After one year, three months and one day without an update, 100 Percent Hero has made an unexpected return! I know that alot of you people out there are wondering what happened to me and why I took such a long hiatus. Thing is, this chapter was really difficult for me to write, and I'd experienced some big roadblocks creating it. It caused me to lose some passion with the story, and combined with the other shit that was going on in my life, made me take a break for a while. However, as you see, I have not abandoned this story, and do not intend to abandon it either. For all the eager readers who took the time to message me, I thank you for your patience and your dedication to this story. It really makes me happy to know there're people who love this story so much, and I truly apologize if I didn't get to all the messages and that it took so long to get this chapter posted. To make up for such a long hiatus, this is gonna be a very long chapter, so enjoy!


The students of Class 1-A and the pro heroes all stood tense, watching in apprehension as the villains stared them down with maniacal grins. The two enemies standing against them were Spinner, a villain with a quirk that gave him the appearance of a lizard, and Magne, a villain with a large frame and terrifying strength.

"How are you all this evening, U.A. High School? We are the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains!" Spinner said.

Magne's smirk widened as she increased the pressure on Pixie Bob's head. "I could crush this kitten's head, so how about it? Should I?"

"You get away from her!" Tiger yelled.

Before either could reply further, Spinner calmly placed his hands up to both Tiger and Magne. "Now hold on. We're deciding a person's fate, and it's imperative we abide by Stain's principles while doing it."

The mentioning of Stain's name caught the attention of the students, and for Tenya, merely mentioning the Hero Killer was enough to make his blood boil and bring back memories of their fateful encounter. "So you're the ones he ended up inspiring?" Iida snarled.

"At your service! I believe I recognize you, Four-Eyes! You're one of the brats who attacked Stain in Hosu City! Allow me to introduce myself!" The villain unsheathed his massive sword and aimed it at his opponents, "My name is Spinner, and I'm here to make Stain's dreams a reality!"

The two heroes began to take offensive stances, and Mandalay had just finished using her Quirk to inform all of the students of the situation. "Tiger, I've talked to everyone! We can trust the safety of the other students to Ragdoll! The two of us will stay here and hold these villains off! The rest of you, go to camp, and don't engage anyone! I'll be counting on you, class rep!"

"Leave it to me!" Iida wasted no time in taking charge and motioned all of his classmates back to the main building.

"Midoriya, what're you doing?" The class rep looked back as his friend remained motionless. But as they were going, Izuku remained frozen in place, because there was something vital he knew that no one else did.

"All of you, go on without me!" The young teenager knew that there was one person unaccounted for and alone at the moment: Kota. He was the only person besides Shigeo who knew where Kota went during this time, so that meant it was up to him to get Kota back to camp. "Mandalay, I know where Kota is! I'll go get him!"

Before any of them could even reply, the green electricity cackled around Izuku's body, and the teenager went sprinting for the young boy. Hopefully Kota was alright...


Standing at the edge of the rock formation, Kota watched with confusion and horror as a combination of pink smoke and blue flames appeared across the camp. He didn't understand what this was: were the campers doing this? But why would they? There was clearly something else going on here...

From behind him, an unidentified man approached him. The young boy turned to face him, and his heart immediately began racing. He staggered backward, his lips trembling as this hulking, intimidating figure stood before him. The man wore a dark cloak, and his face was covered by some sort of hockey mask with multiple holes. As this man walked toward him, Kota could hear Mandalay contacting him through Telepath, urging him to return to camp as soon as possible. But Kota was too scared to even register her voice.

"I came up here scouting for a nice vantage point, and here I find someone who's not on our list." The man's voice was deep and malicious, which only served to further unnerve Kota. "By the way, nice hat kid. It looks cool. Would you mind making a trade? They made me wear this lame mask because I'm new to the group, said they couldn't get a shipment of the good masks in-time."

The unknown villain took off his mask, but Kota quickly attempted to flee before the villain could say anything else. Alas, the villain managed to effortlessly catch up, jumping off the wall to cut off Kota's exit. The young boy yelled out in terror as the man prepared to attack him. The villain's left arm suddenly began to coat itself with muscle fibers.

"Why don't you and me have some fun up here, kid? Ready?"

As Kota got a good look at the man's face, his entire body froze up. He knew this man. He remembered exactly where he was, watching television as a news reporter gave details about the deaths of his parents and the man responsible for their deaths: Muscular, an extremely dangerous criminal with a power-up Quirk. What's more, the reporter had noted that the man had lost one of his eyes during the fight with the Water Hose heroes. As this man's face was unveiled, Kota's eyes pooled with tears. There was no mistaking it: this was the man who'd murdered his parents.

"Mama! Papa!"

The paralyzed boy helplessly stood as Muscular prepared to strike him, but before his body could be crushed into a bloody pulp, a blur of green appeared and grabbed Kota at the last second. Coming it at incredible speed, Izuku had successfully managed to swoop in and bring the young boy out of danger.

"Now you, I recognize," the villain remarked, "You were on the list."

As Izuku regained his footing, his mind began to take in the situation. He'd only come here to make sure Kota back to the camp safely, but he hadn't expected to run into any villains along the way. Not only that, but the landing broke his phone, so there was no way he could contact anyone for help. He didn't tell any of his classmates where he was going either.

There was at least one small glimmer of hope. Kageyama also knew where Kota's hiding spot was. Maybe he'd come and give him support. If Kageyama was here, then it wouldn't be any problem. But that was only assuming that Kageyama didn't already have his hands full...


Deep in the forest, Kageyama anad Yaoyorozu had been dealing with the sudden influx of gas and Mandalay's message notifying them that villains had invaded the camp. Naturally, this revelation had been very shocking and disconcerting for both of them.

"Villains have attacked? But I thought the location of the camp was kept secret. How could anyone find this place?"

"I haven't a clue. But for anyone to attack a training camp of U.A. High, they must have both incredible resources and equally incredible villains. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that the League of Villains has returned, and I imagine they've adapted their plan of attack compared to last time."

Hearing the name of this villainous organization sent a chill down the esper's spine.

"Last time the League of Villains attacked, it was in order to eliminate All Might. What could they want from us this time?" the heroine pondered. A horrible thought suddenly crossed her mind. "Perhaps this time... they'll be targeting the students."

"What kind of villains do you think they brought here? You think they brought some more of their Nomu?"

"Unfortunately, I'd say running into some Nomu is a strong possibility..." Shigeo's chest quickly constricted in terror, and memories of the last encounter at the U.S.J. were flooding his mind. His teacher had both of his arms broken like twigs, and his friends had nearly been turned into dust by Shigaraki. What if Shigaraki had come here tonight and planned to kill the students? With his Quirk, they'd be dead in seconds! Not only that, but the Nomu they'd brought with them was strong enough to fight against All Might, and according to Shigaraki, he had several Nomu as powerful as that one at his disposal. If anyone other than Mob were to fight those things, they'd be killed!

"As far as what kinds of villains will show up, I imagine they won't be nearly as weak as the small-time criminals our class faced at the U.S.J. They likely have much more experienced criminals with more unpredictable Quirks. I'm not sure whether our classmates or the students from Class B will be able to handle themselves like we did before."

"So then what's the plan?"

"The first priority is ensuring that all of the students are protected from the poisonous gas, so we need to go searching for them. Then, I can create some gas masks for them. Once that's done, we should have everyone return back to the main campus. We shouldn't engage in combat unless absolutely necessary. Now we need to go! We've wasted enough time talking!"

"Right!" The young esper ran behind Yaoyorozu as they made their way through the forest.

"We want to stay hidden while making sure we don't follow the main route, or else the villains will easily ambush us. And remember Mandalay's message: don't engage the villains in combat. I'm sure with your skill, that wouldn't be a problem, but I'd rather not have you taking the risk anyway."

"For sure." Mob felt the same way: the last thing he wanted was for Momo to get seriously hurt. Whatever plan the villains had, he just couldn't allow them to succeed. As the young teenagers continued running quietly through the woods, they eventually came across the unconscious bodies of two of their classmates.

"Jirou and Hagakure. They've already been knocked out," the esper somberly noted.

"At the very least we found them." From Momo's arms, two gas masks popped out, and the heroine wasted no time in putting them on the faces of her friends. "We've got two down. Now let's keep going. Use your telekinesis to carry them, but keep them low, or else the villains could spot them."

As the teenage heroes continued venturing into the woods, they kept their eyes peeled, looking at every angle in every corner to see what students were roaming about or which ones had already been knocked out by this villain's Quirk. As they did, Shigeo's anxiety only continued to grow, as uneasy thoughts plagued his mind. There were so many of his classmates who were in danger, who were probably laying there defenseless on the ground, easy pickings for any villains who stumbled across them.

Suddenly, a terrible thought came to him. What about Kota? Was he safe? He was only a child, after all, and he couldn't really use his Quirk to defend himself. Not only that, but Mob was the only one who knew where Kota went by himself, meaning none of the other Pussycats could rescue him. But as disastrous thought came to him, he calmed down when he remembered that there was someone else who knew Kota's location. Mob had no doubt in his mind that Izuku was already on his way to Kota's spot. He probably arrived already. A part of him wanted to go right now to confirm it himself, but at the moment, there were bigger priorities. Once he and Yaoyorozu had located all of the students and returned them back to camp, then he'd go to Kota's location to confirm his safety. But for now, he couldn't let himself be distracted, for he needed to be on high-alert for any villains roaming around the woods.

Soon after, they quickly found the next group of students wandering through the woods, but as it happened, they weren't from their class, but were the students of Class B. Upon seeing them, Mob instantly recognized Kendo and Tetsutetsu, the former of who was using her Quirk to hold two students in her enlarged hands, while the latter was carrying an unconscious Shiozaki in his arms. Standing beside them were some other students of Class B he wasn't familiar with. Carrying the unconscious body of Honenuki was Kodai, while the student Mob only knew as the one who wore the white headband, Yosetsu Awase, stood beside them.

"Yaoyorozu, Kageyama, you're safe!" Kendo said, her voice filled with relief.

"Don't talk yet! Quickly, put these on!" Momo instantly created four gas masks for the students of Class B. Once they put them on, they all took a collective breath.

"I forgot how useful your Quirk can be, Yaoyorozu," said Awase, "These masks'll be a big help."

"Are all of you ok," Yaoyorozu asked, "Did you run into any villains yet?"

"Thankfully, we haven't been spotted," Kendo replied, "I was trying to get back to camp with Honenuki and Yui, when I ran into Tetsutetsu and Awase."

"How about the rest of Class B?" Mob inquired.

"A lot of them already got knocked out," Awase replied, "I went out into the woods to see if I'd find any other classmates who weren't unconscious so they could help me get the others back to camp. Didn't think I'd run into so many people."

"Anyway, our priority is getting all of the students back safely. Awase, take me to the rest of your classmates so I can give them the gas masks and stop the poisonous gas from entering their bodies anymore."

"Good idea," Kendo replied, "With Kageyama here, it'll be way easier to carry all the bodies back to camp. So come on, let's hurry before we run into any-"

"No. I'm going to fight." The other students were baffled by Tetsutetsu's sudden statement. "You guys go find the rest of the class and take them back to camp."

"What? Mandalay told us to retreat?" Kendo replied.

"That isn't a logical move! We don't know what kind of Quirks these villains have! Walking into enemy territory without a plan will only put you in danger!" Yaoyorozu retorted.

Tetsutetsu's gaze went to the ground. "You might not be able to feel the differences between our classes, but I do. Our classes aren't the same." The three conscious students of Class B lightly gasped. "Our two classes got into U.A. through the same exam, we studied the same curriculum, but your class is clearly better."

Tetsutetsu's eyes went back to Yaoyorozu. "It's because your class has been through crisis after crisis, and turned each of them into an opportunity to strengthen yourselves. A real hero doesn't turn his back and run from a battle. Fighting villains is what we do. Besides,"

The steel-skinned teenager focused his attention on Kageyama. "I'm a member of the Body Improvement Club, and when any of us feel ready to throw in the towel, we push through the pain and fight on. Isn't that right, Kageyama?"

In spite of the enormity of their situation, Mob couldn't help but feel a sudden swell of passion and pride, and he felt his lips curve into a small smile, and the other members of the Body Improvement Club couldn't help but do the same.

"First, I'm gonna find the guy who's making this poisonous gas and beat him to a pulp!"

"Yes, that villain should probably be our first target. Though finding him in this gas would be difficult. These masks can only filter so much gas."

"I think I've already got an idea of where he might-"

"Wait." Kendo was suddenly cut off by Kageyama, whose hand was raised out. "Do you hear that?"

The students raised their eyebrows and stood in silence, trying to listen to what Mob was talking about.

"Yea. It's like... the trees are being cut down," Awase replied, "And so many at once..."

"It's getting louder..." muttered Yui. The distant sound of a few trees falling quickly changed into the deafening noise of dozens of trees being felled.

96%

"Get down!" Before the teenagers could begin to process what was causing this, a pair of elongated arms began to swing through the forest and aiming right at the bodies of the high school students. But before they could be sliced in half, all of them felt a heavy pressure forcing them to the ground. As the esper used his psychic powers to force the students to duck, he simultaneously created a barrier which managed to save him from the large bladed arm cleaving his body. As the teenagers looked up, standing among the fallen trees were three black Nomu standing side-by-side.

"Those are... Nomu," muttered Awase.

Each of the Nomu had elongated arms that were stretched several meters. At the edges of these arms, there were several sharp blades in place of their hands. For some unsettling reason, all three of these Nomu looked identical. Each of them had the same black skin, the same exposed brain, and the same lifeless eyes. However, those lifeless eyes quickly set their attention on one student in particular.

The bowl-haired esper gasped as he saw the middle Nomu quickly rush towards him, pummeling him with his fist which had suddenly morphed back into a regular hand. The attack managed to break through the already weakened barrier and managed to hit Mob in the stomach, sending him back several meters. As the esper felt the force of this Nomu's punch, he compared it back to his first encounter with a Nomu. Compared to the Nomu at the U.S.J., this Nomu's punch wasn't nearly as strong, but it was still nothing to be scoffed at.

"Kageyama!" Kendo yelled.

Suddenly, the other two Nomu came rushing towards Kageyama and attempted to pummel him with their fists. Kageyama reacted quickly and released a telekinetic push to send all of the monsters flying back. As this happened, the other students quickly got back up to try and assist the esper.

"Hey, leave'em alone, you ugly bastard!" Tetsutetsu activated his Quirk and struck one of the Nomu with a barrage of punches. To the teenager's shock, the creature didn't even flinch, nor did it even bother acknowledging his attacks at all. Instead, the Nomu rushed toward Mob again and attempted to grab him, causing Mob to duck to avoid the creature's arms while he landed a point-blank energy blast at the Nomu. The monster was momentarily staggered, but Mob barely had time to register this before the other two Nomu came and attempted the same thing.

"These Nomu, they're not after us," Momo muttered, a terrible feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, "They're after Kageyama!" Was that the purpose of this attack then? To eliminate Kageyama?

"Listen, you guys need to get to the rest of the students to safety!" yelled Mob as he continued evading and defending against the monsters. "Yaoyorozu, go with the other students from Class B!"

"But what about you?" she shouted.

"I'll take care of these Nomu alone!"

Tetsutetsu refused to accept the esper's proposal. "No way in hell we're leaving you high-and-dry like this!"

"I can handle it! The rest of the class is the top priority! JUST GO!"

The hard-headed teenager attempted to protest, but Kendo placed a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't the time to argue, not when he's fighting for his life." The girl's body momentarily trembled in frustration, not wanting to leave Shigeo to fight all by himself but knowing it was their only choice right now. "We need to focus on doing what we can for the class. You and I'll go find the villain creating the gas! Yui, take those two back to camp, and Yaoyorozu, Awase, go back to the rest of Class B!"

The ginger-haired girl quickly took off sprinting into the woods. Tetsutetsu gave one last look at the psychic before running off to join his classmate. As this was happening, Yui took the unconscious bodies of Shiozaki and Honenuki to be taken back to camp, while Awase was attempting to drag Yaoyorozu back to the rest of his classmates.

"Yaoyorozu, don't worry about it. You saw what Kageyama could do in the Sports Festival. These things don't stand a chance against him." Logically, she knew retreating was the best option, but it just felt so wrong to leave Kageyama alone like this. After this brief internal battle, she decided to choose logic, but before she left, the young teenager shouted to the esper.

"Kageyama!" She knew he was in the middle of a battle, but Yaoyorozu felt she just had to say this. A seed of fear and insecurity was growing in her heart, and she felt she had to stop it from growing any further, or else she wouldn't be able to think straight at all.

Upon hearing her voice, Shigeo telekinetically froze the Nomu and looked down at Yaoyorozu. "Once I'm done helping the others, I'm coming right back here, ok! So you have to promise me that you'll be alright until then! Please!"

Mob could hear the tone of fear and desperation laced in her words and was shocked by how panicked she was. To know she was so afraid of him dying in-battle, it only strengthened his resolve to win. "I promise, Yaoyorozu! I won't be going anywhere!"

The resolve in his voice was strong, and it was enough for the young girl to push aside any doubts and leave the esper to fight on his own. Yes, Mob would be fine! He just had to be, and Momo would help make sure of it!

After his friend had left, Mob focused his full attention back on the Nomu, who had just broken free of Mob's telekinesis. The creature extended its arm once again and attempted to strike Kageyama, but the esper managed to dodge the blow. The other two Nomu rushed towards him, and Mob retaliated by using his a telekinetic push to send them pummeling through the trees. Despite this, the Nomu managed to recover almost instantaneously and continued going on the offensive.

The third Nomu's mouth quickly began to open, and Mob felt a pit of nausea as he saw a red, gooey substance forming from inside its mouth. The monster fired this unknown substance at Kageyama, but he used his telekinesis to hold it midair before it could reach him. Suddenly, the other two Nomu fired this same substance from their mouths, which the esper once again protected himself from using his telekinesis. What exactly was it that they were firing at him? Before he had time to figure it out, one of the Nomus rushed forward and attacked him with a straight jab, which the esper blocked with a barrier. The other Nomu followed up by clamping its fists together and slamming down on Mob's barrier, which managed to crack his defenses, before the final monster came with a side kick and shattered the barrier, its foot barreling into the esper's chest.

As this happened, Mob took note of something odd. Despite all of them appearing identical, it seemed that the level of power each of them possessed varied. The strength of each of these physical attacks felt different, as though the first was the strongest, the second was weaker, and the third was the weakest. However, none of them possessed close to the strength of the U.S.J. Nomu. He wondered what the reason for that was, but with all of them coming down on him at once, he didn't have much time to think. Even if all of them weren't identical in strength, each of them was still strong enough to cause him considerable trouble.

Mob didn't have time to waste: he had to finish this off quickly. The esper used his psychic powers to try and twist the limbs of the creatures like he'd done against the previous Nomu, but their impressive strength allowed them to resist having their limbs torn off from their bodies. The most he could do with his powers is tear through the muscle and twist the limbs moderately, but this damage was quickly regenerated. It looked like any black Nomu had the ability to regenerate extensive damage. This was going to be trickier than he thought.

One of the Nomu began shaping his arms, changing his hands into a cannon with four holes on each hand. The creature proceeded to fire a volley of small yet powerful energy blasts from his hand cannons. Mob placed another barrier, but it didn't take long for the barrier to break and for Mob to be pelted by a barrage of energy bullets. While this happened, the other Nomu fired the same red gooey substance from before. Mob attempted to evade the slime, but he couldn't fully avoid the substance, resulting in his leg. It didn't appear to be a harmful or acidic substance, lucky for Mob, but he very quickly found it very difficult to break free from this slime. So it was some sort of adhesive meant to trap Mob.

The creatures continued to fire another volley of slime, but Mob protected himself with another barrier. This time, however, he placed two additional barriers to give him extra defense and allow him enough time to break free of the slime. The esper continued to try and use his strength to pull himself out, yet the adhesive was far more resilient than he'd expected it to be. He'd have to take some more drastic measures to deal with this substance. Mob cupped his hand to form a ball of energy, which he then fired point-blank at the slime.

As he was doing this, however, a light tremor shook beneath his feet. What was this? Whatever was capable of causing this must've had tremendous power. Could it be Deku's full-power punch? That was the first explanation he could come up with. But was there really an enemy here who was stronger than the Nomu? It seemed unlikely. But the esper didn't have time to ponder these thoughts: if he lost focus, he'd be left at the mercy of the Nomu.

Mob continued maintaining the energy blast for a few seconds, until he managed to vaporize enough of the red goo to write free from its grip. Unfortunately, the three Nomu decided to cooperate and pelt Mob's barriers with bullets from all sides, and even the multiple barriers he placed weren't enough to keep Mob secured. Before he knew it, Mob was being pelted by a barrage of bullets.

Mob quickly regained his composure and took evasive measures. Clearly this wasn't going to work. If he kept going on the defensive, the Nomu would only just keep wearing down his stamina. This was precisely what all the training with All Might and all his time at the training camp had been for: to overcome his reliance on his barriers and telekinesis. He could do this: he just had to remember everything he'd learned so far.

Mob formed ten whips at his hands, five for each hand, and used those whips to grab two of the Nomu. He slammed both of their bodies together before throwing them down to the ground, creating a large impact which reverberated throughout the forest. The other Nomu fired another slime ball, but this time Mob destroyed the slime with a large blast of energy. Mob then took the opportunity to rush toward the Nomu and strike the creature with a right jab, followed by a downward kick which proceeded to send the creature down to the Earth and created another large impact. Mob decided to fire a large ball of energy at the Nomu below him, but the other two Nomu intercepted the energy blast, and with effort, redirected it into the air, causing a huge explosion.

The two Nomu on the ground began to fire the small energy bullets again, and Mob decided to counter by firing energy bullets from both of his hands. Their attacks were evenly matched, but as they continued to fire, the third Nomu appeared from behind him and kicked him to the ground. Damn it! Even when using more diverse energy attacks, fighting three opponents at once was still more than he bargained for.

As if to make matters worse, he suddenly felt a tremor, slightly more powerful than the one before. What was going on? A pit was beginning to form in his stomach. His thoughts were returning to Deku. If the first tremors were really from one of Deku's full-power punches, then that means that whatever opponent he was fighting was strong enough to endure punches from 100% of One For All. Could there really be someone strong enough invading the camp? He wanted to see for himself, but the Nomu were preventing him from staying in the air thanks to their coordinated attacks.

97%

One of the Nomu swung its elongated arm at Mob, which the esper blocked with his arm, while the other Nomu once again fired the red slime to try and trap Mob. He narrowly avoided the slime, but was met with an attack from the other Nomu which he did not have time to block, followed by another shot of slime. Mob narrowly blocked the slime with a barrier and retaliated with an energy blast. As the battle went on, he was becoming more and more concerned. Was Deku fighting an opponent he couldn't beat, one potentially rivaling the strength of All Might?

98%

It was becoming blatantly clear to the esper that his best friend needed Mob's help. But the Nomu weren't giving him any openings! He was feeling a rising sense of frustration. How could he be so ineffective? He was supposed to be a hero! He'd been spending all this time training with All Might and with Deku to improve himself as a hero, and yet he still couldn't deal with these opponents and help his friend when he was in trouble!

These conflicting thoughts gave the Nomu an opening to attack, and the obsidian creature launched a powerful energy blast which sent Mob crashing through several trees and into the ground. Then, the three Nomu all joined together and repeated the combined assault from before. Except this time, as the esper put up more barriers to protect himself, two of the Nomu used their energy to fire bullets while the other fired the red slime, having learned from the previous attacks. While he was protecting himself, Mob attempted to use his telekinesis to push the Nomu away, but the creatures were able to resist his telekinesis, and the continuous attacks from the other two Nomu were making it difficult to maintain his multiple barriers. Eventually, the barriers broke yet again, and Mob could not properly defend himself as the combination of energy bullets and slime struck him.

The Nomu saw this as their chance. With the esper distracted, all three Nomu fired their balls of slime at the esper, and within seconds, nearly all his body was covered with the gooey substance. Only his head remained untouched to give him the chance to breath. The esper tried with all his might to break free of the sticky material, but alas, it wouldn't budge.

With the esper restrained, all three Nomu surrounded him. Mob's demeanor became more panicked, more frantic. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening. He couldn't allow himself to be defeated at a time like this. Not when his best friend could be fighting for his life. He couldn't allow this! He needed to break free now, now, NOW!

100% Desperation

Once again driven by the fear of his friends in mortal danger, Mob's hidden power reignited. What was seemingly unescapable before became as fragile as paper. With a single burst of power, the red slime burst all around him. The Nomu were helplessly outclassed by the esper's full strength. With blinding speed, Shigeo punched one of the Nomu square in the chest. The impact created a burst of shockwaves, and within seconds, the Nomu's body suddenly turned into a dark grey fluid, dissolving on the floor. Mob didn't even have time to register the confusion of this phenomenon, and turned his sight to the other Nomu, kicking the creature's head off and watching the same phenomenon occur.

For the final Nomu, the teenager fired a short-range burst of energy which vaporized nearly all of the Nomu's upper body, leaving a large empty hole in place. Shigeo expected this to destroy the Nomu like it did for the other two, but for some reason, it quickly began to regenerate. Mob took quick action, this time firing a powerful energy blast at the creature's head. The Nomu proved incapable of regenerating from this kind of damage, leaving only its mangled, half-regenerated body.

There was no time to lose. The battle with the Nomu had taken Shigeo rather far from their original spot, so he quickly shot up to the sky to get a birds-eye view. His eyes desperately scanned the surrounding environment to find the landmark where Kota would run off to. After a few seconds, he pinpointed the location, and in a fraction of a second, flew over to the location.

Mob arrived at the scene fully expecting a fight and his friend with a broken arm, but what he saw before him was something else entirely. The villain he was prepared to defeat laid already defeated and unconscious, and standing victorious over the fallen foe was his best friend. Only a few feet beside Izuku stood Kota, his eyes drenched with tears.

Izuku and Kota turned when they saw this new arrival. Deku felt a weight lifted off his shoulder and let out a smile of relief. During his fight with Muscular, after he'd knocked him down with his first 100% Detroit Smash, he'd seen his friend fighting three opponents in the distance. But before he could go to try and help him, Muscular had recovered and forced him to use another Detroit Smash. Luckily, Mob didn't need his help.

"Shige, thank god you're ok. You managed to beat the three villains."

"Izuku..." Mob's entire body shook, his aura flaring to life as he looked at the state his friend was in. Blood was running down his face. His left arm had been broken and stood limp at this side, but his left arm looked fine compared to the utter mess his right arm was in. The entirety of his right arm was covered in a dark-black hue, completely destroyed by the force of One For All. Last time he'd seen Deku's limbs in that shade, it was during his fight against Todoroki when he used his broken fingers to fight.

Tears quickly pooled in the esper's eyes, rushing over to his friend and gazing at the injuries like a doctor looking over a patient. "Izuku! What happened to your arms? What did you do to yourself?"

"I underestimated that villain's power and had to go past my limit."

"You overdid it and used two full-powered smashes with your same arm, didn't you?" Deku stayed silent.

"You shouldn't have done that! You should've waited for me to get here!"

"There wasn't enough time! He was gonna kill Kota!"

Mob placed both his hands on his forehead, still horrified by the extent of the damage to his friend's arms. "You can't go on with those injuries! I need to heal you right away!"

Beside them, the young boy gasped, his eyes glistening with a faint sense of hope. "You mean you can fix his arms?"

"Yes," the esper replied, "I'll get started on the left one."

"No!" Midoriya fiercely shook his head in disapproval. "The villain I just fought told me that the League of Villains was targeting you. You'll need all your strength. If you waste your energy healing me, you'll just make yourself easy prey for the other villains."

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" Deku jolted at the loud, panicked edge in his voice. This was the first time Deku had ever heard his friend swear, or speak in such a desperate tone no less. "It's my fault that you're injured. If I'd just beaten them sooner, I could've come here and saved you. It's my responsibility to heal you when you break yourself, and I'm not gonna let you stay with those mangled arms while villains are attacking the camp! Now be quiet and let me fix your arms!"

Just as Shigeo had been stricken silent by Deku's outburst before, Deku felt any objections he had stick themselves in his throat after Mob's yelling. Even though logically, Deku's reasoning held greater weight, Mob wasn't being driven by logic. The only thing fueling the esper at that moment was this unstable sense of desperation and guilt over Deku's current predicament, and that fuel wouldn't run out until Deku's arms were as good as new. It was because Deku could hear that desperation in his voice that he knew anything he said to try and dissuade his friend would be pointless.

Mob momentarily inspected Deku's left arm to see where the fracture was and where he'd need to channel the most energy. He placed both his hands over Izuku's left arm and proceeded to send his psychic energy into the broken limb, coating it with his energy. However, as he did this, Mob quickly noted something wrong. For some reason, his healing was less... precise. It was as if the signals he was sending to the body to heal itself weren't giving the body the proper command.

"What the... what's wrong with my healing? I've gotta channel more energy." Mob grunted in frustration and focused more of his energy into the broken arm to compensate for the less precise signals.

After about twenty seconds, the energy around Deku's left arm faded, and it now appeared completely fixed. "Now onto the other one."

Deku managed to regain his voice after noticing Mob momentarily struggle with the healing, and forced his right arm away. "Shige, that's enough. If it took that much energy to fix my left arm, then it'll take way more energy to fix my right arm. You'll only drain yourself!"

"I said I'm fixing your arm, Izuku!" shouted Mob. He snatched Izuku's right arm, in no mood to hear his friend's objections, "If you keep on resisting, then I'll knock you out if I have to! You got it?!"

Hearing his friend's tone and threat put him back in silence. Last thing he wanted was to be unconscious while his friends were in danger. Mob took hold of the other arm and prepared the healing. Energy burst all around his body, where Mob then redirected it into Izuku's damaged arm. His limb was now glowing bright blue, much brighter than the energy that had surrounded his left arm. Mob was channeling everything he had, sending the imperfect healing signals mixed in with the feelings of desperation imbued in his energy. The esper yelled, putting all the energy he could muster into healing his friend while both Deku and Kota stood in shock.

Finally, after more than thirty seconds, the esper released his hands from his friend's arm. As the energy around Deku's arm faded, Kota felt his heart do a little flip when he saw that it looked completely normal.

"He really fixed you," muttered Kota as he approached Izuku and placed his tiny hands around his forearm. Mob too felt all the sense of fear and desperation that had been driving him just a few seconds ago disappear, replaced by a sense of utter relief. Unfortunately for the esper, however, with that absence of desperation gone came with it an absence of nearly all his power, not to mention no feeling in his legs.

Both Deku and Kota rushed toward and caught Mob before he could fall to the ground. Now the roles were reversed, as Deku looked on in desperation at his friend's weakened state while Mob looked at his friend with the sense of relief that his friend was alive and uninjured.

"Are you ok?" asked Kota.

"Yea, yea, I'm fine Kota," replied Mob, flashing a small smile, "I was too focused on Deku to say it, but I'm glad to see that you're ok, Kota."

"Damn it, Shige..." Deku's stomach twisted in knots, for what was happening to Mob was just as he'd feared. "You just used up all your energy healing me, didn't you? Now you won't be able to fight."

"I just need a few minutes, then I'll be able to get a little bit of my strength back." Deku and Kota stood by the esper's side while he sat and recovered. While he was recovering, Deku decided to compare notes.

"Shige, tell me what happened in the woods. Did you see any of the other classmates? Who were those three opponents you were fighting?"

"Yaoyorozu and I were in the woods when we saw the pink gas spread around us. Yaoyorozu made some masks for us, and once we heard Mandalay's message, we went out to look for our classmates to give them the gas masks. We found Jirou and Hagakure knocked unconscious by the gas and took them with us. Along the way, we met up with Tetsutetsu and Kendo, and another student from Class B, and they were carrying a few of their unconscious classmates too. We made a plan to divide into two teams, one taking gas masks to the rest of the classmates in the woods, and the others taking the classmates back to camp. But suddenly, we were attacked by three Nomu, and all of them targeted me. So I held the Nomu off while the rest of them went to finish the plan."

"So those were Nomu you fought?" The gravity of their situation and Mob's safety only intensified. "How strong were they?"

"They weren't nearly as powerful as the Nomu from the U.S.J., but they were still really tough. But was really weird is that two of the Nomu were weaker than the main one. When I hit those two with strong attacks, they dissolved into some kind of dark goop."

"Odd..." The green-eyed teenager momentarily pondered this, "From what it sounds like, those two other Nomu might've been some sort of weaker copies. It sounds like they were being controlled to target you too. It must be one of the villain's Quirks. Which means that they can probably make more of those Nomu..." The thought of this made both Izuku and Shigeo shudder with fear. "Luckily, it doesn't look like any of those Nomu are out there right now, and based on the kind of damage they caused, I think we would've noticed if there were any more of them hunting for our classmates in the woods. Still, we're not out of this yet. We have no idea what other villains are out there, and if any of them are on the same level as the one I just fought, then all of our lives are in danger. On top of that, there might be other students the League is targeting."

"So what do we do?"

"First we need to let Mr. Aizawa and the Pussycats know that they're after the students." Deku shifted his gaze towards the unconscious Muscular. "We'll leave Muscular here for right now. My Delaware Detroit Smash should keep him unconscious for a while, and even if he did manage to wake up, he'd be too weak to put up a real fight. Still..." Deku's eyes returned to look at both Shigeo and Kota.

"Right now, the priority is making sure you two are safe. Shige, you go back to camp while I go help the rest of our-"

"No way." The esper refused to entertain the notion of sitting on the sidelines during this attack. "I'm not gonna just sit by while our friends are in danger."

"Shige, we can't risk putting you in the middle of this conflict when you're the main target, especially when you drained so much of your energy."

"I can still muster up a bit of power. That should be enough to get by, same as it was against Stain."

"But-"

"Izuku, if you were the one that the League was targeting, would you stand by and do nothing?" For this, Deku had no response, for both of them already knew the answer. "Even if I hadn't fixed those injuries, that still probably wouldn't have stopped you from going to help our classmates. And if you're going, I'm going."

The friend contemplated his friend's words. Even if he wanted Mob to return to the camp, his friend would probably just go out into the woods alone, and unlike Mob, Deku didn't have the heart to knock Shigeo out cold, as he felt it would be akin to a betrayal. "Alright, fine. But if you're going, you NEED to stay with me at all times. I'll protect you in case any villains ambush us.

"Kota, we're gonna need your help here, too..." The young teenager bent down to meet the child at eye-level. "The forest has been set on fire by a villain's Quirk, which means our friends could be trapped by the flames. But your water Quirk can put those fires out. We need you."

Deku stood back up, and Mob saw a clear smile plastered on his face. "We're gonna make it through this and get everyone back to camp safely. I'm sure of it!" The esper couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and astonishment. Even with the desperate situation they were in, Izuku didn't let himself be swallowed by despair. He was ready to stand tall and rescue all of their friends with a smile on his face. This standard was something Mob could not meet. It was the standard that he was aiming to achieve as a hero.

"Shige, have you managed to gain some of your power yet?"

"I'm trying, but it'll still take me another minute or two."

Deku internally sighed in frustration. "Right now, we can't wait that long. You and Kota, get on my back and I'll get us down from here." The two did as they were told. Shigeo laced his arms around Deku's chest while Kota wrapped his small arms around the esper's neck.

"Hang on tight. This could be rough!" As the green electricity cackled to life, Deku rushed down the cliffside with the other two keeping their grips firm. While he may have spoken with an air of confidence just now, Izuku's mind was still racing, wondering just what the villains were up to.


While Mob and Izuku had been fighting for their lives against some of the strongest villains who'd come to the camp, the rest of the Vanguard Action Squad had been hard at work confronting other enemies. The leader of the Vanguard Action Squad, Dabi, had ordered the villains to search the forest to find their target. While this was happening, he was attempting to snuff out any classmates by setting large portions of the woods on fire. Alongside him was Twice, who had used his Quirk's fearsome ability to make multiple copies of anyone he'd taken measurements of. Dabi had given Twice the order to create a clone of the pyrokinetic to attack the main camp building and keep the heroes occupied, while also ordering him to create two Nomu clones to assist the main Nomu in cutting down the forest to hunt for Mob.

As for the first clone of Dabi, when it confronted Mr. Aizawa, the eraser hero made quick work of the clone and destroyed it before it had much of a chance to put up a fight.

"Come on, Dabi, you got your ass handed to you by a magic scarf!" said Twice.

"How weak. That happened fast. Well, whatever. Just make another one of me. We gotta keep the pros occupied. And keep me up to date on how the other two Nomu are doing. That'll let us know whether they managed to trap Kageyama or not."

This was the conversation that had happened only a few minutes prior to the confrontation between Mob and the Nomu. During that time, each of the villains had confronted some of the students in the woods, while Dabi had continued making fires and Twice continued making copies of Dabi to distract the pro heroes. However, the pyrokinetic villain was quickly hit with some unfortunate news.

"Yo Dabi, those weak-ass Nomu couldn't cut it! Both of'em bit the dust, pro'lly by that jerkwad Kageyama."

Dabi sighed in frustration. "If the two copies were destroyed, then it's a safe bet to say the main Nomu was beaten too. The only other person who might be strong enough to take Kageyama in is Muscular." The villain turned on the com system. "Hey Muscular, do you read me? The Nomu were beaten by Kageyama. Do you have a read on his location?" The com system was silent. "Muscular! Are you there?"

It was just one setback after another. "Looks like Muscular's been beaten, probably by Kageyama too..."

"So what? Want me to make more Nomu to sniff out that bowl-cut?"

"No, if Kageyama managed to beat them so easily, then it'd probably just be a waste of time. Looks like brute force isn't gonna be the answer to this. We gotta find a way to force him to cooperate." Dabi stared at the ground a moment to ponder the best course of action. What would be the best way to force Kageyama's hand?

Within a few seconds, an idea popped up like a freshly placed light bulb. "I got it. Vanguard Action Squad, if you can read me, change of plans. Focus on finding and tracking down some new targets..."


Things were getting really bad. Running through the woods, Mr. Aizawa was on a mission to locate the rest of the students. A few of them had already made it back to camp, but there were still several students who were unaccounted for. Not only that, but the heroes were still sorely lacking in information about the villain's numbers or their plans. Regardless, the first priority was getting all the students back to camp as soon as possible.

"Mr. Aizawa!"

From the corner of his right eye, the Eraser hero caught sight of Shigeo and Izuku running together in the woods, with Kota riding on Izuku's back. From what he saw, neither of the two boys were injured, which was fortunate.

"Mr. Aizawa, you're here!" said Izuku, "Thank goodness. We need to catch you up to speed on what we've learned about the villains, but we don't have much time. There's a message we need to give to Mandalay. Take care of Kota while we're gone."

"Do you know how the rest of our class is doing?" Mob asked, "How many of them have made it back to camp."

"So far, five of your classmates have returned to camp, along with classmates who were at the remedial course."

"Then we've got to find the rest of them now! Let's go, Izuku!"

"Right!"

"Hold it!" Their homeroom teacher's stern voice stopped them in their tracks before they could return to the woods. "You two remember what happened in Hosu, don't you? Make sure that neither of you go too far, understand? All of the lives of the students are at stake."

Both teenagers became momentarily somber. How could either of them forget that night when they nearly had to watch their classmate get killed, and the same incident where they'd been reprimanded by the Chief of Police for using their Quirks against villains.

"No, we haven't," Mob replied.

"Good. Then both of you go. And tell something to Mandalay for me, too: I'm hereby granting permission to all of the students in the woods to use their Quirks in combat against the villains. You got it!"

"Understood." With that, both friends made their way to the forest to search for Mandalay and resume their operation to bring all of the students back to camp safely. Both Izuku and Shigeo were sprinting through the woods, each of their bodies coated with their respective energy to increase their speed.

As the two of them were running, Deku wanted to quickly run by some extra things with his friend. "Shige, how much power are you at right now?"

7%

"Right now, I'm at a little more than five percent. That should be enough to defend myself." Despite this assurance, Shigeo could see this was not sufficient to dissuade his friend's concerns. "Trust me, I can handle this. But just promise me that if we run into any other powerful villains, you won't go too far again. I don't have the energy to fix even a regular broken arm right now."

"I'll... try my best."

After less than a minute of going through the woods, the two teenagers made it to the clearing where the teams had gathered for the night activity. Currently, Mandalay and Tiger were still in combat with the two other villains. The two quickly noticed that Spinner was about to swing his large sword down to cleave Mandalay in two, but before he could, Mob used his telekinesis to hold his sword in-place. Deku used the opportunity to smash Spinner's sword into pieces.

"Mandalay!" Deku shouted while still midair, "Kota! He's safe!"

"You two found him?!" Mandalay had not expected either Izuku or Shigeo to return to the battlefield, but she was relieved that Kota was rescued.

"And we've got a message from Mr. Aizawa! We need to use Telepath!" Mob yelled, "Tell all the students that Mr. Aizawa's granted us permission to fight the villains!"

Mandalay did as they said, sending the telepathic signal to all the students in the woods. But as soon as she did, the pro hero directed her attention back to the two students on the battlefield. "The two of you, get back to camp right now!"

"I'm sorry, I can't!" Deku's electric aura enveloped him as he ran to the woods, and Mob followed suit by running in his direction. "And one more thing! We know one of the reasons that they're here! They're after Shige!"

"What?!" This statement drew the attention of both Mandalay and Magne away from their opponents. For Mandalay, it was a shock that the student they were after was running around in the woods, and for Magne, she was baffled by how this child knew about their objective. Could Kageyama have told him? Given that he defeated the Nomu, it was likely that Kageyama had managed to put the pieces together and realize the Nomu had specifically targeted him. But now that other students knew who their target was, it only served to further complicate the situation.

Mandalay expressed her concern towards the esper. "If you're their target, Kageyama, then you can't be out here! We can't let you put yourself at further risk!"

"I'll protect Shige from the other villains!" Deku replied, "I'll get him back to camp as soon as we find the rest of our classmates, I promise!"

But before either of the pro heroes could object, the two students had already bolted into the woods. "At least we managed to get Mr. Aizawa's message to everyone in the woods. Hopefully they'll be able to hold their own long enough for us to get there. Right now, our job is to find the rest of our classmates. Not only is it important to get them back to camp, but if we group together, our strength in numbers will be enough to keep you and everyone else safe."

"So where do you think our classmates could be?" the esper asked.

"We need to follow the route laid out for the Test of Courage. Assuming that our classmates didn't already return to camp, they should still be on the route. The ones who went second for the Test of Courage were Todoroki and Kacchan, so if we keep following the route, they should be the first ones we find."

But the two friends were in for another unexpected surprise. Coming at high speed from up ahead was a large claw of black energy, which Midoriya and Kageyama just barely avoided. Upon dodging to the left, they noticed their classmate Shoji hiding in the bushes. Both pairs of eyes widened in concern when they saw one of Shoji's arms covered in blood.

"Shoji! What happened?" asked Mob.

"Kageyama, I just heard Mandalay's message. You're the League of Villain's main target, yet you're out here trying to save our friends, right?"

Mob ignored Shoji's words and re-iterated his previous statement. "You're hurt. So one of the villains found you?"

"Yes. Me and Tokoyami were ambushed by villains. After we received Mandalay's first message, the two of us were on high alert. But one of the villains still managed to get the drop on us. I tried to cover us both, but the villain still managed to get my arm. Seeing me injured triggered Tokoyami's Quirk."

A weight quickly began to settle in his stomach. He remembered the conversation he had with Tokoyami at the U.S.J. and how Dark Shadow had acted in the rainy environment. "No, don't tell me..."

12%

"Yes. If we want to get to our classmates, we'll have to get through Dark Shadow first." Confirming his fears, the three students looked ahead, and in all its destructive glory was Dark Shadow rampaging through the forest. Dark Shadow's size had increased many times over. His regular claws were now large enough to fell trees in a ingle swipe. The dark creation's timid, yellow eyes were bleached blood red, seeking out anything to destroy, and trapped in the creature's mouth, out of the view of his friends, was Tokoyami, trying to do anything to calm down Dark Shadow.

"I had no idea Tokoyami's Quirk could explode like this..." muttered Deku.

"It must be fueled by his righteous anger and regret..."

"He needs help..." Inside the esper's heart was beginning to fill a rising sense of empathy and concern. To lose control of his power was a guilt and fear that he was all too familiar with, and seeing the friend who he'd worked beside at his internship and trained beside as part of the Body Improvement Club go through the same feeling was something he couldn't take. "I need to calm down Dark Shadow with some light!"

Too driven by his compassion and empathy to wait for the proper opening, Shigeo immediately jumped in front of the raging beast of darkness and prepared to fire a blast of bright psychic energy. But jumping in front of Dark Shadow allowed him to see an unobstructed view of Tokoyami, and Mob's entire boddy froze as he saw the tears streaming down his friend's face. He saw the utter despair and desperation with which Tokoyami fought to maintain control and not hurt his friend, all the same raw emotions that Kageyama had felt whenever he lost control of his power.

22%

Unfortunately for the esper, his moment of empathy would prove to be his downfall, for it gave the chance for the uncontrollable Dark Shadow to strike him. Kageyama was defenseless as the creature's dark appendage struck him, sending him crashing through multiple trees and into a rock formation several hundred meters away.

"Shige!" Deku cried out for his friend, which only alerted Dark Shadow to his presence. The creature swung its arm at the noise it heard, and both Shoji and Deku narrowly avoided the blow before ducking into more bushes.

"NOOO!" Tokoyami was horrified at the way his Quirk mercilessly attacked his close friend. Sadly, these churning emotions only served as more fuel for the beast of darkness, and it let out a mighty roar before continuing its rampage with even greater ferocity.

"You need to keep your voice down," Shoji whispered, "Right now, Dark Shadow is lashing out at any sound or movement, like a wild animal."

"Listen, forget about me! Go help Kageyama and find the rest of our classmates! "DARK SHADOW! CALM DOWN!"

Shoji contemplated their best course of action to calm the rampaging beast. "We need to lead them to a fire or back to camp to contain Dark Shadow. I know these are strange circumstances, but I can't just leave a suffering friend behind. So if you go help Kageyama, I'll distract Dark Shadow and you can run."

"Wait, the fire and camp are both really far away. You'll be in danger if-" His sentence was cut short by Dark Shadow's large claw felling the trees.

"I know that!" whispered Shoji, "But to save people, you have to take risks! That's what makes a hero a hero! So will you stay with me and help Tokoyami, or will you go to Kageyama's side?"

Deku was at a crossroads, for he knew that either option would have their consequences. If he left to go help Shigeo, that would only leave Shoji alone to fend off against Dark Shadow, but if he helped Tokoyami, it would leave Mob vulnerable to villain attack. Given that Mob hadn't yet returned, Izuku assumed that Dark Shadow's attack had knocked him unconscious. It vexed him to have to make this kind of choice, a sacrifice between two friends.

"I've decided: we'll stop Dark Shadow." It made Deku absolutely vent with frustration, but right now Dark Shadow was the biggest problem, and with the kind of power it possessed, a single attack from it could potentially kill Shoji or any other students unfortunate enough to cross its path. "As soon as we get him under control, I'll rush to help Shige. So here's a plan. It's not perfect, but it might work."

"What is it?"

"If Dark Shadow reacts to sound, then make duplicate arms to bait him, so he'll follow us without attacking our actual bodies. We'll lead him to Kacchan and Todoroki so they can create some light to calm Dark Shadow. But we need to hurry as quickly as possible. Every second we stand here is another second that Shige's vulnerable."

"Of course."


As some of the strongest students in Class A were dealing with Dark Shadow, the other strongest students in the class were barely holding their own against the villain. As they'd gone on the Path of Courage, they'd come across the poison gas and an unconscious student. What's more, Todoroki and Bakugo were met with the insane villain Moonfish, whose Quirk allowed him to create massive blades generated from his teeth. Todoroki was currently defending them with large walls of ice, but the villain's metal blades were slowly chipping away at the ice. To make matters worse, Bakugo couldn't use his explosions to defend themselves without causing a fire, and with Todoroki's line of sight being blocked, it would make it more difficult for him to put out such a large-scale fire. Right now, both of them were at their wits end, and neither of them knew how they'd be able to defeat this villain.

Their attention was drawn to the sound of loud booming coming from the left. The students squinted their eyes to get a good look at the cause, and noticed Shoji and Deku running for their lives while some giant monster was chasing after them.

"Is that Shoji and Midoriya, and the thing behind them... could it be Tokoyami?" exclaimed Todoroki.

"Bakugo, Todoroki, one of you give us some light!" Shoji shouted, "Dark Shadow's out of control!"

As the students approached the battle, Moonfish used one of his blades to try and kill Shoji, but Dark Shadow easily slammed Moonfish to the ground.

"Dark Shadow's attacking blindly. I'll use my fire to-"

"Not so fast." Before Todoroki could finish his sentence, Bakugo held his hand out, for there was something that Dark Shadow could take care of for them. Lying on the ground, Moonfish used his teeth blades to lift himself up. This villain was utterly furious at this unknown opponent coming in and ruining his fun.

"I won't allow it. I'm the one who gets to slice them open. DON'T STEAL FROM ME!" The villain attacked Dark Shadow with multiple steel blades, but the creature effortlessly grasped the villain in its giant claw.

"You don't matter, INSIGNIFICANT BUG!" Dark Shadow squeezed the villain in its claw, destroying all of Moonfish's teeth blades before throwing the defeated villain against a tree. But even that was not enough to satiate Dark Shadow's growing rage.

"Not enough. IT'S NOT ENOUGH!" The creature of darkness prepared to resume its mindless rampage, but before it could, Todoroki and Bakugo coordinated their attacks by lighting fire and explosions right next to the entrance where Dark Shadow was manifesting. Within ten seconds, Dark Shadow had decreased its size, and the swirling vortex of rage had dissipated, promptly returning to rest inside Tokoyami's body.

"Looks like we bailed you out, birdbrain," remarked Bakugo. Tokoyami didn't have time to register that insult, for now that he regained control over Dark Shadow, they could focus on getting Kageyama.

"We need to get Kageyama!"

Deku was of the same mind. He had to get to Shigeo before any of the villains did. "Right!"

"Wait, what happened to Kageyama," questioned Todoroki, "I heard from Mandalay's message that the League was targeting him. Did they capture him?"

"No: while Dark Shadow was out of control, he tried to stop Dark Shadow by generating light, but for some reason he hesitated and got attacked. I think he might be unconscious, so I've got to go get him right now! The rest of you, get back to camp! It's too dangerous to go down the main route, especially since the Pussycats might still be fighting the villains, so cut through the woods, and go as fast as you can. With all of you together, even if you run across any villains, you should be able to handle it. Me and Shige will catch up to you quick!"

"Wait, Midoriya, you shouldn't go alo-" Shoji didn't have time to finish his sentence before Deku began rushing back to where Dark Shadow's rampage had started.

"Midoriya's right. We need to get to camp quick, and splitting up would only leave us more exposed. With those two together, I doubt any villain here could defeat them. Now let's hurry!" said Todoroki.

"Don't tell me what to do!" yelled Bakugo as they all began to pick up a running pace. Tokoyami took a moment to kneel on the floor, still overcome with emotion and guilt, but Shoji quickly picked him up to his feet.

"Come on, Tokoyami. We've gotta go. Kageyama's gonna be fine. You know how tough he is."

"Right..." The avian student could only mutter this response before going to run alongside the others. Bakugo and Tokoyami were running at the back, while Shoji ran at the front and Todoroki ran in the middle, carrying the body of the unconscious student from Class B. The group of students continued running through the woods, with Shoji using his Quirk to listen in for any signs of fellow students or potentially villains. Finally, after about 30 seconds of running, Shoji picked up on something from the far left.

"I think our classmates are fighting a villain! Over there!" Shoji pointed in the direction and led them all to the sound of the fight. When they got to a clearing, they were greeted with the sight of Ochaco and Tsu in combat against a female villain who looked about their age: Himiko Toga. Tsu was pinned against a tree, a knife stuck in her hair to immobilize her, while Ochaco was pinning their opponent to the ground.

"Guys, help her!" Tsu yelled.

Upon seeing more friends come to assist, Toga broke free of Ochaco's grip and jumped back into the bushes. "There's too many people, and I don't feel like being killed tonight, so toodles."

As the villain fled, Ochaco got up and tried to catch Toga. "Get her!" But Tsu stopped her before she could start a chase.

"It's too dangerous! We have no idea what kind of Quirk she has."

"Who was that girl just now?" Todoroki asked.

"One of the villains."

"We don't have time to talk," said Shoji, "We've got to move, or should we wait a minute for Kageyama and Midoriya?"

"Wait, what about Kageyama and Midoriya?" Ochaco asked, a lump forming in her throat. "Are they hurt? I heard Mandalay's message: the villains are after Kageyama."

"They're alright. A few minutes ago, Dark Shadow had gone out of control and attacked Kageyama, so we had to go to Todoroki and Bakugo to calm him down with some light. Deku went to get Kageyama, and they said they'd be back in a minute."

"Hold on. You said that you went to Bakugo and Todoroki to get Dark Shadow under control, but then where's Bakugo, and Tokoyami too?"

Tsu's question made no sense to the mutant teenager. "What do you mean? They're right behind-"

But when Shoji and Todoroki turned around, neither Bakugo or Tokoyami was in sight. What the... when did they disappear?

"Nice trick, eh?" From atop one of the trees was a man with an orange coat, a mask, and a top hat, leaning against the tree with utter confidence. The man was a villain known as Mr. Compress, a master in the art of magic and misdirection. "I took the lads you were talking about and took them with my magic. Talents like theirs would be squandered if they were cast as heroes, especially after the avian fellow so easily took care of Moonfish."

All the students felt their stomachs twist. Things just kept getting worse.


While this was happening, Deku was still going on a mad sprint to where Kageyama had been attacked. His mind couldn't shake the fear that perhaps one of the villains had taken Mob when he was injured and unconscious, and if that were the case, then the villains would've already won. But Deku couldn't accept that! Mob just had to be alright!

Deku soon made it to the original site, and his first action was finding the section with the broken trees, for that would give him the trajectory of where Mob was launched and how far. Izuku found the area he was looking for to the far right and followed the trail of broken trees. When he looked at the end of the path of these trees, he let out a sigh of utter relief when he saw that his friend was still there. Unconscious, but not kidnapped. It looked like none of the villains had caught sight of this.

The teenager quickly cradled the unconscious friend in his arms. Some blood was running down his head. He checked his friend for a pulse, and could luckily hear a clear heartbeat. "Shige, Shige wake up!"

Izuku shook his friend, whose eyes began to quickly flutter open. "Wha-Izuku?"

"Shige!" The friend couldn't help but experience a quick surge of relief, causing him to tug Shigeo in for a quick hug, which the esper reciprocated.

"Where-where's Shoji and Tokoyami?" The esper grabbed both of his friend's arms. "How's Tokoyami? Did you manage to get Dark Shadow under control?"

"Yea. We lured Dark Shadow to Kacchan and Todoroki's location, and they used their Quirks to weaken Dark Shadow."

"Thank goodness." Though the psychic was relieved that Tokoyami had gotten Dark Shadow under control again, he still felt a growing sense of concern. With how many incidents had been occurring and the kind of damage their classmates had been taking while fighting these villains, he wondered what other fights might've been going on now, how many of the other students were still fighting for their lives.

"Can you stand? You took a pretty big hit from Dark Shadow."

The esper momentarily struggled to get to his feet, with Deku giving him a shoulder to lean on. "I can still fight."

"Good. Now we need to hurry back. I sent the others back to camp. We need to rejoin them. Once we all get back, we can tally how many of the students returned safely and how many are still in the woods in need of rescue."

But as the two friends were preparing to leave, they noticed a giant wall of ice had been formed in the distance. "That's Todoroki... He used one of his strongest moves," muttered Deku.

"Don't tell me..." Both friends began to fear the worst. Without another word, both of them began sprinting toward the location. If Todoroki had engaged in combat, that means they'd likely been attacked by the villains, and for him to use such a strong attack means that the villain must be especially powerful. If that were the case, then their classmates would need their help!


Unfortunately for the group of students in the woods, Compress possessed remarkable speed and agility which none of them could replicate. As a result, the villain went on ahead and reached the rendevous point where the villains had decided to meet once they'd completed their objective. When he touched down to the open space, he saw that among the members of the Vanguard Action Squad, Dabi, Twice and Toga had already arrived.

"Yo Compress, you said on the com that you captured some of the other students like I said, right?"

"Correct. I did as you instructed and took some of the students, though in my case I selected the ones I thought would be most willing to join us on the grander stage of villainy."

"Right now, the priority is getting Kageyama. The other students you captured are just bait. Now we gotta find a way to bring Kageyama here."

"And how do you plan to do that, smart guy?" questioned Twice.

"Simple." Dabi raised his hand into the air and fired a large burst of blue flames which spewed into the sky like a miniature eruption. "That'll probably be big enough to get his attention. And Twice, just in case, be ready to make some more copies of the Nomu if I tell you to."

As if on-cue, the bowl-haired esper came bursting through the trees, and alongside him was Izuku Midoriya. When Himiko Toga got a good look at the two teenagers, she felt her heart began to flutter while the heat in her cheeks began to rise. She could see the faint traces of blood that was running down Shigeo's face, as he'd failed to wipe it all off before, as well as some of the dried blood that was still on Deku's forehead from when Muscular had struck him.

"So those're the rest of the villains," muttered Deku, "And they've all convened here. Why?"

From the left, the two friends saw Shoji and Todoroki exit, their faces panicked and fearful before noticing their other two classmates nearby.

"Kageyama, Midoriya, that man in the mask took Bakugo and Tokoyami!"

"WHAT?!" They thought that their classmates having to fight villains was the worst-case scenario, but they were proven wrong. So somehow, the villains had managed to get the drop on their classmates while they were away. Mob in particular was getting a very painful feeling of deja vu. He remembered the last time they were in a dire situation like this, when his little brother had been kidnapped by Claw to be turned into one of their soldiers. Now the League of Villains was going to do the same thing!

"Damn it!" shouted Deku, activating One For All as he prepared to get his friends back. However, before he could do that, several large purple holes appeared out of nowhere. Those purple holes looked strangely familiar... At the largest hole, a pair of yellow eyes formed. They all recognized him!

"It's the warp villain from the U.S.J.!"

"Well, we got what we came for," said Dabi, "Let's head out!"

"Wait, I don't understand!" Mob shouted, "I thought you were here for me!"

"True. We initially came here to take you with us as a hostage, which is why we had the Nomu try to capture you, but we decided that it would be too difficult once you beat them all. So we compromised and took a few other classmates of yours. I'm sure Shigaraki will understand our reasons. Now let's go." Dabi turned to Twice, who wa just about to enter the portal. "Oh, and Twice, why don't you make a few extra Nomu as some fare-well presents to our friends here?"

All of the students there felt their entire bodies tense. This situation had just gotten to its lowest point. All of them prepared to lunge and make their move, but before anyone there could take a step, they were all halted by the esper's booming voice.

"WAIT, I'LL GO WITH YOU!" All of Shigeo's classmates were looking at him as if he'd gone crazy. Dabi, on the other hand, couldn't help but slyly grin. Mob had already taken the words out of the villain's mouth.

"Let Tokoyami and Bakugo go, stop the assault on the U.A. camp, withdraw all the villains, and I'll go with you."

"Shige, you can't be serious!" Deku couldn't believe that his friend would be willing to give himself up so easily without even trying to use his powers or coordinate an attack to stop the villains from leaving. "You can't just go with the villains like that!"

"Midoriya's right!" Shoji added, "Stop talking nonsense!"

"I have to. It's the only way we'll get Tokoyami and Bakugo safely."

"Come on!" Deku shouted, "You really don't think we'll be able to rescue Bakugo and Tokoyami ourselves?" Mob had to pause for a second to collect himself, for what he was about to say next was going to be very painful for his friends to hear.

"That's right. I don't think you'll be able to get either of them back, especially when we know so little about their Quirks." As he anticipated, none of his friends had ever expected him to say anything so negative or discouraging as them.

"Damn dude, what a dick!" said Twice, "Yea, you lay it on them!" The esper ignored the villain's words, looking somberly at Todoroki and Shoji before looking back at the despondent Deku.

"I know that's a cruel thing to say, and I'm sorry." Last time Mob had been in a situation like this, when he thought he had the upper hand against Koyama, the esper had surprised him by using a cursed cologne, and right now, he was afraid that a similar surprise would be sprung by the villains if they tried fighting.

"Besides, even if we do somehow manage to get both of them back, then what? The villains will just escape and make another plan to attack the class. They'll hunt us down with new villains and new Nomu that'll only put our friends in greater danger." Too many painful memories were resurfacing, the fear that he'd have to once again fight a war. Back home, even after defeating the 7th division of Claw, the organization had come back bigger and more dangerous than ever, destroying his entire city.

"This isn't going to stop unless I go and do something." The esper began to slowly pace toward the villains, and as he did, he turned his head back to Deku. "I'm gonna go confront their leader, the one pulling the strings, to see if I can put an end to all this before anyone else gets hurt."

The hairs on Deku's neck stood up, and his body further tensed with fear. He could hear it in Shigeo's tone of voice, the words he used. While anyone else would assume he was talking about Shigaraki, Deku believed he knew who the esper was really talking about: he meant All For One.

"Shige, you can't! He's too powerful for you!"

"I have to try..."

Deku was having none of this. He leapt forward to try and stop his friend from taking another step, but his body was suddenly restrained. Both he and the other classmates were shocked to see it was none other than Kageyama who was keeping him in-place using his psychic powers. "Shige, stop this!" Deku tried with all his might to break free, but the esper wouldn't release his hold.

The villains were watching this scene unfold with burgeoning curiosity. Mr. Compress was the first to speak. "I'm impressed you're being so bold about this. So you really aren't afraid of coming with us?"

"No, I'm terrified." The villains all felt their eyebrows perk up in confusion. "To be honest, after everything I've been through, after all the villains I've had to face and the challenges I've had to overcome, I thought this would be easier, but it isn't. Even while I'm walking, I can feel my heart pounding in my ears. But still..."

The esper now stood only a few feet away from Mr. Compress as he stared at the villain's face. "Watching my friends get hurt will always scare me even more, so that's why I'm doing this. Now please, let my friends go."

The eccentric villain momentarily returned the teenager's gaze, noticing the conflicting look of fear and determination swirling in his eyes. Despite being a villain, he couldn't help but admire this young boy's willingness to protect his comrades, even if it meant going into the heart of enemy territory "Very well, then. Since you're being so cooperative, I'll accept your conditions."

Compress took off his mask, though his face was still covered by another black mask which left only his eyes and mouth visible. He extended his tongue out, where he saw two marbles tucked inside his mouth. Compress gently took the two marbles out of his mouth and threw them towards Todoroki and Shoji.

"I suppose I don't need these then..." To the shock of the teenagers, Compress took out two other marbles that were stashed in his pocket and dropped them to the ground. He snapped his fingers, and the contents of all four marbles were revealed. Both Tokoyami and Bakugo fell on the ground in front of their classmates, while at the villain's feet were chunks of large ice.

"I'd slipped these dummies into my right pocket during the ice lad's freezing attacks to mislead them, but it turns out it wasn't necessary. Well then, fill your end of the bargain, boy."

"I will. We can leave now."

"Damn it, Kageyama! You don't know what you're doing!" Now it was Shoji and Todoroki who made their attempt to stop Mob from leaving, but like Deku, both of them were quickly immobilized by Shigeo's psychic abilities.

"You heard the boy, Dabi. Our grand show's come to an end."

Dabi let out a soft chuckle. "Guess that wraps a nice bow around this. Alright, we're outta here." Dabi motioned to Twice and Toga, who took it as their cue to enter the portals that had been created by Kurogiri. Both of them were rather stricken by the esper's sacrifice and willingness to go with them, so they went through the portals without saying any final words.

While this was happening, both Tsuyu and Ochaco had finally made it to the scene, but neither of them could make any sense of what they were looking at. "Kageyama? What're you doing?"

"Oh hey, Uraraka, Asui- I mean Tsu. You're both ok. What a relief." As he took note of Tsu and Ochaco, he also noticed that Bakugo and Tokoyami had just started to get up, both of them similarly confused at what they were looking at.

"Kageyama? What's going on?" asked Tokoyami.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to leave with them. Tell the rest of the class and the Body Improvement Club that I'll be gone for a little bit."

"Bowl-cut?" Bakugo, who'd just gotten up, couldn't comprehend any of this better than the other newcomers. "The hell kinda bullshit you spewing now?"

"What are- I don't understand..." The avian student couldn't process what was going on, but he didn't like what he was seeing at all. First, Kageyama had been hurt, and now he was saying he was leaving.

"I'm really glad the others calmed Dark Shadow down for you, Tokoyami. I know you're hurting more than any one of us right now, and I really hope that you learn to control Dark Shadow so you won't have to live in fear of your power like me."

"What..." Tears were now pooling in Tokoyami's eyes. What was his friend saying? Ochaco and Tsu were becoming just as frightened and confused by what their friend was doing.

While the four newcomers were trying to wrap their heads around this, Deku was struggling with every ounce of willpower to break free of the restraints, tears threatening to spill down his face.

"SHIGE, PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!" he screamed.

The esper held his head down. This was probably the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, and it took everything he had not to implode from the combined rush of fear, shame, and sadness that threatened to explode. So with whatever composure he could muster, he gazed back up at Deku and gave him the best smile he could.

"I give you all my word: I'll be back at U.A., and we'll all reunite as a class. Until then, this is goodbye for now."

With the final words spoken, Shigeo began to walk through the portal. Every student who wasn't immobilized by Mob now rushed as fast as they could to stop the esper from leaving, but all of them were pushed back by a burst of telekinetic energy. They could do nothing but watch in horror as their friend willingly walked through that portal with the villains. They had failed: the villains won.


So what did you think? You like how the chapter progressed? One of the biggest setbacks for me writing this chapter was trying to figure out ways to create opponents that would challenge Mob or weaken him. Because Mob is so overpowered and so multi-faceted with his psychic powers, it really feels like he can do anything. I'd thought about having Mob fight Muscular, but I didn't want to take one of Deku's biggest fights away from him, so I wrote him having to fight the Nomu instead. If some of you don't like the way that Mob was depowered, I can totally understand. It's still important to note that the power gap between his regular form and 100% forms are rather significant, so I believe that the top pro heroes like Endeavor or Mirko are undoubtedly stronger than Mob in his base state.

For future reference, I might add a few extra scenes for the other characters, cuz I wanted to get this chapter done quickly, but unless anything else is added, just assume it is identical to how it was in the canon, like the Chainsaw Nomu and the battle with Kendo and Tetsutetsu against Mustard. Also, I will very likely be rewriting some of the previous chapters in the future, specifically the Sports Festival. I plan on having Ochacko fight Bakugo like in the canon and have Tetsutetsu fight Iida instead, cuz I just didn't like how the Ochaco vs Iida fight turned out. So for anyone publishing my story on different sites, you may want to update the chapters. FYI, I'm cool with having this story posted on other forums as long as the credit to the original author is being given.

For all you eager readers, you will not have to worry about waiting another year for the next chapter. I've already got a really good idea of how I want the next chapter to proceed, and hopefully I'll be able to get it posted soon. Until next time!

P.S: Here's the link to a discord server some enthusiastic fans made for this story if anyone feels like joining: /Tp5DKb7S