"Long time no see." Izuku said meekly, his vision clouded by tears.

"It's been less than a week." Stain huffed, an amused tone in his voice. He offered his free hand to the teen and the boy gratefully took it to get to his feet. Stain pulled Izuku with a lot more strength than needed and the teen ended up crashing into his mentor's chest. Stain held him there for a moment before letting go, an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Stain asked gravely, giving the corpse next to them one final, dirty look for good measure.

"No, I'm fine he just… Wait," Izuku blinked, taking a step back to get a better look at his mentor. "What about you?! The window to your room was broken, what happened? How bad did they hurt you when you were arrested? How did you even find us out here?! Are you a-"

Stain hit Izuku softly on the head with the side of his hand, a tired look already in his eyes.

"I'm fine. Your friend led me here." Stain said dryly, nodding towards Spinner. The mutant was currently trying to dig Shoto out from under the pyramid of stones on top of him and his eyes briefly looked Izuku's way before he got back to work.

"I'm kinda surprised you listened to him without me there…" Izuku murmured.

"Kid talks fast. Good on him, cause I almost killed him before he explained." Stain said nonchalantly, and the relief that Izuku had felt mixed with a sense of nervousness. Izuku looked at the ground and frowned.

"What… did he tell you?" Izuku asked. He kept his voice neutral and started walking towards Dabi if only to not have to face his mentor. Had Spinner told Stain everything about the last few days?

"Told me he was with you. I believed him when he said you cried a few hours after meeting." Stain said almost teasingly, and Izuku blushed. He rushed towards Dabi and knelt next to the confused man.

I don't think he knows about the League, Izuku thought. One part of him was glad that Stain didn't know, but an even bigger part of him dreaded the fact that he'd have to see every moment of Stain's reaction to the news.

Stain was not going to be happy, that much was certain.

Dabi was holding himself up in his hands and knees and he looked absolutely out of it. A crimson stain adorned his lips and the small pool of blood under him wasn't a sight that Izuku liked.

"Dabi?" Izuku tried. He placed a hand on his elder's shoulder but quickly removed it when Dabi's hand lit up with blue flames defensively. It took the burnt man a good moment to recognize Izuku at all.

"You're alive." Dabi drawled out, shifting his weight so that he was sitting on the ground. His naturally aloof expression was clouded with pain, but he still gave Izuku a small smile.

"How are you? You got hit pretty bad." Izuku told him, a worried frown on his face.

"Are you worried about me?" Dabi's smile widened and the amused tone in his voice was unmistakable. However, the smile fell in half a second and his eyes widened in what could be described as terror. "Where's Shoto?!"

"He's okay!" Izuku hurried, keeping Dabi where he was when he tried to get up. He moved to the side so that Dabi could see Spinner clearly, a good amount of stones out of the way, and most of Shoto's torso uncovered. "He just got trapped. He's fine."

Dabi blinked, a frown settling on his face even when his shoulders relaxed.

"Hey, lizard!" Dabi yelled at Spinner, who immediately looked irritated. "Why did you leave me, you dumb ass?!"

"I have a name, you know! And I had to go before Stain left." Spinner defended himself, mimicking the expression that Dabi was giving him.

"Stain? What are you… Oh, shit." Dabi's eyes landed on Stain's form and whatever he was going to say died in his throat. Izuku could perfectly see the blue in Dabi's irises because of how wide his eyes went for a second, before going back to their usual narrowed state. The burnt man waved his hand in greeting and Stain raised an eyebrow.

"So this is your team, huh?" Stain asked Izuku and the teen swallowed. Stain didn't sound disappointed or unimpressed, nope, that was definitely not it. Not at all. And that look was most definitely not one of absolute doubt at Izuku's decision making while he was gone.

We're screwed, Izuku told himself as he hastily got to his feet and made his way towards Toga. The blonde girl was already getting to her feet, one of her buns undone and her legs covered in scratches.

"You okay?" Izuku asked her, not sure how serious the frown on her face was.

"They ruined my sweater." She grumbled as she pulled at the tattered sleeve of her sweater, and Izuku sighed in relief.

"We'll get you a new one later." Toga smiled at Izuku's reassurance and her mouth was already open to respond when her eyes widened. She blushed madly and hid her head in Izuku's shoulder shyly.

"Toga?" Izuku whispered, a protective arm already around the girl.

"Is that everyone or are there any more surprise additions to your group?" Stain was standing right behind Izuku, his judgemental eyes not missing the way Toga clung onto Izuku for dear life.

Izuku knew how odd this must look. The nervousness in his stomach became heavier and he felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden. How could he even begin to explain the situation?

"Stain, these are-"

"Oh, I recognize the League of Villains just fine, thank you." Stain deadpanned, clearly unamused. "I'm dying to hear your explanation about this later."

All the joy Izuku had felt upon seeing his mentor once more turned into pure anxiety, his heart racing in his chest like a bird trying to get out of a cage. The way Toga tightened her hold on Izuku's shirt only made him even more trapped. An imaginary spotlight was blinding him from above and he had no other option than to perform.

"Let me explain what happened I…"

"No." Stain hissed, pointing an accusatory finger at Izuku's face. "This place is crawling with heroes. We're leaving, right now."

With that, Stain did a 180 and started walking in silence. His shoulders were tense and Izuku felt like he'd just been slapped in the face. For a few seconds, the teen just watched as his teacher walked off. It wasn't until the sword that Stain had been holding, one that clearly belonged to Spinner, clanged against the ground as Stain dropped it, that Izuku really started panicking.

He tried to rush after Stain but found himself unable to escape Toga's grasp.

"Stain, wait!" Izuku called out, gaining his peers' attention. They all watched in silence as Stain walked past and towards the few remaining trees, his intent very clear.

"He's leaving." Toga whispered, staying glued to Izuku's side as the teen ran after the Hero Killer.

"Midoriya?" He heard Spinner call out to him, clear worry in his voice. Dabi and Shoto just watched them from the ground, apprehension in their eyes.

Izuku called Stain's name once more but his elder ignored him and Izuku had to actually take his sweatshirt off to free himself from Toga and run faster. He came face to face with his mentor, his mind and heart going a mile a minute, and he did not like the look on the other man's face.

"Please stop, just let me talk to you!" Izuku all but pleaded, putting his hands forward in an attempt to stop Stain. But the other man just shoved him off and started pulling the teen along with him angrily.

"Stain! Just hear me out, they-"

"They're with the League," Stain snapped, not looking Izuku in the eye. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Stain, please," Izuku begged, pulling against his mentor's grip in a futile attempt to stop them both from advancing any further. The other four were all on their feet by now, Dabi and Spinner stepping in front of Toga to keep her from charging at Stain. She looked absolutely feral, and Izuku knew that the situation was close to its breaking point.

He dug his heels into the dirt and snatched his arm away, his eyes betraying the desperation that he was feeling.

You knew this would happen, Deku.

"Listen to me!" Izuku half commanded, half implored, his voice cracking. He forced himself to believe that it was because of all the smoke around them, rather than his rampant emotions.

Stain tensed even further, his shoulders visibly pulled back through his light-colored hospital uniform. When he turned around, Izuku felt like he was about to burst into tears.

You know that look.

"Listen to what?" Stain hissed venomously, his eyes dark. "How you were naive enough to join the League to get this done? Or are you trying to justify these four?"

"They helped me! They-"

"They're targets!" Stain finally snapped, his voice rising far more than it was necessary. Izuku had been unconscious at the time, but his mentor was currently emanating the same murderous aura that he'd exhibited back in Hosu all those months ago.

"There's nothing you can say that could change that!"

"They're not with the League!" Izuku was scrambling for words, his breathing uneven and fast. "They're with me!"

"They used you!" Stain bit back, taking a step forward to look Izuku dead in the eye. "They got you in debt with them and they messed with your mind and now you're defending them. We're leaving. Right. Now."

"They only joined the League so they could meet you!"

"Oh, so I'm supposed to be flattered?" Izuku had never been on the receiving end of that tone of voice, at least not when it came to Stain. It was…

It's familiar, isn't it, Deku? He might as well be Kaachan.

"I'm done entertaining this stupid farce," Stain said, glaring daggers at the four people behind Izuku. "You're done with these people."

Izuku bit his lip. He wanted to just curl up into a ball and cry and then disappear into the earth beneath his feet. With the blue flames dancing all around them, he truly did feel like he was having a vision straight from hell.

He'd known Stain would be angry. He was painfully aware of that ever since he agreed to join the League. But he hadn't expected his mentor to just ignore him when he tried to explain. He didn't expect to be told to just shut up and follow directions.

He hadn't expected to feel the way he did when All Might told him off on TV.

You deserve no less, Deku.

He shook his head, trying to clear the static that was forming in his mind. He was panicking, he knew it and he was suddenly not sure of what to do to change the tides.

"Get moving." Stain told him, already turning his back to keep walking away.

Izuku felt dizzy. It was like the ground was no longer under his feet, like there was nothing holding him.

"Izuku!" Toga's voice was shrill enough to make him realize that the ground was, indeed, no longer there.

The teen turned his head to see all four of his companions disappearing into a familiar black pool of fog, and Izuku wasn't far behind. He was already halfway down when Stain reached for him, and Izuku desperately stretched out his hand to take his mentor's.

"Stain!" Izuku cried, desperation clawing at his throat as he realized that Stain was also disappearing into a portal of his own.

"Stain, please, you have to trus-"

The rest of his sentence died when his head crossed the portal, darkness swallowing him whole for a brief instant.

Izuku was spat back out at the familiar bar, his body tumbling painfully as he landed next to Shoto with his arm awkwardly bent under his torso.

The sudden stillness and silence at the bar was like a bucket of ice water, and all of Izuku's senses were on edge immediately. Beside him, Spinner was already on his knees and right in front of them was the rest of the League.

Shigaraki was sitting on his regular stool, a smirk hidden behind his mask as he toyed with one of the blue marbles that Mr. Compress's quirk produced. The real Mustard was leaning against a back wall, Moonfish in a corner and Magne, Twice and Compress next to the bar. Kurogiri reformed behind the counter and, with that, everyone was present.

"Well, I can't wait to hear how it all went down." Shigaraki said cheerfully and Izuku felt chills going down his back. They hadn't called for backup, they hadn't told anyone that they'd found Stain, and yet they were all back at the bar.

This couldn't be good.

"Welcome, Hero Killer. I do hope you will have better manners than the last time you were here." Shigaraki purred, the smugness in his voice anything but hidden. Izuku didn't turn to check, but he was sure that Stain was glaring at the blue-haired young man.

"You're just as disgusting as ever, Shigaraki." Stain answered and Shigaraki chuckled.

"Don't talk that way. We're working together now, after all."

Izuku felt like he'd been kicked in the chest. This wasn't the way he'd expected Stain to find out about any of this.

You didn't think it through, did you?

"Your student very clearly joined the League in your name, didn't you, Midoriya?"

Izuku swallowed, getting to his feet shakily. He felt trapped and disappointed and stupid. He clenched his fists until he felt his nails digging into his palms sharply. He wanted nothing more than to get Stain out of that bar.

"I joined, yes. But I don't speak for Stain." Izuku said slowly. Shigaraki hummed, his free hand scratching the skin of his neck.

"Well, that's not what you said. I held up my end, didn't I?" Shigaraki directed his question to the general audience, and Izuku noticed how Mustard nodded briefly. He was overrun with the sudden desire to punch the younger boy square in the face.

"No. You called for a retreat and armed the clones you sent with us. If we hadn't acted on our own, Stain wouldn't be here."

On his peripheral vision Izuku noticed how Spinner took a step closer to him on one side, Dabi appearing on the other. The people on the other side of the room stood straighter and Izuku could feel the atmosphere in the room get more and more tense by the second.

A bad time to be unarmed, he thought bitterly.

"Watch it, kid. I put my whole team in jeopardy for your little rescue mission." Shigaraki warned, the sound of his nails raking through his own skin making Izuku feel on edge.

" Your team left us once things got tough. You didn't risk anything." The teen spit back.

Shigaraki immediately got to his feet, his red eyes glaring daggers at Izuku from behind his mask.

"The people behind you are also part of the League, you brat. Don't forget that."

There was a long moment of silence as both sides of the argument slowly took in the reality of the situation.

Shigaraki's red eyes flashed from one of Izuku's accomplices to the next, a deep frown forming under his mask. Izuku couldn't see it for himself, but his companions all had determined expressions on their faces as they stood by him. Stain, standing at the very back of the group, looked at the five kids in front of him with a thoughtful look.

"Dabi, you're smart. What do you think you're doing?" Shigaraki asked and the fire user smirked.

"Come on, you know why we all joined." He answered simply, much to Shigaraki's annoyance.

"Ah yes, the Hero Killer. Everything is always about you, isn't it, Stain?" Shigaraki hissed dangerously, his narrowed eyes focused solely on the man at the back of the group. His hands were getting twitchy and even the glass marble that had been in his palm earlier was currently rolling along the bar, forgotten.

"Even back in Hosu, everyone was talking about you. I expected Spinner to fall for your preachy philosophy, but the rest of them are a bit of a surprise."

Izuku felt like he was standing on rapidly cracking ice. He needed to think of something fast or they would all die at the hands of the League. What was the biggest threat? Scratch that, all of these people were threats.

"So now what, Disciple?" Shigaraki told Izuku mockingly, his arms outstretched. "You really think you can leave this place and steal half of my members just like that?"

"You're one to talk," Spinner said coldly, back already tense in anticipation. "How many heroes did you have Compress bring solely for your master's sake?"

Izuku's eyes shifted towards the masked villain but Compress gave no response to the accusation.

"I saw him take about five people." Dabi pressed, his usual smirk on his face.

"They're just heroes, you dispose of them too." Mustard attempted to defend Compress.

"Not for our own sake." Izuku bit back.

"Oh, you and your ideals are so annoying!" Shigaraki finally snapped, making Kurogiri jump in surprise at the sudden outburst. "I should have turned you in along with your master, you stupid brat."

That did the trick.

Like a spark falling on a powder keg, everyone exploded into action all at once. In the small space, what might have been a coherent battle turned into absolute chaos and Izuku was only half aware of most of the things happening around him.

Dabi and Shoto combined their fire quirks to plunge the other side of the bar into a purple hell, but nobody actually expected that to be the end of it. Spinner managed to hand Stain a sword just as a portal opened on their side of the room, dropping not one but three different Shigarakis into the scene.

Izuku saw two of them head for his teacher, the other one going for Spinner, but he was unable to help.

Some invisible force pulled him forcefully towards the bar, and he flew through the air at high speed until he collided against the alcohol cabinet, bottles falling and breaking on impact. Izuku's arm landed on some of the broken glass, but he couldn't afford to take a look at that at the moment.

Magne was standing there, the magnet she used to reinforce her quirk hovering over Izuku's head menacingly. The teen barely had any time to roll to the side and avoid getting his skull crushed, the metal object breaking a hole on the wooden floor.

He needed a weapon. Fast. But the only things around him were bottles and glasses, not a blade in sight.

Improvise, Izuku told himself.

With the magnet stuck on the floor for the briefest of seconds, Izuku was able to grab hold of a rather heavy gin bottle. He grasped the bottle by the neck and swung it with all his strength, shattering it over Magne's hand and effectively getting the woman to let go of her weapon. Izuku kicked her on the side of the knee and she stumbled backward just enough to get out of the cover that the bar offered. A chunk of ice flew in her direction and hit her right in the head, knocking her down for a solid moment.

Lucky her, since the large piece of ice was followed by a barrage of long, thin blades that dug into the wall behind the bar, shattering any bottles that hadn't yet been broken. Izuku heard how Moonfish's quirk impaled every surface available, and in the middle of that sound he heard a sharp scream of pain. There was no way of knowing who'd been hit, but he prayed that none of his allies had just died.

Izuku hastily opened up the drawers at the back of the bar in search of something -anything- useful. He found only an ice pick and took it like he'd found water in the middle of the desert. It wasn't much, Izuku thought, but it was better than being unarmed.

He crawled towards the end of the bar, peeking over the corner but seeing absolutely nothing. The wooden interior of the bar was on fire by now, both orange and blue, and there was a small cloud of gas forming along the floor. Legs and attacks flew by Izuku in quick succession but he waited.

Just as Magne started groaning behind him, Izuku recognized a red shoe and he launched himself forward. He dug the icepick into the person's leg, earning a low grunt of pain. Shigaraki fell on his knees, but his torso never met the ground; instead, a pool of mud formed on the wooden floor.

"Shit." Izuku whispered. He flinched at the sound of gunshots, looking in the direction of the sound and seeing two figures in the middle of a cloud of smoke. He caught a flash of green skin and immediately got to his feet to assist Spinner.

He had only taken one step forward when a hand attempted to wrap around his neck from behind. Cold fingers threatened to clasp onto his skin, but he threw himself to the side and attacked with the icepick, Shigaraki's red eyes meeting his for a brief second.

Izuku could see pure rage in those red irises, the dark emotion mixed with a clear manic intent, and Izuku shivered involuntarily. What landed on the floor was yet another sludge of mud, since Izuku managed to slice the copy in the arm, but Izuku found himself gasping for air.

His yellow shirt disintegrated into dust all around him, the particles raining upon the ground like sand. That could have been him, had he not moved fast enough. No air seemed to fill his lungs for a moment and he was so focused on what had just happened that he left himself unprotected.

A sharp blade dug itself into his shoulder, sending him flying through the air and towards one of the walls. He was left impaled to the wall momentarily, his shoulder stinging sharply as the blade dug past the muscle that connected to his neck. The wound was almost skin deep and the tissue broke in an instant, Izuku landing on the ground with a breathless gasp of pain.

From the ground he could see various things, though none of them were too clear at first.

The ground was littered with pieces of wood, ice, broken blades and glass. He could see liquids reflecting the lights of the fire as well, but he was unable to tell if it was booze or blood amidst all the chaos. He saw figures running across the room, all of them fleeting and fast. He caught sight of blonde hair and dark clothing, but was unable to follow anything.

He felt like a broken toy, unable to stand on his own anymore.

It's just like back in Hosu. You're gonna end up needing someone to save you.

Was that it? Was Izuku just too weak? Was he always going to need someone else to step in?

That's how it's always been.

Has it? Was that true? Izuku's eyes started to water and he no longer found any strength within himself.

You're never gonna make a difference, you usle-

A sword skidded across the floor, the blade stopping not five feet from Izuku's leg. It was a katana, sharp and relatively new, and it was bloody. The item sliding into view interrupted the barrage of voices in Izuku's head and he focused all of his attention on the blade.

A few seconds later, Spinner's body hit the ground just ahead, the mutant coughing violently and looking dazed. There was a clear wound on his neck and Izuku saw almost in slow motion how Mustard's shape came through the gas and smoke, his signature gun in hand.

Izuku's mind flashed. He remembered Hosu and he remembered the poor nurse at the hospital.

Useless Deku, the voice in his head chided and Izuku blinked.

He felt like his chest snapped, like a can of soda getting stepped on, and he felt heat going all over his body. From limb to limb, the teen felt like he'd been set ablaze and everything around him went dark as if he couldn't open his eyes anymore.

His muscles tensed. His throat ached. His shoulder stung.

A final gunshot rang out in the small space, the sound echoing on Izuku's ears like an explosion of unprecedented force.

Light came back into the world all at once, and Izuku found himself on his feet, his eyes wide open since God knows when. The katana and the icepick were held tightly in his hands and Mustard's eyes were wide behind his mask as his hand and gun fell limply on the ground.

Izuku blinked again.

He turned the katana in his hands and struck again, hitting the younger villain right in the middle of the chest and slicing clean through. Mustard's body collapsed on the ground limply and, unlike Shigaraki's copies, it stayed down while bleeding.

Izuku stared, the voices in his head completely silent for once. Splashed in blood, with the katana in his hands and with a completely entranced expression on his face, Izuku looked like a demon from hell. In his current state he failed to notice a lot of things, like Moonfish's corpse on one corner, charred skin and melted leather making his body look surreal, or the way the bar was pretty much collapsing at this point because of the fire.

Izuku's eyes landed on Shigaraki, the visibility much better now that Mustard's quirk was out of the way, and before anyone could react, Izuku sent the ice pick in his hand flying as he ran forward.

Shigaraki avoided the projectile and attempted to jump to one side, but was stopped by Stain's own sword slash. With nowhere to go, the blue haired man stared as Izuku swung his blade towards him, aiming right for his head.

Time seemed to freeze. Red eyes (two sets of them) looked right at Izuku as he brought the blade down for a mortal strike.

But right then, the floor beneath Shigaraki turned into a black hole, the villain falling through and avoiding the slash before it decapitated him. But he didn't leave unscathed.

Half of an index finger thumped on the ground where Shigaraki's head would have landed had the slash met its mark, the villain's scream getting lost as the portal closed as fast as it appeared. Izuku landed on one of his knees, and before he could look up, the rest of the League of villains had been warped away in a similar fashion.

Izuku took a deep breath, still dazed enough that he didn't even cough at all the smoke he inhaled. He failed to react to his name being called as well and only snapped back to reality when Stain's hand landed on his shoulder, the teen's mentor easily avoiding the hasty attack that Izuku tried to send his way.

"Izuku!" The man yelled, making Izuku blink in rapid succession. "We have to get out of here, now!"

The ceiling of the bar groaned, threatening to collapse on top of them at any given second.

Stain pulled the teen to his feet and made it for the door, Toga already catching up to them, but Izuku rapidly panicked and struggled.

"Wait!" He yelled, reaching a hand out towards the few people left at the bar.

Spinner was coughing, still on the ground, and Dabi was desperately trying to carry an unconscious Shoto on his shoulders, struggling very clearly.

Stain hesitated only a heartbeat, huffing as Izuku freed himself from his grasp and ran towards Spinner.

"Midoriya..." The mutant rasped and Izuku hurriedly tried to get him to his feet. But he struggled, just like Dabi, and he let out a small whimper. They almost went back down together, but Toga caught Spinner's other shoulder to assist Izuku, a small smile behind all the blood on her face.

"Move it!" Stain yelled from the door, a wounded Shoto cradled in his arms and a shaken Dabi right beside him.

The burning building was reported mere minutes after the fire started and the fire department and authorities were quick to arrive at the scene, but no one saw the six figures making their way out the back door and into the alleyways nearby.