For those who have survived NNN, and the chaos that is Black Friday, I have a special present for all of you to close out these year…two chapters! No, for real, I really dropped the ball these last few months as I wanted to be done with the Summer camp stuff by now but yeah…so I'm hitting you with a double dose of this to give you all something to help entertain you during this festive season as we all pray that we don't have to deal with any more shit in 2023.

Chapter 52: For our Friend, we Fight.

(Previously)

"What?" Sam's question threw him for a loop as he had expected a lot from him. Demands secrets about his classmates and UA, whatever he knew about One for All and All Might, and any number of other information but a code? To what? His work computer on I-island? Surely, he wasn't after his own tech, was he? Clearly, this wasn't the response Sam wanted as he turned to him, glaring at the boy with the hate he had known he was keeping under the surface.

"You heard me! What is your code? I know that David gave you one. What. Is. It?" Sam stalked up to him, his octo-arms holding something out of his line of sight as he leaned over his prisoner. Trying to channel as much All Might as he could in this situation, he gave his response.

"Sorry, but I'm not Mason, I don't know what the numbers mean?" What he wasn't expecting was for Sam to crack a smile as he leaned back, chuckling.

"Funny guy, aren't you?" Sam asked him, seemingly recalling all the 'good times' the two shared in the lab, working on projects or the elder simply helping him out with something he couldn't do himself.

"It's part of my charm," Midoriya replied, doing his best to keep his fear down as he tried to prepare himself for what was to come.

"Since you are familiar with the joke, I'm sure you're familiar with the methods they use in Black Ops." Sam's chuckle turned dark as his octo arms revealed that they were holding a pale of water in one and a cloth in the other. "Let's try the waterboarding first." All the preparation in the world couldn't stop him from whimpering in fear of the coming actions as he struggled in his binds to move away from the metallic pawns as the sack was forced over his head, robbing him of his sight.

(And now)

Tetsutetsu couldn't help but feel numb as he lay in his hospital bed, his right arm covered in a thick cast while bandages covered up most of his body, though you wouldn't be able to see with the blanket covering him up to his chest. Two whole days has passed since the attack, and he along with others had been rushed to the hospital where he went in and out of consciousness.

Recovery Girl had already seen him as well as the 9 others injured in the fighting though he hadn't had the time to see any of them. He didn't have the heart to see any of them, not when he already knew he had failed, that Midoriya had been kidnapped while he was taken out like an afterthought, only surviving because he was that far off that damned villain's radar. The only thing that kept him from completely falling apart was the news that Kota made it through without a scratch on him.

He was brought back to earth when he heard the door to his hospital room sliding open, the person in question is a familiar head of thorny vines. "Thank the Lord, you're finally awake." Shiozaki smiled as she opened the door further, allowing the rest of them into the room but while he was happy to have guests, he did pick up on the fact it was mainly class A.

"Hey man, we wanted to see how you're all doing, it's nice to see you awake this time around." Kirishima greeted his fellow hard boi.

"I'll avoid the news, reporters smell blood and they've been baying outside the school almost the entire time, even more than when it came out All Might was going to teach," Monoma mentioned, appearing as if he was calm and cool, but Tetsutetsu knew enough about him to know he was as concerned as the rest of them, and appreciated that he still came despite his issues with his ego.

"Sorry if you're not your classmates but well….yeah." Kaminari rubbed the back of his head there, looking away as he really didn't know how to finish that thought.

"Don't worry though, there are going great, and wanted us to pass on their good wishes, especially Kendo!" Hagakure spoke up, jumping into his view as he breathed a sigh of relief at that, having feared the worst.

"Why am I not surprised, she's always looking out for us, don't know what we did to deserve her," Tetsutetsu replied as he can fondly recall their first day and how she made an honest effort to learn all their names and some of their personalities, and how she can so easily keep them all in check without having to scream her head off or act like a dictator.

"You didn't do anything; a good class rep will always have an eye out for the well-being of their fellow classmates." Iida chopped his arms towards him as while he hadn't won the role for his class, he had seen enough of how Midoriya and Yaoyorozu conduct themselves to understand that fact well.

"I apologize, if I hadn't caused so much trouble, perhaps you wouldn't have needed to injure yourself to such an extent," Tokoyami said, his remorse clear to them as even after two days, he hadn't stopped blaming himself for losing control like that.

"Hey man, it's not your fault, I did this to myself," Tetsutetsu told him and he meant it, he hadn't even known about his rampage till long after. Still, his smile fled from his face as he turned towards Shiozaki "What's the word? You said everyone's okay, but what's really the situation?" The fact she didn't answer immediately and looked away didn't inspire much confidence in him.

"Most of our classmates were caught in the gas and while we managed to get to many of them, a few are still consciousness but the doctors haven't found any more cause for alarm," Monoma spoke up in her stead, stepping forward as he did so. He didn't need to say it for them to know how much he hated that so many of them, including Honenuki and Tokage who could have been a huge help. Tokage was awake but wasn't allowed to see them just yet, so he didn't have an idea of what she felt about this.

"They're treating Kodai and Kendo for bullet wounds, all flesh wounds so by the grace of the lord, they'll be out tonight." Shiozaki managed to mention it as it had been touch and go with them for a bit, the blood loss being the main issue but nothing too serious.

"Awase, Shishida and Yanagi ran into one of those vile Nomu, Yanagi managed to escape it with some cuts and bruises but the other two…" Monoma started but paused, looking away as he recalled seeing the two being loaded into the helicopter to be flown to the hospital rather than flown, their injuries being that serious. "Awase's arm was really messed up, he needed extensive surgery to make sure he kept it, so he'll be out for some time." Quite frankly, he was concerned if he'll be allowed to continue with the hero course as his parents were understandably hysterical when they arrived to see him.

"And Shishida?" Tetsutetsu felt like he had been punched in the gut with that.

"He tried to fight the beast, and bought Yanagi the time she needed to escape but he was messed up… it's best you don't hear the gory bits but he will make it through." Monoma's response somehow hurt more than if he had been given details as his mind flooded with any number of gruesome possibilities, was Hagakure lying about them? Maybe she hadn't seen him yet, and if she had-was 'doing great' just alive?

"Class A didn't walk away without damage either. Jiro, Mina, Shinso, and Sero were all caught in the gas, only Shinso's awake right now and is speaking with his parents. Asui and Uraraka were attacked and had their blood drained, while Shoji and Yaoyorozu took some considerable hits as well." Iida added as while they hadn't lost as many to the gas, it didn't mean that the other villains' actions left them relatively untouched.

"Lucky for me, it was mainly on my arms so the doctors just cut off as many injured limbs as they needed and focused on those they couldn't," Shoji spoke up as his left side was covered in thick bandages, but he was still up and about. With all this laid out, the group fell into silence, thinking of the one of them that wasn't among them.

"They got him…didn't they?" Tetsutetsu started to tear up as he didn't need them to say it, the fact that he wasn't there to tell jokes was enough of an indication.

"Tetsutetsu…" Sato started but stopped, dejectedly looking down.

"Yes," Todoroki confirmed.

"Todoroki, is now really the time?" Kaminari asked him.

"Dammit…he was right there…!" Tetsutetsu reached up with his right arm, the only one he could actually move, trying to grab onto something only he could see. "We knew he was a target, but I thought…I thought I would be able to protect him, make sure he made it out with the rest of us but, I couldn't do anything, in the end-he protected me." He didn't recall much, but he knew that he was lucky to be alive as that villain took him down like it was nothing, and could have killed in just as easily. But she didn't…because Midoriya distracted her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need a moment alone with my patient." Breaking this mood of grief and frustration, the door once more slid open as the doctor stepped in.

"Of course, doctor. We'll get out of your hair immediately." Aoyama, who up to now had been quiet and in the back, answered as he was the first to leave, followed by the others.

"We can check on the others in the meantime." As the others walked out, Tokoyami remained behind before he stepped forward toward Tetsutetsu's bed.

"We have a way to save him, we can talk more later and even if you're not able to go, I wanted you to know this." He told him quietly, not noticing that Shiozaki had stayed by the door long enough to hear him before she walked off.

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(Later)

Around 2 hours later, Tetsutetsu with his arms free of the bandages and cast, sat on his bed. He had already spoken with his parents who were happy that he was being cleared to leave, the injuries he suffered having been fixed up by the doctors and Recovery Girl. Unlike before when it was a big group that came to see him, this time around it was only three people: Tokoyami, Shinso, and Bakugo, the last one catching him off guard but he'll shelf that for now. "Are you good to go?" Tokoyami asked to which he nodded his head, no need for words there.

"…What's the plan?"

"I visited Midoriya's mother yesterday, to see how she was doing and she let it slip that he's somehow transmitting his location and how the pros are using that signal to track him and plan a rescue mission." Tokoyami started, giving up the most important part of the plan first.

"You're thinking his tech can track the signal as well?" Tetsutetsu recalled how Midoriya said he had made stuff that his gear could track, so if they could gain access to his computer…

"I know it can, all we need is access to his lab, and from there we can grab something to lead us to him," Tokoyami replied as Bakugo grunted, speaking up from his place close to the wall.

"Aunt Inko already gave us permission, so at least that part's already settled." He had managed to get her to allow them in, to keep an eye on the place while she was with the old hag who was keeping her company.

"What about the rest then?" A new voice spoke up, catching them all unaware as they jumped in fright, turning towards the door to see three new people standing there, watching like a parent who caught you with your hand in the cookie jar, or at least, one of them was.

"Kendo, Shiozaki, Tokage!" Tetsutetsu yelled as he barely managed to keep his heart in his chest.

"How'd you-!" Tokoyami looked at them, wide-eyed as this wasn't something they could deal with, not right now darn it!

"I overheard Tokoyami's message to Tetsutetsu and was concerned, so I approached Kendo to inform her." Shiozaki spoke up, not really looking at them.

"I confirmed it, you guys need to pay more attention to your surroundings," Tokage added as they had asked her to look into this with her quirk and she had managed to hear enough from the three to know that they were planning something.

"Of fucking course this happens," Bakugo muttered.

"Please tell me I'm not hearing the four of you planning to get involved." Kendo didn't particularly care for all that, she just wanted to be sure that they didn't do anything stupid as she was one of those still wearing bandages from their injuries.

"And if that is the case?" Tokoyami challenged her as she turned to him, her face passive, unimpressed.

"Did you stop to think about this for even a second? We're not licensed, we don't have the authority to head out to fight villains." She reminded them as she couldn't help but recall Hosu, what happened to them thanks to them fighting a villain completely out of their league, and what happened to Iida because of his recklessness.

"So, we're supposed to sit back and do nothing then?" Shinso felt especially infuriated as he had been taken out by the damned gas, he with the best quirk for deescalating the situation and allowing the pros for quirk and easy captures-was out cold for the entire thing.

"The pros, including All Might are already on this, we don't NEED to get involved." Kendo reminded them as they all knew that there was no way in hell UA was just taking this, and thanks to Tokoyami revealing that Midoriya's transmitting his location, it was assured that they were already moving to save him and Ragdoll.

"I refuse," Tokoyami replied, stepping up and walking towards her.

"What was that?" Kendo asked him, looking down at the shorter boy who walked right to his face, despite the three inches worth of height difference, he didn't let that stop him from meeting her eyes with his own glare.

"I said I refuse; I won't just stand down; I can't stand down." He didn't look away, he didn't let his gaze let up even as he tightened his fist at his side, his emotions threatening to boil over. "Even if it's true that we don't have the power, and that the pros are already on the case…how can I just sit back?"

"Tokoyami…" Shiozaki didn't know what to say, but she could see how much this meant to him.

"When everything fell to chaos when my best friend was fighting for his life when so many of us fell to the villains…I was on the rampage, like a savage beast, only making things worse." A single tear formed as it fell from his eye, but other than that, he kept his stance as Kendo's brow creased, her frown only growing more prominent.

"How can you expect me to be able to look at myself in the mirror if I don't try? How can I just move on from such an abysmal showing?" He finished, his question met with silence as while not wanting to get involved, it wasn't like any present could honestly say that they didn't feel the same to some capacity. Kendo most of all as she prides herself on protecting her classmates, on helping them become their best selves and while Midoriya isn't in her class, he's still a fellow UA student.

"It's not going to be a fight; we know that we'll only get in the way." Shinso steps forward, directing her gaze towards him.

Kendo eyed him for a moment before she took a calming breath. "Then what's your plan then?"

"We talked about it on the way here, we want to save Midoriya, meaning that we just need to grab him and bolt, Bakugo and my quirks would be great for both sneaking and covering our escape while Dark Shadow gives him ranged recon," Shinso explained the basics of their plan to them, hearing that they didn't want to fight and would gladly leave that to the pros was something that Kendo appreciated, but she was still hesitant on this.

"Kendo…perhaps their motives outweigh their actions." Shiozaki spoke up, she also knew this was against the rules but she had also been taught that someone times it was better to act on what you knew was right rather than what was allowed.

"It's certainly not crazy…or was crazy as it could be." Tokage threw in her support for them, leading Kendo to concede, her shoulders lowering as she signed.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this, alright-fine! Let's say you don't fight; how do you plan on actually using his gear because I'm pretty sure it's not going to be user-friendly?" That seemed to be a big thing here as she didn't know him well, she was sure someone like him wouldn't just leave that kind of stuff laying around and no doubt his personal stuff was password protected.

"Remember grease monkey?" Bakugo asked her, which got blanks from the three before Tokoyami cleared things up.

"Hatsume." That name brought back some embarrassing memories for the rep of class B but that also brought some other questions.

"How did you-!" Before she could raise them, Tokoyami answered that he figured she wanted to know.

"When we managed to sneak our costumes out of UA, they were in the workshop. She was in the workshop-been there for days and hadn't kept up with the news. More than that, she didn't seem to care that we were taking them but once she heard what we were planning, she agreed to help." It was quite the experience as he and Bakugo had waited for Power Loader to leave to use the restroom, only to see the grease-covered, coffee-filled Hatsume in the corner.

She had turned to them and tried to convince them to allow her to work on their stuff before going back to whatever she had been doing before. I was actually Bakugo who approached her before they left, and much to his assumption, she was willing to help out with this as it would allow her to get some of her stuff in the field, the ones she assured them wasn't going to blow up, caught fire or otherwise fail. The other reason was that she wanted to see how Midoriya's stuff worked since they approached their crafts from very different points of view.

"Why your gear?" Kendo asked them, it didn't seem right to have them when their expressed goal was rescuing, not combat.

"They have stuff we'll need to make this work as smoothly as possible, also if we're seen by people, they'll assume we're with the pros and not raise too much of a fuse," Shinso replied as he in particular had gotten word about a special mask for himself just before the summer break. It was meant to be shipped to the summer camp in its second week but the situation has changed.

"And if the villains see you?" Tokage asked the obvious question as unless you wanted to go underground, or had a quirk that benefit from blending it, your costume was loud in color and design, something that villains-ones that just pulled a daring attack, would be on the lookout for.

"That's why we're taking the sneaky approach, with the pros drawing their attention, we can grab the two of them and get the hell outta there," Bakugo said, even though he hated the fact that they went going to fight those bastards and pay them back for the camp, he hated the fact that the nerd and crazy cat lady had been taken-so he decided on what made him angrier and focus on that.

"I feel like there's more here, you wouldn't have brought in Mei if she was just going to man his gear," Tokage replied as she didn't know much about either of them, but she didn't see Bakugo as someone who would just bring people along for fun.

"She can control his stuff, the nerd made them so that they can be controlled wirelessly from a distance, if we're lucky-he managed to fix it up." The blonde replied as they originally hadn't planned for such a large group, and while his explosions could keep most of the villains at bay, at least the ones they knew about, they needed an extra edge. Hearing this, Tetsutetsu turned towards them, having an idea of what they planned to use for this.

"You mean-" Tokoyami stopped him there.

"Yeah." After that, and another 10 minutes hammering out the details now that they had three extra hands to work with, they finished up altering the plan of rescue.

"So, the plan's set, we'll give Hatsume a call to let her know you'll be swinging by the school to collect her stuff, and we'll meet outside Midoriya's place in 2 hours," Shinso told them as they all stood by the door to Tetsutetsu's room, the boy in question packing what little he had with him when he came now that he was being discharged soon, he just needed to call his parents to explain why they shouldn't pick him up, using the excuse that he was heading to spend the night with a friend, have someone to talk to.

"Don't worry, I'll send you the address, just get there quickly," Tokoyami told them as he pulled out his phone, getting their contact details before passing along the information.

"Might as well since I'm already party to this, but don't forget!" Kendo started as she pointed at the three boys. "If things look dicey, I'm pulling all of you outta there." She was firm on this, and they could see it in their eyes that if they didn't agree, she would rat them out.

"That's…agreeable," Tokoyami replied, despite the bitter taste in his mouth.

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(Later – In Midoriya's lab)

"This place is amazing! Why does he get to make babies here while I have to stick with my parents' garage?" Mei bounced around the lab, looking at anything and everything. The group had managed to get their gear without incident, Mei having distracted Power Loader long enough for her to get their costumes for the four and left them where they could find them. After that, they met up outside the apartment, thankfully still empty before Bakugo and Tokoyami led them inside and into the workspace.

"Hatsume, please focus. You can come by later." Kendo told the girl while she was also impressed, this isn't the time as the others looked around.

"What are we looking for?" Tokage asked as they hadn't been told what they had come for besides a way to track Midoriya's signal.

"A giant suit of armor," Bakugo replied, having fond memories of that thing actually keeping up with All Might, and said number one destroying it.

"Found it!" Tetsutetsu called out, having pressed a button close to the work desk, opening it up and allowing the massive suit to slide into view. However, while they had hoped it would be in working order, it wasn't the case as while the incomplete paint job wasn't bad, the open panels, missing pieces, and unfinished circuitry were.

"Fuck, it doesn't look ready for anything," Bakugo muttered as he walked up, being able to see whatever passed for the damned thing's metal but was rudely pushed out of the way by Hatsume who charged forward as if a child jumping about a candy store.

"Not true!" The pink-haired inventor argued as she spent a minute or two looking over the thing, humming and muttering the entire time before she stood back and turned to them, her smile plastered to her face the same as the manic look to her eyes, but she had been awake for almost 30 hours so that was to be expected. "Yeah, give me 30 minutes and I'll have it good to go, looks like he was just doing some maintenance, I can close things up and get it ready." She didn't even wait for any of them to respond before she turned back around, picking up tools that Midoriya graciously stored next to the workbench, and got to work.

"Is it loaded?" Tokoyami asked her, recalling how the suit wasn't just built for strength and flight and came armed with an assortment of weapons. Hatsume looked back at him, confused before turning back to the suit and checking its weapons compartments while the guns were still installed, all were empty-same with the missile tubes.

"Hmmm, no. But I can do that too, just find me wherever he keeps the ammo!" That wouldn't stop the future top support gear designer, a baby could load these things, and she would know she had been building stuff for as long as can remember!

"Got it, while you guys search, we'll try to crack the system," Shinso responded as Tokoyami sat down at the main computer, the login screen bright and clear as he tried to figure out what Midoriya would have for a password.

"Is that really necessary?" Neko appeared on screen, her cat avatar looking down on them all.

"Neko!"

"He has a home A.I. too?! We really would make the cutest babies!" Hatsume turned towards the screen, her eyes lighting up at the sight of such as the A.I. turned to her, confused.

"Pardon, miss?"

"Let's not focus on that. Why didn't you activate it when we came in?" Tokoyami asked as he had no idea that Midoriya had managed to implement it around his house yet, having only heard him talk about it.

"I would have, if not for the fact you had gained access from Mrs. Midoriya. May I ask why you're down here?" Neko replied, having been listening in to the conversation which saw the two boys gain access to the residence. This did cause confusion as they then returned with a large group, many of whom she only recognized from her master's files as his classmate but not as his friends. Still, she chose not to raise the alarm as they were all still UA students, trustworthy.

"We're going to save Deku, that's why," Bakugo replied as the A.I. turned to him, looking at him as if he was glitching.

"Is that not the job of law enforcement and the pros? I have already handed them the sufficient means to do so." Neko's cat avatar changed to a confused, curious cat face. She had given the authorities all that they needed without issue, surely they would have returned if they were issues with that information.

"We know, we need you to do the same for us," Tokoyami replied.

"Is that not illegal? I have no records of laws or regulations that would allow for unlicensed students to get involved in law enforcement." Neko asked, leaving out the part where her master did just that prior to U.A. but that was exploiting legal loopholes which had since been closed.

"We aren't going to try and fight or arrest anybody, right?" Kendo stepped up here before any of them could say something foolish as this wasn't a person they were dealing with, if she didn't like their answers-she could just as easily shut them out and Mei wasn't a computer whiz, so trying to force their way into the system would take hours, hours they didn't have.

"Yes. We're only going to try and grab Midoriya and Ragdoll and get out of there, allowing the pros to better accomplish their own objectives." Tokoyami replied, picking up where Kendo left off as the A.I. took some time to think, its avatar's head spinning every now and then as if a loading screen.

"Neko…" Shiozaki spoke up, drawing its attention as she clasped her hands together. "Please."

"Tracking software access: Granted. Weapons cache access: Granted." Neko eventually replied as she opened up what they needed, including deactivating the locks of the weapons vault to allow them access to the munitions as well as beginning the process of creating a code that could allow their devices to track the signal.

"Thank you." Tokoyami signed as he got up from the seat, moving to help Tetsutetsu move the missiles and boxes of ammo to Mei's side so that she can load them after she finished prepping the suit for use.

"Ms, would you require the schematics for the Mk XII to ensure a more efficient preparation?" Neko turned back to Mei as she worked.

"Sure, Neko! Oh, and can you sync our system to my phone so we can keep in touch?" She replied in turn as the avatar nodded its head, waiting for Mei to plug her phone into the workstation so that she could do that.

"That is within my capabilities." She replied as she turned up the screen close to her, allowing her to see the beforementioned plans to which she she squealed in joy, tapping away at the screen as she worked, zooming in where she needed to get a better view as her hands danced over the super cute baby laying before her.

"Hey, I just remembered. Who's going to drive the van that carries that thing? None of us know how." Tokage asked them as while they could pull off being teens with licenses if they didn't get pulled over, she didn't think any of them knew how to drive, having either used public transit, their parents, or other means to get anywhere they needed to go.

"You just let me worry about that part,"

Tokoyami replied as he placed the last crate down before pulling out his phone. He had already thought about that part and had confirmed that there was a driver available. "Excuse me…I have to make a call." Now the only problem would be convincing them to help, which is hoped doesn't give him complications as she had only just gotten back into the groove of being at home with their massive family.

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As the students prepared themselves for their self-appointment mission, the pros, having spent close to two days carefully gathering information and planning, were beginning to gather as Endeavour received the call to head towards Kamino, the same as others in the top ten such as Edgeshot, Best Jeanist, Yoroi Musha, and Gang Orca. Not just them but heroes such as Gran Torino and Tiger as well. With two others, they calmly drove down the road, neither saying anything as they could only think about the coming operation in just a few hours.

Kamui Woods spared his partner a glance, but he didn't say anything even though he wished to ask her once more if she was okay, he knew it would be insulting as, despite her emotional stake in this, she hadn't done anything to make it seem like she wasn't ready. So he decided to trust her and keep his eyes on the road. With the heroine in question, she kept herself in check through a combination of her training, and the thought of seeing her Izuku's smile again, she didn't dare think him dead, even if her rational training advised her to keep that notion close, she didn't want to have to see herself attending his funeral.

A shirtless Midoriya could barely keep his eyes open as he was dragged somewhere, where didn't know. He couldn't even tell how long he had been stuck here, he knew that Ragdoll never returned to their cells as in between his…sessions with Sam, he never heard her, he couldn't see her. Those same sessions left him near broken, in constant pain, and exhausted as Sam didn't let up in any way, he figured out what he had wanted halfway through, as his 3rd fingernail was pulled out but that was it, if there was nothing else he could take from what is sure to be an inevitable death, he could at least say that he didn't crack despite how much he wanted.

"Midoriya Izuku…yes?" He heard someone new speak up, sounding so casual that it threw him for a loop as his wet, bloodied, and the exhausted body was dropped to the floor, his cast having been busted earlier, only adding to the long list of agony shooting through his system. If he could see himself, it would only confirm the sorry state he knew he was in. Sam did just about everything he could think of to get him to break. He pulled teeth, he pulled fingernails, he broke his toes, he twisted his already broken leg-setting back whatever little recovery he had managed to get in since it was mended. He used knives and those clawed tentacles to cut into him, electrocution, the initial waterboarding. Forcing him to wear headphones as he played all manner of loud, random sounds. If he could think it, he used it.

"…W-w-wha…?" He turned his teary, blurry eyes towards the speaker, only being able to look as high as their chest. He knew they were in a suit, an expensive one at that but that's all he could make out as they walked forward.

"Oh yes, my mistake, you're not in a condition to idle chat, are you? It seems that Wilson did a number on you, but I do hope that he managed to get the information he wanted." Midoriya barely kept himself awake as he didn't want to fall asleep again, he didn't want to see the nightmares again.

"As much as it pains me to say it," A chill worked its way down his spine as Sam spoke up, for a brief moment, he had hoped that he hadn't been present, that he hadn't been the one to pull him from his cell to see 'a guest'. "The brat's tougher than I thought. No matter what I did, he didn't give up anything." At this point, he couldn't even find himself to be pleased with that, or how annoyed Sam sounded, he was just…tired.

"Is that right? Well my boy, color my impressed. It's not every day you came across someone with such strong mental fortitude. It's no doubt that you managed to find a place amongst the would-be heroes of UA." Like before, he couldn't take this compliment as the man stayed where he was, observing him like a tourist at a zoo would an animal that had caught their fancy. Though there was another reason he held his tongue, it was the aura this man gave off. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, or at least what modern society saw as out of ordinary but there was this primal part of him, carried throughout the tens of thousands of years from humanity's earliest ancestors which screamed at him to be quiet, to not anger this man.

'How…how can someone have such an aura of…evil?' He hadn't ever felt like this, not even when he was down on the ground, paralyzed and facing Stain did he feel such terror, it was near all-encompassing. 'I can't move…I want to…I want to just crawl up and pray he leaves but…I can't.' He started to tear up, not from the echoing pain coursing through him, but from how scared he was, his body wanted him to flee like a scared rabbit, he WAS a scared rabbit when compared to this…this creature. The fact that he could barely move only shot despair through him which he could only think to relieve through crying.

If either party noticed his sorry state falling even further, they didn't say as the mysterious man only chuckled as he turned towards the side of the large area they had been in, one of the many corners shrouded in shadow. "Of course, you're not the only guest we're hosting, isn't that right, Ragdoll?" With his words, the lights turned on, revealing to Midoriya's horror that this wasn't just some random building, it was a Nomu housing site, the tanks filled with at least 2 dozen of those monsters, he struggled against them even with his gear but if so much as one of them were ordered to attack him, he'll be slaughtered.

But that wasn't what drew his eyes or his mind, it was the fact that in the middle of them, with mindless monsters to her right and left-was Ragdoll. She was stark naked, unconscious as an oxygen mask and all other sorts of tubes and sensors plugged into her as she floated in the clear liquid. She look so different than what he saw of her, she seemed so small, so weak. He couldn't believe that he was seeing, he didn't want to believe that he was seeing. The only saving grace is that despite it all, she appeared unharmed, her wounds seemingly have been seen too as well.

"No…What did…what did you do to her…?" He whispered, not realizing he hadn't merely thought it as he, upon seeing someone in danger-managed to slowly drag himself towards her, his heart crashing into his chest so hard it almost heart from the effort and the emotional overload he was going through. It took him a while to reach, but he eventually did as he used most of his remaining strength to reach a hand towards her, trying to reach her through it, to wake her, to get her out of there but all he felt was the cold, unfeeling glass of the vat she was kept in.

"I do apologize for that, she wasn't in Tomura's plans you see, he just wanted to capture you but I asked him to take her. She had such a wonderful quirk that I couldn't resist." The man laughed, poorly initiating true remorse, or perhaps he was being genuine but so used to his sins that he couldn't stop talking like that, Midoriya didn't know nor did he care because his mind froze when he heard his statement, he said he took her for her quirk, why would he have done that? If he wanted her dead, they could have killed her at the camp. He could only think about one other reason she was picked then.

"You…you…took it…?" He whispered out, his voice was meek and fragile as he turned towards the man, shaking in terror as neither the man nor Sam corrected him. "All for One." Only now, could he look towards him fully, he didn't see a face but a sleek, black mask that gave away nothing but on some level he knew was better to the alternative of having to look at the King of the Underworld in the face.

"Oh, so you know of me, do you?" All for One asked, being pleasantly surprised that someone of this generation knew who he was, seeing how so many of the elder ones tried so hard to forget he ever existed which was slightly annoying, to watch as history tried to erase you but at the same time, he felt like it was a compliment. "Oh but then again, you and that buffoon, All Might do seem to be close…I wonder." He asked as he rose his hand, Midoriya didn't know what to expect but he sure as hell wasn't expecting him to shoot out black spiked tendrils from his fingers that dug into him, leaving him stunned for only a moment before the pain kicked him, leaving him screaming in agony and fear for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds before All for One retracted them, not caring as Midoriya collapsed face first-his strength spent and his body taxed far past its limits.

"It seems I was wrong, he didn't pass One for All to you, did he? You truly are quirkless, a novelty these days but I do recall the days when that was quite the opposite." All for One mused if a little disappointed that his luck hadn't been good today as it would have been so sweet to crush All Might's spirit in another way by showing him how he had finally captured One for All, leaving him with nothing but its embers and nothing to pass on, ending this near 100-year long struggle.

"My apologies, I'm rambling, aren't I? But it's been quite a while since I've spoken with someone who knows about me. But for you to know even my name…All Might must trust you greatly, is it perhaps you remind him of my foolish younger brother, or perhaps it was thanks to an endorsement from the great David Shield?" All for One mused, the grin clear through his voice as Sam only snickered as Midoriya couldn't even raise his head anymore, the effort too great but even so.

"…He…He'll stop you…you'll pay for this…for all of it." Midoriya stated this as a fact, as undeniable as the sun rising to cast away the darkness of night. Even as his voice labored and he could barely keep his breathing stable, he said his piece with complete conviction in his heart.

"Such faith in your symbol of peace? But we are on a schedule. Wilson," All for One didn't seem to mind this minor act of defiance, it wasn't like it was the first time he's seen it, nor does he believe it to be the last. "Is it true, does he have it?" He didn't turn to the other person in the room.

"No doubt in my mind that David told the brat the code," Sam replied as he had seen it, the moment the boy had realized that he wanted but refused to hand it over.

"I…I won't tell you…anything." He was past his limits, he knew that but even still, he couldn't give him-not after all this. He just had to wait a little longer. They hadn't found the tracker, he had been careful to keep it him and to leave it in his cell whenever he could. It was still there, he didn't know if it was still transmitting, but he had to believe it was accepting that it had broke, or been damaged through the multiple times he had swallowed it and then thrown it back up would mean giving into despair. He had to hold onto hope.

"I don't doubt that else you would have but I have other means of getting the information." All for One chuckled as his black tendrils shot out again, grabbing him and pulling him close like a fish on a line. Within an instant, he was face to mask with All for One as the man placed a hand over his head, easily lifting him off the ground as he used another quirk, Midoriya didn't know what it was but he did know that it felt like his skull was being cracked open and his brains fried.

"ARRRGGG STOPPP! STOPPP!" He screamed out for mercy, crying as he tried to fight him off but he could barely do anything other than place a hand on All for One's, his other limp at his side as his legs passively shook back and fourth. Then he felt it, he could see it shooting past his eyes as his memories played out like a movie. He then realized that All for One was doing and tried even harder to fight back, snot and tears flowing without block as he felt the man digging through his mind with ease, no matter how much he tried to think about something else, he smashed on without being slowed.

"It's a shame I was busy before this, else we could have saved Wilson the time." All for One said, having no issue with the tears, blood, and snot pressing into his hand from his hysterical, pleading victim before he found the memory he was looking for. With it obtained, he dropped the crying mess of a teenager to the floor before taking out a handkerchief to clean up his hand.

"You got it?" Sam asked him, surprised that he had only taken less than 2 minutes to do that.

"That I did, as well other things, such as confirmation of whose the next holder of One for All." All for One took back his previous statement, it appeared his luck was on his side as he couldn't help but be soothed by the tears and mutterings of mercy and forgiveness from the heap that lay at his feet, just like so many others that tried to stand to him and paid for it.

"Should I dispose of him now?" Sam asked, though not out of a desire to put him out of his misery as he scoffed at him.

"No, I think that the doctor would much prefer if we keep him around, after-all, what are the odds of running into someone who's quirkless yet so young." All for One decided as Sam nodded, he figured that his fellow scientist would want another lab rat to study. Midoriya didn't even react as one of Sam's octo-arms extended a needle which he pricked him in the arm with, nor did he move as his vision started to blur even more as his body grew weak, losing what little figment of strength he still had. He couldn't find it in himself to care as he had failed, he couldn't protect his piece of it and be now doomed to become a corpse on some mad scientist table if not worse. He had nothing left to hope for.

'Someone…' His vision went in and out, his mind instinctively working to try and keep him awake but it was a lost battle before it was even fought.

'Please…' The next thing he knew, a mask was being fitted over his face, and other senses were also placed onto his tired, broken, pale body but he didn't feel them as a numbness had already set.

'Save us…' Midoriya shot out one final plea for rescue, for an end to this as he felt saw the tube he had just been placed into fill with the strange liquid, as it rose, so too did his body as he started to float as he closed his eyes, not even having the hope that he'll open them again to anything good.

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