Moxie was surprised at how fast the cops showed up to the wreckage of the laboratory. She was even more surprised at how fast the cops had tightened the steel handcuffs that currently dug into her thin wrists.

As she hung her head in the back of the squad car, her eyes flicked to the side. Seeing the line of students walk out of the building, she slunk further down to her seat. It was embarrassing enough that she had to be arrested in front of everyone. Being seen in the back of the squad car was going to be far more embarrassing.

The parade of blinking emergency lights whirred along the edge of the sidewalk. Blue and red spun over the ambulances and squad cars that were planted over the road like scattered dominos. Officers and paramedics stormed about the wide front lawn of the Void Industries building. The center of the tall glass cube smoldered with plumes of smoke floating out of the destroyed center laboratories. Rows of shattered windows opened up holes to empty offices and destroyed sheetrock that crumbled from the blast Deku gave to escape the basement cave. A few men in lab coats were being bandaged up by some paramedics. Across from them, a few reporters were on the scene babbling away on camera.

The occasional siren would blare out as another car would zoom past and park curbside. A few officers trotted out and rushed down the main cobblestone walkway. Moxie followed their path as they rushed past a group of the other students that filed out of the building. She scooted further down as Deku led them out of the smoking laboratory complex. Next to him, a stretcher rolled with his hand on the railing. Pulled by two officers in the front, Edith Void groaned out and clutched her stomach with one hand. Her other hand was cuffed up to the rail as Deku gripped the silver metal that led her over the cracks in the cobblestone to the road.

Loading her up to the ambulance, Edith rattled her cuffed hand and clacked the metal.

"Just a sec," Edith said to the cops.

They looked over at Deku. Seeing that she wanted to say something, he nodded at them. They both stepped back as Deku leaned over the frail woman's frame. She lifted her head up over the blood-stained pillow and coughed out a small strand of spittle that dripped over the corner of her mouth.

"Sorry for trying to shoot you," Edith said in a weak lilt. "Killing you would be very detrimental to the plan."

"You're not really convincing me," Deku said. When he examined the lady tugging off the oxygen mask around her face, his look softened with his brow rising in concern. "But...why Edith? Why all of this?"

"There's a lot of ropes that you don't see, Deku," Edith coughed out again. She lilted her head onto the metal rail, her forehead pushing into the cool metal. She saw the throngs of firefighters marching like aggressive fire ants towards the smoking building. "When a bear doesn't see the rope, the trap snags it by its feet and lifts it like a piñata. Tell me, what will you do when you're hanging, and all of your enemies are there with a stick? You'll wish you had someone like me on your side. But don't worry. Your day of reckoning will come."

"Great. Now, are you gonna say something that makes sense?" Deku frowned.

"Nope," Edith cleared her throat. "Also, where's Martel?"

Deku turned back towards another ambulance behind him. Martel was strapped down and loaded up into the back with paramedics injecting fluids into his veins.

"He fainted," Deku said back at Edith. "But he should be okay."

"When he wakes up, tell him that I still love him," Edith strained a watery smile. "Even if he's not the original one, he is my creation. My perfect child. Years and years of genetic testing and memory programming went into him. Better than anything Project Daedalus could come up with."

"Project what?"

Edith crackled out a light giggle. "Like I said. Many ropes! Also, let Martel know that he needs to brush his teeth more often. The memories for that version of Martel are only current to right before the school year started. I only recently told him about One For All, so your secret might be safe for the time being. You may want to fill him in on everything from the first day. Based on what he told me, though, it doesn't seem like you've much in the way of teaching. So, he may not have missed out on much at all."

Deku knocked on the top of Edith's hard head. She gasped out in pain and grimaced out. Squeezing her eyes shut, she groaned out again in pain.

The Pro-Hero stepped back and nodded at the cops. They loaded her up into the ambulance and climbed inside. Deku crossed his arms, a pensive look on his face as the doors slammed shut. With a growl of the engine ambulance blared out its siren and rolled down the street.

Stroking his chin, Deku observed a small, brown spider crossing over a crack in the road concrete. Hunching over the curb, the spider's legs dangled and spun over the crevice before it dived into the thin ravine that lead underground. A soft breezing wafting over his hair, Deku sniffed the dense aroma of smoke that lay a thin coat over the outside lawn of the building. As he stared down, Deku crinkled his nose at the odd exchange.

When he was knocked out, he awoke in a chair in front of the large television screen. Beyond that, he was at just a loss as anybody else. One of his students was a clone. Or...was he a robot? He was still unsure about the specifics. Why was he taken down to the room? Edith had explained that she was using him as a power source for a device that took quirks and put them into someone else. Was this just Edith Void being crazy? Were there others involved?

Before he could think harder, Deku felt a harsh vibration rumbling on the ground. Hearing the cadence of the lurking man that was bounding closer, Deku sighed and plugged his ears.

A few feet away towards his left, the squad car rocked like a bobbing boat in a raging river. Inside, Moxie lifted up her head when the back door flung open. However, when her eyes made contact with deep, angry scarlet, she leaned back and wiggled towards the other side of the vehicle.

Bakugo growled out and grabbed her by the shoulder. With a grunt, he heaved her out of the car making the girl yelp out in surprise. Once out on her feet, Bakugo pressed her up to the car's surface and jabbed a finger that just hovered over the tip of her nose. His face crinkled in exasperation, sweat sprinkled his brow as he leered down at the girl.

"You," he shouted. "You...motherfu-I mean...you mediocre dunce!"

Moxie struggled in her handcuffs and dripped an unsure smile. "Howdy, Mister Bakugo. A little late to the party."

"Detention," He shouted at her. "For the rest of your life. For the rest of my life! For the rest of the time the Earth exists! Detention forever!"

Moxie wiggled her shoulders and clunked the back of her head on the window. "But I took down the bad guy. Don't that mean something to you?"

"You didn't do anything," Bakugo said. Huffing hot breath at Moxie, Bakugo calmed down as much as he could and lowered his voice. He slunked backward and dropped his shoulders. "Besides, you can't rely on a gun for every single scenario. What if you had a villain with a quirk that repels them? What if you were in a gun-free zone? Huh? What do you do then?"

"Well," Moxie bit her lip. "Isn't all of California like a gun-free zone?"

Bakugo rolled his eyes and grabbed Moxie by the cheeks. "Listen, Door-Killer, you need to be responsible for what you do and the quirk you have. It's not about reinventing yourself. It's about using what you have and making yourself something from it. Some people have it easier. Some don't. But carrying a gun around everywhere isn't gonna cut it. Plus, it's cheating."

"Cheating," Moxie repeated. "But why am I worried about that?"

"Because sometimes fighting is worth it," Bakugo said.

Then, he grabbed onto the back of Moxie's handcuffs with his bare hands. Moxie squeaked when a pang of heat lapped at the sides of her palms. Then, with a brilliant flash that brightened Bakugo's face, Moxie felt the handcuffs fall apart around her wrists. Her hands free of the steel, she pulled up her arms and squeezed her fists.

"And stop getting arrested so much," Bakugo said. "Do you know how many phone calls Principal Tommy made for this?"

Bakugo strode away towards Deku, leaving Moxie by herself at the side of the squad car.

With the rest of the class, Abel skipped out of the front door of the building and bounded down the cobblestone path. The wind fresh in his face, he ignored the wisps of smoke that invaded his lungs and flailed his limbs around in a jocular celebration. Catching up to his fellow students, he dabbed once he approached the end of the walkway.

In the shadow of a tall marble obelisk statue, Abel paused and faced the class that had congregated right at around the base. Abel dabbed right in front of the other members of the class, his face shielding him from the odd stares that he got from the other members.

He stood there in that position for what seemed to be an eternity. Austin facepalmed while Megan crossed her arms in defiance.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Megan asked with an annoyed glare.

Abel released himself from the dab and popped up the collar of his shirt. "Bro, we just took down our first villain! I mean, I feel like I actually took down the villain, but you all helped when those guard guys came. So, I guess I'd be willing to share this win with you all."

Megan, tossing her blonde hair to the side, bucked back her shoulders in indignation. "We didn't defeat anyone. It was a quirkless lady who wanted to take away some homeless guy's quirk. Also, you started the device that was going to do it."

Abel shrugged and returned back to the class. He tossed an arm around Austin and tugged at the taller boy's shoulder. "Meh. It was probably meant to be, anyway. Now, we know about the machine and Deku and all of those other guys can handle it."

Moving forward, Abel raked Austin towards him and leaned up into his ear. "My room. Tonight," he whispered. "Lots to discuss."

Austin, taken aback by the change in attitude, looked down at the mop of brown hair that bounded next to him. Abel slapped on another lackadaisical smile and lunged forward towards Deku with Austin in tow. Austin gasped out as he tried to keep up.

At the edge of the sidewalk, Deku waved a hand at Bakugo. The angry Pro-Hero stomped over to him and shoved his hands into his pockets. With an angry leer, he ticked his tongue and leaned forward in an abrasive fashion at Deku.

"What a lame Number One you are," Bakugo said. "You couldn't even break out of a chair?"

"It was a strong chair," Deku said. "Also, there was some electric wiring that zapped me whenever I used my quirk."

"Oh, so a little shock is gonna stop you from breaking out, huh?" Bakugo shook his hands in the air. "Tch. I figured you would be too nice to have this title."

Deku took a step towards Bakugo and swallowed. "Kacchan, there's something strange going on here."

"The cops already told me," Bakugo pointed back at a squad car. "Some wacko lady tried to do some weird shit with some Serbian guy's quirk. Sad!"

"That's not all," Deku said. "She kept mentioning something about a Project Daedalus? That there was more people involved? Is this a project focused on taking quirks away and giving it to others? Is it something else?"

"I think," Bakugo said with a glint in his eye. "That this was a crazy lady who tried to mess with shit she shouldn't have. That Project Whatever was probably just this."

Deku nodded, but with a small air of hesitance in the movement. "I'm sure that, whatever it is, the investigators will handle it and they will tell us what they uncover. For now, I'm just gonna get my students back to the school."

Bakugo grunted out and headed towards the building. Seeing the other students, he shunted past them as if they were old clothes hidden away in the recesses of a closet. Ignoring the class, he stomped his way over the cobblestone to see what else he could learn.

As the other students mulled about, Robyn noticed Anton muttering to himself by a bush that was adjacent to another ambulance. The green boy appeared to be flustered with himself, a few beads of sweat peppering the back of his sleek black hair. Brushing back the bangs from her right eye, her face was sprinkled with the lightest shade of pink. She headed for the boy, the sword in her backpack shifting and clinking with the zipper.

"Anton," She said.

The boy whipped around like a deer in the headlights. Holding a bag of chips in his hand, his hand froze in the receptacle when he heard Robyn's voice.

"What," Anton spat out.

Robyn, with a tight grin, stood on her tiptoes. Her height just above Anton, she jabbed a finger into his chest. "You tried to protect me earlier. Didn't you?"

Anton crunched down on a chip. "Uh...what?"

"You know," Robyn smirked. "You threw me at a desk and then climbed over me. Which was kind of pointless since the desk was already over us."

Anton shied his eyes away. The boy stammered out and rubbed at his cheek. "It was just in case the desk couldn't hold. If one of those chunks from the ceiling fell on us, at least one of us would be okay.

"I mean, if one of those chunks fell on us," Robyn scratched at her neck. "We'd both be dead anyway. I doubt that desk was that strong. But...thank you."

Anton blinked and locked gazes with Robyn. The girl tilted her head, a finger twirling in the strands of her hair. Anton, frankly, had no idea why this girl was spending so much time speaking to him. He would prefer to be alone to eat his bag of chips that he took from the cafeteria inside. However, the lightest shake of the girl's bright blue eyes led him to believe that all of this interaction had to mean something.

Moron, say something! Compliment her!

"It was really cool how you stabbed me," Anton said.

At this, Robyn's face fell like an asteroid to Earth. Her time to feel embarrassed, she looked down at her black shoes and dug them into the concrete. "Oh, right. I think I misinterpreted what you said. After all, I've only been speaking english for about sixteen years."

Anton nodded and threw another chip into his mouth.

Ask her out or something! Jesus, do I have to tell you everything? Brush your teeth. Wash your face. Ask the girl out! It never ends.

"So," Anton started. "The weekend is coming up."

"It is," Robyn said. "In four days."

"It is," Anton said. "And we don't have school during that time."

"That's true. Usually, people don't on weekends."

"Right," Anton shuffled his feet. "So...when the weekend happens, you and I cou-."

"Make way! Make way!"

Before Anton could say anything else, another stretcher rounded the corner. A few of the other students followed it, and the paramedics rolled the squeaking cart over the rough concrete surface. On the stretcher was Fyodor who was staring upward into the sky with lethargy paralyzing his body. The tall, but somewhat lanky man still had his overcoat hanging over his shoulders. However, the center of his shirt was cut open and bandaged up with a translucent packet hanging on a rack to his right pumping in extra blood. The pale boy seemed complacent, even resigned to his fate as he rolled past the other students.

Passing Robyn and Anton, Fyodor gazed upward, his ice blue eyes glazed over with apathy.

"Hey, wait."

The medics stopped at the precipice of the walkway. Fyodor grunted at the soft lurch from the stretcher. Hearing footsteps, Fyodor placed a hand on the bandage in his mid-section and tilted his head towards his right. A head of obsidian hair popped into his vision.

"You're that weird Russian guy, right?" Robyn asked. She looked down at Fyodor with a small twinge of pity.

"Serbian," Fyodor croaked out in a feather-light voice. "I'm from Serbia."

"Why did you do all this?" She asked.

At this, the rest of the class started to crowd by Fyodor's stretcher. Like falcons attracted to a piece of meat, they hovered around the stretcher as Fyodor considered the girl's words.

"All of this pain. Suffering. Don't you want to see it end one day?" Fyodor asked. "I thought that day was today. I was duped. A pawn. Like Edith said, it could have been anybody."

"Your quirk," Robyn asked. "You make people see something they really like, right?"

Fyodor stared up at Robyn and nodded, the motion ruffling the tattered collar of his overcoat. "Correct. But I can make those things attack people on a psychological level."

"So," Robyn said. "Which part of your quirk do you like more? The part that makes people happy or the other part?"

At this, the Serbian boy stopped and narrowed his eyes. "It's one and the same. A delusion."

Robyn flashed a sad smile and tapped on the railing of the stretcher. "Well, I guess I could try and heal you, but the medic guys seemed to have done most of the work. I don't wanna put them out of business, you know."

Fyodor coughed out a terse chuckle. His shoulders racked, and his chest heaved upward with a twinge of pain jutting out at his wound. "It's of no significance. What happens next to me is what is meant to be."

Nodding down at the medics by his feet, the stretcher was rolled towards the back of an open ambulance just a few feet away. He was loaded inside, and the door closed to disappear him in the vehicle.

"What a weirdo," James said meeting up with the front of the gaggle of students. An intravenous fluid dripped into his arm as he rolled a small cart next to him. "I hope we don't see him again."

"I don't know," Robyn grinned at the ambulance as it shook away. "He was kinda cute actually."

"He smelled bad," Synaes said. "Also, this entire field trip has been a waste. We didn't learn anything."

Abel snapped his fingers in a repeated rhythm. "We learned to work together! Kinda."

"I don't care about that," Synaes said. "And we didn't learn to work together at all."

"Of course we did," Lloyd, who was previously absent, thrusted himself through the center of the students and turned to face all of them. "When we were confronted with forms of distress, we did not go quietly into the night. Instead, we persevered and we defeated evil before our first written exam. Yes, I believe that we have all come closer together as a class and as human beings."

"Yeah, guys," Katsu shouted from the group. "We can do anything!"

"Except keep our clothes on, apparently," Robyn pointed at Lloyd. "Why are you in nothing but boxers? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Heroes will sacrifice all for their fellow citizens," Lloyd pointed up at the sky in a lecturing tone. "Even if that sacrifice has to be their clothing."

"Lloyd, please put some clothes on," Deku approached the rest of the class. "As for the rest of you, the bus is here!"

Across the city, beyond the already packed highways and the setting sun that singed the earth below, a kindly old lady exited out of city hall. She was a haughty looking character with a tight, form-fitting pink pantsuit that clung to her robust hips like a fly attached to a windshield. Her greying teeth flashing out, she grinned and waved at the crowd of people that lined the staircase down city hall.

The lady, brushing back her luscious blonde hair, cackled out in a gentle, but off-putting laugh. People waved campaign signs and slogans in multi-colored styrofoam.

"Linda! Linda! Linda!" The crowd cheered in unison.

The old lady known as Linda emanated a genial, upbeat aura as she waddled down the steps. A few security guards flanking her, she clacked down the steps in her purple stiletto heels. A few people wore buttons of the lady's face. Some even cried as she passed by them. Smartphones snapped pictures. People roared as she laughed again at the crowd of supporters.

"Linda, we love you," One man screamed.

"Linda for Governor," Another roared.

"Linda forever!"

Linda patted a baby on the head and reached the bottom of the stairs. She waved at the remnants of the rally crowd just as a limousine screeched to a halt at the curb before her. With the crowd getting louder, a few of the patrons tried to shake the ropes on the pylons at the edge of the staircase loose. A few guards held them back as they reached out their arms like pythons striking prey.

With a final wave, Linda turned and gave a thumbs up gesture, making the crowd roar in appreciation.

"Thank you, Los Angeles," Linda shrieked in a shrill voice. "We are stronger together! See you at the polls!"

Inside the limousine, the serious old lady slammed the door shut. "Oh, God, finally. Away from those morons. Useless people, that's who are voting for me."

Linda tapped on the side of the windowsill and kicked off her heels. As the limo rumbled through downtown, she sipped a glass of champagne into her puffed-up, lipstick coated mouth. Leaving a hot pink stain on the rim of the glass, she adjusted the pearl necklace around her wrinkled neck and unbuttoned the top part of her pantsuit.

"Those useless hippies are so stupid sometimes," Linda said after a particularly loud gulp. "In the town hall, one of them asked me the dumbest question. Can you believe that? Did you hear what it was?"

In front of her sat two people. One of whom was a meek campaign advisor. The girl, fresh out of college, adjusted her glasses and moped at the tablet in her shaking hands. Her straight black hair draped over her ears, and her eyes were lidded with a slight flush on her pale face. "Miss Linda, I brought in that person you wanted. Next to me is-."

Linda waved her hands in a quick circle. "Yeah, yeah. I got it. But tell me the polls first."

Hitting a deep pothole, the girl smacked the side of her head on the window. Grimacing in pain, she swiped on the tablet screen and pushed back on her glasses. "We're behind Wilson again."

"Ugh. Which poll is it?"

"Bear News."

"Oh, screw them," Linda drew another sip of her champagne. "Those morons under-poll me every election."

"Wilson got the Pro-Hero union endorsement," the assistant said. "They announced it today."

"For California, or the national one?"

"California."

"Who cares," Linda swung her drink in her hand. She kicked her feet up onto the other side of the plush velvet bench and leaned her head back on the windowsill. She wiggled her toes into the plush fabric and sighed. "Wilson knew all those union cronies anyway. What else?"

The assistant bit her lip. "Miss Linda," she said in a soft voice. "Edith Void got arrested earlier today."

Linda perked up in her seat and spilled her drink onto the carpet. "For what? Tell me its for speeding or something like that."

"Do people normally get arrested for speeding?" A deep voice said in the corner of the limo opposite the campaign advisor.

"Quiet," Linda pointed at the man. "I'm not ready to speak to you yet."

"Miss Linda," the advisor spoke. "She tried to activate Phase One of Daedalus. By herself."

Linda blinked and kicked away her empty glass. It rolled on its edge in a semi-circle before hitting the bottom of the bench a few feet away from her. "Why would she do that? She knows that we don't have all the parts yet. She never told us anything."

"My source at Void industries told me that she detained Deku and used him as a battery for the quirk-sharing device. Somehow, we don't know everything yet, but he was able to break free and subdue her. She's enroute to the hospital right now."

"She could spill everything about us," Linda said. "That will completely derail the Project. Not to mention, our campaign. Plus, she was supposed to endorse me at the rally next week. Shit! Now I'll have to call up Steve and ask if he'll do it."

"Mister Buscemi already endorsed Wilson."

"He'll change his mind after I tell him the dirt I got on him," Linda said. "So, we either need to pray she doesn't spill on Daedalus, or she needs to die."

"I could probably help with that."

Linda turned and observed the scruffy Pro-Hero that sat at the edge of his seat. His blonde, straggly hair matched his otherwise disheveled but laid-back demeanor. His cool expression giving way to a sly grin, he leaned back and laid his arm on the back of the bench he sat.

Noticing the determination on his face, Linda smiled. "You'd be willing to do it?"

"It would be best for all of us. No one would suspect it. We have enough people snooping around already. One less plug we need to cover."

"Perfect," Linda pulled out her cell phone. "Then, I'm going to call the Attorney General and tell them to hide everything from the press. Maybe the DA Office can find some tax fraud with Void Industries that can distract those stupid reporters. That, along with poor Edith's untimely death, should keep us in the shadows for as long as we need."

The limousine came to a halt in front of a tall condo building. Linda looked out and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, no reporters or annoying fans today. She could go inside and get some sleep for once.

"Miss Linda," The advisor said. "Are you not worried Deku won't try and find something out? Or one of his students? Edith did explain to them what the machine did."

"Psh," Linda rolled her eyes. "As far as they know, the machine is only to take someone's quirk and put it somewhere else. Just a crazy machine made by a crazy lady. A good one, though. A shame, it would have been nice to have Edith with us at the end. Oh, well!" Linda placed her phone back in her pocket. "As long as we have the machine blueprints, remaking it at our lab should be a sinch."

Linda opened up the door and stepped her bare foot out onto the hot concrete. Not caring to put on her shoes anymore, she climbed out of the seat and squinted at the bright sunlight.

"But Miss Linda," The advisor asked. "I have one more tidbit."

"Quickly," Linda shrieked in her glass-breaking inducing voice. "I have a spa appointment in a few hours."

"Edith Void placed the power source station of the machine in the basement," The advisor said. "In that basement, they found clones of her son."

Linda blinked and was taken aback. "What? Clones?"

"Clones," She squeaked like a scared squirrel. "And one of them was released while she killed the currently living one. Er...formerly living one."

The old lady stomped a foot on the ground like an annoyed child. "That family was always messed up. That's why I don't talk to any of my children anymore. First they want candy, then video games, then clones of themselves."

Just as Linda turned away, the advisor grabbed her hand from the window. "But she created technology to clone and program people's memories. She's created sentient life from a test tube! And she's created memories from a computer! Should we...do something with that? It seems like a breakthrough that could benefit humanity."

"Not enough in the budget," Linda said. She smacked away the advisors hand. Turning away, Linda straightened out her pantsuit and perched sunglasses onto her crooked nose. "Just get my rally set up for next week. And If I can't get Steve, pay off the House Speaker. She still owes me for that Givenchy I gave her for Christmas."

As she walked away, the deceitful politician turned back and lowered her sunglasses. "And good to have you onboard, Hawks!"

Hawks, seated in the limousine, smiled.

In the classroom, Izuku clapped his hands and rubbed them together. The class had been medically cleared to return save for Martel who would be out for a while. Lloyd and James still had some bruises, but were otherwise healthy and now fully clothed. For only being together a couple of days, Izuku had to admit that his class had held their own.

"That was eventful, wasn't it?" Izuku asked with a cheerful smile.

"Is that supposed to be a joke," Megan asked. "Some crazy lady attacked us and killed one of our classmates."

"But he wasn't even really Martel, right?" Katsu asked. "Just a robot or something?"

"But will he be the same Martel?" Blake asked. "What if he's like this super cool cyborg that can destroy everything in his path? He'll be like the Terminator!"

"What was even in that basement?" Moxie asked. "Lloyd, you said it was a bunch of Martel's in bottles?"

"Maybe we should leave that to when he returns," Izuku said. "But I just want to say that I'm proud of how everybody handled the situation. Even if you did not attack any of the guards head on, you were able to keep injuries to a minimum and help each other out. Now, I was able to get some of the security footage from the police. I was thinking that tomorrow, we could actually go over some of the good and bad of what you all did. However, based off what I saw, I could just go over some tips and pointers right now."

A hand shot up.

"Yes," Izuku pointed at Abel.

"I was wondering, because that lady said something kind of weird," Abel asked. "She was saying something about some 'One For All' business or something. She said you had something called that and she would use it. What did that mean?"

"Oh," Izuku hopped up on his tiptoes. "That was probably just her referring to my power level. There's no official name for my quirk, so some people just call it that for whatever reason."

"But," Abel cocked his head back and straightened his eye-line. "You don't have an official name for your quirk, do you?"

"Oh, I guess it's never been something that I've thought of," Izuku stammered out. "I'm just able to enhance my pre-existing powers."

Abel squinted at the Pro-Hero. In class, he never seemed to be that sure of himself. However, he never seemed completely nervous outside of this moment. With a lick of his lips, Abel tapped on his knuckles and brought his hands together in a clenched shake. "But you were All Might's student, right?"

"I was."

"His quirk," Abel said. "It's exactly like yours, isn't it?"

"What?" Deku let out a nervous chuckle. "Of course not! I mean, there are similarities. But...there are many quirks that are kind of similar to each others! I knew this guy whose quirk was breathing fire. Well, there are a lot of people that breathe fire, right? So maybe that's why I liked All Might so much growing up. Kind of like how you liked that American hero. Henders, Hendrick."

"Hendrix," Abel said. "But I guess I just wanted to hear it from your mouth. After all, pretty much everything is known about you by now. Right, Mister Deku?"

Izuku felt his throat drain of any moisture. His sinuses clogged up with his heart smacking into the nerves that filled his chest cavity. Even his legs felt as unsure and weak as if he had just used all of his power in launching himself into the sky. The grandfather clock ticked louder than ever, seeming to accelerate with every second that battered past.

All of the eyes in the class scalded him, and he tugged at the hem of his costume waistband. He couldn't tell any of them about his quirk's true power. Could he? Was this the reason he had such an unsettling feeling? Why he wanted to give away One For All? Because he had a premonition that his secret would be found out? What did One For All want him to do? Was he supposed to do anything?

"Stop lecturing our teacher, you raccoon," A voice shouted.

Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw James lift himself up by his arms on top of his desk. "I actually want to hear his strategy on beating up villains, and you're taking up all of our class time.

"He's trying to learn more about our teacher," Katsu said from behind Moxie as he crossed his hands behind his back and leaned in a lazy recline. "Nothing wrong with that."

"I don't care," James said. "I want to hear about how I took down all of those bad guys in the basement."

"I webbed up like half of the guards," Hunter said. "That's gotta mean something."

"Drake threw me at people, and I electrocuted myself," Blake said with an excited bounce in his seat. "Was that good, Mister Deku?"

Izuku, happy that the subject was changed, cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I guess here's what I think you should do next time, Blake."

Abel, unsatisfied, tapped on his notebook in front of him and chewed on the end of his pencil. Now, he was certain Deku was hiding something, and he would get to the bottom of it even if it killed him.

"Do you know about the seven deadly sins?"

Edith awoke in a drowsy stupor on the hospital cot. Her frail, lifeless arms smoothed out the crisp fitted sheets that buried her into the mattress. Her midsection itched with stitches stapled into her bullet wound. Her head lolled around like a newborn, and she could hardly muster the energy to wiggle her foot. Her eyelids as heavy as the statues on Easter Island, Edith rose her head up and scanned about the room.

Dark and dank, the moon shone it's dull pallor through the blinds. Outside, the skyline of the Downtown area shimmered with the hum of cars bumbling past swishing below. A heart monitor beeped out, and a ticking wall clock clicked away the seconds. Outside of a flower vase on the bare counter by a mirror next to the door, the room was completely bare.

"Hello? Can you hear me? I asked you about the seven deadly sins."

Shifting her weight, Edith's right wrist dug into the steel of handcuffs that kept her attached to the gurney. Licking her parched lips, she threw her head back onto the pillow when she noticed how her wrist hung from being restrained.

"Ha. If only it were that easy."

Edith did not react immediately to hearing the voice. However, once it registered that it was in this room, she picked her lead skull upward and pressed her chin into her sternum to steal a glance at the source.

In the thin slits of moonlight that drenched one small corner of the room, a boy appeared. Wearing what appeared to be a black robe with a green tie of some kind, the boy wore a friendly smile as his undercut blonde hair shimmered in the light. Half of his face illuminated, Edith saw the brightest green eyes imaginable pierce through the darkness at her. Even though the other half of his face was cast in shadow, the light in his eye was still just as prominent.

"Physical restraints are so easy, aren't they?" The boy said in a British accent. "Just a flick of the wrist, and you can easily get out. It's a shame. I'm from a world where people are gifted with great powers as well. Sadly, for some, they remain just ordinary."

"Who are you?" Edith whispered with a hoarse voice that sounded more like sand sifting over the surface of a desert. Her vocal chords stung with abuse as she tried to awaken them.

"Oh, so you can see me! That's good. It means I have the right person," he said. "I was in the room next door practically screaming at this one lady who I thought was you. Although I think she may have been deaf. Oh, well."

"I'm gonna call security," Edith said. "Tell me who you are now!"

"Stop shouting, you're going to make me forget what my script was," the boy said as he tapped on his chin. Then, he snapped his fingers. "Oh yes! Anyway, blah blah blah. Restraints. You see, the restraints on you right now are strong, but my restraints are much more powerful," he took a few steps and glided over the tile flooring towards her. Moving through the slanted moonlight, she gathered more of his facial features as he approached her. "My restraints are from my Creator, and the solution is not nearly as simple as a flick of the wrist. They require a different magic than what I am used to. A magic that special people on this Earth possess."

"Join the club, buddy," Edith spat out. "I don't have that magic. I don't have a quirk."

"You shouldn't lie to a person like me, Edith Void," the boy crouched down with an extremely dangerous smirk etched into his youthful face. Hovering over Edith, he saw his own reflection in Edith's wide and worrying eyes. "I already know all."

"I don't have a quirk," Edith said. "What do you care?"

"Oh, but you do, Edith," he said with a light chuckle. "You do have a quirk, and you've been hiding it for years. Why?"

Edith blinked. This strange, yet friendly appearing person was catching her at an extremely vulnerable moment. Edith, knowing that she was going to be in trouble from certain people for her actions, felt her eyes well up with saline. Her face swelling up with a fluster, she sucked in a lukewarm breath and blinked back tears.

"So, let me ask you again," he said in a gentle coo. "What is it that you regret?"

"I killed my son," Edith said. "I killed him. And it was because of my quirk."

He nodded. "And that's why you created those clones. That's why you've kept that hidden from yourself. Repressing it into the farthest corner of your memory."

"Who are you? Were you sent here by Linda?" Edith asked. "I'm not gonna tell on anything. I promise."

"No, dearest Edith. I am not sent from anyone but my Creator who has given me great purpose to be here today," he said before taking out what appeared to be a wooden stick of some kind from his cloak pocket. Edith hummed inquisitively as she wondered just who let in this crazy person in her room.

"Look, if you want money, I can wire y-."

"I know about your past Edith, and present," the boy pointed the tip of the stick at Edith's head. "I also know about your future. You are a person of much regret, because the power you possess has led you to much regret. So you turned to money. Fame. Power. You turned to inventions and stocks and large mansions. Although, that's nothing new for a vain place like this city."

"It...it's true. My quirk. That's why I don't use it anymore," Edith shook away a few tears that had cascaded down her cheek. "I just wanted to be a good mother that gave her son all the opportunities in the world. What's wrong with that?"

"What if I told you I could lift that burden that presses on your heart?" He asked. "I can lead you to redemption and salvation."

"How?"

The boy's smirk grew as large as it could. "And that's why I am here. My name is Alistair Leonhardt. And the reason you can see me is because I have been sent here to erase your sin of greed."

More CONTENTE!

Not much to say except we are at the end of this arc. And as the end, so is the beginning.

Just make sure you tell me what you think! I'm so happy to have you all on board, I can't wait to chug this story all the way to victory lane!

Thank you, and good night!