A.N.

A big thank you to everyone for the kind comments on this story. It really does help motivate me to keep writing. :)


The following morning was relatively peaceful, with the usual chatter and banter over food and a few arguments about who got to use the bathrooms first. These things started to become stilted the closer they came to starting up the next episode though, as everyone felt anxious about how the attack would go. Midoriya's friends didn't even give him a chance to argue about how their seating would be arranged, he was already laying on the floor with a towel ready when the screen lit up.

The episode started off in the League's bar. Kurogiri asked if the other members would be alright on their own, but Shigaraki seemed unconcerned and said it wasn't his turn to be in the limelight.

In contrast to what usually happened when this particular bar showed up, not to mention these two people, the students relaxed. Everyone had been bracing for seeing Midoriya again, and the pain that would inevitably follow for their injured classmate. Everyone was glad to have a little more time before that started.

Midoriya was especially glad for this. He knew he wouldn't just settle for getting Kota back to camp after all that, and that he likely wouldn't get his injuries treated on screen for a while. He was prepared to have to deal with the pain all through the next episode, and possibly the next as well. So he wasn't going to argue with getting a little less screen time.

Shigaraki compared the change in circumstances to switching the game genre from RPG to a simulation. Instead of being a character in the game himself, he decided he would focus on being the player and using all the pieces available to him.

"So he's decided to try taking a step back from direct action and do more delegating now that he has more people to rely on. Not a bad idea, certainly, and one that suggests he is trying to emulate All for One more." Nedzu noted.

Yagi hummed, both in acknowledgment and in thought. Controlling things from the shadows and only stepping up personally when it became truly necessary was how All for One typically operated. It was one of the reasons the man had caused so much trouble over the years. It was a feat simply to find him, much less beat him. Though, he had to admit that he didn't see Shigaraki as the chess master type; he hadn't displayed the level of patience that was necessary for that.

To reach his goals, Shigaraki was going to use his Vanguard Action Squad to put the first cracks into hero society. It didn't matter if they succeeded or not, just being out there would scare the heroes.

'Well, he's not wrong about that.' Aizawa thought. He and the other teachers in the room knew that the information leak about the location of the summer camp had something to do with AfO. But the ones in this other timeline didn't, and the lack of any leads would likely result in many sleepless nights among the teachers and whatever other pros would end up getting involved.

Kurogiri asked if that meant that the Vanguard was just sacrificial pawns. Shigaraki laughed and said that was ridiculous. "Do I look that heartless?"

"Yes." Jirou replied with zero hesitation.

He said that their strength was real, and that he could count on them for this. He picked up a picture that was laying face down next to him, it was of Bakugo after he was presented his medal for the sports festival. Shigaraki said that he and the other villains weren't the only ones being oppressed by society's rules.

Many people were surprised when the photo was revealed to be of Bakugo. They had expected it to be the picture of Midoriya again. A few couldn't help snorting when they saw it, since it was a perfect snapshot of Bakugo when he was raging at his unsatisfactory win, crazy eyes and all.

"Ah, it seems allowing Bakugo to be put in front of cameras in that state was a mistake in ways we did not anticipate." Nedzu said, for once sounding mildly uncomfortable.

"I mean, we already agreed it was bad for Bakugo as a student and for our own rep and stuff. What didn't we anticipate?" Mic asked.

"Well, it is only a theory right now of course. However, the way Shigaraki talks about his group and 'being oppressed' while looking at the photo implies that he sees a connection between Bakugo and himself. He believes Bakugo struggles under the rules of society in the same way that the League members also complain about. Perhaps he even believes Bakugo might be sympathetic to their cause."

Aizawa bristled. "You think Bakugo is on their list because he's meant to be captured but not killed?"

"Like I said, it is only a theory, but the different way Muscular talked about Midoriya being on the list compared to how he talked about Bakugo means there is a good chance their instructions for the two boys are different."

"So because the boy's rage was broadcast like that at the Festival we may have painted a target on his back." Recovery Girl summarized.

They kept their voices low so that the students wouldn't hear them. That didn't mean the students didn't wonder about why Bakugo was suddenly being fixated on.

Bakugo stared at the screen, Shigaraki's comment about being oppressed echoed through his mind, and sent an uncomfortable feeling twisting through his stomach. Suddenly his reasoning for doing things like bullying Deku or fighting upperclassmen didn't sound quite so different from the villains' reasoning. The villains kept saying that they just did what they wanted. Wasn't that pretty much what he'd done all through middle school? Sure he did it while saying he'd be the number one hero some day, but he now realized he hadn't been acting very heroic while doing those things. If the people around him hadn't let him get away with so much, would he have thought the world was oppressing him too?

No. No, he wasn't like them. His younger self may not have understood what being a hero truly meant, hell even he was still figuring some of that out. But no matter how 'oppressed' he may or may not have felt, he wouldn't end up siding with a bunch of villains.

The scene changed back to the cliffs at Kota's hideout. Muscular lay unconscious among the rubble. Kota looked up at Midoriya teary eyed while Midoriya panted as sweat ran down his body and blood down his face.

Midoriya let out an agonized whimper when his other self was shown on screen. Uraraka slipped her hand into his and Yagi pet the boys hair in attempts to comfort him. This was going to be a tough episode for him.

Midoriya started to fall over. Kota ran to help him, but Midoriya caught himself. He told Kota he would be okay, because there was still something he had to do.

"Okay, you do need to get back to base to get help in case Muscular wakes up, but could you maybe rest after that?" Hagakure pleaded. She got no answer, and she hadn't really expected one. Despite her plea, she and the rest of the class knew there was no way Midoriya would hang back and rest when there was still a crisis going on. It just wasn't in his nature.

Kota joined in the pleading, asking what he could possibly have to do when he was so beat up. Midoriya admitted that Muscular was a much stronger villain than he'd anticipated. If the other villains attacking them were also that strong, then everyone was in danger, including the students. As he thought about it, images of Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki were shown going through Izuku's mind.

Uraraka felt oddly pleased that she was among the first students Deku thought of, meaning she was probably one of the ones he was most worried about. She was less pleased that Bakugo was there too, but she supposed it made sense since he and Deku had known each other forever and Muscular had mentioned him.

Iida was honored that Midoriya was worrying about him and the others, but it also made him worried. He didn't want Midoriya to be hurt more than he already was, not on his account.

Todoroki was surprised to see himself put in right beside Midoriya's two closest friends. He'd liked to think that he and Midoriya were friends now, but he hadn't expected to be put on the same level as both Uraraka and Iida already. It made him feel warm.

Bakugo scowled. He'd been rethinking the way he'd been doing things recently, but that didn't make the idea of himself needing protection any easier to swallow.

Midoriya said he had to get back to camp so he could tell the WWP and Aizawa what he'd learned. If he could save even one person by moving, then he had to move. Kota still looked scared, but nodded.

'What did I ever do to deserve a successor with such dedication?' Yagi wondered to himself. He was still doing what he could to comfort young Midoriya, who did his best to pay attention despite the constant look of pain on his face. "You're doing so well, my boy. I'm proud of you, in both timelines."

The murmured reassurance got Midoriya to look at him instead, and give him a wobbly smile.

Midoriya decided to leave Muscular there. He felt confident he'd caused enough damage to keep the villain out for a while, and make it hard for him to move in the event he did wake up. He said his priority was to protect Kota. After all, he had a quirk that would help with the forest fire. If they didn't do something about it, then everyone would stay trapped. He asked Kota to save them, like he'd saved Kota just now.

"Awww!" Ashido cooed, seeing the look Kota gave Midoriya.

"First protecting the kid, then helping him see that there's something he can do to save others too? Bro, that's so manly!" Kirishima looked like he was about to cry.

"I'm don't think Kota could stop the fire entirely given how much it has spread, but he doesn't need to. He could focus on keeping it away from structures, or on keeping an exit from the forest open. I'm impressed you're already thinking that far ahead, Midoriya." Momo complimented.

Todoroki wondered if he'd be able to help Kota with his ice, or if he would be too caught up in whatever villain he and Bakugo had found in the last episode.

Midoriya told Kota to get on his back so they could get him back to camp. Kota asked if he'd be okay to move with his injuries, and Midoriya said that was why he'd used his arms to attack and left his legs.

"No way, was he seriously thinking about that during that intense fight? He purposefully kept the damage to his arms so that he'd be able to run with Kota afterward?" Sero asked in disbelief.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow in surprise. He was far from happy that Midoriya had gotten hurt like this again, though he acknowledged that it was yet another circumstance in which he had little choice in the matter. He couldn't have predicted Muscular's presence at Kota's hide out, and once the fight got going it seemed clear that attempting to run wouldn't have been allowed by the villain. Still, a part of him had been distressed over the problem child exploding one of his arms to make it through a fight once again. But to hear that had been a somewhat conscious choice, one with the future in mind, put that part of him at ease. Midoriya had made sure to keep the option of fleeing from Muscular open by keeping damage away from his legs as much as he could, and it would also be helpful now that the fight was over as well. It was certainly an improvement over the boy who had set of mines at the Sports Festival without thinking about how he would land.

Kota held on tightly to Midoriya's torso as the boy launched himself into the air. He thought about Muscular looking for Bakugo, and the bad feeling he got because of it.

It was difficult to describe the sound Midoriya made when his counterpart jumped into the air, causing his broken arms to get buffeted by the wind and his own movement. If pressed, Uraraka would have described it as being something between a whimper and a yelp. She squeezed his hand, and was highly relieved when the scene changed after a couple of seconds.

Midoriya went limp when the scene changed and his pain vanished. He hadn't realized how rigidly he'd been holding himself until that exact moment. He squeezed Uraraka's hand back as a silent 'thank you'.

The scene changed back to when Aizawa had been surprised by Dabi. This time it stayed on him long enough to let the fire fizzle out. When it did, it was shown that Aizawa had leaped out of the way, and was clinging to the arch over the building's entry way.

"Oh thank goodness." Mic said, letting out a breath. Despite Aizawa showing no pain when this scene had first been shown, he'd been worried about his friend. Now that he was shown to be okay, Mic grinned. "I should have known you wouldn't let a little sneak attack take you down."

Aizawa grunted in agreement.

The students also relaxed a bit more, relieved that their teacher hadn't been taken out and that he'd be able to participate in the fight now. Their hopes for making it out of this attack mostly unscathed rose, with Midoriya being the obvious exception.

Dabi tried to use his fire again, but Aizawa canceled it out. Aizawa used his capture weapon to yank Dabi into the air, then jumped down to knee him in the face. Within a few moments he had Dabi held against the ground and was demanding information from him.

The students cheered at the flawless take down. Midoriya took some time to jot down the sequence of movements in his current journal, despite Iida trying to get him to lay back down so he'd be ready for whenever the scene changed again.

"Yeah! Go Shouta!" Mic said, holding his hand out for a high five. Aizawa didn't rise to meet it, but he did shift his arms so show his palm. Mic grinned and gave it a light slap.

Dabi asked why he would tell Aizawa anything. Aizawa yanked on his arm, making it give a loud 'snap!'. He said his other arm would be next, and to make a logical choice before he reached his legs. Dabi would be hard to transport if they were both broken after all.

The students shivered. They knew Aizawa was a badass fighter, but they hadn't seen him act so ruthless and cold before. It would be terrifying to see a villain act this way, and it was definitely scary look for Aizawa too, but they also knew Aizawa was doing it to protect them. That made it a cool kind of scary rather than truly terrifying.

Moments like this reminded Yagi of the fact that Aizawa was an underground hero. A pro that had to worry about their public image wouldn't have nearly as much leeway to act like this, since certain branches of the media would hound them for it.

Dabi didn't seem intimidated though, not even when Aizawa broke another bone. A rumbling sound made Aizawa look up, and he was further distracted by Iida and a few other 1A class members arriving. Dabi took the chance to slip from Aizawa's grasp.

"My sincerest apologies for distracting you from your fight sensei!" Iida said, standing up to give him a bow. The others that were in the group voiced their own apologies.

"Don't bother with that, it's my fault for letting myself get distracted over something so minor. Plus, I've still got my capture weapon around him." Aizawa refuted. He was a bit worried Dabi would try to fight the kids, but he was more concerned about the loud rumble that had caught his other self's attention. Had that been from Midoriya's fight? Could they really feel and hear that from so far away?

Dabi thought to himself that he was at his limit for damage. He turned to face Aizawa and started mocking how much he cared for his students. Aizawa yanked on the capture weapon, but instead of pulling him close it went right through his body. Aizawa stared in shock while Dabi's body began to melt away. He taunted that 'I hope you can protect them all till the end' just before his whole body turned to sludge.

"What the fuck!?" Bakugo cried.

He was far from the only one thinking that as they watched Dabi's body dissipate.

"What could have caused that? The Aizawa up there is wondering if the fire wasn't his quirk, but we've seen Dabi in other situations and know that he's used his fire plenty before, so it's more likely the fire is his quirk, or at least his original one. Could All for One have given him a second one? Or is this due to a quirk that was used on him? That substance almost looked similar to the sludge villain, I wonder if that's significant..." Midoriya was taking full advantage of not being on screen, and therefore not in pain, to voice and write down all his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Aizawa couldn't do anything but bristle at the insinuation the villain was making. Just because he was caught off guard didn't mean he wouldn't do everything in his power to protect his students. He would make sure they'd get home safe, if not in that life, then in this one.

The students ran toward Aizawa, but the teacher didn't wait for them. He ran past them, shouting for them to get inside and that he'd be right back.

In another part of the forest, a villain called Twice was shown telling Dabi that he'd been beaten. Dabi himself was shown then, acting only mildly surprised. He told Twice to make another copy of him to go take on the heroes. Twice went back and forth between calling Dabi weak and saying he was strong.

Aizawa nodded to himself when he left the students back at the building. Vlad was there, and would be able to take over protecting them while he went to figure out what was going on. Though, given how things had been going for this class, maybe he should have taken a minute to get the kids inside and make sure Vlad knew they were there, to make sure they wouldn't go running off trying to help instead.

"Oh! I see, so Dabi was never actually there at all, this other villain, Twice, just made a copy of him! It's like Ectoplasm's quirk only it can be used on other people. Being able to make a copy that can use the original's quirk that well is a very impressive quirk! The copy can't take nearly as much damage as the original, but having someone like that on the team could make it so the villains don't have to risk themselves nearly as much. Making a bunch could work great as a distraction, or crowd control, I wonder if there are consequences to making too many, or if he can copy more than one person at a time..."

"I wonder if any of the other villains are just copies as well, or if they're only using this power on Dabi for some reason." Momo said in the middle of Midoriya's ramblings.

"That's a good question too! I hope we'll get to see more about how the quirk works."

Nedzu was once again filing away any information he could glean about the new villain so he could investigate all these people later.

The scene changed to Midoriya running through the woods with Kota on his back. They saw Aizawa running nearby, and Midoriya called out to him. He started to say Midoriya's name, but cut off when he saw how injured Midoriya was. Midoriya immediately started going on about needing to tell Mandalay something and telling Aizawa to take care of Kota. Aizawa tried to interrupt him but he just kept going. Aizawa realized Midoriya was on a high.

"That would explain why your other self is still standing." Yagi muttered. As soon as the scene started, Midoriya had gasped and dropped his notebook and pen, and Yagi had gone back into comfort mode.

Todoroki helped Midoriya get the towel back between his teeth, and Iida picked up the dropped items, while Uraraka took his hand again. His grip was bruising, but she didn't complain. If Midoriya could go through all this to protect a kid, then she could handle some pain of her own to help him through it.

Midoriya started to run off again, but a sharp word from Aizawa finally broke through to him and made him stop. Aizawa pointed out his injuries and asked if he forgot about what happened in Hosu. Midoriya then remembered the dog faced police chief explaining that using their quirks to fight villains without permission or a license was breaking the rules. Midoriya started to say he hadn't forgotten, before Aizawa cut him off. With Hosu in mind, he told Midoriya to take a message to Mandalay, but the scene cut away before they heard what it was.

"Oh I getcha! You're gonna get Midoriya to tell Mandalay to broadcast a message that it's okay for them to use their quirks if they meet a villain! They can't get in trouble for this if one of the teachers has given them permission to fight back!" Mic said.

Aizawa nodded, believing that was the case as well. Many of the students, especially Todoroki and Iida, relaxed upon hearing that. There was a good chance the villains wouldn't let some of them avoid a fight, and none of them wanted to get in trouble just for defending themselves or their friends.

"Hm, it's important to remember that legality and morality are not always the same thing. Just because it is normally against the rules to fight like this does not mean that it would be considered right to let yourself or others get hurt trying to follow that rule. Too many laws of that sort don't make enough room for extreme circumstances like this." Nedzu said.

The scene changed back to Tiger fighting Magne while Mandalay fought Spinner. While he took swings at her, Spinner declared that Mandalay wasn't a real hero.

"Okay, what is he basing that off of?" Midoriya demanded. Todoroki looked exasperated that he'd already taken the towel back out but Midoriya went on. "The Wild Wild Pussycats are rescue heroes! They go to help after natural disasters or help find people who get lost in the woods. Aside from underground heroes, they're the ones that get the least amount of recognition for their efforts, so they aren't seeking glory. They get paid for that work yeah, but so do the first responders who do that sort of work. Heck, All Might is held up as the gold standard and he gets paid to be a hero too! Is it because they have a gimmick? Who cares if they have a gimmick! So long as they actually rescue people then that should be all that matters! Plus the cutesy theme can help lost kids feel better." Midoriya ranted. Many in the class were nodding along by the time he was done.

Yagi sighed. "I honestly don't think villains such as Spinner have a clear set of standards, because Stain never gave them one. He said I was the only true hero, but the truth is that I do the same things most heroes do: I get paid, I take plenty of sponsors, I make appearances at various gatherings. I end up paying most of my money forward to charities since I don't need much, but not all heroes or hero groups can afford to do that, especially not to the same level as me. I feel like the only real differences between myself and Iida Tensei was the types of personas we built up, and the amount of power our quirks provided us with. The same goes for Mandalay. We are each doing our best with what we have. I can admit the same isn't true for all heroes, but I believe there are more true heroes out there than Spinner is willing to acknowledge."

Spinner was about to bring his sword down again, when Midoriya entered the fray. He smashed Spinner's giant sword amalgamation with a single hit, and yelled to Mandalay that Kota was okay. As he landed and skidded across the ground he told Mandalay that Aizawa had a message for her to send out.

Todoroki had shoved the towel back into Midoriya's mouth as soon as both he and All Might had stopped talking, so thankfully Midoriya had something other than his tongue to bite down on when he came back on screen.

Kaminari let out a low whistle. "Wow, taking out that big sword and yelling all that stuff at the same time? All while still being that banged up? That's some kind of high Midoriya's on."

"The adrenaline rush Midoriya is currently experiencing does seem to have made him very efficient. I just hope it doesn't come with too high a price once it finally wears off." Momo said.

The scene changed to Aizawa running through the woods with Kota on his back. Aizawa thought about what the fake Dabi had said to him. It had seemed like a clear message that the students were the targets, so he would make sure they could freely defend themselves, and he would take whatever heat would come from that decision. Midoriya was finally shown giving the message that Eraserhead had given all the students permission to engage in combat.

"Oh hell yeah." Bakugo said with a grin. He remembered he and Icy Hot had been facing that creepy ass villain the last time they were shown. He hoped that was still the case because he so wanted to see himself beat that villain into the ground.

"Thank you so much for your quick thinking and consideration sensei! I'm sure the class will do their best!" Iida said while giving Aizawa a bow.

Aizawa gestured for him to stop. "It was just the most logical decision given the circumstances. No need to make a fuss about it." 'I just hope it will be enough to keep anyone else from getting badly hurt.'

"Can we give you another group hug after this is all done?" Ashido asked teasingly.

"Absolutely not."

"But what if we need one?"

"Then hug each other."

Mandalay sent the message out. As she was speaking, images were shown of various students. Momo was with a few others in gas masks. Tokoyami was shown, looking like he was in pain. Uraraka and Tsuyu were faced with Toga Himiko. Kendo and Tetsutetsu ran through the gas. Bakugo and Todoroki were still facing the same villain. Aizawa was shown, urging the future heroes not to be defeated.

Many of the students smiled, despite the situation. It may have been forced, but their teacher was still showing a lot of faith in them by giving them permission to fight instead of insisting they run away.

Momo hoped her efforts were really making a difference. They seemed to be, since her gas masks were allowing more freedom of movement to Kendo and Tetsutetsu, but her other appearances had been brief she couldn't be sure.

Tokoyami grimaced. Pain had overtaken him when he was shown. It had only been an instant, but that was all the time he needed to recognize the strained feeling that always accompanied the times when Dark Shadow was getting truly out of control. He desperately hoped he wouldn't end up hurting any of his classmates. Shoji had looked over at him in concern when he was shown, as had Sato and Koda, but seeing Shoji do that just made the worry worse. He'd been paired up with Tokoyami after all, and was most likely to get hurt as a result.

Uraraka gulped when she saw herself and Tsuyu facing Toga. Deku's fight with Muscular had made her forget that the villain had been shown watching them. She was so focused on it at that moment that she startled a bit when Iida scooched over so that Tsuyu could sit down next to her.

"Figured we might want to stick together for a bit, kero." Tsuyu said with a comforting smile.

Uraraka relaxed a little, and smiled back. No matter what was about to happen, she had people here to help her through it.

Bakugo's face lit up with a feral grin when he saw himself. Todoroki just straightened up and set his shoulders back, like he was bracing for whatever would happen.

Aizawa continued to run through the woods, and suddenly realized that he'd forgotten to tell Midoriya to come back right away, which was very bad. Midoriya was able to move in his state due to endorphins. Once those wore off, he wouldn't be able to keep going.

The relief that had come with Aizawa's permission to fight began to fizzle out when the students heard these thoughts. What if Midoriya pushed himself so far he ended up permanently injured, like what almost happened during the final exam? What if he passed out in front of one of the villains? The little group around Midoriya clustered closer around him.

Kota spoke up then, tentatively asking if Midoriya would be okay. Kota said that Midoriya had come to protect him, despite Kota punching him. He hadn't gotten a chance to say Thank You or Sorry to him yet! Aizawa told him not to worry, because Midoriya clearly had no intention of dying. He just had to scold him for acting without permission because that was his role as a teacher.

Midoriya smiled. So Aizawa had looked so disapproving before just because he saw that as his role, not because he'd actually thought Midoriya was wrong for rescuing Kota or anything. Plus he didn't want Midoriya to get in trouble. It made him feel better to have that confirmed, since it hadn't been clear to him before. It also brightened his mood to see how much his actions were still affecting Kota. That made the extreme on and off pain he was dealing with a little easier to bear.

Mic frowned. He wasn't sure if Shouta was saying that purely to comfort the kid, or if he truly had that much faith in Midoriya, or some combination. After all, they'd both been heroes long enough to know that not intending to die didn't guarantee you wouldn't. Still, given the kinds of things Midoriya had already gotten up to, his determination to keep going definitely shouldn't be easily dismissed.

So Aizawa told Kota he could say what he wanted to when this was all done. Though he might want to put some more effort into the Thank you part.

That got a few giggles and snorts of laughter. Still, none of the students could really disagree with their teacher. After all the pain Midoriya had put himself through to rescue Kota, and all the pain he was still in as a result of that fight, an enthusiastic and heartfelt 'thank you' was the least that Midoriya deserved.

Mandalay ordered Midoriya to get back to camp since he was clearly injured. Midoriya refused, instead telling Mandalay to send out the message that 'Kaachan' was a target, then running in the direction of Magne and Tiger's fight.

'I can definitely see why Toshinori saw himself in this boy.' Recover Girl thought with a sigh. Both of them gave far too little regard for their own safety while trying to save others.

Aizawa made a note to talk to Midoriya about this. His encounter with Muscular was unexpected and couldn't be avoided after a certain point. But Tiger and Mandalay were both professional heroes, while he was an injured student. He should have done as Mandalay said and got himself somewhere safe, not gone charging into a fight they were already addressing. He would normally bring that up now, but he was worried the pain factor might affect how much of the admonishment Midoriya would actually register. He'd wait until later.

"Ah, another quick lesson here kids. When communicating something important like this, it's important to use terms everyone is likely to understand. So keep that in mind during times like this." Mic said, making the opposite choice to Aizawa.

The students either didn't respond or gave absent minded nods or murmurs of agreement, too focused on what was happening on screen to do much else.

Magne saw Midoriya, and put together that the rumble from earlier was likely Muscular being beaten by that boy. She moved to kill him, only to be stopped by a knife thrown by Spinner. Magne scolded him, saying Midoriya was on the priority kill list, but Spinner said he didn't care about that because Stain had seen Midoriya as worthy of being a hero. While they argued, they were both punched and knocked out by the WWP.

There was a collective intake of breath when Magne showed she was intent on killing Midoriya, and then a collective sigh when Spinner stopped her. Then there was a spattering of surprised laughter when both villains were attacked mid argument.

Aizawa was somewhat mollified to see that Midoriya wasn't actually ignoring his injuries to try and fight Magne; he was running past the fight rather than into it. However, he was ignoring his injuries to run out into the forest and presumably try to save his friends, which wasn't much better. So the talk would still happen.

Iida realized that Midoriya had just gotten spared from getting attacked because Stain had shown Midoriya favor. While he was grateful that Magne was stopped, the idea of that still rankled.

Mandalay took advantage of the break in fighting to send out the message about Bakugo. Stating that 'Kaachan' should avoid fighting and acting independently. Aizawa and those back at the main building were shown worrying about Bakugo. Bakugo, meanwhile, was already running at a villain.

"Show of hands, who saw that coming?" Jirou asked while raising her own hand. Hands went up all over the room.

"Oh yeah, definitely saw that coming. I mean, giving Bakugo permission to fight and then taking it back right away is like giving a child a puppy and then snatching it back." Kaminari agreed.

"Can it, Lightning Rod! You too, Earlobes!" Bakugo jumped up to shout. When he sat back down he turned to Kirishima. "And you, stop it with that look! The other Shitty Hair getting all weepy and shit is bad enough, I'm gonna be fine."

Kirishima chuckled. "Worrying about each other is what friends do, man. You can't ask me not to worry about you for something like this." he gave him a warm smile. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better though."

Bakugo just gave a 'tch' sound, and looked away. That made Kirishima want to laugh again, but he held it in.

Bakugo was rushing at the villain that only had his mouth exposed. Suddenly, a multitude of long, white...something came rushing at him. Bakugo flinched back, and was only saved from getting impaled by a wave of Todoroki's ice. Todoroki, who still had another student on his back, scolded Bakugo.

Aizawa sighed. "Bakugo, when I gave permission to fight, I meant it to be for self defense. It wasn't an instruction to throw yourself at the first villain you came across."

"He was blocking the path we were using to get back to the main area, like you told us to earlier. Plus, he was hunched over an arm! It was better to strike him first so he didn't try to take our limbs or anyone elses." Bakugo defended.

Aizawa didn't press the matter further. It was another thing they could talk about later, once things were more settled.

"Good job protecting your classmates, young Todoroki." Yagi praised. Todoroki responded with a simple nod.

The villain was shown being held high up in the air by the white shafts protruding from his face. Todoroki reminded Bakugo that he was just told to lay low and Bakugo said that Deku must have done something to make that change in instructions happen. He didn't care what anyone else told him to do! Before any more could be said, the villain struck out at them again, forcing Todoroki to use more ice and Bakugo to dodge.

"Wow, I didn't expect my analogy to be this on point." Kaminari said, looking genuinely surprised.

"I mean, Midoriya is the one that got that message to be sent out, but not because he was trying to do something bad to you." Tsuyu pointed out.

"Yeah, he's trying to protect you!" Uraraka agreed.

"I don't need protection!"

"The repeated use of my ice in this fight suggests otherwise." Todoroki deadpanned.

"I-you-dammit!" Bakugo yelled. He wanted to insist he didn't need protection, because he was strong enough to fight on his own dang it! But this showed there was a good chance he would have already gotten hurt if Todoroki wasn't there, and his other self was already partially wrong about Deku's involvement. There were plenty of things he still wasn't ready to fully admit to, but he could at least tell when to stop digging himself deeper.

The villain used his quirk to push himself off the ground and move around easily. Todoroki commented he was good at using his environment. The villain rose above the trees, and the shot finally showed that the white things he'd been shooting out were extensions of his teeth. Words appeared, saying that the villain's name was Moonfish, and that he was an escaped convict. While hanging upside down, the villain said 'show me your flesh!'.

Some gaped at the sight while others drew back in revulsion.

"Those things were his teeth?" Aoyama asked in disbelief. The idea that someone would use their teeth for such things, risking their sparkly smile, was nearly incomprehensible to him.

Ojiro put the back of his hand to his mouth. As someone who trained in martial arts, he felt impressed at how well this villain moved, but also repulsed by the movements themselves. Something about the way he arched his body while using his quirk felt deeply unnatural.

"Oh god I hope he's not a cannibal! Seeing Stain lick up blood was bad enough!" Hagakure whined.

"Heh, looks like you've got your work cut out for you. Go thrash that creepy dude!" Kirishima grinned. He wished his other self was there, his hardening quirk would be great for deflecting those teeth spears after all. But he wasn't, so he'd just do his best to cheer on those in the real fight. He felt validated when Bakugo smirked and Todoroki nodded.

Todoroki warned Bakugo about using any big flames, since they were in a forest. Bakugo snapped back that he already knew. Todoroki thought about how their escape was cut off by the gas behind them, and that it seemed like the villains were trying to corner them.

"Yes, good forethought listeners, one forest fire is already too many." Mic said.

"It would make sense if Moonfish was trying to back these two into a corner since Bakugo seems to be a target for capture. I'm curious about how he knows that's Bakugo though, since his eyes are covered." Momo said.

"His active quirk is clearly related to his teeth, but it could have uses we're unaware of still. Plus there are plenty of people who have passive mutant quirks as well as active ones, like Tokoyami and Koda, so he could have extra or heightened senses we're unaware of." Midoriya theorized. He had to stop after that though, because the look Todoroki was giving him for taking the towel out again was becoming too much for him. When Midoriya resumed his earlier position, Todoroki relaxed and nodded at Midoriya.

The scene changed to Tetsutetsu and Kendo running through the woods. Tetsutetsu was happy to be given permission to fight, but Kendo scolded him to wait up and think. They stopped running, and Kendo explained her reasoning for thinking that the gas was actually being controlled by someone rather than just being randomly released. Tetsutetsu was excited and impressed by her reasoning.

Several of the watchers felt the same way as Tetsutetsu.

Seeing this made Momo want to meet and work with Kendo all the more. She was able to stay calm enough to think rationally and deduce these things despite the unexpected and dangerous situation she was in, plus she was clearly respected by her classmates. Momo had seen herself get along a bit more with her classmates during this viewing, but still felt there was a bit of a divide between herself and the others, one that didn't seem to be present between Kendo and her classmates. She wondered if spending time with Kendo might help her better understand how to foster such relationships herself.

Kendo reasoned that whoever was controlling the gas was likely in the area where the gas was thicker. She also brought up the issue that the gas mask filters would get used up faster in areas with denser gas. This caused Tetsutetsu to come to the conclusion that the best strategy would be to run straight to the center and take the villain out as fast as possible and started running to do exactly that. As he ran, with Kendo hurriedly following him, he ranted about how much he hated this gas for hurting his friends and how they would do their best against it. Kendo found herself admiring this part of him.

Many students smiled at the sweet and hopeful moment, and a few even cheered.

"So manly!" Kirishima said, practically sobbing. "His passion, his enthusiasm to beat the villain, his confidence and the way it inspires her, it's all so manly!" Just like Momo had hoped earlier, Kirishima was really hoping he could still meet and work with Tetsutetsu after they got back.

While he wouldn't voice it, Bakugo found himself agreeing with Kirishima. He could work with a man who was willing to charge in like that. Since Shitty Hair was getting all hung up on him, then maybe they could even all train together at some point. They could both stand against his quirk better than others, so he'd be able to use more power than normal, which would be useful.

While the students were charmed, the teachers were wary. The things they'd seen so far had made it clear that the League had come much more prepared this time compared to the USJ. The students' quirks had been on full display at the Sports Festival, so the villains would know what the students could do this time, and prepare countermeasures. It was likely that the villain had come up with a back up plan in case Momo used her quirk to approach or allow others to do so. They hoped these two kids weren't about to get themselves killed.

The short villain with the backpack they had seen in a previous episode was shown standing in the middle of a vortex of light purple gas. He mused to himself that a couple people had managed to find him, which was expected of such a school. He started digging in his pocket, while saying that no matter how impressive they were, they were still human. Tetsutetsu suddenly burst through the fog. At that same moment, the villain pulled out a gun, and fired.

"What the hell?!"

"He has a gun?!"

"Kero, considering he already has a backpack that makes knock out gas, I feel like this shouldn't be that surprising." Tsuyu pointed out.

"I mean, I get what you're saying, but you still don't expect someone that small to just randomly pull out a handgun like that!" Mineta protested.

Bakugo snorted "Pff, they'll be fine."

"Yeah! Tetsutetsu can make his skin steal! I bet his quirk can shrug that off." Kirishima was quick to agree.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Recovery Girl warned "Guns have a lot more impact damage than many people realize, and I doubt the young man has ever dealt with getting shot before. His quirk may not be developed enough to protect against such high speed damage."

Midoriya looked like he wanted to say something. To prevent him from taking out the towel again, Todoroki spoke up first. "And if he can take the damage, his skin is still metal. That could cause a bullet to ricochet. That could hurt the villain, or it could hurt Kendo."

Everyone who had been calm before now felt a lot more uncertain about this fight.

Izuku was briefly shown, running through a different part of the woods, and wondered if that sound really was a gun shot.

Midoriya was now very glad that Todoroki had prevented him from trying to talk earlier. There was no way he would have gotten the towel back in place in time for this scene, and having his cry of pain muffled a little made him feel less vulnerable. Plus he didn't like the idea of possibly biting his tongue or lip by accident instead.

Thankfully for Izuku, the scene quickly moved back to the fight with the villain, now named Mustard. Tetsutetsu was still standing, but his gas mask promptly fell off, damaged from the shot. Mustard casually commented that he'd seen that there were two students with hardening type quirks during the Sports Festival. That made his gun less useful, but it didn't matter since the gas could take him out now.

Relief over Tetsutetsu being able to take the hit warred with everyone's worry that he wouldn't be able to take down the villain or help Kendo now that the gas mask was gone. The teachers became even more concerned and angry than they were before. After all, the gas mask breaking meant that Mustard had aimed for the head. That could mean he had had enough time to recognize the mask and aim for it, or it could mean that the villain was willing to kill anyone that got too close.

The comment about the sports festival got Nedzu wondering again if they actually should cancel the Sports Festival this year, for the first year students if nothing else. If only the festival weren't considered so integral for securing internships...but surely he could find a way around that.

Tetsutetsu held his breath and rushed at the villain again, but was sent staggering back by another shot. Mustard mocked him and told him to use his head more. Tetsutetsu saw Mustard aim his gun in another direction, and leaped just in time to protect Kendo from getting shot. This time, the shot left Tetsutetsu bleeding.

The close call produced sharp gasps and squeals of fright. Momo and Kirishima were now both desperately hoping that they wouldn't be forced to see their new potential friends die before they ever got to meet them for real.

While the two students gathered themselves, Mustard went on about how weak their plan was, and how any plan was doomed to fail because he could feel the movement of the gas and use it to tell where they were at all times.

"That overconfidence is what will get him." Shoji said. After all, it would be easier for Mustard to beat the students if he just kept attacking rather than talking. But instead he chose to give them time to regroup, and even gave them information that could even help them plan better. "Why do so many villains monologue like that?" he wonders aloud.

"Perhaps they simply can't resist reveling when they have the upper hand." Tokoyami guessed. As he continued to watch the fight he murmured "To have clear eyes, yet still be so blind compared to the enemy, how frustrating that must be."

While Mustard continued to mock the students and UA, Tetsutetsu tried rushing him again. He was shot again, and Mustard noted that he took more damage from it this time. He threw out theories as to why that was, while continuing to shoot at him.

"How many bullets does that thing have? He's gotta stop to reload at some point right?" Sato asked.

"If he does, maybe they'll be able to knock him out quick." Ojiro said hopefully.

Izuku didn't take his gag out, but he did right down a few notes about the theories Mustard threw out. After all, with Tetsutetsu and Kirishima having such similar quirks, they could be useful to his classmate.

Mustard ranted about how someone like Tetsutetsu, who was so simple minded, could go to a place like UA and get fawned over despite only having one trick. He kicked Tetsutetsu in the stomach.

"Huh? That didn't hurt him?" Kirishima said, his surprise overcoming his worry. "The one time someone kicked me while I was hardened they almost broke their foot."

"His boots might have steel toes, or something similar." Iida suggested.

"Tch, he's just jealous." Bakugo said, after hearing the rant.

"Would someone really join in on an attack like this just because they're jealous?" Ashido asked.

"People have attacked each other for less all throughout history." Momo pointed out.

"True." Aizawa acknowledged "And like I've said, if you truly are a one trick pony, you won't make it far as a hero. If Tetsutetsu doesn't learn to be more creative over the years, the same will hold true for him." 'Assuming he even survives this night.'

Tetsutetsu couldn't hold his breath anymore, and his vision started to get blurry. Kendo made a grab at Mustard. He dodged, and started to mock her again, but was cut off when she grew her fist large enough to hit him unexpectedly.

"Ha! Nice one!" Jirou said with a grin.

"Yes, that was very well played!" Momo matched her expression.

Mustard called her quirk pitiful. Kendo declared it didn't matter if it was 'pitiful' so long as she used it well. Then she started waving her giant hands around, making the gas swirl around and partially dissipate.

"Now that's what I can clearing the air!" Kaminari laughed.

"Ah, interesting. Mustard was just making fun of Tetsutetsu for being in UA while having a simple, straight forward quirk, and here we have Kendo showing how a simple 'pitiful' quirk can be used effectively against his own. It's quite fitting for a villain to accuse others of quirk discrimination while participating in it himself." Nedzu chirped. "And while Tetsutetsu's approach may have been simple, it did distract the villain and allow Kendo time to think of this plan, so his actions have their own merit."

Kendo yelled at Mustard while she swung her hands around, telling him off for acting superior when he clearly didn't have any self defense skills outside of the gun himself. She also yelled about how UA was about going one step further when everyone else had given up. With the gas getting thinner, and Kendo distracting the villain, Tetsutetsu was able to get the drop on Mustard and finally knock him out.

The room exploded into cheers when the villain went down.

"Yeah! You go Kendo! Show that villain what UA is all about!" Ashido cheered.

"Yes! An excellent example of how a quirk being simple doesn't mean it can't be versatile!" Momo praised.

"Coming in to back up his teammate like that, even with almost passing out, so manly!" Kirishima gushed.

The gas dispersed now that Mustard was out. It was shown that Tetsutetsu had broken Mustard's mask with that hit. Tetsutetsu flopped down to catch his breath.

"Hit or mask...?" Izuku mumbled from behind his gag.

"Ah, you are wondering if the villain fell unconscious due to the strong hit, or from being exposed to the gas he was producing." Iida surmised.

"It could be either one, or both." Todoroki said.

The scene changed to Midoriya running through the forest once again. He was thinking about where Bakugo and Todoroki would be right about now, so he could get to them. Suddenly, something dark and blurry rushed at him, and ended up striking his arm.

Midoriya shrieked. He'd just been thinking how he kind of wished that the show would stop showing him randomly and just get whatever he was doing over with so that he could get it all out of the way and hopefully stop his pain sooner. Now he wanted to take that wish back, the random reappearance of his pain was way better than the agony coursing through his arm right now.

The way Deku screamed after his other self was shown trying to find and help out him and Icy Hot made something unpleasant coil through Bakugo's chest.

Before he could slam into the ground something grabbed Midoriya out of the air. The something was Shoji, who had blood dripping from one of his limbs, and was using half his free limbs to hold Midoriya against his back.

Shoji grunted, and instinctively grabbed the limb that was missing it's end on screen. Still, he wasn't too worried. It looked like the cut off point was in the safe zone for him, so hopefully he'd be back to normal with time. Didn't stop it from hurting like hell in the mean time though. The pain factor in this place was scarily accurate for this sort of thing.

"Thanks Shoji." Midoriya managed to say around the towel. It took Shoji a moment to recognize what he said though, since his voice was now a bit slurred was well as muffled.

"It's no problem, you look like you could use the assist. I'm gonna be a hero too, gotta do my share of the saving."

Shoji noted that Midoriya shouldn't be running around while he was so injured, but he was doing it anyway to try and save his friend. "What are we going to do with you?" Shoji asked.

Aizawa and Recovery Girl felt a strong sense of kinship with Shoji in that moment.

Shoji explained that he and Tokoyami had been ambushed by villains while on the path. He'd covered them, resulting in the loss of one of his hands, and it also caused Tokoyami's quirk to get out of control. If they wanted to proceed, they'd have to do something about that first. Midoriya looked into the darkness ahead, and called out to Tokoyami fearfully. Tokoyami was shown to be encompassed by a growling, raging Dark Shadow. The episode ended as Tokoyami desperately warned his classmates to stay away.

Tokoyami gasped when his other self was shown, then grit his teeth.

"Are you okay?" Koda asked, quiet and tentative.

"I am...fine. I just feel...very strained." he replied.

"What the heck?!" Sero cried out "It looks like Dark Shadow is trying to eat you or something!"

Tokoyami could almost laugh. When Dark Shadow got out of control, one could make the argument that his companion was trying to 'consume' him. Instead, he just let out a sigh of relief when the episode ended. He took a moment to mentally pat a shivering Dark Shadow before turning to look at Shoji and Midoriya in turn.

"My sincerest apologies. Because of me, your other selves are being put in even more danger."

Shoji shook his head. "You couldn't have known we'd get attacked like that, so I'm not gonna blame Dark Shadow for freaking out like that, or you for being taken off guard."

"What he said." Midoriya said. He'd now been allowed to take the towel out, so his voice was much clearer but sounded very fatigued.

Tokoyami shook his head. "Nevertheless, I will endeavor to train in control when we return to our time, to ensure that this will not happen, no matter the circumstances.

Nedzu called for another break after that, so people could stretch and to give Midoriya a break from feeling his injuries.

"Midoriya, I want to make sure you know something." Aizawa said after he approached and greeted the boy.

"Yes?" Midoriya asked, a touch of wariness sneaking into his voice.

"On the first day, when I told you that you needed to make sure you weren't too injured to help others, what I meant by that was that you should learn to injure yourself less, not that you should learn to ignore you injuries during a battle."

Midoriya's face turned red. "I know, and I tried! But-"

"I understand that this was, once again, an extreme circumstance. Aside from this, your other self has done well in learning how to use One for All without getting hurt. I just don't want you to make a habit of ignoring your own safety while in the battle field. It's one thing to get hurt defending Kota, but it's another thing to go running back into battle when only half your limbs are functioning properly. It makes you a danger to yourself and to others, since those injures could cause you to falter during a crucial moment."

"I...I understand what you mean, sir." Midoriya admitted.

Aizawa noted that wasn't actually an agreement not to do that sort of thing in the future.

"We could possibly compromise a bit by adding some field medicine to your belt pouches." Recovery Girl said, having overheard the last bit of conversation as she walked over. "That would give you the ability to stabilize your limbs if they get broken, and make it easier to get yourself and others get back to safety where you can get proper medical treatment."

"Oh! That's a great idea ma'am! Plus it could be used on civilians if I kept up with basic first aid training."

Recovery Girl and Aizawa gave each other a look as Midoriya's words dissolved into mutters. Really, what were they going to do with this child?


A.N.

Mandalay and Tiger, as they hit Spinner and Magne after Midoriya leaves: Talking is not a free action!