The episode started back in the train car, where an employee was desperately trying to get the passengers to calm down and stay put until helped arrived. Midoriya politely informed the employee that he was leaving, then jumped out of the hole and ran while the man yelled after him.

Despite how worried everyone was, the exchange received laughs from a few people.

"I feel like that was very...Midoriya." Sato said.

"Being polite, but not actually asking for any permission before running into danger to help people? Sounds about right." Shoji agreed.

Midoriya's mind went over the similarities between the USJ Nomu and the one he just saw, trying to figure out what it was doing there. Either way, he decided he needed to be as fast as he could and started up Full Cowl.

Yagi leaned forward, both excited and nervous to see how well young Midoriya would be able to pull off using his new abilities outside of training. Unbeknownst to him, Izuku was also holding his breathe, and bracing himself in case he didn't get it right.

He used Full Cowl to jump from one building to another, and land just at the edge of the roof.

Both mentor and student let out a sigh of relief.

"Well done my boy! You're learning very quickly!"

"Thank you!"

The slim Nomu from the train was shown breaking down a wall with people running away in fright. Just before it could hurt someone, Gran rocketed over and kicked it back. He thought aloud about when he'd last fought so hard, and how he'd gotten caught up in something crazy like this.

"I would think he would know that he got caught up in something crazy the moment he got involved with those holding One for All." Recovery Girl said. "It just took a break from directly affecting his life because he lost contact with this one." she gestured to Yagi with her cane.

Gran continued fighting, noticing Nomu just attacked whoever was closest, and had to quickly back out of an attack when a bunch of fire engulfed the Nomu. Endeavor had arrived.

"Okay, still hate the guy, but not gonna argue with having someone with his firepower here right now." Kaminari grinned. "Get it? Firepower?"

"Don't make me tape your mouth shut." Sero threatened.

"You can't use your quirk right now."

"I'm sure I could find a way."

"Oh, he's here." Todoroki said blandly, upon recognizing his father's voice. After a moment though, his eyes widened. "Which means I'm probably there too."

Aizawa groaned at the fact that yet another of his students was now involved in the mess that was unfolding.

Izuku looked over at Todoroki. "I know your powerful, but I hope you'll be careful."

"There's so much going on, and the other you currently isn't aware that the hero killer is so close by. There are many things that could go wrong here." Iida said gravely, his heart sinking as more and more of his classmates seemed to show up.

Todoroki nodded. "I'm sure my other self will do his best. I won't be forgetting how quickly the one at the USJ recovered from my ice anytime soon...and I hope the two of you will be safe as well."

Endeavor said that he'd been looking for the Hero killer, but that the Nomu had gotten in the way of things.

"I kind of wish that my father had found him before you, Iida." Todoroki admitted. "I don't really want my father to die, but I don't think he would fully lose to Stain, and it would likely have kept you from running across him."

"Perhaps, or it might have made me run into a fight between the two of them." Iida sighed. He wouldn't put it past his other self at this point.

"For real though, if there's one person I want to see Stain fight, it's Endeavor." Ashido said. "I mean, if he's gonna rant about getting rid of fake heroes then the least he could do is attack ones that are actually terrible."

"Definitely, and maybe the points Endeavor would win from beating Stain would get him to tamp down on his crazy jealousy for a while." Hagakure said.

"That would be a nice change of pace." Todoroki agreed.

The civilian couple that had been saved asked what Endeavor was doing there. He smirked, and said it was obviously because he's a hero.

"He just said he was there for the hero killer though." Tsuyu pointed out. Hagakure snorted.

"Oh yeah 'because I'm a hero', more like 'because I wanted to beat the hero killer before All Might did'."

"That does sound more like him." Todoroki said. "Though I suppose that works in our favor in this future."

"That's true. I was worrying about how long it would take heroes that were strong enough to contain the Nomus to arrive, but if Endeavor's already there then that could help end things more quickly." Izuku agreed.

"Hm, this does present an interesting moral quandary does it not?" Nedzu mused. "We all seem to have come to the conclusion that Endeavor's actions toward his family make him unfit for the title 'hero', yet here he is saving people from an overwhelming threat. There have also been arguments that Stain is too strict for only accepting heroes of the purest motivation, even though ones that have less pure motives still save people. It makes one wonder when the line is crossed. At what exact point do selfish motivations or actions outweigh the good someone does for others?"

"That is a good question." Recovery Girl admitted. "But I think it's one that will have to wait a while."

"Ah yes! My apologies, such philosophical discussions should be reserved for tea!"

People were shown fleeing in panic, while Midoriya ran against the flow of people to try and get to the center of the action. He thought about USJ again, and knew that if these Nomu were just as powerful as that one then both Iida and the whole city would be in danger. He urged himself to think, to figure out what the best course of action would be.

"I usually find it best to go with my gut in situations like this." Yagi said.

"You've had plenty of years to hone heroic instincts though, while Midoriya hasn't." Aizawa pointed out.

"That is true, but young Midoriya is also very intelligent, and shown to have good basic instincts so far. I believe that will serve well enough for the time being."

"Either way listener, the other you won't be able to tell the best decision until he gets a good look at what's going on at the core of things." Mic said.

Midoriya changed direction when he heard someone calling for Tenya. He came to halt when a bus fell from above and crushed a car right in front of him, causing an explosion that nearly knocked him off his feet. The Nomus were shown rampaging through the area, and the heroes weren't fairing very well against them so far.

Izuku flinched when he saw how close that explosion came to him, then hissed at the sudden heat that washed over his body. He heard several high pitched exclamations ring out, both for the close call and the realization that things were already becoming much more intense than they'd been prepared for.

A wave of worry ran through the room. So many pro heroes, and yet the Nomus still ran wild. It shouldn't have been as shocking as it was, given how much All Might had to pound the one at the USJ to beat it, but many of them had hoped that having more heroes on hand would make things go differently. At least this time the civilians had somewhere to escape to while the heroes did their best to keep the Nomus in one area, but the damage was still left them gaping.

One hero ripped out a water hydrant and told Manual to put out the fire. Midoriya recognized that name from where Iida was interning and started to run over. Manual worriedly cursed the fact that Iida had chosen now to run off, which stunned Midoriya. He couldn't fathom why someone as diligent as Iida would run off at a time like this.

Iida grit his teeth, internally cursing his own foolishness. Midoriya was right, he should have been helping save people, that's what he normally would have done. He let himself become so obsessed with vengeance that it was making him ignore his duties as a hero in training. Why couldn't his other self see that? 'You know darn well why.' his mind supplied unhelpfully.

Aizawa was also tense. It really was just the perfect storm wasn't it? Every hero in the area would be too busy helping contain the Nomus and evacuate the civilians to even think of looking for Iida until much later, and by then it may be too late.

Midoriya had come to the same conclusion, and knew what his other self had to do. He looked at Iida sitting next to him, and hoped that his other self would figure it out in time to find his friend.

A hero ordered Midoriya back and to follow the evacuation instructions. Midoriya apologized for getting in the way, but he didn't leave. His mind was running a mile a minute, trying to figure out where Iida could have gone. He thought about the hero killer, and the answer suddenly hit him. With that thought in mind, he turned and ran.

Izuku sighed with relief. "Good, he figured it out."

"Midoriya? What are you- what is he doing?" Iida asked.

"If he's thinking what I'm thinking, then he's going to go find you."

"What?! No! You'll get dragged down with me! You shouldn't suffer for my foolishness!"

"Well of course I'm going to go find you! No one else can be spared, and they won't let me fight, so it just makes sense to look for you myself. And don't even suggest me leaving, because you know I won't! Because even if all that weren't true, you're my friend and I'm not abandoning you!"

Iida looked at Midoriya, stunned, then grabbed him in a crushing hug. "I don't know what I did to deserve such loyalty!" He gushed, while Midoriya spluttered in surprise. Uraraka smiled and patted the top if Iida's head.

"You were a good friend Iida, that's what you did. You may wanna let go soon though, so Deku can breathe."

Iida immediately let go and apologized profusely while Midoriya caught his breathe.

A part of Aizawa wanted to scold Midoriya for running off after a serial killer just like his friend, but he had to admit that Midoriya's reasoning had some merit to it. No one else was available to help, and he certainly didn't want his student fighting the Nomu if it could be avoided. The only other way Midoriya could help, because there was no way the problem child wouldn't help, would be to help with evacuation and Iida technically counted as one of those needing to evacuate. Plus, the Midoriya on screen didn't know that Iida had already found Stain. For all that Midoriya knew, Iida was just searching for the hero killer while his mentor was occupied. He'd wait and see if Midoriya found them, and how he responded to that, before condemning his actions.

The heroes continued fighting, and got thrown around by the Nomus as more property was destroyed. One hero asked what was going on and what the Nomus were after.

"The goal is nothing but pointless destruction." Aoyama said sadly.

"That's one of the worse parts about this I think. At least with the USJ there was a goal, to kill All Might. Here, the only reason all this is happening is because Shigaraki was upset over what Stain said and he's using the Nomus to take it out on the city." Ojiro said.

"Yeah, if I was gonna fight something like that I'd at least want there to be a better reason behind it than some villain having a long distance temper tantrum." Jirou agreed.

Shigaraki was shown, looking down on the scene from a distance as he gleefully commented on how great the Nomus were. Kurogiri asked if he would participate in the fight, and he used his injury as an excuse not to. Shigaraki's mind flashed back to the bar, where he asked Sensei how many Nomus were finished.

The teachers immediately put all their focus onto the screen. The numbers alone would be extremely helpful in preparing, and there might be other useful information discussed.

Sensei said that, of the ones they were working on, there were six that were fully ready, though they weren't as strong as the one given to him for the USJ attack. Shigaraki asked for them, and Sensei asked why he wanted them. Shigaraki said he didn't like the hero killer, and reminded Sensei that he had promised that Shigaraki could destroy things he didn't like. Sensei agreed to let him have three, and told him to use this as a learning experience. Back in the present, Shigaraki laughed and declared that after this Stain would be forgotten.

"He really is acting like a child." Momo said.

"Like I said, it's essentially a temper tantrum." Jirou replied.

"Right, I just can't help but wonder why whoever is in charge seems to be encouraging it. It makes Shigaraki's role in the organization even more confusing."

"Okay, the fact that there's only three more that we've seen that are ready isn't as bad as it could be, but I am very worried about the implication that they are working on more." Mic said.

Aizawa grimaced, remembering the pain just one of those things had caused him. "Even if they aren't as strong as the first, that's still going to be a major problem."

"Yes, considering how much trouble just these three are causing a city's worth of heroes that is very concerning, especially considering we don't know how long it takes to produce them." Nedzu agreed.

Yagi found himself cursing himself for not checking enough to make sure his nemesis was well and truly dead. How long had it taken him to recover and start putting this plan into action? Had it started before their last fight or after? Could he have prevented these creatures from being made if he'd only managed to finish the job the first time?

The scene changed back to just after Iida proclaimed who he was to Stain. Stain took it all in, and calmly ordered him to die. Iida attacked in a fury, using his quirk to speed up his kick. Stain was still too fast for him though. As he dodged, Stain said that he'd let Ingenium live so that word of him would spread.

Iida's stomach roiled when he heard Stain's words, enraged at his brother being used like that and horrified at the implication that Tensei had been spared due to Stain's whim rather than him being driven away by back up.

With two swift kicks, Stain had Iida face down on the ground with a boot planted on his back. He declared Iida weak, and stabbed one of his swords into his arm.

Up until this point, Iida had only had brushes with Truth's pain factor. He'd felt the pain of impacts and quirk failure, but none of that compared to this. He let out a choked cry when Stain's spiked boot pierced his shoulder, which morphed into a yell when his other self slammed into the ground, and finally became a shriek when he felt the blade dig into his arm. His hand automatically latched onto the place where the stab wound would have been, as if it could do something to relieve pain or stop non-existent bleeding. He was distantly aware of his best friends calling his name, and of Midoriya reaching over him to grab the notebooks sitting on the arm of the couch. The notebook was shoved into his face, and it took a few second longer than normal for Iida to realize that it was his turn to bite it. He forced his hand away from his arm and took the notebook, giving his friends a grateful look as placed it between his teeth.

The rest of the class watched the screen intently. They were terrified for Iida, but knew that the best thing they could do was keep the show going and hopefully get through this quickly.

Stain proclaimed that both Iida and his brother were weak because they were both fakes.

Through his lingering pain, Iida growled at the words. Tenya may have been a fake in this moment, caring more about his vengeance than saving others, but Tensei had always done his best to help others and he hated hearing this villain say otherwise.

The Iida on screen must have felt the same, because even with a sword sticking out of him he told Stain to shut up. He told Stain that he'd made Tensei unable to continue his hero work, despite having used it to save and lead others. Iida flashed back to seeing his brother save others, then to a family dinner where his father was praising his brother's success and the fact that he lead so many sidekicks. Tensei brushed off the praise by saying he was only successful because of how much support he got from them, and he was working hard to support them in return. Tensei said he was doing what he could to live up to the title of hero, and he was glad his work helped so many people.

"The more I hear about Ingenium, the more I think Stain doesn't really know what he's talking about." Uraraka said, her eyes narrowed in anger. She'd had to back off in her hovering once Recovery Girl showed up to give Iida a look over. "How could he look at someone like who talks like this and think he's a fake?"

"Perhaps because he has only seen Ingenium in the light, and makes assumptions about who is in the dark." Tokoyami suggested. Momo nodded thoughtfully.

"I think I get what you mean. If a hero says things like that to the press or public, then it would be easy for someone like Stain to dismiss it as insincere pandering. Stain doesn't know that Iida Tensei says the same things when there aren't any cameras around to see it."

Izuku felt his heart go out to Iida as he looked at the clear admiration whenever Iida looked at his brother, and how seriously he was taking his brother's words. 'He looks up to his brother the way I do to All Might. No wonder Tensei getting hurt affected him so much.'

Iida shouted that he'd never forgive Stain, and that he'd kill him. Stain pointed at Native and told Iida to save him first. He told Iida he should reflect on himself, and save others, not use his power for his own gain. Letting himself get so consumed by hate that he ignored others was the opposite of what a hero should do.

"He's right." Iida said in a tight voice. "I've been going on about how much I look up to Tensei, but now I'm doing something he'd be so against and saying I'm doing it in his name. That's not what a hero should do."

"Well, I mean, yeah, but you aren't a hero yet! And you're only human, and a kid!" Uraraka stuttered a bit, trying to find the right words. Present Mic nodded.

"Yeah, this whole revenge thing is made entirely out of dumb decisions, but that's why your an intern and not a pro yet. You're still learning and figuring all this stuff out and doing it right after someone you love almost died."

"You should have been given more support in all of this. Maybe if you'd had that, then you could have figured this out without putting your life in danger." Aizawa agreed.

"Ugh, I hate this!" Hagakure yelled. "Stain says stuff that's got a point and sounds super right but then he shows that he's super wrong about other stuff. This would be so much easier if he was just one or the other!"

"He has a point about hero society, but he judges individuals way too quickly. Because even if you made bad decisions now, I know you'll be a great hero one day Iida! And he has no right to judge you unfit for this one incident!" Izuku said.

Iida could only bow his head, feeling overwhelmed by his feelings of shame and doubt piled on top of the swelling support he was getting from classmates and teachers.

Stain removed the sword, and said that was why Iida would die. He licked some blood off the blade, and something came over Iida and he realized he could no longer move. Stain raised his sword above Iida. Tears streamed from Iida's face as he once again thought of his brother. He yelled once more at Stain that he was only the villain who hurt his brother, not matter what he said.

Around the room, hearts raced, eyes widened and breath caught in throats. In this moment, people became convinced that Iida Tenya was about to die, and that those would be his last words. Iida felt like his torso was filled with molasses. It was like something weighed heavily on his organs and limbs and forced them to work hard just to function. His friends clutched tightly to his hands, and he squeezed them back, desperately wanting to keep this sight from them but knew he couldn't make them turn away or cover their eyes. He braced himself, and wondered what death would feel like.

Suddenly, something made Stain look down the alley. A green blur bounced off the walls and morphed into a full-cowl Midoriya, who punched Stain in the face.

There was a collective, sharp intake of breath, and the room exploded with cheers.

"You got him right in the face!"

"Talk about cutting it close, Midoriya!"

"Oh thank God!"

"Yes!"

"Was that good enough for you Stain? Because that's what I call a big damn hero moment!"

Both Iida and Izuku deflated, collapsing back into the couch. Both knew perfectly well things wouldn't end that easily, but after thinking they were about to watch Iida die they couldn't help the extreme relief they felt. Uraraka expressed her own relief by jumping over to pull them both into a group hug. Recovery Girl scolded the boys for giving her a heart attack, but there was no real heat behind it.

"That was too close." Mic let out a breath. "Way too close." Yagi nodded vigorously, unable to form words. Aizawa grit his teeth and gripped his capture weapon, unable to let go of his own tension. After all, the hero killer was still there, and now two of his students were in danger instead of one.

Iida stuttered in surprise as he realized who had just rescued him. Midoriya declared he was there to save Iida. The scene flashed back to when Midoriya had been looking for Iida, thinking to himself that he might be wrong about why Iida ran off, but if there was a chance his friend was in trouble he had couldn't ignore it. He pondered on how the hero killer and the league might be connected while he used full cowl to bounce his way up to the roof.

"Over and over you prove what a good and loyal friend you are, Midoriya. You have my sincerest gratitude!" Iida bowed to Izuku.

"You're also showing great improvement in using full cowl. You're using it here while barely even thinking about it! Well done, my boy!"

Izuku's face turned red and he tried to say he hadn't really done anything, but his friend and mentor did not relent so he stuttered out a 'thank you' in the end.

Izuku's thoughts showed that the only reason he could imagine for Iida not being at the fight was if the boy had found Stain.

Aizawa frowned. 'So he did run off under the assumption that Iida was fighting Stain.'

Izuku turned a corner, saw something, and zipped down the alley to punch Stain in the face. He said 'Bingo!' with a smile on his face as Stain was forced back.

The kids were happy to see that epic punch once again, but Recovery Girl sighed. "You could try to look a little less happy that you found a serial killer."

"I- I'm sure it wasn't that! I was probably just happy I was right, right enough to get there in time, I mean."

Recovery Girl thought for a moment, then nodded once. "Fair enough, I suppose."

Stain recognized Midoriya from Shigaraki's picture. Iida asked what Midoriya was doing there, and Midoriya explained that he'd put together likely locations for Stain to be based on information he'd seen and heard about the hero killer.

'I'm beginning to think that it might be beneficial to make time in Midoriya's schedule to add some one on one classes that would help hone his analytical skills. He's already shown to rely on them greatly, so having a way to officially practice could make him even more efficient.' Nedzu thought. He made a note to himself to ask Midoriya and All Might about the possibility.

"See! Your smarts and instincts figured it out in the end, my boy!" All Might praised. It was praise him or freak out about his safety, and Yagi knew that latter would not be helpful in this moment.

Midoriya asked Iida if he could move, saying it would be best to get to a more open location where they could possibly get the attention of some pro heroes.

'At least he knew the best idea from here would be to retreat and find help. It's not currently an option given Iida's and Native's condition, but it's good that he didn't jump right into fighting Stain himself.' Aizawa thought.

Iida told Izuku that he couldn't move, and that it happened after Stain cut him and likely had something to do with his quirk. Izuku then also noticed the unconscious pro hero that was also there. Izuku thought to himself that, if it was just Iida, he could grab him and run away, but he couldn't carry both of them.

Aizawa once again found himself relieved that Midoriya had considered getting Iida out of there the top priority, and a part of him wished that Midoriya would do that anyway. Native was a pro, and pros went into the job knowing they might die. Midoriya and Iida were just students, his students, and he desperately wished the two would get themselves safe and get help before trying to save Native. He knew Midoriya wouldn't do that though, leaving someone behind wasn't in his nature.

Iida interrupted Midoriya's thoughts by telling him not to get involved, that this had nothing to do with him. Izuku asked what he was saying.

"Such a lackluster response to such a timely rescue is quite unbecoming." Aoyama tutted.

"Yeah Iida, what the heck?" Ashido looked at Iida like he was crazy. "That's super ungrateful! Stain was about two seconds away from killing you when Midoriya showed up and you just admitted you can't move! If Midoriya leaves your just gonna get stabbed to death!"

"I get that this is a personal thing and all, but telling Midoriya to leave is essentially suicide at this point." Jirou agreed.

Iida looked down in shame. "You are both right, I can't imagine what my other self must be thinking, to say such things." he could imagine how his other self was feeling, still enraged at Stain and embarrassed that Midoriya was seeing him in such a state, but that didn't justify what he said.

"It's alright Iida, I understand that you aren't exactly yourself here. We just gotta get through this fight, and then we can get everything figured out." Midoriya reassured him. Iida took a deep breath, and nodded resolutely.

Stain said that he had a duty to kill Iida, and that if Midoriya got in the way then 'the weaker will be culled'. So what would he do?

"For all his talk about how great All Might is that really doesn't sound like something All Might would say about a kid who just ran in to save his friend." Mineta groused. "I know we've seen more of All Might that he has, but even his hero persona would call that heroic, even if the 'bad guy' got away." Mineta turned to look at All Might/ "Right?"

"That I would, young Mineta, that I would." Yagi confirmed. That was one of the problems he'd found with becoming a symbol like he had. No matter how carefully you chose your words, there would always be some who interpreted them in ways you didn't mean. That happened to everyone, but it could turn deadly when your words were held in such high esteem.

Izuku looked at Stain in fear, realizing how much more dangerous this man was compared to the villains they fought at the USJ. Still he steeled himself to fight. The camera also moved to show that Izuku held his phone behind his back and that he'd just sent his location to someone. He thought about how he should have done whatever was needed to get a pro to come with him.

"Oh thank god." Aizawa muttered to himself. Mic heard and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, which Aizawa nodded his thanks for. He would have preferred if the problem child had told one of the pros where he was going before leaving, or called someone while looking for Iida so that the help would come sooner, but at this point it was a relief to know any kind of help might be coming at all, and that Izuku realized in hindsight that he should have tried harder to grab a pro. Hopefully seeing this now would make it so Midoriya didn't make the same mistake once they were back in the real world.

Izuku told himself that he'd protect Iida and Native while doing his best to stall for time and drive Stain back. Iida tried to get him to leave again, and Izuku told him that if heroes could only interfere in things that involved them then no hero could do anything. It was like All Might said after all: Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a hero.

That's when the main message behind what All Might said clicked for the class. Saving people was, at the end of the day, getting involved in something that didn't involve them. It was their job to get involved so that those in trouble weren't forced to try and save themselves; a hero should give people someone to rely on in times of trouble.

'My boy, I'm so proud! Even if I do feel like I'm about to have a heart attack!' Yagi thought, tears glistening in his eyes.

Stain smiled at what Midoriya said and at the fearful determination on his face. Midoriya rushed forward, and Stain realized Midoriya was trying to get close to combat the fact that Stain had much longer reach. Stain grabbed a dagger to try and cut him, but Midoriya's full cowl let him slide between the hero killer's legs.

A smattering of cheers and awed noises went up as people were impressed by the dodge. Though not everyone made noise, all were on the edge of their seats. The trio near the front huddled together, and desperately hoped that Midoriya's message and new abilities would be able to buy enough time.

Stain swung his sword behind him, but Izuku had already jumped up above him and aimed a low powered smash down on Stain's back. Iida watched in awe and thought about how the movements reminded him of how Bakugo moved during a fight.

Bakugo's eyes widened. The nerd had replicated his move without even thinking about it? Without any sort of jibe about copying him? The nerd had done that with heroes he wrote about in his notebooks before but those were just about pros...at least he thought they were. 'If he's doing that for me like he does with the pros, does that mean he considers my moves just as important and impressive? What...what does that mean?'

Izuku asked himself if it had worked, and was relieved when he realized full cowl had kept up all the way through that sequence. This relief was cut short when Stain licked his blade, and Midoriya found himself unable to move.

"Did you do it? Midoriya you've been using full cowl pretty much the whole way there!" Sero laughed at his classmate's thoughts, but cut off with a grimace when he saw Midoriya freeze on screen.

"What?! There's no way Stain got him! He was moving so fast, full cowl and everything!" Mineta protested.

Midoriya himself had gone tense and pale, and not just from the strange sensations that overtook his body when Stain's quirk kicked in. Was it all going to be for nothing? Did he race all the way there to save Iida only to be taken out within a minute himself? Beside him, Uraraka and Iida were having similar thoughts and weren't fairing much better.

The camera zoomed in to show a tiny cut on Midoriya's arm, and the boy wondered how such a little graze was enough to paralyze him. Stain stood up, and Midoriya was able to see the couple drops on blood on the blade and realized that blood was the trigger.

"That's such a small amount, I wouldn't have guessed his quirk was that powerful." Izuku whispered fearfully. Despite that, he quickly wrote down what had happened in his journal, and the teachers made sure to take a note of it themselves.

"I can barely see that cut! That feels like cheating!" Mineta whined.

Stain talked about how Midoriya had handled himself in the fight, and decided that he wasn't just talk like most others were. As he walked toward Iida, he said that it would be worth it to let Midoriya live, because he was different.

Midoriya felt no relief upon hearing that Stain planned to let his other self live in this future timeline. The only thing he could do was mentally scream at his other self to move, to find some way of breaking out of Stain's quirk like he'd done with Shinsou's. He couldn't sit here and watch Iida die. Even if the real one sat right beside him, even if they found a way to change it his friend would still go through that pain and he'd never be able to get the images out of his head. 'I'm not different from them! If I deserve to live then so do they!'

He arrived where Iida lay, and raised his sword once again. Izuku yelled desperately for Stain to stop, but the man didn't listen. But before he could bring his blade down, he was forced to jump back as a blast of fire was sent at him. Stain complained of constantly getting interrupted, and the camera turned to reveal that the blast had been sent by Todoroki.

Cheers rang out once again as the students were spared from seeing a classmate die once again.

"Chalk up another big damn hero moment!" Ashido cried, pumping her fist in the air.

Izuku was positively beaming as he took in Todoroki's outline on screen, one half of him silhouetted with fire. He turned that smile on the real Todoroki, sitting not far away. "You see? You really can be a great hero while using all of your quirk!"

Todoroki himself had been looking at the screen with wide eyes, stunned that he'd let off such a powerful fire attack, not to mention that he'd used it to save someone. When he heard Midoriya, he turned and saw the boy smiling at him, and couldn't help but smile in return. Though he was pretty sure his own smile was more like a pen light compared to Midoriya's floodlights.

Meanwhile, Aizawa was not feeling nearly as relieved. "Please tell me he brought Endeavor or one of his sidekicks with him, please..."

"Alright you guys, no one else from class better show up to this fight. I'm pretty sure if one more of you goes after Stain the stress of it is gonna kill your teacher." Present Mic warned. Aizawa let out a groan to emphasize the point.

Todoroki said that next time Midoriya needs to add in more details, because just having his location and nothing else made him late.

'So Midoriya wasn't able to communicate why he sent the location, and Todoroki appears to be alone.' Aizawa surmised. He rubbed his temples. If things in real life went even remotely close to how they did here, then they were really gonna need to switch the curriculum around so these kids would have all the knowledge they needed. Like how to quickly and effectively call for back up.

Todoroki explained that it took him a few seconds to figure out that Midoriya was calling for help, since he wasn't the type to send such a cryptic message wasn't like him.

Midoriya at first thought that he hadn't expected Todoroki to know him that well, but then he remembered how this was the same boy that figured out he had some relation to All Might based off their punches having a similar feeling. Todoroki could be very observant when he wanted to be it seemed, he just didn't voice it like Midoriya did. Maybe the two of them could go over some of his journal sometime. Todoroki might have some good insights...

Todoroki started attacking Stain, sending out ice that raised Midoriya and Native off the ground and shooting fire at Stain. He also said that the pros would be there soon. The ice was shown to be a slide that sent Midoriya and Native sliding down until they are next to Iida, where Todoroki could stand over them all protectively.

"Oh thank god!" Aizawa said, a bit louder than he'd meant to. The rest of the room agreed with him though. Even though the students had a lot of faith in how powerful Todoroki and Midoriya were, after seeing Midoriya get taken down quickly by such a small wound they were definitely ready for more help to come. Not to mention their relief at seeing both their classmates had a line of defense between them and Stain.

"I could never thank you enough for your efficient arrival and rescue!" Iida said, getting up to bow to Todoroki. Izuku added his own thanks between shifting uncomfortably from the phantom sensation of sliding on ice and hitting the ground.

"I haven't technically done anything." Todoroki reminded him. "But I'm glad my other self arrived in time to help."

Izuku warned Todoroki about how Stain's quirk used blood to paralyze people. Todoroki said he'd have to keep Stain at a distance, just as a blade flew through the air and left a cut on his cheek. Stain leaped at Todoroki, but was blocked by a small column of ice. It sent his sword flying into the air, and Todoroki looked up at it. Stain used the distraction to try and lick the blood off Todoroki's cheek, but the boy forced him back with a wave of fire.

"You know what would be great? Not getting so many close ups of this guy's tongue." Uraraka complained. "Nothing against non-standard tongues, Tsuyu, but I did not need a close up image of a villain attempting to lick my classmate's face in my mind."

"I get it, I didn't really want to see that either, kero."

"Ew ew ew ew!" Hagakure wailed. "I'm glad it didn't work but still, ew!"

Todoroki had resisted the impulse to brush at his cheek after he felt the pain of it being cut, but after seeing that he did wipe his face with his sleeve. It made him feel cleaner, if nothing else.

Iida started demanding to know why Midoriya and Todoroki had shown up. He was the one who inherited Ingenium's name, so it should be his fight!

"Iida, I understand you've been through a lot in this timeline and that there are clearly many unresolved emotions around it, but right now the only thing keeping me from slapping you is knowing that you are not quite the same person as that Iida." Momo explained.

"I'm kinda tempted to slap him anyway." Tsuyu admitted. Iida hung his head.

"I can offer nothing but apologies. Even having an idea of the pain I must have gone through at seeing Tensei so injured, I cannot condone my other self's actions or understand why he can't seem to realize he would be dead if not for Midoriya and Todoroki's interference."

"How about you promise to remember this so that nothing similar ever happens in real life and we'll call it even. Sound good?" Midoriya asked. Iida was quick to make the promise and that did much to settle the growing agitation at the on-screen Iida's words.

Todoroki had been giving Iida an appraising look the whole time, and didn't stop until he looked back at the screen.

Todoroki calmly commented that it was strange that Iida would say such things, since he'd never known Ingenium to wear the kind of expression Iida was right now. He commented that Iida must have a lot going on behind the scenes of his family too.

"To be fair, you don't see Ingenium's face most of the time because of the helmet. But from what we saw in flashbacks he wouldn't look that way while doing hero work." Tsuyu said

Iida paled. Claiming to be similar to Ingenium while doing such deplorable things had truly made Todoroki wonder if things going on at his own home were at all similar to what went on in the Todoroki home? That, if nothing else, would keep Iida from ever doing something like this in the future. He couldn't bear the thought of someone assuming such things about his parents or brother!

Todoroki frowned slightly. He himself was a little confused if the other him was being serious, or just trying to say something to startle Iida out of the tunnel vision he seemed to be stuck in.

Izuku watched Todoroki fighting off Stain, and discovered he could now move his fingers. Stain sliced through the ice in front of him and mocked Todoroki for being dumb enough to block his own sight of an opponent faster than him.

"Yeah, not a great plan overall, but with three injured, immobile people behind you I can get wanting to keep the villain back as far and as completely as you can." Mic said.

"Are we sure his quirk only paralyzes people? Because I feel like he'd also need a strength quirk to get his blades to cut through ice that thick, no matter how sharp they are." Momo's brow furrowed in thought.

Todoroki tried to defend his actions, but cut off when two blades sunk into his arm.

Todoroki cried out in pain and cradled his arm to his chest. Izuku started to get up, but he waved back. "You might need tending to yourself soon." He said. Izuku couldn't argue with that. If he was starting to gain back movement then he would definitely rejoin the fight. 'But why can I suddenly start moving? It can't be a time limit, I was the last to get cut...'

"I can help, I'm nowhere near any fighting in this timeline." Momo said.

Stain leaped up and was about to attack Todoroki from above, when he was suddenly being pushed against the side of a building by Midoriya. He shouted that he was suddenly able to move. Todoroki wondered if there was a time limit, and Native said that if that were it then Midoriya should be the last one to recover. Stain internally wondered if Midoriya's blood type was O, and elbowed the boy off him.

Midoriya was defintely going to write that down! Just as soon as he felt like he was capable of breathing again.

"I recommend we all make a note to try and find heroes with blood type O for any ambushes we may plan for Stain in the future. Thankfully it is a common one!" Nedzu commented. The teachers all did as he said and committed this part of Stain's quirk to memory.

Midoriya quickly dodged out of the way when Todoroki told him too. The wave of ice spikes drove Stain back again and allowed Midoriya to regroup with Todoroki. Midoriya rattled off three theories for how Stain's limit worked based off what he had seen so far. The last one was blood type, and Stain smiled and confirmed that was correct. He got an upclose quirk explanation right afterwards. Stain's quirk was called Bloodcurdle, and could stop people moving for a certain number of minutes based off of their blood type.

Izuku was writing quickly, trying to get the explanation down word for word. Nedzu quickly assigned each teacher to remember a specific part of the explanation, so that none of it would be lost.

"Bloodcurdle, a very appropriate name." Tokoyami nodded.

"Definitely, he's made me feel like my blood is curdling at least." Sato said.

"Wait, I just thought of something." Mic said, "Truth, you said that my voice was used for the quirk explanations due to me practicing announcing for the sports festival. Why the heck am I announcing for Stain?"

"I wanted to keep the theme going and now have enough samples of your voice to replicate such things."

"...so it's my voice because you felt like it? It amuses you?"

"Yes." the tone was smug and Mic shot a disgruntled look at the ceiling.

Izuku admitted that knowing his quirk didn't help much at this point. Todoroki said he'd hoped to carry the other two out of there if one of them recovered, but that Stain had proven too fast for that to be an option. The best they could do stall him and avoid close combat until some pros arrived.

As much as Aizawa wanted his students out of there, he had to admit once again that their reasoning was sound. Stain's words showed that he may allow Midoriya and possibly Todoroki to run and escape, but he wouldn't let them take away those he planned to kill. 'These are children, dammit! They shouldn't be forced to make these kinds of decisions! Not yet!'

Midoriya agreed, then told Todoroki that he'd lost too much blood. Midoriya said he'd distract him while Todoroki supported him from further back. Todoroki admitted it was a big risk, but that he'd do it. "The two of us will protect them!"

Despite breath seeming to be in short supply since this fight started and feeling like his heart was about to pound out of his chest, Yagi couldn't help but be proud of both of these boys. They were doing everything they could to act like the heroes they were training to be, and he intended to tell them that after this episode. Maybe Recovery Girl would scold him for encouraging recklessness, but he refused to let their skill and resolve go without praise.

Todoroki's thoughts revealed that he had been worried about Iida too, ever since he heard about what happened to his brother. He knew what someone looked like when they were about to act on pent-up resentment, since he'd been through that himself. He also knew how those emotions could give someone tunnel vision. While he was thinking, Izuku was starting to bounce off the walls again and Todoroki was producing more ice.

"I must admit, I hadn't considered how it could make some of what I was going through recognizable to you. I should have been more open about what was going on, maybe then all of this could be avoided." Iida said. He sounded contrite, and Todoroki shrugged.

"The Iida on-screen doesn't know about everything going on with me, so it would make sense he didn't think anyone could relate. Plus, we just went over the tunnel vision thing."

"Yeah Iida, don't beat yourself up so much. You already promised to try and do better if anything like this happens for real." Uraraka reminded.

"I feel I must 'beat myself up' at least a little, to ensure I don't forget."

"Don't worry, if you forget, then we'll remind you." Izuku promised. Both Uraraka and Todoroki nodded, and Iida felt himself tear up as he thanked them.

Todoroki thought about the day he visited his mother and explained things to her. She had cried, and forgiven his long absence much more quickly than he'd anticipated.

Todoroki's heart stuttered at the sight of his mother's teary smile. How long had it been since he'd seen her smile? How long since he'd seen her smile genuinely? If he hadn't been decided before, he was now. He would see his mother once they all got back, and he would see that smile in person.

Momo, who still sat next to him after Recovery Girl checked him over, gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. He gave a slight nod in acceptance of it.

Todoroki's mother had told him that him being able to move forward would be her own salvation. Todoroki thought that the old him could never have gotten past his resentment enough to pick his father's own agency for an internship. He had no plans to forgive Endeavor, but he wanted to see what his father did as the number two hero in person. Despite how terrible a person Endeavor was, he could admire the judgment and instincts of a man who held such a position for so long.

"Todoroki, I'm happy your able to sort some of this stuff out, but I feel like you should be focusing more on the fight right now. You know, the one you're having with a very dangerous serial killer?" Ojiro warned.

"We can see you and Midoriya doing stuff sometimes, but I can barely keep track of the fight. Not sure how you're doing it in real time." Shoji agreed.

Todoroki hummed thoughtfully, expertly ignoring the pain in his arm as his other self moved it. "My father has trained me to fight while distractions are going on, but I see your point. I'll try to be more focused in the future."

"I can see you're point about your father, but I still want to talk to you about the possibility of taking a different internship when the time comes. Endeavor isn't the only one capable of teaching you things like that." Aizawa said.

'Huh, the way he talks about Endeavor kind of reminds me of how I think about Kacchan. I've never really thought of Kacchan as a 'scumbag' but other parts were pretty close.' Izuku was kind of afraid to examine what that meant about their relationship.

Todoroki once again thought about how Midoriya had changed his whole mindset about his quirk with just a few words, and marveled at how it had been so simple yet he couldn't figure it out on his own.

"Well, like you said, that narrow tunnel vision can get you." Midoriya said, laughing a little. More softly he said. "I'm glad I could help."

Todoroki's lips curved slightly. "You did, and now you can do it while breaking fewer bones." That got a full laugh out of Midoriya.

Iida was shown as he thought about what Stain had said about saving Native, and how Midoriya and Todoroki had declared they would save him in their own ways. Then he thought about his own threats against Stain, and how different they sounded.

"Looks like the lesson is finally starting to sink in." Yagi said, relief clear in his voice.

"I knew he had it in him, even like this." Aizawa nodded. 'Now they just need to make it out alive.'

"Let's just hope it sticks." Recovery Girl said.

Izuku fell back against a wall after Stain slashed his leg. He was kept from striking again by Todoroki's flames, but he'd still gotten enough blood to paralyze him again.

Izuku yelped when the blade sliced his shin on screen, and nearly cursed when he went down again.

Iida tried telling them to stop again, and Todoroki angrily told him he'd have to stand up for that to happen and commanded him to "Look properly at what you want to be!" Iida remembered how he swore that the hero Ingenium would defeat Stain, and was able to move his fingers.

The episode ended there.

There was whining immediately of course, and begging to start the next one and see how the fight concluded, but Nedzu insisted on them at least taking a stretch and bathroom break.


"You both have done so well during the fight! First young Midoriya showing such mastery of full cowl already and young Todoroki using his fire without hesitation to defend you! You both acted so heroically!"

"Thank you so much All Might!"

Both All Might and Midoriya were in tears at this point, and despite feeling incredible after All Might's praise, Todoroki also felt very awkward. He didn't have much experience with crying people, aside from his mother, though if he kept hanging around Midoriya that would probably change. He settled for a somewhat awkward 'thank you' and handing out tissues to both mentor and student.


"Problem child, I want you to know I'm happy that you tried to get get help and prioritized the safety of Iida and Native. That being said, these were very extreme circumstances and you had very little time to act and it's unlikely that everything will fall exactly into place like this in real life. But if anything like this ever does happen again please, please, at least tell a pro where you are going. And when sending a message for help try to at least add enough so people other than Todoroki will know you need help, Like adding the word 'help' or 'SOS'."

"Yes sir! I'll do my best! Though, after this I'm beginning to think that maybe the class should agree on a location marker without anything else added being a universal signal for 'I need help over here'."

"Huh...that's actually a pretty good idea. Let's work on that."

"Thank you sensei!"


"I feel I must thank you again Todoroki." Iida said with a bow.

"You already thanked me for showing up."

"But now I must thank you for your heartfelt words and using your own experiences to help me see what I must do! You truly went above and beyond, despite the fact that we've never spoken much before."

"Please don't start crying."

"What?"

"Nothing. Um, you're welcome, I'm still learning to be a hero, like you, and I'm glad I learned enough to make the right decision with that message. Especially since I didn't have a great role model for dealing with others."

"Indeed! The fact that I had so many wonderful role models to look up to for both hero work and everyday life and still fell into this pit says volumes about how much I need to grow! And after you made such a good showing despite not having that!"

"I mean, it kinda makes sense that happened. I just got out of a pit, so I know what they look like. You never saw the pit before though."

"...you're right, that does have a certain logic to it. Now that I know what to look for, I'll be even more efficient in avoiding them. With your help, if you'll give it."

"Of course."