"Misaka-chan, take shotgun," Nejire ordered as she hopped into the driver's seat.

"Okay," the electrokinetic complied as her six friends and guildmates filled the second and third bench rows of the four row van, "Any particular reason?"

"So when I signal you, you can drag the back end around," Nejire said, "So we can take corners without losing speed or tipping."

The other Heroines in training all quickly fastened their seat belts. Nejire activated the van and hit the accelerator.

That type of vehicle didn't normally go from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in under two seconds. That was reserved for high performance sports cars. But then most vans were not tinkered with by 180 budding mad scientists and then repaired and tuned by Power Loader. The van shot out of the UA garage and in moments hit the city streets. Nejire spun the steering wheel like top and pointed at Mikoto. Thankfully there was no traffic to merge into.

"Frequencies set?" Nejire asked. The freshmen checked and then placed their earbuds. After they a nodded, their senior said sternly, "Okay, rules. We are there to get Midoriya-kun and this Eri-chan, and get all of us back to UA. Not to fight yakuza if we can avoid it."

"Too late," Momo interrupted, "Text from Izuku. 'Overhaul + 2.'"

Of course the real message was over chat and slightly less terse.

'We're on our way,' Tsu told him.

"Well, we still want to avoid fighting. Our primary goal is to escape. If we get an opening, we run. If they decide to flee, let them. If one surrenders, we cuff and watch them. But at the same time, if we get to run, we won't bring them with us. Clear?"

The Knights indicated their agreement.


The first thing I noticed was that my friends and Hadou-senpai were all in full costume. And I somewhat wished I had my costume, too. If I had been able to put it in Inventory, I could have done a quick change in route. But UA held on to our Hero gear when we weren't using it. So had they all been in costume already when I found Eri was missing? I guess they could have been planning on training, maybe with Hadou-senpai, in the free afternoon.

The second thing I noticed was Hadou-senpai's costume was different than the one she wore when she came to rescue us at the USJ. While it was still a skin tight catsuit of bullet resistant spidersilk, and still mostly a midnight blue, the green swimsuit section was gone. As were the heavy boots and bracers. She was a flier, so needed to have light gear. Instead the suit had a pattern of white and yellow bursts. It also now had connected headgear, a pair of goggles and stiffer cloth covering her jawline, the back of her head, and her neck while leaving most of her face uncovered and her hair loose. She also had a small utility belt for her phone, handcuffs, and a handful of other essentials.

I guess Mom finished the new design.

After they exited the van, Tengai-san threw a shield around them. Hadou-san and Ami prepared to take their turns blasting it. Kyoka stepped forward, raised her hand, and touched her earlobes to the barrier. It vibrated, and Ami reached up to cover her ears. Then the barrier shattered.

"Sorry," Kyoka told them, then looked at Tengai-san and said, "But I have a lock on it now."

She gave the barrier user a smirk.

"You think it will be that easy?" he countered quickly, when Overhaul frowned at him.

"Yes," she confirmed, "I mean, the exact harmonics will probably vary with the size and density. But if you get more than a ten percent variance, I'll eat my coat."

"Rappa," Overhaul pointed in their direction.

The big guy charged. It felt like he was smirking, though we couldn't see his face. He pounded towards my friends. Ami and Hadou-senpai turned and blasted him. A barrier sprang up, protecting the red-haired bruiser. Then additional domes appeared and faded in sequence, keeping anyone from stopping Rappa. Mikoto tried to take a pot shot at Tengai. But this one wasn't as strong, so the shield stopped it with only a minor crack.

Rappa ignored the girls and hit the van, swinging both hands up in an inverted hammer blow. The heavy vehicle launched. It sailed over the street and slammed into the second level of the parking garage. It crash through the outer wall. And there were thankfully no cars on the other side, so it rolled back into the dim light and out of view.

Before the crunching noises faded, Rappa grunted. Cassandra was in front of him, her right uppercut driving into his stomach. Then Tsu collided with face, both heels first. He swung back, and both girls barely dodged, Tsu because she was already jumping off his head when he reacted and Cassandra due to sensing his counter.

"Huh," Rappa said, wiping instinctively at the spot of blood leaking through his mask at the corner of his mouth, "Normally I don't like fighting chicks. But it seems like you two might actually get it."

"Momo, Ochako," I called out to them. Then tiled my head down a centimeter when they looked. They ran over.

"You two, look after Eri," I told them, "Keep her safe."

Then I looked down at the girl, "Eri, you remember Ochako?"

She nodded, so I continued, "This is my other friend, Yaoyorozu Momo. They are going to protect you, so I want you to stay with them."

"Where are you going, Onii-chan?" she asked fearfully.

"I need to go talk to Overhaul," I told her. Eri started to protest, so I held up my hand gently, "Remember what I showed you, he can't hurt me."

She bobbed her head again, but her expression was doubtful.

"Izuku, you can't," Ochako objected, her fear much more evident.

Ami fired a blast of water from her tank at that moment. Overhaul held up his hand. The water seemed to evaporate, the air warping around it.

'I have to,' I told the Knights silently, 'you saw what happened to Ami's water. If he touches any of you, you'll die. And he's fast, so unless Momo creates a high velocity gun or Mikoto is willing to risk killing him with a supersonic Railgun, you two probably won't be able to do anything either, and that's if Tengai doesn't block. That leaves Mikoto's pure electricity, which you don't like to use because it drains your Psions faster than magnetism. Or Hadou-senpai's Wave Motion, which I don't know enough about to count on.'

'And she's not a Knight,' Cassandra added, ducking Rappa's punch.

'Why does that matter?' All Might's mental voice was strained.

'He doesn't know her,' Tsu explained, 'And we can't coordinate with her over chat.'

'Yes,' I said, 'I have a plan.'

I told them what I had in mind.

'And if that doesn't work, I have other things to fall back on, like Ki Blast and Slice. But I can't do any of that if she might see it.'

'Go,' Ami said, having made her way over to the four of us. She shot at the other two yakuza, ignoring their boss.

'We will guard Eri,' Momo assured me.

'Fine, but if you even think you might need help, yell,' Mikoto agreed unhappily. The other Knights agreed.

'Be careful, Izuku,' Mom said softly.

I stood up, and stared at Overhaul. So far he had been content to let Rappa and Tengai do the work. He met my gaze and glared back, angry and smug. Then he removed his gloves and crouched. He looked mildly disgusted as he touched the grass. Sense Hostility spiked. And then so did the ground.

Three spears of stone erupted from the playground. One each aimed at me, Momo, and Ami. Ochako had taken my place next to Eri, arms wrapped around her protectively. Which is probably why she was spared.

A quarter of a second. But there was one clear choice on multiple levels. Besides the personal, there was also simply the fact that Ami didn't have the training and experience Momo did. I hopped to the side. Pulled Ami out of the path of her spike (using my TK to avoid hurting her). And then I kicked the spike aimed at me. It shattered, so I didn't have to worry about it hitting Eri or Ochako. Which it might have.

Momo threw herself back. Unzipped the openings along the back of her wrists. Created a metal buckler over each forearm. And blocked the earthen spear as it passed mostly over her. One of the shields dented and Momo was knocked the rest of the way to the grass. But she rolled and came up in a defensive position.

That was it. More proof that I needed to get him out of here. But also validation of step one of my plan. I released Ami, and pushed off. I drew back my fist and ran straight at Overhaul. He smirked, but also failed to fully cover his shock at my speed. I punched, though nowhere near as hard as I could have. He caught my fist. He was stronger than I would have expected.

Then he frowned and his eyes narrowed. He glanced down and realized that he was not actually in contact with me. He tried to close his fist, but couldn't overcome my TK Armor. I opened my hand, locking fingers with him like a wrestler. And then tightened my grip, slowly crushing his hand. He was tougher than I would have thought. And I had to be careful to keep focus on the fact that I did not actually touch him throughout.

"Tengai," Overhaul said the name like an order and reached out with his free arm. The Barrier user cringed, but made to grab his boss's hand. I wasn't sure their plan, but I wasn't going to let it happen. I grabbed his wrist with my other hand. I diverted some of my TK into him. I pivoted, pulling him off the ground. He grimaced as I yanked his arm. Unlike with Ami I didn't spare him the pain. Then I released, pushing him away.

"Hogwarts Smash," I proclaimed as he flew away. Maybe a little closer to Hadou-senpai than I wanted, but she dodged. Then I charged, following. Overhaul sailed through the opening in the wall of the parking structure. I was right behind him.

"Wait, Midori..." I heard Hadou-senpai call out. But she was too late.


"Hurry up," Deidoro cuffed a random thug in the back of the head, "The boss said the cops might be moving. He ordered you to pack up the merchandise yesterday. We should be moving it, not securing it!"

"We had an order to cut, Sakaki-aniki," another rank and file yakuza protested, "An up and coming group wanted forty doses of the highest grade Trigger. And were paying double for immediate delivery."

"Why don't you head down and tell that to fucking Endeavor!" he grabbed the idiot by the shirt and threw him at the stairs. Then he turned to another minion.

"Give me a dose."

"The pure stuff?" she asked cautiously.

"No, make it the concentrate," he sighed. Then he took out his special flask, filled with Everclear 151. The woman handed him a syringe, and then got back to work. Deidoro emptied the syringe into his flask. He swirled it twice. Then he downed half of the drug laced booze.

"Mow dash da stuff," he croaked. He walked over to the stairs, and with what focus he had left, forced his Quirk down.


Todoroki Enji ascended to the second level. And nearly blew his top.

He expected to see what passed for local Heroes battling and detaining the yakuza. And the police dragging them out and otherwise assisting.

Instead Endeavor found that aggressive local Hero Lock... something, trying to pluck a knife out of mid air. Not a thrown knife, the blade was just hovering. And Lock... something was repeatedly lunging at the handle and failing to grab it. Again. And again. Lock... something was starting to tear up at his repeated failures.

The cops and yakuza were stumbling around. A pair of them were clinging to each other and laughing like old friends.

Despite his increased rage, Endeavor realized there must be something at work here. Probably one of the criminals' Quirks. Or possibly an airborne drug, considering the hideout they were taking down.

His vision started to blur, and he hiccuped.

The flames around Endeavor's face flared. The beard, moustache, and mask of fire were not just for intimidation, or to allow him a measure of anonymity. They burned out particles in the air, so he wouldn't breathe them in. Increasing the flames didn't change anything, so the effect must be psychic, or at least energy based. It could also be Sonic based. Or even Tails based...

Endeavor giggled and stumbled over to one of the desks and sat down.


Sakaki Deidoro made his way down the stairs, and was surprised. Normally his Quirk only gave people balance issues and blurry vision. Occasionally nausea if he was especially drunk or the target was especially susceptible.

But he also hadn't tried Trigger before. The boss didn't want to waste product or risk the Eight Bullets becoming addicts. They were only supposed to use it in emergencies.

Which a raid by the cops and the number two Hero definitely counted as, especially when the boss was out.

It was an especially fun word. Especially. Tokuni. Literally 'special twice'.

Deidoro shook his head. He was used to working drunk, but the 151 was making it harder to concentrate. It had a kick.

He saw something. A game changer in more ways than one.

He slid over to the desk. Looked at the big flaming jerkwad. Who, in turn, was staring down at a piece of paper intensely. The page said 'Three Squares: A Sequential Follow-up by Todoroki Enji'.

"Whas dat?" Sloshed asked with a chuckle.

"I'm thinking of quitting the Hero business," Endeavor answered without looking up, "My true calling is romantic comedies. I will be the number one screenwriter!"

"Dash sounds like grade idea," the yakuza agreed, reaching into his pocket. It seemed like Endeavor was a happy, silly type drunk. That would make this easier.

"Bedder dan being the number two..." Deidoro agreed, though he struggled not to lose it, "Heh, numbbbbber two.. number two."

Endeavor suddenly turned. His eyes blazing, he caught Sloshed's wrist. Stopping the knife from entering his ribs.

"No Villain trash gets to call me number two," he growled.

Deidoro wasn't sure if it had been an act, or if Enji was the kind of drunk to lose it on a 10 yen coin. Either way, it didn't matter. Because there was a gout of heat from the enraged Hero. And his knife melted. The grip seared into his hand. And the pain might not have made him less drunk, it was sufficiently distracting to disrupt his Quirk. The cops and his comrades all started to recover.

Even as Endeavor slapped cuffs on Sloshed, the yakuza lieutenant noticed the page on the desk vanished in a puff of ash.


All Might had to admit he had been distracted by the Guild Chat. In particular, the fact the Overhaul was in none of the three bases the TMPD had expected him to be in. That the Villain had instead found a way to get young Eri away from UA, and was now threatening both the girl and young Midoriya. And now the boy was going to take Overhaul on alone.

Still, the plan was a good one. If it worked. And All Might had his own work to do.

So he had been following a group of police, only partly aware of what was happening. They were proceeding down the corridor of the second underground level, checking each door. So far it had been a game room and a series of bedrooms, all empty. Then they reached the last door before the hall turn left.

But even partly aware, he had decades of experience and was faster than ninety nine percent of people on the planet. At least. Even counting the speedsters. So when the young officer ahead of him opened the door and was nearly beheaded by a crystal axe, All Might grabbed the back of the man's uniform and pulled him clear.

Focusing, the Symbol of Peace looked through the door the policeman had just opened. On the other side was a tall, bald man. Not quite as tall as Toshinori himself, but head and shoulders above the officers with him. The police opened fire on the yakuza, but crystals sprang up on his body. The bullets were stopped and the gem like armor didn't crack.

The yakuza looked at them pityingly. And then threw the syringe in his hand into the trash. Then he swiped with his arm. A trio of crystalline knives shot out. All Might stepped past the police.

"Smash!"

The punch shattered the blades and most of their momentum. But a few of the shards dug into All Might's fist. Barely enough to bleed. But still enough to net a few drops of red.

"Detective Tsukauchi," All Might called formally for his friend's attention over the police band, "It appears that at least some of the members of the Hassakai have doses of Trigger. I am engaging one now."

"Roger."

"I will take care of this one," All Might told the police around him, "Go the other way, but be careful."

They nodded and continued down the hall.

"So you really are here," the other man rumbled, "Overhaul will be happy if I kill you. He was... displeased when you kept Tengai-aniki from getting Eri back."

Even as the Villain spoke, layer upon layer of shining gems coated his body.

"Do you know what he was doing to her?" All Might growled through a tight smile.

"No, he hasn't told us his plans," the crystal man shrugged, "I don't need to know. I think Chr... a couple of us might..."


Hojo Yu trailed off nervously as All Might casually crushed the steel door frame. There was a reason he had waited for the cops to open the door, rather than attack them through it. If the Hero could damage it that easily, he would need more, stronger crystal armor. Or to go on the offensive.

All Might's smile vanished. Yu shuddered.

"I didn't ask if you knew why he was doing it," All Might clarified darkly, "I asked if you knew that Overhaul was torturing a six year old child."

Before he could answer, Yu was flying backwards. The crystal on his torso was mostly shattered, and he wasn't sure all his ribs were intact.

As two blazing blue suns on a field of infinite darkness followed him, Hojo remembered something his first boss had told him.

"Never go after kids. If the cops are ever on your trail, or you end up in prison, it will be ten times worse if you deliberately hurt kids."

Hojo Yu had dismissed everything the old man had told him, and put his full and complete faith in Overhaul. Now he wondered him he had gone too far in both respects.


"I have taken out one of the Eight Bullets," All Might remembered the code name from the briefing, "He claims to be unaware of Overhaul's plans or exactly what he did to Eri."

"Great," Present Mic whistled, "Because we could use some help on the first floor."

All Might took off.


Cassandra snapped her tonfas out of their holsters on her legs. The talkative redhead's speed and power was overwhelming her and Tsuyu. The pair had been mostly on the defensive since the initial hits. Rappa was not a skilled martial artist, but was a veteran brawler. One who had taken down better trained opponents with his experience and his Quirk. He threw a jab at Cassandra's torso, testing her. Cass stepped in and turned. She put her weight into the bludgeons, onto his wrist. The punch was pushed wide, but Cassandra was knocked back. Her arms stung. And she didn't hear the crack she was expecting. She flipped back, keeping Rappa from countering.

While Cassandra was distracting Rappa, Tsu double tapped her middle and ring fingers into her palm. She had borrowed the action at Izuku's suggestion. But instead of spraying out webs, the move opened panels in the palms and fingers of her gloves. Once Cass was out of range but still Rappa's target, she leaped forward. Grabbed onto his left bicep. And secreted her oil onto him. Rappa shook her off like a bug. And Tsuyu let him, jumping with his swung arm. She landed, and turned to look at him. Only, to her surprise and annoyance, the yakuza bruiser was still standing.

"Why didn't that work?" she asked.

"Why didn't what..." Rappa's counter trailed off. He looked down at his left hand. Then twitched his shoulder. The arm flopped like a limp noodle. He rotated his shoulder and the limb spun uncontrollably.

"And here I thought we were having a good fight," he said angrily. Then he jumped forward. He swung his left arm at her. It was little more than a loose slap, but it had the strength of his Quirk behind it. The blow spun Tsuyu's head and left a quick forming bruise across her cheek and eye.

He tried to continue, preparing a heavy punch to the frog-girl's stomach with his working arm. Before he could, three spikes of water hit him. The one that struck his right shoulder did nothing. The higher one tore his mask and scored his cheek. And the lowest one dug deep into his tricep. That slowed him enough from Cassandra to jab one tonfa into his kidney.

Rappa pivoted, and though the right backhand that hit Cassandra was poorly executed and had no build up, it still sent her flying.


Tatsuma Ryuko was wondering if she would have been better off staying outside. While her alternate form wasn't as large as Godzillo's, it was still too large for maneuvering inside most buildings. Especially underground sections, where she couldn't just break outside walls to make room. She had been trying for years to master partial transformations, be it changing just one limb or her head, or changing into dragon form while retaining a smaller size.

At the moment, she was in a room with Eraserhead and two of the Hassaikai captains. She could transform, but doing so would basically fill the room. Which would probably take out the yakuza in the full face plague mask and raincoat. But that would also hurt Eraser. And she wasn't sure about the one called Mimic, since he was currently possessing a bronze statue of a tiger. It was smaller than a real tiger, but still larger than Ryuko or Eraser. And metal. If she had a breath weapon like her mythical counterparts, she could take him out with that. But just crushing him with her increased mass wouldn't work.

As the tiger circle back around, she ran her right hand forward through her hair, sighing. Her fingers slipped into the slots and it tightened against her palm and wrist. Normally she used the claw-like accessory after she transformed. But that was a cover. A twenty-five meter long fif... forty ton dragon with claws that were stronger than practically every armored steel didn't need a weapon like that. At best it added a littler extra weight and protected the back of her paw. No, that was cover for times like now.

With the claw weapon in place, she pressed her thumb firmly into the button on the side. With a rasp like a drawing sword, the silver layer around the blades peeled back, revealing a white material that looked like bone. It was actually a composite of β-keratins, bone, and some trace metal alloys. Which was to say, her dragon form's talons. It had taken a laser to trim them and multiple diamond carbide blades to fit and shape them. But for when Ryukyu was stuck in human form...

The possessed statue pounced again. The Heroine turned out of the way. The tiger's claws scored her dress but did not cut all the way through. Her claws, on the other hand, gouged deep into the bronze.

It was a good hit. It didn't pain or otherwise inconvenience Mimic. But it was a start.

On the other side, Eraserhead was wondering if it might be easier if they switched opponents. The yakuza had tufts of hair that stabbed like spears. And when they hit his Capture Weapon, the scarf seemed to become a movement sink. It would slow down to almost nothing and start to fall. When Aizawa tried to reel it back in, it took ten times the effort for one fifth the speed. A quick blast of Erasure to the Villain would fix the problem. But that meant Eraserhead needed to either stay out of the Villain's range, about two meters, or get in close and turn the other man's Quirk off until he was secured. And if Aizawa slipped up for an instant, he would be out of the fight for as long as the slowing power lasted.

Or forever, if the yakuza had a knife or gun in reserve.

Eraserhead caught a glimpse of Ryukyu cutting the tiger statue. He noticed the bronze feline was relying on hit and run tactics, trying to leap at the Heroine before she could track it.

"when I say 'now'," Aizawa whispered after tapping his earpiece, "transform. as fast and as big as you can."

She ducked her head in acknowledgement.

Aizawa tried to snag Chronostasis again, but again his scarf took a slowing hit. Erasure activated and the Hero threw the other end of the scarf, pulling back the end he had just freed. He was watching the cat, even as the Capture Weapon snaked out.

"Now!"

Mimic jumped at Ryukyu.

Chronostasis's hair stabbed at the scarf.

Ryukyu started to expand.

Aizawa yanked his weapon back.

Ryukyu's rapidly expanding and changing shoulder slammed into the now much lighter bronze tiger.

Somewhere, in some afterlife, Sir Isaac Newton smirked.

Mimic's direction was suddenly changed. And his speed increased. And he had nothing to grab onto.

Chronostasis tagged his ally. Which was the only thing that kept the statue from hitting him, as it lost its forward momentum and began to fall.

Eraserhead looked at Ryukyu and activated his Quirk. Returning her back to normal before she hit him.

Then Aizawa pulled a second Capture Weapon out of a hidden pocket in his shirt. He pounced on the tiger and wrapped it completely with the scarf. Then he slapped two pairs of handcuffs on its limbs, both hogtying it and locking the scarf in place.

Chronostasis cringed, as both Heroes turned towards him. He knew Mimic couldn't hop from one item to another, and he needed empty space to leave an item. So his ally was trapped and he was now alone and outnumbered. And regretting not grabbing his pistol as soon as the alarm sounded.


With their lieutenant out of the picture, many of the yakuza surrendered. Particularly the ones who saw what Endeavor did to Deidoro's hand. So while there were still pockets of resistance, the Heroes and police now effectively controlled the drug lab. And so the rank and file officers began cataloging and removing the evidence.

"Hold up a second," Endeavor grumbled as a tall male officer with dark purple hair and shorter, female officer with short brown hair and glasses carried a case past him.

"Sure thing, Mister Endeavor, sir," the lady cop said nervously.

Enji opened the case, revealing vial upon vial of pure Trigger. Two rows of five metal ampoules, three layers deep. He reached inside, took one out and looked at it.

"So this is the drug that has caused so much trouble," he commented. Then he put his hand back over the slot the vial had come from. Then he slammed the lid down and locked the case again.

"Get it out of here."

The officers both nodded, anxious to be away from the volatile Hero. They hurried out.

As they did, Endeavor pocketed both the vial he had examined and the second one he had slipped out. He prepared to leave, when Lock... something called on the radio.

"Endeavor, you better get up the the fourth floor," the local Hero requested anxiously.

Walking quickly, but refusing to run, Enji did what the other man asked, ready to destroy the nobody's reputation if it wasn't worth his time.

It was two corpses. A woman with her neck snapped and stripped naked. A male officer, stabbed repeatedly in the torso. And unless they were twins, the same male officer he had stopped minutes before, heading down.

"She's one of ours, too," a detective was saying. Endeavor turned and jumped out the window. He used his powers to slow his descent, jetting over to the evidence vans.

But they weren't there. Neither the box nor the fake officers.


"Oh shit, what a rush!" Harley crowed as the sedan sped away, "I thought we were seriously screwed when flame-face stopped us."

Harley pulled off the brown wig and threw it into the back seat.

"You're clear, Min," Harley added, "Thanks for the backup."

The blanket in the back lifted, revealing Mindy. She took off the eyepiece and picked up the wig. Her hair detached itself from the scalp plate, and weaved back into her costume.

"And quick thinking on the disguises, blondy," Harley complimented the male cop in the shotgun seat. Who began to melt into grey ooze, leaving behind a blonde, voluptuous teen wearing nothing but a slasher's smile.

"Thanks, shishou," she told Harley. Mindy passed the younger woman a blouse, and she shimmied into it around the seatbelt.

Harley hit a button on the dashboard.

"Did you get it?" Shigaraki's voice emerged after a couple of rings.

"Yup," Harley said, "Thirty vials of uncut Trigger. And both good news and bad news, the yakuza won't even know it is gone, because the police and frelling Endeavor raided not long after we snuck in. So they'll regret not selling to us, but not for the same reason. But that also means they probably ain't gonna be a source any more."

'Frelling?' the blonde mouthed at Mindy. Who just shrugged.

"Hmmm," Decay grumbled, "There isn't much we can do about that. I guess it just means the doctor will have to figure out how to make it himself. Good work, Harley, Mindy, and Toga Himiko. Welcome to the League of Villains."

The blonde's smile grew wider and madder.

"Kurogiri," Shigaraki added, "See if you can get me... us eyes on the yakuza."


Even Decay had to laugh when it turned out there were only twenty-eight samples of the drug, because Endeavor himself had stolen two.


Mordred looked at the door, using introspection as an excuse for her nervousness.

On her way here, she had seen... well, Izuku's Harem. She didn't like using the term she had overheard Kyoka using. But it fit the group better than any other phrase. And the small, jealous part of her found it somewhat funny. Her seven classmates had passed a T-junction ahead of her. They were walking very quickly, and were all in their costumes. They were accompanied by the winner of the senior's sports festival, also in a costume.

'Maybe they were just going to ask... Hadou-senpai, that's it,' Mo-chan thought to herself, 'Just going to ask her about an internship offer. In costume. Because... Hadou-senpai wanted to save time and spar with them?'

Mo-chan snorted.

'Yeah, right. Something is up. And if I stop being a wimp, maybe I can get sensei to let it slip. Probably not, but...'

Working up her courage, she knocked.

"Come in," the high voice emerged as the door opened.

"Hello, Penryu-san," Nezu greeted her. There were three screens in front of him, and his hands were dancing across two keyboards and three mice.

"What can I do for you?" the mouse-bear asked.

"I wanted to ask you about one of the internship offers I received," she said, "I asked the other teachers who are here, but none of them know anything about it. But if you are busy..."

"No, it's no trouble," he said, "I am just monitoring and helping direct a police raid. Which agency is it?"

"The Torino Agency."


Even as she watched Cassandra and Tsuyu try to pin down Rappa, waiting for her next opening to attack, Mizuno Ami also observed Kyoka, Mikoto, and Hadou-senpai as they tried to disable Tengai-san.

Unfortunately the defensive yakuza figured out he could hinder Kyoka by overlapping his barriers like venn diagram. The secondary shields bled off the sonic energy and were vulnerable to slightly different frequencies. It didn't stop her completely, but forced her to spend more energy, both sonic and mental, to adapt.

Mikoto was also struggling. Ami wasn't sure why her first attack destroyed two shields and damaged a third, but now she was only cracking a single layer. Maybe she was conserving her power. She was getting backed up by Hadou-senpai, who would hit the spot Mikoto cracked, finishing the shield.

After sending another water spike into Rappa's thigh, Ami frowned.

"Hadou-senpai?," the hydrokinetic called.

"Yes, Mi... Mizuno-san? Sorry, seven new names," the old teen responded.

"I notice your Quirk always spirals out," Ami said, "Which is good for hitting a wide area and limiting the overall the impact. But can you do it the other way? Spiral in. Like a drill."

"I don't know," Hadou-senpai considered it, "I haven't tried."

Her next blast of Wave Motion was the same. But the one after she got it. The blast was smaller to start, but the energy spiralled inwards. And tore through the barrier.


"I AM HERE!"

The Symbol of Peace stormed into the room where his colleagues were cornered. Both Present Mic and Advisory were missing their support gear. The criminal in the scarecrow mask was holding the Directional Speaker in his right hand and the All Visor in his left. Or at least what was left of them. As All Might watched, he took another bite of Advisory's item.

Next to the munching yakuza was a man with blond hair and a plague mask. He gestured as soon as he saw All Might, and Toshinori felt his cape disappear. The blonde's eye looked nervous as they roved over All Might, looking for something he could steal.

Mic was trying to keep the third yakuza at bay, but was struggling. The man was a giant, even bigger than All Might. His entire head was covered by the raven mask. He had a pair of heavy iron gauntlets, and a sort of metal brace on his shoulders. The big man was tanking Hizashi's shouts. The Voice Hero was holding back. Without the speaker to help focus his shouts, he would hit a broader area and could deafen even those outside the direct effect. And since Advisory had her eyes clenched shut and was acting based mostly on sound, losing her hearing, even for a few minutes, would be bad.

Both Heroes were also panting, more than he would have expected.

"Be careful," the All-seeing Heroine said after All Might announced himself, "The big one has the ability to steal other people's stamina and use it to become bigger. And his strength and toughness in the process."

All Might nodded, understanding the unspoken warning about his own limits.

"And you can already SEEEEEEEE what the other two can do!" Mic added, using the middle word to blast the big guy back.

"That's fine, I'll just end this quickly," All Might said glibly.

"Ha, I've been hoping for this," the large Villain proclaimed, "You two, keep these scrubs off me."

He gestured at Mic and Advisory. Then he took one heavy step forward.

"DETROIT SMASH!" All Might roared. His fist shot forwards and upwards, towards the big man's head. But the yakuza danced to the side, nimble despite his bulk.


"Missed," Katsukame Rikiya taunted, even as the ceiling behind him exploded outwards, tearing up the street above. Despite the taunt, under his mask he was sweating from the raw power of All Might's punch. If that had hit him...

"Did I?" All Might asked smugly, ignoring the almost tangible drain he felt from the yakuza's proximity.

The energy thief looked back. The roof had collapsed on to Soramitsu, trapping him and leaving the other two Heroes free to double team Toya. But more importantly was what he saw through the hole All Might had created.


"Goji, I need a pickup," All Might shouted. A moment later, a pair of claws poked through the gap, and gripped the yakuza.

"We meet again, Katsukame," Godzillo rumbled, his voice darkly pleased, "Are you going to take a shot?"

The Villain looked up at the blue flames in the back of the Hero's throat. Then he carefully raised his hands above his head.

"Yeah, that's about right," the blond criminal agreed roughly. He was on his knees after Advisory's elbow drove the air out of him. He held his wrists out to be cuffed.


"Well, we got everything wrapped up here," Hawks reported, "What going on at the other sites?"

"Endeavor's team has taken care of the Trigger lab," Nezu reported, "But it appears some of the yakuza killed and impersonated a pair of officers and escaped with one case of the drug. And Tsukauchi's team has captured most of the yakuza at Overhaul's headquarters, but there are still a few pockets of resistance. And Overhaul himself is still unaccounted for, as well as Tengai Hekiji and the man we believe to be Rappa Kendo."

"You think he cut and left his men?" Hawks asked, confused and somewhat annoyed.

"I think he is trying to get Eri back," Nezu answered.

"Should we head back to UA?" Present Mic asked.

"It is probably best to regroup here," Nezu said evenly, knowing it was to late for them to save anyone.


Both the UA students and yakuza stopped and stared as a shadow appeared at the edge of the garage's broken wall. The sun and shade made it hard to tell who it was. Or would have, if not for the sharp shape of a plague mask.


Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was so delayed. It was tough with all the moving parts and fights (short though many were). Plus have some real world issues. I could have posted it Tuesday. But with that cliffhanger, plus the next chapter being shorter and easier to write, I figured I'd just wait and drop them both at the same time.