I AM ALLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIVE!

Hey everyone, hope you are glad to see me. I would like to apologize for just disappearing for so long. Christmas holidays kicked my ass and before I knew it, I was neckdeep in things to do. Work, applying for some master's programs, dog sitting, as well as working up the courage to run my first DND oneshot and I also got into Warhammer painting, which if any of you know what that is you understand how much of a time sink it is.

I guess the point is that its been a while thanks to an overloaded schedule and I apologize. To make up for that, behold! MY BEEEEEGEST CHAPTER YET! Seriously, clocking in at 11.8k, this is the longest single chapter in any of my stories.

Also, stick to the end of the chapter for some announcements. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.

Please rate and review!

"This means someone is talking."

'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'

This means it's a flashback.

*This means it's a sound effect!*

{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}

Angel in a Gilded Cage

Angel couldn't remember a time she had experienced such a feeling of encompassing silence. She could definitely still hear the various sounds present, the white noise of the machines surrounding her being first and the random shuffling and gapes of the other people in the crowd. But it was like she had joined the world in unison, all to partake in the act of gazing upon the feeble shell of a man standing where the greatest hero of their time used to stand. It was like all the energy in the air had been sucked out.

Stifled, smothered.

Angel didn't know how, but some brave soul, perhaps the bravest of them all in that moment, dared to speak his mind.

"Who… who the heck is that guy?" He said aloud, sending a wave of murmurs and stifled gasps through the street.

"Ah… I… I don't know what just happened…" The news anchor stuttered, disbelief and a budding terror evident in their voice even through the oversaturated audio feed. "Is… is anyone else seeing this? All-Might appears to have deflated or something. Is this the work of a villain's quirk?"

Angel didn't know what to think. All she could do was watch, transfixed and unable to move. She could briefly notice the matching looks of horror on Midoriya and Bakugo's faces on her right, the first time she could recall both of them being on the same wavelength. Iida and Kirishima looked just as rattled.

'What happened to All-Might?' She wondered, taking an anxious breath.

While she tried to make sense of what was going on, some deity noticed that the world had been left on paused and pressed the play button as All For One held his arms out at his sides and threw his bare, scarred head back. Angel couldn't hear anything, but she could tell he was laughing, possibly having the time of his life right now, most likely gloating to the visibly weakened hero.

Whatever it was, it didn't seem to have much effect as the man who once was All-Might shook his head and clenched his bloody fist in front of him.

To that, All For One continued to gesture about, the only hint that he was still speaking thanks to the respirator hiding his mouth. He seemed to make his point, as he raised a finger and said something.

Even if the camera feed was too poor for anyone to have a chance at reading his lips, it was clear enough for Angel and the world to see All-Might's expression break. His gaping pits for eyes widening in disbelief and his smile falling at whatever his adversary just said.

Angel briefly questioned what it could have been. What kind of secret, some dark revelation could make him falter? What was it, that it evoked such pain on the face of the symbol of peace?

Her curiosity was swiftly swept aside for growing panic as All-Might began to quake and his mouth opened in a silent scream.

He was facing off against a monster. His body was broken. He was alone in the depths of hopelessness.

The same kind of despair she saw, looking in a mirror after USJ.

'No. You can't give up now.' She thought, her eyes starting to burn.

"This.. this isn't happening right?" Someone questioned.

"This can't be happening!"

"If you can't win, who else will beat this guy?!" Angel and her friends glanced about as more and more people began to call out. Like a match to dry straw, the feeling of desperation and love for their hero spread like wildfire, more and more spectators raising their voices and waving at the screen.

"He looks really weird, but he's still All-Might, right?!"

"He's always been able to win, no matter how bad it looked!"

"You can do it!"

"Come on!"

Angel turned back to the screen, her lips trembling.

"You helped me when no one else could." She sniffled. "You didn't give up on me, SO I'M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU!" She cried out. It didn't matter that he was too far away to possibly hear her, but she just couldn't stay quiet. The words forced themselves out of her mouth, along with the desperate cries and prayers of everyone around her, as she joined the cheer rising up from her friends and strangers alike.

"KEEP FIGHTING, ALL MIGHT!"

Perhaps by some trick of fate, or some unknown aspect of his quirk Angel didn't know. But she could almost feel that her teacher had heard her, heard all of them. At least she wanted to think so as he stopped shaking and raised his right arm, which grew back to its usual muscular size, crackling with energy. It left him with an awkward, stilted appearance, looking as if he might just topple over from the weight of his beefed up appendage in comparison to the rest of his body.

It was time for one last showdown.

In response, All For One levitated into the air with his own right arm ballooning again in preparation for another blast.

A sudden wave of white fire forced him to swing his inflated limb, dispersing the attack with his stored power. A small cheer went up as several shapes entered the frame.

"The other heroes are here!" Someone called out, as the recognizable silhouettes of Endeavour and Edgeshot engaged All For One. At the same time, Kamui Woods and Tiger ran along the sidelines, grabbing as many people from the rubble as possible.

They were getting everyone out of the way, to give All-Might the opportunity he needed to give everything he had against this monster.

Not a moment too soon, as All For One let out another shockwave, throwing everyone but his opponent out of the field, the beleaguered blonde standing defiantly against his power.

Next, the villain's arm began to morph. Twisting and bloating, it grew and grew until the man was brandishing a limb the size of his whole body. Angel couldn't quite make it out, but it appeared to be a massive conglomeration of hundreds of limbs and organic spikes mashed together and even here she could see how it rippled with barely contained power.

His preparations complete, All For One shot down towards All-Might. Both men reared back their enlarged fists.

They clashed. The space in their point of contact seemed to twist in that instant and suddenly the camera pixelated and rocked about from the impact. The world shook and the air resonated like a clap of thunder, sending cries of fear through the crowd.

Angel stumbled, just for her to be caught on the shoulder by Iida. Even then she didn't tear her eyes away from the screen. She couldn't see a thing through the dust kicked up by the shockwave, but she knew that her teacher had to still be in there, he had to be!

She wasn't alone in that sentiment as the crowd bellowed; "COME ON!"

Another burst of sound and power emanated from within the cloud, the battle being held beneath their visibility, the tension making it feel like nails were dragging up Angel's spine. She didn't know who was winning, who was striking who. A battle likely for the fate of the world was underway and she couldn't see a thing.

Suddenly, a blur of red and blue.

*KABOOM!* Angel's hands clapped over her ears in surprise as there was one more, grand, crash of strength echoing through the night.

"HOLY CRAP, LOOK!" All eyes followed a shaking finger towards the horizon, where a great cyclone of wind and rubble erupted into the sky!

At that moment, the whole stood still. Billions of eyes were stuck to their screens, mouths agape, hands tightly holding their loved ones as the camera settled and the colossal cloud slowly began to disperse.

Angel and her friends all held their breaths as everything around them faded away, the contents of their feed before them the only thing that mattered.

The dust drifted away and the first thing they saw was a crater. Then the center of that crater, where a single person was barely standing, slouched over the other body laying still.

Everyone's eyes widened and they breathed in as one.

The victor staggered and shakily, painfully raised their bruised fist. In a brief puff of smoke, their body expanded to a familiar shape, one known by the world over.

Tears burst from Angel's eyes at the same time as everyone else.

"ALL-MIIIIIGHT!" The world cheered!

"He… he did it! The villain is down and not moving!" The news reporter nearly choked. "He won! ALL-MIGHT HAS WON!"

The crowd went crazy, the air filling with cries of relief and tears of joy.

Angel let out a sound halfway between a cough and a laugh and her wobbling knees hit the pavement. She fought the urge to fall over and pass out from the tension that had been building inside of her over the last several days now flushing out of her pores.

"Hey, are you okay?" She looked up to see Midoriya leaning down to her. His cheeks were stung red and still damp. He looked relieved, yet saddened for some reason.

At the moment though, Angel didn't want to dwell on it.

They had survived, All-Might too.

She sniffed and wiped at her nose, not caring about how she dirtied her arm in the process and gave him a small smile.

"I'm alright."

He returned the expression, looking about as relieved and tired as she was.

"That's… that's good." He breathed and held out his hand which she took and got pulled to her feet.

"As happy as I am, we should probably get moving." Iida sighed, running a hand through his hair, exhausted.

"Yeah, we still need to let the heroes know that we have Angel and Bakugo." Kirishima agreed.

"Don't talk like I'm not here!" The blonde barked.

Angel nodded and began to follow the group away from the jubilant masses. She was still feeling worse for wear after being held captive for however many days it had been. She was having trouble deciding what was more important, food and drink, a doctor or just a bed.

"You…" A voice echoed loudly, making them halt in their tracks. Angel blinked. She knew that voice, as low and haggard as it was.

Turning her head back to the news screen, she was met with the sight of All-Might, now in his "deflated" form standing in the rising sun. His finger pointed directly at the camera. His mouth opened and he stated in a solemn tone;

"...you're next."

His words sent the crowd into a frenzy of awe.

"Wow! Even looking like that, he's calling out all the other bad guys!"

"That's All-Might for you!"

"He's soooo cool!"

If she were any other person, Angel would have assumed the same along with the random bystanders. On a surface level it did seem to be a warning for what other villains were watching, what was left of the League especially.

But…why did she feel like it was something else?

A choke and a sob on her side made Angel blink and turn to see her green haired friend, crying anew. She wasn't surprised really, with how much of a fan that he was. To see his idol fight nearly to the bitter end must have been nothing short of traumatizing for him.

After a moment to contemplate, Angel stepped over and gingerly pulled Midoriya into a sideways hug.

"Shh… it's okay. Everything is fine now. He won." She murmured, giving him a soft pat on the back as he continued to mewl and wipe snot from his nose. She stayed by his side as the tired and aching students walked away from the screen, right until she and Bakugo were handed over to the police to be taken back home.

There she sat in the backseat of the squad car, the oddly silent and pensive blonde seated next to her. Her tired mind almost playfully mused on the many, MANY revelations and events that had unfolded in the last forty eight hours.

But in the end, she didn't want to think about any of that and chose to bask in a variety of different facts, certainties.

All-Might had won. She and Bakugo had escaped. The leader of the League had been defeated.

The Kamino Ward crisis was over.

The next two days were a whirlwind or at least how it was portrayed in the media. News and speculation over the depowered state of the thought to be invincible symbol of peace spread across the internet within hours of the event before any formal statements could be made by the hero in question or Yūei. They ranged from topics like theories on whether his weaker form was an aspect of his quirk or concerns on whether he would be able to return to active duty.

The latter was quickly struck down the following day as All-Might made an announcement to the world in front of the press; he was retiring from hero work effective immediately. It struck the match for a long list of related stories, most of them less than optimistic. Endeavour automatically moved up the rankings into his long coveted number one position, though it was no secret that he was not happy with the accomplishment just being handed to him. Most of the heroes that acted as support for the raid on the League's headquarters and the Nomu warehouse were taken off duty to recover from their injuries, with the number four (number three now) hero Best Jeanist requiring an extended break after his near brush with death. If that wasn't enough, the abducted member of the Pussy Cats Ragdoll announced with a heavy heart that she was retiring as well, due to the fact that her quirk had been stolen.

This cascade of misfortune and mixed results on the raid sent tremors of uncertainty through the populace. The mastermind behind the League had been defeated and was immediately incarcerated in Tartarus, the highest profile maximum security prison in Japan and most of the East Asian region. But even that didn't make the hero's victory feel any less pyrrhic. The fact that Shigaraki and the majority of his allies had managed to escape only worsened the feeling that the world's future was becoming more and more shrouded in doubt.

Angel on the other hand, hardly had time to process any of this. After her and Bakugo's trip to the nearest police precinct for questioning and medical treatment, both teens were sent back home under escort, or in Angel's case, in the crushing embrace of Moxxi, who was immensely distraught after how close she had come to losing her charge right in front of her.

The two days that followed Angel did nothing but rest and come to terms with everything that had happened. The mysteries that had been thrust in her face refused to leave her alone, making her drift the apartment in a daze, her body automatically going through the motions as she ate, cleaned herself and slept, when her busy brain would let her of course.

It was not until the second day's evening that something came along to jolt her back into the present.

"Angelll! Have you seen my brush?" Moxxi called out from the bathroom.

"Which one?" Angel answered loudly over the whine of the vacuum cleaner that she was running up and down the dining room floor.

"The red one with the thin head!"

"Second drawer on the left!"

"Ah, found it! Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" She said, crouching down to carefully angle the vacuum under the dining table. After a few seconds of making sure she had sucked up any remaining dust and other detritus, she pulled it back and seamlessly switched it off with a thought. Brushing her bangs back, she let out a breath and surveyed the room, the lounge area and the adjoining hallways. Spick and span as the saying goes.

Satisfied with her work, Angel crouched down and unplugged the vacuum before wheeling it over to the closet and putting it away. Her sock clad feet padded on the shining wooden floor before she stepped onto the carpet and set herself down on the couch.

Letting out a sigh as she sank into the soft cushion, gave her surroundings another once over and nodded to herself.

The apartment was clean and ready for incoming guests. More ready than she was if she was being honest.

She leaned down to roll her denim pant legs back down and dusted off her blue t-shirt. As she was doing so, her eyes landed on the paper form left on the coffee table, next to the opened envelope.

She and Moxxi had received it last night during dinner. It was a sudden notice from Yūei of a home visit scheduled the next day.

The topic; the school's transition to a dormitory system. In light of recent events, Principle Nezu had proposed all the students would be moving into residential living spaces on campus, as to provide greater protection from any further attacks. It didn't take much reading between the lines to understand this was also meant to appease the public and more importantly, the families of the students over their previous failures.

Angel's first reaction to the idea had been positive for the most part. The League and that man had made it abundantly clear that they were coming after her in earnest now. Being on campus at all times would greatly help prevent anymore unwanted reunions, at least she hoped it would. It was the whole point of the plan in getting her into Yūei in the first place.

She had two reservations though. The first being that this meant that she would be separated from Moxxi, her guardian of almost eight months now. She could announce proudly that she had grown attached to the hero/supermodel with how she had been there for her. She was the reason her difficult transition from her sheltered, oppressive existence to the open world in Japan was even bearable. She was the first real, positive constant she had in her life for a very long time, one whose absence she would feel greatly.

A bit of her wondered if Moxxi felt the same.

The second issue on the other hand didn't have anything to do with the new housing arrangements at all. Rather, it was what preceded it, the home visit that she had just cleaned the apartment for. To put the best foot forward, Yūei was sending some of their teachers out to convince their student's parents that this was the best course of action, to prevent them from pulling their children out of the school after everything that had happened.

Angel didn't feel like she or Moxxi needed any convincing. What she was anxious about was who was performing the visits for her class.

Aizawa Shota and Yagi Toshinori , or as she and the rest of the world had recently been made aware, All-Might.

She swallowed. It was only a few days since the raid, since she last saw him in person when he came to her rescue, at his best. Now, she would be seeing the other side of him, his pained, powerless self.

The idea made her stomach twist.

'I don't know if I can do this.'

As it turned out, fate didn't care what she thought as the doorbell suddenly rang and she jolted.

"Looks like they're here!" Moxxi said, running down the hall from the bathroom, smoothing out the last couple creases in her purple dress suit. Despite the fact that Aizawa and All-Might were coming to visit them, she still insisted on dressing up. She wouldn't stop fidgeting with her hair, done up in a nest of bouncing curls held in place with copious amounts of hairspray. "Good job cleaning Angel, the place looks great." She complimented before noticing the frown on Angel's face. "You okay Sugar?"

Angel gave her a small nod as she breathed out. "I'm… I'm fine."

The older woman didn't look convinced in the slightest, pursing her lips in concern. The doorbell rang again. "One minute!" She called out, then stepped around to Angel's side and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure? We can try to ask them for a later time if you're not feeling so hot."

"No." Angel shook her head. "No, no, I-I…" She huffed. "I'll be fine, I swear. They're already here. Let's just… get this over with."

The elevator tolled and the polished brass doors smoothly slid open. Wordlessly, Toshinori followed his fellow teacher Aizawa into the warmly lit hallway. Both were dressed as clean as possible all for the purpose of appearing professional to their upcoming home visits, both wearing freshly pressed business suits. Aizawa had his normally fussy hair pulled back into a bun and had even scrubbed his face to clear away his usual tired expression.

Toshinori let out a miniscule groan of discomfort as he had been consistently for the last forty eight hours, trying not to agitate the bandages wrapped around his forehead and around other parts of his body under his shirt. His right arm was worse off, held in front of him in a sling with his jacket awkwardly hanging off his back.

His eyes wandered about the hall as he trailed closely behind Aizawa, getting hit with a sudden wave of deja vu.

It hadn't even been two months since he was here last, to check up on the young member of the Hodunk family after the USJ catastrophe. The differences being that he wasn't here to try and get her out of her self imposed depression and isolation and that he had been wearing a suit five times bigger than him.

His eyes fell a little.

He didn't like how well his clothes fit him now. It was just another painful reminder that his career was over. What had remained of One for All inside of him after he passed the quirk onto Midoriya had dwindled away to nothing more than a flickering vestige, like a lukewarm coal. He could still pump himself up to his original form, but just for a fraction of a second and with none of the power behind it.

He was effectively quirkless, once again.

It wasn't that he completely regretted what happened that night in the Kamino Ward. Aside from the near world shattered revelation that Shigaraki was his beloved master's grandson and all the complex emotions that came with the knowledge that he had physically struck him as a villain, he was glad that his students were safe and that his last hurrah had been putting his fated nemesis behind bars for good this time.

At the very least, young, innocent Midoriya wouldn't have to shoulder the responsibility of fighting that monster.

It still didn't erase the fact that he was done. He wasn't All-Might anymore. Just Toshinori Yagi.

"Hey." He blinked and looked up to see Aizawa regarding him with his usual, inscrutable gaze. "You alright there? We need to look our best for this and coughing up blood will be a bad first impression." He said a little callously, but Toshinori knew he meant well, in his own blunt way.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Just a little tired." He replied as the two men finally reached the desired door, number six hundred and ninety six, once more.

"We can get some coffee at some point. This is the first out of twenty visits we have to make today."

Toshinori nodded. The visits were being ordered in their proximity to Yūei, making the Hodunk residence their first stop as it was just a five minute drive from the school to the valley below.

Aizawa reached down and pressed the bell. He looked back.

"So are we clear on what we're doing?" He asked in a low voice.

He didn't specify, but Toshinori knew exactly what he was talking about. A subject that had been hanging over his head all morning since before they left Yūei on this venture. When they were with Principle Nezu, speculating on which family would give them the most trouble. Toshinori had felt the need to voice his concern over the Hodunks being a likely problem, with the young Angel being one of the worst affected during USJ and one of the two hostages taken in the camp attack.

To which Nezu said:

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about Moxxi and Angel-chan." He smiled, lacing his fingers(paws?) together.

Toshinori and Aizawa both stared in confusion.

"Excuse me Principle, but why would you think that?" The Erasure hero questioned. "Out of all of the students in our class, Angel-san has the most reason to demand reparations for our shortcomings. What makes you think that her family will trust us at this point?"

"Simply put, they don't have much choice in the matter." Nezu stated, making Toshinori's jaw hang a little.

"When you put it like that, it sounds like you are threatening them or something." He muttered uneasily.

At that, Nezu's smile faded, tapping his paws together in a rare display of worry. "I assure you, it is nothing of the sort. Angel-chan's situation is… precarious to say the least. I say that she has no choice simply because she has nowhere else to go."

"Sir, you're acting as if her life was in danger from even before the start of the school year. If this is as serious as you are marking it out to be, should this not be something that we should have been made aware of, if not the police?" Aizawa asked.

"It is Angel-chan's own background that is the reason that the issue has not been taken to the authorities. Moxxi-chan had me sworn to secrecy, not just for Angel-chan's own safety, but also for those around her as the problem has a chance to, shall we say, spill over. As a favor to one of my favorite former students and an old friend."

The implication was not lost on Toshinori. The concept of a dangerous secret was all too familiar to the former user of One for All. That there might be someone out there that will do terrible things to make sure whatever it was was kept buried. It made him all the more anxious for the well being of the young girl.

"Then why are you telling us this?" He asked.

Nezu sighed, suddenly appearing several dog years older in the span of time it took to breath out. "Because I'm afraid that this problem is only going to worsen if the attack on the training camp was any indication. Angel-chan is going to need all the allies she can get, ones that she can trust. As her teachers, you are going to be one of the last lines of defense against what is chasing her. I believe it is high time that some things are made clear to those that we know are on her side.

That being said, I cannot make that choice for you two. You have more than enough problems with the League and your little project…" He glanced pointedly at Toshinori. "...that in good conscience, I will not burden you with anything more than you think you can handle."

"What does this mean then?" Aizawa asked. Nezu met their gaze, his black eyes boring into them unblinking.

"It means you have two options. One, you leave my office, get to work on the home visits and act like nothing has changed. Or two, you commit yourselves to this treacherous course and you ask Angel and Moxxi themselves on how deep this rabbit hole goes."

Those words had haunted Toshinori all the way from the school and the car ride to the apartment building. He knew that something was haunting the young Angel since their little chat, but that it was of such a perilous nature made him all the more concerned for his student. That she had been chased and was in some form of danger even before the League had set its eyes on his class made him regret not doing anything more. If the severity that Nezu treated this mystery was genuine, then it was safe to say that this went deeper than just an unstable family situation as he had first imagined.

He clenched his free fist.

Angel was his student and a gentle, innocent soul. Who or whatever it was that sought to do her harm would have to get through him first. He may not be All-Might, the symbol of peace anymore, but he was Toshinori Yagi and he was a hero. That would never change.

"Looks like we are both jumping into the deep end." He finally answered Aizawa's question, knowing full well that his fellow hero was of the same mind. What was a little more peril in their line of work anyway?

Aizawa let out a snort and shook his head. "Ever the selfless fool. Guess I'm not much better." He muttered, a hint of amusement in his tone as he reached over and pressed the doorbell again.

"One minute!" Moxxi's voice echoed from the other side of the polished wood.

Moxxi. A small shock of worry crawled up Toshinori's spine. Unintentionally, his free hand reached up to fold back one of the long, crooked strands he called bangs. He hadn't seen her since the raid and even then, the seriousness of the situation hadn't allowed much appropriate time for casual conversation.

'I wonder what she thinks of my new look?' He thought, then caught himself. 'Woah, where'd that come from?'

The door clicked and his hand quickly shot back to his side as the portal opened, revealing Moxxi dressed in a violet dress suit and pants. Toshinori sucked in a small, quiet breath at the sight of her. Despite the fact that this was the most dressed he had ever seen her (a stark contrast to her usual corset that was her hero costume), she still exuded a sensual and inviting air, like she had a kind of gravitational pull.

"Hey! Sorry about that! Just, um, fixing my hair!" She laughed nervously. "Shota-kun, it's been too long!"

Aizawa let out a groan. "Senpai."

"Wait, she was your upperclassman?" Toshinori asked, getting a regretful nod from the other man.

"She wouldn't stop teasing me back in school and would butt heads with Midnight constantly. Made things a nuisance." He explained and Moxxi pulled her red, plush lips into a pout.

"Don't act like you didn't like it. How's Yamada?"

"Still loud, still blonde. I couldn't shake him off like I did you."

"Well you know what they say, blondes have the most fun." She hummed, her eyes switching to Toshinori and giving him a quick wink.

He almost sprayed the other two heroes and the walls with blood from his mouth from that innuendo. He coughed a little, holding his fist to his mouth, the act immediately making guilt cross Moxxi's face. "Oof, sorry, they just come on their own. I didn't just kill the symbol of peace with a bad joke did I?"

"N-No, I'm fine. This is normal." He assured her with a wave, wiping a little bit of red away with a tissue. "A-And please, call me Yagi-san."

She gave him an apologetic smile and a nod before beckoning inside. "Please, come in."

The two men followed with Toshinori closing the door behind them. After hanging their coats and slipping on some guest slippers, Moxxi led them down the hall. Almost unconsciously, Toshinori's eyes were drawn to his host's back, finding the way that her curly hair bounced with every step hypnotizing.

'Wow, does she always look this nice? She could probably wear anything and still make it work.' He thought idly, then started and flicked himself in the head, getting an exasperated look from Aizawa. 'No! No! Bad! This is not the time!' He scolded himself. He was here on business, he will not disrespect his gracious host by ogling her like a certain purple haired student of his. Regardless of Nezu's claim that she would be on board for the campus residence system, it didn't mean he should stare like last time.

"Here we are." Said target of his gaze brought him back to reality as the hall opened up to the lounge and dining room. The bright blue, early morning sky stretched out along the horizon outside the windows, casting light through the whole room. And sitting on one half of the soft corner couch was one Hodunk Angel.

She glanced up at their arrival and did he imagine it or did her eyes widen when she looked at him? She immediately looked away.

He sighed a little. It was to be expected, the way he looked now.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable! I made coffee!" Moxxi, gracious host that she was, beckoned them to one side of the couch, to which they accepted.

Sinking down into the red cushions, Toshinori let out a groan as he felt the various aches and pains from his battle briefly flare up before settling back down to a dull throb.

"It's good to see that you are well, Angel-san." Aizawa greeted genuinely, to which the girl nodded and rubbed her thumbs together from where she was hunched over across the coffee table.

"Thanks. I'm glad that you are okay too. That whole thing with the media must have been frustrating."

The Erasure hero's shoulders sagged a little. "Yeah. Never been a fan of their fixation on heroics, giving the public the wrong idea of what they barely understand. But I'm used to not coming out terribly "flattering"."

"Tell me about it." Moxxi agreed as she swiftly returned from the kitchen with a tray carrying a ceramic pot of steaming coffee, two mugs, a small pitcher and a sugar bowl, setting it down on the table. "So how do you take yours?"

Once Toshinori and Aizawa had been served their coffee (he took his with plenty of milk, you need all the calories you can take, missing a stomach), they got right down to business, once again apologizing for the school's shortcomings in protecting their students before moving onto explaining the new dormitory system that was being offered.

As expected Moxxi was amicable the entire time, sympathetic even, listening intently to their sales pitch and only interrupting to ask questions, not to express any hard feelings she had. It gave credence to Nezu's statement, but it was also likely borne from how close to the crisis this time around.

All the while Toshinori would catch Angel making small, furtive glances at him, a look of something resembling pain flicking in her eyes before she would avert her gaze whenever he was close to matching hers.

Was she really that bothered by his emaciated appearance? He was no stranger to such looks, getting them from bystanders whenever he was out of his muscle form in public, but now that everyone knew who he was it felt like everyone was pitying him.

Better that than resentment for hiding his true self for so long he supposed.

"...and the school is prepared to cover all living expenses or any special requests made in the moving process. Angel-san here will be allowed to make any alterations to her own room as she sees fit." Aizawa explained.

"Will the dorms be mixed gender?" Moxxi asked, taking a sip from her coffee.

"Yes, though you won't have to worry about any messing around. The boys and girls will be divided by floor and I will be living on site as added security."

To that Moxxi snorted. "Should have guessed. Bit of a buzzkill really. You going to stop any "late night rendezvous" Angel here might get up to?"

"Moxxiiiii!" The poor girl moaned, hiding her flushed face behind her hands, making Toshinori chuckle at her embarrassment, it was too adorable.

"I'd think that of all my students, Angel-san is one that I'd worry least about in that regard." Aizawa answered brusquely, drinking deeply from his own mug, pitch black of course.

"T-The point being that we have taken everything into consideration, problems both mundane or otherwise." Toshinori added.

Moxxi shrugged, her eyes looking over the papers they provided. "It appears so. What do you think, Angel?" She asked softly.

Angel brushed her hair from her face as she finally calmed down, her cheeks returning to their usual paleness. "I-I think it sounds fun. I'll get to hang out with everyone in class more often." She muttered, in a sort of distant way, as if she wasn't quite focused.

Moxxi frowned a little but moved on, returning her attention to the men in front of her.

"So when would Angel need to move in?"

"Tomorrow morning. We want to get everyone settled in as soon as possible so school can start up again. Provided that the rest of the house visits go well today." Aizawa explained.

"I see." Moxxi nodded. "Then I think we will participate, for the sake of Angel's safety and education."

Toshinori let out a small sigh of relief. One down, nineteen to go.

But still…

"Is there anything else we need to discuss?" Moxxi asked.

Toshinori and Aizawa turned their heads to give each other a look.

"There is… another matter we wished to discuss with the two of you, concerning the circumstances around Angel-san's enrollment."

He didn't miss how both women stiffened at that statement. "Whatever could you mean?" Moxxi asked, her eyes narrowed slightly as she set her cup down on the coaster.

"Principle Nezu has informed us that Angel's background information might be fabricated to an extent. He alluded to some things that we found to be rather concerning."

"Did he now?" Moxxi stated, her feet lightly tapping under the table. "Have you told anyone else?"

"No. We were informed that this was a matter that must be kept confidential. Rather, he gave us the option of being let in on whatever this secret may be."

"Dont!" All three adults turned in surprise to Angel at her sudden outburst. Her expression was ashen, shame written all over her face. "You have no idea of what might happen to you if you know too much. I… I don't want anything to happen to you two. I… I couldn't live with myself if…"

She trailed off, biting her lip and hanging her head. Moxxi was immediately at her side, wrapping her arms around her, whispering comforting words right in her ear as she stroked her hair. The whole time Toshinori and Aizawa sat across from them, having another shared glance.

Any doubts over the gravity of the situation were completely dispelled. There was no way they were backing out now.

"Moxxi-san, Angel-chan, I'm sorry for our curt approach, but I assure you that we are aware of the existence of the dangers here, if not their nature. Nezu prepared us as such, he wouldn't inform us if he didn't think we could handle it." Aizawa said in a low, calming tone.

"The fact of the matter is, from what little he told us, you are going to need all the help you can get." Toshinori added, leaning forward and gesturing with his free hand. "Besides, who else could you trust more than the symbol of peace and the no-nonsense hero Eraserhead?" He joked a little, getting a small glare from his companion.

Moxxi continued rubbing circles on Angel's back, pursing her lips and letting her eyes drift off to the sights outside the window. "You both make good points. I remember how you were back in school, Shota." She muttered with a nostalgic air. "How you were one of the most frustratingly stubborn men I have ever met. You always gave it your one hundred percent in becoming a hero, never reacting to any of the times I tried to tease you. I could see that you were just that focused, that… committed to order, on how heroes should be nothing more than civil servants, doing their best to ensure everyone is safe."

Her eyes flicked back. "That is why I am certain I can trust you. You're not the type to let anyone pull you by any strings or back down from a fight." She turned to the other man on the couch. "And All-Mi- sorry, Yagi-san, after everything you have done for us, Angel especially, I sincerely doubt we'd have to worry about you working for that bastard." She spat the last part out like a bitter pill before schooling her expression. "All of that and if Nezu vouches for you, I guess we don't have much to fear. And I know better than to try and talk you out of this."

"You'd be correct." Toshinori nodded. "Now if we could-"

Moxxi held up a hand. "But! The choice is still up to Angel. I'm not going to say anything without her consent. This is about her after all."

All heads turned back to the girl in question. Sensing that she was the centre of attention again, she raised her head, her expression uncertain, as if she was a small animal debating whether she could try to run away or not.

Her eyes shot to Aizawa, hanging there a moment before switching to Toshinori. He gave her a little smile and a nod, being all that he could think to do at this point to get her to say yes.

It must have worked at least a little, as the corners of her mouth twitched upwards for a split second before her gaze fell to the floor. She twiddled her thumbs a bit, deep in thought. For about half a minute this continued until finally;

"...okay." She breathed out, so quietly Toshinori almost missed it over the hum of the air conditioner.

"You sure?" He asked, leaning forward a bit. "If this is too painful for you or-"

"No." She shook her head, looking numb, yet resolved to push through. "I… I know I can trust you two. And, well… it's just like you said. We are going to need all the help we can get. Also I… I feel… I feel like I need to get this out. Like, try and talk about it outloud, to come to terms I guess."

Angel raised her head and fixed both of them with an imploring stare. "I mean, if you will let me."

"Without question."

"Of course. Just as much as we need to know, not anything past that you wouldn't be comfortable with."

She gave them another smile, that despite how miniscule it was, exuded gratitude in waves. Just as soon as it came though, it was gone. Angel glanced one more time at Moxxi, then took in a deep breath.

"T-Then I guess I better start with… introductions in a way."

She swallowed and rubbed her fingers together, straightening her back.

"Hodunk is not my real name. Moxxi and I are not related at all. My name is Thompson Angel… and I ran away from home."

The next half hour felt like an eternity. The atmosphere began to feel airless as Angel told a story. One of tragedy, terror and manipulation, all in the name of what someone thought were pure intentions, only to be twisted and perverted into obsession. She wove a tale starting from the tender age of three, the bank robbery turned hostage crisis gone wrong.

From there it was an escalating progression of lies, acts of violence and crimes, the latter of which Angel was forced to commit as she grew and her powers continued to develop.

The whole time, Angel just kept talking in a low, resigned voice. She had likely been thinking about how to explain her history for a long time now, going over it again and again in her head, but never having the courage to do so. On the side, Moxxi watched silently, constantly looking like she was on the verge of tears or about to angrily crush the mug held in her trembling hands, the coffee long gone cold.

Aizawa had a grave look on his face, his fingers laced together as he listened, probably filing away every detail that escaped Angel's mouth. Ever the rational analyst.

Toshinori was comparatively less composed, as he was just sitting there stunned, his eyes widening impossibly great the more he listened, as he finally got answers to the questions he had since the last time he had been in this situation. He was regretting it as she neared the retelling of her adolescence.

"I was twelve when he asked me to do…" She paused. "...that. It started with the acquisition of information, evidence of wrongdoing or scandals to be brought against the board of directors. He called it bringing the truth to light, but I knew the real word was blackmail. Even so, I did as he asked. One by one, the board members stepped down and gave him their shares until only the current CEO remained, Harold Tassiter, his boss.

After that happened, he called him to his office to confront him, but it was just what he wanted. He told me to lock the door behind him and to block any calls Tassiter made. Then he… h-he…" Her voice broke as she began to tremble.

Toshinori already had an inkling what would come next, but he asked anyway. "He… did what?"

Angel's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a second, before she brought her hands up and wrapped them around her throat.

Toshinori thought it was impossible for him to feel any colder.

'She watched him do it.'

Shaking, she released her grip and let her hands flop into her lap. "The security found his body in the shower, his neck bent over the step. That was when I knew… w-when I knew…" She breathed and shook her head, looking off into space.

No one spoke for a solid minute as Moxxi carefully pulled herself against Angel.

"It all makes sense now." Aizawa muttered. "Why you were too scared to use your own quirk. Why you are so quiet and soft spoken. Why Nezu made sure to bring us in only when it became absolutely necessary." He leaned forward. "Your father is John Thompson."

"The CEO of one of the biggest support tech companies in the world, Hyperion." Toshinori finished.

He wasn't too familiar with heroes and support companies from out of the country aside from his good friend David Shield, having to focus almost all of his energy into finding a successor. But even he had heard about Hyperion. Heroes all over the world paid top dollar for their high end, custom support gear that put most other companies to shame. He knew how popular its leader was, lauded as a magnanimous philanthropist and one of the greatest technological minds of the century, loved by so many that his preferred moniker was on the same level as the most beloved heroes of their day.

All at once, the gravity of the situation slammed onto his shoulders.

No wonder Angel had always been so guarded and fearful. Locked away for so long by an enemy whose reach extended into nearly every industry on the planet, she would never know who to turn to, where to go, who she could trust. Even more devastating, the orchestrator was one of the two people in her life who were supposed to be one of her emotional pillars throughout her early life. She couldn't go to heroes or the police in fear that they were in his pocket, trapping her like a bird in a net.

It made him sick to his non-existent stomach.

He briefly entertained the notion that he could have done something to prevent it. Had he, in the time he spent perfecting his abilities overseas in his student's country of origin, defeated one or two more burgeoning criminals, would that fateful bank robbery not have taken place?

He quickly dispelled that idea. He couldn't blame himself for something he had no ability to perceive happening, nor the consequences, in something so far removed from himself. He knew that, yet he couldn't help but wish that he could if only to erase the pain in his student's voice.

That begged the question;

"So how did you escape? How are you here now?"

At that, Angel gave the closest thing to a smile in the last half hour. "I was saved. A couple of years ago, he gave me a task. He needed me to find a group of individuals who I could instruct to unknowingly carry out a series of heists against many of Hyperion's competitors across the country, retrieving several experimental prototypes and data. I searched and eventually, I found a team of mercenaries who called themselves "The Crimson Raiders"."

"Interpol's most wanted?" Aizawa asked.

Angel's face fell a little. "The very same and I am ashamed to admit that it's my fault they are wanted so badly."

"Did your father make you make them commit all the crimes they are wanted for?" He pressed, his eyes narrowing.

"No. Corporate espionage and theft, yes, but most of that stuff, especially the really bad ones… no. They didn't. He used his connections to have them framed for all of that." She answered strongly, her brow furrowing in slight anger. "He made me pretend to be a computer, an artificial intelligence the whole time while I sent them on "missions". I told them that I worked for a benefactor who needed their help to stop a great evil. That was a lie. He just needed them to sabotage his enemies and gather a lot of prototypes and designs for advanced tech."

"Do you know what your father is planning with the things you collected?"

"No, I don't. As much as he tried to make me blindly trust him, he didn't trust me enough to tell me what he wanted with all that stuff." She sighed and shook her head. "In anycase, I did my job and the Raiders performed flawlessly.

At the same time, I… I began getting attached to them, emotionally I mean." Angel stated, her smile returning. "They were the first people outside of my father and his "loyal employees" that I had interacted with since the e-explosion. Even though, to them, I was an AI they treated me nicely, as one of their own. For the first time since that day, I felt like I had friends. Ones that weren't robots at least. I was… happy."

Her smile fell again. "But it was happiness based on a lie and soon enough, the lie had to end. Eventually, the Raiders and I got the last thing on my father's list. At that point, they had outlived their usefulness. S-So…" She swallowed. "He tried to have them killed."

Toshinori gasped before catching himself. "You… you say tried. Obviously the Raiders are still alive." He couldn't help the smile that suddenly grew on his face. "You saved them, didn't you?"

The smallest iota of pride flickered in Angel's eyes and she nodded. "I managed to get them out, just barely and my father thought they were dead. It was then that I told them the truth and to flee the country while they had the chance. It was my one act of defiance, even if he didn't know."

Her voice turned somber. "It felt like a dream finally feeling like I belonged somewhere, with people who trusted me and were there to support me. It was nice, but I knew it couldn't last forever. At that point I was content with my friends being alive somewhere and thought that was the end of it."

Then she definitely smiled this time, almost showing her teeth, she seemed so excited. "But then, then they came for me! I almost couldn't believe it but… but they cared about me."

She sniffed, rubbing at her eye a little, the sheer amount of relief washing over Toshinori at the plot twist.

'Finally, I'm not sure how much more trauma I could take.' He thought as Angel continued.

"They managed to get me away from my room at the center of the Hyperion headquarters. From then on we ran as fast as we could South over the Mexican border."

"It was right around then they got in touch with me." Moxxi interjected. "One of the Raiders, Mordecai, we go way back. He knew he could trust me to take care of Angel while he called in a favor with Nezu, little guy owed him a favor. The three of us agreed that the safest place for Angel to have some semblance of a normal life was in Yūei's protection. So my son had a friend in New Mexico smuggle her into the country on his cargo plane, Nezu pulled some strings to help fake the identity papers so that she was my kid…"

"...and the rest is history." Angel finished, her shoulders sagging as she fell back against the couch cushions, looking more than relieved that her story was told.

At the same time, Toshinori was still coming to terms with everything he had just been told. He felt a mixture of pity, horror and righteous fury on Angel's behalf, yet was also in awe that she managed to survive it all more or less intact. The vast majority of her life could be sold as a depressing psychological thriller, the kind that left the reader questioning the author's sanity over how much they deigned to torment their protagonist. Most people, he imagined, wouldn't be able to cope with such suffering and trauma, yet here Angel sat, haunted but still alive.

Despite everything, she had been shaped into a gentle, caring person trying to do her best.

Toshinori didn't dare to imagine what would become of her had the Crimson Raiders not come along when they did, who now unknowingly had earned a strong admiration from the former top hero.

"Well, that explains what Nezu said about us not having to worry about you dropping out of school." He breathed out, rubbing his now throbbing head, a migraine coming along.

"He's not wrong. We really don't have anywhere else to go. Especially after that son of a bitch Wilhelm showed up with the League." Moxxi grumbled, a deep scowl marring her beautiful face.

"He works for Thompson?" Aizawa inquired.

Angel visibly began to shake, her pupils dilating and sweat sliding down the side of her head. Moxxi laid a soft hand on her shoulder and her tremors abated a little. "Wilhelm is one of my father's most trusted allies, his enforcer. He's the man that gets sent to do his dirty work and acted as my… my warden. His ability to merge with machines was the perfect counter to mine."

"I'm guessing he was sent to get you back during the attack?"

She nodded.

"Is there any chance that your father has allied himself with the League?"

A headshake. "No, at least I don't think so. The way W-Wilhelm talked when they had Bakugo-kun and I hostage implied that they didn't know. If I know my father, he's more likely to trick them into doing what he wants, then killing them as soon as they aren't useful anymore."

Toshinori's fingers dug into his knee in anger.

'This bastard is sounding more like All for One by the second.'

Aizawa sighed, rubbing his dry eyes before glancing at his watch. "I think we're going to have to continue this another time. Angel-chan, after school starts again, you and I are going to have a long talk. If we are going to be ready for whatever your father throws at us, we are going to need all the information we can get. Are we clear?"

"A hundred percent." She answered earnestly.

"Then I give you both my word to keep you safe to the best of my abilities." He promised, bowing his head deeply, which Toshinori mimicked immediately.

"Mine too, as useful as I am right now." He said with an uneasy chuckle.

Moxxi gave them a smile and a nod, while Angel didn't say anything she did seem a bit more at ease. "Thank you so much you two. I know we can count on you."

"No, it means the world that we are worthy of your trust in this matter." Aizawa waved them off before standing up with a grunt. "Thank you for having us, but we really do need to be going. We have nineteen more homes to visit, so it's going to be a long day."

Toshinori prepared for the aches that were sure to make themselves known for when he pushed himself up, before Angel let out a small cough.

"A-Actually, can I have a word with All-Might? Alone, I mean."

The three adults blinked as one and turned to her.

"Can this not wait until school?" Aizawa asked.

"N-No, at least I don't feel like it can." She stuttered, shifting in place.

"Angel-sugar, these gentlemen have a lot of work ahead of them, I don't think it'd be nice to keep them-" Moxxi gently explained before getting silenced as Toshinori raised a hand.

"It's no problem for me Hodunk-chan."

"Yagi-san, we've stayed long enough." Aizawa grunted.

"She asked nicely. We won't be too long, right?" He asked, shooting Angel a look, who gave a quick headshake.

Aizawa sighed again, then finally nodded. "Fine."

"Come on, how about another cup of coffee?" Moxxi asked as she led the tired hero to the kitchen and closed the door behind them, leaving Toshinori alone with Angel.

He sweated a little. What did she want to talk about? Did it have anything to do with the odd looks she kept throwing his way?

"S-Soooo… what did you want to talk about?" He asked anxiously, fiddling with his collar for a second.

Angel appeared about as on edge as he was, her eyes on the floor as her thumbs kept tapping each other. He was about to ask if she was alright when she seemed to muster up some courage and met his gaze.

"So, uh… this is the real you, huh?"

"What's left of me." He joked, one in bad taste evidently as the young girl bit her lip and shrunk a little.

"Is it true what you said on tv? That you can't use your quirk anymore? T-That you're… done?"

Toshinori sank a little at that, but wasn't taken off guard. Of course it was about his new state, of his returned lack of power. Plenty of people would be concerned about the future now that the supposed invincible All-Might was out of commission, let alone a young girl with all too much to be worrying about already. She was likely questioning how much use he could be to her now, looking like a strong breeze could knock him over.

"I'm afraid so." He said, his eyes meeting the floor. "I've pushed my body further than it had any right to and now I can't use my quirk at all. But don't worry about it. Aizawa and the other heroes will be more than enough to keep you safe. It's sad, but I'd like to think I had a good run and it was fun while it-."

*Plip.*

He blinked, his eyes jumping to the coffee table, surprised to see the splatter of water, followed by two more.

He looked up to Angel's face.

She was crying, a sob escaping her lips as she covered her eyes.

"Hey, hey! What's wrong?" He said, shuffling around the couch to sit on her right, putting a hand on her shoulder, just for her to shy away.

"It's my fault." She choked out.

He hadn't quite been expecting that.

"What?" He gaped.

"I-I-I-It's my fault! My fault that you can't use your quirk anymore!" She spat out. "If I hadn't g-gotten caught… you w-wouldn't have been there and fought that All for One guy!"

Toshinori closed his hanging mouth. Of course. Why was he surprised?

"It's not your fault, Angel-chan." He told her softly, just to get a shake.

"O-Of course it is! Because of me, y-you got hurt fighting him a-and-"

"Ssh… ssh… come on, don't be like that." He whispered, gingerly putting his arm around back. "It's not your fault."

"B-But it is!"

"It is not." He insisted softly. "We were caught off guard. The League was bound to get someone. I would have been there anyway, regardless if it had been you. Bakugo-kun got taken too."

'Note to self, remember to check on Bakugo-kun to see if he feels the same way.'

Angel wiped at her face a little, pausing her crying. "Y-Yeah?"

"Then stop blaming yourself for what you can't control. You want to know something? I was bound to lose my quirk around this point anyway."

She blinked a couple times, tears caught in her eyelashes. "What?"

"Remember last time we talked, that I told you about my fight with my worst enemy?"

"All for One, I-I'm guessing?"

"Got it in one. That time, I had taken a really bad hit. Lost most of my lungs and my whole stomach. From then on, I was on borrowed time, losing my strength bit by bit until I could only use it for hours at a time. By the time of the raid, I was running on fumes. I knew my time was coming, but I went anyway, because that's what a hero does."

Angel's tears had finally stopped as she looked at, perplexed. "Then… then it really wasn't because of me?"

"Definitely not." He chuckled. "And you want to know something else? I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Angel blinked. "What?"

"No hesitation,if I had the chance to go back and change what happened that day, I wouldn't. I went out the best way I could think of, saving you and everyone else from the world's greatest evil, one final time." He gave her a wide grin. "If that isn't a high note to end off on, I don't know what would be."

Angel's eyes widened for a second before beading up again, this time however, she just smiled and wiped them away. "You really are the number one hero, All-Might."

"Please, call me Yagi-san."

"Then thank you, Yagi-san." She said, suddenly leaning into a hug.

"Ack! N-No problem!" He coughed as her arms were wrapped uncomfortably tight around the wounds on his torso, making her flinch and jump back.

"S-Sorry!" She winced, which he waved off with a laugh.

"I-It's okay! Happens more often than you think!"

She laughed nervously and took a moment to clean her eyes properly. "C-Can I try again? I promise to be more gentle this time."

"Bring it in kid." He told her, holding his arm out for her to slowly put her arms around his neck instead this time.

"Thank you so much, Yagi-san. For everything you've done."

"It was my God given pleasure."

"A-And if you ever need someone to talk to, about scary things and coping and stuff… you can always come to me. You were there when I needed it, so I'm going to return the favor, got that?"

He softly laughed again. "I might just take you up on that offer. Thanks."

The two of them stayed like that for another minute or so, before Aizawa and Moxxi finally popped their heads in. They appreciated the sight for a moment until they should remind them that the two heroes had places to be.

"Thanks for having us over Hodunk-senpai." Aizawa said, taking his jacket from their host.

"Yes and thank you for the coffee. It was perfect." Toshinori agreed.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Here, let me help you out." Moxxi said, holding his jacket open.

"Appreciated." He blushed a bit at the attention, trying to focus on pushing his right arm in his sleeve followed by her draping the other half over his other shoulder.

"There will be a moving van out front tomorrow morning at seven thirty. Make sure to have everything packed by then, alright?" Aizawa said, opening the door.

"We will! Have a nice day fellas!" Moxxi said, smiling warmly as they left.

On a whim, Toshinori glanced back over to his student standing behind her guardian. Her face was cleaned up and radiant with the glowing smile she gave him, along with a tired, but happy wave.

He smirked and returned the wave. With that, Aizawa closed the door and they started walking down the hall, Toshinori lagging behind.

"Well that's one way to start today." Aizawa sighed.

"At least it ended well. It should be easier from here, right?" Toshinori asked, rolling his neck a little. He was already feeling exhausted, but he could at least feel the coffee taking the edge off of it.

Despite that, he was feeling good at how the meeting with Angel had gone

"We've still got the Bakugo residence to go to. If Katsuki takes after his parents, we might be in for a rough time."

"I don't know about that." Toshinori hummed and Aizawa raised a brow.

"Why is that?"

"Call it a gut feeling."

"You don't have one." His colleague muttered, coming to a stop in front of the elevator door and pressing the button.

"Heh, low blow buddy, low blow." He chuckled, shoving his hand into his jacket pocket.

Toshinori froze, letting out a confused grunt. There was something in there that he didn't remember having before.

Pinching it between his fingers, he withdrew a small piece of pink paper.

'Where did this come from?' He wondered, idly flipping it over.

"BLEEEEGH!" Blood sprayed out his mouth as his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates!

Written in looping, feminine handwriting was a line number, punctuated with an imprint of lips coated in red lipstick. At the bottom were two words.

"Call me!"

"What's wrong?" Aizawa questioned, prompting Toshinori to quickly stuff the note back in his pocket and grab a tissue.

"N-Nothing! Nothing!" He croaked whilst wiping away the blood on his chin.

Aizawa gave him a look that let on just how little he believed him, then faced forward as the elevator door dinged and opened.

Toshinori followed him, using the clean portion of his tissue to dab away any sweat that was running down his forehead.

'That woman is going to kill me.'

In spite of that, the note stayed in his pocket.

"So… let me get this straight… you got outsmarted and lost a bunch of teenagers in the woods…" Blake stood off to the side as his boss drawled into his desk phone.

"Y-Yeah." Wilhelm answered from the other end, audibly grinding his teeth.

"Fucking. Teenagers…"

"Well it's not MY fault your kid kept using herself as a human-!"

"Shut up! Not finished!" The man barked, immediately cutting the mercenary off. "Then, even with the syndicate of edgy maliciousness catching the asset and doing your job for you, you all let her escape just like that?! Not to mention you almost blew our cover with that jet flying circles over the city!"

Wilhelm growled. "I was seconds away from grabbing her and running out the door when All-Might showed up! All-Might! That was not part of the job description!"

"Ohoho! Wilhelm, I love you buddy, I really do! But your excuses are making it really hard to do that right now!"

"It's the goddamn truth is what it is! Not to mention that All for One freak of nature! How was I supposed to deal with that?!"

He rolled his eyes. "That was a bit of a curveball." He admitted, too low for Wilhelm to hear.

He tapped his finger against the table in thought. Then smiled.

"You know what Wilhelm? I forgive you!"

"Huh? The fuck? I know you. You don't fucking forgive anyone!"

"I'm making an exception this time. Despite your-*cough*-stupid-*cough* fuck up, I just realized that we can use this to our advantage."

"Come again?"

"Let me spell it out for you. This All for One tool is behind bars right?"

"Yeah?"

"And All-Might just announced his retirement. Without even knowing, those two massive friggin idiots took each out of the equation. Leaving Japan ripe for the taking!"

"Oh. Ohhhh… yeah… that IS good!"

"As a result, I'm feeling… generous right now. So keep doing what you're doing! Keep playing along with those "federation of evil" dumbasses and keep an eye out for another opportunity to secure the asset."

"Will do." Wilhelm answered the phone beeped.

The man leaned back in his chair.

"Jimmy, did we get building approval in Japan yet?"

"A couple hours ago sir."

He smiled, his pearl white glittering in the light of his desk lamp.

"Then I think it's time we moved the timetable forward. Let's get to work baby!"

It was the dead of night off the coast of Chiba. Naturally, most of the populace along the sea were asleep. Thus, not many were awake to notice the fleet of yellow and white cargo ships approaching from the East. They moved as one, in tight formation. Their destination, a small, deserted island an hour off shore by boat.

Soon enough, the fleet came to a stop as they neared the shallows, having no place to dock.

A problem that would soon be remedied.

From the centre of the fleet, a pair of bay doors slowly opened with a groan, a platform rising from within. Atop it, a series of carsized, metal pods. A click and hum, a singular red eye blazed to life on each of them.

With a roar, each of the pod's thrusters ignited in bursts of blue light, sending the contraptions upwards, where they fluidly unfolded into white drones with blue hues along their edges and took to the skies. Dividing into two groups they went to work, the first hovering over to the shore, clearing the beach of trees and stones with beams emanating from their eyes, the others utilizing those same beams to lift, carry and put building materials into place.

Within minutes, a shipping dock was erected and the first cargo vessel drew near. It's gangplank lowered and an army of men and woman clad in denim overalls and construction helmets marched ashore. On their backs they were equipped with matching yellow and black metal exoskeletons, to which they used to great effect, lifting crates and building materials with ease alongside their flying robotic companions.

Over the course of the next few, the forests were leveled, debris removed, piles of steel beams, concrete blocks and rebar were organized and a metal chain link fence was placed around the circumference of the island.

A pair of drones hovered close to the ground as it lowered a large billboard into place, turning it to face the mainland. A surprise for the locals, when morning came.

It spelled out in both English and Japanese in large, bold letters:

The future, brought to you by HYPERION! Coming soon!

SEASON 3: END

TO BE CONTINUED…

And that is a wrap! Season 3 finally completed! I had a lot of fun writing this one, I've started to introduce the branching differences and will focus on diverging different ways even further down the line.

I AM a little ashamed to announce this next part after how long you all waited for this update...

I am taking a break from AGC for a while. Like last time, I want to make it clear on how much I have enjoyed writing this story and again, with that being said, I need some time away from it if I don't want to get sick of it, which would be the worse thing in my mind. With this chapter I have left the story in a less abrupt point and I have gotten back into my writing mojo. I want to use this opportunity to branch out creatively, work on existing fics like finishing Froppy's Swashbuckling Adventure and add more to For Balance, For Honor, as well as act on some new crossover ideas I'm cooking up (little hint, I finished season 2 of Owl House and am feeling INSPIRED!).

You might be asking, what does that mean for AGC? Like I said, it will be going to break for a while, quite a bit actually. I'm thinking of picking it back up sometime towards the end of summer/beginning of fall. I hope you will all respect my wishes and possibly check out the other stuff I will be updating and releasing in the next while.

Finally, thank you all so much for your time and attention on my story. This has been a blast, through and through. I hope to see in my other works and later this year, for season 4! I am Mandalore the Scribe and I endorse this message! Ciao!