"I guess they haven't found all of the colors yet." Mary observed.

Izuku nodded in agreement. The black and white room had changed a bit, there was something stretching between them and the pedestal now, but it didn't look very solid. It reminded Izuku of the balance beam at the park near his house, except it looked like it was made of gray light rather than metal. It definitely wasn't something he was gonna try stepping on any time soon.

"I bet the room is gonna look so nice once it's all colored." Mary continued. Izuku turned to her and tilted his head.

"You think all the black and white will go away once Mr. Mic and Mr. Aizawa are done?"

"Well, it would just make sense for paint balls to make everything colored wouldn't it?"

"Maybe." Izuku looked around the room. He thought it would be creepy if the room suddenly changed color, like the time all the graffiti suddenly appeared after the lights went out. "You wanna go look around and see if there's anything new?"

"Sure."

They walked out and went to explore the room they had used the tree key in.

"Hey Izuku, do you know about snow?"

Izuku looked up from the bookshelf in surprise. "Um, yes? I mean, it doesn't snow a whole bunch here like it does in some other places, but it does sometimes." 'She must live somewhere it doesn't snow at all.'

"That's cool!" Mary gave him a big smile. "It's really cold isn't it? I read you can eat it with syrup on it. Have you ever tried that? Does it taste good?"

"Syrup...oh!" she meant a snow cone, he realized "I have before, but I don't think they make them out of real snow."

"Really? They don't? What do they use then?"

"Uh, just really small bits of ice I think."

"Isn't that what snow is?"

"Uh, kinda, but it's not the same. I mean, snow falls from the sky and has shapes if you look really close, but any water can make ice."

Mary suddenly looked star struck. "Snow has shapes?!"

"Yeah! It looks really cool! It's...uh..." he did know the word for crystal "It looks like really little stars."

"Snow stars..." Mary breathed. "I hope I get to see that someday."

"Me too!" Izuku smiled.

They couldn't find anything, so they left that room and started to look around more. They had just reached the vase in the center of the room when something, or rather a lack of something, caught Izuku's eye. The red mist blocking the hallway was gone! He excitedly turned to tell Mary, but was brought up short. He could see the Tattletale painting on the wall behind her, and the pair of lips was starting to move.

"M-mary!"

Seeing Izuku's wide eyes, she spun around. Izuku was scared that the painting was going to try and take a bit out of her, and he grabbed Mary's arm to pull her away. But that didn't happen. Instead, a smug voice fell from the cherry red lips.

"Someone heard Mary's secret!"

Izuku felt Mary go completely still. He didn't think he'd ever seen a person this still before, not while they were still alive.

"Mary?" He tentatively called, but she didn't reply. He tugged on her arm, and she didn't move. "Mary? Mary what's wrong? Are you okay?" He jumped when Mary suddenly took a shuddering breath. She finally turned to him and gave him a strained smile.

"Yes, I'm okay. Of course I'm okay."

Izuku couldn't help but frown. There was something off about her voice; she didn't sound like her usual self. Maybe she was just scared? "Are- are you sure? What did that painting mean?"

"Oh that? Well, that's, it's okay, I mean, it's just another painting trying to scare us. It doesn't mean anything."

"Um, okay, if you're sure..."

"I'm sure! But I...I think I need a minute. Alone. Just to...sit."

"What? But, we aren't supposed to go anywhere alone! What if something happens?" his grip on her arm tightened subconsciously. Her lips pursed, and when he realized what he was doing he let go right away. "It just sounds dangerous..."

Mary's face softened at this, and she reached out and took Izuku's hand. "Izuku, I've been wanting to ask, will you be friends with me?"

A small jolt went through Izuku's brain at the words. It had been so long since anyone had asked that of him. He was so stunned that he couldn't reply right away, and Mary continued.

"I've always wanted a kid like me who could be my friend. And I want to meet your mom too! I mean, I don't even have a dad..."

"I don't either! I mean, he's around somewhere, but I never see him because he works really far away. And, and I want to be friends too! You can meet my mom whenever you want!" 'Mom would be so happy if I brought home a friend.'

"Really?" She asked, as though hardly daring to believe it. "Yay! Thank you so much! But, I still need some time alone okay? I just, wanted to ask first."

"But-"

"I'll just go sit in that long hallway, okay? Nothing bad was in there."

Izuku still didn't want to just leave her alone here, but they had just said they were friends. And friends were supposed to trust each other right? He didn't want to be a bad friend. "Alright, I guess that's not too bad. But, are you really okay?"

Mary's shoulders slumped, and she looked down at the ground. "I just want to get out now...I'm so tired of being here..."

Izuku felt like he understood then. Sometimes he just wanted to be alone when he was really sad too. "Me too. Okay, just, yell if something bad happens."

Mary managed a smile and gave him a nod. Her hand slipped out of his as she turned and walked away, and Izuku tried to figure out why he still felt so uneasy.

"Our 'friend' has moved again." Aizawa observed once they were out of the little library. Hizashi turned to look and found his husband was correct, the blue doll was no longer sitting where it had been.

"Well that gives me all sorts of bad feelings. I'd say I hope it went home, but if it's home is nearby..."

"There's only one place we haven't gotten into yet." Aizawa reminded him. Hizashi nodded to himself. They had yet to go into the standalone room, which meant that was likely where the doll 'lived'.

They trooped down to the last, unexplored room, and weren't surprised at all to see the doll was now laying against the wall just to the side of the door.

"I found something good...I'm making it my treasure!" The words above the doll's head proclaimed. After reading them, Hizashi looked down and saw that the doll looked a little different than before. Something was bulging underneath the pink dress. He groaned.

"We have to touch the cursed doll don't we?"

"Since that 'treasure' looks to be about the same size as a ball of paint, probably. Do you think it will be more offended if we just pick it up or if you try to use your foot like last time?"

"Might as well go with the direct route so it's done faster."

Hizashi knelt down slowly. He didn't need to look at Shouta to know that the man was once again poised and ready to respond to the first sign of danger. Carefully, oh so carefully, Hizashi pinched the edge of the pink fabric between two fingers, and lifted it up to get a look at the doll's torso. There was a split in the doll's stomach with some stuffing hanging out, and something red just visible past it.

Hizashi snorted. "A red ball of paint inside a body, how fitting." He took a deep breath, and dug his fingers into the hole. As soon as his fingers closed around the ball, he yanked his hand back. The red ball rolled into his palm, then disappeared with a pop. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that wasn't so bad."

"Tee hee hee hee hee!"

"AIYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

He would apologize to Shouta profusely later, but he couldn't help it! Who wouldn't scream when the cursed doll he was still partially touching suddenly let out a high pitched giggle? And if that hadn't made him scream, he definitely would have started when the doll suddenly flew up and disappeared through the nearby door, which had creaked open to allow it entrance. Shouta had been unable to do anything about it, since he was too busy clapping his hands over his ears.

After both the screaming and apologies were done, the two heroes stared warily at the partially open door.

"You don't have to come with me." Shouta said.

"No way am I letting you go into the creepy doll's home by yourself. I mean, who knows what could be in there?"

Shouta took a deep breath, then let it out. "I guess we're about to find out." He took Hizashi's hand and squeezed it, and Hizashi squeezed back. Then they let go, braced themselves, and opened the door.

Izuku paced back and forth across the room. He honestly wasn't sure what else to do, at this point. He didn't want to check out the newly available hallway without Mary, and the heroes hadn't given him any signal that things might have changed or that they should try anything more up here. He had checked the black and white room once more, but it was the same as earlier. All the mannequin heads seemed content to stay where they were too.

Should he go check on Mary? It had been a bit now, but was it long enough? She might get mad if he came looking for her before she was ready...

"Aiyeeeeeeee!"

Izuku jumped at the sudden scream. His first thought was of Mary, that something had happened to her, and he started running to the door she had gone through. But before he could open it, his brain caught up with him. That cry hadn't really sounded like it had come from behind the door; it had sounded like it came from below him.

Now he was worried for an entirely different reason. What could have happened to the heroes to make Present Mic scream like that? He bit his lip and looked at the door in front of him. He didn't want to go against what Mary asked, but if something bad was happening he had to tell her! It could hurt the heroes, or come for them too! There was even a chance that the new hallway lead downstairs so they could finally reunite, and if there was any chance that Izuku could go help with whatever was happening then he had to take it!

Izuku straightened up and reached for the door handle. It turned quietly, and the door swung open without any further noise. He was about to call Mary's name, to let her know he was coming, but the word died in his throat.

He could see Mary near the bend in the hall. She was kneeling on the floor, and using one hand to grasp the neck of a mannequin head and push it into the floor. At least, he was pretty sure it was a mannequin head. The face was...deformed now. Which probably had something to do with the fact that Mary was viciously stabbing the blade of her palette knife down into the plaster.

Two warring instincts activated in Izuku at this sight. Mary didn't appear to be in immediate danger, if the head had been doing something he was pretty sure it wasn't capable of doing anything now, but she was clearly upset. The heroic part of Izuku wanted to go in further and figure out what was wrong, but he also had years of experience telling him not to draw attention to himself. The last friend he'd had never responded well to being talked to when angry after all.

Izuku swallowed. He...he should at least make sure she's not in danger, right? He'd just get a little bit of a closer look, then go back and wait for Mary to calm down a bit. Maybe he could even look ahead just a little bit so he'd have something else to talk about right away when she got back. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

Izuku slipped off his shoes, so his few steps into the hallway only caused a whisper of noise. It was easily drowned out by the sound of palette knife gouging the mannequin head, and now that he was closer he could also hear that Mary was mumbling something.

"not fair...not fair...getting so close...so sure this time...not fair not fair not fair!"

Izuku's little hands clenched into fists, and he swallowed again. Carefully, he walked backwards, keeping an eye on Mary until he was out of the tiled hallway and through the door. He swung the door back shut, and turned the handle so it wouldn't click as it closed. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

He turned around, and he saw all the mannequin heads. They were still in the same place and position, but he could have sworn that they were looking at him now.

"She...she's having a hard time right now. I'm sure she didn't mean...she's just very upset. So please don't be angry at her when she gets back?" Izuku pleaded with the heads. As always, they were silent and still. Izuku hoped that was a good sign.

The handle to the door was strangely cold. 'I wouldn't have thought a doll would need to blast the AC this much.' Hizashi almost chuckled at his own joke. You had to take the laughs where you could get them, you know? But he held back for Shouta's sake, since the man looked tense enough, standing there at the ready.

"Is it too late to take you up on that offer?" He said, only half joking, when he saw what was inside. It was very much like the doll room they had been in before, except this room was smaller. Unfortunately, there seemed to be just as many dolls in here, if not more, and in varying sizes.

Shouta snorted, but didn't brush him off. "You could keep watch from here if you like, but either way one of us has to go in." He pointed inside the room, and Hizashi saw that there was a ball of white paint sitting on the other side of the room. It rested just underneath a large, empty frame that hung on the wall. Hizashi wasn't sure if it being empty was a good thing or a bad thing.

Of course, the real concern was the dolls. The larger ones were thankfully along the wall, but that left the smaller ones strewn about the floor in between them and paint ball. He could just imagine the things springing to life and biting at their ankles as they passed. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Nah, I'll come. Gotta be close by if I have to kick some rabid dolls off you."

"I appreciate that." The words didn't hold the usual flatness Shouta put in them. He was fully aware that Hizashi would rather do just about anything besides step into that room.

They stepped into the room warily, very conscious of where they were planting their feet. Amazingly enough, they made it all the way to the other side of the room without being accosted. They looked at each other, then Hizashi knelt down to grab the last ball of paint. It vanished with a pop, just like the others. That pop was immediately followed by the door slamming shut.

Hizashi cursed "I knew this had been too easy."

Souta grunted in agreement. It irked him that, despite all they'd seen here, they still couldn't always tell where the next threat was going to come from. His eyes scanned the room. The dolls still hadn't moved, but there was something on the door. Hizashi must have seen it too, because he picked his way back across the room to read it.

"Let's have a treasure hunt. Who? Who? Who has the key?"

BONG! BONG!

Hizashi jumped and looked around wildly. "Church bells? Where the he-" Hizashi stiffened when he turned in Shouta's direction, and his eyes went wide. Shouta whirled around, then immediately stepped back. The frame behind him was no longer empty.

A large, blue hand now protruded from the canvas, and clutched the corner of the frame. The bell sounded again, and a second hand began to rise into view.

"Dolls! Key!" Hizashi shrieked hysterically. He threw himself at the nearest doll and Shouta was quick to follow. The first one he picked up had a familiar flaw.

"Some have bloated stomachs! Go for those first!"

They tore into the dolls, literally. There was no time to try and avoid damage.

BONG!

With each ring, the thing in the frame emerged further.

BONG!

A head came into view, messy black hair now poking into the room. The sounds of tearing fabric filled the space between rings.

BONG!

A giant pair of red eyes rose into view. A part of Shouta's mind sorely regretted not doing something to the massive 'Red Eyes' painting when they saw it before.

BONG!

"Gyaaahh! Bugs! Why were there bugs!" Hizashi wailed. He threw aside the doll he'd been holding and danced away from it, trying to shake off the wave of insects it had unleashed.

BONG!

Shouta caught sight of a the gleam of metal, and yanked it from the stuffing. "I've got it!"

BONG!

They both ran for the door. But Hizashi had gone just a little too far when trying to get the bugs off of him. He only managed two steps before something caught hold of the back of his jacket. He yelped just as Shouta made it out the door. Shouta only had time to turn around and see what had happened before the door slammed shut.

Izuku stood in the middle of the room for a bit, unsure of what to do. He kept telling Mary that going off on your own was dangerous, so it might make her mad if he tried looking ahead at all. On the other hand, if he looked and found good news, then maybe it would help cheer Mary up when she got back.

Maybe just a peek into the hall that had opened up, just to see what was there...

Izuku stepped carefully into the area that had once housed the noxious fumes. He paused for a few seconds after the first step, just in case that triggered whatever had made the gas in the first place to start up again, but nothing happened. He took a few more cautious steps, and when he was satisfied that nothing would happen he looked up to inspect the area.

The hallway was actually quite short, and only had a single door near the end of it. He decided to risk a bit more and open it just enough to see inside. Hardly anything around here knew how to open doors after all, and he could see if there was anything dangerous on the other side.

He inched the door open and leaned over until one of his eyes were past the edge. The first thing he saw was a large painting that made him think of a movie logo, since it had a person resting in the crook of a crescent moon. From this angle, the rest of the room looked empty. He dared to open the door a bit more and sighed in exasperation. The rest of the room was empty, save for one of the headless statues, which of course sat in front of the room's only exit.

"Dang it." Izuku said to himself after he closed the door. "Those things are always in the way. What did we ever do to them huh?"

Izuku wanted to kick the door in frustration, but decided against it and just scuffed his shoes on the ground. His head went back and forth when he got back into the main area, still no sign of Mary. He might as well go back to checking the rooms then. He went and opened the door to the black and white room, then stopped in surprise.

The black and white room was no longer black and white. It looked just like the rest of the area, with brown floors and walls, and a the easel now had something colorful painted onto it. Most importantly, there was a rainbow colored bridge that stretched across the black chasm. He could now get the key.

Any creepiness brought on by the sudden change was dismissed as Izuku eagerly ran across the bridge and plucked the key from it's pedestal. It was brown fittingly enough. Surely this would be good enough news to help Mary feel better! They had a way forward now!

Or did they? The other room he checked out didn't let them go forward like he'd hoped. He'd hate to get Mary's hopes up just for them to be dashed. If she still wasn't back, then he should probably check it out a little first.

Izuku poked his head into the other rooms, just to make sure Mary wasn't back. The last remiaining door was the one by the fisherman painting, just to the side of the door Mary had left through. He glanced at the door and at the mannequin heads before taking a deep breath and inserting the key into the lock. It clicked, and Izuku eased the door open. No immediate signs of danger...

"Izuku."

Izuku shrieked like he'd just been unexpectedly burned by Kaachan.

"Hizashi!" Aizawa's body slammed against the wood of the door. He twisted the doorknob, but it didn't budge. "Hizashi answer me! Say something!"

Not a single sound came from beyond the door. That was almost more worrying than hearing screams. At least Hizashi was alive if he had the breath to scream.

Aizawa stepped back and tried to kick down the door. No luck. He desperately tried the handle again, and found himself stumbling inside the room.

It looked just like it had when he and his husband had first entered it. The dolls were all back in the same spots, undamaged once again. The painting at the far end was empty once again, thankfully. In the middle of the floor sat Hizashi, and relief crashed over him when he saw no gaping wounds or massive amounts of blood.

But, there was something off. Hizashi was turned to the side, and wasn't looking at him. Instead, he was gazing at the dolls in front of him, smiling. Hizashi was smiling cheerfully at the blue skinned dolls; it made something cold start to creep through Aizawa's veins.

"Oh really? Well thank you for saying so."

Aizawa frowned. "Hizashi, what are you-"

"Oh I know, it can be really hard sometimes can't it?"

"Hizashi-"

"That's a good point, but I think-"

"HIZASHI!"

"-that's a bit oversimplifying things."

Aizawa cast a wary glance around the room, before walking up to his husband. He knelt down to shake his shoulder.

"Hizashi, it's me. It's Shouta, can't you hear me?"

Hizashi frowned. "Yes, I suppose it is easier in the end isn't it? To focus on the here and now."

"Hizashi! Snap out of it already! I-"

A distant shriek made Aizawa stop and curse. 'Dammit, what was wrong now?!'

"Hizashi, did you hear that? We have to go! The last door should be open come on!" He grabbed Hizashi by the upper arm and tried to drag him out, but the other man still didn't respond. Shouta did succeed in turning him though, and finally caught sight of his eyes. They were unfocused, like he wasn't seeing anything around him. Hizashi continued to talk breezily.

"You make an excellent point, my furry friend."

The ice that had been growing steadily within him suddenly shot to his very core.

"If your spirit suffers too much, you will soon start to hallucinate, and in the end you will be destroyed. More worrying yet, is that you will not even be conscious of that fact."

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to break Hizashi out of whatever state this room had forced him into. Normally he would have gotten Hizashi to a safe place and called for back up to try and figure out how to fix this, but that wasn't an option and the more time passed the more time there was for Midoriya to be hurt...

Despite this, Aizawa grit his teeth and made a decision.

He grabbed Hizashi and dragged him out of the room as quickly as he could. Aizawa let him slump to the floor as soon as they were out and slammed the door behind him. "Stay here!" He ordered, hoping against hope that Hizashi would do so. Then he ran for the last door.

Izuku had instinctively spun around to face the sound when Mary's voice frightened him. The expression she was wearing was one he had never seen before. Her face, usually so ready to show off a smile, was now set in a stony glare. It was similar to the way Kaachan sometimes looked just before using his quirk on others.

"What are you doing?" she demanded sharply.

Words stuck in Izuku's throat. He swallowed trying to dislodge them.

"You aren't going off on you own and leaving your friend behind, are you?"

She took a step toward him, and Izuku stumbled back.

"N-no! I know that's d-dangerous! I was just looking ahead, it, you were still," Izuku's eyes flickered to the palette knife still clenched in Mary's hand. It was covered in white powder "uh, still busy, so I just thought- I wanted to be helpful!"

Mary stopped glaring. Her gaze softened, but her smile now stretched too wide. "That's good. We have to stay together after all. I can't go to your house or meet you mom if we don't."

Mary stepped closer to him again and again, and each time he took a step back. He wasn't sure why; something in Mary's expression and tone just demanded he did. Soon they were in the next room, and Izuku had a wall to his right and back, and a stairway to his left.

"I want to get out of here...I want it so bad. You do too don't you, Izuku? We can go together, wouldn't that be great, Izuku?"

Izuku's back hit the wall behind him. A part of his mind wondered if he could make it down the stairs without falling, but it was overpowered by the fear coursing through him.

"Izuku? Izuku why are you running? You weren't lying to me earlier, were you Izuku?"

Izuku tried to get himself to say something, anything, but he couldn't. She took another step forward, Izuku pressed himself against the wall, she was almost nose to nose with him-

A sharp snap filled the air, and Mary suddenly vanished from his sight. A thump to his left made him look down the stairs.

Mr. Aizawa stood at the bottom. His hands were holding the end of his capture weapon, and Mary was slumped against the wall and floor, wrapped in the gray material.

Izuku felt his legs give out, and he slid down the wall and onto the floor.

"Midoriya!" Izuku heard Mr. Aizawa a moment before he saw him kneeling in front of him. The hero could run up stairs really fast. "Are you hurt?"

"N-No, I'm okay." He wasn't really, but he knew he wasn't hurt in the way Mr. Aizawa meant.

Mr. Aizawa let out a breath. "Good. Now come on, we need to help Hizashi."

"Mr. Mic? Was he the one who screamed earlier?" Izuku asked. He forced himself to get up on shaky limbs, he couldn't let them keep him back from helping. Mr. Aizawa saw his struggle and took his hand to help him up. They started going down the stairs, and Izuku saw Mary once again. It didn't look like she was moving at all.

"What about Mary? Is she okay?"

"She's fine."

Mr. Aizawa's words seemed more like a brush off than actual reassurance. Still, he was a hero, so he'd know if a civilian was really hurt, right? Still, Izuku couldn't help but look at Mary as they passed, trying to tell if she was breathing. Maybe he just couldn't see it under all the fabric...

Mr. Aizawa lead him through a door at the bottom of the steps, and suddenly everything was purple again. The hero moved quickly and purposefully across the room, then he stopped. He said a bad word under his breath and started running, and Izuku hurried to try and keep up. He couldn't, but he still kept sight of the hero, and saw him go into a standalone room. Inside, there were a bunch of bunnies like earlier, and Mr. Aizawa was kneeling in front of Mr. Mic. Izuku didn't really get what was wrong, Mr. Mic looked fine. He did seem to be talking to the bunnies though, that was kind of a weird thing for a grown up to do.

"Midoriya, could you please try talking to him?"

Izuku blinked at how pleading Mr. Aizawa sounded, but he didn't argue. He went over to stand next to Mr. Aizawa.

"Mr. Mic, are you doing okay?"

"It's nice not to think sometimes isn't it?" He asked breezily, staring at the rabbits with a dreamy expression.

"Huh? What do you mean Mr. Mic?"

"So much simpler, yes."

"M-Mr. Mic...?"

"I feel like I could tell you anything!"

"Dammit Hizashi!"

Izuku jumped at Mr. Aizawa's suddenly yell. He jumped back even further when Mr. Aizawa slapped the other hero hard across the face.

"Wake up Hizashi! Don't you dare make me drag your ass all over this gallery!"

Mr. Mic didn't say anything, but he didn't start talking again. His face was turned toward Mr. Aizawa now, and he looked surprised. Determined to help, Izuku balled up his fist and punched Mr. Mic on his other cheek.

"Mirodiya!" Mr. Aizawa shouted in surprise.

"It's what you did!"

"OW! What the heck guys?"

Two head snapped to the side. Present Mic was rubbing his face and grimacing. "Man, I knew Shouta packed a punch, but I didn't expect that from you little listener! What the heck was-"

He cut off as two bodies latched onto him, Aizawa from the front and Midoriya from the side. He sat there stunned for a moment as the two clutched tightly to him. He let out a chuckle, and put an arm around each of them.

"Whatever happened, I really worried you both, huh? Sorry about that."

"Shut up for once." Aizawa muttered, Hizashi laughed.

When the hug was over, the three moved together in a tight group as they left the room.

"My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think we were looking for something right? Did we find it?" Hizashi asked once they were out of the room.

"We found all the balls of paint, yeah." Aizawa confirmed.

"Paint! That's what it was, of course it was paint."

"...do you remember what we found while we were looking for them? About Mary?"

Izuku looked up at Mr. Aizawa, his little brow furrowed in worry and confusion. "You found something about Mary in here? Is it like when my mom was in that painting?"

Aizawa sighed. "Not exactly."

Aizawa lead them into a room that had a tree pained above it, like the one that had a key hole upstairs. When he brought out a book on Guertena's paintings and opened it up, Izuku could only stare at the page in disbelief.

"Oh...now I remember." Mr. Mic said faintly.

"This, this could just be a trick right? It's just something to scare us..."

Mr. Mic read out the passage about the painting not being based off of a real person, and Izuku felt his heart sink. She had been so nice...until she got upset anyway. Why would she act like that before if all the rest of the gallery was mean to them right away? Why would she try to be his friend if she was just a painting? Tears stung at the corner of his eyes. Maybe Kaachan was right, no real kid would want to be friends with a useless Deku...

Seeing the tears, Mr. Mic knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll check on her before he leave, just to be sure. But, if she is from the gallery, we can't take her with us, you understand Midoriya? It would be too dangerous."

Izuku swallowed hard, but nodded. His steps were heavy as he followed the two heroes to the stairs where Mary lay. She hadn't moved from her position since they left. The heroes checked her over, unwinding the capture weapon as they did. Izuku looked on from the base of the stairs, hoping they would find something to show she was just a girl who needed help, and not a painting. His hopes were dashed when Mr. Mic sighed, and brought over something to show him.

It was Mary's yellow rose. He automatically took it when Mr. Mic held it out to him, and he immediately felt that something was wrong. The stem of this rose didn't feel the same as his own. He lightly brushed the petals, and they felt wrong too.

"Sorry little listener. Looks like Mary's rose is fake."

Izuku's shoulders slumped. She really was part of the gallery then...

Aizawa got his capture weapon free, and replaced it with a zip tie around Mary's wrists. He really did carry a lot of stuff. Izuku couldn't find it within himself to be excited by the new information though.

The heroes each gave him a comforting pat, then started walking up the stairs. Izuku followed with a heavy heart.

A.N.

I always thought the game's version of having Mary immediately and noticeably going off the rails when the Tattletale scene happened was kind of a weird transition for her characters after hiding her worse side pretty well before that. So I tried to make it a bit more gradual here, with Mary mostly keeping her composure right after the reveal and going off somewhere else to have her freak out. She only lets that other side show to Izuku when she sees him apparently going back on his word and leaving her behind, which hits her hard when he'd just promised to be her friend.