The grass outside the mansion had drunk the rain overnight, and turned a new-summer green in the morning.

Nejire Hado stood on the porch and did warmup stretches. She'd been advised by teachers and Ryukyu alike to always stretch before a tenuous day of hero work, flight, combat, or all of the above, but rarely remembered to do so. However, to be honest, today she was…sore. And it would be embarrassing to admit that to the others when they got back, because the reason behind her soreness was…

Izuku landed in the yard. He had just been back at the pharmacy, at her request.

"The tape as ordered," he said, handing her the small box. "Sorry about…you know. Snapping your bra."

Nejire's eyes danced with mischief. "I would have done the same thing in your situation. A shame, though. It was a nice bra."

His eyes darted to her chest, then back up as his face turned red. "Ahem. Yeah. Glad they still had some of this, because your costume is way too tight for you to be naked under it."

"Yep. Let me go inside and fix that." She had not been the only one to suffer a wardrobe loss last night: Izuku had also torn his own prison jumpsuit, meaning he was now dressed in the makeshift hero costume his mom had made, brought into the field by Eri. He looked silly in it. But cute.

After Nejire had put the tape on (and readjusted, as she had never done this setup beneath her costume, and it was a bit uncomfortable), she returned to the porch, where Izuku was waiting, carrying their bag and looking toward the city.

"Hawks went on ahead?" he asked.

"Yep. I told him not to wait, since I have to go slow."

"Err…right. Sorry again, for making you sore-"

Nejire silenced him with a kiss on the cheek. It's nice how we're the same height. I can sneak kisses whenever I want! "You better stop apologizing for giving me the best night of my life, silly."

Izuku beamed. "...Okay." His face grew pensive. "I'm…looking forward to seeing everyone again. Even if it's just a short time before the fight."

"They all want to see you, too." Nejire put her nose in the air. "I can taste the future, Izuku. I'm not just looking toward the battle but beyond it. There's things to look forward to. That makes the battle less scary, I think."

"Maybe that's what I needed," he whispered. "I didn't feel ready to face Shigaraki and All For One before. I do now, and not just because I've gotten food and a good night's sleep." He grinned cheekily. "There's a world past this one, and we won't see it into reality if we die! So we can't die!" Green lightning hummed to life around his feet. "Come on, Nejire!"

Her spirals erupted from her boots. Together, they took off toward UA, where everything would come to a head.

Tamaki Amajiki couldn't help but smile a little as he watched the former captives come through the gate. Their hopeful, curious eyes, daring to believe in what they were seeing - the UA fortress ahead of them, promising safety and comfort, at least for the time being.

Hawks flapped above him. "Nezu will be pleased. This lot made a huge hole in his database. He'll be happy to finally log them."

Each one stopped at the gate to undergo the security process. First, they went through standard security - a pat-down, a full search of all their possessions, typical procedure to ensure they were using no traditional, non-Quirk methods of disguise or subterfuge.

Second, they went through a scanning tunnel to indicate they had no non-mutant Quirks active - this was UA's chief Himiko Toga deterrent, along with any other enemies capable of Quirk-related concealment.

Then they passed through another scan that pulled up their government ID in the database. Every citizen of Japan had one of these logged, though most of the refugees were without their physical ID. Spies had attempted to circumvent this system - apparently there was a former Meta Liberation Army agent who'd been high up in Japan's bureaucracy, and still had access to the identification system to manufacture fakes, both digital and physical. They were no doubt allied with All For One now.

In any case, when a spy tried to enter, their face was scanned, bringing up two IDs - both their new fake, which obviously had to have their picture, and their old true ID, which contained links to their criminal activity. This threw up an alarm and they were detained.

Since the facial scanner came after the Quirk scanner, every person entering UA had to come in as themselves, and there was no escaping the double ID trap. The mysterious MLA bureaucrat was not able to delete the old IDs from the database, only add new ones.

In any case, the spies had long stopped trying to use that tactic. There were other means of trying to get into UA, and other defenses, Tamaki was sure, but only Nezu knew everything.

When the last had come through the gate safely, Mirko sighed. "Now that's done with. See y'all." She hopped off.

Lemillion took Eri's hand and guided her toward the building too. "C'mon. It's time to face Eraser's wrath for taking you out there."

"I won't let him get mad at you!"

Mirio chuckled. "I guess we'll have to see."

That left Hawks and Tamaki. The winged hero saw Tamaki staring out at the roads beyond UA and said, "They'll be fine. I'm sure they're almost here."

"Yeah…" I'm worrying for no reason. He wished they hadn't fallen behind, but he supposed it was best for Nejire and Midoriya to have figured out their relationship before they got back. Once here, there'd be no more time before battle preparations.

Just inside UA, Endeavor, All Might, and Jeanist met up with them.

"Where's Deku?" Endeavor asked immediately.

"Coming," answered Hawks. "With Nejire-chan. He needed a bit more time to make it back due to the toll this has all taken on his body."

Smooth lie. Tamaki saw Endeavor and All Might accept it, while Jeanist looked more suspicious. "The civilians are restless. As are Class A. Most notably my own charge."

"Bakugo?" Hawks raised an eyebrow. "Frankly, I couldn't care less what that little twerp thinks. Class A will just have to wait."

"The whole point of that mission was to go find Young Midoriya," said All Might. "And now you have come back without him-"

"There were other civilians, too," Tamaki spoke up. "People without training who really needed our help. We prioritized them."

"Yes. Of course. I apologize for raising my voice." All Might sighed and ran his hands over his face. "I'm just…eager to see my student again. There's so much I want to talk to him about."

"And he's not alone either, if Nejire-chan stayed with him," said Endeavor, crossing his arms. "She was the main cause of this mission, even if Hawks took command. Let us wait to pass judgment until she arrives with him. I'm sure she'll take responsibility."

"She will," Tamaki agreed, nodding eagerly.

"We'll pass on this message to the forces. Suneater, go get some rest."

He thanked the older heroes and walked off, into the wide UA concourse.

The massive school turned city-fortress was business as usual, to Tamaki's eyes. Personnel and robots alike walked in all directions, attending to work. Voices carried easily through the open space. The refugees were gathered in their sitting or sleeping areas, either eating rations or talking to one another. Mixed expressions passed over Tamaki. Hard to get a read on all this. They simply wouldn't know for sure until Midoriya got back.

He came to the place where Nova had promised to meet him when he got back, but she wasn't there. He frowned. Did they not announce over the PA that we returned? Maybe Nezu didn't want to get people's hopes up, since the first wave of returners didn't include Midoriya.

Tamaki elected to go check her private room. It was nearly a twenty minute walk to reach it, through wide thoroughfares and then quieter, narrow halls, but she wasn't there either. Not entirely unusual. She had plenty of friends, and could be visiting with any of them. Should I just wait here? He had his own place to sleep, in the hero barracks area, but he'd rested in Nova's room before. It wouldn't be a big deal.

No, I should find her first. She'll get mad if it seems like I didn't try to seek her out. Maybe just playfully mad, but still in a scary way. Tamaki shivered.

He walked around UA for another few minutes without finding Nova, but he did run into Iruka Kitsune, the massive mutant girl.

"Suneater-san! You…you're back." Kitsune peered down at him. "Is Deku…?"

"He'll be here soon. Hey, have you seen Nova around?" He knew the two women were at least acquainted.

"Eh? Um…no, I don't think so. I last saw her yesterday. Sorry." Kitsune looked overly worried.

Tamaki waved nonchalantly. "It's fine, I'll just keep looking-"

"Suneater? There you are."

He turned. It was Rei Todoroki. She had another person with her, a young man with pale hair who was just a little shorter than Tamaki. Another Todoroki? No, this guy's hair was more ash than snow, so that was doubtful.

"Ma'am," Tamaki greeted. "I just left a meeting with your husband. Is there a problem?"

Rei's eyes darted to Kitsune. "I'm sorry to bother you a second time, but…this young man needs your help."

"Well, just as long as you don't make me your routine problem-solver, that's alright."

The middle-aged woman pouted cutely. "You're pretty good at it, you know, young man."

Tamaki managed a weak smile at his own humor, and turned to the guy. "What's wrong?"

"Err…yeah. Sorry. My name's Sawayama. Kaoru Sawayama, umm…" He looked a bit frantic. "I'm looking for my mom. She told me she'd be here. I mean, before we got separated in the last shelter. I got lost, I mean…sorry, all that's not important. I…haven't been able to find her anywhere."

"I knew a few Sawayamas in the building, but none of them are his mother," Rei explained. "I was hoping you could…"

"Right." Tamaki understood why Rei wanted to help the guy now. Motherly instinct and all that. "Well, if she's here, the database will know. For the full civilian database we'll have to talk to the principal. He's the one who has it."

"Wouldn't he be busy?" asked Rei.

"He might make time for me. Maybe." Tamaki had no assurances of that, but he thought Nezu liked him. As far as Nezu liked anyone. Nova will have to wait. "Come on, let's figure this out." He waved for Sawayama to follow him.

"Good luck," said Rei. "I hope you find her!"

"Yeah, me too…" Sawayama swallowed nervously. "Thanks for your help, ma'am."

Tamaki bid goodbye to Kitsune as well, and led the other boy toward the principal's office.

"Doesn't Nezu run like…everything here?" Sawayama asked. He had the face of a high schooler, with just a few hints of cheek fat left, a dark patch of chin stubble, and unassuming brown eyes. His ash-colored hair was cut short. "He's probably swamped."

"He knows me pretty well. And he has a weird soft place in his little heart for helping random people like yourself." Tamaki shuddered. "Honestly, it's creepy how inexplicable he is, but that might work in our favor."

The two boys shared a small laugh.

Then Sawayama's face darkened.

"Hey…" Tamaki saw how worried the guy was. "Look. If your mom's…not here. I mean…"

"I know what that means." The civilian seemed to summon some courage. "I just want to know for sure. It's the uncertainty that's eating me up."

"Right." Tamaki nodded. These people have more bravery than we give them credit for. They'd all been through their own version of hell - families separating in all kinds of ways. "Could you tell me more about…what happened beforehand? Why'd you get to UA so late?"

"I was at the other shelter. The one that exploded. So we had to come here, because they lost a lot of room over there."

"That, uhh…doesn't narrow it down, actually." Tamaki felt a bit guilty. "Several of the other shelters exploded. Did you see your mom after the bombing, at least?"

"Oh…yeah, yeah!" Sawayama waved his arms quickly. "If I hadn't seen her, then I wouldn't be bothering you. I'd be sure that…" He shut his eyes and winced. "We just got split up leaving. There was a villain gang in the road. I don't know what happened to her after that, but there should have been people with her."

"Okay. Whatever the case, if she's here, Nezu will know."

When they arrived at the principal's office, a meeting was taking place inside.

Tamaki did not even knock on the door before he heard Nezu's voice: "Excuse me, could we postpone this? A former student of mine is waiting outside."

Sawayama paled. "How did he…?"

"Don't question it."

Three men walked out of the office, giving Tamaki and Sawayama the stink-eye. The boys went past them and inside.

Nezu was pouring a cup of tea. "Suneater."

"Principal. Sorry for…interrupting…"

"You weren't!" the small mutant chirped. He was behind his own desk, but gestured to the small table and two chairs by the room's window, to the left, for the boys to sit. "Good to see you back. I heard that you have returned without Deku?"

Tamaki went to sit and gestured for Sawayama to follow. "Yes, but we did save him. And we found the population discrepancy you were worried about."

"Good, good. What's your name?" Nezu asked the other.

"Kaoru Sawayama, err…principal, sir."

"Just Nezu will do fine. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Ah…no thank you."

"Very well. What can I do for you boys?"

"I'm looking for my mom. I wanted to see if she made it."

"I told him you had the full civilian database," Tamaki explained.

"Ah. Now I understand." Nezu opened his laptop. "Come around here and we'll take a look…"

His role in this concluded, Tamaki began to zone out. He glanced out the window as the other two talked and searched the database. He was antsy. He wanted to find Nova.

Nejire and Midoriya needed to get back soon.

There was another computer in the office with access to the database, a bulkier one that sat in the corner. Deciding to make himself useful, Tamaki walked over to it.

"I'm…not seeing that name…" Nezu was commenting. "Oh good, Suneater, could you help? Here, I can give you remote access…" His paw pushed a button on a remote, and the computer's admin password went through automatically.

The database appeared. Tamaki leaned over it and typed SAWAYAMA in the search bar, his eyes focusing on the computer screen, the other two now out-of-focus at the desk beyond it.

"Well, there you are…okay, let's go to relations…" Nezu continued.

Tamaki pulled up Kaoru Sawayama's data profile. Logged into UA just a few days prior. The picture was recent - the boy looked nearly the same age as he did in real life. Tamaki recalled his own ID photo and how bad his acne had been at the time, and shuddered.

"I'm sorry, young man," Nezu was saying, apologetically.

The boy slumped his shoulders. "I…think I'll take you up on that cup of tea, if you don't mind," he said hollowly.

"Sure." The principal hopped off his desk and went to the kettle.

Tamaki, still staring at Kaoru's profile, blinked.

Something caught his eye.

I was at the other shelter, Kaoru had said.

Well, it turned out there was no need to be more specific about which shelter, because it was all of them. Kaoru Sawayama had…the worst luck Tamaki had ever seen.

All the big hero schools were using the same scan as UA for entering civilian refugees. His first data entry had been at the Shiketsu shelter before it exploded. Then the Ketsubutsu shelter, before it exploded…then the Seiai shelter…

Tamaki froze.

His eyes darted up to the rest of the office. Both the other boy and the principal had their backs turned - Nezu focused on the tea, while Sawayama…was watching Nezu.

Oh my God. Ohhhhhh my God. Tamaki had already begun to shake uncontrollably. His mouth dried, and then randomly filled up with saliva. It had been ages since his anxiety had spiked with such potence. He stealthily tried to type something else into the database. A different name. He could hear the trembling in his own keystrokes, hoping it would not draw attention to himself, hoping…

The other profile appeared. Tamaki stared at the face on it. Then back up.

Nezu had begun to pour the tea.

The ashen-haired boy took a step toward the principal, and drew a box cutter from his pocket.

Tamaki shot tentacles out of his fingers with a hero's speed. They wrapped around the boy's fist before he could swipe the blade down toward the furry principal, holding him trembling in place with a violent halt.

Nezu whirled about and dropped the cup of tea, the ceramic shattering over the floor, steaming liquid spilling. "What the…?!"

The other boy turned to look at Tamaki with an all-new expression. An almost sly grin.

"Drop the knife, Shoki Kitai," Tamaki snarled. "Mustard."

"Well then." The enemy met his eyes and let out a shaky laugh. "I'm…discovered."

"You…how…?" Nezu breathed. Tamaki was terrified by the principal's disbelief. He's not supposed to not expect this. He's supposed to know. His job is to know, dammit!

"How indeed." Mustard, aka Shoki Kitai, attempted to turn the knife in his hand to cut into the tentacles restraining him, but the grip was too tight. He grunted with effort, and then maintained his smile, sweat glistening on his forehead. "This is cutting off my circulation, you know."

"Drop. The knife." Tamaki repeated.

Nezu's paw lingered over the call button.

"I wouldn't do that," said Mustard. "After all…you two cannot hold your breaths forever." He flexed his arms threateningly.

"This room is armed with sensors to detect unfriendly toxins. Your gas would bring a legion of robots and heroes upon you in less than a minute," Nezu countered. "And you do not have a mask, either. That is why you needed to threaten me with a blade."

Screw this. We have him cornered. Tamaki walked around the larger computer and toward Mustard with a growl.

"Ah…I wouldn't do that either." Mustard lifted up his other hand, his free hand…and suddenly something manifested on his palm.

Tamaki stopped short. It was a button. A tiny button. He made more tentacles to grab that hand, too…

"The slightest bit of pressure on this hand will trigger the button, my friend," Mustard said hastily, backing up a step. "And you do not want that to happen, if you want your precious Nova to stay alive."

It all came crashing down.

How. He…no…how did he…this was all planned? For me, and for Nezu to be the ones who…?

How long had he been in here, gathering intel? How long before he…?

"WHERE IS SHE?" Tamaki yelled, losing his composure.

Mustard laughed frantically. "With my bombs, you insipid fool! Take my phone from my pocket and check the video on it if you want proof!"

"Bombs. Of course bombs. How have you gotten those things inside every time?!"

"Nanotech," Nezu muttered from the corner of the office. "For both the explosives and for their detonator, now on his palm." The principal nodded toward it. "Past the first screening."

"Astute, principal." Mustard tittered.

Tamaki was horrified. He was the strongest person in this room, and yet felt like he held none of the power. It was never supposed to be me in this situation. It was supposed to be Deku, or Nejire, or…

"That doesn't explain how you get yourself in, Shoki Kitai! We have your ID! Your prison record-"

"How do I sneak in every time?" Mustard raised his eyebrows. "Can you really not figure it out? I walk right in. As Kaoru Sawayama."

"But…both IDs should appear when your face is scanned…"

"There's two simple reasons they don't. First of all, that steel-covered brute punched me so violently that when my first mugshot was taken, my face was swollen…but that alone wouldn't be enough to deny the match. The second thing is…"

"Puberty," Nezu finished. "You've simply…grown up in the past year." The principal's shoulders fell. "Your face changed. You are the youngest person at your threat level, even younger than Himiko Toga. If I had ever bothered to run the calculations of this scenario, I could have…but I've been so busy…there were hundreds of other things left to calculate first…"

How? Tamaki despaired. How can that be? We…we accounted for so much, but not PUBERTY? How is that possible?

"It's not too late, Nezu!" He bared his teeth, filled with unfathomable contempt for the boy in front of him. "We have him right where we want him! He can't do anything…"

Mustard's finger moved toward the button. Tamaki, in an instant, knew he couldn't attack that area of the boy's body directly without risking the explosion. Instead he wrapped another tentacle around the boy's throat.

"I will kill you if you press that!" he promised, meaning it more than he'd ever meant anything in his life.

Mustard only continued to smile that horrifying smile. "Kill me…then…but you'll never find your girlfriend…" He nodded toward Nezu. "Go on…principal…see if I'm lying…take the phone…from my left pocket…"

Nezu stepped forward and did so, slowly and carefully. Tamaki watched it all happen, his head pounding. I've got to think of something. A way to defeat him cleanly. There must be something. Anything!

But Nezu…Nezu who could run a million scenarios in his head, was complying. Does that really mean…there's no way out of this?

The principal held the phone up to Tamaki. There was a streaming app open, showing a live video feed of a dark, unidentifiable room, illuminated by a single spotlight, shining on a girl tied and gagged up in a chair. It was Nova. She stared at the camera with silenced panic, her eyes betraying everything she felt.

Beneath the chair was a mass of black objects. They almost seemed to glow. Bombs.

"Where is this?" Tamaki demanded, tightening the grip of his tentacles.

Mustard coughed. "Agh…you think…I'd tell you that…?"

"Why did you come here, boy?" Nezu asked quietly, turning back toward the terrorist. He left the phone with Tamaki, who continued to stare at the live feed of Nova in horror.

"If you had the bombs and the means of detonating them, why show yourself to us?" Nezu continued. His face had grown very solemn. "Just to taunt? No. The explosions are not the endgame this time, are they? They're merely a bargaining chip. What do you want?"

"Now we're…getting somewhere…heh…" Mustard continued to hold up his free hand, showboating that he could blow the place to hell at any moment. "Turn off the security system, Principal Nezu. I know you can do it…from here. By yourself. You're the…only one. Do it, or I'll…" His eyes darted to the button.

Nezu looked back and forth between the two boys. Tamaki was still watching the stream, unable to pull his eyes away.

"Amajiki." The principal's voice was so weighted that it caught Tamaki's attention immediately. "Do I do what this criminal says?"

Tamaki's eyes widened. He's asking me. He understood the full scope and genius of Mustard's play now. It would not do to simply come here and threaten Nezu by one's self. Tamaki had to be here. Nezu was a logical animal. He would sacrifice Nova's life to keep the UA security system activated without a second thought.

But Tamaki was here. And Nezu couldn't do that in front of him. So he was leaving the decision to him.

"I…" Nova, and a good chunk of UA, or possibly ALL OF IT? Either a bomb was going off, or they were lowering the defenses. Those were the options. And the former…meant his first love was dying for sure.

What would Midoriya do?

Tamaki swallowed. He looked down at Nova's begging eyes once more. He imagined Nejire in that position. Imagined Midoriya in his own.

He closed his eyes.

I'm sorry.

"...the shield…" he muttered.

"What was that?" asked Nezu.

Tamaki jerked his face away. Tears fell off his cheek. I'll be remembered as the guy who fucked everything up. "Lower the shield," he repeated.

Mustard burst into maniacal laughter.

Nezu did as he was bid. He turned a key in his desk, and slid out some kind of operational panel, with dozens of blinking lights and switches. There was a single big one at the bottom of the panel. His paw moved it to the opposite position.

Dozens of ambient hums and sounds, so intrinsic to UA that Tamaki's ears had ignored them entirely, suddenly died. The lights flickered. The air turned to cold.

The gates were open.

The phone beeped in Tamaki's hand. He gasped as he realized too late - the location was being tracked.

A shadow grew over the window. Mustard's allies had arrived.

Tamaki saw the man in dark combat gear fly down toward the glass a split second before he kicked through it, shards shattering everywhere. CRRRRAAAAAAASH!

The soldier rolled in and got to his feet smartly. He was wearing a strange helmet and holding an assault rifle. He pointed it at Tamaki. "Release him, or I'll open fire!"

Tamaki retracted his tentacles and made them into a hand again. Mustard collapsed to his knees with a deep breath, massaging his own neck.

"Drop the phone! HANDS UP! PAWS UP!"

Tamaki and Nezu obeyed.

"BACK TOWARD THE DOOR!"

More men were following him through the now-open window. They were armed with ropes and harnesses and gliding gear, alongside their guns. Either someone's Quirk or a helicopter. They had come into the fortress from above.

They were all in identical combat armor and those odd masks. One of them had a spare, which he tossed to Mustard. They looked like gas masks, but there were other apparatus, too. It's not just for the gas. Midoriya had warned them about this.

Now free, Mustard caught the mask in midair and attached it to his face. "Whew. That's the first phase completed. Is everyone in?"

The small office had filled with soldiers. "We're good," one of them said, adjusting the harnesses at his waist.

Tamaki and Nezu exchanged a glance, their arms still in the air. A high-elevation breeze was stirring through the office from the broken window.

Nezu dived for the security system button, attempting to turn it back on before the enemy could get any further. Mustard grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him into the wall.

"PRINCIPAL!" Tamaki screamed. He tried to manifest more attacks, and a dozen guns pointed at him at once.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"

"DON'T MOVE!"

Nezu slumped against the wall, unconscious. Mustard cackled again. "Is Hojo finished tracing?"

"Yep." One of the soldiers lifted his arm and spoke into a comm. "Go for it, sir. Everything's in position."

"Understood," said the voice of Naru Hojo, on the other side. Tamaki's heart sank into the deepest pit. "Activating my Quirk now. Keep your helmets tight."

In that instant, Tamaki understood - the masks were not just for Mustard's gas, but for insulation from Hojo's commands. It lets them circumvent the Quirk!

But surely, surely, Hojo's power was not strong enough to create a barrier over all of UA. It was dozens of times bigger than the Company Town, even if he managed to walk around the entire outside of it undetected…

The answer came in the form of a shimmering translucent wall, rising up outside the window. The breeze died. All became still.

The barrier grew up into a dome over the top of UA's highest point, meeting and closing there, most of Japan's strongest heroes, and over a million refugees, caught inside of it.

Tamaki braced himself for Naru's voice to reach his ears.

Stand down and comply, said the command.

Immediately, he felt all will to use his Quirk completely die. He fell to his knees.

Mustard laughed. "Looks like it worked! I didn't hear anything, did you guys?"

The soldiers shook their heads. "Do we kill him?" one asked.

"No," said Mustard. "I'll take him down to the bombs. I want him to see. The rest of you head to the main concourse. Hojo will meet up with you there. He should be inside by now."

They picked up Tamaki by the armpits and dragged him away from the office. He could not even move, let alone resist. Stand down and comply. Stand down and comply. Stand down and comply.

Before he left, Mustard leaned over the control panel that Nezu had unlocked. "Robots, robots…here we are." He pressed a button to keep them all deactivated. "We'll figure out how to control them later. But for now…"

He pressed the main button again. Reactivating the security system. All the hums came back to life, and immediately, sirens and alarms and flashing lights all began to blare, responding to the broken window, to the intruders.

Equipment could not be held in place by Hojo's Quirk. But the people responding to it could. No one would follow up on these warnings.

"No one gets out, no one comes in," said Mustard. "This is our fortress now."

Rumi was catching up with Ryukyu in the courtyard when everything went quiet.

"The barrier looked like this awful gooey-" The rabbit heroine cut herself off.

Ryukyu blinked. The lights flickered on the buildings behind them. Both women looked toward the other heroes in the courtyard - Hawks and Jeanist, most notably.

"That seemed…off," Ryukyu commented.

Mirko was set in motion. "Come on, KFC!" she barked at Hawks, gesturing for him to follow. "Somethin's wrong!"

Many people had stopped in place and were looking around and whispering, confused.

Hawks glanced skyward. "Hmm…" His eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna check the towers." He took off away from her.

Rumi growled and pushed through the crowd. "Scuse me. Heroine here, comin' through."

"Look!" A citizen pointed out past the gate.

Rumi turned, and her eyes widened.

A barrier like the one from the Company Town was growing over UA.

"Did it look like that?!" Ryukyu asked, pointing.

"Yeah. Shit, yeah, it did-"

"ALL OF YOU, MOVE!" the dragon heroine screamed, causing the groups of civilians to scatter as she transformed, growing in size, her wings spreading. "I'll try and get above it-"

She took the sky. Rumi hopped toward the fortress. The entrance was like a hangar, with refugees growing denser as one moved into the shadow of the overhang. It became a long, wide concourse once inside, overflowing with bed areas for the tens of thousands of people, far beyond what the expanded school was originally equipped to handle.

"Back up!" she shouted, waving at the refugees she passed to retreat deeper into the fortress, and keep away from the courtyard where the barrier was rising. Nearby, Jeanist and other heroes were ordering the same.

Stand down and comply.

Mirko's hop ended halfway. She crumbled to the floor.

What the hell?!

Stand down. And comply.

Thousands of people screamed at once, covering their ears and falling over. Babies and children began to cry. Parents screamed for their families to gather. They could all hear the same voice in their head.

"What…is this…devilry?!" Jeanist forced out.

The barrier had closed. They were trapped.

Stand down and comply.

Eri began to wail.

"Oh no, oh dear…" Inko Midoriya knelt down and hugged her, trying to calm her down. The voice was in her own ears, too, horrifically gleeful, a villain's voice without doubt.

Stand down and comply.

Inko could hear rushing footsteps out in the hallway. Something is wrong. This is the attack.

"It…hurts…" Eri sobbed. "It's…" Her face went pale, and she pointed out the window. "It's that again!"

Inko looked. There was something odd about the sky outside. Like there was a film over it. An aquarium tank from within.

The little girl jammed her eyes shut. "My Quirk!" she gasped. "I…I can't…I can't make it g-go away like last time…"

"It's alright, your horn is just…"

"NO! No, I mean…I don't feel it at all!"

Inko's blood ran cold. She tried to pull the yo-yo on the floor toward herself with her own Quirk. Nothing happened. The string had been cut.

The door burst open.

Eri screamed all over again. Inko's heart raced something fierce and she turned about, protecting the little girl behind her.

"COME WITH US!" yelled the soldier in the mask. "ALL CIVILIANS TO THE CENTER!"

In the hallway beyond, his companions were rushing past, yelling the same thing, busting down every door in the building. Dragging people out forcibly.

Inko tried to summon resistance, and found none.

Stand down and comply.

"I'm sorry…" Eri sniffled. "If we'd just…got Deku all the way back…"

Stand down and comply.

The gun barrel felt cold on Rei's back as she was pushed into the great central hall at the heart of the fortress, alongside scores of others.

What did not feel cold was her skin, like usual. The ice within her had been melted. I could not even bring myself to punch this man if I wanted.

"MOVE TO THE MIDDLE!" the soldiers yelled, pushing and shoving all the refugees forward. The room was a cacophony of wails and tears. Despair loomed. The masked men stood out like jet-black shadows under the harsh white lights of the concourse. There were not many of them, in comparison to the thousands of people they were herding, but not one person could disobey the voice. Not one person could fight.

Rei was pushed into a wreathing mass of people, compressed far too much. Frightened bodies, sweaty and desperate, shoved against one another.

"What's going on?"

"Is this All For One?!"

"Where are the heroes-"

"Mom! MOM!"

Rei felt a rush of relief. It was Natsuo's voice.

Stand down and comply.

She managed to push herself toward him. He was about fifty yards away. Fuyumi was there as well. Both were on their knees.

And so was their father, Endeavor.

Rei gasped. At the same time that she noticed, everyone else seemed to as well.

"Endeavor…"

"He can't fight either?!"

The big red-haired man was trying to force himself up. Forehead veins were visible as he ground his teeth, all his muscles flexing. Smoke curled around his biceps and head. But no fire was produced. "I'm…sorry…" he gasped. "I can't…"

"YOU'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!" one of the enemy yelled. "KEEP MOVING TOWARD THE CENTER!"

Stand down and comply.

A whole new wave of doom swept over the masses. They all began to notice the heroes in their midst. Rei saw Gang Orca, then Kamui Woods, then Mount Lady, then Edgeshot. All were trying to stand and fight, but they were frozen in place, shaking, unable to conjure any further resistance to the voice.

"What are you doing?!" someone screamed at them. "Get up and fight these guys-"

A spray of gunfire arced across the ceiling, silencing the room.

Rei threw hands over her ears. That just made the insidious voice louder on the inside.

"YOU'LL DO EXACTLY AS WE SAY, AND NOTHING ELSE!" a soldier boomed.

Rei looked up. The ceiling of this big central hall was crisscrossed by metal bracing, catwalks, rafters, nearly a hundred feet above the floor.

Up there in the shadows were more of the enemy, gathering above the thousands of hostages they now possessed, looking down on them with a birds-eye view, pointing guns at them.

"ANYONE MAKES SUDDEN MOVEMENTS, THEY GET A BULLET TO THE SKULL!" one of them yelled. "I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT!"

Stand down and comply.

"Dammit…" Endeavor coughed. "How could we let…this happen?!"

Security alarms had begun to ring.

Iruka Kitsune caused a shake in the foundation when she fell, her sensitive mutant ears responding to the horrid voice.

People scattered around her, even as they were all ruthlessly driven forward by the shouting men. Those masks. For gas. She had never been so scared in her life.

One of the connectors that led to the hallways of private rooms was nearby. She saw more people being forced out of it, including little Eri, and Deku's mother. Terrified faces abounded.

Iruka looked up and around the scope of the room, from her slightly lofty vantage point. Streams of people were being herded like cattle toward the center, all coming in from the various tunnels and halls and connecting concourses. On the crisscrossing metal catwalks above, men stalked back and forth, watching their prey with guns trained.

"Oh my God," she muttered. Stand down and comply.

Then she saw, on the edge of the room, a few of the masked men walking in a different direction. One of them was smaller, and not dressed in any combat gear. They were dragging a hero with them. Wait. That's…!

That was Tamaki Amajiki! That was Suneater!

And the smaller masked person…? Wasn't that the civilian he was helping?

A blanket of horror fell over her. They'd been tricked. Rei had been tricked. The heroes had been tricked.

And Deku never made it back!

Shino Sosaki tried in vain to use her Quirk to reach the minds of the terrified people around her, to counter the other voice. My natural enemy. She could not even manage it.

Naru Hojo had been the Kijimi operation's chief enemy from the beginning, but this was far beyond what they ever imagined his power was capable of.

Like Overhaul before him, he laid low for all those years, keeping his Quirk secretive, so that All For One would not steal it, and the heroes would not come after him. And now he was making his final move.

"Stay…strong…" she managed to say out loud, speaking to those around her. Nearby, her fellow Pussycats were stuck in the midst as well, similarly incapacitated. She'd only recently finally been reunited with them.

Another spray of gunfire and more shouting from the catwalks near the ceiling. Children were crying everywhere.

"There's no way…they've brought everyone in…" said Present Mic. Most of the UA staff had fallen near Mandalay.

Eraserhead agreed. "We are currently housing over a million. This room has a few hundred thousand in it now, at most," said Aizawa.

"Still…enough…to make their statement…" Ectoplasm managed.

Stand down and comply. Shino was unable to stop the tears from falling from her eyes and onto the floor.

"Let go of me! LET GO OF ME, DAMMIT!"

Shino paled. The hero students had been found, and were being brought in as well. That was Katsuki Bakugo's voice.

She saw all of Class A and B joining the midst. All her students from the training camp. Minus one.

A voice laughed from the corner of the room, amplified by a speaker. Audio feedback caused everyone to wince.

"Finally, my old pals from the woods have shown up!" It was a teenage boy's voice, speaking through a microphone. "Welcome, welcome, students of All Might."

Aizawa snarled. "Even them…?"

"Mustard…?" Itsuka Kendo perked up. "It…can't be!"

"What?!" Tetsutetsu barked.

"You mean this isn't All For One?!" Uraraka stammered.

"NO!" Mustard screamed into the mic, angry, so loud that everyone in the room went silent.

The boy's heavy breathing was suddenly the only thing audible. Shino dared not move.

Thousands of eyes looked around to see where he was speaking from. Shino could not personally see him anywhere.

"You stupid, stupid people." Mustard's voice dripped with venom. "Hero students, hero teachers, hero mentors. Look how you have failed your country. LOOK AT THEM, CITIZENS! THEY'RE ALL ON THEIR KNEES, RIGHT BESIDE YOU!"

Mixed, angry muttering swept through the room. The masked soldiers aimed their guns threateningly.

"Are these the people worth giving all the gold to? All the government's privileges? All the funding? This is the best they could manage for you, this…SCHOOL." He spat the word, making it a curse. "This school turned fortress, which we have just taken with less than forty men! Did you honestly think you stood a chance against All For One?! You were all going to die! The heroes would have failed you, down to the last MAN!"

Aizawa growled. Bakugo screamed a very bad word. Endeavor tried again to get up and produce fire, but only managed a few cinders.

"So today, we're here to teach you all a different lesson. Consider yourselves part of our classroom…"

Mirio Togata barely managed to catch both Ryukyu and Hawks, who had fallen from the sky at the same time due to their Quirks dying. Ryukyu had returned to human form, which made things easier, but not easy.

All three heroes collapsed onto the courtyard ground, joining the hundreds of others on their knees out here. The barrier made whooshing sounds out in front of them, growing up and over their heads into a dome.

Sirens and screams from inside. Yells and commands from the invaders.

"Oww…" Hawks was flat on his back, his wings splayed out on either side of him. "I can't…even move…"

Ryukyu was whimpering as she rolled out of Mirio's arms. Mirio himself could not even stand up straight. "I don't understand. I thought we defeated them all…"

"Looks like…Midoriya was right…" Hawks whispered.

Nearby, Mirko was trying way too hard to get up and fight, making a tremendously loud grunting sound as she attempted to stagger toward the concourse hall.

"Rumi, don't…" Ryukyu wailed. "You'll burst your blood vessels…"

"We can't…let them win…"

Stand down and comply.

Tapping feet.

The four heroes, and everyone else stuck out in the courtyard, all turned their heads, to see a single man walking through their midst. Easily, casually, hands in his pockets. He was even whistling.

It was Naru Hojo himself. He'd waltzed right through the gate. He headed for the concourse.

"Would you look at that," he commented as he waded his way through the sea of his own mental hostages. "I've never had to do something so big, but when the command is as simple as this, it's not so hard after all."

Mirko crawled toward him at a snail's pace, her robot fingers digging into the concrete just to gain a few inches. Naru laughed at her. "How embarrassing."

Stand down and comply.

Danger Sense got worse and worse as they neared UA.

When Izuku saw the dome, he knew for sure.

Nejire must have seen the look on his face. "Don't panic," she commented. "Deep breaths."

The two of them landed about a hundred yards away from the barrier's edge, down the road that led up to UA's hill. First Izuku, then Nejire next to him.

They could barely see inside - but they could hear the distant ringing of the security alarms.

"They must have reactivated the security after they got all their people inside," said Izuku. "I should have seen this coming!"

"How could you have?" Nejire asked.

"Arrrgh…" He clutched his head, despairing. "Everyone we know is in there. My classmates, your classmates, our teachers, our parents, our families…"

"And they're all counting on us."

Izuku stared at her. Her eyes were level. She was exhausted, sore, and poorly dressed beneath her costume, but she did not look afraid.

"We got here late," she said quietly.

"Yes," he agreed. "But…" He looked back toward UA. "Maybe that's…an opportunity."

"The security is reactivated."

"The robots won't be. They'd be fighting them if so." Izuku scanned everything he could see. "There's no visible damage. No bombs have been set off." He was beginning to see the workings of Mustard and Naru Hojo's plan. "They're setting up for a siege."

"We have no way of knowing what the command he's given is, until we go inside." Nejire's nose twitched. "And we won't be able to use our Quirks."

"I know." Izuku looked down at his homemade, goofy costume. It was certainly not combat-ready. He guessed that it would probably rip to pieces if he tried to use more than fifty percent of One for All.

"Let's split up," he decided. "You go in forward. I'll go from above."

"Shouldn't it be…the other way around?"

"That's what they'll expect. Mustard and Naru Hojo know the two of us. They'll wonder where we are. And besides…" Izuku made a grave, determined face. "It's all an even playing field in there anyway."

"I'm afraid," Nejire confessed.

"Me too."

They squeezed each other's hands.

"Nejire," he said. "You and I can do this. Find the determination. Whatever that voice says to you once you're inside…find a way to turn it in your favor, and we can't lose."

"Okay."

"They've trapped everyone we care about in there. But they're trapped, too. There will be no escape this time." He slammed his fist into the other. "This is it."