"Two villains attacked us, it's possible there are more coming. Everyone return to camp immediately! We're regrouping, do NOT engage any enemies!" Mandalay's voice rang through Bakugou's head with a weird echo before it was cut off completely. That was the only notice they got, and the look on Ragdoll's face was enough to shut even him up. He'd never seen someone go from chipper to serious so fast before. Dammit! She gave me whiplash!

"Ah! Dammit!" Bakugou cursed through the hand slapped over his mouth as he walked behind Todoroki through the pink fog. The unconscious form of their last scarer was draped over Todoroki's shoulders as they walked, it was from him that the two had learned not to breath in the strange poisonous substance—whatever it was.

"There must be some sort of gas villain out here" Todoroki mused, "I'm worried about the others who are still in the forest, but I don't see how we can help now. Hopefully Ragdoll can take care of everyone else"

"Don't tell me what to do, Icy—" Bakugou's familiar threat was cut off as the pair came across a horrific scene. In front of them, a villain was crouched over the remains of a chewed human hand and a splatter of blood that painted the ground next to it. He was dressed in what appeared to be an all black straight jacket, like the ones seen on Death Row Convicts. "Crap! Who's that? Hey, which group was in front of us, again?"

"Tokoyami, I think, and Shoji" Todoroki replied, keeping his voice low.

"So pretty!" The villain gushed, his voice hoarse and rough as he slowly rose to his feet and turned to face them, "No! Have to work!…Can't!…But it's sooo delicious! Beautiful flesh…don't tempt me!" Turning around, the only part of the villain's face that was revealed was his mouth, and even then the lips had been pulled back with metallic pins. Bakugou's eyes blew wide at the sight. "I have a job to do!" Moonfish exclaimed.

"No fighting—" Wide-eyed and feral, Bakugou taunted the villain to hide in order to cover up his fear "—Is that the rule?"

Just then Mandalay's telepathy rung out once more. "Everyone in Class A & Class B! In the name of the Pro Hero: Eraserhead, you are granted permission to engage in combat. I repeat: use your training. You may fight these villains!" There was a pause in communication as Mandalay was seemingly relayed said information before the rest was relayed to the others. "Listen, we've discovered one of the villains targets: it's a student named 'Kaachan" Mandalay reported. Me? Bakugou scrunched his nose up at the use of his nickname, before frustration welled up at who had likely discovered said information, DEKU!

"Kaachan—you should try to avoid combat and stick to a group. I hope you can hear me!"

"I can focus better if you get outta my damn head!" Bakugou retorted as he raced towards the villain, leaving Todoroki to stay behind with their unconscious cargo. "I can take care of myself!" No sooner had he said those words, did he have to slam on the breaks as Moonfish responded in kind. It was only thanks to Todoroki's fast reflexes that he was able to avoid being skewered—not that he would ever admit that to the heteromatic teen.

"Don't rush into this fight carelessly!" Todoroki scolded as ice erupted between the blonde and the villain.

"Have to keep going…" Rasped Moonfish pushing against the ice with what appeared to be his teeth. Suspended as he was as up above them, propped up by the bones protruding from his mouth "…Have to work…do my job…raaah!"

"Weren't you listening to Mandalay?!" Todoroki turned on Bakugou as he rose from the crouch, "They're here because they're after you!"

"Telling us not to engage and then changing their minds, I don't know how, but I get the feeling that this is Deku's fault!" Bakugou snarled as the vein on his forehead pulsed. "RAAH! I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS!" Jumping out from behind the ice for a moment did nothing but paint a target on his back as the villain tried to skewer him again and more ice was place between them.

"DAMMIT!" Todoroki snarled as Moonfish disappeared into the canopy, "He's good at moving through the terrain with his Quirk!"

"That freak looks like a SCRAWNY LITTLE SIDEKICK TO ME! C'ME ON YA BASTARD!" At that war cry, Moonfish rose from the treetops using his teeth to propel him skywards.

"This clearly isn't his first battle" Todoroki warned, falling into a battle stance and kept his eyes locked on the villain high above them.

"Show me…Show me your exquisite flesh!" Moonfish drooled.

"We can't start fires around here!" Todoroki snapped at Bakugou who had reeled back a sparking arm to launch up at the villain, "The flames will spread! Everyone could die if we aren't careful! Do you understand me?!"

"YEAH I GET IT! I'M NOT STUPID!" Bakugou replied in kind as he lowered his sparking fist. Jesus fuck! It's cold! Bakugou dodged yet another attack as the bladed teeth were sent careening towards him by the made villain, only to be intercepted by Todoroki's ice.

"Flesh…pieces of meat…gimme!" Moonfish rasped around his elongated teeth.

"Teeth attacks? Seriously? It's time to blast this freak with everything I've got!" Bakugou declared only to be shut down again by Todoroki.

"You can't!" Todoroki scolded as ice crept up over his cheeks.

"If the trees burn, just cover them with ice, stupid!"

"A big explosion will impair my vision, dumbass! I may not be able to see the fire! And how are you gonna get close to him anyway?"

"Grr!"

Suddenly as explosion off to the left caught their attention, one that made even the villain pause in his tracks as it crept closer and closer. Staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed the teens were soon met with the faint sound of Midoriya and Shoji, as well as inarticulate war cries and pounding feet. "…I see ice! They're fighting!" Midoriya's voice floated out of the foliage.

"BAKUGOU! TODOROKI!" Shoji cried as he emerged from the treeline with Midoriya clinging to his back and Dark Shadow right on their heels. "ONE OF YOU! GIVE US SOME LIGHT!"

"MORE FLESH!" Moonfish crowed, sending a bladed tooth towards Shoji who dodged out of the way just in time for Dark Shadow to take the hit.

Bakugou and Todoroki could only watch on in awe as Dark Shadow—now in control—pinned Moonfish to the ground like it was child's play. Within the wriggling confines of the dark mass that was Dark Shadow, Tokoyami was curled over and weeping for the control he had lost and the pain he was dishing out with the full strength of his Quirk. I am never back talking Tokoyami again! Bakugou gulped, He'll kill me!

"Shoji and Midoriya…" Todoroki breathed. "And is that Tokoyami?!"

"WE NEED SOME LIGHT NOW!" Shoji barked, "HE'S OUTTA CONTROL!"

"He's attacking blindly" Todoroki gently lowered the student to the floor "I'll use my fire—"

"—Not so fast" Bakugou swung an arm out, this time stopping Todoroki from rushing in blindly. Beady red eyes were locked onto Moonfish who pushed himself to his feet and began to attack Dark Shadow with great lust. "Flesh…slabs of meat…no good…can't allow it!…I'm the one who gets to SLICE THEM OPEN! DON'T STEAL FROM ME!"

"YOU DON'T MATTER, YOU INSIGNIFICANT BUG!" Dark Shadow snarled, easily drowning the villain in his darkness.

"Now finish him" Bakugou coached from the sidelines. Moonfish was backhanded into a tree where he slid broken and bloodied to the floor and Dark Shadow reared his head and roared into the night. "NOT ENOUGH! NEED MORE! REVELRY IN THE DARK!"

"Now!" Bakugou surged forth with Todoroki at his side, the two teens igniting their fists as they landed next to Tokoyami, effectively bringing Dark Shadow back down to size and in control. "And once again, I'm a terrible match-up for you, bird brain"

Collapsing to his knees, a red-eyed Tokoyami knelt with sweat dripping from his forehead and gulping in lungfuls of air. "Thanks" He bowed his head, "You saved me"

"We could barely defend against that guy" Todoroki nodded over to the fallen villain, "But you beat him instantly"

"My friend" Shoji walked over with Midoriya still clutched in his arms, "Are you okay? You did what we needed you to"

"Shoji…" Tokoyami raised his gaze to the bleeding nub where one of his hands should be, "I apologise, you too Midoriya, I'm still far too immature. Anger consumed me, I let my Quirk take over, the influence of the darkness combined with my fury spurned Dark Shadow into a frenzy until…I couldn't contain it and I ended up hurting Shoji!"

"We'll deal with that later" Shoji murmured, "That's what you'd say if our roles were reversed"

"Huh?"

"Okay, I don't know if you heard Mandalay, but I found out the villains are after Kaachan" Midoriya leant over Shoji's shoulder to relay the information, bruised and broken as he was.

"Bakugou? Are they trying to kill him? Why?" Tokoyami replied after he had recomposed himself. Bakugou was left standing on the sidelines as he tried to sort through what just happened; the reality of the situation finally seemed to be dawning on him.

"I'm not sure, but I think…we should get to camp. It's the safest place right now, so long as Vlad King and Aizawa-Sensei have regrouped there…"

"I understand. So our mission is to get Bakugou back to safety by serving as his protectors"

"It's possible the Pussycats are still fighting in the clearing; going that way would draw the attention of the villains, plus it's longer. We should cut straight across"

"We don't know how many enemies there are. We might come across some by chance"

"We can use Shoji's search ability and Todoroki's ice, and if Tokoyami's okay with it, we can always use Dark Shadow now that we can control him. Honestly with a group like this, we could probably even go up against All Might"

"I'D BE FINE BY MYSELF!" Bakugou finally burst out.

"We'll surround you as we walk" Todoroki retorted.

"I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOU PROTECTION, DAMMIT!"

"Well, you're getting it" Shoji snapped, "Let's go"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Just make sure you keep up" Todoroki followed after Shoji, both carrying their cargos once more.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Bakugou snarled as he stomped after his classmates.


One moment he had been walking in between Todoroki and Tokoyami, and the next he was standing in a new clearing with one of the villain's gnarled hands clasped around his neck. The mouth of the warp gate from the USJ incident lapped at his feet, unbridled fear coursed in his veins and the scent of burnt flesh filled his nostrils. Blue hellfire licked at the trees around them and filled the air with ash; his classmates lay strewn about the clearing in varying stages of disarray. "Checkmate" Grinned the villain holding him.

"KAACHAN! NOOOOOOO!" The last thing he saw was Midoriya rushing forth with both arms bound in splints.

"Deku…"

On the other side of the gate, Bakugou was met with two sights: one was of the League of Villains Vanguard—as they had so proclaimed themselves—lounging around a wooden-encrusted bar as they thrust him towards one of the back rooms where prisoners and hostages were held. The other was that of Hagakure bound and encased in the skin of a large teal Nomu with tears dripping down her cheeks as low keening whines fell from her lips. His brain seemed to stutter at that, especially as the blue-haired handy villain stroked the Nomu's skin almost lovingly, before directing him towards the back rooms with the blonde.

Whatever hold—literally and figuratively—that the Nomu held on the girl was released as she was dumped out next to him in what had clearly been a storage room at one point, when she began to hack and retch, trying to cough up what had been shoved down her throat. "Hagakure?" Bakugou hedged as the coughing began to lessen and she flipped herself over onto her stomach, blinking blearily at her surroundings. Her arms shook as they propped her up and a string of drool fell from her lips as she tiredly panted. It wouldn't be until later that he tried to piece together why could actually see her.

Moving to raise a hand to the girl's shoulder, he only got so far before her wide-eyed attention snapped to him."NO!" Hagakure threw herself backwards as if she had been burned, her back painfully slamming up against the opposite wall. Bakugou flinched back from the sudden reaction and his usual snappy and roaring quips became stuck on his tongue. Curling up in the corner across from him she clasped onto her head, as she buried it in her knees. "Don't—don't touch me! Don't touch me" No other words were shared and the rest of the night drifted on without complaint; and they wouldn't until morning.