Hello again, everyone. Well, it's been a long and arduous road for our protagonists, but the time has finally come for the penultimate fight of the Vukodlak Arc. I've come to find that while I remain relatively well-paced in my writing process with all other scenes, when it comes to writing fight scenes, whether it be original or transcribing previously established fight scenes from the manga, my fingers practically fly across the keyboard, and I feel like I'm in an entirely different state of mind. I put a lot of planning into this particular fight in order to make it feel like an appropriate climactic fight for everything this story arc has given us so far. I can only hope you all find it just as satisfying, as I've tried to give every respective character involved an opportunity to really shine and prove themselves.

If you all like what you've seen here today, please, take the time to write out an honest and constructive review, giving your thoughts. I know I ask this with every chapter, but I write this story for all of you just as much as I do for myself, and I would like to know if you think I'm doing a good job with this story so far or not.

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 result from their existing in this universe.

I'd also like to give another shout out to my beta reader, Mizu Hikikomori. Even though personal life has been weighing heavy on their shoulders, they've still gone out of their way to help me where they could when they had the time, and that has been more beneficial than they could ever know.

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

Chapter 27

Fated Confrontation

(Роковое Противостояние)

It had been a good few minutes for Tunguska, Willow Light and Tooru Hagakure since Vukodlak had left the three of them all alone in the musty darkness of their underground cell. Of course, in this kind of sensory deprivation tank-type of darkness, even a few minutes could feel like hours. Such would be the case for any who found themselves caught in the grip of despair.

Fortunately, however, such was far from the case for the two professional-level Heroes and the one Hero-in-training, for since the invisible girl had come sneaking in and shined the light of her cellphone upon them, those few precious seconds had thankfully been enough to build within Tunguska just enough energy for him to focus into his arms; slowly building up enough heat to start melting through the bindings on his wrists.

Neither Willow Light nor Tooru wanted to risk breaking his concentration and wasting that energy he had managed to build up, but thankfully it barely took more than a minute for the large Hero to finally weaken his binding enough to pull them apart and free his hands manually. His success had energized the man like an animal as he hurriedly tore the bindings around his feet with his bare hands, and then proceeded to undo them for his two fellow captives.

"Are you alright to walk, Willow Light-san?" he hurriedly asked as soon as the Illuminating Hero was back on her feet, only to momentarily wince at the pain of her injuries to her sides.

"Yes, I'll be all right. It's going to take a lot more than this to make me unable to use my Quirk. It'll help us get out of here easier at least. All things willing, if we can get out of here fast enough, we may be able to make it back to the city and to the others before Vukodlak does." With that, she hurriedly summoned a sizeable orb of light from her palm, already in the process of making a beeline out the door and down the tunnel; Tunguska and Tooru hurriedly following after her. Of course, Tunguska wasn't nearly as optimistic about that as she was.

"Sensei, are you sure you're alright to be doing so much? I didn't even see what that monster did to your hand!" Tooru exclaimed worriedly as soon as she saw the bloody bandages wrapped over Tunguskas' left hand, not to mention the spots of red on the bandages lining his midsection, meaning he'd re-opened his wounds in his struggling.

"I'll be all right, malenkaya Hagakure. You all don't know this, but natural sunlight is a major power booster for me when in situations like this. It builds up the energy stores for my Quirk, and helps hasten my natural healing. As soon as we get to the surface, at least these puncture wounds will start to gradually heal. I'm going to need to get my strength back up as far as it can go, as well…for the sake of Kolya and all the other students. They're all going to need my help, now more than ever."

The large Hero hastened his way down the tunnel, while the invisible girl stayed in pace, but not before hurriedly dialing in her phone again, in the hopes of perhaps reaching the others in time to let them know of their escape.

That was when she noticed something on the screen that made her stop with surprise, this time in the best way possible. "Everyone, wait! The long-distance signal is back! They've got the cell arrays running again! We should hurry and call Yuuei, ask them to send help! That's what the police and the other Heroes have been wanting to do from the start. Besides, you're still not at 100% yet, Sensei! You need just as much help as everyone else!"

Tunguska momentarily winced from the pain in his ribs, as though trying to prove Toorus' point, but he remained unperturbed before his two fellows. "You're right, neither Willow Light-san nor I are in the shape we should be for what's coming, and we need all the help we can get, but I'm still going to help my students and my son. So go ahead and call them, and let's just hope time is on our side."

It wasn't long after that the three had finally made their way out of that dingy tunnel and out of the derelict house, once more finding themselves outside in the clearing, just in time for the first rays of the morning sun to pierce through the canopy of the trees, earning a deep, calming breath from Tunguska as he stood with his arms outstretched. "This is exactly what I meant. I can already feel my strength and power beginning to return to me, the wounds to my midsection starting to actually heal. If we hurry, I might just be as close to top form with two less fingers as I can be, in time to help the kids!"

"There they are," a voice suddenly called out from within the brush, and within half a minute, the three found themselves approached by a considerable cadre of police officers forging their way out of the underbrush, all looking immensely relieved, just as the trio themselves did.

"Officers, how on earth did you find us?" Willow Light immediately asked, only for Tooru to give a sly giggle before holding up her cellphone.

"It's true, you have Hagakure-san to thank. After the attack, when we took the children and your colleagues to the hospital, we took care to put taps on all their phones, just in case Vukodlak were to try contacting one of them. Less than twenty minutes ago, when she made the call to Ashido-sans' phone to inform them of the Villains' approach, they thankfully managed to keep the call open long enough for us to pinpoint the source of her call. We mobilized as soon as we could. It's fantastic timing we found you, as well, because the kids have already started putting their plan against Vukodlak into action."

All three felt their hearts explode with shock at this sudden reveal, with Tunguska instinctively grabbing the leading officer by the collar, unable to hide his panic. "Where are they? You have to take us to them! Please, they need our help!"

"T-they're grouping at a construction site near the city center, hoping they'll lure him over there! Reflector already gave them the go-ahead to do whatever they were going to do, claiming all Heroes of the Agency filled the role of their mentors in Willow Lights' and your absence!"

Tunguska let the officer go and gave Willow Light and Tooru an immensely worried look; one they were both already reflecting, themselves. The Irish-Japanese Hero honestly couldn't believe her colleague would go so far to do such a thing after what they had all just gone through. But surely he had to have had a good reason for it…surely.

"Officer, you need to get us to that site, ASAP. Those kids are going to be dealing with a monster of a Villain, and they need our help. Please, get us there as fast as you can," she immediately requested of the officer in charge as the trio already began making their way into the woods, eager to get back to the city.

"Our commanding officer, our spare ranks and Reflector-san are all on standby outside of the scene, ready to apprehend Vukodlak as soon as the students have subdued him. And on top of that, we've already called Yuuei, and they said they've already sent help on the way."

"But as long as there's a chance they won't get here in time, we need to do what we can!" Tunguska argued; ignoring the pain in his ribs with every step, as all he could focus on was the faint hope that they wouldn't be too late, and that his power would be built up enough to where he would be able to actually do something when the time came.

Following Nikolays' scent was as easy as could be, just as Vukodlak had said it would. He would be able to follow that invisible little thread in the air as if it had been tied right around his little finger. The Japanese had a wives' tale about that sort of thing, he vaguely recalled. Fitting, then. As far as he was concerned, the fight that was awaiting them couldn't have been more fated.

The chance to finally avenge himself by destroying the offspring, the one remaining twinkle of hope in his old mentor and enemies' eye, felt so deliciously poetic, and he was going to enjoy every waking moment of it, and the future of limitless challenge and victory that would surely be awaiting him against the world of so-called Heroes it would open up for him.

After the scene he had caused across Erubi City yesterday, it was no surprise that much of the city now had fallen silent, with people too scared to stick their heads out the windows and doors in fear they would somehow be next. All the better, as far as he was concerned. He didn't want anyone interrupting his fun.

At long last, though, he finally found himself where the scent had grown strongest. From his time memorizing and mapping out the layout of the city, he had come to recognize this place as a construction site near the center of town, regularly unoccupied by the workers this early in the morning. Why would Nikolays' scent lead him out here? He had a pretty good idea why, and the implication of it left him practically shaking with anticipation. This wasn't the kind of place one went when they were trying to flee.

No, this was the place one went when they were looking to fight!

What was most curious, however, was that as he stepped further into the site, he began to pick up the distinct scent of water, along with the sound of it hissing and rushing and raining forth, as he could soon feel the frigid cold of it raining down upon him. 'So, Kolya has gone and opened up the water mains for the site. Is he trying to dull my hearing somehow? Thinking it'll dull my catching of his scent, perhaps? Ambitious, but ill-advised. Nothing can weaken the connection between us, my boy.'

As he trudged through the raining water from the two opened pipes on opposite sides of the central area of the site, Vukodlak could still smell the scent of Nikolays' blood, as fresh as it ever was, standing right in front of him. Soon, he could simply feel the boys' presence, on the opposite side of this central spot.

Indeed, as Nikolay Bezpalov, now once more adorned in his olive and red-colored Hero costume, stood alone on the other side of a chain link fence cordoning off a small section of the site, with not a trace of fear to be found on his goggle-bedecked face, even as Vukodlak confidently strode toward him, coming to a full stop just at the outside of the fence; the smile on his face obscured under his mask.

For a few precious moments, as the waters rained down from the girders overhead, ringing against the chain link and steel drums on either of Nikolays' sides, neither of the two Russians said anything. They simply stood, and let the gravity and time that had been building up to this moment, hang in the air between them. Finally, Vukodlak could no longer help himself. [[I must commend you, little Kolya. For a short while, even knowing you were Tunguskas' son, I felt certain you would have taken the chance to try running, and let your father suffer further consequences for your cowardice. And yet, here we are now, and here you stand, alone and ready. You truly are the son of the Sun of Justice, aren't you?]]

Nikolay said nothing at first, instead opting to continue staring the Villain before him down, as though he were simply waiting for Vukodlak to talk himself out. However, the pure energy running through the blind Villains' veins eliminated any possibility of that. [[Your standing here on your own to fight me is most admirable, but I feel you and I both know how this is ultimately going to end.]]

Finally, he could feel his skin rise in excitement as Nikolay opened his mouth to speak. [[I don't presume to know what other people think is going to happen when it comes to anything. Experience has taught me it never pans out the way you think it will if you do. The point is, I'm here, and I did what you asked the last time we saw each other, Vukodlak. I've spent this time thinking about exactly what kind of Hero I want to be…and I think I've finally come to my answer.]]

He could tell from the way his head lifted up and his body tensed, that Vukodlak's curiosity and resultant excitement was only further rising. Taking in a deep, steadying breath through his teeth, Nikolay explained further: [[For the longest time of my life, I actually feared and hated Heroes; anybody with Quirks, really, because of what my Dad had done all those years ago. It didn't matter if he didn't mean for it to happen the way it did, he still destroyed our country and got my mother killed, and that was all I could hang on to. And when the government changed and everyone started rallying against Quirk-users, and I had to listen to the same people that called Tunguska a Hero, now call him a murderer and a monster, I began to feel that way about him and anyone else who had a Quirk…including myself.

[[However, ever since we came to this country, I've been trying with all my strength and will to make peace with what happened, and move forward with my life so that we could be a family again, and so I could finally be able to accept my inherent responsibility and future as a Hero. However, I'm not trying to be the kind of Hero you think Tunguska is; that you seem to think all Heroes are.

[[No, I'm not here to fight you for my Dads' sake, my mentors', my friends', nor even my own. A real Hero has to think outside of what effects them directly. Vukodlak, I'm here to fight you because Heroes have a responsibility to fight against evil, and I know you wouldn't simply stop with just me and my father. You've lived this way far too long to be able to just stop. In the end, you would ultimately start going after every Hero and Hero-in-training you could find in this country, if not even the entire world, and all just to prove yourself as the ultimate winner of your own deluded argument against the world.

[[So, now you know. It's for the sake of all those in this world that call themselves real Heroes, and those that wish to become real Heroes just like them, and for the innocent people that look to Heroes for peace, justice and protection…that is why I'm going to fight you today.]]

Nikolay could feel his entire body trembling with emotion and conviction the likes of which he could barely describe, having given such a deeply personal declaration to both his enemy, and himself. This was just as much him finally cementing the future role he wanted, as much as it was a statement of intent for the Villain before him. He could swear he felt like he had been on the outside looking in, and his heart had completely taken control for that moment.

In the face of such an impassioned display, Vukodlak suddenly began to chuckle to himself; a chuckle that quickly grew into a hysterical, insane laugh that nearly drove the man to tears under his mask, before he eventually managed to re-collect himself and regain some semblance of calm. [[Forgive me, Kolya. It's not often I hear such childish sentiment expressed so passionately these days. I guess you could say it made me feel a touch nostalgic. It is good, however, to see that you've inherited Tunguskas' penchant for overblown speeches. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree in that regard.]]

With the last of his laughter having now died out, Vukodlak took the last couple of steps forward through the raining water, before leaning in and grasping the fence with his metal-tipped claws, nearly pushing his face right up against the mesh. [[The world needs to be culled of the liars, puppets and animals that parade themselves around as Heroes…and I'm going to start with you and your father, little Kolya. Once I bring your head back to your father, the last remnant of his spirit will finally break, and I can finally finish obtaining my own justice…and start delivering it back unto the world.]]

The chilling bloodlust in his voice as he said this would have sucked every last bit of courage out of any man, and Nikolay could feel it worming its way under his skin as it felt like Vukodlak would simply phase right through that fence and kill him in a heartbeat. However, trying to continue following his own newfound sense of purpose, Nikolay instead continued to stand. [[Well…if that's the way it has to be…then you're just going to have to come through that fence…and come get me!]]

The moment the boy had suddenly raised his voice had only caught Vukodlak by surprise momentarily, but he was immediately more than happy to oblige. However, what he didn't realize, was that Nikolays' proclamation of "Poimai menya" hadn't been directed to him at all.

[Septicflesh – A Prototype in Heaven]

Vukodlak was barely able to make out the sound of a small object, several of them in fact, zipping through the air, amid the sound of the raining impacting water all around him. It was only a fraction of a second too late for him, however, as he suddenly felt those several small objects hammer into his hands, adhering them to the fence and leaving him momentarily immobile.

Up on the girders above, Minoru Mineta had been waiting in teeth-chattering nervous anticipation for Nikolays' signal, so the moment he heard the boys' voice rise, he was immediately on the move, throwing one hairball after another as fast and accurate as he could, almost wanting to cry from both pain and relief when he saw he'd actually managed to hit his mark, and stuck Vukodlak's hands to the fence.

At the very same moment, Nikolay felt his body go lifting straight up into the air, as the detached right hand of Setsuna Tokage had been patiently clutching onto the back of his chakha in wait for the very same signal, and just as Minoru had started to make his move, she immediately made hers, pulling her hand straight back up with Nikolay in tow, bringing the Russian boy back up to the safety of another girder higher up, where she, Ochako Uraraka and Mina Ashido had both been lying in wait. "KAMINARI, NOW!" Nikolay shouted down once his feet were back on something solid.

As Vukodlak began trying to force his way out of these accursed adhesive spheres keeping his hands down, Denki Kaminari suddenly came rushing in from out of nearby cover, and with the water from the opened pipes having now saturated the surrounding area, he focused all the electricity he could into both his hands and immediately planted them on the end of that same chain link fence, sending a massive current of electricity through the metal and directly into Vukodlak, a multitude of sparks emanating from the Villains' metal claws, and several other points of his body, including his right leg specifically, which all of the students surrounding the area thankfully observed.

Denki tried to focus on keeping the amount of electricity he was channeling low enough to where he wouldn't run the risk of killing someone, but he still had to make sure it was enough to leave the guy stunned as all hell if need be. It was a good thing Nikolay had remembered the blonde boys' miraculous little discovery about using his electricity while in water, so that he could still be able to regain some of it back and not be a veritable glass cannon with his Quirk.

However, he was still feeling the majority of his power beginning to run out as he kept his hands on the fence as long as he could. Unfortunately, he could also see Vukodlak was starting to actually brute force his way through the electric shock, before suddenly managing to tear his hands away from the fence, and free of Minorus' hairballs, pretty much at the same moment Denki knew he had run out of juice for this opening attack.

Vukodlak was visibly convulsing where he stood, and was even smoking in some places. However, even from up here, Nikolay, Mina, Ochako and Setsuna had seen the sparks emanating from his right leg, thus confirming what Tooru had told them over the phone. Now they knew they had a good target to go after in order to take him out of the fight quicker.

"Alright, leave getting him into position to me. You guys just hurry and get to yours!" Setsuna ordered as she suddenly jumped off their girder, and proceeded to detach a multitude of pieces from her entire body mid-descent, until she sent two veritable waves of blue-clad pieces of herself at Vukodlak in a high speed mid-air pincer maneuver.

As soon as Vukodlak had ridden out the last of his convulsions, he was suddenly met with an absolute barrage of small to mid-size projectiles pounding straight into his face, arms, legs and torso from all around, at a speed with which he could barely register the sound of where they were coming from, let alone have time to actually counterattack or block.

Setsuna could practically feel the resonance of every direct hit she made against him, however, she soon began to pick up a distinct metal sound with a majority of them, and they weren't coming from his confirmed prosthetic leg. It was coming from his midsection. She sent her right hand flying across, grabbing onto the front fabric of his outfit, successfully tearing it away amid the fray, to reveal what looked like a pretty sophisticated piece of reinforced metal armor underneath.

However, she would be damned if she was going to let that discourage her from continuing the assault. After all, armor or not, she was still waylaying him with enough force to start sending him back one step at a time, and that was exactly what their ultimate plan needed.

What she hadn't counted on, however, was that as she began charging up for another full-on overwhelming wave of remotely-controlled chunks, Vukodlak had managed to psychologically block out the blunt force pain all over his body, in order to focus on the sounds of as many incoming pieces as he could.

As soon as Setsuna sent her next barrage head-on toward him, Vukodlak suddenly struck a distinctly defensive pose, and she proceeded to go from a full frontal assault, to sending her pieces all around him in a cyclone-esque pattern, having to focus on which pieces to send from which direction in order to catch him off guard. However, the moment she sent one of her feet to try and kick out his one real leg from behind, Vukodlak suddenly swept that same leg back to meet her attack head-on, knocking it straight up and off its trajectory, thus allowing him to suddenly jump up by his prosthetic leg, grabbing her wayward foot, and practically crushing it to bits in the grip of his clawed hand.

The minute she tried to capitalize on his supposed distraction with both of her hands, he proceeded with the same deflecting-catching-destroying pattern with them, as well, crushing her hands to bits underneath his feet, and then immediately meeting one of her forearms with a straight-on punch, practically reducing it to mist from the sheer impact.

More and more, the Villain was picking away the pieces she had to work with, and a momentary glance upwards allowed her to see the visibly horrified and worried looks on her three friends' faces up above. "Don't worry about me; I can regenerate those pieces in time. Just hurry up and get in your positions!"

True to her word, even despite the mounting disadvantage she was finding herself in, Setsuna was soldiering through it, still managing to catch Vukodlak off guard with some well-placed and timed hits as soon as she ditched her cyclone strategy, continuing to inch him further and further back. Watching from above, Nikolay looked to Mina and Ochako. "Alright, you two get into position at the cement mixer ramp, and I'll try to drive him in your direction."

Both girls gave the Russian boy resolute nods of their own before heading off together, leaving Nikolay to get to position himself. He hurriedly jumped from one girder to another, trying to aim and time it best so he wouldn't have to waste any of his built up kinetic energy, needing to save it for what was about to come next.

Within seconds, he finally found himself just behind a tethered bundle of small metal pipes atop a scaffolding, and peeking from out of the corner, he saw Setsuna was still managing to inch Vukodlak further and further back. However, what the Villain wasn't aware of, was that not only was he getting backed up into Nikolays' trajectory, but just on the other side of that, was a small yet sizeable lower level a good six feet down.

Finally, Nikolay could see Vukodlak was directly in trajectory of his aim, and so the boy proceeded to level his hands against the small pile of metal pipes, and focusing as much energy as he could to keep this attack from becoming lethally powerful, he fired a huge burst directly into the stack, sending them flying forward in response with enough force to break through their tethering, and sending them flying directly on top of where Vukodlak currently found himself.

However, the distinct sound of metal on metal descending from above caught the Villains' attention, and he immediately kicked himself back from the ground, as far away from their landing area as he could, before just as quickly kicking himself up and deflecting the few metal pipes lucky enough to still be flying enough to hit him, with a precisely aimed high-flying roundhouse kick, effectively clearing himself out of harms' way.

At least, that was the original thought, until he was met with a few precisely aimed hits directly to his side from a few of Setsunas' waiting pieces the moment he touched back down on the ground, sending him stumbling and rolling just over the edge into the lower level. It was far from enough of a drop to potentially kill a man, depending how he landed, but the sheer change in ground level had thankfully been enough to disorient Vukodlak, as he came rolling over the edge and landing hard on the further concrete below. However, it was still nowhere near enough to really hurt him or even disorient him for long, as he was almost immediately back on his feet.

All the while, Mina was perched in wait atop a long metal ramp that led down from a higher level into that lower section, with Ochako standing at the ready right behind her, both girls just waiting for him to get directly into position at the mouth of the ramp.

At that very moment, Setsuna sent her remaining pieces flying low along the ground above, pushing the spilled metal pipes forward, rolling at high speed over the edge for where Vukodlak stood, forcing him to kick himself back out of the way, right into the center of this lower section of the site. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Minoru came practically diving from the girders way up above on the upper level, throwing another barrage of his hairballs through pained tears and screams of desperation, and managing to adhere every single one of them onto Vukodlak's feet while his back was turned, effectively pinning him directly where he stood, to his enraged surprise.

And there was the divining moment Mina and Ochako had been waiting for. With not a moment to lose, both girls came sliding down the ramp on their feet side-by-side, gravity bringing them in faster and faster, especially with Minas' acid slick adding to their momentum.

As soon as the ramp leveled flat and their feet met it, Ochako touched all ten of her fingertips to herself and Mina alike, rendering them both completely weightless, but flying in with cannonball-like power behind them as they flew through the air directly for the immobile Villain in front. With the urge to let out a victorious battle cry raging in both their chests, Mina and Ochako extended both their feet in a Zero Gravity two-person missile drop kick, connecting full on with Vukodlak's face in his momentary distraction. The impact resonated through both girls' bodies as Vukodlak practically folded at his knees from the force of their combined blow to his head; physically leaning back to allow both girls to fly directly over his momentarily limp and concussed form. It was only through Minorus' adhesive hair keeping his feet planted, that he didn't go completely flat on his back.

However, it was at the last moment before they were clear, that he suddenly reached his arms up to try and grab them, but Minas' instinctive reflexes were in full swing, as she immediately threw a built-up handful of her acid directly for Vukodlak's chest, making sure it was a kind not strong enough to eat right through a person, but still strong enough to eat through that armor he was wearing.

The moment he felt the liquid impact against his chest, and the immediate sizzling sound and burning sensation he was beginning to feel in his chest, Vukodlak pushed himself up from the ground with his hands, before just as quickly tearing away the fabric of his outfit around his torso, and then immediately tearing away the clasps of his still-melting armor, tossing it aside before it quickly was reduced to a useless bubbling puddle.

'An acid Quirk? Very interesting. Could it be you kids have already made peace with what you'll have to do to stop me?'

At this time, Nikolay had finished propelling himself up to the highest level of the construction site, and using a number of minute blasts from one hand in order to keep himself stabilized, inching the latest, and hopefully last, step of their plan into position. As soon as he knew it was lined up, the Russian boy proceeded to leap from the top of the site, using his downward-aimed blasts to stabilize himself and break his momentum enough to where he could still meet the ground on his feet, unharmed. "URARAKA-SAN, IT'S READY! BRING IT BACK NOW!"

The minute Ochako knew she and Mina were back on the same site level as the others, she immediately brought her hands back together, restoring not only their gravity, but their awaited payload as well.

Levitating weightlessly up above for the last nearly five minutes had been a large steel tube sitting on the site that they had realized would make a perfect holding place, as long as it was positioned right, as Nikolay had just painstakingly ensured. Ochako had thankfully earlier taken the chance to explain the properties of her Hero costume were meant to stave off her typical nausea, hence facilitating what was now the most critical part of their plan.

As its open ends floated perfectly above where Vukodlak was stuck, and Ochako brought gravity back, the large object came freefalling straight down; about to collide with the concrete all around the trapped Villain, before Nikolay gave another signifying nod, and Ochako took her own gravity again. He gave her a minute blast to her back, sending her forward just fast enough to where she could reach out and touch the fast descending steel tube, removing its momentum and gravity just in time.

Just as quickly, as Setsuna used her last remaining pieces to reel Ochako back to them, the brown-haired girl brought her hands back together, causing the tube to now fall the rest of the way with nowhere near as devastating impact, effectively trapping Vukodlak inside. Ochako immediately started feeling considerably woozy, but silently gave her friends a reassuring thumb up of her condition when she saw the worried looks in their eyes.

"Alright, we've got him where we need him!" Nikolay declared before rushing down into the lowered section, grabbing two of the spilled metal pipes in each hand as he approached the towering metal tube. "We know hearing and smell are his two major senses. If we can overpower one of them, it might be enough to make him forfeit!"

With that in mind, as the others hurried down after him (with the exception of Ochako staying to look after a no-longer whole Setsuna), Nikolay focused all the kinetic energy he could into his hands, fighting his way through how the continuous micro-movements through his muscles pained his still hurting shoulder and his still casted broken finger. This was too important to let himself be sidetracked by those things.

Finally, with all the energy he could muster channeled into his hands, he reeled his arms back and proceeded to fire those blasts into those pipes, and subsequently into the steel tube itself upon each impact, producing a deafening ringing sound that made the entire metal column shake from top to bottom. The noise it made was powerful enough on the outside, no one wanted to even dare imagine what it had to be like for Vukodlak on the inside.

With every hit, Nikolay felt that vibration channel right back up his arms into his body , and with every hit, he channeled the energy right back down his arms as quickly as it had come, and shot it into another powerful slamming of metal on metal. The young Russian carried on like this for a good three-quarters of a minute, though in his head it felt so much longer. He tried to keep himself detached from it, but with every hit, with every ounce of energy and adrenaline that went into each one, he couldn't help but feel his anger towards the Villain inside coming out bit by bit.

It was soon to a point where he felt that raw emotion more than he felt the gradual wear and tear he was inflicting on the bones and muscles in his arms from the constant back and forth of immense kinetic energy he was channeling through them. With every hit, he could feel the bones wearing down, beginning to weaken in density, as if they were being whittled down, and his muscles were beginning to tear at the seams. But his mind wouldn't let him acknowledge these frankly heinous injuries he was compounding on himself. All he could think of was how much he wanted to end this fight once and for all.

SNAP! SNAP!

Suddenly, with the final two resonating hits, both metal pipes had finally endured as much as they could of the continuous vibration, and snapped clean in half on impact, rendering themselves useless, as Nikolay tried to steady his now ragged breathing.

As the Russian boy stood before the still ringing steel tube, his arms hanging limply at his sides, he was quickly rejoined by all his friends, including Ochako and Setsuna, who was now keeping the rest of her body afloat in a continuous state of her telekinetic control. "D-do you think that was enough? Is it finally over?" Minoru wasted no time asking as they all took in the resonating ring of those last two hits, while Mina noticed the utter listlessness in Nikolays' arms with worry.

"I hope so. Uraraka-san, if you feel you can, go ahead and take the gravity from that thing. Mina, get some of your stickiest, least corrosive acid at the ready." Nikolay instructed, continuing to try and ignore the pain all over his arms as he waited for Ochako to reconstitute herself and move in.

SHRRRRING!

The sudden piercing sound of steel slicing through steel was like nails on a chalkboard, and came with an inhuman swiftness. Nikolay didn't have a chance to see that five parallel lines were being carved right through the solid steel of the tube like five hot knives through melted butter. That moment of unawareness had its price, as the five razor sharp claws from inside tore through the steel, and sliced right through the chest and right side of Nikolays' costume, tearing right through the fabric and into his hide, easily rending flesh and spilling blood as the boy reeled back instinctively on impact; Mina barely managing to catch him as he fell back.

At that same time, those claws were making a beeline right for Ochakos' head, but she barely managed to avoid suffering a similar injury as Nikolay, as Denki had miraculously found the hair-trigger reaction time to rush in and pull her back out of the way.

With similar swiftness, the steel tube was miraculously kicked right over from where it stood by Vukodlak himself, his prosthetic right leg raised high in the air from the point of impact. As all the students looked upon the towering Villain with disbelief, he finally turned back to face them, his mask having been removed, revealing his scruffy face with cloudy eyes surrounded by scars around the sockets.

However, the fear incited by such an awful sight, paled in comparison to the animalistic rage that twisted his face into something almost unrecognizable as human. His ears were visibly bleeding, and his body was momentarily suffering spasms with every couple of seconds.

Before them all, he took a massive breath of the air around him, looking to hone in on Nikolays' scent. He knew from the sound of the boys' voice outside those walls that he had been right there, and if he hadn't taken the chance to run, then he would still be here.

However, when he did this, his focus was turned into confusion, for Nikolays' scent was coming from more than one direction, not in the typical sense that the boy had tried running all around, spreading his essences' scent everywhere to try and throw Vukodlak off. No, it was as though that essential scent was coming from everyone still standing before him, all at once.

While Vukodlak's mind was reeling with confusion, Nikolay and the rest of his friends knew this was a sign they had silently been waiting for. Knowing already what to do (as morbid as the means to make it possible had been for them in the beginning), they all proceeded to scattered in zigzagging patterns all around Vukodlak, further disorienting him as he spun and turned this way and that, trying to zero in on one source of the scent, but with each second, it was simply spreading more and more in multiple directions and at once, making it impossible for him to focus on one person. [[You can't hide from me, Kolya! I'll tear your little friends to pieces to find you if I have to!]]

As soon as the Villain had his back turned to him, Nikolay reached and drew out the last two of the handheld tuning forks from the tube pouches along his costumes' chest, before breaking away from everyone elses' zigzag pattern, trying to maintain his own while charging another massive bundle of energy through his pained arms and into his hands. All things considered, if this went smoothly, he would be able to deliver an even further concentrated two full doses of kinetic energy directly into Vukodlak's now un-armored body, and hopefully take him down for the count.

Nikolay could feel his stores of energy fill his hands nearly to the point of bursting as he clutched the tuning forks tight in his hands, with the single-ended blunt handles protruding from his between the clenched fingers of his fists. He was right up on Vukodlak's back, all he needed was one more step to close the distance, drive those ends to his back and fire into him at point blank, and it would finally be over.

What was happening with Vukodlak, however, was that while his sense of smell was being taken for a seemingly never-ending loop, his hearing was slowly but surely starting to come back, even with the ungodly pain still ringing in his head. His ability to mentally compartmentalize his different senses was, of course, at a superhuman degree. And it was because of that reason that he was able to single out a rapidly approaching single pair of footsteps coming from behind him.

Just as Nikolay was finally about to connect, Vukodlak suddenly swung his prosthetic foot backwards and up, on a clear trajectory for the young boys' head. It was with every instinct to survive in every fiber of his being simultaneously going off, that Nikolays' legs instinctively buckled from underneath himself, forcing him to fall down into a low crouching position at the last possible moment, with the cold and unforgiving steel of Vukodlak's flying heel managing to kick the mariners' cap right off of Nikolays' head, rather than kick his head right off his shoulders.

The moment he knew the blind Villains' attack had run its course, Nikolay sprung himself up and forward from his feet through sheer physical strength, rather than from his Quirk. He finally took that opportunity to throw his arms forward, driving the blunt single ends of his tuning forks hard against Vukodlak's torso, and finally fired his two collected kinetic blasts through those forks and directly into the man before him.

BWOOOOM!

The sheer force of these two simultaneous blasts, with Nikolays' feet momentarily off the ground, was enough to send the Russian boy flying, miraculously managing to avoid plowing into any of his friends on his way back up onto the elevated level, before his body helplessly collided with a stack of wooden pallets, producing an explosion of splinters upon impact. The pain of that devastating collision, however, still paled in comparison to the agonizing pain that now consumed the entirety of Nikolays' arms.

That unbelievable double blast and its kickback had finally completed the damage that his earlier barrage had started within his arms, fracturing them both in multiple places from shoulder to wrist, completely shattered the already damaged bone of his right index finger while breaking several others, and his disastrous landing had managed to re-dislocate his left shoulder all over again.

As for Vukodlak, that point-blank helping of two fully charged kinetic blasts had certainly done the job Nikolay had intended, as the Villain could feel his insides shaking and rupturing inside him as the vibration kept running up and down his entire body, head to toe, in seemingly endless waves. The force of it alone had definitely managed to break more than half of his ribs, as he was finding it considerably harder to breathe. Focusing on it for a moment, he could even taste that sweetly familiar copper flavor of his own blood in his mouth. 'The boy actually managed to get me internally bleeding! Oh, Kolya, thank you so much for making this fight worth the wait!'

With pure anticipation burning in his veins, Vukodlak swiftly kicked himself high up into the air from his prosthetic leg, flying right between all of the other zigzagging students, back onto the higher level of the site, to their collective shock. They all began scrambling after to get back up and into the fight, while Vukodlak focused on the all-too fresh scent he now salivated for, lying helplessly in front of him amid the wreckage of a bunch of shattered wood fragments.

[[I see what you were trying to do now, little Kolya. I thought I could smell your essence much more presently now than I ever did before. You tried shedding your own blood and dabbing some on all your little friends, didn't you? You thought it would throw off my sense of smell, make me unable to hone in on any one of you, and leave me overwhelmed, or at the very least, vulnerable.

[[Again, I have to say, I hadn't come across anyone else who actually tried that before. It was a very clever idea on all your parts, I'll gladly admit. However, little Kolya, you still have to have lived a very long and experienced life in order to come up with something that can catch someone like me completely off guard. And sadly, at least for you, a life that long simply isn't in your cards anymore.]]

Nikolays' head was still swimming with disorientation from the massive crash landing he'd just suffered, as well as the utter agony that was consuming both his arms and one shoulder. He could almost swear he felt one or two wooden shards puncturing one of his sides, as well, but it was too soon to tell.

However, that didn't stop his vision from soon coming back, and as his vision cleared he could see, even through his goggles, Vukodlak was now towering over him, readying his prosthetic foot to stomp straight down onto his chest.

But Nikolay could also see, to both his momentary horror and surprise, that right behind Vukodlak's back, Mina was descending from one of the higher girders up above, coming down hard with one of her feet extended, like she was readying a devastating diving kick straight down against the back of the Villains' head.

At the moment right before connection could be made, though, Vukodlak's entire body suddenly spun to his right, outside of Minas' range, and swiftly caught her by her slender pink throat in one hand, killing every bit of her momentum, and leaving her momentarily at his mercy. This was not lost on him, as to hers and Nikolays' mutual horror; Vukodlak immediately lifted Mina even higher in his grasp, readying to drive her, head first, straight into the unforgiving concrete in an ungodly choke slam. Only a rasping choked wheeze escaped Nikolays' throat as he tried to scream for Vukodlak to stop and not hurt her.

At the moment when he had his arm fully extended, ready to bring his and Minas' weight straight into the concrete, Vukodlak failed to notice the sound of another someone else rushing in, gliding just above the floor in a state of accelerated weightlessness, coming right for the back of his legs.

With a furious battle cry, Ochako zipped in, touching all five of her right fingers to the back of Vukodlak's leg as she rushed by, aided and steered along by Setsunas' pieces at her feet and sides.

The instant his whole body had lost its gravity, Vukodlak's built up choke slam momentum as he had begun to drive Mina down, sent his whole body twirling helplessly in a full body cartwheel as he progressively floated higher and higher.

In his confusion, he had instinctively unhanded Mina, and the pink Hero-in-training managed to regain her bearings just enough so that when she did get thrown down, she managed to meet the ground in a roll, effectively saving herself from devastating, if not fatal, injury at Vukodlak's hands.

Elsewhere, seeing that the Villain was now weightless and still in a helpless state of nonstop rolling about in mid-air, Minoru carefully aimed his throw, and as soon as he felt a measure of confidence, proceeded to unleash another flurry of his hairballs. His aim thankfully proved to be guided and true, as his hairballs swiftly plastered up against Vukodlak's prosthetic leg as soon as he was upside down for the seventh or eighth time, effectively adhering the now helplessly dangling Villain to the side of another vertical girder, hanging in a still-state of weightlessness by his prosthetic leg.

With adrenaline and focus still burning in her chest after the terrifying close call she'd just had, Mina proceeded to follow up with another reeled back and collected glob of acid being thrown like a fastball from her right hand, connecting dead center with Vukodlak's prosthetic leg.

For all its fancy maneuverability and devastating physical power, it was still nothing more than a machine, as Minas' acid burned and melted right through the reinforced metal, wiring and mechanical works inside, before the rest of Vukodlak's body finally severed from what little was left of it, thus leaving the now apocalyptically enraged Villain permanently one-legged, for however long as this insane battle could still last.

The Villain's onslaught of punishment was far from over, though. Nikolay, having just witnessed one of his closest friends coming so close to actually getting killed right in front of him, had ignited a fire inside him that words could not do justice for. It was as though he was feeling that new sense of understanding of what defined real Heroism fill every bit of himself, accompanied by the passionate anger of seeing one of the ones he cared most about in grave danger. It all coupled together with a full-bodied acceptance and desire to do what he knew in mind, body and soul, needed to be done so that justice could prevail.

It was all of those thing coalescing inside him all at once, that allowed Nikolay Bezpalov to fight through his physical pain and get back on his feet, all before crouching down and sending a swift surge of kinetic energy straight down to the soles of his feet; this time reacting with absolutely no delay.

Nikolay launched himself by his feet at breakneck speed, while tucking his whole body into the closest thing he could manage to a spherical shape with his busted arms; which thankfully worked wonders for the speed this foot-first blast of his typically led to.

His nearly lightning fast speed and rolled up status providing more general power, behind his now more concentrated mass, allowed Nikolay to drive his entire body straight into the weightless Vukodlak's gut, driving the still currently clueless Villain back-first into the very same girder he had just been stuck to.

The immovable object at his back, combined with the unstoppable force driven straight into his gut, had knocked every single ounce of air from Vukodlak's lungs, leaving him well and truly vulnerable for the first time since Nikolay or anyone else here had first laid eyes on him.

Nikolay could feel the tether of gravity begin to pull him back down, but he wasn't about to risk Vukodlak recovering too soon. Using gravity to his advantage, the Russian boy leaned himself back until he could feel the soles of his feet (thanks to his boots and pant legs once again being destroyed from his launch) were flush to the Villains' stomach. In that moment, he once again focused all the energy he could downwards and…

BWOOOM!

The concussive force of an even stronger two-dose attack going straight into his gut sent Vukodlak hammering straight back into the girder at his back, like a hammer pounding a nail. His entire body was convulsing as his head rang like a million massive church bells going off at once. At the same time, the blowback once again sent Nikolay flying back and downwards to the concrete helplessly.

It was only the timely intervention of Setsuna and Minoru padding his flying body with hairballs and pieces alike, that managed to break his fall and keep the boy from breaking nearly every bone in his body on impact.

Up above, Vukodlak was still rolling and writhing helplessly in the air, unable to single out the sound of a single pair of footsteps approaching from one of the girders up above him. Looking down, Ochako was fighting her way through her progressively worsening wooziness, instead trying to focus on when the Villain's body would be in the right position for her to deliver what she could only hope would be the coup de grace to end this fight at last.

As soon as Vukodlak's body was in a horizontal position relative to her, the rosy-cheeked gravity girl finally made her move, leaping downwards with no Zero Gravity to aid her, and she used that and her own weight and momentum, to hook her whole body around Vukodlak's midsection, sending them both twirling and spinning downwards helplessly, as she wasted no time to maneuver herself so that her legs were now wrapped around the momentarily stunned Villain's neck.

Even through the disorienting nonstop motion, Ochako kept her eyes on the steadily approaching ground, measuring their distance and relative position to it with each passing second, just waiting until they were at just the right spot.

Soon enough, that moment finally came, and Ochako, remembering everything she had learned about grappling from Tunguska up to this point, suddenly threw all her body weight leftward, sending Vukodlak spinning right alongside her, and the moment she unhooked her legs from around his neck, she brought her hands back together, restoring Vukodlak's gravity at last, and with the positioning and added momentum accompanying it, drove the Villain face first into the cold, unforgiving ground, HARD.

Elsewhere on site, Denki, Mina and Minoru were hurriedly prying away the tiny boys' hairballs while Setsuna recalled her remaining pieces, finally freeing Nikolay from his momentary refuge from another devastating crash landing.

"Oh my god…come on, help me get him back up." Mina muttered sadly when she once again saw the five claw wounds across Nikolays' chest and right side, his costume already now mostly red with his own blood. However, the moment she and the two boys reached to pull him up by his sleeves, Nikolay immediately cried out with an ungodly pain, making them all instantly reel back.

"Don't…my arms, they…they're completely busted up, I just know it. They couldn't take all that energy traveling through them so continuously," he moaned as he tried to block out as much of the pain as he could. None of them were about to ask how he could be so sure, instead opting to lift Nikolay back onto his feet from behind.

The moment his touched the ground, though, he momentarily buckled, forcing Mina and Denki to hold him back up until they were sure he was stable again. Nikolay could tell he was feeling the beginnings of the same kind of injuries building in his legs, now. 'Of course, if my arms couldn't take the kind of immensely powerful blasts I was giving on a constant basis, and my the blasts from my feet have been consistently even more powerful, why would my legs be any more durable?'

However, Nikolay couldn't allow himself to focus on that, instead keeping his eyes firmly on Vukodlak's still motionless body. Soon, all the students were doing the same, all silently bracing themselves for the Villain to pull some other fancy trick out of nowhere to keep this battle going. With Minoru's scalp visibly starting to bleed from popping off so many of his hairballs, with a majority of Setsunas' pieces having been destroyed, and with Ochako still suffering from a long-delayed oncoming wave of nausea, and with Nikolays' arms out of commission, it was essentially down to Mina and Denki, who were both silently praying it was finally over.

"Let me have one of those binding cords from your belt, Kolya-kun. I can tie him up, and we can let the police take over and get you back to the hospital." Mina suggested, trying to keep her worry from overwhelming her as she began to reach for one of the pouches of Nikolays' belt.

However, the Russian boy then began to approach Vukodlak's motionless form with determination, each step bringing a new surge of pain in his knees. "Remember what he said last night: if we beat him, he would tell us where Dad is. We have to find that out first."

Nikolay finally came to a stop, Mina and Denki hurriedly following after, as he looked down upon Vukodlak's form. [[We beat you fair and square, Vukodlak. You wanted a fight, and we gave you one, and you lost. So please; it's time to hold up your end and tell us where my father is.]]

All the boy was answered with was an insufferable silence. Vukodlak continued to remain motionless, save for the faintest sign of breathing. The fact that after all the struggling they had just gone through, they were still being deprived of their one most important answer, left Nikolay instinctively gritting his teeth, the injuries to his arms being the one thing preventing him from making fists. [[I know you can hear me! Please, just tell me where you're keeping them! You gave me your word, so tell me!]]

In a heartbeat, Nikolay saw Vukodlak's eyes shoot open, and what happened came so quick, the boy wasn't even able to react in time. Vukodlak immediately sprung himself up from the ground by his hands, and as he did this, the boot of his one remaining foot suddenly exploded into scraps of flying leather, revealing a foot tipped with steel claws, just like his hands; claws that were now in the middle of a swinging kick aimed straight for Nikolays' throat where he stood in frozen shock for that one moment.

Nikolays' brain struggled to process what was suddenly happening, even as he felt Mina throw her entire body weight straight into his side, bringing them both down to the ground and out of the way, letting out a pained shout of her own halfway down.

Nikolay returned to his senses the moment he and Mina both finally hit the ground, and when he immediately looked to the girl who had just saved his life, he felt his blood go frigid when he saw a sizeable slash going across the upper part of her left arm; a few trails of red running down against pink.

At the same time as Nikolay discovered this, Denki was rushing in on the offensive as Vukodlak got back onto his one foot. The blonde boy took that chance, even if there was no water for him to stand and conduct in, to fire off every last bit of his electricity he could into the Villain towering over him.

Vukodlak's whole body convulsed continuously from the sudden shock once again coursing through his body, worsened by the metal ending his fingers and toes. However, his own adrenaline was rushing far too strongly for this to be able to take him down for good. Instead, much to Denki's shock, for as long as his brain could even process such a thing, he was watching that Villain steadily approaching him on his one foot, even through the continuous barrage of electric current, and by the time Denki's brain finally went on the fritz and he had used up the last of his juice, Vukodlak swiftly hopped into the air and planted his foot flat into the boys' chest, sending him flying back helplessly into a pile of cement bags.

Vukodlak's black-grey hair was beginning to smoke and stand on end in some places, while his body displayed multitudes of bruises, electrical and acid burns already. He continued to suffer the momentary spasm, as he slowly turned back to face where Nikolay and Mina were still laid out.

"Don't you children get it? There's no way for any of you to win! Whether you're fighting alone or as a team, I will always hold the advantage over you in terms of sheer experience, planning, and most of all, conviction. Not a single one of you deserves to call yourselves real Heroes! No matter how many fancy speeches you toss around, you're all still ultimately fighting for yourselves, and the people most directly connected to you, the people you personally care about! Real Heroes are supposed to be completely and fully altruistic, and there isn't a single damn person on this planet who could call themselves that with a straight face! There's no such thing as real Heroes, and there never will be!"

With his ultimate point finally being made, Vukodlak suddenly crouched down on his one foot and both hands, and suddenly launched himself forward into an animalistic sprint on all three, making a bloodthirsty beeline straight for Nikolay and Mina. Even as Ochako and Setsuna tried to intervene and throw him off course, he simply rammed his shoulders and foot straight into both of them, taking them both out of the fight long enough for him to continue on his way in his hastening momentum.

All the while, as Nikolay looked up from Minas' wounded arm to the Villain charging them at that moment, he felt a sudden overwhelming flood of pure, raw emotion fill every single fiber of his being; a tumultuous maelstrom of sadness, fear, anger…and determination.

It was almost the same as the explosive amount of pure feeling he had suffered that day at home, the day he found his mothers' figurine destroyed. However, back then, all he felt was sadness, fear, and anger. Now, it was all those things, but everything else piled on top of it: determination, hope, and a willingness to keep going. All those things collected together inside, brought Nikolay to a point of fearlessness he had never experienced before, something that made his whole body feel practically weightless, yet moved by all the power in the world he could muster, as he launched himself forward through his feet without even consciously thinking of it, instead keeping his eyes focused on the Villain before him.

As every last ounce of this sudden collected power began to coalesce in the depths of Nikolays' throat, time around him seemed to come to a standstill at the very moment before he and Vukodlak finally collided. There was only one thing registering in his head at that last moment, before he would finally release all that power: 'All those years of fear and resentment were meant to bring me here. All the struggling and pain I went through since coming here was meant to bring me to this point. Everyones' constant support and faith…their willingness to stay by my side even when the threat was bigger than any of us…it was all to help get me to this moment. I finally understand it all without a doubt now! This is how I become what I want to be, Vukodlak! I'm going to be a real Hero, not just for my father, not just for my mother, not just for my friends, not even just for myself. I'm going to be a real Hero…for everyone!'

With that, Nikolay finally opened his mouth.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosive, siren-like blast of pure sound and earth-shaking vibration that emanated from out of Nikolays' throat nearly shook the entire construction site to its foundations. Minoru, Setsuna, Ochako and Mina had all instinctively covered their ears, as though they somehow silently knew what was about to happen when Nikolay and Vukodlak clashed. The Villain himself wasn't nearly so lucky, as the sheer force blew him back like a piece of paper before a wind turbine, sending his body flailing through the air like a rag doll, ricocheting off several vertical girders in the process before finally rolling to a complete stop, a visibly broken and battered mess.

Nikolay had likewise gotten thrown right back from the overwhelming force of his own final attack, flying like a bullet, only for Mina to fight through the pain in her arm enough to jump up and catch him in an attempt to slow his momentum, only barely managing to do so.

It was, however, thanks to Ochako once more rushing in with Setsunas' help and planting her hands on her Russian and pink friends, mid-flight, that their gravity vanished, and their momentum seemed to come to a near stop as a result of it, much to their mutual relief, once the shellshock at what just happened had worn off.

As soon as she saw they were both safe again, Ochako brought her hands together, brought them both back down to the ground, and after prying off her helmet, after a strenuous and demanding battle the likes of which she had never experienced, she finally let all that built up nausea run its course.

Mina slowly managed to get back up, wincing at the painful cut on her arm as she pushed herself back into a sitting position, taking in the aftermath of everything this fight had wrought on all of them. Minoru was understandably keeping himself distant from Vukodlak now that he'd pretty much used himself up as much as he physically could; Setsuna was essentially missing all her limbs and half her torso, but was still managing to keep the rest of herself afloat, and from the look on her face, thankfully didn't seem to be hurting too bad. Ochako was still on all fours, dry heaving, and Denki was still sitting motionless with that to-be-expected dopey look on his face again.

For all intents and purposes, every one of them was now spent, essentially save for Mina herself. As she turned to look Nikolay over, she felt her skin rise and her emotions come flaring back up when she saw even closer now, the slashes on his chest and the utter destruction he'd wreaked upon his own arms. And now, after that earth-shaking attack, his ears were beginning to bleed as well. Her ears were still ringing pretty badly after that blast; she couldn't begin to imagine what it had to be like for him, being the source of it.

"Kolya-kun, are you all right? Can you hear me? Oh, please be okay," she immediately began speaking rapidly, not even trying to hide her worry as she tried to stir Nikolay back to consciousness, even though his moving was a sign he wasn't completely out of it. Soon enough, his eyes began opening again, wincing against the light from the morning sun, unable to see the relieved smile on Minas' face as she knelt over him. "Try not to move too much, Kolya-kun. You really did a number on yourself. How are you feeling right now? Do you think you can at least walk? We can get the police to come in and get you back to the hospital."

Nikolay couldn't even try to give Mina a thumb up to let her know he was fine, only managing the most pained, dry chuckles. "Well, my ears are still ringing something awful, but I can still hear you, so that must mean something went right. It's still nothing compared to my arms, though. My legs are starting to hurt the same way, too."

Despite his attempt to downplay it all, Mina for once wasn't having it. "We can save all the jokes for once you're all patched up, okay? That screaming blast…I haven't seen you do something like that since that party last month. How did you pull it off this time?"

Nikolay looked genuinely stumped as he tried to think of a way to answer her. "Honestly…I don't know. Last time it was all my memories coming back when moms' figurine broke. This time…I think it was just taking in everything we'd all gone through to get here, and facing down a Villain who wanted to destroy all of that, destroy all of us…it just made something inside me finally click all together. Everything I just did…it all just came to me on its own. I don't know how else to explain it."

It certainly wasn't the kind of thorough, rational answer most people would've been looking for in this case, but for Mina, it was good enough. With that, she chanced another glance over her shoulder towards Vukodlak's still motionless body a good several yards away. "He took the full impact of that blast point blank, there's no way possible he's getting up after that any time soon. Let's have the police arrest him and get back to the hospital, Kolya-kun."

To her immense relief, Nikolay finally gave her an agreeing nod, and with that she turned her focus to the building across the street from the site where Reflector and the rest of the police on standby had been waiting for the students to give the signal that Vukodlak was subdued. With her heart feeling so much lighter in her chest now, Mina gave a high and visible single thumb up to let them know.

Within minutes, more than half of the Erubi City police service had filed into the construction site, with emergency responders from the hospital already attending to Mina, Denki, Ochako, Setsuna and Minoru, while the police were already in the process of beginning to subdue the still-motionless Vukodlak.

While Nikolay was being loaded onto a stretcher, the relative peace was suddenly broken by the surprised exclamations of several of the officers, forcing everyone who was still able to look to the source. Every one of them felt their blood once again go frigid when they saw the police backing away hurriedly from the once again upright Vukodlak, standing as still as a statue on his one leg, his blind eyes somehow focused solely where Nikolay was at that very moment.

No one was sure what to do or what was about to happen at first, but then, to all their confusion and frightened disbelief, the Villain actually smiled. It wasn't one of sadistic glee this time. This one was much more…sentimental in its surprising softness, as though Vukodlak were addressing an old friend, of all people.

[[I…am so proud of you…little Kolya. Twenty-one years, I have waited to feel this alive again…I thought Tunguska would do it for me…and he almost had. You, on the other hand…you have made all those years of dreaming, waiting and preparing all worth it, and then some. You have far, far exceeded my expectations, and for that, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. However, until one of us stops breathing…this fight is far from over.]]

With a nearly animal-esque howl of delight, Vukodlak suddenly launched himself inhumanly high into the air from his one foot, landing himself atop a higher girder, only to immediately leap down from it directly towards where Nikolay still lay; both his claws poised to drive straight through the boys' center mass, with all of the police and his friends momentarily too far away or busted up to do anything to help. This would be it, his coup e grace to finally begin the new chapter of his life, his crusade against the world of so-called Heroes!

SHHHHING!

The sudden sound of something practically slicing right through the air itself rang in Vukodlak's left ear as he descended, and just as he began to turn his head in confusion to the unfamiliar noise, he felt something razor thin, yet with the force behind it of a veritable artillery strike, slam straight into his exposed side with enough power to nearly break his lower spine in half upon impact.

The shell-shocked Villain's entire body nearly folded in half against this sudden object driving straight into him, just before the force traveled through his entire body, and Vukodlak was sent flying once again like a helpless rag doll, bouncing and tumbling all the way across the entire construction site until his momentum was stopped by a agonizing slam into a concrete barrier.

Everyone was utterly dumbstruck by what they had just seen happen, but just as quickly did their attention all flock to the single object that had saved Nikolay when he was at his most defenseless: a single luminescent golden disk that seemed to spin right through the air like a discus, right before it suddenly retracted like a boomerang, all eyes following its unnatural trajectory, until it finally reached its destination, the sight of which hit Nikolay and all his friends straight in the heart with a veritable torrent of relief and joy:

What they saw was a visibly hurt but still proudly standing Tunguska, joined at both his sides by an equally relieved Willow Light, and Tooru Hagakure; who was practically bouncing with joy where she stood as soon as she saw all her friends in the site before her. To cap off their miraculous return, the golden disk flew straight for Tunguska himself, who simply caught it with his maimed left hand, and expertly placed it right back behind his head, where it was now once more floating harmlessly.

As soon as he knew Vukodlak was down for the count, Tunguska immediately began making his way into the construction site, past all the once-stunned, now-ecstatic police officers who crowded around him, Willow Light and Tooru, never taking his eyes off his son on the stretcher.

While Tooru was in the middle of emotionally embracing and apologizing to all the rest of the students for everything, and also expressing gratitude they were all alive, Nikolay barely managed to lift his head off the mat to meet his fathers' gaze, finding himself at a momentary loss for words. For what felt like so much longer than it actually was, he had been crawling up and down the walls with worry of whether or not he would ever even see his father alive, if ever again. And yet, after what was undoubtedly one of the hardest and most frightening events of his young life, the man was here in, the flesh, with nothing more to show his hardships than some bloody bandages around his ribs, and a bloody bandaged left hand with two unmistakable stumps where his index and middle finger should have been.

Nikolay could feel the tears coming with a vengeance as he choked, trying to find words. In the face of all that, however, the first thing Tunguska did was give his son an embarrassed smile. [[I'm sorry you had to see me do that in these kind of circumstances. That flash bang attack isn't necessarily my ultimate move. The disk requires every last bit of my energy and concentration to properly control, so I've only saved it for the most dire situations.]]

However, Tunguska couldn't keep up the casual façade for much longer, as his blue eyes, too, began to water up with tears, and soon the massive Russian was trying to embrace his son as best he could without exacerbating the boys' clearly busted arms any more than they already had been. As soon as the two had settled into the awkward means of their reuniting hug, Nikolay finally found it in himself to speak: [[I was so scared, Dad.]]

[[I know, Kolya…I know. There's no shame in that. You did what you had to even when you were scared, and that's all you ever have to do, nothing more. I'm so, so proud of you, son.]]

[[No, Dad. I mean…I was scared that I…that I wouldn't see you again, without at least telling you that I…I understand.]] At this, Tunguska momentarily lifted his head away, momentarily confused. Seeing this, Nikolay continued with no hesitation. [[I understand why you did what you did…with Vukodlak, back then. Not telling him the truth. You were trying to do the right thing…what you thought was the right thing…for so many people at once. I can imagine you were probably scared I would hate you all over again for lying…but I don't. Even if it resulted in bad things happening to so many people…I don't blame you for trying to do something to prevent it, even if it might not have been the traditionally Heroic thing to do.]]

The older Russian was hesitant to admit it, but the truth was that he had been scared that Vukodlak had ultimately poisoned his son against him all over again, and so to hear the boy say in his own words that Tunguska had nothing to fear, made him start choking up, as well. [[You don't know how much it relieves me to hear you say so, Kolya. You really don't. Thank you.]]

[[There's just one question I have, though.]] As soon as Nikolay said this, Tunguska looked upon his son with an almost childlike curiosity; the two of them momentarily blind to the rest of the students, minus Denki and Setsuna, finally reuniting at both their sides. [[If Vukodlak actually killed your father way back when…then who was the man you told me was my grandpa those first few years after…you know?]]

At this out-of-nowhere question in light of everything else, Tunguska had to bite down the instinct to laugh in embarrassed realization. [[Right. That…Grandpa Yuri was actually one of my old mentors from when I was your age. Might as well have been like another father to me, really. After the Flash, he offered to try and help me with raising you; thought the illusion of a semi-normal family would have helped us both.]]

Tunguska couldn't bring himself to say more than that, and Nikolay easily understood why, painful memories of his own coming back as well. However, neither of them wanted that to overshadow the sheer relief they were both feeling, right alongside the rest of their friends/students in the fortunate aftermath of this otherwise nightmarish series of events, as they all began to take each other into an awkward yet unifying group hug, with Willow Light even joining in by this point, simply awash with relief that the kids were ultimately alright.

Suddenly, a spine-chilling howl of agony echoed across the construction site, spurring the attention of everyone at once. From the moment their eyes all fell upon the staggering form of a bloodied and battered Vukodlak, they all felt a physical wave of hate consume the air around them, as he stood alone, staring through every single one of them, focusing solely on Tunguska and Nikolay together, and they could both feel the ice of his malice stab right into their hearts.

[[You think you've both won?! You think this is the end, Tunguska?! You're both fools! Damned fools! This will never be over, you hear me?! Until either you and your boy, or I, are lying rotting and stinking in the earth, this hunt will never end! It doesn't matter how many fancy tricks you have hidden up your sleeves, I'll keep coming, one way or another! Neither you, nor any of the rest of Hero-kind, will ever be able to sleep without one eye open as long as Vukodlak breathes! Don't forget, I still have your scents saved right here in my head; I'll still be able to find you no matter where you go or what you do! I'll always be able to hear the sound of your hearts as they race with terror! You can't escape! I'll hunt you both down to the very ends of the earth if I have to!]]

His declaration of homicidal intent echoed loud and clear, the sheer bloodlust behind it able to transcend the language barrier and strike terror into everyone present. From the looks of it, Vukodlak was forcing himself to prepare to spring forward for one final desperate attack, even through the myriad of injuries he was suffering from. However, just as Tunguska and practically everyone else was getting ready to jump in to protect each other, the strangest thing suddenly happened:

Vukodlak's body suddenly lost all its rigid tension, and had gone completely slack, and the fury twisting his face was just as suddenly gone, replaced with what could only have been described as a childlike confusion; a confusion that quickly grew with fear, as well.

[[What? W-what happened? What's going on? Why…why did my hearing suddenly shrink? Why can't I hear everything anymore? Your heartbeats are all gone! I can't picture the environment around me, the sounds are all too weak now! Your scent…your scents…why…WHY CAN'T I SMELL YOUR ESSENCE ANYMORE?! WHAT DID YOU DO, TUNGUSKA?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!]]

"If you think Tunguska had anything to do with it, you're blaming the wrong person." Vukodlak's insane accusation was immediately answered by an unexpected, yet blessedly familiar voice from just outside the construction site entrance. All eyes immediately flocked to the source, and all felt their entire bodies become alight with surprise in the most wonderful sense.

Standing before them all like a heaven-sent savior adorned in flowing cloth and long black hair, with a gold-colored visor over his eyes, was none other than Shota Aizawa. He stood alone, resembling an old Western gunslinger as he had his covered eyes focused squarely on the helplessly confused Villain, who had by now fallen onto his backside, at a complete loss with the dulling of his Quirk-enhanced senses.

The 1-A homeroom teacher momentarily ignored the awestruck looks on the faces of his fellow teacher and their shared students. "In case you're wondering, I shut off your Quirk. And until we know for certain the police have gotten you locked up where you can't ever get out, it's going to stay that way. So until then, you can kiss those heightened senses of yours, and your targets' scents, goodbye. Hell, you could probably kiss that last part goodbye altogether. Seems like your Quirk works that way from what I've heard."

From almost the moment the last syllable had left Aizawas' mouth, there was the sudden sound of something flying past the sound barrier through the air, before a towering symbol of red and blue-clad muscle nearly came crashing down on its feet right beside the much shorter man. As soon as the dust settled, everyone, but especially Willow Light and the police, found themselves dumbstruck to be standing in the presence of the gloriously smiling form of the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might.

"Fear not, citizens! Rest assured that from this point on, all is well! Why? Because I am now here," he declared with all the bombast and spectacle Tunguska and their students had by now come to expect. His timing was immensely off, of course, but the fact that he was actually here did seem to magically diffuse what tension remained.

Of course, that wasn't enough to keep Aizawa from muttering quietly in annoyance: "It's a bit late for the catchphrase, you know. The fight's already over."

Even though his inspirational smile didn't even flinch, All Might took in the scene before him, especially the unfortunately roughed up condition of most of the students, and the utterly pitiful state the Villain had been left in, and could only manage a clearly embarrassed "Oh, so it is" in realization.

Only a scattered few of the police could even find it in themselves to chuckle at the frankly awkward position All Might found himself in, but Tunguska quickly shrugged that aside as he hastily made his way to his colleague, whom he could tell was visibly worried once he saw the extent of the Russian Heroes' injuries. "How on earth did you two get here so quickly? The police said the cell arrays hadn't even been fixed an hour ago, and they had called Yuuei as soon as they were up and running. There's no way even you could have managed to get here so soon from then."

However, All Might was quick to place a reassuring hand upon his fellows' equally broad shoulder. "I promise I'll answer all your questions, Tunguska-san. But for now, the more important thing is getting you, the children and Willow Light-san to the hospital and patched back up. Now come, you've all been through more than enough as it is."

With that, as though the Symbol of Peace's words were the very word of God, the police and first responders instantly began mobilizing, carting off all the students, Willow Light and Tunguska back to the hospital, while the police finished finally restraining the practically vegetative Vukodlak, strapping him onto a stretcher of his own, and carting him off separately to be treated as well.

The entirety of the way back to the hospital, all Nikolay, Mina, Ochako, and all the rest of the Yuuei students could feel in the entirety of their bodies was relief and gratitude. Relief that the fight was finally over, and gratitude that things hadn't gone so much worse, as they all shakily knew it easily could have. Along the way, those of them that were still technically conscious instinctively looked and locked eyes with each other, all silently expressing the very same sentiment amongst each other that on this day, all their dreams, their training, their very wills to pursue this kind of life, had finally paid off.

They, by working together, had finally taken down their very first true Villain, and they ultimately only had each other to thank for it. And deep down, they were all more than content with that knowledge. All that mattered was that everyone they had aimed to protect and save was finally here together, and they could finally, hopefully, consider this chapter of their Hero training officially closed after today.

The recovery processes for Nikolay, the rest of the Yuuei students, Tunguska and Willow Light had taken several hours, easily hastened along by all of them being personally aided along by Recovery Girl, who had surprisingly come all the way to Erubi City in tow with All Might and Aizawa as well, simply keeping herself on standby for when all those involved would finally come back and the danger had officially run its course.

Some of course had required more time and thorough medical treatment than others. The likes of Mina and Denki had barely taken any time at all, while others like Nikolay, Tunguska, Willow Light and Setsuna had required much more time and attention, even despite the latters' insistence that she would be fully regenerated and back to normal within a day.

Ultimately, by the time everyones' medical treatments had run their course, they all now found themselves resting up in one large multi-bed hospital room, simply glad that this hurdle had come and gone, and they could finally allow themselves to rest easy again.

Of course, All Might, Aizawa and Recovery Girl had been quick to rejoin their personal charges as soon as the opportunity had presented itself, with All Might once again being asked, this time by pretty much everyone, how they had managed to get here from Yuuei so soon after the cell arrays had been repaired.

"Yes, you see, there's actually a very simple explanation for that. Aizawa-san, Recovery Girl and I had actually left even before the long distance connections had been cut off. Headmaster Nezu-san had informed us of the situation regarding Bezpalov-shonen, Tunguska-san, and a Villain reportedly from his past resurfacing, as soon as the Erubi authorities and the rest of the Heroes at the Kamuron Agency had filled him in likewise. The last we had been told was that all you students were being sent back to Yuuei for your protection. We all knew that Erubi City was barely less than an hour away by train, so when you didn't return by then, we knew something had to be wrong.

"We immediately planned to head to Erubi City ourselves, and Recovery Girl insisted on joining us when the possibility of anyone being hurt came up. However, our plans to get there via train had been waylaid by news of the tracks having been destroyed, as well as the only bridge and all the mountainside roads being cut off. I would have gladly jumped our way here with Aizawa-san in tow, but for Recovery Girl, such a method was sadly out of the question. As such, we had to opt for an unfortunately more prolonged route in order to get here.

"As regretful as it is that we were unable to lend our aid in a more extensive way, I feel confident in speaking for all of us when I say that it warms my heart to see you had all managed your ways through this situation as bravely and thoroughly as you all did. Thankfully, we've been informed that all the major routes out of this city have been repaired, so the return trip should go much more smoothly for all of us."

Everyone felt their spirits collectively lift to receive such commendation and praise from the Symbol of Peace of all Heroes. As soon as he had said his peace, the towering blonde Hero gave Recovery Girl the floor as her tired old eyes looked upon all her patients through her pink visor.

"Well, as extensive as some of your treatments were, I am happy to say that all your injuries will ultimately be healed by the time this internship period is over. Tokage-chans' Quirk, she claims, has a natural healing factor, so her body should fully regenerate the pieces it lost by this time tomorrow. Mineta-kun and Uraraka-chans' ailments seem to come naturally with their Quirks and will be fully ridden out by tonight. Hagakure-chan thankfully seems to have come out of all this virtually unscathed. Ashido-chan and Kaminari-kuns' injuries were thankfully considerably light, so there won't be any risk of scarring after they've finished healing. However, I do regret to say that the surgery required for Bezpalov-kuns' arms are going to leave a few incision scars, so I would suggest you take them as a reminder to use your Quirk in a much more moderated fashion from now on."

As he lay in his hospital bed taking this all in, Nikolays' arms were completely casted and hanging in slings in order for the numerous different kinds of fractures and broken fingers he had suffered to properly heal. However, following the elderly little nurses' advice, he could simply imagine the scars he was going to have to look upon and live with for the rest of his life. He knew she was right, and in that moment, he silently resolved to himself that he was going to find a new, and more importantly smarter, way to utilize his Quirk.

Thankfully, she could see this change in his demeanor as well, before she turned her attention to her last two patients in the room. "Hitodama-chan, luckily for you, it looks like that Villain only aimed to immobilize you with your injuries, rather than aim for anything distinctly lethal, so other than some considerable soreness in your sides for a good few weeks, you should ultimately be back to normal by the end of it." At this, Willow Light gave a tremendous sigh of relief, only to immediately wince in pain from her sides afterward.

Finally, Recovery Girls' expression sank when she turned to Tunguska. "I'm sorry to say, Tunguska-san, that while the injuries to your ribs were able to be properly treated, there wasn't anything I could do for your missing fingers. Amputations are sadly outside my grounds to fix."

The air in the hospital room grew altogether heavy as Tunguska lifted up his bandaged left hand to gaze upon the wrapped up stumps of two digits he now knew for a fact he would never have again. Nikolay and his fellow students, especially Ochako, couldn't but start letting tears of sadness naturally come out.

Sensing this drop in collective attitude, All Might confidently approached his fellow towering mass of Heroic muscle, giving him that same reassuring, overwhelming smile. "Don't you fret, though, Tunguska-san. All we need do is make one call to the Department of Support, or really any Support Company in Musutafu, and they'll have something whipped up to help you get past your injury in no time. It's the very least you deserve for everything you've gone through trying to save Bezpalov-shonen, after all."

Despite All Mights' assurances, Tunguskas' immediate reaction was to actually let out a noticeably dry chuckle as he looked upon his maimed hand again. "You know, this really is the kind of irony one can't help but laugh at, honestly. All those years ago, the first time we fought, I was ultimately the one who gave Vukodlak that fancy prosthetic leg he had. In a way, the fact that he ended up doing this to me…is almost poetically fitting, when you think about it. He said he would pay me back for the things I had done…and in the end, he ultimately ended up being right. He really did pay me back, even if it was just a portion so."

The bitterness in Tunguskas' sentiment was unmistakable, and as always, All Might felt he had to try and leave an air of hope among them all as he stood tall and confident over everyone, fists on his hips. "Sadly, such major injuries…and even the worse alternative, are an unavoidable possibility within the world of Pro Heroics, but the acceptance of that fact and continuing to strive forward into it anyway, is what separates the pretenders from those with the hearts of real Heroes in the making, and you have all proven yourselves to be the latter, beyond a shadow of a doubt. The fact that any one of you got hurt at all is too regrettable for words to justifiably describe, but I feel we should all remember to be grateful that this was as bad as it ultimately turned out. I realize how irresponsible it is to say such a thing, but the fact that this could have turned out so much worse, yet didn't; is something for all of us to be grateful for."

However, instead of the inspired silence he had ultimately been preparing for, he was actually answered by Willow Light of all people, as she remained seated, yet seemed to be staring off into something beyond these walls as she spoke. "It may have turned out even relatively all right for us in here…but my partners at the agency suffered before us…and they paid a greater price. One of them is still in critical condition, and another is going to have to be forced to retire, because that animal made it so he won't ever be able to walk again."

Not even paying attention to the worried looks on everyones' faces, the Irish-Japanese Hero ignored the pain of her sides as she buried her face in her hands in lamentation. "This is twice now that partners of mine have suffered at the hands of a Villain, and I couldn't do anything to prevent it. I'd almost swear I'm cursed. What kind of Hero am I, if I can't do anything to save or help my allies, let alone a bunch of young Heroics students who I'm inherently supposed to be able to protect at all times?"

"That's not true, though, Sensei! You're exactly the best kind of Pro Hero you can be!" Nikolay suddenly answered with surprising passion, rendering the whole hospital room silent as the Russian boy looked to his mentor with a deep shimmer of conviction in his green eyes.

Within seconds, Mina found herself joining in as well: "Yeah, the best kind of Heroes inspire others to stand up and do the right thing, too! And you did that for every one of us!"

Willow Light finally lifted her head to look at her interns with undeniable surprise, when Denki (by now having recovered from his typical brain shut-down) decided to chime in alongside his classmates. "Yeah, Tunguska-sensei taught us a whole bunch about how to fight and strategize with our Quirks, and even how Pro Heroes are supposed to conduct themselves, but when things got hectic and scary for all of us, you still stepped forward and fought the hardest you could. You showed us how a real Hero is supposed to act when the chips are down. That's the sign of a real badass Hero, if you ask me."

"They're right. After you got taken by that Villain, we were all beginning to drift apart because we were scared. But the fact that you and all your fellow Heroes continued to fight regardless, and the things you said about the hearts and mentalities of real Heroes, made us realize just how much we needed to work together, just like you all did in your way, so that we could save our friends and teachers and bring that Villain down. Even if you hadn't directly intended it, you gave us a great example to follow in terms of attitude and mentality when it comes to Pro Heroics." Setsuna soon added as well from her bed; her typical casual way of speaking now carrying a heavy air of sincerity about it that naturally brought agreeing smiles to all her fellow students, and even Tunguska himself.

"The fact that even when all your allies had been taken down, you still stood up to that Villain on your own…how could that not inspire someone to do everything they could to try and help people, even when the odds were completely against them? You're just one of many people I have to thank for helping me find the confidence to step out and do something when everything else seemed hopeless." Tooru chimed in, trying to swallow her own incoming swell of emotion, as she and Willow light both found themselves beginning to get choked up.

Finally, Ochako at last found it in herself to make her own piece heard as she nervously stood up in front of everyone: "I thought we were lucky enough to have a Hero like Tunguska-sensei mentoring us for this period, but for as brief as our time here has ultimately been, I feel like we all got two mentors out of it in the end, so to speak. Yeah, a lot of us ended up getting hurt along the way, but the truth is that you and Tunguska-sensei, and even all the other Pro Heroes, all inspired us to really band together, plan, and fight alongside each other to the best of all our abilities, and thanks to every single one of you, we ended up beating probably the strongest villain we'll hopefully ever face. You had a huge part in that, so please don't call yourself 'cursed' or anything like that. Please."

With the students having all finally gotten their sentiments out into the open, and Willow Light visibly on the verge of deeply touched tears, Tunguska took a heavy breath, forcing her to meet his deep blue gaze. "You see? Even if we aren't there, our examples inspire young Heroes like these to be the very best kind of Heroes they can be in a moment. If it weren't for Heroes like you to be there to protect and ultimately move them into discovering just who they want to be, the events of today could have turned out so much worse. Take everyones' words here to heart, and keep them in your mind. Your past failures don't define who you are as a Hero. It's hard not to think the opposite way, believe me, but it's the truth. This world ultimately needs Pro Heroes just like you to inspire those young up-and-comers to be their very best selves, in order to properly fight for the peace and justice that all real Heroes strive for."

At that moment, Aizawa, having remained stoically silent as always up to this point from the corner of the room, finally pushed himself from the wall and back onto his feet, his tired eyes gazing over everyone as he stepped forward, unable to keep his own feelings to himself any longer. "As much as I would personally want to agree with everyones' sentiments about the vast importance of setting proper examples and inspiring young Heroes to push themselves to and beyond their limits in order to carry out their duties the best they possibly can; professionally, I think you're all overlooking one glaring detail amid all of this."

All eyes were immediately upon the homeroom teacher as he just let out an exhausted, cynical-sounding sigh from beneath the wrappings covering the lower half of his face, focusing squarely on Tunguska. "Yes, the fact that in the end the Villain was defeated, the hostages were rescued, and those unfortunate enough to get injured in the process will ultimately recover, is inarguably good news from an otherwise overwhelming situation. However, we can't forget that the reason so many students ended up getting involved and subsequently hurt in the first place, was because they directly disobeyed your instructions as their mentor, Tunguska. You told them to remain in Yuuei for their safety, and they instead followed after you, knowing there was undoubtedly a great threat lying in wait. Such reckless abandon can't help but display a lack of real authority on your part, or at the very least a serious lack of discipline on theirs."

From here, as soon as the students all perked up in momentary disbelief that this was what their homeroom teacher was choosing to say, the man himself turned to face them all as well. "And that doesn't even bring into consideration the fact that you all ultimately acted on your own, without the direct permission or supervision of your respective mentors. The rules of Hero internships; not to mention the law, is very clear about this sort of thing. Hero students are not to go into action without the express permission, if not the personal supervision, of their mentors.

"Those rules are to help maintain the boundaries and responsibilities between Heroes and the actual police. When you start delving into what is ultimately no more than vigilantism of your own accord, you blur those boundaries, and from there it's a very slippery slope before you start breaking the law in order to carry out what you mistakenly construe as justice. You may think this is an extreme exaggeration of what could happen, but the point is that it has happened before, hence why it needs to be pointed out.

"Yes, things turned out better than most of us would have expected, but the fact remains that you kids all broke a very serious rule by coming here and doing what you did, regardless of the intentions. As a Hero, I can't necessarily say that you were all wrong in doing what you did, but as a Pro Hero and a teacher, it falls to me to say that once you've all recovered and returned to Yuuei on Monday, you will all be in considerable trouble. Tokage-san, I'll take the liberty of informing Vlad King of your actions, as being 1-B's homeroom teacher makes disciplining you his responsibility."

His outward demeanor and tone made Aizawa come across even more cold than usual, and he could see all the students felt as much. However much it personally aggravated him to have to punish these kids for doing what Heroes were ultimately supposed to do, the requirements of his job and his own experiences instilled in him just how important it was to make them learn how to carry out their duties properly for their own sakes.

"What exactly is it they should have done then, Aizawa-san?" Tunguska suddenly asked; rising tall from his seat as he and the 1-A homeroom teacher locked eyes. "Yes, they directly disobeyed my instructions from the onset. However, once they were here, knowing that both their teacher and their friends were in danger, what would you have had them do? I was gone, when I know I shouldn't have been, so they had no means of getting the permission they needed to go and act. What should they have done in that case?

"Better yet, what would you have had my son do, knowing that not only were me and his friends and mentor all in danger, but ultimately so was every Hero and them-to-be if Vukodlak was left to do as he pleased? It's true that they broke some very important rules in order to do this, and as much as it pains me to say it, there should be some kind of penalty for it. But we can't deny that they still did as they have been learning to do, by working together as a cohesive team, properly utilizing the properties of theirs and each others' Quirks in order to take down a threat greater than any one of them alone, for the sake of protecting countless others. They even took the measure of making sure their battle was somewhere where no innocent civilians would risk getting caught in the crossfire; surely at least something amid all that is worth considering. How much more than that could they have possibly done, considering the circumstances?"

Tunguska was trying everything in his power to not let his temper at Aizawas' strict attitude towards a bunch of injured students overcome him. However, even in his towering presence, Aizawa remained unperturbed. "All Might and I were given all the collected information on this case from the police over these last few hours, you know. I've learned pretty much everything there is to know, especially from the records on everyones' phones in evidence. It sounds like it was your old ego-driven ways that brought a Villain like this Vukodlak into being in the first place. As far as the present is concerned, yes, the students did just about all they could do in the given circumstances. But in terms of the bigger picture; perhaps if you had actually followed the rules yourself from the beginning and simply handed Vukodlak in to your authorities, perhaps a Villain like him wouldn't have ended up coming to our grounds all these years later and inflicting this kind of damage in the first place. Even outside the events of the Flash, the ghosts of your actions are still following you, and too many people are ultimately paying the price for it."

For a moment, the tension in the air was almost able to be physically felt by everyone, it hung so thick between Tunguska and Aizawa. However, just when they began to fear one of them would finally end up coming to blows…Tunguska instead gave an exhausted sigh. "You're right, Aizawa-san. The Siberian Flash isn't my only failing that I will spend the rest of my life making up for. I know, just as much as you do, that a Hero must never, ever take the life of another, even a Villain, unless there is literally no other option. Even to this day, I sometimes find myself thinking back to all those years ago, wondering if I should have crossed that line with Vukodlak, in the hopes that it could have prevented at least some of the losses I've suffered. And seeing the damage he has ultimately wrought upon these kids, upon my own son…I find myself considering that possibility more than I ever did before.

"The fact is there are far more people than I can ever count that I have to make amends to with how I live the rest of my life, and that includes Vukodlak as well. In the end, I disobeyed the rules of my profession and took him in, because I felt I could help lead him down a better path, that even if one had delved into the waters of Villainy, they could be pulled back. I wanted to believe that Heroes could ultimately be better than the glorified soldiers that my father had been molded into. Yes, in that regard, my actions were ultimately selfish, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could be better if I could make someone else better than they were.

"Over the years since then, I've come to realize how foolish I was to go about it that way, because back then, I truly didn't understand what it really meant to be a real Hero. To this day, every single day, I'm still learning more and more to be a better Hero than I ever was, and as a result, help teach all those kids out there how to be better Heroes than me, than any of us.

"Aizawa-san, if you want to blame me for the repercussions of my own failings, then you have every God-given right to do so. I certainly know I deserve it. But in the end, even if they broke the rules in order to do so, by standing up against a Villain far stronger than them for the sake of countless more people than simply themselves or those they were personally connected to, these children have already shown a far greater strength, moral character and heart as Heroes to each other and the world, than I ever did; than most people these days who have the privilege of carrying such a mantle. And I think that deep down inside, you realize that just as much as I do."

For once, Aizawa didn't have an immediate answer. Even if the locks of his black hair hanging over his face made it near impossible read his reactions, the fact that he had actually been left silent, in itself, spoke volumes. All Might and all the students were frankly surprised, wondering if Tunguska had actually managed to make a valid point with the homeroom teacher.

Knock, knock, knock

A sudden wrapping at the door broke the atmosphere, as everyone turned to see one of the doctors, and an especially decorated-looking police officer step inside, both men realizing they had clearly stepped into the middle of something. "I'm terribly sorry for the intrusion, everyone. I just thought that since you're all technically involved in the case of these recent events, you would want to be kept up-to-date on all developments therein."

As soon as the doctor explained themselves, All Might immediately stepped in, silently grateful for their arrival putting a stop to his two fellows' ill-timed confrontation. "Of course, thank you, gentlemen. What do you have for us so far?"

With the Symbol of Peaces' go ahead, the doctor hurriedly pulled out a single clipboard, handing it to the towering blonde Hero. "Well, all the medical treatments we gave the Villain have been successfully pulled off. He will ultimately recover, but there are still some minor treatments he will need. However, he will receive those once he has arrived at a secure prison facility specifically designed for Villains that the police are preparing to take him to within the hour."

All Might looked over all the information detailed therein intently, completely ignorant of Tunguska and Aizawa sneaking a peek of their own. "I see, very good. Having gone over the phone records through Tunguska-san and Bezpalov-shonens' devices, we understand the Villain was originally sent after them by the Russian government. Am I to understand that he will ultimately be extradited to Russia when this is officially all over?"

At this, the accompanying police officer let out a sigh of clear remorse. "Unfortunately, due to the reputation Villains have developed for spinning lies to cover up or somehow justify their illegal actions, things like testimony from Villains don't exactly hold much weight these days.

"If he had held on to any of the equipment we've been informed he had throughout his time in this country, it would give us some solid evidence to prove our case to the Russian government. Honestly, even fake passports or foreign currency would have worked just as well. However, when investigating the derelict house in the hills he had been keeping Tunguska-san, Willow Light-san and Hagakure-san, we found a steel drum in the back yard filled with the smoldering remains of said equipment. It's all been rendered practically unrecognizable, and therefore, inadmissible as evidence. We have to assume he was either trying to cover his tracks and sever any solid connection to the government…or perhaps he was simply shedding dead weight, as though he genuinely expected to not be coming back after leaving to confront Bezpalov-san and the others."

Every single person felt a deep welling of immense disappointment build up in their guts at this news. "So you're saying that without that evidence, and only personal commentary to go off of, there's ultimately nothing that can be done." Tunguska surmised, to which the police officer nodded regretfully.

"Vukodlak will still be held in prison for the remainder of his life; his involvement in these bombings, what he did to you and the Kamuron Heroes, and his attempt to kill these kids is undisputable. But as far as the government that sent him here, unless we want to risk sparking an international incident with such accusations…then yes, there is ultimately nothing that can be done as of this moment."

Figuring there was nothing else that could be said on the subject, Aizawa ultimately stepped forward. "Well, until Yuuei has been given written confirmation of Vukodlak's imprisonment, I'll make sure he won't be at risk of getting his Quirk back…not that I'm sure it would do him much good without anyones' blood to go off of, anyway." With that, the homeroom teacher suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiniest bottle of eye drops, applying a few to his tired eyes for good measure.

A sudden clearing of the throat from the police officer once again drew the homeroom teachers' attention when he realized the man was looking to him specifically. "I hope you'll forgive me for seeming as though I'm prying, Eraserhead-san, but I'm afraid I couldn't help but overhear what you and Tunguska-san were discussing just before we arrived. We had…not wanted to interrupt, you see."

Realizing just as quickly that he needed to get to his point, the police officer stood tall and official before the long-haired man before him. "I should clarify for you: shortly before the battle between the students and Vukodlak commenced, the leader of the Kamuron Hero Agency, Reflector-san, actually stepped up and claimed personal responsibility for all the kids in both their mentors' absence. He stated that with all these Heroics students being placed under their agencies' protection in these circumstances, they technically fell under the same categorization as Bezpalov-san and Ashido-san, as temporary interns. It's an oft-overlooked detail of the whole internship setup; I checked to clarify.

"You see, it was under that technicality, as well as indicating personally how much their attitudes about their responsibilities as Heroes had matured under the circumstances, that he actually gave express permission for them to go out and face against the Villain, while my officers and I, with Reflector-san in attendance, waited on standby to move in and arrest the Villain once it was confirmed that he was neutralized. Several of my officers, and even another doctor in this hospital, can all confirm themselves as witnesses to the exchange if you need it, as well. I mean, you and All Might-san personally witnessed the conclusion of the whole ordeal yourselves; the police wrapped things up as they were officially meant to be, in the end. So you see…the students actually didn't break any official laws as far as this recent battle was concerned."

Nikolay and all his friends felt their hearts lift as they realized the implication of what the police officer was doing. He was essentially getting them all off the hook. Even Tunguska and All Might looked to be pleasantly surprised at this turn of events, while Aizawa remained as unreadable as he ever did. That didn't stop All Might from stepping in with a hearty hand on the shorter mans' shoulders, though. "You see, Eraserhead? Surely this turn of events must lift your spirits at least a little bit. No laws were officially broken, and you don't have to worry about the students veering down a vigilantes' path, after all. I would hope that as teacher for most of them, you would be glad to know this."

Aizawa only turned his head slightly to address the Hero at his back. "It is good to know. However, even if their actions today were officially justified on paper, that still doesn't change the fact that Tunguskas' students deliberately disobeyed his explicit instructions, and placed themselves in unnecessary danger as a result. That still needs to be addressed and properly rectified in the end."

However, All Might remained unshaken by his fellow Heroes' coldness, even going so far as to kneel halfway down to be on his same level, much to Aizawas' silent annoyance. "Eraserhead, I understand the necessity of maintaining the rules of Heroics and the laws of our society. They are quintessential to keeping the people safe. But you must know as well, that when you get down to the brass tacks of it all, these courageous students did what any good Hero would do: they heard that someone was in trouble, even if that someone was a person they personally knew, and they acted on it. Saving people in trouble is the most basic definition of what makes a Hero, isn't it? No matter how you try to look at it, they did exactly what we've been teaching them to do. Is there truly no room for any kind of forgiveness here?"

As soon as he could sense that All Mights' sentiment wasn't working, Tunguska ultimately came forward. "Aizawa-san has a good point, though, All Might. If they're ultimately going to become the next great Heroes, they need to learn to appreciate and honor the rules set in place by our society. If it can even partially make up for their actions, I'll run their training for the rest of this period even harder than it already was. I'll see to it they're aching so much by the end, they'll never disobey the instructions of their mentors again."

However, in the face of the large Russian Hero actually trying to appeal to the disciplinarian in him, Aizawa just gave an aggravated sigh as he turned to address both his fellows. "Neither of you are really getting the point I'm trying to make here. The students came through in the end, despite going against your instructions, and that kind of confidence can very quickly become arrogance, something we all know you're more than familiar with from way back when, Tunguska.

"That ill-advised confidence needs to be redirected fast, and they need to learn to appreciate why we have such rules in place. Otherwise, if they're all allowed to just go on their merry way without any kind of understanding of those facts; then they're on the fast track to going through the same exact mistakes you once made. If you want to prove that you truly learned from that, then you need to draw the line somewhere between being their mentor and their friend, Tunguska…for their sakes."

With his ultimate point finally having been made as clear as possible, Aizawa proceeded to head for the exit, trying to block out the deeply affected looks on Tunguska and the students' faces, while Recovery Girl proceeded to head out alongside him.

It was then, however, just before the two stepped out the door into the hall; that Aizawa came to a sudden stop, and slowly looked back to Tunguska over his shoulder, with only the faintest sign of actual approval in his tired eyes. "For what it's worth…I did see more of that fight than I let on. The kids…they did alright, all things considered. So, in that regard at least, your teaching…is somewhat improving."

With that, the 1-A homeroom teacher and the Yuuei nurse finally left, leaving an utterly shell-shocked Tunguska, All Might and all their students to bask in the aftermath. Tunguska instinctively even looked to All Might to confirm what he had just heard, to which all Might himself could barely even manage a speechless nod of his head. For the first time since he and Nikolay had come to this country, Tunguska had actually gotten a genuine compliment from Shota Aizawa. As roundabout as it was worded, he would gladly take it.

Suddenly, the awkward silence was broken by the tinny, electronic sound of All Mights' voice emanating from his own pocket, spurring the Symbol of Peace to hurriedly pull out his own cellphone. The almost cartoonish nepotism of having his own voice as his own ringtone couldn't help but draw out an instinctive snickering from Mina, Ochako and Denki, especially. However, while the teens all couldn't help but find the whole thing more than a touch amusing, All Mights' always confident smile never betrayed the instinctive sense of surprise he felt, when he saw none other than Gran Torinos' name on his caller ID. There was no question what this had to be about, given the things he had been hearing about occurring elsewhere at this same time.

"I'm terribly sorry, I need to take this. Besides, you all still need to get some rest after what you've all gone through today," he hurriedly excused himself as he began making a beeline for the door; the sudden urgency of his movements seeming almost ridiculously out of place for a man of his size and build. However, he did stop and turn back just as he was halfway out the door, that same awe-inspiring twinkle back in his smile. "I want to personally congratulate all of you again, though. Despite the points in Aizawa-sans' perspective, the fact remains that you all performed your duties together in the field of battle to the very best of your abilities, and you stood up to a true Villain nothing short of admirably. Today, you can all rest assured, from me to all of you, that you have all proven yourselves as true protectors of justice. You are all the true Heroes of today!"

With All Mights' exit, Tunguska slowly turned to address all the students before him, especially his own; whom now all couldn't help but look ashamedly to the floor now that there was only their mentor left to speak up to.

"Tunguska-sensei…we…we're really sorry for disobeying your instructions like that." Ochako finally forced herself to break the silence, with all the rest of her fellow surrogate interns quickly following suit with apologies of their own, with Tooru and Ochako nearly being on the verge of tears by the end. "Aizawa-sensei is right, we should have just done as you said and stayed at Yuuei…but we didn't, we acted all on our own, even despite everything you taught us about attitudes and mentalities of real Heroes. If you're going to dock all of our credits for this period…I think I can speak for all of us when I say we understand."

It warmed Tunguskas' heart to see the gravity of what his students had done hadn't been lost on them; a true sign of how much they really were maturing. However, it also broke his heart to see them looking so crestfallen, even after having secured a truly remarkable victory over a genuine threat to themselves; the benchmark of any true up-and-coming Hero. In light of everything that had been discussed, Tunguska answered his charges with a thoughtful sigh. "You know, considering the truth behind Aizawa-sans' words, I probably should be docking your credits for doing something so definitively irresponsible. I'm sure it would go a long way towards easing his misgivings about this whole affair. However, even if your records wouldn't reflect your credits…you all deserve to know that it won't change how proud I am of each and every one of you kids for how you conducted yourselves throughout this entire thing.

"This kind of situation was far more than any of you kids deserved to have to deal with this early in your Heroics education…and yet even despite how scared I know you all must have been, you still stuck together like a real team, and faced the challenge head on, using your skills and your heads splendidly, and you managed to actually defeat one of the toughest opponents I myself had ever faced in my whole Pro Hero career!

"You all took everything I've tried teaching you, not only throughout this week-long period, but throughout this school year thus far, and you applied all of it to yourselves. That is something far more important for you all to hold onto than any kind of numbers on a piece of paper. Society at large may disagree with me in that regard, but in this instance right now, I don't care. All might is absolutely correct: today, every last one of you proved yourselves as truly great Heroes-to-be, and I couldn't be more proud of you all for it."

He could see the inspiration re-igniting in all their eyes, but that paled in comparison to the overwhelming emotion Ochako especially was showing, to the point that by the time he had finally made his penultimate point, she couldn't control herself any longer and broke into choking sobs of pure unfiltered joy. Such a reaction from her was to be more than expected by the Russian Hero after their heart to heart at the Festival. From how she had been then, to where she was now, he could scarcely imagine how good she had to be feeling, knowing she and so many others had managed to rise so far from such a short time ago.

Witnessing the kind of familial connection between Tunguska and his own interns, Willow Light looked to see the deeply emotional and grateful looks on Nikolay and Minas' faces, likewise, to know just what they had all managed to accomplish together. When the two of them finally realized their original mentor was looking to them intently, they two immediately sat as much at attention as they could, forcing her to giggle at such forced formality on their part.

"I would accuse Tunguska-san of pretty much taking the words out of my mouth, but it's true. I couldn't say any better myself, just how proud I am of how you conducted yourselves and worked together to put a stop to such a danger, Bezpalov-kun, Ashido-chan. The fact you even went and got everything you needed in order to go out there and fulfill your duty, instead of just rushing off on blind impulse, and even worked together with your fellow schoolmates to formulate an actual plan…it warms my heart to know you both actually took my lessons from your first day seriously. You've both grown as future Heroes so much in such a short time, and I couldn't be more proud of you two. Just remember everything you've learned from your time here, and I know you'll become the kind of Heroic duo that only comes once in a lifetime; not to mention just truly great Heroes in your own individual rights. Be proud of yourselves today, Solovei, Pinky. You've both earned it and then some."

Willow Lights' personal commendation, on top of everything else, seemed to be what it took to finally break the wall of restraint Mina had tried to keep on her own overwhelming emotions, as she finally let her own grateful tears flow down her pink face as she instinctively threw her arms around Nikolays' shoulders right next to her, ignoring the remaining pain in her left arm as she did so, just as Nikolay himself tried to ignore the encompassing pain in his shoulders and arms, unable to return her gesture in kind.

All either of them could feel in that moment was an overwhelming gratitude that, in the end, after everything had felt so terrifying and overwhelming, they had actually managed to win and save everyone they aimed to. For once, they truly did feel like honest-to-goodness Heroes, and in its own way, it was perhaps the best feeling in the world.

It was only after a few moments of basking in this wonderful feeling of accomplishment, that Mina suddenly pulled her cheek away from Nikolays', instinctively rubbing at hers with a mildly surprised look in her black-gold eyes. "Sheesh, Kolya-kun, your cheek feels like sandpaper of all things right now."

Such an offhanded statement made Nikolay finally realize just how much time had actually gone by since they had first come to Erubi City and started their internship, as well as how long it had been since a certain something else. "Right. I didn't even think of taking a razor to help me shave before we left on Monday. God, I must look like a mess right now on top of everything else. I'm sorry."

The fact that he could still somehow manage to be so embarrassed, even in the wake of having pulled off such an incredible victory mere hours ago, was something Mina couldn't help but find irresistibly adorable as she answered the young Russian with another affectionate hug, proceeding to rub her warm pink cheek against his even more, the biggest smile on her face as she did so. "Hey, now, don't go getting down already, Kolya-kun. After all, I never said I disliked it."

While the two couldn't help but keep basking in this admittedly embarrassing yet altogether pleasant moment, they never noticed the deeply warm smiles on most of their schoolmates faces (as well as Tunguskas') as they silently watched. If there was ever a purer sight to confirm just how thoroughly they had all come out on top at the end of their most challenging show of Heroism to date, they didn't know what it would have been.

All the while, Willow Light herself looked like she was physically trying to keep herself from squealing with delight at such an adorable sight between her two interns.

Once he and Mina finally separated from each other, a thought suddenly occurred to Nikolay as he turned to address the orange-green-haired Hero sitting across from them. "Sensei, I just realized; Minas' injury will definitely have fully healed by tomorrow, but Recovery Girl said mine would probably be all better by the end of the internship. How are we going to conduct learning any more about Pro Heroism if I'm practically out of commission until then?"

At this, Willow Light gave an honestly reassuring laugh as she actually proceeded to sit back, as though she were simply relaxing in her own home. "Well, in the wake of everything that happened to me and all my fellow Pros, the police are keeping a much closer eye on things at street level, and Reflector-san even mentioned to me earlier that a few Pros from a couple agencies in neighboring towns have volunteered to work our regular beat while we finish recovering; filling the gap so to speak. So with that in mind, I think it's safe to say we can relegate the rest of your internships to lessons on paper until the end. After what we've all just been put through, I think we can all agree some physical downtime is more than deserved for you two."

Nikolay couldn't even find the words to properly convey how much he agreed with that sentiment; the residing pain in his arms, ears and legs being testament enough to it. Even for as much as she loved the physical aspects of Hero work, Mina likewise couldn't help but answer their mentor with a deeply grateful smile of relief of her own, for once feeling more than happy to practically relax her body for the rest of their internship.

Tunguska felt awash with relief alongside everyone else to know that the previous tension had all but completely dissipated from their hospital room, and thus felt a compulsive need to try and lighten the mood however he could for all their sakes, stepping forward. "Well, it's obviously going to be a while before we're cleared to leave for Musutafu again, especially with malenkaya Tokages' recovery still ongoing. The police may still need more information from me, as well. So until we're given the okay to leave, I think we've all earned the opportunity to just try and relax the rest of the day."

With that, the Sun of Justice proceeded to grab a remote from one of the shelves on the wall and proceeded to turn on the TV monitor hanging overhead. However, once the screen came on, they were all met with a sight none of them had remotely expected: headlines detailing a recent attack in Hosu City, describing three unidentifiable monsters wreaking havoc that had all been destroyed by a contingency of Pro Heroes from numerous nearby agencies. Furthermore, the anchors proceeded to describe how the notorious Villain known to the public as the Hero Killer, Stain, had been apprehended by Endeavor, with the assistance of three unidentified Hero interns.

There were several details of this rapid-fire newsflash that hit Nikolay, his friends and Tunguska especially hard: the remembrance that Stain was confirmed to be the Villain responsible for crippling Tenya Iidas' older brother, the Hero Ingenium; the reminder that Hosu City was where Tenya himself had volunteered to intern at, and lastly, when witness photographs of the previously mentioned monsters were displayed, the horrifying realization of just how much they resembled the creature from USJ known as the Nomu.

All of these realizations hitting at once nearly brought Nikolays' heart racing with worry, just like it did to everyone else around him, the idea that all of this had been happening without them even hearing about it, and with no idea of knowing whether their class president was even okay in the midst of it all.

It was with those very thoughts in mind, that Ochako suddenly shot up from her seat and began making her way for the door. "I'm sorry, Sensei, but can I go out and make a call, maybe through one of the hospital phones? The police still have ours. I want to see if maybe Deku-kun might know anything about what happened; or at least if he knows if Iida-san is okay."

Understanding the brown-haired girls' concerns all too well, Tunguska immediately followed right alongside her. "I'm not letting any of you kids go out on your own from now on, but with Willow Light-san here, I can at least feel safe in leaving the rest of you here together. We'll be right back." With that, Tunguska and Ochako were gone in a flash, leaving the rest of the students to sit in silent concern.

"Oh man…it looks like a war just happened in that city. You don't think Iida-san's hurt, do you?" Denki finally asked, but everyone else was afraid of the chance they would jinx the chances if they said anything out loud.

As for Nikolay, too deep within his own thoughts to notice Mina had instinctively placed a worried, anxious hand on the cast of his left hand, could only think about the fact that Tenya's internship city had been attacked, and yet Stain had managed to get arrested in the process in the end. The sequence of events linked up far too well to simply be a freak coincidence. It couldn't help but make the Russian boy wonder if perhaps Tenya had chosen that city specifically, knowing Stain was there, or if the Hero Killer himself had something to personally do with that attack. However, if that were the case, how come there were three more creatures like the Nomu there as well?

That thought, especially, left a very unsettled chill in Nikolays' spine as he began thinking back to the creature they fought at USJ, and the two Villains that stood alongside it, and how they called themselves 'The League of Villains'. Was it actually possible that Stain was somehow involved with them this entire time? The possibility was far too real, and it left a very nervous dry lump in his throat if it were actually true.

However, for as much silent worrying as he could have subjected himself to, Nikolay had to work to reel himself back into the reality of the situation. As such, he ultimately answered Denkis' previous commentary: "We'll find out the truth of how Iida-san is soon enough. For now, I think we should just focus on the positive. That Villain, Stain, is finally off the streets. Considering what he'd done, I'm sure Iida-san is feeling some considerable relief of his own, not to mention however many other Heroes won't have to worry about suffering the same fate as Ingenium did. It sucks, not knowing for sure, but we need to just hold on to what we do know for sure until then."

Nikolay could practically feel the impressed stares from Mina, Tooru, Denki and Setsuna at such a shocking display of total maturity on his end. It honestly made him sound so much older than just the fifteen-year-old boy he really was. They honestly couldn't even bring themselves to crack even an amused smirk at how unnatural it looked and sounded coming from him. Instead, ultimately, Denki couldn't help but sigh as he looked out the window thoughtfully. "To think, on two totally different stages, students from the same exact class were, at least potentially in Iida-sans' case, fighting serious Villain threats and ultimately came out victorious. The universe really is full of bizarre coincidences, isn't it?"

Now it was the blonde boys' turn to be the unwitting center of attention, as everyone now looked at him like he had momentarily become possessed by a totally different person, sounding so introspective and philosophical.

Before Setsuna could even begin to ask where on earth Denki kept this part of himself so often, the calm was swiftly broken by Ochako and Tunguska nearly rushing back into the room; the gravity girls' face looking especially shocked, much to her friends' confused worry. "You guys…it's incredible! I just got off the phone with Deku-kun…and he…he…"

"Hey, hey, slow down and try to breathe, Urara-chan! What happened? Is Midori-kun okay? What'd he say?" Mina swiftly intervened when she saw how close to hyperventilating Ochako was, never mind the fact that she was already struggling to breathe having sprinted all the way back here.

"As it turns out…that attack in Hosu City last night…malenkie Midoriya, Iida and Todoroki were all there. They were the three unnamed interns the news was just talking about; the ones that helped arrest the Hero Killer!" Tunguska finally announced for his out-of-breath student, letting the moment sink in for all those present; their eyes almost all immediately going wide with disbelief.

At that moment, as if just to cement what they had just heard as fact, the TV news report suddenly displayed some out-of-focus yet unmistakable pictures of the three boys in question taken from the scene among numerous other Pro Heroes. Even out of focus, it was clear to see that all three boys were clearly hurt in some way, shape or form.

"My God…they actually did it. They're the ones who beat the Hero Killer, I can just feel it." Nikolay muttered in disbelief, or rather astonishment, at what he was seeing and hearing; all while feeling an indescribable sensation of pride in his two friends and one bizarre class acquaintances' accomplishment amid all that chaos.

"It doesn't make sense, though. Why would they go and show everyone what they look like if they're not even going to bother mentioning them by name?" Mina asked confusedly, only for Willow Light to answer with a particularly dry chuckle from her seat.

"It's probably for the very same reason as what you're all looking at right now. Chances are they went after the Hero Killer without their respective mentors' permission and supervision. Even if they did beat the Villain, they still broke the cardinal internship rule. Chances are they probably agreed to have their names, and as such, their most direct involvement in the matter, omitted in exchange for not getting in trouble with the police; they literally only differed from how you all handled things in just that one step."

Just that thought alone left an especially heavy air over everyones' heads once more as they continued taking in just what their peers had gone through at the same time as them. Finally, Setsuna couldn't help but wonder out loud: "Damn, in comparison to an entire city getting attacked by a Villain like that, on top of three monsters, it can't help but make you wonder if what we just went through could even be considered news-worthy in comparison. I mean, our Villain was only after a couple people, and we still managed to keep the fight fully contained. When you get down to it, it doesn't get the same kind of attention as a mess like that, does it?"

Before anyone could proceed to answer her (admittedly) rhetorical question, the door once again swung open, and everyone found themselves being addressed by the same doctor from before, looking particularly nervous about something. "I'm so sorry for disrupting you all again. We just have something of a situation I'm not sure how to approach. There are several reporters from local news outlets, and they're asking to speak to the Heroes responsible for helping apprehend the Villain responsible for last nights' bombings. Willow Light-san, Tunguska-san, you're both their mentors, I didn't want to say anything without running it by you both, first."

The illuminating Hero and the Sun of Justice exchanged silent yet knowing glances, and as the large Russian stepped back, practically giving the Irish-Japanese woman the floor, she smiled and gave the doctor a single approving nod. With that, the doctor was out the door like a shot, and almost as quickly did the door swing open again, as nearly a dozen different reporters came flocking in, crowding around Willow Light specifically.

"Willow Light, how on Earth did you manage it? We had been informed that the rest of the Kamuron Agency Heroes had been left in too critical a condition to fight the Villain from last night. We had even gotten word from authorities that you had gone missing in the midst of it all. How on Earth did you manage amid all of that, to beat this new terror on our streets?"

Such were the kind of inquiries and questions being thrown her way by one reporter after another. As soon as she even thought she had room to speak, Willow Light stood up, only momentarily wincing from her injuries, before she extended her hand for everyone to turn around. "I think you'll all be surprised to hear, I had virtually nothing to do with what transpired this morning. You're going to want to look at, and thank, these brave and upstanding young Heroes-in-the-making right here."

All the reporters followed her gesture like a bipedal herd of sheep, and the moment they saw the assortment of high school students laid out before them, memories of the Yuuei Sports Festival came rushing back, and soon the kids themselves found themselves being rushed by assortments of microphones and flashing cameras.

"Wow, how does it feel to have come so quickly from participating in the biggest sports event in the Heroics world, to actually taking on your very first genuine Villain! How on earth did you children manage to pull something so incredible off? Were you scared? Are you all interns for the Kamuron Agency?"

The bombardment of questions was initially overwhelming, but it was soon managed by Ochako, as she forced her way through the crowd to be able to form a barrier between the cameras and her friends. "I'm sorry, but please try not to crowd up so much. Yes, we all helped take the Villain down, but it was still a lot for all of us, so please, if you could give us a little space?"

As soon as the reporters thankfully did as she was asking with surprising calm and professionalism, her demeanor became much softer. "Thank you. We'll try to answer whatever questions you have, but if you really want to know who was ultimately responsible for us being able to subdue that Villain for the police, well…look no further than our two friends over there. They came up with the majority of the plan that helped us win, after all."

Ochako gave a knowing smile and gestured toward a visibly shocked Nikolay and Mina. The moment the reporters saw the Russian boy and pink girl in particular, a sudden light of recognition filled their eyes. "Hey, I remember you two! Yeah, you're the ones that helped Willow Light stop that convenience store robbery a few days ago! Unbelievable, first the Sports Festival, then stopping an armed robbery, and now taking on a genuine Villain with no Pro Hero backup, and actually winning! You kids are really on the fast track to making real names for yourselves in the Heroics world. Please, tell us, what names are you two going by?"

As the numerous cameras and microphones focused on Nikolay and Mina, they could both feel that old sensation of excitement begin building within them all over again, just as it had when their internships had officially started. However, looking back to their friends and both their respective mentors, simply watching them with the most appreciative and supportive smiles on all their faces, the young Hero duo felt a much stronger sense of grounding settle within them, and that childlike excitement give way to something that felt much more fulfilling as they finally answered:

"Well, before either of us answer that, I just want to say: our friends may think that we had the biggest share of the credit for things panning out the way they did, but I personally disagree. The fact is, the only reason we beat that Villain was because we all worked together, and utilized all our respective strengths and understandings of each others' Quirks and capabilities, just as our teachers have made every effort to help us understand since the start of this school year."

With Mina having taken the chance to open this most important of dialogues, all the while making the conscious effort to not let the brunt of her excitement take the wheel of her words, Nikolay quickly took over:"That's right. Even if we did beat a serious Villain, the fact is that we're not Pro Heroes yet. We're all still only a bunch of Heroics students trying to learn how to be the best Heroes we can be, so that we can someday be able to properly fight for justice and help anyone and everyone. If you want to know who to thank for us being able to do what we did, then thank all the Heroes at the Kamuron Hero Agency, and all the Heroes making the effort to teach us everything they can over at Yuuei Academy. We probably wouldn't even be here right now if it weren't for everything they've done for us so far, to help us learn what it means to be the real kind of Heroes this world and its people need."

While they and their friends were completely engaged with the media, Willow Light and Tunguska alike were both smiling with the most sincere warmth of pride in both their chests, listening to their charges express such incredible humility in the wake of such an incredible victory as they were each approached by the reporters one by one. It was like an unconscious transformation in attitude that had taken root in all of them, as if they had all come to simultaneously learn and better yet, understand the importance of keeping their mentalities grounded and realistic as they were given their well-deserved praise for what they had done today.

In the aftermath of this entire nightmarish scenario, their students had all grown exponentially, and the two mentors couldn't imagine feeling any happier to personally witness it if they tried.

Finally, once all the students had been personally approached, and had given their own respective takes on how grateful they were to all those that had helped them to prepare for events like today, the reporters all seemed to be visibly pleased with what they had learned. Finally, one young woman took the lead in front of the whole group of her fellow reporters, as she held her microphone out to the whole assortment of students. "Thank you both so much for your inspiring and thoughtful words. I imagine your teachers will be most grateful for them as well. You've all been through so much despite being so young, so we'll give you all your space so you can rest up and heal.

"Before we do, however, please, would you all be so kind as to tell us your Hero names? The police informed us you were given the proper permission by your mentors to engage in this mornings' battle, so that gives you all the right to have your names given to the public when we report on this later. The public deserves to know the names of the young Heroes that Yuuei have helped educate and raise; who are responsible for removing such a terror from their streets."

The students all exchanged notably concerned glances, visibly unsure if they should give the reporters that kind of information already, this early in their educations. However, when they instinctively looked to Tunguska and Willow Light for an answer; both mentors gave a single inspiring and approving nod to their young charges, their interns, their respective beacons of hope for the future world of Heroes.

With their hearts lifted to heavenly new heights in spirit, the Yuuei students all eagerly lifted themselves up as best they could, as the reporters all came in towards one student and the next, to get the names of these fresh, courageous new faces of Heroics who had triumphed over a great evil together:

"The Stun Gun Hero, Chargebolt!"

"The Fresh-Picked Hero, Grape Juice!"

"The Stealth Hero, Invisible Girl!"

"I haven't come up with a title yet, but…Lizardy!"

"Um, I haven't come up with one, either, but…I-I'm…Uravity!"

As soon as the reporters had gotten names from the rest of their friends and were now focused solely on them, Nikolay and Mina exchanged one last thoughtful look with each other, the absolute weight of everything they had accomplished altogether finally registering as reality once and for all in their hearts, and with the most grateful and affectionate smiles to one another, the two best friends finally turned to address the reporters themselves at last:

"The Ridley Hero, Pinky!"

"The Frequency Hero, Solovei!"

And there is the new chapter of the week, and the penultimate battle of the Vukodlak Arc. From here we'll be winding down a bit over the next few weeks in preparation for the next arc, while putting the last overall plot pieces into place for further on.

If you liked what you saw here today, please leave an honest and constructive review.

Have a great rest of your week, wherever you may be, stay safe, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 06/19!