Aizawa steered his car onto the shoulder of the exit to bypass the line of cars ahead of him, slamming his forearm against the horn as he wrestled with the wheel to keep control. The cellphone went flying across the dashboard. He didn't even try to tap the brakes as he neared the end of the exit, highway traffic ahead of him, and he had only a split second to realize it was gridlocked.

There was nowhere for him to direct his car. In front of him horns were blaring as the stopped vehicles noticed his lights and speed careening at them. Aizawa hit the brakes hard. A nanosecond where he felt them lock before he fishtailed.

He let go of the steering wheel as it jerked in his hands, let it begin to turn so he felt where the car was going, before he corrected. The brakes were screaming and burning rubber was heady in the car as it skidded to a halt. It was the shortest stop of his life, already he was driving again, hugging onto the shoulder to maneuver around the gridlocked cars that had tried to make room along the edges of the road for him.

Ahead, the night sky was bright with fire.

There was a lump in his throat of dread as he pieced it together. In front of him, between him and Momo, was the Heroes initiative against the League — they were attempting to rescue Bakugo. Aizawa reached out, grabbing his phone. The call was still connected, but when he put it back to his ear, she didn't speak. He couldn't make out anything but Momo's frantic, labored breathing. Was she running?

"Momo—Momo, talk to me—"

"Nomu!"

One word. It was one word, two syllables, one two, and Aizawa was back at USJ. All he could see was red. It was the red of his blood in his eyes, and the red of his vision flashing as the Nomu slammed his face into the cement. The breaking of limbs. Pain. It was after Momo.

There was no way around what he had to do next. Aizawa grabbed his regular phone from his pocket, and dialed the police. Students were on-site of the raid, with at least one inside the warehouse under attack. The dispatcher immediately forwarded his call to the League of Villains' tactical team. The response he received…

Traffic was still at a standstill. Aizawa had no more room to go forward in his car, and people were getting out of their vehicles in front of him to look at the fire and explosions, too close for comfort on the streets ahead. Then the screaming began.

It wasn't from his phone — though he could hear the white noise of Momo's panic, too — it was from the street. He bent to look out his windshield, exhaled a slow, slow breath.

Nomus.

People had abandoned their cars now, and were running in every direction to put distance between them and the hellfire ahead. Aizawa got out of his car, too, holding his burner in his hand; there was nowhere he could get with it now in this chaos. The sound of the Heroes fighting ahead filled the air.

He should go help them.

His footfalls were impossible to hear through the din as he ran, putting his phone to his ear and hoping that Momo could hear him. He was passing the first objective point now, where he knew All Might and Endeavor were fighting. He passed the Heroes and the villains, and the Nomus.

"I called the police, they're on the way, hold on, I know you can do it—"

He thought he was done lying to her. But he he had to tell her just one more. The police weren't coming; Heroes had the area secured, and they had their orders. They wouldn't be compromising their main objective. Momo was on her own in there.

A horrible, sickening crash that made him grit his teeth reverberated through the phone, and Momo's ear-piercing scream jarred him all the way down to the fucking marrow.

People were fleeing the apartments and businesses, and the crowd of people he had to struggle through thickened. They were slamming into him, pushing him backward. It was wasting fucking time that Momo didn't have.

There was a loud clatter, more slamming. It sounded like she'd dropped the phone.

"What's happening? Momo, I'm right here. Hold on, help is coming, it's going to be okay—" he panted, eyes circling the area around him for the way out of the mayhem.

He ducked into an alley. There was a fire escape on the wall of the building; he scaled it.

The sounds coming through the phone were indescribable. Metal, smashing, howling. The only human sound he knew was Momo's scream, and the Heroes weren't coming for her.

Leaving a girl like that at the mercy of a villain like him.

He was getting close to the warehouse, and the streets ahead were getting louder now, too. He was almost there. Almost there—

A police officer grabbed him by the shoulder, and Aizawa nearly ripped by him anyway until a Hero came over and took him by the arm.

"Sir, you can't—"

Aizawa jerked himself away from them and pulled his credentials from the breast pocket of his suit, flashing them his IDs.

"What's the status?" he demanded.

"Heroes have the scene secured," the cop answered. "All of those-those creatures have been neutralized."

"What about the girl inside? Has anyone…" The wild, confused look in both the Hero and the cop's eyes were all the answer he needed. "There's a teenage girl inside. Where's your rescue Heroes?"

"They were summoned to the other operation—"

Aizawa cursed and stepped a few paces back, out of earshot of them both before putting his phone back to his ear.

The phone was quiet now.

"Say something."

"I—I'm here."

The small, quiet whisper of her voice sent relief coursing through him. Aizawa closed his eyes and exhaled, slouching to catch his breath.

"The Heroes are on site, they've seized all the Nomus. Are you injured?"

"No, I'm okay. I barricaded myself inside a freezer." He waited, focusing on his breathing as he waited for her to speak again. She wasn't in danger anymore; it was the most he could ask for.

"I can't get out," she reported, and he heard the tremble in her voice. She was safe…just scared. "The Nomu bent the door trying to get in, now it won't open."

"Okay. I'll let someone know you're in there, just hang on."

"Did they capture the man, too?" Momo asked.

He blinked. "What?"

"The man with the respirator — did they capture him?"

Aizawa swung around, back to the cop and the Hero he'd left behind, but they were running toward the warehouse. The officer had his gun drawn. All For One.

"You need to get out of there. Now," he said into the phone, falling in to follow the others.

"I can't, Mr. Aizawa, the door—"

"Look around you, is there a vent or anything you can crawl out of?"

"Let me look—"

A shockwave blasted through the air, and Aizawa choked on it as he was flung backward, feet over head. Pain ripped up his back as he landed hard. He'd dropped his phone, but even where it laid several feet away, he heard Momo screaming. Screaming. Screaming.

Aizawa scrambled on hands and knees to grab it as another wave pummeled him, forcing him away from the warehouse. Her, screaming—

"Get me out! Get me out of here! Please, someone let me out!"