The third day of her internship had been boring from start to finish.

Apart from a couple of drunken assholes too stupid – and drunk – to realize hitting on Mirko was a terrible idea, she hadn't seen a single crime. Not one. No purse-snatchings, random fights or villains robbing banks. Ten straight hours of walking the streets, waving to random people after Mirko nudged her ribs and spending fifteen minutes convincing a girl no older than five or six that she wasn't bleeding to death. Which somehow led to Mirko inviting her to an 'awesome' outdoor restaurant in the heart of downtown Corusco whose manager owed the rabbit hero several favors.

"Well, look who decided to hop on by."

Halfway through her hamburger, Ryuko's eyes snapped towards Mirko as the rabbit hero flagged down another hero, "It's been a while, Monsoon. Thought you transferred to Fukuoka for a change of scenery."

The older hero was the quintessential example of a last generation pro – grizzled grey features, wrinkles around his eyes, more than one visible scar and nearly six and a half feet tall.

"Oh, I did," his voice sounded like rocks inside a tumbler, "Just needed to grab a few things from the old office. Not to mention Typhoon would freeze the blood in my veins if I didn't give our old stomping grounds one last patrol for good measure," Monsoon laughed. A deep baritone chuckling that reminded Ryuko of her dad's laughter, "Have to say, I'd expected to find something today, but either criminals finally gave up or today's the most boring day of crimefighting in years."

A pout made its way onto the rabbit hero's face.

"I'm not complaining," the grizzled hero's red and rustic yellow costume stood out in the twilight, "Survive as long as I have and you learn to enjoy boring days like these," Monsoon's laughter drew some unwanted attention before turning towards Ryuko. He stared at her. She stared back. And then he grinned, "Well, what do you know. You got yourself a sidekick."

"Intern."

Mirko's emphasis and underlying threat was impossible to miss, "Managed to snatch her from UA," curling an arm over the back of her chair, crossing her legs while letting one foot bounce, she jabbed a thumb across the table, "Meet my responsibility for the week – Ryuko."

Ryuko took a bite out of her hamburger while blatantly ignoring the rabbit hero.

"Ryuko?" folding his arms, Monsoon looked her over, "You wouldn't happen to be Ryuko Matoi, by any chance?" at her silence, which sounded louder than necessary, the older hero rolled a shoulder, "Caught a glimpse of your exhibition match during UA's Sports Festival. Not bad. Of course, that other kid's Quirk was no laughing matter. He really ran laps around you," he laughed again while grabbing one of Mirko's fries, "Personal opinion? I think even All Might would be hard pressed to hit someone who can phase through matter at will."

"That's quitter talk," the sound of her hand slapping the fry out of Monsoon's fingers left the latter wincing, "Anyway, know you're busy patrolling and all, but got time to catch up?"

"I suppose," Monsoon gave his tingling hand another quick shake, "Assuming, of course, you've forgiven me for assisting you during that carjacking early last spring."

"Another word and I'll drive my foot up your ass," a metal-plated boot resembling a rabbit's foot shifted underneath the table.

While the tit-for-tat between the two friends – where they friends, she didn't know or care – Ryuko found her attention slowly drifting towards something far more interesting. Which was pretty much anything other than listening to them talk about old cases, villains and other things that would have been exciting if they weren't told in the most boring way humanly possible. Yawning out the side of her mouth, she propped her chin on her hand, stared onto the street and lazily chewed a lukewarm fry soaked in ketchup. It was a busy Wednesday night. The streets were full. Crime was nonexistent and she was bored half to death. Counting the number of cars passing by the restaurant, if only to keep herself from falling out of her chair and passing out from boredom, Ryuko sighed again.

She didn't know how long Mirko and Monsoon shot the breeze.

And she didn't care.

But at some point, the back of her neck itched.

Followed by a sharp whistling.

She saw its falling reflection in the building across the street, descending fast enough that it must've had a running start. Without bothering to wait and around demand an explanation from whatever it was, Ryuko kicked her foot against the ground. She stood up, flipping her chair over in the process and attempted to clear the area. A familiar chill trickled down her spine as blood gushed through her costume and into her waiting fingers. But she wasn't fast enough.

And then Mirko's foot connected with her stomach, giving her the acceleration required to avoid whatever was falling towards their table.

BOOM!

What that something was, on the other hand, remained to be seen. Forced into an involuntary flight courtesy of Mirko's well-meaning but unexpected kick, she rocketed away from the explosion, hair whipping back and forth in front of her eyes. She flew for all of five seconds. An agonizingly long and frustrating five seconds before her right heel connected with asphalt. Followed a moment later by her other foot before catching against a new crack in the road. More than one curse escaped her lips. Her arms rotated in opposite directions as momentum slammed her against the side of a recently abandoned delivery truck, its owner fleeing down the street. As she finally stopped and managed to catch her breath, shoulder sore and the taste of copper lingering in her mouth, debris and rubble fell like rain from the darkened skies. Thick clouds of dust clung to the deepening evening.

And there was screaming.

So much screaming she could hardly hear herself think.

"Ugh…shit," one hand holding her stomach and the other keeping a firm grasp on her Quirk, Ryuko breathed, each attempt less painful than the last. But the numbing pain was second to the monstrous creature crouched inside the wide crater that had been their table only a handful of seconds ago, one bulky arm stabbed nearly to the elbow in solid concrete, "You have got to be shitting me! Another one of these goddamn freaks!?"

She wasn't the only one wondering that question.

In the opposite end of the street, eyes never shifting away from their unexpected guest, Mirko released Monsoon, allowing the experienced hero to catch his breath.

This was a Nomu.

Maybe.

The rabbit hero couldn't be one hundred percent certain.

It wasn't the same bird-like villain who'd pressured All Might only to be defeated like every other criminal the number one hero faced. Superficially, at least. But there were too many similarities to ignore. Whatever this monstrous villain was, it wasn't human. That much Rumi was reasonably certain. Charcoal skin bordering on dark blue marred by countless scars and sutures. Exposed brain inside a misshapen skull. Two rows of unblinking eyes embedded in said brain. Cracked bone white claws sharp enough to slice off an arm if she gave them a chance. A snout full of razor-sharp teeth and dripping saliva. Ripped trousers once belonging to a half-decent suit. All on a creature eight feet tall and weighing half a ton minimum.

"That was a close call."

Even in the heat of battle against an unknown villain, Mirko couldn't resist the urge to crack a joke, "Gotta say, if you're trying to catch this rabbit, you're going home empty handed!"

"Electrical Containment!"

He knew Mirko would hate him, but Monsoon didn't care.

At least half a dozen metallic discs no larger than American pennies flew out of his wristbands, reddish electricity coursing through them. Guided by his Quirk and infused with more power than he usually gave them, they struck the villain, sticking onto its shoulders, back, head and legs. It looked at him. Unblinking eyes expressing nothing. But slapping his hands together, fingers interlocked, Monsoon activated his Quirk, an electrical prison powerful enough to immobilize even the strongest villains enveloping the dangerous creature. Its arms were drawn against its waist as its legs struggled closer and closer together. Its head tilted backwards while its fanged maw opened and closed. Its entire body quivered and trembled.

And then the villain flexed, shattering his technique in a blizzard of electricity and sparks.

"…fuck."

A lesser hero, one lacking experience, would have frozen at some random villain overpowering their strongest technique through sheer physical strength. And for a moment, Monsoon admittedly cursed. But he didn't freeze. His mind was already moving onto the next step. But he was only a man. A hero lacking speed, power or anything other than his Quirk. By the time he attempted to retreat and come up with an alternative plan, the villain's claws were inches from crushing his skull.

If asked, nine times out of ten Ryuko would say she wasn't exactly heroic.

It wasn't a question of standing aside and doing nothing while someone was in trouble.

And it had nothing to do with not caring about saving someone who couldn't save themselves.

She just refused to conform to society's definition of heroism.

She didn't play fair, fight by the rules or announce herself to a villain before attacking. Someone would call that cowardly. Or villainous. As heroes, it was their job to stand in the light and inform the public of what humanity could achieve if given a chance. All Might told her that once. And her dad had said something similar. But those were just words. Meaningless words that didn't stop a villain from killing her dad. If you wanted to be a hero and stand on the shoulders of giants, you had to go out and prove yourself.

"MOVE IT OR LOSE IT, GRAMPS!"

As the Nomu reached towards Monsoon, weird bone shit protruding from the tips of its claws and resembling more of a wolf than before, Ryuko launched herself forward, feet barely touching the ground as the blood clenched between her fingers exploded into a crimson bouquet before recondensing into a thinner yet no less deadly weapon. Nowhere close to as menacing. But it didn't need to be menacing. It only needed to be sharp. Sharper than the sharpest sword. And sharpness was something her Quirk could accomplish in her sleep.

It took a heartbeat to intercept and catch up with the creature.

Another gasp of existence to realize the Nomu's eyes had swiveled in her direction.

And a third moment to lean around claws sharp enough to slice through space.

Tensing her shoulders as bony digits thicker than her wrist missed slicing off her face by only a couple of incredibly close inches, Ryuko planted one foot on the ground, the resounding stomp echoing throughout the street. Her jaw clenched as a faint yet growing vermillion light radiated from the depths of her perpetually disheveled hair. She breathed, a simple act focusing her thoughts. She pivoted, twisting underneath the Nomu's grasp. And as it came back, focusing on her instead of Monsoon, she swung at the closest part of the hideous monstrosity she could reach.

Her Quirk sliced into charcoal-colored flesh right below the monster's left knee.

Then stopped as something incredibly hard and dense materialized beneath its skin.

"RRRRAAAAAAGGGHHH!"

Ryuko screamed.

She didn't know why she screamed.

She just did.

The Seki Tekko crinkled as she pushed her Quirk far enough that her skin burned.

"GRRRRAAAAAAAA!"

And with a squelch, her Quirk finished slicing through the Nomu's leg, blood the same color as oil and other disgusting fluids oozing out of the jagged wound.

"NICE MOVE, RYUKO!"

As the Nomu lost its balance, tongue lolling out of its mouth and eyes swiveling randomly in every direction, Mirko sprang into action, "BUT I'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE!"

CRUNCH!

It was a sound impossible to mistake as anything other than the number five pro hero giving her all to defeat a villain. Empowered by her Quirk and further strengthened by exercising until she threw up and then pushing herself further, Mirko bounded over the Nomu's arms, spinning between muscles strong enough to crush her bones. Her fingers latched onto its wrist. And using said extremity as a vault, she flipped forward and smashed the top of her foot into its neck. But much like Ryuko, reinforced bones attempted to dissipate the energy.

But it wasn't enough to shatter her confidence.

"HA!"

Mirko hopped backwards, barely landing on her own feet before sliding one leg backwards in a wide counterclockwise arc.

"YOU'RE ONE TOUGH WOLF BASTARD!"

Adrenaline flooded her body.

"BUT I'M TOUGHER!"

In that same breath…in the same motion…Mirko flipped backwards, planting one hand upon cracked asphalt while driving her foot directly into the underside of the Nomu's exposed jaw. There was another crunch as something important broke under the strain. Of a Quirk unable to handle the sheer physical pressure forced upon it. The bones inside the monster's neck shattered. But Mirko wasn't finished. Not by a long shot. Still kicking the Nomu despite breaking every vertebrae in its neck, she flipped her hands over each other, spun around and drove her other foot into its stomach with every ounce of power dwelling inside her body.

KABOOM!

The impact shattered whatever bones remained intact.

Almost one thousand pounds of muscles, ligaments and assorted structures lifted off the ground as the power contained within her kick sent the misshapen monstrosity flipping head over heels at an upwards trajectory away from the street and any innocent bystanders hiding inside buildings.

That didn't make the rabbit hero feel any better.

On the contrary, she felt worse.

Observing with noticeable apprehension as the creature smashed through a billboard, water tower and bounced off the corner of a ten-story building, Mirko landed in a crouch, one foot tingling and the other feeling like she'd repeatedly kicked solid concrete, "Is everyone alright?"

Ryuko clenched then relaxed her fingers, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm getting too old for this," a lifetime of heroism and confronting the lowest scum of the earth finally caught up to Monsoon. He took a moment to catch his breath, the adrenaline spike taking a toll on his struggling ticker before affording Mirko a subtle yet accusatory glare, "Mind explaining what that thing was?"

"It kind of looks like the bird thing All Might punched into the sky," solidified blood morphed into a more comfortable grooved handle as Ryuko curled and twisted her fingers around the makeshift blade, "Those league freaks called it Nomu or something stupid. Didn't think there were two of them."

Mirko pressed a finger to the radio inside her left ear.

Yet there was no signal.

She tried again, shifting to an emergency bandwidth, with the same results.

A creature resembling the one used by the League of Villains to fight All Might.

A communications blackout in the heart of Corusco.

"Something's blocking our signal," the pieces were adding up, and she didn't like it, "Find some way to contact the Hero Association," glancing in the general direction she'd sent the second Nomu flying, Mirko ignored her screaming instincts to focus on the matter at hand, "Your old agency's a couple of blocks from here, right?" when Monsoon nodded, everything else the hero might have said was ignored, "Think you can get there?"

"Assuming this isn't a country-wide blackout heralding a large-scale attack," the electrical hero grumbled under his breath, "But assuming it's nothing like that, I can be there in under five minutes. And get backup in maybe twenty minutes. You?"

"Like you really need to ask."

Ignoring the comment about backup, Mirko punched one hand against the other, knuckles grinding against the inside of her gloves, "This thing came all this way to see me," a vicious smirk stretched across tanned skin, expressing nothing but the utmost confidence in her ability to take down something tangentially resembling the villain who pressured the world's symbol of peace, "Ryuko, go with Monsoon."

Anyone else would have been frustrated about being sidelined.

Or relieved.

But as Mirko patiently waited for her answer, Ryuko didn't know how she felt. Her fingers trembled despite her best attempts at keeping them under control, but it wasn't from fear or terror. She wasn't scared of the Nomu. And she wasn't eager to prove herself against the monster. Her Quirk might have overpowered whatever strange bone bullshit the bastard had, but so what? Fighting the Nomu, if it was a Nomu and not some cheap knockoff, was at the bottom of her do-to list. She honestly didn't want to fight that thing. Not if she could help it. Yet walking away, even if it were for something as helpful as calling for backup from someone like All Might, didn't feel right. She didn't know why it didn't feel right, just that it left a sour taste inside her mouth.

"Yeah, sure," settling on the least energetic answer possible, Ryuko pretended she gave a shit.

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way."

If Mirko knew how she really felt, the rabbit hero's poker face was unreadable as she hunched forward, muscular thighs quivering and fingers gripping cracked asphalt, "But my intern dying halfway through the week would seriously ruin my reputation!"

"You really think you can take that thing down?" it was a question Ryuko didn't want to ask, not because she didn't want to know the answer, but because when she did, the woman who'd spent the last two days bragging about her strength, calling teamwork pointless and being a general pain in the ass huffed, as if insulted she would even ask such a question.

"Of course."

Mirko wasn't smiling. Not anymore, "I figured these league wannabes would start targeting the top pro heroes after All Might knocked them down a peg," grinding her knuckles upon the sidewalk, wild crimson eyes snapped forward as oxygen and adrenaline flooded taut muscles, "But if I'm the one these league punks are after, bringing this fight elsewhere is the only way to keep innocent people out of harm's way. And a real hero doesn't back down from a fight no matter the odds!"

Ryuko felt like she should have said how stupid that sounded.

But before she could open her mouth and say anything, Mirko kicked off the ground like a fleeing rabbit, bounding from building to building before leaping over the distant rooftops.

"She'll be fine."

Monsoon's blue eyes, marked by several faint scars and a brown hair gathering a dusting of white, crinkled alongside a deepening frown, "Mirko's tougher than she looks."

"Tell me about it," Ryuko didn't need a reminder. Her stomach and memories of the last few days were good enough, "Anyway," dragging her Quirk across the ground before resting it on her shoulder and walking around the older hero, she grunted, "Lead the way."

The grizzled hero said something.

But she couldn't care less as a flash of pink and blonde stole the breath from her lungs.

Ryuko felt time slow to an agonizing crawl. The world itself seemed to freeze in a single moment. One moment, the street behind Monsoon was devoid of life. And the next, a familiar purple blade was arcing towards the hero's neck. She saw the villain floating behind Monsoon, long blonde hair rustling and pink manicured fingers swept backwards over a billowing dress. Acting purely by instinct, she shoved Monsoon aside, pushing the older hero hard enough that he stumbled off his feet before meeting the descending blade with her own.

CLANG!

"Nice reflexes, Ryuko!"

She wore the same costume right down to the multilayered salmon dress with feathered folds and porcelain mask resembling a rabbit. An exact duplicate of the first mask. Unbothered by her sneak attack failing at the last possible moment, or perhaps having expected Ryuko to block her scissor blade from reaching its intended target, Couturier's head tilted slightly rightward, giving her blank features an almost inquisitive expression, "I honestly thought I had him there!"

The sheer condescension and mocking amusement pissed her the hell off, "Screw you!"

"Aw, don't be like that," underneath her mask, Couturier smiled, "So, you ready for round two?"