I know it's been a while, but thanks to the coronavirus, I have been dismissed from my college and sent home. Which means…yeah, I'll be pretty not busy, and hopefully able to continue with regular updates.

This chapter follows the canon events really closely. Which brings me to some things I've been considering during the break.

I can't seem to shake canon off as well as I'd like to. Some things just feel too important, and I end up being conflicted about where to fit in things that I want. It's been a struggle. I also know that the romance hasn't been as well developed as I could have done, which is frustrating. The romance in this story is not necessarily the focus (I'm much more interested in exploring the TYPE of character that Doko is and how that affects the larger world of the series) but I still don't think I've given it the quality that it could have. That's probably the reason why people said they preferred Momo, or found Mina to be unlikable.

With that said, I'm not going to go back and fix anything. The events developed up until this point will be the same as always. But hopefully, once the students move into dorms…I can break away from canon a bit, and start developing the romance a little better.

I know some people aren't big fans of me focusing on a bunch of side characters, but…to be honest, I don't care. Exploring the lesser-known side characters is one of my main goals in this fic, and I'm not going to stop. I have some plans for a few of the less-focused-on 1-A students that will develop in the upcoming arcs, and that's not going to go away. If anything, I'm hoping that moving away from canon will allow me to stop writing about Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo, and the like as much. Don't have anything against their characters, but I'd barely be treading any new ground if I dwelled on them.

I want to write what I like. That's the main goal. If I keep trying to stick to canon and please people, then I'm just going to lose motivation to keep this up at all.

With that being said, enjoy this chapter…as it's going to be one of the last that follows the canon events in a predictable way.

Chapter 36: Symbol of Evil

Aizawa, All Might, and the remaining students of 1-A stood in a semicircle around Yaoyorozu's bed. On both sides, there were doctors working on her. The room was silent with despair, save for the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor.

"I can't believe it," Kirishima muttered. On either side of him, Sero and Mina remained silent. Mina's black-and-gold eyes danced to the bedside table, where a device lay. Did she dare say anything?

"Katayama, Bakugo, Jiro, Hagakure, Midoriya, Shoji, and now this…" Koji breathed. His voice shook.

All Might put a hand on the invisible girl's shoulder. "Stay strong, Young Koda," he muttered.

Aizawa stepped in and touched his unconscious student's arm lightly. "She's been shocked," he muttered. "Badly." He looked up at his students, raising his eyebrows. "I count twelve," he said. "Where is Kaminari?"

The students all exchanged a glance.

Sero shrugged.

"Dunno," Kirishima mumbled.

Shoto's mismatched eyes widened. Shocked? "Are you saying that Kaminari could have…?"

"Hold on a second," said Ojiro. "Why would he do that? It doesn't make sense."

"But if he's not here…" muttered Tsuyu.

"There are plenty of tools or weapons that could shock someone like that," said Iida. "It didn't necessarily have to be a Quirk." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

All Might and Aizawa exchanged a glance. "What we should be more worried about is how someone attacked her in the hospital in the first place." Aizawa looked to one of the doctors. "Do you have security cameras in here?"

The doctor shook his head. "This is one of the rooms designed to give privacy to the patients."

Aizawa clicked his teeth in annoyance. "Do you know of anyone coming in and out of this room?"

The doctor shrugged. "You could probably ask around. I was just called here to operate on the girl."

Shoto's face had gone dark. "There's no way a villain could have gotten in, but we students have been given almost entirely free reign of the hospital. That means it MUST have been Ka…"

"No," Uraraka interrupted, and all eyes turned to her, surprised. "The villains have someone on their side who can get anywhere. The portal user, Kurogiri. He could have just come into this room and…"

"But why? Why attack Yaoyorozu?" asked Sato.

All Might leaned down and picked something up off the floor. It was some kind of mechanical device, half-destroyed. "What is this?" he asked under his breath.

Mina stepped forward and picked up the other device off the table, despite Aizawa's protests. "It's a broken version of this," she said. "Yao-momo made two."

"Two of what?" asked the Symbol of Peace.

Mina blinked. "When we were running away from the Nomu, Yao-momo had Awase from Class B attach a tracking device to it with his Quirk. This is the receiver."

Kirishima winced, and Sero opened his mouth as if to tell Mina to back off. Why is she telling the pros?! We're the ones who need that receiver!

"Someone didn't want her to track them down," said Iida. "But why would they destroy one and not the other?"

Mina turned the device around and showed it to the two pros. It showed a map of sorts, with a blinking red dot.

All Might leaned in and gasped. "That isn't the location of the bar! The Nomu must have been taken somewhere else."

Aizawa's eyes widened. "We'll have to alert the others. This will now be a two-pronged operation. Bakugo and Katayama could be at either location."

The students all looked at each other. "You guys…are going to rescue them?" asked Tsu.

All Might nodded. "That's right, Young Asui. We have it all planned out, although it seems that the plan will now change slightly. We will get your classmates back, I assure you."

"And that means all of you will either stay at this hospital or go home, until further notice," Aizawa added sharply.

"But what about Kaminari? And whoever attacked Yaoyorozu?" Ojiro demanded. "You can't just…"

"There's no time," said Aizawa. "Every passing minute means increased peril for your two captured classmates. And we have the press conference to handle." He looked to All Might. "Call a pro hero not involved with the operation and have them stand guard here at the hospital. Tell them to look for anything else suspicious. And keep an eye out for Kaminari." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I can no longer keep track of everything that's happening. One thing at a time. Ashido, the receiver, if you please." He held out his hand.

Mina did not immediately respond. She was staring at the device, unblinking for a moment.

"Ashido," Aizawa repeated.

The girl shook her head slightly, as if returning out of her mind, and handed the receiver over.

"Alright," Eraserhead said, turning to All Might. "Let's move."

…

Sunset.

Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, Hanta Sero, and Shoto Todoroki stood outside the hospital, waiting. Most of the rest of the class knew what they were doing, but they'd remained silent. What did that mean?

Midoriya is getting discharged tonight, thought Eijiro. With a pro hero coming soon to guard the hospital, this would be their one chance. There would be no time to waste.

The doors slid open, revealing Midoriya walking out…and, surprisingly, Uraraka as well. Eijiro's eyes shot open a mile wide.

"Uraraka-san," he stammered. "You're…"

"I'm coming, too," she said sassily, folding her arms. She did not elaborate as to why. Midoriya looked almost sheepish.

"Well…alright. Six. That's a good number." He looked back to Sero and Todoroki, who nodded in agreement.

"Wait!" said a voice.

They all turned. Walking up the path was Iida, a stern expression on his face.

"Iida…" Midoriya breathed, lowering his head a bit.

"Why…" his fists shook. "Why did it have to be you guys, of all people?" His lower lip was trembling. "You two, who helped me when I charged recklessly into battle?" he looked between Midoriya and Todoroki. "And Uraraka-san? You too?"

The brunette girl narrowed her eyes, acting most unlike herself.

"You and Ashido were caught up in the fight that night as well," he continued. "And so was Kirishima. You all, of all people…should know how foolish this is! Don't make the same mistake that I did!"

"What are you talking about?" Sero asked in an annoyed voice, trying to take a step forward. Todoroki held up a hand over his chest to stop him.

"We are still minors," Iida muttered. "UA is in a bad enough position as it is. Who do you think is going to have to take responsibility for your actions?! Did you even THINK about that?"

"Iida, it's not like how you say!" Midoriya protested, stepping toward him. "We don't think it's okay to break the rules eithe…"

Iida swung a fist at his friend's face, colliding solidly and knocking Midoriya to the ground.

Mina gasped. Uraraka fell to her knees next to him, helping him up.

"Hey, what the fuck's your problem?" Sero snarled, Todoroki trying harder to hold him back.

"Yeah, Iida!" Uraraka cried as she helped him up. "Midoriya is injured right now…"

"All the more reason to not go off on some stupid rescue mission," Iida growled. "Do you even have a plan? Ashido gave Aizawa-sensei the only tracking receiver, after all."

"I memorized the location," said Mina in a curiously vacant tone. "It's an abandoned factory in Kamino Ward. I know how to get there."

"And you'll interrupt the heroes in their operation? You'll just get in the way!"

"They have no idea what they're up against!" Sero argued. "And besides, if they have to split their forces between two locations…"

"What if Bakugo and Katayama are at the other location? That…bar that they mentioned? You don't know where that is. If they're there, then nothing you're about to do will make any difference!"

"We can't make a difference from just sitting here in this damn hospital, either!" Kirishima yelled.

"You're going to go out there and get yourself killed," Iida said, his voice shaking quite a bit now. "Do you think I'm not worried? I'm the class representative. I'm scared for all my classmates, not just Bakugo and Katayama. Shoji lost an arm. Jiro and Hagakure and Yaoyorozu are unconscious. Kaminari's missing, for God's sake! You're going to up those numbers by going out there? Are you saying you don't care about how I feel? About how your parents feel?"

Midoriya tensed up at the mention of parents.

"When I saw you in that hospital bed, I saw my brother," Iida said quietly. "If you go out there and fight, and die, then we will have lost everything. It's that simple."

"Iida," said Todoroki, calmly. "We don't expect to fight them head-on and win, either. We'll get them out without fighting. That's the plan."

"Covert action, in other words!" Sero added. "That's how we students can do something without breaking the rules!"

Iida looked up at them in surprise. "You…"

Kirishima closed his fist. "We were unable to help in the forest. This is how we come back from that."

"It won't do to just let the pros take care of it," said Uraraka.

When everyone looked at her, she squirmed for a moment, as if unsure whether she should really speak her mind or not. But then, she continued.

"I…I don't think the pros have the same…relationship with the League that we do, besides maybe All Might and Aizawa. I've now encountered them four times. All the rest of you have done the same at least twice. It's not just about getting Katayama and Bakugo back. It's about…making sure the League's plans fail. Making sure they know we're not scared of them. That we're better than them." As she spoke, Uraraka rubbed her neck, almost subconsciously. Her lips were pulled back in a grimace.

"I spent a lot of time messing with Doko," Mina muttered. "I'd never had such strong feelings before, and I didn't treat him like I was supposed to. I treated it like a silly crush that wouldn't have consequences. I was lucky that he returned my feelings at all." Her golden eyes shined out as she looked up at Iida. "I want to make more memories with him. None of the rest of you know, but…he hasn't received a lot of love in his life. It can't be the pros, who are just doing their jobs. It has to be us, his friends, that save him. It has to be me. It's probably selfish, but…" she swallowed. "He has to know how much we care about him. He deserves to know."

Iida's jaw was hanging open. He did not seem like he knew what to say anymore.

"I'm unsure myself," Midoriya breathed. "And Kacchan will probably be humiliated and angry about people coming to save him. But, even so…" he looked up. "If my hand can still reach, then I have to reach it, don't I?"

"Your reasons are all separate," Iida muttered. "...But they're all strong, too. I don't think I can convince you. So…" He suddenly bowed deeply. "Allow me to accompany you!"

…

Detective Tskuauchi stood among his forces in the meeting room, holding up Yaoyorozu's tracking receiver. "Alright, upon the receival of new information, we can begin our strategy meeting." He turned to the pro heroes they'd assembled. All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, Tiger, Gang Orca, Mount Lady, Kamui Woods, and Gran Torino. "Are you all ready?"

…

The seven of them sat on the train as it zoomed through the night.

"Kamino Ward is in Kanagawa Prefecture," Mina said. "It will take about two hours to get there."

Kirishima shifted in his seat restlessly. "Dammit…anything could happen in that time."

"Umm…" Midoriya looked up at Todoroki. "Did you tell the others where we were going, by the way?"

"Not where," Todoroki answered while chewing on his food, "but I told them it would be tonight, yes. They all know. None of them took it very well."

"Ojiro and Asui least of all," Kirishima muttered.

"Was Kaminari there?" Midoriya asked.

Kirishima and Todoroki exchanged a glance. They both shook their heads.

"Weird," Uraraka muttered. "I don't like it one bit."

Sero stretched. "Kaminari probably just went home. Even if he was the one who shocked Yao-momo, it was probably because he knew about our plan and didn't approve of us going, like Iida. Maybe he broke the first receiver and then shocked her to keep her from making more."

"But there was a second one," Midoriya pointed out. "How could he have missed that?"

"Also…" Mina blinked. "It's not a very Kaminari thing to do, is it? Iida mentioned that it could have been a device that shocked her rather than someone's Quirk."

They all looked at Iida.

He blinked back. "What? Are you accusing me of attacking a fellow classmate?"

"Well…" Sero shrugged. "You did disapprove very strongly about us going. Maybe you saw that Yao-momo had made two, decided to destroy one to make sure only the pros got it, and then…shocked her with a device that you mentioned."

Iida shook his head. "I assure you that I did not. Besides, I am coming along on this mission anyway."

"Yeah, to be our chaperone," the tape user muttered.

"We've got to think about what's ahead of us, not behind," said Todoroki. Uraraka murmured agreement.

"Bakugo and Katayama…" Kirishima leaned back in his seat. "I'm worried. Bakugo isn't the type to just meekly go along with a hostage situation. He'll resist, and things might get messy."

"What about Katayama's Quirk?" asked Sero. "What if he escaped already, just by warping out of there?"

"The League will have taken measures against that," said Uraraka darkly.

"Besides…" Mina said, looking out the window. "Doko wouldn't leave Bakugo behind."

…

When they arrived in Kamino Ward, the first thing they did was acquire disguises from a clothing store. At Iida's suggestion, since he claimed that the villains would recognize them. "You claimed you wanted this to be covert," he told them.

Mina had ended up putting makeup on to somewhat conceal her pink face, since she was likely to stand out the most. The others all changed their hair, wore sunglasses, false beards and mustaches, and the like.

"You're unlikely to see kids in a shopping district, anyway," Sero muttered behind his goatee. Meanwhile, Midoriya was making a show of harassing passersby.

"Huh? That's UA!" said a voice in the crowd.

They all froze, thinking the person was talking about them, but then they turned to the big screen on the side of a building. People were gathering, watching it.

Midoriya gasped. "It's the press conference."

"Aizawa-sensei…" Uraraka muttered. "Even though he hates being on TV…"

Aizawa, Principal Nezu, and Vlad King were all standing at the front of a room, a crowd of reporters watching them. They were apologizing. Their homeroom teacher had shaved and given himself a haircut. He was even wearing a suit.

"...are being taken to ensure it will not happen again," Nezu was saying.

"Huh?" said someone in the crowd. "That's it?"

"They've had four villain attacks. Shouldn't a hero school be better equipped?"

"It makes me really worried…"

The seven hero students were dead on their feet, surrounded by the rising tension of the public.

They were turning against UA. The villains were winning.

…

"During the incident, Aizawa-san, it appears that you urged the students to fight," a reporter asked. "Why was this?"

Aizawa leaned forward toward the mic. "I concluded that because we were unable to fully grasp the situation, the students had to have the permission to defend themselves in order to avoid the worst possible outcome."

"You don't call 31 students being injured and two abducted the worst possible outcome?" the reporter asked.

"No," said Aizawa calmly. "I call forty students being killed the worst possible outcome."

"The majority of those thirty-one injuries were minor and easily healed," said Nezu. "Half of them were from the gas attack, which simply rendered the students unconscious. Thanks to the quick actions of Miss Kendo and Mr. Tetsutetsu, the gas was prevented from doing more damage. That would not have been possible without us telling the students they were able to fight. And medical treatment is being given to all students affected. There have been no traces of psychological trauma detected."

"You say the majority of those injuries were minor," said another reporter. "What about Mezo Shoji, who lost an arm? And Izuku Midoriya, who broke both of his? What have you told their families?"

"We have told the families that in the current situation, their children must remain in the hospital," said Aizawa. "But once they are healed, the families will be free to make their own decision about what to do."

"Are you saying that you don't want to handle the responsibility?"

"No. We plan to take full responsibility. The families will be the ones to make the decision about their children's future."

Murmuring among the reporters. It sounded, to them, like Aizawa was saying that families would be free to pull their children out of UA if they deemed it too unsafe.

"And what of Katsuki Bakugo and Doko Katayama?" another reporter asked. "Both of them enrolled in UA with extremely high marks. The former finished third in the sports festival, and the latter won the sports festival. They, by all accounts, have a bright chance of becoming great heroes in the future. But they also both showed very aggressive tendencies. Do you think the villains have targeted them in order to exploit that? And what does that say about UA if it lets two of its biggest up-and-coming students to be taken?"

More murmuring all over the room. Aizawa stood, and appeared very angry.

Vlad King nearly let out a panicked cry. He looked over at his fellow teacher, trying to send signals with his eyes. He's trying to trick you into saying something reckless! Don't fall for it!

Then…Aizawa bowed.

"As an educator, I take full responsibility for Bakugo and Katayama's more…aggressive and erratic behavior. However, their actions you saw on display at the sports festival do not stem from a desire to cause pain to others, like a villain does. Bakugo is relentless in his pursuit of being the greatest, strongest hero. And Katayama has a strong morality unlike any I've ever seen in a child his age. If the League of Villains has kidnapped them attempting to turn them to their side…I think they are in for a rude awakening."

"But this isn't a question of how you feel!" the reporter protested. "That's not concrete evidence! What do you plan to actually do about it?"

"We are not just standing around idly. We are investigating along with the police," said Nezu. "Pardon us if we do not go into the details of the plan, as the villains are surely watching this as we speak. We will definitely be getting our students back."

…

Inside the bar, Shigaraki switched the TV off and laughed derisively. "Well, there you have it, I suppose."

Bakugo and Doko both looked up at him in anger. They'd been returned to their restrained chairs in the main bar area, and had been forced to watch the press conference as the media slowly turned against their school.

"They didn't mention the other boy," said Shigaraki, looking to Kurogiri. "When does Master plan to show him off? That would do quite a bit of damage."

"I cannot speak for what Master wants in that category," the portal villain replied smoothly. "My job was only to get the boy in and out. He has now been moved to a hiding place. I do not believe that Master intends to use him again in this round."

"In any case…" Shigaraki turned to his two captives. "They've already been proven wrong and they don't even know it. We already have a UA student on our side…and once that gets out, there will be no faith in that school anymore. And since All Might teaches there, faith in HIM will be shaken too!" He giggled excitedly. Surrounding him, the other League members watched, grinning.

Shigaraki turned to Bakugo. "We're planning on winning, Katsuki Bakugo. You like to win, don't you?"

Bakugo's face was collected, to Doko's surprise. There's no way he's considering it. Not after he told me to STOP considering it. The warping boy strained his wrists against the glowing bindings again. Were they really suppressing his Quirk? If he did everything quickly enough and in the right order, would he be able to get them both out of this situation without harm coming to Bakugo?

"Dabi," said Shigaraki. "Undo his bindings." He pointed at the blonde boy.

Dabi shook his head. "No way. This kid's going to fight." He turned to Twice. "You do it."

"No! I don't want to! Fine, I'll do it." The masked man stepped forward toward Bakugo.

Out of the corner of his eye, Doko saw Toga unsheath her knife ever so slightly. Magne had gripped her magnet a little tighter. Compress had his hands folded behind his back; he could be holding anything there. And Kurogiri had put down the glass that he was cleaning.

Twice undid the bindings…and Bakugo blew an explosion in his face, leaping to his feet.

Doko gasped, as Twice was knocked backward into him, causing his chair to fall over. The villains all moved forward at once, but Bakugo released another blast, putting up a smokescreen. He kicked his own chair out to trip up Toga, and raised his hands threateningly toward Shigaraki.

Doko had been knocked over onto the ground, and Twice was sitting on top of him, winded and reeling. "That hurt a lot! Ah, I'm fine! Fine, just gotta…

"Gerrooff me!" Doko yelled, muffled. He struggled, trying to throw the villain off. His hands were still bound, and he was stuck.

"We listened to you talk and talk and talk…" Bakugo muttered, holding his crackling palms up. "Idiots don't know how to get to the point, so they always talk too much. Aizawa and UA had it RIGHT, you scum! HA! If you think me and Katayama are gonna join you, then you should just lay down and die like the losers you are!"

He sent out a third, huge blast, and Shigaraki's hand went flying off his face.

The room seemed to hang in a tense balance. Twice scrambled off of Doko and got behind Shigaraki, suddenly frightened. All the villains' eyes were on their leader.

Doko was able to stand up now, but did he want to? He was still bound, but…

"You know exactly what your ideals are, huh?" Magne said to Bakugo. "Smart boy."

"No, he's an idiot," said Dabi.

"I wanna stick him," Toga commented.

"He should have pretended he was going along with us, if he really wanted to escape," said Compress. "Now he's going to get it."

They're thinking about killing him! Doko thought frantically. They said they would if I try to do anything…if I take action, will that save him, or only speed up the inevitable?

Shigaraki was shaking uncontrollably, reaching out with his hand. "Father…" he murmured. "Please…"

"Tomura, no!" Kurogiri said, suddenly shooting out his fog power. "Don't lose control! This boy…"

"...is a valuable piece," Shigaraki finished for him, in a very calm voice. He leaned down and picked up the hand, placing it back on his face. "No one attack him."

They're not attacking, Doko thought. But they will if I do something, probably. I need to stay here on the ground, remain as quiet as possible…

He saw a coin on the ground, dropped from someone's pockets. Curling his mouth, Doko sent a tiny bit of his Quirk's energy through his hand…and warped the coin across the floor. No one noticed.

They lied! These cuffs don't disable my Quirk at all!

"I wish we could have come to an understanding," Shigaraki was saying to Bakugo. "But if you won't listen, then…" he turned back to the TV, which had been switched off since the press conference but now emitted a familiar static. "Master. Lend me your power."

Without anyone noticing, Doko warped the handcuffs off of himself.

All For One chuckled. "Good decision, Tomura Shigaraki."

…

"Alright, everyone," said Tsukauchi, speaking through the screen to one half of the hero team. Best Jeanist, Mt. Lady, Tiger, and Gang Orca. "You four are going to the place on the tracking receiver. We have reason to believe that is not the place where the captives are, but it IS a hideout of theirs. If we send you there, and the rest of us…" he looked back to the people in his own room, which consisted of All Might, Endeavor, Edgeshot, Kamui Woods, and Gran Torino. "...head to that bar, then we will cover all of our bases. Cut off all their paths of escape and arrest them all at once. Priority, however, is securing the hostages. Is this understood?"

"Why do I have to clean up UA's mess?" Endeavor grumbled.

"You went to UA, didn't you?" inquired Best Jeanist. "I had Bakugo under my tutelage during the internship. That boy is resistant to a fault. He won't be a submissive hostage. He'd get himself killed before going along with them, and I worry that if we leave him with the villains for too long…that will be just what happens."

"If you're all falling to the likes of me for something like this, then things must have gotten truly bad," said Gran Torino.

"Don't talk like that!" All Might said. "Besides, you're the only one old enough to remember…him. Considering how big this is, there's no way…he won't be involved."

A strange atmosphere filled the room. A mixture of frustration, fear, anticipation…but desire as well. Desire to win.

"Alright!" Tsukauchi clapped his hands. "The press conference is going on right now! I told Nezu to seem somewhat desperate and lost, but not too much. Surely the villains will not expect us to act during it. Which means we will catch them off guard! Let's go, heroes! Let's put a stop to this chain of events!"

…

The seven UA students had arrived at a dark, warehouse-looking building.

"Are you sure this is the place, Pinky?" Kirishima asked.

Mina nodded. "Positive."

"I mean…" Sero gestured toward the facility with his hand. "It LOOKS like a hideout."

"Remember," Iida reminded them. "We must be covert. There's a chance Bakugo is not here at all. We need to get a scope of what we're up against before we act."

They spent the next fifteen minutes or so circling the building. The front door was overgrown, as if no one had used it in years. A few times, some drunk men came up and harassed the two girls. There were other people walking around as well, although not many.

The students met up again near the wall of the facility.

"We've gotten really close, and no sign of movement," said Uraraka. "And no lights on too. It doesn't seem like there's anyone inside at all."

"To hide a tree, use the forest," muttered Todoroki. "Of course they'd be using the pretense of an abandoned warehouse. Plus, we are most likely dealing with some tricky Quirks. There's no way we can completely trust what we see."

"Covert…" Midoriya wondered aloud. Suddenly, he devolved into a storm of barely audible muttering.

Uraraka laughed nervously.

"It's been a while since I've seen you do that," Kirishima said, although Midoriya wasn't listening.

That's right, thought Iida. Once you decide to do something, you don't stop, do you Midoriya?

"Let's go around the back," the green-haired boy decided aloud. "There's not that many people out front here, but there are still some. Enough for it to matter that we get out of their sight."

He led them around to the backside of the building. There was a narrow gap in-between two walls that they were able to slip through, hugging right up against the wall of the hideout.

"This is really skinny…" Uraraka said. "I feel like I'm going to get stuck!"

Mina, who was set a bit curvier and more broadly than Uraraka, was having trouble too, although she didn't complain aloud. All for Doko.

The thin, lanky Sero grinned. "I was made for covert action like this."

"We won't be seen from here," Midoriya whispered back down the line. "And look, there's a grated-over window up there. We can see inside."

"I brought a night vision scope, actually," said Kirishima, pulling it out of his pocket. "I figured we might need it…"

"Wow," Uraraka said, her eyes widening. "Those are really expensive!"

"Okay, Kirishima and Midoriya, get on me and Iida's shoulders," said Sero. "To look inside."

With some difficulty, the two tallest boys managed to get them up to look at the window. Todoroki, Uraraka, and Mina remained below, looking up anxiously.

"What do you see, Kirishima?"

The red-haired boy lifted up the night vision scope. "I dunno, it's really dirty and…gah!" He gasped and almost fell backward off of Iida's shoulders.

"What?" Mina demanded. "What is it?"

"Midoriya…" Kirishima choked out, handing him the night vision scope with a shaking hand. "Look in the back on the left…"

Midoriya took the device and did so. His eyes widened, and his blood ran cold.

Inside the building were two long lines of tanks, filled with a strange, glowing substance. Tubes led from power sources to the surfaces of the tanks, and just breaking over the top were…

Exposed brains. There was only one thing that could be in there.

"Nomu," Midoriya whispered.

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise from the street outside.

"Huh?" Sero turned, nearly causing Kirishima to fall off. "Hey, watch it!"

Mina's eyes widened. It was a massive purple leg, lifting up a truck. "That's…"

"Mount Lady!" Uraraka exclaimed.

The pro heroine had a smug look on her face as she slammed the truck into the roof of the building with a great crash, causing the ground around them to shudder in an eruption of dust and smoke. The students let out cries of anguish as Midoriya and Kirishima fell, pushed up against the wall. "They're…" Midoriya coughed. "They're here already…"

Best Jeanist dashed in and activated his Quirk, subduing most of the Nomu. Gang Orca and Mount Lady made quick work of the rest, while Tiger picked up the unconscious Ragdoll, who had been left here.

Best Jeanist lifted his hand up to his ear. "The Nomu factory is secure! Move in now, All Might!"

…

"What are you gonna get the TV to do?" Bakugo taunted. "And what's the deal with calling him master? You not the leader around here? That's pretty funny."

Doko was now free to move, but he wasn't sure where to start. There were too many variables. Toga's speed, Compress's tricks, Kurogiri's Quirk being able to send them anywhere he wanted them to go…

"Compress," said Shigaraki. "Put them to sleep again."

Think… Doko thought frantically as Compress moved toward Bakugo, about to activate his Quirk. We need to create a long enough opening to get us both out of the back door…

Suddenly, someone knocked on that very door.

Everyone stopped, confused.

"Hello, this is Pizza-La, Kamino store," said an almost irreverent voice.

Toga looked positively baffled.

Twice gave Spinner a funny look. "Did you order pizza?"

Spinner opened his mouth indignantly. "I most certainly did no…"

"SMASH!" All Might shouted, and the brick wall burst into pieces.

The villains were blown back against the bar, shattering glass and blowing chairs to pieces. Smoke billowed through the room, and Doko warped himself upward, his heart racing. "Bakugo, come on…!"

"What the!" Spinner shouted.

"Kurogiri!" Shigaraki rasped loudly. "GATE!"

Kurogiri began to activate his Quirk, but Kamui Woods burst through the hole behind All Might, and sent out his super attack, binding every villain up in wooden limbs.

"ARRGH! Let me go!" Toga whined.

"Tree man, this isn't funny! Push!" Twice repeated over and over, struggling.

"A tree?" Dabi snarled. "What the heck…" He began to light up his blue fire to burn himself free, but Gran Torino zoomed into the room, bouncing off the wall, then the ceiling, and finally landing a devastating kick to Dabi's face, knocking him out cold. "Don't get too hasty," the old hero growled.

"You can't run anymore, League of Villains!" All Might roared. "Why? Because WE are here!"

"Right after the press conference…" Compress choked. "Don't tell me this was pre-arranged!"

"When one is on the offensive is one neglects defense most," said the voice of the pizza guy, who slid in through the crack of the closed door and revealed himself to be Edgeshot. "We're not the only ones from the Pizza-La Kamino location. Outside you have the police and the number two hero, Endeavor."

"Kurogiri!" Shigaraki roared. "Bring the Nomu here!"

"I…" the portal villain sputtered. "I can't…they are not at the established location…I don't know what's happened to them…"

"They've been subdued by the other half of our team!" All Might declared with a smile on his face. "You underestimated too much, League of Villains. The strength of these boys, the diligence of the police…we've investigated day and night to get to this point, and now you're ours! You have lost!"

Spinner went slack-jawed with awe. "This is the hero that was acknowledged by Stain…"

Edgeshot took action and shot a thread of his own body through Kurogiri, knocking him out. "Huh?" Magne cried. "Did you just kill him?"

"Nah," said the number five pro, reforming himself outside the portal villain's body. "I just played with his insides and made him sleep. This guy's too annoying."

Doko watched as Kurogiri's yellow eyes closed, and he felt his body go limp, as if in relief.

All Might was busy talking to Bakugo, but then he turned to Doko. "Well done for holding out so long, Katayama. I realize you could have escaped at any time, but you didn't want to leave young Bakugo behind, right?"

Doko looked toward his blonde companion, who was fuming with frustration, showing his teeth in a snarl.

He laughed nervously and scratched his neck. "Well, uhh…" Wait! I need to tell him about the TV…

"Say, Tomura Shigaraki," said Gran Torino, stepping toward the blue-haired villain. "Where is your master?"

Doko gave All Might a panicked glance, and the Symbol of Peace noticed. His blonde eyebrows went up.

With a trembling hand, Doko pointed toward the TV. He didn't know what to say. All of a sudden, everything felt very…strange.

Strange black goo burst from a dozen places at once, all over the room.

Nomu came out of the spots, howling and screeching horribly.

All Might roared in shock. Gran Torino began to move, kicking one in the face. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"EDGESHOT, WHAT ABOUT KUROGIRI!"

"He's still down!" The pro replied frantically. "This isn't him…"

Even the villains looked surprised.

All Might turned. "KAMUI! KEEP THEM RESTRAINED!" A Nomu swiped at him, and he punched it hard. Gran Torino kicked two more.

Suddenly, Doko felt something very dark close in around his eyes. As he turned to say something, he saw the same thing happening to Bakugo.

The goo was closing around the two of them.

All Might whirled. "BAKUGO! KATAYAMA!"

He leapt forward to grab them…

"NOOOOOO!"

The last thing Doko heard was the Symbol of Peace's anguished yell, as the world faded to black.

…

"There's Nomu everywhere! Endeavor!"

"I've got it! Tell that American to keep holding things down!"

"There were two facilities…Jeanist was supposed to hold down the other one! Where are these Nomu coming from! Jeanist, come in! What's going on over there? Jeanist? Hello? JEANIST?!"

…

As the dust cleared, the seven UA students in the rescue squad peered around the corner, looking into the ruins of the hideout. Mount Lady's blow had smashed the place wide open, and they saw several lines of riot police formed up near the entrance. Ahead were the other pros, keeping the Nomu held down. Tiger held Ragdoll in his arms. Mount Lady was complaining about something, but they were all out of earshot.

"The pros are here!" said Iida with relief. "That means we are no longer needed! We should pull back now!"

"If this is just the place with the Nomu, that means Bakugo and Doko were at the bar…" Mina muttered.

"And All Might is likely there, since I don't see him here," said Midoriya.

"If All Might's there, then all the more reason to not worry!" Iida continued.

Sero sighed. "I'm kind of upset we couldn't do anything, but it seems like there's nothing left to do here anyway."

Kirishima nodded. "We should try and get back before we're caught."

They all looked to Mina and Midoriya, to see if they would agree.

Mina sighed. "I guess…you're right."

But as they turned back down the alleyway, they heard something.

Midoriya stopped, and turned around very slowly.

Coming from the depths of the building…were footsteps.

Headed toward the pros.

"Sorry about that, Tiger," said a deep, unsettling voice. "But…Ragdoll had a very useful Quirk. I couldn't help but put it to good use."

"Who is that?!" Gang Orca demanded. "Show yourself!"

A suit slowly appeared out of the shadows. Best Jeanist activated his Quirk, restricting the man with the textiles of his own clothes.

"Best Jeanist, wait!" Mount Lady cried. "What if that was an ordinary citizen?!"

"That instant of hesitation could decide the fight," said Jeanist. "Never give the villains time to do anything…"

The man in the shadows chuckled. "As expected from the number four pro. Yes, very impressive. But still…"

Red lightning suddenly erupted from the man's body, bright enough for the whole ward to see.

And then, the explosion.

…

The seven UA students huddled behind the wall, frozen with terror. They couldn't move. Even if they wanted to. A shadowy blanket of dread was hanging over the ruins of the hideout. In the clearing behind them, all the pros were on the ground, stirring. Fire and debris scattered the area.

The footsteps had stopped, but the man was still moving. He was floating, gliding along the air through the smoke, his head lolling to one side.

Mina didn't dare look. She kept her head down, trembling. What…is this? What is this?!

"Tomura Shigaraki had finally started making decisions for himself…" said the voice, sounding almost gleefully disappointed. "I really do wish you hadn't gotten in his way."

There was no time to do anything. In an instant, the man's mere presence and aura…had stopped the hero students in their tracks.

Visions of his friends bloodied and mangled and dead around him flashed through Izuku's head. He felt bile rise up in his throat. A strange red haze seemed to fill his eyes.

That's…the villain boss…he thought, all his nerves screaming in silent terror. That's…All For One.

"Now then…" All For One said. "Shall we do it?"