. "All I sent you out for was to locate and retrieve our wayward companions. Whatever happened-"

"Cut that shit." Dave interrupted him with a snarl. "You send me out to a precise location in which I fall into a perfectly prepared ambush and you have the balls to tell me you don't know anything about it?! You fucking tipped them off."

"Who's 'them'?" Compress asked, suddenly curious. "The pros?"

Dave turned to give him a sideways glance. "No, the Meta Liberation Army. Lo and behold, they tried to have me shanghaied. Didn't go that well, as you can see." He refocused his gaze on the Nomu, his voice one octave low from the barely contained anger. "This asshole here wanted me out of the house, apparently, and tried to dump me on another terrorist cell."

"The MLA?" Twice whistled. "Why the hell didn't you accept? They got some serious dosh, man." After a moment, he added. "Aw. You like us more than them. Fuzzy feelings!" ending with a rather demented chuckle.

"Yes, I tried to 'get you out of the house'. I admit it." Kuro replied. "A lack of foresight on my part. Your attachment to Toga and... the baggage you brought had me think you were a danger to this organization. But I did not want you harmed. I hope you'd rise to the occasion and simply leave the city like you said so many time you'd do - I know nothing about any MLA ambushes and definitely have no contacts there. What happened to you wasn't planned by me or anyone else here."

Dave slowly turned to look at Twice with utter disbelief. The masked man shrugged. "No, he doesn't get it. All this time he was still thinking you wanted to be away from her and were playing along to not get killed. Serious as hell."

Dave pinched the bridge of his nose for half a minute, trying to calm himself down with long, deep breaths. He then leaned with both elbows on the counter and looked at Kuro with a very serious expression. "So. Here's the thing, Captain Pollution. Me and Himi are a thing. That means I ain't going anywhere unless she does, and I know you don't want that and she likes it here. The question is: do I have to expect you to try and kick me out again, or are we starting this thing on the right foot? I mean, most of the people I met here are okay for a bunch of terrorists. I mean, he's cool -" he pointed to Compress with a thumb, then to Twice. "- he's okay too, more or less. Trench Warfare and Argonian here, I don't know them but they can't be worse than you."
Spinner let out a subdued laugh that was cut short by a venomous stare by the Nomu before he replied. "Understood. Please, do accept my most heartfelt apology for this... misunderstanding. As we are, we can't afford to refuse any kind of help and I hope our relationship from now on will be transparent and profitable."

Dave almost giggled as he finally relaxed. "You sound like a company's HR. Fine, apology accepted. Make me an espresso, will ya? I need to call Himi and tell her I'm okay. She's probably freaking out."

"Guys." Mustard pointed to the TV screen with a tense voice. "Look."
The scene on the screen was footage taken from a news helicopter: a skyscraper half torn apart. As the camera zoomed in, the figures of Shigaraki and a tall, dark haired man were seen for a few second before the whole structure shook and they had to swerve.

Dave let out a low hiss. "Shit."