Hello again, everyone. I hope you've all been enjoying the relative peace of this original story arc, because here is where the pieces all finally start falling into place. This is where the slow background build-up since the end of the New Life Arc has all been leading to. I hope you all find the commencement of these following events to be worth the wait. If you like what you read here today, maybe be so kind as to leave an honest, constructive review to let me know what you all think. Feedback is very strongly appreciated.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events surrounding them, and the alterations of established events that occur as a result of their existence in this universe.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 23

Searching

(Поисковый)

Oleg found himself seemingly transported from the comfort of his own bed, to the frigid cold countryside of his motherland, seemingly from out of nowhere. Apart from the distant tree lines and grasslands, the only sign of civilization was a single dacha (cottage or second home) nestled barely more than a few feet in front of him between the trees.

It was a quaint, charming little place to anyone else, but to gaze upon it sent a chill of indescribable foreboding and anguish in Olegs' chest. He knew this place far too well. 'Why? Why am I here again? This isn't possible.'

He instinctively lifted up his hands to confirm the first thought that came to mind, and looking down upon seeing the red gloves on his hands, he saw the white and gold ensemble suit upon him, but it wasn't the one he was used to wearing now. In fact, the physique with which he found himself was not what he was used to seeing anymore. It was far thinner and much more finely sculpted.

'I knew it…it's a dream. Of course it's a dream. But why here? Why is my mind tormenting me with this place again?' Despite the continuous anguished cries of confusion echoing from his minds' voice, Olegs' body began to trudge forward toward the front door of the dacha, which the closer he came to, he realized, through both memory and his own eyes in that moment, that the front door was simply standing half open.

'No…no, please, don't make me go in there. I know what's waiting on the other side, it's always the same thing. Please, don't open that door! Why? Why are you making me relive this NOW?' Sadly, no matter how much he wanted to fight his own body, no matter how much he wanted to scream in protest, it was like his vocal cords and free will had been removed. Al he could do was watch, a helpless spectator within his own head, as his hands hesitantly pushed the door open the rest of the way; every inch revealed hitching up his heart in his throat with despairing expectation. Finally-!

"NET (NO)!" Oleg cried out with a nearly foundation-shaking scream as he shot up from his bed; his weathered face awash in a icy cold sweat, and his heart racing like that of a race horse within his chest. His panic was only subsided slowly when he realized he was no longer standing in that forested clearing and looking into that doorway, and was instead back in his own bed, in his own room, in his own house back in Japan. He still had to force himself to catch his breath and stop hyperventilating, though.

"Sensei?" The voice of Ochako Uraraka suddenly sounded from the other side of the bedroom door, and as soon as the large man had managed to get a hold of his senses and calm down, he looked to see the visibly worried-looking gravity girl peeking through the crack of the now barely opened door, clearly having had the foresight not to just barge in. "Sensei, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Oleg couldn't mistake the concern in Ochakos' voice if he tried, giving her one raised hand and a nod as he once again tried to steady his breathing all the way back. "Yes. I-I'm okay, malenkaya Uraraka. I apologize, I…I just had a bad dream is all. I…I didn't wake you and the rest of the students, did I?"

To his regret, Ochako hesitantly nodded. "You screamed pretty loud, Sensei, and you already have a loud voice as it is. You startled us all awake; even Kaminari-san and Mineta-san heard it." That detail seemed to strike a chord with Oleg, just how much of a brief yet damaging scene he had made. Last night, he had taken the liberty of personally locking Denki and Minoru in a separate room from the living room where the girls would all be sleeping; taking into account what he had learned about their involvement in the girls' cheerleader outfit debacle at the Sports Festival, as well as Minorus' little groping attempt with Setsuna Tokage last week. If even they had been stirred awake by his screaming, then he really had fouled up.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sensei? You sounded really, really scared." Ochako once again asked, feeling more comfortable to open the door the rest of the way, while Oleg tried to get his mind off it, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he got up out of bed.

"Yes, I promise I'm alright. Go and help the others get up and ready. The key to the boys' room is on the kitchen counter. Once we've had breakfast, it's right back to training. We're going to have a morning sparring session and a written collaboration assignment this afternoon." The eagerness with which he said this thankfully seemed to be enough to put Ochakos' worries aside (or at least he could only hope so) as she nodded in understanding and rushed back to the living room to get the rest of her fellow students up and ready.

Once everyone had gotten up, gotten dressed, and gotten into the rhythm of making breakfast together, Oleg watched their inherent ability to work together even in a casual setting like this with a slight grin of unmistakable pride and admiration. If only so many other kids were as willing and able to cooperate and work together like the kids he had come to know and cherish in his time at Yuuei so far.

However, as much as he enjoyed watching his young charges work off of each other, he still could not shake that dream from his head. It had been far from the first time he had found himself standing before that nostalgic old dacha. It had simply been years and years since he had actually gone through that nightmare. Oleg Bezpalov was far from a superstitious man, but neither was he a man foolish enough to just chalk everything up to coincidences. If the universe had seen fit to make him re-experience that dream for the first time in well over a decade, there had to be a good reason for it, and in this moment in the early hours of the morning, he could not for the life of him, figure out what that reason was.

Was it simply a result of his mind being in a continuous state of restlessness, knowing Nikolay was all the way in another city without him there to watch over him? Or was it perhaps some kind of omen? The latter thought nearly made him want to shake his head in instinctive denial, but the fact he had even given the second of his time to think of such a thing, left him pondering that much more.

Sitting at the head of the dining room table, welcoming his students to eat, enjoy the fruits of their culinary labors in preparation for their second day of training, in his mind, Oleg resolved that at some point he was going to go ahead and call Nikolay, if for no other reason than to simply assuage his own paternal worries and put his restless mind at ease that everything was still okay for everyone.

Erubi City

Nikolay Bezpalov and Mina Ashido were understandably confused where they stood right now. They had greeted the morning of their second day of intern-training at the Kamuron Hero Agency, only to be informed, alongside their mentor, Púca Hitodama (a.k.a. The Illuminating Hero, Willow Light) that another of the Pro Heroes in their ranks, The Hero of Words, Power Press, had failed to report for clocking out, and had been so far unreachable.

Willow Light had sounded quite confident in how they were going to approach finding him, and naturally both of her personal charges had assumed they would simply go to the last place they knew he was going: the northern part of the city center, and work their way from there.

And yet, right now, they instead found themselves alongside their mentor, standing at the door of a particularly quaint apartment in a clearly aged two-floor apartment building. All along the way here, Willow Light had been consistently calling Power Press' number, but just like her colleagues, had only been met with a dead signal on the other end, as if he had simply turned his phone off.

"Um…Sensei? Maybe I'm just not aware how most Pro Heroes conduct searches, but you sounded pretty certain we would find a way to look for Power Press if we went where he was last headed. So why did we come here?" Nikolay eventually asked, only for Willow Light to give him and Mina both a look that communicated less a mentors' disappointment, but rather a sly smirk on her hooded face, that practically screamed 'listen and learn'.

"Yes, the news, the movies and the TV shows make it seem like every instance of a person going missing or AWOL is some big, elaborate mystery, but you'll both come to find that in real life, that's far less common than you would think. Trust me, as you grow into this field of work, you'll be grateful for that. No, when you're looking for someone, especially a person you know quite well, the best thing you can do before anything else, is to check out the places they frequent the most. In Power Press' case, he was hardly the night life-type. He only ever really seemed to bounce between work and home, so this is the most natural place to check."

"But Sensei, if he's at home, why would he still not be answering anyones' calls?" Mina asked in slight confusion, almost perfectly mirrored by a mutual nod from the Russian boy beside her.

"If I had to hazard a guess, Power Press probably pushed himself too hard near the end of his shift and just decided to turn in upon getting home, not even thinking to charge his phone over night. Believe it or not, this wouldn't be the first time that's happened." Willow light couldn't help but chuckle in slight amusement at the look of utter disbelief on Minas' face beneath her white eye mask, especially. Clearly the pink Hero-in-training couldn't comprehend someone actually neglecting charging their phone in this day and age. The Irish-Japanese Pro Hero honestly couldn't blame her for that, either.

After a few more seconds of patient waiting, only to be met with yet more silence, Willow Light let out an aggravated sigh as she began fishing in her pocket. "Alright, Houdou-san, if you're somehow too tired to even answer a phone call, I'll just wake you up myself," she announced in a clearly warning tone before taking out a key and unlocking the apartment door with it.

"Whoa, Sensei, why do you have a key to another Heroes' apartment?" Nikolay asked in surprise, while Mina had the beginnings of a mischievous grin on her face at the implications of what they were seeing; one that Willow Light immediately knew how to answer.

"Don't start letting your imagination get ahead of you, Pinky. Power Press is nearly old enough to be my father. I just have a key to his apartment for situations like this. When I first came to Japan several years ago, he was the one that took me in and introduced me to everyone at the Agency. It was his recommendation that helped get me my Pro Hero license, to boot. It's only natural I'd be the one with the means to check in on him, whatever happens."

As she began to open the door, she couldn't help but notice the now mutually curious looks on Nikolay and Minas' faces, silently dreading that her brief little disclaimer had only stoked their imaginations that much further. "Sensei, didn't you say you used to work with a Hero Agency back in Ireland?" Nikolay finally spoke up. Willow Light stepped back and looked the two interns in the eye with a look that immediately told them to get to their point.

"You made it sound like you did pretty well back there, and were pretty popular. So what made you want to come all the way out here and leave everyone you knew so far away?" His question, while obviously well-intentioned, drew another aggravated sigh from Willow Light.

"Look, we're here on a mission right now, so let's focus on what needs to be done here and now, alright? Maybe at some other time I can answer whatever questions you two have about Heroes or Agencies and the like, but right now let's just concentrate on this." She returned her attention to opening the door, while Nikolay and Mina looked on in surprise at their normally so sociable mentor, suddenly becoming so dismissive. They exchanged regretful glances with each other, both feeling slightly guilty for prying where they clearly weren't welcome yet.

Following after Willow Light into the apartment, they found her standing just outside the living room, stone still. Once they looked past her, they likewise felt themselves freeze with surprise and confusion. All that was there to be seen was a completely empty apartment, clearly having been lived in, but with no sign of Power Press anywhere to be seen.

If he wasn't answering anyones' calls and wasn't even home, then where on earth was he? This was the only thing the three of them could think now that they knew the most obvious lead was a dead end. However, Willow Light immediately went into her professional state as her once casual posture became tall and strong, and she immediately pulled out her phone and speed-dialed.

"Hello, Kagami-kun? It's me. We just stopped off at Power Press' apartment, but he's not here. Tell me, did he just show up at the office after we left, and we just happened to miss him? No? Still nothing? All right. We're going to keep up the search, and I'll let you know if we come up with anything. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them. All right. Thank you. Goodbye."

Nikolay and Mina could see the much more serious sharpness in Willow Lights' illuminated eyes as she quickly turned on her heels and beckoned her interns to stay at her sides as she stepped back out into the open. "All right, Solovei, Pinky, now it's time we get serious. Power Press said he was going to the northern section of the city center. That's where he always conducts the evening portion of his shift. If we head there and start talking to the locals, we're bound to start coming up with leads. Now it's time for you both to see how Heroes conduct searches for actual missing persons."

She took off at a pace just above jogging, but just short of full-on running, forcing Nikolay and Mina to keep pace with her. Even during the attempted robbery yesterday, she hadn't displayed this kind of intensity. It was both exciting for the two teens to know they were finally in a real scenario requiring the work of Pro Heroes, but it also couldn't help but feel considerably intimidating as well.

Ring, ring, ring

Nikolay nearly came skidding to a halt, forcing Mina and Willow Light to likewise stop, as he realized to his immense embarrassment, that his cellphone had started ringing. Fishing it out of his pocket, it was less than a surprise to see Olegs' name on the caller ID. "I'm so sorry, I have to take this. I'll try to keep it brief," he apologized, feeling his stomach turn with embarrassment as he finally answered: [[Good morning, Dad.]]

[[Good morning, Kolya, I'm glad I was able to catch you. I hope I'm not interrupting anything essential.]] As jovial as his father was trying to sound, Nikolays' momentary silence seemed to tell Oleg everything he needed to know, letting out a considerable "ooh" of embarrassed realization. [[I'm so sorry, Kolya. I had just wanted to check and see how you and malenkaya Ashidos' training was coming along so far.]]

[[It's going good so far, Dad. We're just going on a regular patrol, hopefully nothing too serious comes from it. Look, I really don't want to hold Mina and Sensei up, so I promise I'll call you back tonight after our work's over and I'll tell you more details, okay?]] Nikolay could just feel Willow Lights' increasingly impatient eyes digging into his back, anxious to try and end this without seeming like he was simply shrugging his father off.

[[Of course, I understand, Kolya. I need to get back to training my students as well. I'm lucky enough to even have this many after nominations had all been given. We both have our responsibilities to uphold, and I'm sorry for interrupting yours. I know you'll do your best out there, Kolya; both of you will. Goodbye.]] With that, Oleg finally hung up, and Nikolay could barely even make an embarrassed grin to go along with another apology, before Willow Light ushered him and Mina along once more, spurring the two teens back into action.

Upon ending the call, Oleg dutifully stepped back out to the patio overlooking the backyard, where his students were currently conducting their respective morning spars. After the debacle that persisted yesterday from his having an odd number of students for the week, Oleg had declared earlier this morning that one of the matches would be two-on-one, as it would not only allow everyone to get the equal amounts of training he was aiming for, but it would also test out their teamwork abilities, as well as the solo fighters' capability of defending themselves on multiple fronts.

In this scenario, while Denki and Setsuna had been relegated to one-on-one, Minoru had been put up against Ochako and Tooru Hagakure. From where he stood in observation, Oleg watched intently as Ochako had been managing to use her Quirk, reflexes and the increased focus on precise activation and deactivation timing he had been instilling in her since the previous week, to be able to dodge Minorus' projectile hairballs. At the same time, Tooru was likewise proving capable and mobile as she was simply focusing on ducking, weaving, and jumping over every one that Minoru was sending her way.

However, that didn't stop the diminutive boy from suddenly throwing a barrage of his hairballs in a complete circle around himself, creating a practical adhesive minefield, eventually managing to actually land a few lucky hits on Tooru and sending her collapsing into several more of his hairballs, officially sticking her to the spot. While this went on, Ochako had decided to take that chance to remove her own gravity again to try and close the distance so she could get the drop on him while he was distracted.

However, that brought about an unforeseen issue: while her Zero Gravity rendered Minorus' hair field useless, it didn't do anything to aid in her mobility, and this quickly became apparent as Minoru spotted her up in the air, and quickly proceeded to pelt her down with another barrage of his hair, eventually weighing her down and helpless on the ground.

"Alright, that's enough, everyone. Stop the fights for now, and everyone gather around." Oleg then announced once it was clear who the winner of the two-on-one fight had surprisingly managed to be. Once he descended the steps, all five of his students stood shoulder-to-shoulder with expectation, while Ochako was still trying to remove the last of the hairballs from her own head without tearing her own hair out at the root.

"Alright, everyone. As I, and I hope you all, have likewise observed how you all carry yourselves and attack and defend in a series of fights since last week, I feel that we've all come to better understand your respective strengths and weaknesses, not only in one-on-one fights, but also in potential team-up scenarios. I trust you've all been paying close attention to each other throughout our time so far, and not simply on yourselves. That kind of awareness will aid your teamwork and strategizing capabilities exponentially.

"As an example, malenkaya Tokage, the remote-control property of your Quirk keeps your sense of pain from carrying onto the pieces you detach from yourself, thus rendering any attacks inflicted on them virtually harmless to you, hence why neither malenkaya Uraraka, malenkie Mineta or Kaminari could incapacitate you with any of their Quirks. However, your Quirk is not only good for distraction and offense, but it could also potentially serve as a great means of assisting potential partners in battle. Can you give me an example, based on what you've seen from your fellow students?"

To his delighted surprise, Setsuna didn't even need to take the time to think before her eyes focused on a visibly surprised Ochako. "Well, Uraraka-chans' Zero Gravity keeps her safe from ground-based threats, but it doesn't do anything for her mobility. I could perhaps be able to use one of my detached hands to push her along through the air and aid in her speed, as well as using other pieces of myself to defend her or anybody else from attacks along the way."

The idea seemed to resonate perfectly with the rest of the students, judging by the visible looks of realization on their faces the further Setsuna went. Oleg could already feel an immense swelling of pride in his chest at her natural sense of strategy. "Pravilno (Correct), very good, malenkaya Tokage. And keep in mind, everyone, that this is just one example. If you brainstorm off of each other, you'll find you can come up with some truly outlandish but no less effective means of combining your Quirks in ways that will make you veritable forces of nature in times of conflict with Villains. There is no such thing as a truly useless Quirk."

"Sensei, I don't know if any of that actually can apply to me, though." Tooru suddenly chimed in, sounding more forlorn than anyone had heard from the otherwise bubbly invisible girl to date. "I mean, my Quirk doesn't give me any kind of advantage in a direct fight. It doesn't make me extra fast or strong or anything like everybody else here. If I get caught in a full-on fight, I'm no different than anybody else who wouldn't have a Quirk, so I'm practically useless in that situation."

Toorus' self-deprecation rang with an equal balance of disappointment and frustration in the inherent limitations her otherwise impressive Quirk gave her in a situation everyone else around her was continuously proving more than capable of handling. Ochako and Denki were both visibly about to speak up to try and lift her spirits, when Oleg suddenly stepped forward, a deeply contemplative look on his face.

"I'm not going to disservice you by lying, malenkaya Hagakure: you're not entirely wrong. The properties of your Quirk are very limited when it comes to how you'd handle yourself in a direct fight. However, it also gives you a tremendous advantage when it comes to getting yourself around a fight."

Tooru and everyone else visibly perked up in curiosity at this sudden turnaround their teacher had suddenly sprung on them, giving him all the cue he needed to keep going: "The fact is, there are going to be situations you find yourself caught in as a Pro Hero, where the last thing anyone wants is a direct confrontation, and your Quirk is perfect for that. You already have the advantage with you 24/7.

"All you really need to work on is expanding your planning capabilities in order to come up with any number of alternatives to the bluntest approach. If you were to master your sense of environmental awareness, and work on your means of traversing any given environment, especially in a way that would prevent you from making any noise that would set your opponents off or give yourself away, your opponents will never know where you actually are, and you could stand to become an absolutely untouchable master when it comes to stealthy Heroics."

The large Russian Hero placed a compassionate hand upon Toorus' invisible shoulder, causing a light pink to start forming in the air where her face had to be as he gave her a reassuring, fatherly smile. "Keep those tips in mind and start thinking of how you could go about practicing those things, malenkaya Hagakure. There's no such thing as a truly useless Quirk. It's all just a matter of figuring out how best to utilize them."

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Ochako was watching this whole exchange with a deeply amused smile on her face. She imagined this must have been exactly what her exchange with their Quirk History teacher during the sports Festival had to have looked like from the outside. It was actually quite nice to be able to see.

"But Sensei, what if she were up against a Villain who had infrared vision? Wouldn't that actually render invisibility useless?" Denki suddenly asked upon the thought only just occurring to him, before Setsuna silenced him with a carefully aimed elbow to the ribs, stopping him from ruining the moment that much more.

Nevertheless, Oleg seemed completely unperturbed as he cracked his knuckles and neck in further preparation. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we eventually get there. A truly great Hero takes every possibility into consideration. Now let's all return inside, everyone. It's time we had you all start thinking up the best ways you could market yourselves to the Pro Hero world, and the public in general, in order to garner yourselves the popularity and support necessary to move up in the business of Pro Heroes. And after that, we're heading back to the campus, and we're going to start working towards inching your respective Quirk thresholds a little further."

These kind of ideas for real Pro Hero business practice and legitimately furthering their physical limits lit a fire under everyone as they eagerly followed their teacher back up the steps into the house; while the large man was too embarrassed to admit he had only relatively recently learned a lot of the details of that aspect of Pro Heroes in this country, courtesy of Midnight and Present Mic over the past couple of weeks.

When Nikolay and Mina had finally arrived at the city center with Willow Light, the sheer amount of activity on the streets had them both feeling more than confident they'd be able to pick up enough leads that they would finally find Power Press in no time. Their mentor had long since ditched her typically bubbly exterior since the apartment, but there was a likewise radiant air of such confidence about her, as well.

Unfortunately, every person that seemed like a regular to this part of town that they approached had no answer for them, simply having not been here at the time, or having been occupied with more immediate business. Needless to say, each and every potential witness proving to be a dead end was quickly putting a damper on their spirits. "It just doesn't make sense. If Power Press comes here every day, you would think at least one person would have seen where he went."

Minas' wayward comment to herself mirrored the concern and confusion on Willow Light and Nikolays' faces respectively. People didn't just simply up and disappear, not like this. "Excuse me, did I hear you're looking for Power Press?"

The three Heroes' attention was immediately drawn by the arrival of a couple rugged-looking middle-men in matching construction uniforms. "Yeah, you're Willow Light; I've seen your picture in the papers with the rest of those Kamuron Agency Heroes." The fact that these men had come with the subject of Power Press specifically made Willow Light momentarily ignore the recognition as she approached the men with that same serious air about her.

"Are you gentlemen saying you may have an idea where Power Press has gone? We haven't been able to reach him since yesterday." This news seemed to take the men by visible surprise, while one of them clearly understood where this conversation was going and was already looking deep in thought.

"Yeah, we see Power Press in this part of town every evening after our shift at the lot ends. Usually folks take whatever he's handing out and go on their way, but yesterday I caught him speaking with another guy. He looked and sounded like a foreigner, I'd never seen him around here before." This news was already proving to be a huge breakthrough, as Willow Lights' newly boosted determination shone through in her luminescent eyes. At long last, something resembling a lead.

"Yeah, I saw that, too. Last I looked, they were headed north together, but that's all I know," the second construction worker chimed in, both men feeling a touch proud of themselves for providing helpful info, just from the relieved look on the female Heroes' face.

At the same time as this was going on, Nikolay and Mina were keeping their distance, not wanting to risk getting in their mentors way, as frustrating as that felt, like they simply were proving to be more of a hindrance than anything else. "Um…e-excuse me."

A very young voice suddenly spoke up from beside the two, drawing both their attention to see, to their mutual surprise, a small group of little kids, no older than elementary school age, standing before them, looking up at the two like they were looking at honest-to-goodness celebrities. "Oh, good morning. Do you kids need help with anything?" Nikolay asked as professionally as possible, which seemed to stir some actual star-struck reactions from some of the kids, muttering to each other how he sounded like a legit Hero saying it like that.

"W-we, um…we saw your pictures on TV and on the internet, and well…w-we've never seen real Heroes before, so…so…" the kids were clearly very intimidated to be standing in their presence; a realization that made Nikolays' gut turn with embarrassment for himself and them alike. He could easily imagine how awkward this had to feel for them.

Thankfully, everything was magically fixed simply by Mina stepping in and being herself, as she knelt down to be on the children's eye level, a warm and compassionate smile on her sunny pink face. "Aw, do you kids want a picture, or maybe an autograph?" To Nikolays' surprise, such a forward question seemed to just ignite the children's shared excitement as they all began pulling out notebooks and their own little cell phones, practically bouncing all together.

What followed was only a couple of minutes (yet it felt so much longer) of every single kid coming in to either get Mina and Nikolays' signatures in their notebooks, or to get a picture with her, which she was clearly far more than happy to oblige, complimenting every single one of the kids along the way for their decorated notebooks and cell phones, or for simply how cute they were, being so little. Of course, having been inspired to be a Hero from seeing how glamorous they could be with people and on TV, it was only natural that Mina would turn out to be this instinctively good at interacting with people, even small children.

Nikolay at first found himself instinctively inching away from the scene the further it went, but it was like he and Mina were mentally connected, as she could simply feel him trying to get out of it, swooping in and taking his hands in hers before pulling him in to join in the fun.

"C'mon, Kolya-kun, you get to be a part of the moment, too! This is huge; these are our first official fans! We should both get to enjoy it!" Minas' enthusiasm was through the roof, now knowing they both had official fans to call their own, and soon enough, even Nikolay found himself thankfully managing to loosen up and actually start getting into pictures with Mina and the children; the smile on his face steadily growing with each one. He simply had to remember what Power Press had told them before: that sewing this kind of connection with the people on a personal level was what starting out as a real Hero was all about.

Of course, that remembrance did little to keep his mind from wandering to certain other memories; whenever he would kneel down to get pictures with one of the kids, only for Mina to suddenly kneel down right next to him, practically rubbing her cheek against his in order to fit into the frame. By the time they had gotten to the last picture, she had squeezed her way in right next to him so many times, that his cheeks were nearly as red as the collar of his turtleneck.

Once the kids had all gotten pictures and autographs, they eagerly thanked the two Heroes-in-training before rushing off together, all audibly chattering with each other how cool the two were. Mina was practically on Cloud Nine, having gotten her very first taste of genuine fame as a Hero, the biggest smile on her face as she looked up to the sun like this was the single greatest day ever.

"Oh, Kolya-kun, do you know what this means? We really have arrived! I mean, yeah, we're still interns, but as far as those kids are concerned, we're real Heroes! Our very first fans, can you believe it?" It took every ounce of willpower for her not to start spinning into a celebratory dance as she spun on her heels to look at her partner, only to come to a veritable screeching halt when she saw just what a deep shade of red Nikolays' cheeks were. "Hey, what's up? You look like you just got hit with a hot flash."

Nikolay was, frankly, too flustered to even try and play it off as nothing, as he struggled to meet her black-gold eyes as she had begun leaning forward to get a better look. "I'm sorry, Mina. I just…being in pictures together like that…my brain just started making me think of…well, you know…that…photo booth on…Sunday, last week."

This time, it was Minas' turn to start blushing as well, as she immediately straightened up in surprise; not because of his realization…but because of the fact that he was still clearly thinking about that moment, despite more than a whole week having passed since then. Clearly that day had resonated with him far more than either of them had expected. She was honestly at a loss of how to comprehend that fact now.

"Solovei, Pinky, we've got a lead!" Willow Lights' voice calling out to them, thankfully managed to stir both teens' attention back to reality, as they saw the once again driven smile of determination on their mentors' face as she ushered them to once again follow her lead. "Those men saw Power Press heading north with an unidentified foreigner. Now we have an idea what direction to start looking. And now you two get to see one of the most efficient ways you'll have available as Pro Heroes to conduct such searches once you have enough information."

As soon as Willow Light had stepped into the nearby police station with her two interns in tow, nearly every officer in sight perked up, with some expressing looks of worry upon seeing the two youths in particular. "Oh, for goodness' sake, did those two go rushing into something dangerous again already?" one clearly higher-ranking officer exclaimed, only for Willow Light to step in.

"No need to worry about that, officer, I'm keeping them on a much shorter rein this time. We're currently conducting a search for one of our colleagues, Power Press. He never showed up to end his shift yesterday, and none of us have been able to get in contact with him, and he isn't at his apartment. However, a couple of witnesses from yesterday said they saw him heading north with an unidentified foreigner. Would it be alright for us to check the CCTV recordings?"

Her concise yet thorough explanation left the officer clearly convinced, no doubt another sign of the reputation she and the rest of her Agency had with law enforcement in Erubi City, as he didn't even protest before stepping aside, granting Willow Light, Nikolay and Mina access to the police station surveillance room.

Once they found themselves in the deceptively large room with screens showing nearly every inch of the city, Willow Light was already hard at work putting in what she needed to, in order to pull up the recordings from yesterday in the northern part of the city center. Soon enough, they found the man himself, Power Press, clearly engaged in lively conversation with, as had been described, a clearly foreign man dressed in black with sunglasses.

"Who is that man? Do you recognize him, Sensei?" Nikolay instinctively asked, only for her to give a solemn shake of the head. None of the presiding police officers had any more definitive of an answer, themselves. It wasn't like this was a completely alien experience; foreigners came through this town all the time, so something like this interaction was to be expected.

"Alright, they're on the move. Now we just need to keep following and see where they were going." Willow Light suddenly announced, drawing Nikolay and Minas' full attention. For the next several minutes, their mentor was the practical eye in the sky, as she somehow knew exactly what cameras to switch to as Power Press and the stranger continued on their way. The city itself seemed to keep progressively thinning out to more and more suburban areas, until they eventually turned, and soon found themselves in an even more remote area, descending some steps into an empty canal with a large storm drain tunnel mouth standing to their right, which the two men stopped in front of.

Going simply by what their natural gut instincts would have had them do in that kind of situation, Nikolay and Mina found themselves utterly confused when the stranger and Power Press both proceeded to enter into the storm drain tunnel, officially cutting themselves off from the CCTV sight. Willow Light slowly rose from her seat, taking a deep, steadying breath to stop the beginnings of a trembling in her hands.

"Sensei, you don't think that man might have something to do with Power Press disappearing…do you?" Mina asked, only to immediately regret such an obvious question when Willow Light turned with that intensity brought back to her eyes.

"Not a doubt in my mind. The important thing is we know where to start looking, so let's get a move on, you two." With that, she made a beeline out the door for the police station entrance. As Nikolay and Mina hurried after her, they soon noticed she had pulled out her phone and, rather than calling anyone, she had hit her thumb to a symbol on its screen they didn't recognize, before just as quickly tucking it back in her pocket. It was once they were back outside that she suddenly stopped, and turned back to address her two interns with a much more approachable, but no less serious air. "Give me your cell phones really quick."

The two immediately obliged, visibly confused just what Willow Light had in mind as she began fumbling around with them in each hand, a razor sharp focus in her glare. "Master Mesh developed a special app for members of our Agency last year so that we can always have a clear idea where we are in relation to each other, in case we ever need to separate and subsequently regroup in an emergency. What you two saw just a second ago was me giving them the signal to come collect at my signal, just in case. Until I hit it again to shut the signal off, they'll know where we are at any given moment."

"Sensei, if this app is for Heroes to know where each other are, why didn't anyone just use it to find Power Press' location to begin with?" Nikolay asked, with a proclamation of similar confusion from Mina at nearly the same time.

"Unfortunately, the recollecting signal can only be activated by the person calling for others to join them. Power Press would have had to send that signal himself, and the fact that he didn't, means that whatever happened to him was fast enough to keep him from doing so. Therefore, I have to call the others to recollect where we are instead. So, since you two are technically working for the Kamuron Hero Agency by interning for me, I'm giving you both the same app as well, just in case something was to happen. Let's just hope that it doesn't."

Within a few seconds, similar musical chimes emanated from Nikolay and Minas' phones, and Willow Light swiftly handed them back to her two wide-eyed and, frankly, honored-looking students as they gazed upon the new symbol on their screens of the Kamuron Hero Agency logo. "Alright, as of this moment, you can consider yourselves honorary members for the rest of this week. Now come on, we've got a colleague to find."

Nikolay and Mina both gave an instinctive raised fist and cheer of eagerness in unison as Willow Light once again took the lead, feeling a sense of almost maternal pride in inducting the two like this.

They had followed the exact same route that they had seen Power Press and the stranger take on the CCTV footage, and after about ten minutes of continuous walking further and further into the outskirts of Erubi City, they likewise found themselves descending the same steps into the wide and empty concrete structure that seemed to just extend forever either way they looked.

The silence of this part of the town, the quiet of tried and true countryside, was honestly a touch unsettling considering just why they were out here, and that sensation was not helped when they had finally reached the very same storm drain tunnel they had seen the two men disappear into; with the distant echoing of the wind and dripping water emanating from the darkness inside.

"Exactly what kind of place is this, Sensei?" Nikolay couldn't help but ask as he looked down the concrete lane again, just looking for something to break the silence before it would risk becoming too much.

"Well, obviously you've noticed it's more mountainous in this part of the country than in Musutafu City. When the rainy season comes, we're more prone to mudslides and river overflow, so these canals were built to try and divert those occurrences in order to avoid any extensive damage to the city infrastructure. It's actually worked quite well so far."

Willow Light's straightforward and blunt answer unfortunately didn't extend into anything further, forcing Mina to now try and break the silence; the slightest tremor creeping up her legs as she looked into the tunnel. "This place is so far out of the way from where somebody would likely need a Heroes' help. Why would Power Press just go in there with that man like we saw?"

"Believe it or not, we used to have one or two homeless settlements inside those tunnels. We've tried to work with them before, get them relocated somewhere less hazardous and where they would have written permission granted for them to stay while we'd also be trying to help them through rehabilitation programs and such. Everything seemed pretty cut and dry last time, but I find it unlikely they would have actually come back down here, and even less that we wouldn't have even heard about it by now if they had."

With not another moment to lose, she suddenly summoned a small orb of light from the palm of her hand before sending it slowly forward into the mouth of the tunnel, thankfully illuminating the darkness. "I'm just going in to get a brief scouting of the area. If you two don't feel safe, the others should hopefully get here following my signal in just a few minutes."

To her surprise, though, Nikolay and Mina instead proceeded to follow after her, not out of an intention to stop her, but to simply keep following her lead. "You made us honorary members for a reason, Sensei. We're not just going to leave you to do something like this alone." They both proclaimed their loyalty to their mentor downright admirably, and the grateful smile on Willow Lights' face reflected as such. With a single encouraging nudge of her head, the three proceeded into the mouth of the tunnel, with the orb lighting every step of the way.

However, that still didn't make the ominous silence inside these tunnels any less foreboding. It almost felt unnaturally cold in here away from the sunlight, forcing Mina to instinctively cross her arms, rubbing her hands up and down them to keep warm. But the chill didn't stop her from still speaking whatever came to mind in order to try and ease the tension: "You know, looking for a missing person, going through a dark tunnel area with barely any light? It honestly can't help but make me think of 'Aliens', you know? That, and my old idea for a Hero name; it's all starting to come together."

Nikolays' nerves were already nearing the edge the further they went inside, due to his still lingering fear of underground places, and even teasing the idea of this being anything like that movie certainly didn't help. In fact, Nikolay began feeling the need to instruct Mina that this was the worst time and place possible to make that comparison, until he saw the distinct look in Minas' eyes reflected in the light of the orb ahead. Despite the semi-humorous smile on her face, her eyes were reflecting a very similar unspoken fear as he was feeling, himself.

That offhanded semi-joking remark was just as much for the sake of easing her nervousness, as it was for easing his. That realization was what thankfully made Nikolay decide to keep any words that were coming to himself. "Both of you keep it down. We still don't know exactly what we're likely to find here."

Right at that moment, the tunnel ahead seemed to open up, and the trio soon found themselves standing in the middle of an intersection, with three other tunnels now extending from all four directions around them. However, what caught their attention almost immediately, was the reflection of light coming from a single lonely cellphone lying almost perfectly in the middle of the ground. Willow Lights' whole posture seemed to go rigid with tension the instant she recognized it.

Before either Nikolay or Mina could ask the dreadfully obvious, she urgently pulled out her cell phone and proceeded to hurriedly type into it: 'Found Power Press' cell phone, but no sign of him. This is much more serious than we thought. Follow my signal and get here as soon as possible. I'm going to scout ahead as far as I can.'

Once she slipped her phone back in her pocket, Willow Light held her open hands out, closed her eyes, and with a few deep, steadying breaths, proceeded to produce three more orbs of light, before sending them all down the three different tunnels simultaneously. Needless to say, Nikolay and Mina were both silently impressed with yet another show of the versatility of their mentors' Quirk. "Sensei…are you actually able to see anything right now?" Nikolay finally asked, thankfully remembering to keep it to a whisper.

"Yes. As long as I focus while they're out, I can see everything those orbs see. It works wonders when looking for civilians caught in disaster situations, as well as for tailing criminals we don't want to get into direct conflict with at that time. Now please, I need to concentrate." With that, Nikolay and Mina both instantly stood rigidly at attention, keeping their mouths shut tight, while Willow Light continued switching her perspective from one orb to the next with but a thought, looking for any sign at all.

That was when she suddenly caught sight of a clearly human-shaped form lying prone in the shadows up ahead within the gaze of the orb she had sent into the tunnel to the right. Inching just a bit closer, she began to see the colors of the motionless persons' clothes, and she immediately realized who she had found. Her heart caught in her throat as she opened her eyes in realization, effectively dissipating all her orbs of light but the one she was using to keep their area illuminated. "It's Power Press, I found him. He's in the right tunnel. We don't know what could be waiting in there, so we're not moving from here until the others arrive."

It was clear that Willow Light was exercising every ounce of restraint she had to keep from rushing down that tunnel and saving the man they had come all this way to find. However, that didn't stop her from instinctively going for the mans' abandoned cellphone, plucking it up from the dirt without a second thought…

…only for a brief beeping and subsequent resounding click to follow the instant she lifted the device up from the ground, effectively releasing the weight on a previously concealed button.

BOOM! BOOM! FWOOSH!

In an instant, several resounding blasts sounded from all around the trio, and the entire intersection was suddenly filled with thick, blinding clouds of smoke, forcing the three to instantly try and shield their eyes and mouths amid the resultant confusion of this out-of-nowhere booby trap.

Nikolay was barely able to recollect his senses as he struggled to breathe enough to aim his hands outward in opposing sides, away from where he knew Mina and Willow Light were standing relative to him. The resultant blasts he fired afterward, thankfully were enough to dissipate the smoke around them a good enough distance to where they could actually see and breathe again.

What none of them realized at that moment, however, was the presence of the single black-clad, masked figure perched on the metal walkway directly above their heads, already moving in to act the instant he heard his trap get set off. All the three Heroes below could hear was the slightest zip sound of a very fine wire descending from above, right before a metal latch suddenly came swinging in like a whip from the shadows, clamping down securely right around Nikolays' neck from behind; giving the boy barely any time to react before the attached line just as swiftly began retracting upwards, pulling him right off his feet as he was now struggling to breathe as well as try and force the metal ring off his neck.

Fortunately for him, his choked cries of struggle immediately got Willow Light and Minas' attention, both of them immediately overcome with shock, fear, and most importantly: determination to fight back, the instant they saw their intern and partner in danger.

"I'VE GOT YOU, KOLYA-KUN!" Mina proclaimed with as much courage as she could muster, as she focused her eyes on the line she could now see reflected in the light of the miraculously still active orb, and threw a quickly formed handful of acid right at it, nailing a direct hit and dissolving the line in seconds, sending Nikolay toppling back down to the ground, just barely managing to stick the landing on his feet.

Mina and Willow Light hurriedly rushed in, the pink girl running an acid-coated fingertip along the metal collar, managing to melt through it so he could finally pry the accursed thing off, struggling to catch his breath.

However, just before either of them could ask if he was okay, the otherwise silence was suddenly broken by the rapidly descending sound of leather or other fabric flapping in the air. When the three finally looked up in reaction, they were all overtaken with surprise to see a single figure dressed entirely in black boots, pants, undershirt, what looked like a sleeveless hooded coat, and a black mask with white sharpened fangs painted on it, completely encapsulating the figures' actual face; freefalling right towards them.

The three barely managed to jump out of the way before the strange man landed hard right where they just stood, managing to stick the landing with much more professional grace. However, that was far from what was on the three Heroes' minds, as they felt a wave of intimidation wash over them as the black-clad figure slowly stood tall before them, tilting his enshrouded head from side to side, producing a distinctive crack from his neck joints with each one.

There was no doubt between all three Heroes' minds that they were looking upon a legitimate Villain, and undoubtedly the one responsible for whatever had happened to Power Press. Whoever this guy was, he was clearly no joke, and yet they still didn't have the backup of the rest of the Heroes from the Agency yet. Nonetheless, there was no way this person was going to just let them go, and they couldn't just stand here and hope he wasn't going to do anything either. They only had one feasible option right now if they were to have any chance of getting out of this alive: fight.

Willow Light was the one to immediately step into action, immediately producing several of her light projectiles from her hands as she spun in an attempt to disorient their aggressor, before throwing one handful after another right at him, with every single orb hitting their mark dead center in his torso. And yet, even after the incredible barrage of blinding light eruptions that followed, Willow Light was astounded to see him come rushing out from the wall of light like nothing had even happened; ducking low before kicking himself up off the ground toward her, with a perfect backwards roundhouse kick aimed right for her head.

BWOOOM!

A suddenly burst of devastating bass vibration filled the entire chamber as the Villain was momentarily knocked off his trajectory, briefly tumbling across the ground before immediately correcting himself and landing harmlessly on his feet. Nikolay had thankfully managed to intervene, but had now put himself directly in the Villains' crosshairs.

The black-clad man immediately launched himself skywards, swiftly descending onto Nikolay with the ferocity of a hawk, with a fully-powered drop kick at the ready. However, Nikolay was already on the counter-offensive, launching himself upwards to meet him in kind with a charged-up hand reeled back to give him a point-blank dose directly into his midsection.

What he didn't expect, however, was for the Villain to instead flip his entire body over backwards in midair, instead of following through with the dropkick, and as soon as his head rose up from his reverse flip, he immediately lunged his gloved hands out, securely grabbing onto Nikolays' neck and his assaulting arm, officially stopping him dead in his tracks in the air, and proceeded to meet the rest of their respective freefall by flipping them both around so that Nikolay was now beneath him, meeting the ground first with devastating force, effectively knocking every last ounce of wind right out of him, while the Villain had kicked himself off of Nikolays' mass right at the last second before impact, once again managing to land harmlessly on his feet.

Seeing this sent Mina the closest she could ever get to a frenzy, as she swiftly closed the distance between them with her slide, before managing to flip herself backwards at the last second before impact, kicking up a considerable splash of her otherwise harmless fluid from the soles of her boots, aiming for the Villains' face. Even if it didn't burn like her normal acid could, all she needed was for it to stun or disorient him for just a few moments, just like the getaway driver yesterday.

However, the Villain seemed to just sense her desperate attempt at an attack, as he managed to sidestep the trajectory of her fluid, and swiftly followed after her, throwing a surprisingly precise and fast series of jabs and kicks her way. It was only luckily for Mina, that she had flipped herself into one of her normal break dancing-esque evasive maneuvers, managing to keep her whole body spinning, twirling, and otherwise managing to avoid the full impact of many of his attacks, although some were still managing to graze her legs, but she refused to let that stop her momentum, otherwise that would be it.

This momentary distraction proved absolutely vital for Mina, as it had kept the Villain preoccupied just long enough for Willow Light to suddenly come rushing in from behind, kicking herself off the ground with both legs, and getting herself just high enough to where she could proceed to kick her feet forward, right for the back of the Villains' head in a manner akin to a kangaroo.

However, the instant she tried to follow through, the Villains' previous onslaught of strikes stopped almost as swiftly as the flipping of a switch, and he managed to actually duck right below Willow Lights' kicking trajectory, and immediately after brought his hands up to grab her by her ankles, leaving the Illuminating Hero hanging helplessly over his back like fresh game.

The black-clad assailant immediately followed through by spinning himself around in a circle, with Willow Light still clutched tight in his grasp, and after a few moments of building up his momentum, he then let go, sending Willow Light flying across the intersection, and directly into a nearby pile of empty drums; the force behind the throw making the impact so much worse, that he had effectively taken her out of the fight.

As much as the sight of seeing their mentor get taken down had made her blood go cold, Mina was mentally shouting at herself to not just give up, and thus she immediately got to her feet and rushed for the Villain while his back was still turned, hopeful that she could be fast enough to at least throw a glob of her most adhesive acid at one of his feet and keep him stuck where he stood for at least a moment.

However, just at the moment she felt her hand become completed coated in the stuff, and began to reel her hand back for the fateful throw, the villain seemed to completely sense what direction she was coming from, because he immediately turned his entire body to his left while she had come in heading right, thus removing himself completely from her aiming range with only the slightest bit of effort.

What was more, the instant Mina realized he had gotten out of her attack range, she felt his hand grip onto the collar of her vest, and swiftly yank her right back into his grasp. Just before she could follow through with an especially desperate counterattack of kicking herself up off the ground to drive her knee into his face, she suddenly felt his fingers pinch with especially great force onto the joint where her shoulder met her neck. In an instant she felt every last ounce of tension leave her body and Mina went completely slack from head to toe, losing full consciousness almost instantly, all the while mentally cursing herself for having not managed to even lay a finger on this guy.

As soon as he let go and had the pink Hero-in-training collapse to the floor, the Villain heard an especially enraged roar fill the air, as Nikolay had since then managed to get back on his feet, and was now fueled by pure emotion the instant he saw his allies go down, launching himself right for him.

The Villain, however, already had the Russian boy scouted, as he instinctively reached up and grabbed onto both of Nikolays' wrists, right before using the boys' added momentum to flip them around, and drive Nikolays' back straight into the opposing brick wall, hard.

[[Such ferocious and driven fighting spirit. Your form is sloppy, but you clearly have some raw potential in you. It's just a shame you're not the one I'm hunting. No…it's your father that I really want, and you're going to help bring him to me.]]

Nikolays' resultant sense of confusion still managed to pale next to his sheer anger towards this stranger, whoever he was, and he made that loud and clear as he somehow still managed to aim his restrained palms right in the Villains' direction, and fired a two-handed full blast straight into his face, managing to actually send him flying back from the force and let go, most importantly. Even if he still somehow managed to once again stick his landing; that meant nothing to Nikolay.

No, all that mattered to him in this moment of mental blindness was taking this Villain down for what he did to his friends. As such, he immediately followed up with a catapult arc launch right for the Villain, both hands reeled back to send another full dose straight into his central mass.

Just at the last moment before contact could be made, though, the Villain smirked beneath his mask, and immediately brought one boot straight up, allowing Nikolays' launch-aided momentum to drive his stomach straight into the man's veritable steel beam of a leg, with absolutely no give behind it. The blow once again knocked every recollected ounce of wind straight out of Nikolay like a deflated balloon, and the overwhelming blunt force pain behind it finally proved too much, as the boy collapsed listlessly to the floor after, consciousness already lost.

[[Raw potential, no doubt, but you still have quite a lot to learn. You did manage to actually get me with an attack or two, though. Can't remember the last time a Hero managed to do that to me…other than your father. Don't worry, my boy. It's not the end for you just yet. You're my one true key to the greatest game of all.]]

The endurance training Oleg had decided to have his students go through had proven less fruitful than he had initially hoped, at least as far as seeing them push past their thresholds was concerned. After about an hour of this, when it was clear nobody was going to be able to really exceed their limits, he had finally decided to call the students back together, which he could tell many of them were relieved to hear.

"Alright, everyone, I think it's clear that right now, we've officially confirmed your Quirks' limitations. Malenkaya Tokage, it seems you aren't able to divide your body into any more than 50 pieces right now, and from measurements taken from the training ground monitors observing your previous displays, and comparing them to now, it seems you aren't able to spread them apart any more than 20 yards away from your central controlling mass."

However, the green-haired girl almost immediately shot her hand up to interject. "Actually, I found a solution to that, Sensei. Just as I'm able to send my detached pieces outward at will, I can also have the telepathic link I have with my pieces pull my central mass along with them, kind of like an invisible tether. So in a way, I could still be able to cover a wider area, I would just have to move along with them in order to do it." Oleg couldn't deny the confidence Setsuna had in this unconventional idea of hers, but he wasn't about to let himself get sidetracked as he turned his attention to a currently woozy-looking Ochako.

"Malenkaya Uraraka, it seems you're still unable to pass your just-barely-under 200 western pound weight limit with your Zero Gravity. Perhaps we should lower the intended weight jump by a few pounds to help you acclimate better." However, despite the clearly reasonable tone Oleg addressed her limit with; the brown-haired blushing girl unfortunately didn't look nearly as confident.

"I don't know, Sensei. Normally I've been able to exceed the weight I could carry a pound at a time, but I haven't been able to get past this weight limit for nearly an entire year now. What if this is as far as it goes for me? If I end up in a situation where I have to lift anything super heavy, what good am I going to be if I can't even lift something for more than a second before I get sick?"

Unfortunately, her admission of doubt in her abilities seemed to spark similar sentiments from Denki and Minoru as well. "Yeah, and what about my electricity? I mean, I've been trying as best I can to not go my full limit right off the bat, but the concentration that takes is insane, and I know I'm not gonna be in a situation where I'll always have something on standby I can grab onto that conducts electricity to help keep me charged up. What if this one-shot attack style of mine is the best I can hope to do?"

"And what about me? All I can do is use my hair to climb, restrain people and weigh projectiles down. What good am I really going to be in a major fight? And that still doesn't even address the fact that I'm eventually going to rip my scalp apart if I use it too much. What if these limits really are as far as we're gonna be able to go?" Oleg could easily understand and relate to the kids' mutual frustrations with their limits, but that didn't stop him from taking a breath that puffed out his muscular chest, giving them all a look of deeply-rooted confidence.

"Tell me, children: if you didn't immediately start off with your Quirks being as strong as they are today, how was it you managed to get to where you are now? Do you really think your Quirks simply grew in power as you all got older? Ridiculous; you all got to where you are because you've already been pushing yourselves every step of the way until now, and using the things that personally drive you in order to do so.

"You've been doing exactly what we're trying to do right now, only you haven't been putting nearly as much single-minded focus into it. Now that you are, it's forcing you to think about the limits you've already been dealing with, instead of how it is you can break through those limits and set up new ones for yourselves as a result; again, by remembering the specific things that have motivated you to get this far in the first place.

"No matter how many times you may think you're failing right now, the truth is that you are all slowly but steadily getting stronger, and simply haven't fully realized it yet. As long as you all keep working as hard as you can, as we have been so far this week, and don't forget exactly why it is you chose this path in your lives, you will start to see yourselves and your Quirks become that much stronger. I won't tell any of you to give up, so don't tell yourselves that, either. Simply keep reminding yourselves to take the things that other fools would call a weight, a weakness, and make that into your strength."

To his delight, he could see that with every sentence, his charges were beginning to mentally pick themselves back up, the likes of Denki and Tooru even puffing their chests out in renewed confidence. Of course, the one he saw the deepest resonation within, was Ochako. The look in her eyes when she looked up at him told him she knew exactly what he was aiming for with that speech, and exactly what example of a drive he was referring to, to use as inspiration.

The fact that he had even remembered that much of what she had opened up to him about during the Sports Festival, and was now using that to serve as a constant reminder and inspiration for her in another moment of self-doubt, made the heartfelt smile of appreciation and gratitude on her face shine that much brighter. Oleg could just tell his students were once more as fired up as could be.

However, the afternoon sun was beginning to beat down quite intensely on their heads. "You've all worked up quite a sweat so far, kids. What do you say we take a short break for some tea? It's just about the only thing I know for a fact I can make without setting the kitchen on fire." All the students couldn't help but chuckle amusedly at his attempt at self-deprecating humor, knowing it was his lack of domestic skill that had essentially put them all in charge of the actual cooking when they weren't training or studying.

Soon enough, everyone was seated around the house with tea cups in hand, thanking their host and teacher for the simple luxury and complimenting it for the flavor. Before Oleg could take his own place at the head of the table to partake, he felt the cell phone in his pocket begin to hum.

When he pulled it out, he felt surprise and confusion to find it was Nikolays' name and number on the ID. 'Strange. Kolya said he would call me tonight when their training for the day was over. Is he maybe calling to apologize for rushing through when I called earlier? Honestly, the boy shouldn't feel like he has to apologize for everything.'

Without a single worry in the world left, Oleg hit the 'accept' button and brought the phone to his ear as he brought his tea cup to his lips. [[Hello, Kolya. I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon. Is everything alright?]]

[[Hello…Tunguska.]]

Oleg felt the entire world around him come to a screeching halt, down to his heart nearly seizing in his chest as his blood turned to ice. The tea cup fell from his frozen hand, shattering with deafening resonance against the floor as he stood rooted to his very spot, not even paying a smidgeon of attention to the visibly shocked and subsequently worried looks on his students' faces.

It wasn't possible, he had to simply be hearing things…but every instinct in his mind and body knew for a fact that wasn't true. This was real; that damned voice was real and speaking to him in his full consciousness for the first time after so many years, and the fact he was hearing it from his own sons' phone number, and what that ultimately meant, was more real than anything else.

[[Oh, do please tell me you remember me. It's only been a little over twenty years, after all.]] The almost taunting air of that voice didn't even register to Oleg. All he could think of was how his caller and son had become connected in this situation, and the only answer he knew made any sense, nearly made him tense up to the point of crushing the cell phone in his grip.

[[…Vukodlak.]]

He was immediately answered with an almost childlike enthusiastic applause on the other end. [[Oh, wonderful, you DO remember me! That silence of yours was beginning to make me worry. Although, considering how we left things off last time, I could scarcely imagine how you could ever possibly forget, no matter how many years pass.]] Oleg felt like his scalp was at risk of bursting into flames, as the image of that old dacha briefly flashed before his eyes. Now his nightmare this morning made so much more sense, no matter how much he loathed the reason why now.

[[What have you done with my son, you bastard?! What did you do to my Kolya?!]] Oleg instantly roared with enough fury to nearly shake the foundations of the house, forcing instinctive flinches of fear from the students, witnessing their teacher turn into a trembling, rage-filled beast.

However, for better or worse, he was only answered with a bemused sort of laughter. [[Oh, that anger…it's downright palpable, Tunguska. You just proved my theory right; that boy really is your one remaining weakness. Thank you for assuring me of that…but don't worry, the boy isn't hurt…at least, not yet. And he will remain as such; just as long as you do what I'm about to tell you, understand?]]

Olegs' teeth were grinding nearly to the point of cracking; his eyes were on the verge of seeing nothing but red, as he struggled to breathe in an attempt to try and maintain his one remaining fragment of composure. [[What do you want?]]

[[I want you, Tunguska. I've waited a lifetime's worth for us to finally see each other again, and I've only now finally been given the chance for that, but I want this to be done absolutely right. When we finally meet, I want you to come at me with everything you've got, just like you did the last time. I've had the past week to observe you and your boy, and I've gotten everything all set up for the two of us. So I want you to come to Erubi City. Don't worry, I'll know when you've arrived, trust me on that.

[[Once you're there; I'll call you again with this same number. From there, I want you to do exactly as I say, otherwise I can't guarantee little Kolyas' safety. Also, I want you to come alone. If you try to bring anybody else with you when the time comes for us to meet, your boy will suffer the consequences for it. Those are the rules, and you have to play by them. You know what you need to do now, so I suggest you get to it.]]

Click

From the moment the call had been ended, Oleg could only feel a torrential wave of three things altogether overtake him: fear for his sons' life; regret for not having done something to prevent this from happening to begin with, and above all else, anger at the world for not letting the past die.

As the massive Russian stayed rooted to his spot, the heat of barely-withheld rage coming off his shoulders in visible wafts, all of the students silently watching him could only feel a similar fear and confusion overwhelm their minds; especially since they were able to make out Nikolays' nickname amid his Russian. Whatever had set their teacher into this downward spiral of anger and fear, it had something to do with their friend and classmate, and it was as far from anything good as could possibly be. Concern for Oleg, Nikolay and Mina washed over them all in a heartbeat.

The once seemingly inescapable state of unconsciousness had begun to lift from both Mina and Willow Light, though neither of them could begin to guess just how long they had both been out. All they could think about was the sudden battle against an utter powerhouse of a Villain from out of nowhere, and how it had tied into Power Press' disappearance.

"Whoa, whoa, try not to move too much already, you two. You both clearly got roughed up quite a bit." The voice of Reflector immediately greeted the two female Heroes as they stirred and tried to get up, only to be immediately attended to by Master Mesh and Big Trouble. As soon as they regained their senses as to where they were and the finality of what had just happened, alertness and panic immediately registered on both their faces.

"Where is he?! Where did he go?!" Willow Light immediately asked, with Reflector immediately grabbing her shoulders to try and calm her down.

"Whoa, slow down; who are you talking about? Where did who go?" When she looked at him, the utter intensity in her eyes made the Mirror Hero instinctively flinch back in surprise. In the years he had known Willow Light, he had never seen her like this before.

"The Villain! The one who attacked us! He's the one who abducted Power Press; he's in that tunnel down that way! He booby-trapped his phone and jumped the three of us! Kagami-kun, he was so fast and so strong, we couldn't even put up a joint effort against him! Please, tell me you found him on your way here and took him down!"

To her shaken despair, however, Reflector could only give her a solemn shaking of his head. "We didn't run into anyone once on our way here. We got here barely five minutes after your last call, so you haven't been unconscious for very long it seems. We contacted the police right after your message anyway, so if there's anyone suspicious in the area, they will be found."

Reflector sounded so confident in that assessment, but it did nothing for either Willow Light or Minas' nerves. However, that was nothing compared to when Big Trouble suddenly spoke up: "Where is Solovei? Why isn't he here with you?"

Mina and Willow Light alike nearly shot up to their feet, eyes wide and hair nearly standing on end at his question, especially when they finally looked all around to find that there wasn't a single sign of the Russian boy to be seen. The memory of how the Villain seemed to be practically toying with all three of them through the entire fight came rushing back, and if there was no sign of him or Nikolay anywhere, then that could have only meant one thing: that black-clad monster had taken their ally with him.

This realization, compounded with the respective looks of confusion, regret and a lack of ideas on all the other Heroes faces, still managed to pale in Minas' mind, next to this one simple fact that hit her harder than anything else ever could: a Villain had kidnapped Nikolay, if not worse, and there wasn't a single damn thing she could do to stop or fix it, and they had no idea what to do or where to even look.

"KOLYA-KUN!" she finally wailed in terrified despair for her best friend as devastated tears ran freely down her anguished face; her frantic voice echoing up and down the tunnels as she and the rest of the Kamuron Agency Heroes were left helpless and without leads, with one of their owns' very lives now hanging in the balance.

Nikolay jolted back to consciousness with a sudden intake of breath, the radiating pain in his stomach still resounding up and down every inch of his body. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought that final blow to his gut had caused it to straight-up collapse, or at the very least cause major internal bleeding.

The sudden memory of that blow, and the vicious fight that preceded it, came rushing back to mind like the swinging of a sledgehammer straight into his brain. Nikolay found himself overcome with a maelstrom of fear and anger for Mina and Willow Light as he immediately began trying to rush back to them, only to have his senses come back and make him realize just where he was right now.

Or rather, perhaps it was more appropriate to describe it as where he wasn't, because it certainly wasn't that intersection in the tunnels. In fact, he couldn't even describe it as anywhere, for he couldn't see or hear anything. All there was was this impenetrable blackness that seemed to block out any light or sound from the outside. The only reason Nikolay could even consider such a concept as 'outside' in this moment, was because as he tried to move, he immediately realized his body had become almost entirely constrained, with something tightly wrapped around his arms and torso, with his legs likewise bound together.

Had that Villain from before actually legitimately kidnapped him? And if so, what had he done with Mina and Willow Light? These questions pounded at the boundaries of his skull, just screaming to be let out and answered, but no matter how much of a fight he tried to put up, his restraints simply weren't giving.

Just before he had ended up exhausting himself trying to break free, his mind briefly registered that fact that, despite his arms being bound to his sides, his fingertips were able to feel the hem of his pocket, and he just as quickly remembered, then, that his cellphone was still in there, he could barely make out its resting weight inside. If he could just somehow manage to get his hand in there, at least enough to try and navigate his way through the device blind, he might be able to-!

[[Ah, I can tell you've woken up by now. I'm glad. I was starting to wonder if I had gotten a touch overzealous with my fighting and took you down for the count.]] The icy cold voice speaking in Russian nearly made Nikolay jump in surprise; it sounded so up close and personal. It was once again because of the damned constraints that he didn't.

[[You might as well save your energy, you're not getting out of those bindings until I decide you can go, which won't be for a while. We've got plenty of time to get to know each other better, little Kolya.]] The fact this man, undoubtedly the Villain from before, knew his nickname sent a frigid chill up and down Nikolays' spine, and that was when he remembered the last thing the man had said right before knocking him out, how it was Tunguska that he wanted.

[[Please…who are you? Why are you doing this? What did you do to my friends?!]] Those were the first words to finally come out of the Russian boys' mouth, once he was able to mentally block out the lingering fear that he was constrained in a dark tight space, and steady his panicked breathing. By now, he had realized the reason he was able to hear this man's' voice was because of some earpiece he could feel fit firmly into his right ear.

[[I wish you knew just how sick and tired I am of having those be the first questions anyone asks when I finally get them where I need them to be. But, given your particular circumstances, I suppose it only makes sense. As for your friends, don't worry about them, I don't care about them. Like I said, it's your father that I want, and you're my best bet at getting him to come to me. Speaking of whom, I'm sorely disappointed he never once told you about me. Or perhaps he did…in his own special little way.]]

There was a deceptively long, but unbearably foreboding silence after those words, before the mans' voice continued in a chilling whisper: [[Did Tunguska ever tell you of a Villain when you were but a little child, perhaps as a scary story to make you go to sleep at night? A Villain far more frightening than any squad of jackbooted government thugs kicking down the doors on one of their Quirk purges; the monster that hunts in the night, and always, always finds its prey, across all four corners of the known world; the predator in human skin?]]

That final moniker, in particular, finally made all of Nikolays' fear and confusion dissipate, and instead every synapse in his brain simultaneously clicked in a foundation-shaking enlightenment.

Many years ago, there had been such stories Oleg would tell, of just such an inescapable Villain he described as a predator in human skin; one of the Sun of Justice's most fearsome archenemies out of all his years as the Number One Hero in the Soviet Union. In the entirety of Nikolays' memory, this figure was the only one of Olegs' Villains that the man ever mentioned with an air of what resembled fear.

[[Vukodlak.]] Nikolay finally muttered in realization to himself, only for the Villain to applaud madly on the other end of the earpiece, clearly trying to resist the urge to laugh in relief.

[[Oh, good, so you already know of me. Well, obviously not enough, if those stories are all you've ever heard. Well, rest easy, little Kolya. Like I said, we've still got plenty of time to get to know each other better before the real fun begins…and oh, do I have such stories to tell you about your father and I…and your family. My boy, there is so much that you, as the son of Tunguska, deserve to know before this is all over.]]

And there is the new chapter for this week, everyone. Everything is finally starting to come to light and I guarantee you're not ready for what is in store for you next week. The hunt is officially on, and none of our Heroes are going to be the same afterwards.

If you liked what you read here today, please be so kind as to leave an honest, constructive review to let me know what you think overall.

Stay safe, have a great rest of your week, and I will see you all with the single biggest and most revelatory chapter of this story yet, on 05/22!