We headed back through the woods, and for a few minutes it was just an awkward silence as our strange collection of bodyguards continued, until we stumbled on our first clearing.

"URARAKA!" Midoriya screamed as we happened upon her - pinning a villain to the ground, who had stuck a needle in her leg, while Asui was pinned by the hair to a tree.

"Shoji, everyone!" screamed Tsu.

The villain ran away and we rejoined Uraraka.

"That girl just now, who was that?" asked Shoji.

"A villain, she's crazy," cried Tsu.

"Uraraka, you're hurt!" said Midoriya.

"I'm ok. I can walk just fine. But look at you, Deku!"

"This is not the time or place to stop. Let's keep moving," said Midoriya. "In any case, I'm glad you're ok. Actually, you should come with us. We're all escorting Kacchan to the facility right now."

"Huh?"

"You're escorting Bakugou?" asked Tsu. "Why isn't he with you, then?"

"What're you guys talking about? Kacchan's just behind us -"

Oh no.

We turned around. Bakugou was nowhere to be seen.

"If you're talking about him," gloated a strange voice from above us. "I just used my magic to take him. Someone like that has no business being on the side of heroes, not when we have a stage where he can shine even brighter."

A villain in a mask, top hat and coat, was holding a pair of marbles and standing on a tree branch.

From Shoji's back, Midoriya hissed - screamed - "GIVE HIM BACK."

"Give him back?" sneered the villain. "That's a strange choice of words. "Bakugou doesn't belong to anyone. He's his own person, you egoist!"

"GIVE. HIM. BACK!" This time even fiercer.

"Move!" I snapped at Shoji, throwing Ice at the villain.

"All we're doing is telling these people who have rigid values that 'that's not the only way to look at things. We simply wanted to make that point. You kids have your values chosen for you," said the villain as he dodged me almost easily.

Shoji looked back. "It's not just Bakugou. Tokoyami's gone too.

The two in the rear. He took them without a sound? What's his quirk? "Did you come all the way over here just to give us that spiel? You're mocking us, aren't you?" I cried.

"Well I was originally an entertainer, after all," sneered the villain ."It's a bad habit. Nabbing Tokoyami was an improv. Moonfish, old blade tooth, sentenced to death row - the violent nature it takes to trample someone so easily. I thought he'd be useful too."

"YOU BASTARD! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THEM!" Midoriya was so furious now that Shoji told him to calm down. But I could feel that rage simmering.

"Uraraka, take care of him!" I cried, tossing Tsuburaba to her and throwing the biggest iceberg I could - my giant ice wall - at the damn villain.

But once again -

"My apologies. All I do is deceive and run away. But that's what I'm good for. Like I'd really want to fight some hero cadets." He tapped his mask. "Vanguard action squad! The target has been successfully collected. Sorry to cut it short, but this concludes our mission. You have 5 minutes to rendezvous at the collection point."

"Concludes our mission?" I cried, feeling sick.

"NO!" gasped Midoriya.

"LIKE HELL I'D LET YOU!" I screamed now, growing angrier than I'd ever felt before, not since my old man abused my mom in front of me - "THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GETTING AWAY!"

We ran - all of us, as fast as we could, and yet we only seemed to be getting further and further away.

"Dammit, he's fast, that mask face!" I cried.

"If only Iida were here!" lamented Uraraka.

"WE CAN'T GIVE UP, NO!" hissed Midoriya. His voice was unlike anything I'd ever heard before, at least not since our fight. "I've got to catch up to him and take them back."

"But the distance is only increasing," said Shoji.

"Uraraka, make us float! And Asui, once we're floating, use your tongue to throw us with all your strength. AS hard as you can! Shoji, use your arms to guide our trajectory, you'll pull us along. WE'll be ok as long as we're in Uraraka's field of vision, so estimate the distance to him and let off when the time si right."

"Like a human rocket," said Shoji.

"Hold on Deku," said Uraraka. "Can you really move with those injuries of yours?"

It's true. It wouldn't be unusual for anybody to pass out in that state. "Stay here," I told him. "With that much pain, you won't -"

"Right now I don't feel pain. I can still move. Hurry!" That look on his face…

"Deku at the very least!" cried Uraraka, removing her outer shirt to splinter his arms. In moments - seconds - we were tied up to Shoji and prepared to go flying.

"Go ahead, Tsu," said Uraraka.

"You have to save those two, OK?" said TSu.

And we were flying - flying at the speed of bullets towards our quarry. And with Uraraka's release - we slammed him into the ground.

"I know these brats! Who are they?" cried some villain.

As I frantically grabbed at the magician villain's arm - I barely ducked in time as fire blasted our way, blue hot flames.

Fire?!

I looked around. The fire was being blasted by a villain with spiky black hair, a burned patchwork face, and a long black coat -

"Your faces were on Shigaraki's kill list! Both the beat up kid and you - weren't on it!"

The villain who had recognized us before had snuck up behind me while I was distracted - an ice wall was just in time to stop him from - wrapping me in tape -

"Hot, hot hot!" he screamed.

Nearby, the Magician had too and was heading to join the others, as I struggled with the tape villain and Shoji kept a fallen Midoriya safe from a third.

"To think they came flying after me. What marvelous thoughts!" cried our enemy.

"Both of you, run!" cried Shoji to me and Midoriya. He turned to the magician.

"Your actions just now have made it clear. I don't know what your quirk is, but those things you were flaunting at us earlier - in your right pocket - " he held up two marbles. "These are Tokoyami and Bakugou, aren't they?"

"Shoji!" cried Midoriya.

"In that short span of time? Well done!" the magician applauded.

"All right, well done!" I cried back, as I threw up an ice wall and we banded together to run for it.

"You idiot," growled a low voice, belonging I believed to the fire villain.

"Hold on," said the magician. We came to a stop as the Warp Gate villain himself blocked our path.

"It's been five minutes since the signal," said the voices behind us. "Time to go, DAbi."

"But our objective," growled our fire enemy.

"Ah, that was just…they seemed so happy, I wanted to give them a present."

I turned around. The magician removed his mask and hat, revealing a face mask with eye and mouth holes. "It's a bad habit. One of the fundamentals of magic is that you flaunt things -" And he opened his mouth to reveal two marbles. "Only when you have other things to hide."

He snapped a finger and the marbles shoji held - turned into my ice.

"During your freezing attack, I prepared some dummies," he explained, "and put them in my right pocket. And then you happily ran after me when you noticed me putting them in there."

"DAMN IT!" screamed Midoriya.

"Well then," he bowed as he stepped - into the warp gate, and we ran all out. "Until next time -"

A laser beam shot from nowhere - from the woods - and knocked open his mouth. And from it - fell the marbles -

Midoriya tripped - but Shoji and I reached. Shoji seized the marble - and I stretched my hand, my fingers nearly closing around the one that contained Bakugou -

And a hand - a hand that had been badly burned to the knuckles - snatched it right from me.

The black haired, deep voiced, fire powered villain called Dabi smiled at me as he held the marble up, taunting me, that I had failed.

"How sad….poor little Shoto Todoroki," HE said my name, blue eyes over burned patches filled with triumph, a smirk distorting a burned and stitched lower jaw…

And I hit the ground, Midoriya flying over my head, and screaming "KACCCHAAAAANNNN!"

"Confirmed, release it," said Dabi above my head.

"Aw, come on, that laser just now ruined my show," said the magician. And a snap revealed Bakugou, in the clutches of my face-burned enemy.

"KACCHHAAANNNN!"

"Stay back, Deku."

And with those words - Bakugou had been pulled through the warp gate, Midoriya and landed on the ground, and we - had lost.