Hello again, everyone. This chapter is one I'm especially fond of, as it's finally setting into motion two original story arcs I've been cooking up throughout this time. This is the beginning of probably my single biggest challenge so far when writing this story, not only in terms of how to make one arc progress organically, but also in terms of how I want to organize this story for the foreseeable future in terms of how and when I portray these two different arcs. Either way, this chapter is the catalyst for this, and I would love to hear all your thoughts on what you read here today.

I'd like to give another grateful shout-out to my two beta readers and consultants, Mizu and Jonny, for their constant assistance and friendship. You two are now and forever always will be awesome!

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

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian, and {{}} indicates that characters are contextually speaking Georgian this time around.

Chapter 64

Heading Out

(Направляясь К Выходу)

Friday, September 5th

The peace and quiet of the hideout of Pietro Granin and his small-but-effective army had hung persistently throughout the day, which was why it was considered especially unusual for the lab coat-bedecked Alyosha Mikhalkov to be running through the halls with such purpose as he had been when called up to their leader's office this late into the evening.

Pietro always knew to let Alyosha work until his given assignments were complete, so if he was calling the man up, there was clearly very good reason for it, and he wasn't about to question why. Upon reaching the door and knocking, barely hearing the muffled order to come in from the other side, Alyosha hurried in, desperately trying to catch his breath. [[Yes, sir? You wanted to see me?]]

Pietro was still sitting at his desk, shoulders hunched over and hands folded over one another as his eyes were staring off tiredly into an unseen horizon, before finally turning to address his long-time ally. [[It's been several days now, Alyosha; it doesn't usually take you this long. Have you managed to make any distinctive progress studying that bullet they recovered from the convoy?]]

Alyosha already began dabbing a handkerchief at the cold sweat on his forehead; one of the only telltale signs from this man in particular that Pietro wasn't going to get the answer he was hoping for. [[If nothing else, sir, I've managed to identify what exactly gives the bullet its Quirk-cancelling ability. As you saw, it looks like a bizarre hybrid between a traditional bullet casing and a syringe, and inside that syringe is a very unique sample of blood. That blood itself is what gives it that ability, meaning whoever the blood is being extracted from has the Quirk to actually erase other people's Quirks. I'm still not one-hundred percent certain on how this is done, but I'm confident that with a little more time, I can figure it out.]]

However, even if Alyosha was clearly trying to force this outward show of optimism, it did nothing to visibly lighten Pietro's spirits as he rose from his seat and circled his desk so he could be right up to his comrade's face, never once breaking eye contact. [[I don't care if you have to tinker with the mechanics of the bullet, or if you have to find a way to rewrite the DNA within the blood itself, but you need to find a way to create more of it from that sample and then apply it to even more bullets from there. Finding a way to reverse engineer an opposite effect from this Quirk-removal could be paramount to the success of our campaign as a whole.

[[Let's make no mistake: if the Russian government was able to get their hands on a single shipment of these kinds of bullets before, it's not hard to imagine they could easily gain more from the same source. If only we knew where they were coming from, we could mobilize and erase their manufacturer and remove this entire problem from the equation. Alas, the best we can hope to do is find a way to make these bullets so they can either negate the Quirk-erasing effects as a whole, or at least make it so that if one of us were to get hit, we could get our Quirks restored to us from a shot from one of our own. It's hardly a preferable alternative, but it's something. No matter how this turns out, I know you're the one amongst us most capable of finding the solution, Alyosha.]]

As much as the scientist within couldn't help but feel especially encouraged, knowing that Pietro carried such faith in his capabilities, Alyosha couldn't help but still feel a touch intimidated. It was always like that on the very rare occurrences when someone as surprisingly level-headed as Pietro Granin could convey such a quiet intensity. It was doubtless proof that the progression of this beginning phase of their campaign was starting to weigh on him.

*BEEP*

A sudden electronic beep from a console upon Pietro's desk snapped both men to attention, as the scarred leader rushed over and hit the answering button, instantly able to recognize the specific pattern of beeps that had followed, exactly as to who was contacting him. [[Ocean Master, it's good to hear from you again, finally. Has your mission succeeded? Where are you as of right now?]]

[[Commander Granin, this is the field squad. We're just on our way to the shore from where we departed right now; we should get there in just a few minutes. We've left the core of our haul from the mission in a safe place deep below the surface, no more than a few miles off shore. We'll give you the details later; but right now you need to bring Alyosha up with you to meet us. Backtrack was injured out in the field.]]

It took no further convincing to send Pietro and Alyosha both running out from the confines of the facility and back out onto the windy beaches just outside. Even in the dark of nighttime, they could both quickly make out the rhythmic flashing of an emergency light progressively approaching the beachfront.

At the very same moment they reached the spot of the beach they would wash up on, every member of their outward team finally climbed back onto solid dry land, with many of the new recruits like Spitfire, Gust, and Blowback expressing immense relief just short of kissing the ground, while Knot, Petto, Blackout, Grenadier and Scythe were much more collected, mainly focusing on carrying the by-now unconscious Backtrack between them, while their ever stoic dome-headed comrade simply kept the waters around them parted until they were all finally out.

While they could already see the attempted medical work done on their unconscious compatriot, it was also all too clear just how bloody Backtrack finally was; his normally olive-toned face as white as a sheet. Alyosha responded without missing a beat: [[Good work trying to stop the bleeding, everyone. I'll take it from here. Help me get him to my lab and I can get to work fully patching him up. Some blood work won't do him any harm, either.]]

All of their soldiers were about ready to gather round and carry their wounded to their researcher and impromptu-medic's lab, but Pietro lifted a commanding hand. [[Ocean Master, Knot, Petto, you all stay here. The rest of you, help Alyosha whichever way he asks, no questions. Understood?]]

[[Yes, sir!]] With that affirmation from everyone, and a single permission-granting nod from him, everyone but Knot, Petto and the dome-head made their way through the dark up to the facility overlooking the sea from atop the nearby hill. As soon as they were all well and truly out of sight, Pietro turned his attention back to his closest three. [[What happened out there? You said you left your haul several miles from here under the sea? What exactly does that mean? How did your mission go so wrong as to get one of your own so badly wounded?]]

Given he was the one in charge of the single most risky part of the operation, the dome-headed man stepped forward: [[Well, I think you deserve to know, before anything else, Pietro Dobrynich, that despite Backtrack getting the drop put on him near the end, the recruits all carried out their parts in the heat of the battle admirably. Their training has really taken hold.]]

Despite this, Pietro still wasn't loosening up in his demeanor; thus Knot and Petto both stepped forward next, with the Wax Quirk-using girl leading: [[As for our infiltration of the vault, sir…we…we miscalculated how prepared the army was. When we got to the core itself, the whole place had already been cleaned out. One of the soldiers Petto took control of even confirmed it for us. Ever since our attack at Kamchatka, they were pretty much waiting for us to try something again.]]

While Knot's demeanor and tone were both downright apologetic and ashamed, Petto was exceptionally optimistic. [[Yes, the Vault turned out to be a bust, but we were able to manage something that we all think can more than make up for it. You see, Ocean Master was able to spot an actual functioning nuclear sub within the navy port; probably there to refuel and resupply. Not only were we able to cripple several of their ships and get a good share of conventional weapons, ammo, food and medical supplies, but we were even able to hijack the sub itself. You can run it by him yourself, he was able to remove the tracking hardware and everything.]]

While not immediately responding, at least the whole explanation of the mission had Pietro moving back and forth in contemplation, which was about the best his three comrades could ask for.

[[The vault being empty is far from what I'd been hoping for after all the caution we had taken, regardless of the supplies you got. However, an armed submarine does make for a promising substitute, especially as a deterrent. That's not the kind of thing the government would just shrug off. As long as they know it's in our possession, it'll keep them from trying anything as bold as retaliation on us.]] As Pietro explained this just as much to himself as to his soldiers, Knot and Petto could once more feel their spirits lifting. Even a semi-success was a milestone next to how things had been looking when they had found the vault completely empty.

[[However, even a semi-success like this doesn't change the fact that one of our own got seriously hurt. That's why, for now, I'm officially putting a pin in any future missions for us until we know for a fact there's another opening we can take advantage of, and work our way around that in the case of it being another trap. Not to mention we're nearing time for those nearby Heroes' visiting here for the week. We can't afford to draw too much attention on us right now. Make sure you remind the others of this.]]

Knot, Petto and Ocean Master all clearly understood how vital this decision was on Pietro's part, and realizing timeliness was crucial, they hurried after the rest of their comrades in the facility, leaving Pietro to stand alone amid the frigid ocean air, staring out into the black horizon. 'One of my people shot and a nuclear submarine now on our side of the table. God, how did it get to this point so fast? How do we react if they do try to retaliate?'

Noyabrsk Airport, Russia

Within the dark confines of an enclosed underground section of Noyabrsk, Konstantin Khodamchuk stood at the head of the briefing table, looking upon his recently gathered operatives alongside the ever patiently waiting Angel's Eye. With the push of a single button, the images upon his own computer flashed upon the projector behind him, revealing a map of the island of Hokkaido with a single pulsating red dot at the northernmost edge. Thankfully, having been informed of the severity of the mission they were being called in for, none of the men here dared to ask questions until their old leader had given his piece.

[[Thank you all for coming here on such short notice, everyone. I know you've all wanted to take things slow and have some time to recuperate after your last mission, but I'm afraid circumstances across the nation have forced our hand. In light of the recent attacks on the R&D lab at Kamchatka and the Vault and naval installation in the Ural district, President Zaitsev has seen fit to give us the green light to bring the fight back to the terrorists responsible.

[[Now I know you are all the most capable people we have for dealing with Quirked threats, outside of our now indisposed former...'operative,' Vukodlak. With that being said, you thankfully won't have to deal with the hassle of narrowing down the location of your targets, as our sharpshooting guest, Angel's Eye, has managed to hit one of the terrorists with a round lined with undetectable micro trackers, thus giving us a continuous idea of just where the targets are hanging their hats. For the last few hours, the signal has settled on this one specific point in the northernmost part of Hokkaido in Japan.]]

The conference hall was already starting to buzz with the most hushed commentary from his soldiers, but Khodamchuk gave a pronounced clearing of his throat to make sure he had the room once more. [[Now, the issue is that where the terrorists are hiding out, while once the capital city of Soya Sub-Prefecture in the north, is now designated as a political sanctuary area, where many of the former Soviet Bloc's remaining Quirked citizens migrated to over the years since the Siberian Flash in order to seek safety from the policies of our government, and the similar ones of its neighbors. They are technically under the protection of the Japanese government, and if we were to just announce our arrival and intentions, it would undoubtedly spark an international incident, if not a war, and we can't have that on top of everything else that's happened already; not the least of which being the escape of Tunguska. That is why we're being sent in there to neutralize this threat off the books. If our presence was to be discovered and the Japanese government was to question ours, they would be able to exercise plausible deniability. I know this is nothing new for people in our line of work and with our shared experience, but I just feel it bears repeating every time so there's no question: once we're out there, we're on our own.]]

He of course expected it to take a little time for everyone in the room to come to terms with this, but without warning, an especially bulky female soldier among the team who had her white hair tied back had her hand up. [[So I'm guessing the fact that this area all of these Quirked expats have fled to is a sanctuary area is the only reason we're not going in there to wipe the slate clean of all of them, sir? I mean, our entire purpose for the last thirteen years was to remove all these monsters before they cause shit like these terrorist attacks to begin with. Wouldn't it be more proactive to just wipe them all out, remove the bodies in the dead of night, dump them in the sea and just let that be the end of it?]]

While Angel's Eye was watching this particular soldier with a silent but disapproving eye, Khodamchuk and the rest of the soldiers grumbled knowingly amongst themselves. This particular soldier, Elena Ustinovka, was easily the most hotheaded of their bunch; a hothead that Khodamchuk was thankfully by now more than capable of talking down. [[Because that's what government protection and sanctuary cities are for. We need to respect the agreements we've made with other countries in order to keep the Motherland afloat, and focus on the immediate threat at hand; not going off with preemptive strikes and risking wars. Now if you want to earn another juicy paycheck, feel free to stay, but don't go letting your emotions get the better of you, soldier. I know I trained every one of you better than that.]]

Thankfully, the promise of money, and the chance to at least put one Quirk user in the ground, was enough to make Elena quiet down, and thus allow Khodamchuk to wrap things up. [[Now then, I've already arranged for a stealth plane to take us as close to the target location as possible without us violating Japanese air space. Upon arrival, we'll all perform a HALO jump into the sea, and swim the rest of the way to the shore. Once we've positively identified the hideout of the terrorists, we'll take them out, quietly if at all possible, dispose of the bodies and from there we'll make our way back out into the sea. I've already contacted the naval installation on Sakhalin Island. They'll have one of their ships awaiting us in international waters so we don't risk any trouble from any ocean-side patrols from either Japan or China. Once we're aboard, they'll take us back to the island, and once I've confirmed everything with President Zaitsev, you'll all get paid and that will be that.]]

Once more, he was pleased to see that everyone seemed to be on equal understanding of just what they were getting into; more of the same, as far as many were concerned. Just before he could call the meeting closed, however, another soldier, this one with a bald head and handlebar mustache, likewise had his arm raised: Anatoly Grischenko. [[Excuse me, sir, but what about the nuclear submarine the terrorists took from the Ural port? We'd heard rumors about it, and that seems like a pretty important detail for you to just leave out.]]

At this, Khodamchuk was, surprisingly, unperturbed. [[Yes, I discussed that with the Sakhalin base as well. Since the terrorists would clearly need such a tool close at hand, it's not hard to imagine they would be keeping it somewhere beneath the surface in the waters near their current location. They'll be sending some deep sea diving crews of theirs into the waters surrounding the area to search for it once they've extracted us. Their goal will be to deactivate the warheads within the missiles in its stockpile and, if they aren't able to return it into Russian waters…then their objective will be to destroy it so no future threats can use it against us. However, that is their mission, and we all have ours. So if no one has any further questions, our arranged aircraft should be here any minute, so get your gear…and let's get to work once again, everyone.]]

The whole room was alive with the mutual spirit Khodamchuk's natural sense of leadership with these people inspired in all of them, even an overall newcomer to their group like Angel's Eye, as they all quickly got fitted into their own especially bulky and imposing sets of gear, before all ultimately following their unofficial (on paper) leader out into the frigid cold of the evening air out in this part of the country, all of them increasingly ready to deliver a royal dose of obliteration on those that would dare to threaten their Motherland.

Yuuei Academy, Class 1-A, Saturday, September 6th

This morning started out just the same as any other for Class 1-A, except there was a pronounced air of completeness all around, as today was the day the last of the classes' barred students, Bakugo, was finally lifted from house arrest and able to rejoin his classmates again. Where Izuku had reflected an air of pure determination when his arrest had been lifted, the only thing Bakugo radiated was a pure bloodlust for success; the animalistic urge to tear his way all the way back to the top of the class all over again. Where Izuku had supposedly been humbled, Bakugo had only been fired up.

And this was an observation many of the class couldn't help but make as they saw the fuming blonde boy all but shaking with anticipation in his seat. Many were especially cautious of speaking up, lest he was feeling particularly nosy about figuring out what he'd missed out on, while others (in this case Hanta and Rikido) couldn't help but at least get their most curious questions out in the open: "Hey, Sato-san, if we told him, do you think Bakugo would get even more pissed, knowing he missed out on that fight yesterday? Guy looks like he's practically itching for one."

"Like you even have to ask? He may be hotheaded, but he's definitely not ignorant. I mean, with how he already knew about those Shiketsu High kids from the exam before any of us, I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows about The Big Three, too. Either way, I'd say don't bring it up unless you wanna risk getting all your hair burnt off."

This little conversation was really only the echoing of the same thing among many of the other students, whispering amongst themselves, not only of that, but also what their ultimate take-away was from that very same so-called fight with Mirio Togata, and of course, the biggest question among the entire class above all else: what their picks for Hero Internships were going to be.

While Nikolay and Mina were both similarly engaged in the same talk with the rest of their desk neighbors; whether it was Tsuyu, Eijirou or Denki that was asking what their ideal picks for internship were, both their answers had ultimately been the same: "We're waiting for one of our sensei's from last semester to come back to us with a recommendation." "Yeah, we all talked last night, and he said he's gonna give us the info for the Agency he interned with! He even said he's gonna personally vouch for us both!"

While the two were, of course, just as excited about the whole Internship as everyone else, it was the fact that they didn't know for sure whether they'd be getting what they needed in time, if at all, that was keeping Mina from running her mouth excitedly a mile a minute about all the potential Heroes they could be working with. And of course, all of this uncertainty was ultimately rooting out from one common issue that still lingered between them that they both knew couldn't be talked about here in front of everyone; an issue that had only been made so much more apparent and at the forefront for the last three days, and had all but been spoken aloud last night; something they knew they couldn't confront together until this Internship issue was resolved.

It wasn't long until Aizawa finally made his entrance and commenced class as he always did, standing tall and dark at the head and looking over his finally complete class once more. "Good morning, everyone. Before we get started, I have some important news to share with you all, in regards to you first-years' Hero Internships. After school let out yesterday, all of us teachers had a conference discussing it, and the results of said confidence have made it abundantly clear. With Headmaster Nezu at the forefront, the vast majority of teachers have voted to call off your internships, with many of us simply considering it far too risky for students as early into their development as you all still are. Although, with the only recent implementation of the school boarding system, I suppose an issue like this was inevitable."

The entire mood among the class changed on a dime, as all the buzz of excitement had now given way to mutual cries of disbelief, particularly of how the beatings they had all received from one of The Big Three of Yuuei had now been rendered completely meaningless.

"You're seriously saying we've been going through all this torture inside for NOTHING?!" "How can you all be so cruel after all this?!" Nikolay and Mina even exclaimed amid all the other outcries; the residual aches in their stomachs from where they'd gotten hit and taken down made the pain of this sudden robbery that much sharper. But even more than that, what hurt the most was that it now felt like the biggest hurdle towards conquering their last unspoken roadblock had suddenly grown that much more insurmountable. If they couldn't conquer their issue of being able to keep working as an intern team, then how could they work up the courage to simply speak what needed to be said, but they simply couldn't bring themselves to force out?

All the while, Bakugo (having had no idea about these internships from the start) could only bring himself to gloat over his classmates that they were now all stuck in the same shitty boat together.

Despite this visible drop in mood, Aizawa's posture and gaze never changed, the one telltale sign that he actually wasn't finished: "However! There were also those of the opinion that the current policy keeping you all constantly under our protection wouldn't raise you into strong Heroes. So, we reached the conclusion that 'if limited to offices that have a good track record when it comes to taking in interns, the first-years shall be allowed to work as interns.' So says the new policy."

In the ultimate bait-and-switch, Aizawa had managed to steal and restore the hopes of his entire class in a matter of seconds, as everyone was once again chattering that much more excitedly about where they would like to and plan to go apply. Even Nikolay and Mina, who had before been feeling considerably less assured about their chances in comparison, had the collective fire lit under them all over again, as in the strangest way, their faith in Reflector being able to come through for them with the info for their desired Hero Agency was stronger than ever, leaving the two teens finally able to look each other in the eye and actually talk about it all with the excitement their youth permitted them again, just as it should have been from the start.

And once more the odd man out of the class, all Bakugo was left with, was a look of dumbfounded fury.

With this being one of his days where he wouldn't have to head out to Kansai to carry out another shift with the Fatgum Hero Agency, Tunguska was able to utilize his time at Yuuei today to finally get through grading all of the accumulated Quirk History homework assignments he had left the students with yesterday. As attentive as he was to such a task, there was no denying that, in his advanced age as far as being a Pro Hero was concerned, the increased workload was definitely starting to catch up with him, as he was finding himself relying on the staff room coffee a lot more than usual, which was to say at all.

A change in his demeanor that was far from lost on Toshinori, as up until this point in the day after first period classes had let out; he'd been unable to help but look upon his Slavic compatriot and friend with an air of concern. "I can't recall having ever seen you sitting with your shoulders hunched up so high, Oleg-san. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; it's gotta be exhausting really getting back into the Pro Hero scene after so long."

Hurriedly finishing grading the homework of Class B's Yosetsu Awase, Tunguska looked to his lanky friend looking over his shoulder. "Is it exhausting? Yes. Do I regret going for it? Not a chance. It honestly feels really good being able to just go out there and do whatever I have to, to keep the public safe again. If anything, the exhaustion just proves the effort I've been able to put back into this kind of work again, and that just makes it feel that much better. I'm confident that, given enough time, I'll be able to keep myself going like I was in my twenties again. The fact that Fatgum-san and I keep getting along better and better really helps, too."

Toshinori took his seat at the desk opposite Tunguska's, proceeding to look over his own paperwork while they had the time. "That's good to hear, Oleg-san, truly. Do you think any of the students from the Heroics course will try applying to the Fatgum Agency for their internships because of you? Given the circumstances we agreed upon, it would qualify; they do have quite the good track record for the Kansai region."

Without missing a beat of his grading work, Tunguska let out a wry chuckle. "Do you really need to ask, Toshinori-san? You know just who, among either class, has been gravitating towards me the most; if they didn't try applying because of me, I'd think I was dreaming. However, as their teacher, I have to admit I'd be half-tempted to tell them to look elsewhere based on their gut instinct, especially if it were Kolya, as implausible as something like that may be. These kids, they need to be able to pick a Hero to learn under with the right intentions driving them, not out of a child's sense of admiration."

Toshinori didn't say anything at first, leaving the larger Russian Hero momentarily worried he'd said the wrong thing. However, with a clearing of his own throat and getting his paperwork straightened out, Toshinori finally answered: "I have to admit, your wording could be softened up some, but I do understand your point. There's only so much that either of us can do to really teach and prepare the students to the degree they need to be if they want to be able to become real Pro Heroes.

"However, that being said, and you know you can take my opinion to heart on this: I think you've actually been doing quite admirably in terms of imparting all the necessary knowledge derived from your own experiences onto the kids; helping them understand the inherent responsibilities of being a Hero. If they were to come applying to the Fatgum Agency, looking to intern under you, maybe it might be because of that, instead of simply because they think you're cool. So maybe take any of their applications over the next few days with that in mind, eh?"

This was what finally brought Tunguska's audible grading to a stop, subsequently giving Toshinori a pause of curiosity as well. Then there came a resolute sigh from the Russian's desk. "You make a very good point, Toshinori-san…but that doesn't stop me from worrying. It's precisely because I made that same kind of example on my fellow Heroes before, that they had the kind of faith in me that led to so many of them getting killed so needlessly. I just…I just can't risk having something like that happen again, especially not with these kids."

Toshinori bowed his head slightly, ashamed for having not considered the possibility of Tunguska's memories playing a part in his resistance to being a personal mentor. Before he could proceed to apologize, however, the nearby door to the staff room suddenly swung open, and before either teacher knew it, the former Symbol of Peace found himself almost being rushed by an especially determined-looking Izuku.

"Please forgive me for barging in and interrupting like this, All Might, Tunguska-sensei! However, there's something really important I have to ask of you!" While neither Toshinori nor Tunguska were remotely surprised to see their mutual pupil being so intense in the presence of his most admired Hero, there was something especially different about the boy today; and given the circumstances all the students were facing, it didn't take long for them to figure it out, just as Izuku threw his whole upper body forward and down in a particularly over-the-top bow: "ALL MIGHT, COULD YOU PLEASE INTRODUCE ME TO SIR NIGHTEYE FOR AN INTERNSHIP?!"

The whole staff room echoed with Izuku's out-of-nowhere request, with many of the other teachers passing by only sparing this incredibly awkward interaction a momentary passing glance before getting right back to their own business. All the while, Toshinori could only look at Izuku with widened eyes of shock, while Tunguska once more found himself simply watching with a curiosity of his own.

"An introduction with Sir Nighteye, you say?" Toshinori finally echoed back to make sure he understood the green-haired boy correctly, causing Izuku to swing himself back upright; his eyes practically fired up. "YES, SIR! HE'S ONE OF THE VERY FEW HEROES TO HAVE EVER WORKED DIRECTLY UNDER YOU!"

Toshinori was instantly shushing Izuku, understanding what a scene the boy was unintentionally making between them, before Tunguska suddenly cleared his throat to get their attention. "Wait a second, I feel like I'm missing something here. I thought that scientist from I-Island, David Shield, was your sidekick, All Might."

"Well, you're not wrong, Tunguska-san, but keep in mind that my Hero work took me across America as well as Japan. Dave was my sidekick back in the States, but Sir Nighteye was my sidekick when I came back here. I'm sorry I never mentioned him to you before." With that brief explanation out of the way, he just as quickly returned his attention to Izuku. "Anyway, Nighteye's name certainly came from out of nowhere. Where exactly did he come up to make you come to me like this?"

With his determined fists still clenched in a white knuckle grip at his sides, Izuku sucked in a breath as he proceeded to give Toshinori a quick yet thorough recap of everything that had happened: "Yesterday evening after school let out and Aizawa-sensei had given us the previous green light to pursue internships, I wanted to see if I could intern full-time under Gran Torino-sensei! However, he said he couldn't do it because of being busy with his own Pro Hero work, so he suggested I come to you for an introduction to your former sidekick! If he believes Sir Nighteye could be a truly worthy mentor for me to intern under, then I have no reason to believe otherwise! I mean, he was your sidekick for years; he'd be the best possible candidate besides you yourself, All Might! PLEASE, HELP ME!"

"I refuse." Toshinori's answer came with unbelievable swiftness, following right on the last syllable to leave Izuku's mouth; just at the same time Tunguska felt the urge to implore the man to indulge their pupil in his request, clearly having been able to once more feel the passion Izuku had for this particular goal.

As a result, both the large Slavic man and the freckled boy were stricken dead silent by Toshinori's abrupt refusal. Whether Izuku was refusing to lift himself up from his bow as a show of stoic resilience, or to simply keep anyone from seeing how upset this refusal made him, nobody would ever know. Watching his potential successor's nearly prostrated form, Toshinori went on: "Understand, Midoriya-shonen, that I'm not just saying that to be mean. There are three distinct reasons why I'm refusing to give you an introduction.

"Number One: During yesterday's teacher conference, I was part of the faction against the internships taking place. Thinking about the Villains' recent invigoration, I believe the first-years should, at the very least, conduct the internships at a later time." At Toshinori's mentioning of yesterday's meeting, Tunguska couldn't help but once again chime in himself:

"To be honest, malenkii Midoriya, I voted against it, too. I know that seems very hypocritical of me after yesterday's particular lecture, but you students' advancements thus far, doesn't change the fact that one of you, my own child, very nearly died the last time the Villains directly went after you. We can't afford to take that kind of risk again, which is why we settled on allowing Agencies with good track records for their interns. I know that, out of anyone, you surely must be able to understand all this."

Truth be told, he was right; Izuku could absolutely understand everyone's reasoning for that decision. Hell, Tunguska bringing up the aftermath of the training camp attack left a churning sensation of long idle emotion in the pit of his stomach, just thinking back on it.

Following his fellow teacher's assistance, Toshinori continued on with his own momentary lecture: "Precisely right; you all possessing your Provisional Licenses only now gives you legal permission to engage directly against such incredible dangers. While we, as your teachers, are still training you all to become strong Heroes; at the end of the day, your safety is still our responsibility.

"Now, Reason Number Two: I think it would be fine for you to just start off by strengthening your Shoot Style. And Number Three: we broke up, so it's kind of awkward for me to be the one introducing you."

This sudden bombshell left the air between himself and Izuku especially heavy and uncomfortable, not helped by Present Mic listening in from nearby. "LETTIN' YOUR FEELINGS GET IN THE WAY, ALL MIGHT?! WHY SO SENSITIVE?!"

Toshinori nearly gave himself whiplash from turning his head so fast to tell the English teacher to quit with his joking around, only for Tunguska to decide to be the intervening party and all but throwing Present Mic across the room to leave his colleague alone.

Amid all of this, however, Izuku still had his eyes glued to the floor, his mind racing and driving his heart into speaking up: "After our fight earlier this week…Kacchan said 'the rails have all been laid out for you, so don't go losing.'"

Toshinori's annoyance with Present Mic was instantly forgotten, as he looked back with curiosity, only to find Izuku finally had lifted his eyes to meet his gaze, all but aglow with pure burning spirit. "My Quirk 'strongly resembles All Might's.' If I'm under the guidance of Nighteye, I think it will serve as a strong point of comparison to you. I have to…"

With his chest puffing out, he once again threw himself forward; every word lined with nothing but pure heart. "I have to become many times stronger…than anyone else, no matter the cost!"

As Izuku continued to keep himself bowed down, having made his penultimate point, Toshinori could only look upon the boy with a silent but palpable sense of understanding. He'd become far more than familiar with just how this troublesome boy tended to think. 'Because of his role as my successor, he's once again rushing himself. Even so…'

"I, by no means, dislike this part of you, Midoriya-shonen. But…as I said, you won't be getting an introduction." Izuku still didn't lift himself up, instinctively hitching a breath in his throat to try and choke down the feeling of failure clutching at his gut.

"Not from me, anyway." This sudden addendum gave Izuku the need to pause mentally for a moment, instinctively looking up just to confirm with his own eyes he wasn't simply hearing things in his desperate need to succeed. However, when he could see the same all-serious look in Toshinori's eye, he just knew that once more, in the pit of ultimate despair, another road had opened itself up to him.

The moment Toshinori could see this realization light up in Izuku's eyes, the lanky teacher rose to his feet, motioning for the boy to rise up with him. "I have someone to call that will help you in introducing yourself to Nighteye, Midoriya-shonen. In the meantime, wait for us outside the nap room from before."

Izuku was already smiling bright and nodding with enthusiasm and gratitude alike, nearly bolting out the door. Before going to pick up his phone to make said call, Toshinori drew his eyes back up to Tunguska, who had by now long since come back from motioning Present Mic away, and had listened in on the last part of his and Izuku's discussion. "You're more than welcome to join us for this, Oleg-san. This is another huge step in Midoriya-shonen's development. After having stuck around with us for this long, you have the right to be a part of this, too."

It was all too clear that Tunguska was really tempted by the invitation. Even for just how vastly separate both Heroes were in just how much Izuku admired them, he still felt a great deal of pride in knowing he even had a fragment of involvement in helping the boy grow as much as he already had. However, looking between Toshinori and the papers still on his desk, and then taking all of that and more into consideration, he finally just let out a low sigh.

"Thank you, Toshinori-san…but I'm afraid I have to pass on this one. This is something that much more greatly revolves around you, this time around; I feel like I'd just be a hanger-on if I was there. Besides, with all the assignments from every single class I teach Quirk History to that I still need to grade, and especially with how much time I have to get it done in order to get enough sleep for my next shift down in Esuha City with Fatgum-san…I'm afraid my hands would be tied either way. I'm sorry."

As much as Tunguska feared he would be leaving his friend visibly disappointed, instead Toshinori had a look of genuine understanding in his sunken eyes. "Well, since I was the one who recommended him to you, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised your time has become much sparser. But I am glad to see you're dedicating yourself to both your duties this much, and I know Midoriya-shonen will understand, as well. Well, I'll leave you to it then, my friend."

With that, Toshinori finally took his leave, and with a tired sigh, Tunguska once again sat himself down and tried to get back into full-grading mode, running his eyes over every line of one paper after another, marking down whatever flaws or suggestions he could think of for each student almost as quickly as he saw them. Right now, he was truly the example of the diligent and dedicated teacher.

"TUNGUSKA-SENSEI, ARE YOU IN HERE?!" With another clamorous sliding of the staff room door, the air was swiftly broken by the enthusiastic echo of Eijirou's voice, nearly knocking Tunguska back from his chair, and allowing the grinning redhead to spot him right from the doorway, rushing over with a near jump in every step.

"Good afternoon, malenkii Kirishima. Is there something I can help you with?" Tunguska asked out of principal, even though in every fiber of his heart and mind, especially just seeing the look on his student's face, he already knew what was about to come out his mouth. It had practically been coming all school year and was finally about to culminate; and Eijirou was reflecting just as much anticipation with how tightly his fists were clenched and his body simply could not keep still.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, Sensei, but I…I…*gasp* I wanted to ask to apply for an Internship with the Fatgum Hero Agency through you! I mean, even if you only just started this week, you're still technically a Pro Hero for them, so you're just as valid a Hero to intern with as anybody else! If you think about it, my taking initiative to approach you to apply face-to-face is even better than if I were to do it online, right?"

Even for as much as Tunguska had been preparing himself for this moment, just as much as Eijirou clearly had, it was still really impactful for the man, just how enthusiastic the boy was about interning under him; hence why it stung as much as it did, when he had to give his answer: "It really means a lot to see you putting yourself out there like this, malenkii Kirishima. I want you to know that without any doubt. However, I have to remind you, the key to these Hero Internships is for you to make the decision of who you wish to learn from straight from your gut, from your natural individual instincts in your heart."

"And that's exactly what I'm doing right now, Sensei! I have thought about this a lot, you know I have! This is what my gut is telling me!" Eijirou immediately replied; the fire in his red eyes now reflecting a kind of desperation to try and make his case and not get turned down. With a heavy sigh, Tunguska got up from his desk and motioned for the spiky-haired youth to follow him out into the halls so their talking wouldn't disrupt the other teachers; even though many of them were silently watching the pair with knowing smiles, practically seeing a whole other duo on the same level as Izuku with All Might.

As soon as they were both out and going down the halls, Eijirou took that as his chance to continue: "Sensei, by now you know that all I've ever wanted since I decided to be a Hero, was to try and become one of the manliest ones out there! None of that has changed, except that ever since this school year started, you've helped me learn so much more about what it really means to be a man, regardless whether you're a Hero or not, and under those circumstances, I honestly can't think of a better Hero for me to intern under!"

As a teacher, it was so heartening for Tunguska to hear just how much his personal teachings had affected Eijirou, but after everything he had just explained to Toshinori before, he knew he had to stick to his own conviction and not let himself be swayed so easily. "Well, I've heard you mention being a lifelong admirer of Crimson Riot as well; there surely must still be a part of you that wants to take the chance to see if you can intern with him as well, yes? He hasn't had the thirteen year gap in his career that I've had, and not nearly the same scale of failures like I have. He'd be a much better teacher for you to learn under."

Eijirou came to a sudden stop, forcing Tunguska to follow suit and look back, now finding a deeply conflicted look on the young boy's face as he stared at his shoes, trying to really consider what his own teacher was suggesting. "I know all that already, Tunguska-sensei. Crimson Riot's been one of my icons for as long as I can remember. He'd be an amazing Heroics teacher; I'm not doubting that. Hell, if it was anybody else being given the chance to intern under him and deciding not to take it, I'd think they were crazy. But every time I think about trying to apply for his Agency, I keep thinking about what I'd do if he actually accepted. I just know I'd be acting like a total fanboy the entire time, and I wouldn't end up learning anything. I know myself well enough to know that much."

Tunguska was just about to try and help the boy see reason, but when Eijirou lifted his gaze so their eyes could meet, the larger man came to a stop, seeing a whole other kind of heartfelt fire in those red eyes like he hadn't seen before. Eijirou was still trying to maintain his confident grin, but there was a greater deal of emotion behind it. "But more than that, though…over these last several months, I've started to realize that, aside from his Hero exploits and listening to all his recorded speeches about manly behavior as a Hero and all that kind of stuff…I really don't know anything about Crimson Riot in the way that means the most: as a man under the costume, you know? Whereas with you…please, forgive me for being too bold, but if I'm being completely honest, Tunguska-sensei…at this point, I honestly look at you as like the closest thing to a whole second father figure that I have."

Tunguska nearly looked like he was about to be bowled over by the weight of such an incredible statement, and the way Eijirou's eyes were actually starting to well up, now that he was finally getting all his feelings out in the open at last, only further hammered that feeling home. "You've consistently been there for me since the start of this year to keep helping me go in the right direction, when it comes to being a Hero and being a man. You've helped me to expand my thinking in so many ways I'd never even thought of before. You've helped me to understand that being a true man comes from the heart and mind together, and not just from pure physical strength, gung-ho bravery or proper social conduct.

"The bottom line, Tunguska-sensei, is that I really feel like I've come to truly know you as a Hero and as a man, ugly sides and all. That's why I want to intern under you as much as I do, so that I can keep learning those things on how to be on and off the field of Heroics from you." By this point, it wouldn't have been at all surprising if Eijirou actually decided to forego the resistance and just start letting the emotion out in full as he stood tall and ready before Tunguska, having made his point loud and clear.

And Tunguska, for as much as he wanted to simply give the boy what he desired most out of anything else, couldn't get the distant flashes of memory out of his head; each one hitting like an ice pick to the temple. "It breaks my heart to have to do this, my boy, but please try to understand. I once believed I knew everything there was to know about being a Hero; that I had every solution at my fingertips. That confidence was what gained me the loyalty and friendship of my old comrades back in those days, and it's exactly what led to the Flash, and all the deaths that came with it. I'm done hiding from my responsibilities as a Hero, but I can't take the risk of letting someone's confidence in me put them at risk of death, not again."

STAMP!

A sudden pounding of Eijirou's foot to the floor rendered Tunguska silent, as the red-haired boy continued to look into his eyes, not imploringly, but empathetically. "Tunguska-sensei, don't you see that by acknowledging that failing of yours at all, you're proving my point about what a great teacher you are? It means you're learning and growing, just like all of us! Don't you know how easy it could be for you to just write that all off and go around acting like what you think is right or correct simply is, and not learn anything?!

"The way I've come to see it: real teachers are people that never really stop learning about themselves all the way through, and if someone like you can grow as much as I've seen, especially when hearing you talk so much about how you used to be, then how could I possibly ask for a better mentor?" Eijirou was practically aglow by this point, all but tapped out for ideas on how to help Tunguska finally see reason of his own.

Admittedly, Tunguska looked genuinely amazed by just how much heart and thought the sharp-toothed boy had put into every possible argument he could come up with. If that wasn't proof of just how dedicated he was to learning under the former Sun of Justice, then he couldn't possibly guess what was. That momentary silence of contemplation on his part ultimately proved to be exactly what Eijirou expected, as with perfect timing he followed up: "And all of that aside…remember what you said to me the night we had that…well, almost-party at yours and Kolya-san's old house back at the start? You promised, from one man to another; your exact words; that when you got your Pro Hero License and got a job under a Hero Agency, that you would take me in as your intern! I don't care who you ask, one thing that's universal is that real men don't break their promises!"

Eijirou's smile was as bright as day, his fists confidently placed on his hips as he felt his chest swell up with pride at the smoothness with which he'd made his final point. And in the wake of such an old-school display of machismo from such an enthusiastic young Hero, Tunguska's prominent looks of doubt slowly but surely formed into an understanding and heartwarming grin. "Damn right, they don't."

This admittance from the large Slav had Eijirou's eyes almost widening to dinner plate size, just before the Hero placed an approving hand upon his shoulder, causing his red eyes to retract in momentary shock at what was hopefully about to happen.

"You've truly grown into a fine example of Heroic manhood, malenkii Kirishima. You have a truly good heart, and an even sharper head than you think. I can't give a guarantee as of right now, but let's just say that you may be getting your chance to apply to the Fatgum Agency sooner than you think."

Eijirou instinctively sucked in a deep breath of disbelief at his teacher's implication before finally leaping into the air and letting out an echoing cheer of unbridled joy; all while Tunguska chuckled knowingly to himself on his way back to the staff room, knowing now with much more self-assuredness that perhaps having the boy as his intern would not turn out bad at all, in the end, despite his earlier doubts. Besides, with a fellow Hero like Fatgum to work alongside in helping mold Eijirou towards his true potential, then how could any of it possibly go sideways?

Upon their return to the 1-A dorms after school had let out for the day, Nikolay and Mina had been enthusiastically approached by a boundless Eijirou, who had wasted no time in all but screaming from the rooftops about how Tunguska had all but officially accepted him as his intern at the Fatgum Agency, and that all he needed to wait for now was the OK from Fatgum himself for an introduction. Of course, as an unbreakable trio of best friends, Nikolay and Mina couldn't have possibly been happier for him, especially the young Russian himself, as he could just feel with every fiber of his being, what a perfect match the two were.

From there came much more talk from many more of their classmates as to their potential options they wanted to go after, whether it was Ochako wanting to try and reach out to a Hero like Gunhead, or Tsuyu wanting to try and intern under Selky, the very same Hero she had her Field Training assignment with last semester. However, many others were still not entirely sure when asked; while some like Shoto and Bakugo were similarly preferring to keep to themselves, as not only were they the odd men out among the class, but their substitute assignments were to be a series of Provisional Training classes that would be held for them over the next few weekends from the sounds of it.

Of course, with the conversation of Hero Internships being all there was for everyone to talk about all throughout dinner and washing up, it was hardly a surprise that, when night had finally fallen, all Nikolay and Mina could think to do once again was hole up in his dorm room this time (once more keeping themselves out of sight of everyone else before making their way up) and once again try to reach out to the Kamuron Agency Heroes for some kind of update to work off of. Having to give the same neutral answer every time their classmates had asked where they were going to apply was getting more and more stiff and uncomfortable by the hour.

This time having no choice but to simply use Nikolay's phone, they thankfully didn't have to wait long before being eagerly greeted on the other side by Púca, Reflector and everyone else; with the mirror-masked Hero quickly and eagerly taking charge of the conversation: "Excellent timing, Bezpalov-san, Ashido-san! I was hoping we would hear from you again today, because I bring good news! I was able to get in touch with the Heroes at the Kapenta Agency in Hokkaido. Unfortunately, the Pro Hero I was directly interning under back in the day has since retired, but I still know enough of the folks working there to put in a very good word for you two. Thankfully they're more than familiar with you as it is; thanks of course to the Sports Festival and the Vukodlak incident. Considering it was involving one of their old fellow interns, I suppose that's not that surprising."

"For God's sakes, Reflector-san, would you stop leaving the kids hanging by a wire and just give them what they need?!" Púca finally exclaimed with great exasperation once she could finally see the same emotion reflected on Nikolay and Mina's faces as they kept trying to interject, themselves.

With an embarrassed chuckle, Reflector quickly stepped forward and began hurriedly typing up quite a lot by the sounds of it as he continued on: "My apologies. I guess your anticipation and eagerness to intern at my old stomping grounds has gotten me all nostalgic. Anyway, they were more than willing to at least bring you both in for a test run, their idea of an introduction for potential interns. All you both need to do is simply send in your applications so as to make it all official. I imagine your teachers have already provided you with your contracts. So here's all the information you'll need as to where their Agency is located, and the quickest and most efficient routes by train to get there, since let's face it, a trip from anywhere on mainland Japan and Hokkaido is more than a mere hop, skip and a jump. You're both really going to want to manage your time properly if you want to balance your school lives and your Hero Internships all the way out there, I'll just tell you that right now."

With one last resounding click on his end, Reflector sent everything he typed up to Nikolay and Mina's phones respectively, and they were practically tripping over themselves to get it all up so they could dedicate it all to memory, reading it out loud to themselves in grateful unison: "Kapenta Hero Agency, Souya Sub-Prefecture, Arakisu City in Hokkaido! Thank you so much, Reflector-sensei, everyone!" "Yeah, seriously, we owe you guys so much! You're all the best!"

Amid the cacophony of simultaneous goodbyes and wishes of good luck from the rest of the Heroes, Reflector spoke up proudly: "I know you're both more than capable of pulling this off, kids! The Kapenta Agency has a damn fine track record in the Hokkaido area when it comes to taking in and raising their interns into good Heroes! They won't steer you wrong! We all believe in you!"

With that, they finally ended their call, and with their adrenaline and anticipation altogether running at an all-time pace, Nikolay and Mina both quickly pulled out their respective application forms that Aizawa had given them earlier today alongside their actual contracts, and began hurriedly filling out all the information they could with confidence.

However, when it finally came down to the last item on the form, regarding any specific inquiries they had about their own internships, the two best friends simultaneously came to a stop and looked uncertainly in each others' eyes; both understanding that their concerns were the same, and they were both just as much at a loss as how to express it.

"Do you really think we should just come right out and ask about being taken in as an automatic team, Kolya-kun? I mean, Reflector-sensei made this place sound pretty big. Even if they didn't take intern teams, they probably have more than enough Heroes there to take us in on our own, so we'd still be interning together, just not literally…right?"

For Mina to be asking this question, after all the optimism she had expressed before about them going for it as one all this time, really drove home for Nikolay how seriously she was taking this, just as much as he was. However, it was similarly clear that she wasn't asking this just to get it out in the open; she genuinely needed to hear what his thoughts were before making the decision for herself. That was a serious dedication on her part towards trying to help their preferred internship method come to fruition if he'd ever seen it. This was still just as much a team effort.

Thankfully, Nikolay was far from floundering for an answer as he usually did, as he looked upon his own form with a conflicted light in his green eyes, before finally taking a steadying breath and meeting Mina's uncertain gaze head on. "It's just like you said before, Mina: we've managed to help each other grow so much in just this short amount of time alone. I'm not a superstitious person, but I can't believe that that kind of thing just happens without a real reason behind it. I feel like the fact we've learned how to work so well together already has to be some kind of sign we're meant to try it this way. I think we should go for it, and once it's out there…just simply try and hope for the best. We'll at least know we've both done our part in it. No one will be able to say we haven't."

For as straightforward and simple an answer as it ultimately was, it was thankfully enough to bring the encouraged glowing smile back to Mina's pink face as she held her application form up like it was already a graduation diploma. "You're right, Kolya-kun! We're like a regular dynamic duo! We've been in this together with everyone so far; I'm not about to let that get broken up now!"

With that, and their hearts once again finally united as one in their equal determination, Nikolay and Mina finally finished filling out their forms, scanning photos of them on their phones and sending them out to the official website of the Kapenta Agency in dual record time. Setting their phones down and taking those few moments to catch their collective breaths together, the two teens finally felt like a great weight had been removed from their shoulders. What had once been nothing but nervous uncertainty now felt like true confidence in the future. If this could work out, and they could finally cross this hurdle, then they both knew there was finally nothing else to stop them from crossing the last gap between them that essentially held the key to everything inside them.

PING! PING!

In similar record time, both their phones suddenly let out the notification sounds for emails, and they hurriedly got them both back up; their eyes wide with surprise and excitement when they realized just where their respective messages had come from: The Kapenta Hero Agency.

Opening them up, Nikolay immediately began reading it out loud: "Dear Nikolay Bezpalov, we're happy to have received the dual Hero Internship applications from you and your classmate Mina Ashido. In complete honesty, we had been anticipating receiving your forms since receiving a personal vouching for you both from our old associate, Reflector. Our Agency trained him to develop a good judge of character, and if he believes you're both proper material for our Agency, then that speaks well in your favors."

Bouncing excitedly on the tips of her toes, Mina hurriedly followed in his place: "'We would be more than happy to meet you both for an introduction tomorrow, since Sunday is still a day off, even for Hero schools. Here's all the information you need on how to get here from Shizuoka Prefecture the fastest, but we still recommend you get an early start if we can make the most of your visit. We hope to see you both soon.' Oh my God, Kolya-kun, it actually worked! We can actually do it together!"

For what felt like the first time in months, Mina's cheer carried no lingering trace of nervousness or uncertainty about anything anymore, and the brightness of her smile felt so nostalgic for Nikolay to see, as he was smiling near to the same degree as she was, even as she instinctively threw her arms around him to try and help spread her excitement his way. Of course, just as quickly did Mina let Nikolay go as her eyes were wide with realization. "Oh, damn, it's already dark, and we gotta get up super early if we wanna get there in time! Good night, Kolya-kun! I'll see you bright and early!"

With another brief good night hug complete with momentarily hopping happily off her feet as she held Nikolay, Mina practically darted out his room for her own, leaving Nikolay to relish in just how good it felt to know that, just when it felt like they were in an inescapable emotional and mental maelstrom, things between himself and Mina were finally starting to fall into place.

Of course, he couldn't dwell on that fact for too long, as he quickly decided to follow her surprisingly responsible example and practically threw himself into bed and tried to force himself into a state of deep sleep; all the while continuously wishing to himself that tomorrow would go as smoothly as he hoped it would, as well as relishing in the lingering warmth across his body from his best friend's joyous embrace, for once not feeling like his heart was going to explode the more he thought about it. Tomorrow was going to be quite the experience, no matter what would happen; that was the only thing he could say to himself with any certainty.

Freedom Square, Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, September 6th

In the wide and spacious commemorative square that stood within the heart of the Georgian capital, with the golden statue of St. George atop the white marble pillar at one end gleaming brilliantly in the early afternoon sun; the people, locals and tourists alike, were bustling about all around without a single care in the world, even despite the unusual amount of military vehicles running up and down the streets across the city throughout the course of the day.

Freedom Square had been a popular tourist destination in the city of Tbilisi for centuries, even long before the advent of Quirks. But in those days past, and in fact very recently in the grand scheme of things, there had been another addition made to the square standing at the opposite end from St. George's golden statue: an immaculately carved marble sculpture of a single young adult woman with an angelic and loving smile upon her flawless face; her hair long and silken blowing gracefully down to her knees, and her arms outstretched towards the sky, with the single most pristine pair of feathery wings extending from the lengths of her arms down to her feet. Instead of her eyes looking upwards to the heavens, they were instead focused downward to the people on the ground below. Even through the form of a marble sculpture, the artist had managed to capture the intended emotion behind her eyes: an expression of pure selflessness and love for all she saw, as though this was her way of promising all those that saw her that she would give everything she had to protect them.

And this intention and feeling behind such a masterful work of art was far from lost on two particular tourists looking upon the sculpture from in front of its base; a taller middle-aged Turkish-looking man in a beige suit jacket over a black dress shirt with flowing long brown hair, and a comparatively smaller young Japanese-looking girl in a dark blue sundress with long flowing black hair that had been tied into a single bun on the back of her head, with a pair of smart-looking red-framed reading glasses over her red eyes.

Of course, to literally anyone across the square, these were just two more nameless nobody tourists among a sea of nothing but that very thing. But between them, they were something else on an entirely different level, even if the girl between them had her attention focused solely on the brass plaque at the base of the sculpture.

"Dammit, how is anyone sadistic enough to come up with a whole writing system that literally looks like nothing but scribbles? I can't read any of this stuff, how am I supposed to know who this is? She obviously must be someone real important; why go to the trouble of making a statue, otherwise? Hey, do you know how to read this stuff? I wanna know who this lady is! Come on, please?"

Before the girl beside him could start her annoying habit of repeatedly asking with 'please' over and over again like a little child, the taller man beside her let out a low hiss to get her to quiet down. "Would you stop? Disguises or not, making a scene is still making a scene, Toga-san. Anyway…I can read Georgian, but I don't need to here. I can tell you all there is to know about this woman. You see…this is…was the Number One Hero in all of Georgia: Gamayun, the Songbird Hero of Tbilisi. I knew her well from back in the days of Tunguska's old Hero team: The New Bogatyrs. They all came from all over the Soviet Bloc and joined together to form this team as some kind of unifying act between all the Soviet nations.

"Gamayun…she was definitely one of the most special people out of the bunch. Not only was she Tunguska's closest partner, but…she was also his wife." Thankfully, this time around, Himiko Toga was not as absent-minded and prone to letting her attention get drawn elsewhere as usual, as this latest bit of news had her eyes practically aglow. "Whoa, are you for really real? Wait…so if Tunguska is Kolya-kun's father…then you mean this…G-Gama—Gamayun lady…she's his mother?"

"Was his mother, let's not make any mistake about that, alright?" the disguised Vukodlak noted under his breath; his last words trailing off as Himiko simply looked upon the angelic figure overhead with a whole new excitement to her thankfully disguised fanged smile. "Wow, the son of two Number One Heroes; that is so cool! Oh, she's so pretty…"

While Himiko continued gawking over the sculpture, however, Vukodlak took his eyes off the nostalgic sight, now focusing his extensive gaze across all their surroundings, but only by moving his head so as not to draw even the slightest bit of attention to himself or his young partner.

"Hey, hey, there's something I don't get, though. Ever since that fight with Sensei, All Might and Tunguska, all this news about that big lug has been blowing up online, so of course I just had to see for myself. Tomura even filled me in on some of the stuff he learned about him from Sensei himself, all before we got you out, of course. The way I understood it, after that whole Siberian Flash thing, the whole Soviet Union collapsed, and the government that took its place pretty much had all Quirked people renounced and all the Hero and Quirk-related stuff torn down. So why is this statue still up? I mean, Georgia was part of that whole Bloc thing, right?"

Vukodlak hurriedly placed just the right kind of firm hand on Himiko's shoulder, turning her back around and motioning her to a nearby bench on the edge of the square, still making sure to keep his voice low: "I shouldn't have to remind you not to mention names at all costs. We may be far removed from Japan, but any news regarding All Might echoes the world over, and that may very well include the League of Villains, so keep any details of that to yourself while we're out in public. Understand?"

Of course she was just about to try and argue back, but a single piercing sideways glance from him left her simply crossing her arms and hunching her shoulders; cheeks puffed out in a childish pout. At least he was convinced she got the message, and thus, with a calming sigh, he was now looking back to Gamayun's sculpture. "Anyway, in regards to your question…the truth is that, out of all the Soviet Bloc nations, Georgia was actually the only nation to suffer the least amount of damage; property and collateral alike; in the immediate wake of the Siberian Flash.

"Plus, whereas many nations view their Number One Heroes as symbols of just that: Heroes; Gamayun was beloved in this country as that and so much more. She was like a very beacon of who they were as a people, and what they could all aspire to be. She was quite literally the angel of this nation, as far as the people were concerned. I'm still not quite sure how the local government pulled it off, especially with just how fired up Russia's new government was at that time, but the Georgians somehow managed to convince them to let them keep this statue intact as a symbol of what she represented to them in whole, as well as a way to honor the sacrifice she'd made. After all, she wasn't the one directly responsible for the Flash like Tunguska was.

"Lastly, in the years that followed…well, even from the beginning, Georgia never had the same kind of Quirked population ratio to the Quirkless like all the other nations did, so Russia's government didn't consider this place as a whole as quite an imminent threat as the others…although, that still didn't stop them from sending me out here for the wet work a few times over all those years. That's why I'm as familiar with everything in this city as I am, in case you were about to ask."

Himiko immediately brought her inquisitive raised hand right back down with a disappointed grunt that he was cutting her off before she could even say anything. Of course, her curiosity was as boundless as her energy as her eyes just as quickly lit up again. "You know, you really seem to know a lot about this lady Hero. Did you fight her a lot like you did with Tunguska?"

Vukodlak let out an especially bitter sigh at this, but just as Himiko was about to try defending herself for asking a simple question, she soon noticed that his eyes now looked especially distant, even disguised as they were. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to bring this up with any of you, especially so soon, but…a long time ago, there was a point where I'd actually let myself get lulled into being a Hero right alongside the rest of the New Bogatyrs, Gamayun and Tunguska included."

Himiko already had her hands over her mouth to try and hide the excited smile on her face. "Whoa, are you for real?! I thought that kind of choice was, like, lifelong! What made you go back, though?" Another timely glare from Vukodlak thankfully managed to clue Himiko into not spouting off any vital details of what he'd just told her, not with the crowds around them. So choosing her words very carefully, she asked the most pertinent question, earning another wry chuckle out of the man.

"Simple: I woke up to how the world really works for the people on the ground level, the ones who suffer under the weight of Heroes, people like us. That's why I want to help get rid of all of them, so the real people of this world don't have to keep suffering like that."

The silence that lingered between Vukodlak and Himiko became especially heavy as his gaze momentarily drifted back to the Gamayun sculpture a little ways away. "Although, if I'm being perfectly honest, and don't you dare read more into this than what I'm saying…but, out of all the Heroes I've known in all my time…Gamayun…she was easily the one I…hated the least. The only one whose death ever came the closest to actually making me shed a tear. But that was a lifetime ago."

Himiko was thankfully smart enough to respect Vukodlak's warning and not press any further on this particular button, although that still didn't stop her from grinning knowingly to herself in her head. However, now they once more found themselves in that hated awkward silence that she could never stand to be in, now following his example and scanning the crowd around them, all while tapping her feet impatiently.

"Hey, if you were still blind all the times you came out here before, how can you possibly know who this target of ours is among all these people?" To Vukodlak's relief, she was finally thinking ahead enough to keep her voice to a hushed whisper; the kind that could easily have been lost in all the ambient noise around them for regular people, but for him still came in as clear as a bell.

"That's the first thing you need to take to heart if you ever want to be a truly effective hunter of anything. At any possible moment, a number of things can go wrong, many of which could greatly incapacitate you. As such, you need to be able to train your senses to be able to make up for the ones you may potentially lose. That's exactly what I did, even though my Quirk already gave me sharply enhanced senses to begin with. Luckily for you, I can give you the training you need for that once we're finished up in this country and hitting the road. You'll need it, too, since once we're on the move, we'll have relatively little time to get everything we'll need to fortify our strength and bring our payback to that piece of shit Overhaul, his whole organization, and the Heroes to boot. Luckily for us, the task I sent the others out on will help us immensely in the long run while we're in this part of the world."

Himiko was all but squirming with anticipation where she sat now that she knew for a fact that Vukodlak was offering to train her to hunt even better than she already could. She had half a mind to just start bugging him for pointers at the very least. Of course, the fact that he was being so gruff and serious was a surefire sign she had to be just as much, or at least she had to pretend to be, as she instead thought of where Tomura and Twice had been sent to while they were out here in the public eye.

"Hey, how can you be so sure that the gang you sent To—I mean, the guys out to, will still be holed up in the same place you met them last? I mean, you said yourself that was years ago. Isn't it possible they moved on elsewhere by now? You know he won't be happy if he finds out you sent him to a dead end."

Vukodlak had to silently applaud Himiko for thinking to ask the more pertinent questions most common thugs wouldn't even stop to think about. However, while she did bring up a good point, it did nothing to stifle the confidence he had when he had sent Tomura and Twice out that way to begin with. "Well, thankfully these particular scoundrels I sent our friends to check on were never exactly the sharpest tools in the shed where it counts. Just a bunch of overly ambitious Quirkless bums wanting to carve out their own microscopic little piece of the criminal pie. They'd definitely be stupid enough to keep themselves rooted where I last saw them."

Himiko had come to familiarize herself with Vukodlak's way of thinking and controlling his emotions enough to where she knew when he had the utmost confidence in things. Thus far, that confidence hadn't steered them wrong yet. However, she still couldn't help but ask: "So how exactly did you know about this gang of dummies to begin with? I mean, you said yourself that Quirkless criminals and Villains teaming up never really worked."

Thinking back, Vukodlak once again found himself feeling strangely nostalgic. "Well, over the years I was working as Moscow's hunting dog, there'd been a few choice times when I wasn't able to get my hands on a sample of my target's blood to hone in on them with. This was usually the issue if I got sent outside the borders of Russia itself. If that were the case, I'd come to discover that it actually paid to familiarize and make connections with some of the local Quirkless criminal activity. Sure, by and large they aren't nearly as organized as the criminal organizations of old; but if you knew the right names to look for in the right places, you could find scumbags with direct access to all the right back channels of information to help you find even the most tenacious runaway wannabe Heroes or stubborn Vigilantes.

"That all being said, the last time I worked with this particular gang, my work ultimately ended up helping them establish a foothold for themselves as a somewhat successful bunch of gun-runners. But now that the League is here this time around, we can just wipe the slate clean of these thick-headed morons and take their hardware for our own. Trust me; it'll give us more than an advantageous edge in the long run."

Keeping his eyes and ears wide open, Vukodlak once again let himself get back into full focus mode, but after a good several seconds of pure silence from Himiko followed, that's when he knew he wasn't going to be able to really work like he'd hoped just yet; finally glancing her way to find her watching him just as intently with an equally driven grin on her face. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that, so many times since we got you out, the others have asked why I act so…well, 'like a fangirl,' they're fond of saying, specifically. Everything you just described just now answers that question, and it just figures none of them are here to hear it. That ruthlessness, that ability of yours to just adapt to anything and everything without even breaking a sweat, all on top of how you're able to fight; all those things are why I've been thinking you're so cool for this long. And the fact you actually wanna teach me anything just made this one of the best days ever already. I'd love to be able to do the kind of stuff you can. Hell, just being able to speak all these different languages just so I can do what I want where and when I want would be nice enough, you know?"

While Himiko was once again rambling on and on, progressively leaving Vukodlak on edge that she would inevitably let something slip she shouldn't; his right ear suddenly perked up, having managed to discern one specific thing he'd been listening closely for amid everything else, forcing him to bring an objecting hand up. "Shush! Be quiet for a second…he's here. Finally. Take a look, discreetly, and tell me if you see anyone approaching that sculpture of Gamayun specifically."

With the key word of her instructions being 'discreet,' Himiko carefully pulled out a little pocket mirror from her skirt and carefully angled it so she could see the sculpture from behind her without making it obvious she was watching.

While all the other people passing through the square were simply going about their day, there was one single individual standing intently at the base of Gamayun's sculpture that she could see. "Yeah, one person: an old man. He's short, got a receding white hairline and a short bushy mustache. Looks like a total ojii-san if you ask me. His clothes are pretty nice looking for casual, though. He's all hunched over, but it looks like one of his legs is straighter than the other."

"Yeah, just as I thought. That's our guy. What's he doing right now?" Vukodlak immediately responded, keeping his voice low as though he were talking under his breath. Following his instructions still, Himiko kept her eye on this otherwise inconspicuous, unremarkable geezer. "He's setting a really nice bouquet at the base…and I think he's praying or something, I can just barely see his lips moving. He looks like he's really into it, too; I think he might be crying, but it's hard to tell from here. Oh! Wait, that was fast, he's already leaving."

Just like that, Vukodlak suddenly rose back to his feet, nearly making Himiko fumble with her pocket mirror with surprise, only for him to sternly yet calmly take her hand and guide her back to her feet as well, leaving the young girl wide-eyed and still with surprise, all while her larger Slavic partner never took his eyes off the now departing old man. "Alright, stay close to me and don't make any rash movements unless I say so. While he is our target, he's not going to have what we're looking for directly on him, so we need to see where he settles down, and that's where we'll make our move. Now come on."

Himiko was more than happy to finally be on the move again, and for the next several minutes they kept their distance while never taking their eyes off their pleasantly walking elderly target ahead of them, on a walk that took them through multiple twisting yet pleasant alleyways and back roads through the heart of Tbilisi. Over time, the hustle and bustle of the inner city finally began to give way to the especially pleasant quiet of the more secluded suburban areas. The clear blue afternoon skies and the mountainous plains all too visible in the far distance just added to the calming peace of this part of the city.

And it was because of that now persistent silence, that Himiko knew she had to be especially quiet, as all this walking and watching had driven her curiosity into another fever pitch. "Hey, Vukodlak-san, who exactly is this old guy, anyway? How do you know he's so important?"

Whereas before, the act of Himiko actually referring to him by name in public would have nearly driven Vukodlak to forcibly shut her up, the fact that there were nearly no other people outside in these parts, and this time she was actually remembering to keep quiet, had him simply giving a resigned yet ultimately calm sigh. She hadn't managed to get them caught thus far, and she clearly had the right mindset for learning when it came to being with him, so he figured she at least deserved to know that much, especially for what they ultimately had in store for this unsuspecting old man before them.

"That man up there; his name is Tamaz Abashidze. I first met him back in the days when I was actually one of The New Bogatyrs. Not only did he used to be a prominent figure in the Georgian military, but most importantly, he was actually one of the heads of a Soviet Union-wide initiative for Quirked citizenry cataloguing." While this was purely common knowledge for Vukodlak, he could already just feel the confusion taking root in Himiko's head, since this was clearly contradicting what little she thought she knew about the situation for Quirk-users in these parts.

"What I mean is that, before the Siberian Flash turned the whole Union against Quirked people as a whole, he was one of the heads of an initiative to catalogue and record all pertinent information on every citizen in the Soviet Union who had a Quirk; from what their Quirk could actually do, to their family history, all the way down to even collecting a tiny DNA sample from each and every one.

"This wasn't something he'd helped come up with; this initiative had been put into effect ever since the onset of Quirks, and the first Quirked Soviet citizen was born. He just got promoted into the role." As Vukodlak explained exactly the untold amounts of potentially juicy info this bland-looking old man had access to, Himiko had to really choke down the excited giggle coming up her throat.

"Wow, no wonder you wanted us to come all the way out here then. A family history and all the DNA that comes with it? That sounds like exactly the kind of thing we'd need if we wanna get rid of Tunguska along with all the other Heroes, in case that egghead doctor's whole plan with Midoriya-kun and Kolya-kun's blood doesn't work out. So, if you were blind all the other times you came here after first meeting this guy, then how did you know he would be coming to that statue at that exact time?" As Himiko asked him the latest of her seemingly endless questions, Vukodlak once again found himself thinking back.

"Each time I was sent out here for my hunting work, I'd have to stick around for at least a week in order to case out the places I had to go to, and figure out exactly who I was dealing with and how many. I'd often go to the Freedom Square when I needed to think each day. Over time, I came to recognize the pattern of that man's walking, from the distinct crunching leather sound of one of his shoes, which he never bothered to have fixed, to the very slight dragging limp when he walks, thanks to an old gunshot wound to his left leg. It was always on Saturdays around high noon that I would always hear that same crunch and brief dragging footstep, without fail each and every time. I'd even heard it from him the very first time we'd met face to face. After all this time, there's no way I could mistake it for anyone else.

"Either way, what he has to give us is strictly for our future uses, while our comrades' mission will help us in the immediate future. So just stick with me, follow my instructions, and we'll be able to pull this off without any problems, and you'll get to learn something." Vukodlak's restrained declaration still carried all the gravitas Himiko could have asked for, as she momentarily stopped in her tracks, keeping her balled hands in front of her mouth to try and muffle her downright giddy giggling at the realization that Vukodlak was effectively taking her under his wing, before just as quickly swallowing her excitement and hurrying to catch up with Vukodlak on her tiptoes, so as to avoid making any attention-grabbing noise along the rest of the way.

Just as Vukodlak had been so sure of when they had first arrived in this city yesterday; nobody gave even a secondary glance to neither Tomura nor Twice as they explored the sparsely populated neighborhood their impromptu guide had directed them toward. Of course, Tomura keeping his hood drawn over his head helped keep people from noticing his extensive wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, as well as his scars; while Twice constantly looking over the local map they had been given (with the intended route and their ultimate destination drawn on it for good measure) simply added to the whole illusion that they were just a hapless pair of tourists.

However, as directionless as they may have looked to any of the few locals passing by, the two Villains couldn't have been farther off. Right now, simply reflecting on everything Vukodlak had told them about what he needed from them, they were now on their way to the hideout of a local gang of smugglers he'd worked with from way back in his professional Hero hunting days; the kinds of people with the hardware that he was all but certain would be able to help them in the long run while they were all the way out here.

Of course, for as confident as Vukodlak himself was in their grand plan, Twice was simply looking at the map and their surroundings with a nervous, apprehensive eye. "Man, so much of this just won't add up in my head! This whole place is built like some lopsided maze. How can he possibly know where all this different shit is if he was blind all the times he came here?"

"He was able to fight the lot of us to a standstill without his eyes, and was able to hold his own against a whole Agency of Heroes, on top of hunting and killing countless others beforehand, all while blind, and that's the part you're hung up on? Look, he hasn't given us a reason to doubt his loyalties so far. If he thinks that what we'll find at this place can help us, then that's all I care about," Tomura muttered as he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of people listening in on them or watching them with any degree of focus.

Truth be told, as much as he was simply telling Twice to keep his head in the game and not complain, Tomura's head wasn't entirely in the moment, either. In fact, the more they walked in this awkward forced silence, the more he found himself thinking back to that one particular moment when they had first arrived; that moment of skull-rending pain in the pit of his brain.

No matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, there was simply no doing that. In a lifetime of nothing but pain of every kind, he'd never felt something quite as soul-piercing as this, and that was bothering him exponentially, and only growing more so with each passing moment. Thankfully for him and everyone else, that sensation hadn't come back to him since then, even if it had only been a day, but he could actually still feel the slightest trace of that similar tingling sensation constantly tracing the back of his mind.

Thinking back on it, when he had tried to describe it as though some unknown force was acknowledging his presence, Tomura found himself thinking with notable concern: 'If I'm right, and that's what that sensation was…then is that same force still trying to reach out to me? Is that why this feeling won't stop?! This feeling is so different from Sensei's telepathy. Just what the hell is doing this to me? Where is it?'

While Tomura was still ruminating on this, and Twice was still trying to make sense of the map, the two Villains eventually ended up rounding another corner to a slowly curving road, where standing at the side of it a ways down was a rather large but abandoned-looking warehouse. At least, that's the way anyone would have seen it if they couldn't hear the many gruff-sounding voices echoing from inside it.

At the sound of that, Twice once again began looking the map over extensively, this time with Tomura following suit, and comparing all the turns they took between the safe house and where they now were, it quickly became apparent that they had finally stumbled upon their destination.

As they both began to scan their surroundings for a good eavesdropping spot, they could hear the sound of the one door to the warehouse starting to open, followed by the sound of two different men chattering to each other in Georgian. While their immediate instinct was to stay out of sight, Tomura quickly managed to regain his focus. "Don't panic. Remember, the people out here don't know our faces. Just play it natural, and I can get us eyes into that place. See just what we're dealing with."

Further up the way, a single man in long-since worn out jeans and an equally aged leather jacket, with tattoos adorning his face, stepped out the doorway, grumbling to himself the entire way to a small alley just between the warehouse and the next building over. Soon his grumbling turned to an atrociously off-key kind of singing as he started to undo his fly in the natural cover of the alley shadows.

Just at the moment his hand reached his zipper, though, the thug suddenly found himself getting his arms yanked behind his back and a single hand clasped to his mouth tight to keep him from shouting for help. In a manner of seconds, he suddenly felt a roll of measuring tape being quickly and thoroughly wrapped around the diameters of his head, torso, arms and legs, as well as their length and his overall height. Confusion only made the shock and frigid sweat all culminate together into a sense of pure panic.

A panic he would go on to die with, as the moment Twice had confirmed he'd gotten all the measurements he needed, Tomura finally applied his Decay through the hand he was using to muffle this brainless goon's mouth, watching the light instantly vanish from his terrified eyes, before just as quickly crumbling into dust into his imploding skull, as his whole body quickly crumbled and disintegrated into a pile of dust between the two men, without a single sound having gained the attention of any of the other men inside.

Upon making sure nobody else was coming outside to investigate their now deceased colleague's whereabouts, Tomura quickly turned to Twice. "Alright, go ahead and make a copy and see how many people we're dealing with and what we may need to take with us. I'll keep an eye out for any trespassers."

Twice began to breathe deep, closing his eyes and focusing enough on applying all the measurements to go along with the appearance of the man Tomura had just killed, and within seconds, upon taking two steps back, his body separated itself from a quickly forming figure standing in the same pose as him, only this one quickly took on the exact appearance of their victim, looking as though nothing had happened.

Upon opening its eyes, Twice proceeded to mentally command his newly made copy to head back the way the original had gone through the door into the warehouse proper, being able to see and hear everything the copy itself did. Inside, the warehouse was alive with the noise of numerous different lines of Georgian chatter among nearly a dozen other men in similarly trashy street punk clothes. Some were set up on the rusted metal walkways above the working floor, while the ground floor itself was lined with half a dozen large panel vans, which several of the other gang members were busily loading large official-looking crates into, with one pair of men at a time either ascending from or descending into the stairs leading to an apparent basement level.

Following the seemingly natural flow of his fellows; Twice sent the copy casually down into the basement level. From end to end, there were either people busily scrubbing away the serial numbers on an assortment of all kinds of firearms; other people busily assembling said scrubbed guns; or people loading up what looked like plastic explosives into secure foam mats inside more of the very same crates that were being loaded into the vans up above.

"Holy shit. These people have enough armaments and explosives to fully supply a small army." Twice noted for Tomura, as he kept trying to focus on driving the copy in a way that wouldn't rouse any suspicion from the others. Listening to the surprise in his comrade's voice, Tomura could at least begrudgingly understand now why Vukodlak wanted them to go so far out of their way in this unfamiliar town.

Back in the basement, Twice's copy was still surveying the room, watching how quickly and efficiently these gang members were working their hardware in a way that would make them both untraceable and easy for any sucker of a buyer on the street to use. The abundance of explosives alone could set one's imagination running wild with all the possibilities of who would buy them for what.

Making his way to a farther corner of the basement, the copy's eyes soon fell upon an assortment of crates that looked notably different from all the others, with even further unfamiliar markings stamped on the sides. Unable to resist a peek inside, what Twice found through the copy's gaze left him both surprised and greatly confused. "The hell? These crates in the back…they're full of nothing but bracelets? Plain, handcuff-looking bracelets?"

At the very same moment he and Tomura both felt the same sense of total confusion at such meaningless things in a crate that had all this kind of hardware in comparison, a boisterous voice suddenly called out to the copy in the basement: {{Hey, Levan, what do you think you're doing?!}}

Acting on total instinct, Twice had the copy turn back to address whoever was doing the yelling, and just as he'd feared, there was a bulkier bald man with similar face tattoos and piercings looking his copy over like a massive bear to a quivering little mouse.

Twice wasn't sure what the right course of action was, especially with him and Tomura still being so close by, but before he was about to start panicking, the larger thug suddenly cracked a genuinely amused grin. {{I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to resist getting a look at the new merchandise. I hardly can, either. It's been too damn long we've been waiting to finally get our hands on a shipment of these. C'mon, Avtandil and the others are giving some of them a test run in the yard. We gotta check this shit out.}}

Before Twice could try to come up with a way for the copy to react, the large man suddenly took it by the wrist and began ushering it along up the stairs and out the opposite door of the warehouse, which opened up to an expansive empty yard, where several other men were already all gathered around; each one carrying one of those same bracelets in their hands, and all quickly turning to acknowledge their two new spectators, with a scrawnier man with a grey crew cut eagerly stepping forward.

"What the hell's going on in there, Twice?" Tomura asked with an edge of growing impatience as he kept standing watch in the mouth of the alleyway, while Twice was trying to maintain focus. "I don't know, I can't understand a word these people are saying, but there's way more of them than I was expecting. It looks like several of them in the yard out back have those same bracelets from down below. I think they might want to show me how it works? They all look excited enough."

{{Hey, Davit, it took you and Levan long enough to finally get your asses out here. You've gotta check these things out; they all do exactly like we were told they would! I'd like to see any upstart smugglers try to muscle in on us once we have these babies on every man here! Check it out!}} The moment the grey-haired gang member stopped rambling on with unmistakable excitement, Twice watched intently as he suddenly put the bracelet on around his left wrist. The moment it snapped shut, a bright red ring suddenly illuminated all across it, earning a number of expectant chuckles and murmurings from the other onlooking men.

Without any hesitation, after a momentary jolt shook his entire body, the grinning gang member suddenly approached a particularly hefty-looking rusted wreck of an industrial-sized truck. After rolling his shoulders once or twice to pop the joints, he suddenly grabbed onto the axle of the vehicle itself, and with what looked like barely any effort at all, he suddenly threw the whole damn thing up into the air, sending it crashing deafeningly several yards away further down the yard.

Following his lead, another of the men wearing a bracelet of his own suddenly threw his fist straight through a cylinder of solid concrete just nearby, sending a perfect fist-sized laceration right through it, with barely any injury to his hand itself, only blowing some of the resultant dust off his knuckles while the other men all started to laugh and cheer.

{{Isn't it amazing, man?! With these hijacked bracelets at our disposal, who would ever even need a Quirk in order to accomplish anything around here anymore? This finally puts us above the rest of the playing field for life!}} The hulking thug all but bellowed this declaration of victory, with all the other men cheering in kind, while Twice simply watched the aftermath of these little tests with wide eyes through his copy.

"My God…Tomura-san…to hell with the guns and the explosives. Those bracelets are a whole other ball game." Tomura finally took his eyes off the outside street and approached his dumbstruck compatriot with a discerning eye. "Be specific, what exactly did you see them do? Did it have anything to do with all that noise nearby?"

Twice had to really struggle to keep his mental focus on maintaining control of his copy in front of all these men, while still trying to put the words together properly to answer Tomura. "These bracelets…I don't think any of these guys have Quirks, with what Vukodlak-san told us…but these bracelets gave them strength like no Quirkless person could have; durability too, from the looks of it. Tomura-san…if these little things could give that much of an edge to a bunch of Quirkless nobodies…"

Already, Tomura was more than catching Twice's drift, as his dried out and scarred mouth began forming an anticipating grin the more he thought about it, especially knowing there was no way Twice would be playing around right now. Looking in the direction he had heard all the crashing come from; his red eyes practically ignited with eagerness. "…then just imagine what they could be able to do for us. Alright, get yourself settled into one of the other buildings near here; I think it's safe to say much of this neighborhood's been abandoned. Keep controlling the copy and don't raise any suspicion. Keep your burner phone handy for when we all need to contact you for the next step of our mission here. I'm going to get back to the safe house."

Without further ado, Tomura hastily made his way back out onto the street, keeping his hands tucked into his pockets as he made his way back, leaving Twice on his own to find a spot in one of these buildings to hole up in, all while trying to remember to keep consistent control of his copy.

After an extensive bit of time continuing to quietly and subtly follow the old man named Tamaz Abashidze from the Freedom Square all the way to another part of the city Vukodlak referred to as the Old City, the old man had finally come to what had to be his own destination; a rather aged yet sizeable home behind a wrought iron fence, standing on the edge of the west bank of the Kura River. And if this was his stop, then it would be Vukodlak and Himiko's, too.

Looking over the place from the outside once their target was no longer in sight, Himiko let out a poor attempt at a whistle. "This place is definitely bigger than I thought for such an ojii-san. You don't think he has servants or family we should look out for, do you?"

"No. I'd be hearing other footsteps or voices coming from inside if that were the case; you should know my sense of hearing well enough by now. Still, it's pretty gutsy for a man his age to be living all by himself, even in a relatively quiet neighborhood like this. That'll just make getting what we want from him that much easier. Come on, we don't want any neighbors or passersby to notice us."

Vukodlak was already on the move back to the safe house, with Himiko hurriedly chasing after him in fear of being left behind. Once they were a good enough distance away, all the while momentarily looking back to make sure they weren't being followed by anyone noteworthy as well, she finally got back to speaking with that childish curiosity: "So all that info you said this guy has access to that we're taking, is it like a big old book, or does he have the key to where it's being hidden? How exactly are you thinking we do this?"

Vukodlak never broke his stride as they dipped into another narrow alley, out of sight of any civilians. "At the very least, he'll have the information we'll need in order to get to it at all, so we work our way up from there. Now that we know where he hangs his hat, we'll come back at nightfall to make our move; the trip will be much less time consuming now that we know where to go from the safe house. Once we get there, then until sunset, we'll just have to wait for the others to get back to us with the supplies we need for the rest of our journey.

"Plus, I can use that time to at least help you learn how to read and speak some Russian for when we get out of Georgia. It'll do you some real good to be able to actually communicate with others for yourself if need be." At this sudden change in conversational tone, Himiko momentarily paused to make sure he wasn't just pulling her leg. When Vukodlak once again didn't stop, she was once more grinning and giggling cheerfully to herself. "Y'know, I always thought language classes were sooo boring back in school. Maybe a teacher like you can change that, right?"

Vukodlak could just hear that Himiko was practically skipping along with energetic cheer right beside him, rolling his eyes in response. "This isn't about fun; you said you want to learn how to be a real hunter like me. Well, being able to completely blend into your surroundings, especially in social environments, is one of the most important steps you can take towards that. Keep that in mind, and you should have no trouble digesting everything I have to offer. Now let's keep it quiet. We still have a ways between here and the safe house."

Himiko simply answered with a cheeky grin and a mock army salute as she followed Vukodlak loyally back to their temporary shelter in this foreign land.

Later that evening…

After a while of waiting in the walls of the safe house, and following through on his offer of linguistics lessons; Vukodlak and Himiko finally found themselves being rejoined solely by Tomura, just at the point the sun had begun to start setting behind the western mountains. Of course, once the momentary relief for his return had come and gone, the Russian and female Villains were quick to realize Twice's absence.

"Tomura-san, why isn't Twice-san with you? Did you manage to secure any of the materials from that warehouse?" Vukodlak was doing admirably to try and keep his emotions of surprise and mutual disappointment alongside his comrades under wraps; namely for the fact that, despite clearly not having the answers his comrade wanted, Tomura didn't look to be nearly as downtrodden. In fact, there was actually a look of genuine anticipation on his face as he brought out his own burner phone and hit speed dial before setting it down on the table between them, with an answering click and the sound of Twice's voice on the other end quickly following: "Ugh, it's about time you guys finally met back up! Does that mean we're close to finally acting or what? I've been stuck here making this copy play normal with these guys spouting gibberish forever! Barely any time at all!"

With the question of Twice's whereabouts now answered for them, Tomura finally proceeded to explain everything else: "We managed to secure a means to get eyes and ears inside that place. I don't know how many people you were expecting us to have to deal with, Vukodlak, but there's far more than either of us were expecting; a little less than two dozen from what he described to me when scouting the place out. As for the hardware, you were definitely not wrong about the promise. They had plenty of guns of all sizes, as well as some military-grade ordinance and even a healthy supply of plastic explosives and cell phone detonators. The most interesting part, though, was these crates full of these odd bracelets. Through Twice's copy, he told me he could see these Quirkless thugs actually have enhanced physical strength and durability the likes of which they shouldn't ever be capable of developing themselves. Out of everything we found in there, I think that could ultimately be the most vital thing for us to grab."

To Tomura's delight, this news seemed to completely blindside Vukodlak, too; as he had to start pacing around the room in deep thought, clearly trying to reconfigure their whole plan now that he knew this was a piece they could work with. All the while, Himiko was simply watching her new mentor's mental gears turn with anticipation. "I didn't think it was possible for anything else to be able to surprise you so much, Sensei."

Just like that, Vukodlak came to a sudden stop, lacing his fingers together as he took a deep breath. "Neither did I, because the last time I'd heard any talk of such a thing as these bracelets being developed, they amounted to little more than a rumor; some in-the-works means for law enforcement and the army to hold their own against stronger enemies, especially Quirked ones. But now that I know they're actually a real thing finally, and that we can get our hands on them…this was a better find than I could have ever anticipated. Great work, Tomura-san, Twice-san."

Despite the praise being given him by one who was still supposed to be directly under his command in the long run, Tomura was not sharing in the positive air in the room, instead looking Vukodlak dead in the eye. "So now that we've apparently found something that'll help us, now do you feel like giving us the full rundown of exactly what you're hoping to accomplish all the way out here? The League of Villains shouldn't be keeping secrets among its members if we're to actually succeed, especially so far from home."

Vukodlak met Tomura's gaze, easily able to feel just how deathly serious the young man was. He'd been willing to play ball for this long, but now it was time to put everything on the table. As such, Vukodlak leaned forward, planting his hands on the table and systematically switching his piercing gaze between Tomura, Himiko and even the phone through which Twice was still listening.

"There are three factors I'm hoping we can secure for ourselves while we're out here that can help to consolidate and expand our strength for when it's finally time to strike back at Overhaul and all the Heroes. Toga-san and I have been working towards finally securing all the deepest personal information and genetic materials relating to Tunguska and Kolya we could possibly need to take them both out, as per the original reason for you all breaking me out of prison. Second, I'm hoping to have us break a number of long-imprisoned local Villains out of the prison I'd been held in before back in Russia, and having them join our cause. From there, we're going to hit the Kremlin in Moscow, and secure us all the equipment we'll need to strengthen our numbers and come back to Japan as the dominant force of Villains on the playing field. The hardware that you and Twice-san found is only going to make those last two objectives that much easier to accomplish, as well as help immensely in our war against the Heroes…as well as helping us get out of this country undetected."

While Tomura was as silent as the grave, and his narrowing gaze as unreadable as could be, the fact that he wasn't outright breaking down Vukodlak's overall plan bit by bit had to be considered a good sign. At the same time, however, Twice couldn't help but express confusion at the note Vukodlak had left off on: "What exactly do you mean about getting out of here undetected? You made it sound like we could move around practically freely out here."

Looking towards the window that looked out to the city, Vukodlak sighed, clenching his steel-tipped claws into fists. "Did any of you perhaps notice just how many military vehicles were moving throughout the city today? I did, and at first I thought it was simply the local regiment heading off for a training exercise. But there were far too many out and about today for that. While we were out there earlier, Toga-san, I also couldn't help but hear over the TV's on display and the car radios. Apparently, the Russian president is recommending the governments of all former Soviet Bloc nations to reinforce their borders with increased military presence, which is what Russia itself has been doing for the past day."

Tomura's eyes barely widened with surprise at this unexpected turn, while Himiko and Twice alike were impulsively on the verge of shouting their disbelief, with the young girl being the only one to still follow through with it, cocking her head to the side for emphasis: "Are you thinking they somehow found out about us being all the way out here already?! How is that even possible, it's not like we warped out of Japan in broad daylight in front of the whole public! Who blabbed?!"

While he could easily understand his allies' shared surprise, Vukodlak was once again back in deep thinking mode, pacing anxiously in a circle. "No, I can't see how that would be possible. If the government knew about us being here, our faces would be plastered all over every TV screen and empty wall in the entire former Soviet Union.

"Even if they did that, this disguising Quirk of mine would easily remedy that. No, I don't know what could be having the suits up in Moscow acting like this now of all times; it can't possibly be because of Tunguska no longer being in their borders; otherwise they would've done this months ago. It could be a response to these terrorist attacks in Kamchatka and the Urals I heard the news babbling about; not that that makes any difference for us. The point is it's still an obstacle we need to remove."

"So how exactly do you suggest we remove it, then? Even if you were to give us all disguises, it's not like we have paperwork to just get us through, and it's not exactly like we have the time to wait for fake ones to get forged for us, assuming you'd even know anyone around here who could do that. We've got all the time in the world, you know!"

However, just before Vukodlak could answer Twice's increasingly impatient rambling on the other end, Tomura suddenly leaned back in, a glimmer of realization sparking in his eyes. "That's what he means about the explosives being our ticket out of here. He's planning to blow up the border crossing."

As he lifted his gaze to meet his foreign ally's, Tomura felt a smile of approval coming on as Vukodlak nodded in confirmation. "That's right. With my background in synchronized explosives, the ones you found in that warehouse are the key, Twice-san; and not just here, either. You all read about what I did in Erubi City, you all know I'm not tooting my own horn here right now. Luckily, nightfall is just coming upon us, so this is the perfect time for us all to act.

"Toga-san and I are going to pay our own target a house call to get the location of the exact info we need on Tunguska and little Kolya for the fight ahead. At the same time, Tomura-san, you go and reconvene with Twice-san. In the meantime, Twice-san, you try and pocket as many of those enhancing bracelets as you can, as well as at least one crate of those plastic explosives. While you're doing that, take a look at the registry of activation numbers for the cellphone detonators for the other explosives crates going into the other vans. This is serendipitous timing for it, too; because if those idiots haven't changed their ways of operating at all from the last time I worked with them, this should be the very day they send those vans out to deliver their arms shipments to their buyers in all the countries neighboring Georgia."

While Vukodlak was busily envisioning the preferred sequence of events in his head, now Himiko had likewise nearly jumped from the spot at the table she was leaning on; eyes wide with her own realization, almost sparkling to a degree with that same student-style admiration as he continued, ultimately proving her guess and Tomura's correct. "I'm going to sequentially detonate each of those cellphone triggers' explosive payloads when they reach their respective borders. Thankfully, Tbilisi is just about dead center of Georgia, so we wouldn't have to wait very long between them. Doing so will take the Russian and Georgian military's eyes off the spans of the borders in order to focus on managing the damage at the official crossings, thus allowing us to drive through the border into Russia completely undetected. From there, we can find a way to secure future transport for ourselves to get where we really need to go, depending on the information me and Toga-san's target gives us tonight."

While Himiko and Twice were both simultaneously expressing their respective excitement and professional approval of this surprisingly thorough and thought out plan, Tomura, at that very moment, was wincing with especially well-disguised pain, as he suddenly felt that piercing sensation spreading all throughout the inside of his head again. That same agonizing thrumming sound that had pulsated within his brain before was now coming in even louder and fiercer. It was taking everything Tomura had not to start groaning with the pain and drawing his allies' unnecessary concern onto his shoulders. No matter how much he mentally tried to will himself into ignoring this splitting pain, it simply would not relent.

"Come to me, young one. Come and find me; I shall guide you along the path. Come to me…and I shall aid you in achieving that which you desire most…Tomura."

The moment this absolutely unfamiliar resonating voice called Tomura by name, that pain had instantaneously vanished, not even leaving the same lingering trace in the back of his head like it had before. It was almost as if that very minuscule pocket of personal reality and painful sensation had just been erased from existence, and the white-haired Villain found himself once more being looked upon supportively by Himiko and Vukodlak, who was once again meeting his eyes head-on with an expression of silent respect. "Does everything about this plan sound good to you, Tomura-san? I know it seems like I've been calling the shots since we got here, but I don't want something like animosity or uncertainty to get in our way here. You're still the leader of the League, so ultimately, the final call is yours to make."

With this surprising show of humility suddenly being laid out at his feet, accompanied by his desire to gain the power they would need for their victorious comeback, as well as his growing impatience and curiosity as to what this strange new voice in his head was all about; Tomura let out a resolved sigh. "Thank you for saying so, Vukodlak. Being on your old stomping grounds, I know it must take a lot to keep yourself that grounded. However, as long as you truly believe that our following your lead in these parts will get us all the resources we need to truly bury Overhaul, the Shie Hassaikai and every last goddamn one of the Heroes in this world…then I'm willing to go with whatever you say to get this little side quest done."

With an uproarious cheer from Himiko, almost perfectly timed with the sun finally disappearing fully behind the mountains, this four-person detachment of the League of Villains wasted no time moving back out onto their impromptu field of operation that Tbilisi had become, ready to finally begin the first leg of their journey of payback.

Tamaz Abashidze had never been jolted awake in the dead of night in a cold sweat like he had this night. He never had the kind of health problems that typically came with his age that would have left one unable to sleep easily. He knew he lived in a rather safe neighborhood, and he never crossed paths with dangerous people these days. There was no reason for him to be the restless type, all things considered.

However, none of those factors mattered, because as unusual as an incident like this was, Tamaz had no question just what it was that had jolted him so suddenly out of a rather deep sleep. It was one of the most basic things in the world: that pure animalistic instinct that kicked in when someone could just physically sense they were no longer alone; and seeing as he lived alone, that was a sensation he'd become especially honed in on.

Slowly and carefully removing the Makarov pistol inside his nightstand, Tamaz literally tiptoed out of his bedroom and down the hall, carefully checking every door to make sure they were still shut as he had left them. There was no draft coming up the stairs from the living room, so that already proved to him the windows were all still shut. Living right on the river, a breeze was a constant, so if he'd felt such a thing, that would have instantly proven his suspicions even further.

He took each step downwards as carefully as possible, even remembering to step past the fourth one from the bottom, the one that always creaked. With his aged eyes already having by now adjusted to the darkness, he carefully scanned the breadth of the living room, looking for even an outline of something amiss, slowly thumbing back the hammer of his gun in preparation as his heart rate increased with each passing moment.

With a single frigid bead of sweat beginning to roll down his cheek, he finally began to turn his aim towards the entrance hall to his home. At the very moment his gaze began to see the moonlight illuminating the small windowpane upon his door—{{Good evening, Tamaz.}}

In the span of a single exhale, Tamaz suddenly found himself getting grabbed and yanked right off his feet, instinctively pulling the trigger to his Makarov, only for a third hand to come lunging out from the shadow and grabbing the barrel of the gun, slipping one of its fingers right into the space where the hammer was about to push forward and fire off the first shot, effectively preventing it from doing so and rendering his instinctive defensive action worthless.

In a matter of seconds once his gun had been effectively taken away, with a youthful voice hissing in pain from the crushing pressure of the hammer all the while, Tamaz was soon finding himself quickly and thoroughly wrangled and thrown into one of the leather chairs before the fireplace, where he was just as quickly tied up and restrained before he could even try to run. Just as he finally tried to go for the old fashioned means of escape, by screaming for help or someone to call the police, one of those larger hands with frigid cold finger tips that had first grabbed him, firmly slapped itself tight over his mustached mouth.

With panic fueling his blood flow, Tamaz tried desperately to try and wriggle his way out, or at the very least get a look at whoever was so bold enough as to try something this crude and violent on an old man like him. Fortunately, whoever was doing this was clearly one who had no qualms about being seen, as before he knew it, the reading lamp beside the chair was suddenly flicked on, revealing the grinning face of an aged-looking Slavic man with slightly Asian features, grizzled stubble and graying black hair and the most piercing silver eyes. Stepping in right beside him was a much younger purely Japanese-looking girl with pale blonde hair tied into messy twin buns, similar sharp yellow eyes and a childish grin capped with what almost looked like vampire fangs.

Taking in their faces, Tamaz's eyes reflected total confusion, which the man keeping his mouth gagged could identify from a mile away. {{It's been quite some time since the last time we met face to face, hasn't it? I imagine you must not recognize me. I know you definitely don't recognize my young student here. Well, maybe this will help jog your memory.}} "Toga-san, reach into my back right pocket and you'll find the face of my younger self I made when I first got this Quirk. Put it on me so our friend here can know who he's talking to, alright?"

With a cheerful "Okay," Himiko quickly dug out the otherwise featureless cloth-like object from Vukodlak's pocket and slipped it tight over his head from behind as though she were about to strangle someone with a plastic bag. Like a magnet, it just as quickly adhered to the man's head, and before Tamaz's eyes, he was watching this grizzly older man seemingly reverse in age until he soon found himself looking into the cold silver eyes of a face he never thought he would see again in this day and age. That recognition was not lost on his abductor, either, as he saw the old man's expression change and, to Himiko's shock, he finally removed his hand from his mouth, only for Tamaz to not start screaming for help like literally anyone else would have.

{{Vukodlak…so you really are still alive, after all. All these years since the Siberian Flash, I'd been hearing rumors that the Russians had actually let you out and made you their personal attack dog, hunting down everyone left in the former Bloc with Quirks that hadn't already been arrested or shot…but even for as much sense as it made, I didn't want to believe it.}}

With complete and total suddenness and precision, Vukodlak suddenly lashed his arm forward, clutching Tamaz by the face and leaning in so he couldn't break eye contact if he tried, smiling still all the while. {{For a while, yes, that was true. However, I've had a surprising streak of good luck recently. I'm finally working alongside real like-minded individuals for once; because we're all working towards shaping a far better world without Heroes to step on the people who simply want to live freely. And the best part, Tamaz; the reason why we decided to pay you this little house call so late tonight; is because you're actually going to help us make that happen in a relatively big way.}}

SLASH

With a speed that exceeded the human eye, Vukodlak pulled his hand away, leaving only a single paper cut-sized incision along the old man's cheek, just enough to leave two twin lines of red slowly running down his sweating face. The sight already had Himiko squirming with excitement.

Rocking back and forth on his heels, Vukodlak went on: {{Now, I know you're tired and probably itching to get back to bed, so I'll just cut right to the chase. Where are you keeping the old Quirked citizenry records and the blood samples that went with them, Tamaz? Even after the Flash, and everyone across the Bloc calling for the whole Hero infrastructure to get torn down, I know you were one of the only ones advocating for those records to be preserved, I heard you talk about it all over the news over the years since then. Even when they forced you to retire because of your little dissenting opinions; surely you, of all people, must have taken some kind of desperate measure to save what you could from those mobs of veritable book burners, right?}}

Even though she couldn't understand a single word that was being spoken between the two men, Himiko was still practically aglow with her eager grin, simply grateful that she could really get to watch her new teacher go to work in his natural environment. Everything he said and did carried with it such an unmistakable sense of purpose, it was both intimidating and inspiring.

Finally, Tamaz found the will to speak underneath the two Villains' careful gazes. {{Even if I did, just what on earth makes you think I would ever actually choose to help you or your little friend there to destroy what few, if any, potential Heroes are still anywhere in this whole part of the world? I don't even have any family for you to threaten my cooperation with.}}

At the moment when he felt like he'd already gained himself an advantage, Tamaz suddenly felt a small object get tossed into his lap by the young girl at Vukodlak's side the moment the man had given her a single nod, as if it were some kind of cue for her. Immediately looking down, Tamaz felt his blood go ice cold when he saw an old framed photograph of himself sitting next to a younger woman barely in her twenties from the looks of it, with long white hair and orange eyes with snake-like pupils, complete with a long forked tongue extending from her smiling mouth.

The moment he saw the horror overcome Tamaz's face, Vukodlak followed up by tossing a tied up batch of envelopes with postal information written in Georgian onto the portrait on his lap; leaving the old man looking deathly pale at last.

{{Your bravery is commendable, Tamaz, but that doesn't make you any less shit of a liar. You see, Toga-san and I have actually been here much longer than you think, scoping the place out and looking for anything particularly useful to work you with; making sure to cover our tracks along the way, of course. There's never an excuse for being sloppy with your work, after all.}}

Relishing in his own overwhelming advantage in the moment, Vukodlak knelt at Tamaz's side, looking upon the portrait, running a steel-tipped finger along the jaw line of the girl at the old man's side. {{The fact you had this picture and all these unsent letters to the same address locked away in the desk of your personal office, alongside a nearly empty checkbook with the same address on the receiving line, means this girl must be someone very important to you…someone you're trying to protect by not having the postal offices know she exists, hence why you didn't even send these letters for so long. She can't possibly be your wife, far too young, unless you're into that kind of thing, you dirty old man. No…a secret daughter sounds much more plausible, wouldn't you say?}}

Tamaz was showing unbelievable willpower by not instinctively flinching with desperation at Vukodlak's second guess. Unfortunately for him, however, a timely second bead of nervous sweat running down his temple caught both Villains' eyes, ultimately answering Vukodlak in full.

{{A Quirk like hers is clearly the kind that nobody could possibly miss if she went out in public. If you're trying to maintain this degree of secrecy for her sake, then that must mean you're one of her very few, if not only, contacts to the outside world, helping her to survive in this massive Quirk witch-hunt of a Bloc. So I think you might be getting an idea where we're going with this, right?}}

Tamaz's gaze betrayed his emotions immensely, as the once docile old man looked like he was trying to make both Vukodlak and Himiko's heads explode with his mind, earning deeply amused chuckles from both of them before the Slavic Villain once again took the reins. {{Yeah, I think you are. So, if you still decide not to help us, then once we're through with you, we could either follow this address on these letters and pay your daughter a personal visit; probably one of the only ones she's ever received. Or, better yet, since we're kind of running on our own schedule, we could just send this info to the post, the media, or even the authorities, and let that whole thing run its course. We've both been around long enough to know what the end result will be of that, and you also know that we'd be much quicker about it by comparison. So in the end, the choice is yours, Tamaz: you either help us towards achieving a much bigger goal in the long run…or you can just die here and condemn your daughter, probably your only family left, to a much worse fate than a quick death.}}

Tamaz let his head hang limp, refusing to make even a sound, even if his shoulders had actually started to tremble. For a moment, both Vukodlak and Himiko could have sworn the man was about to start crying. In all honesty, the sight of such an otherwise jovial-looking old man being reduced to such a state almost had Himiko feeling sorry for him…almost, being the key word.

As for Vukodlak, this was simply him doing what he knew he did best. If there was one thing all of his experiences had taught him to learn everything about down to the finest detail, it was basic human nature. And basic human nature dictated that not only did everyone have a button to push to break their defenses, no matter how otherwise unbreakable they seemed…but that 99% of the time, that button all boiled down to one word: family. Even people who had the shittiest relations to their family could always be counted on to have that one special person that actually meant something to them, and they essentially became that person's greatest weakness to those that knew how to apply it.

Once more, that experience paid off in full, as when Tamaz finally lifted his head to meet Vukodlak and Himiko's gazes; that defiant fire had been completely extinguished. Smiling in satisfaction of this sight, Vukodlak knelt back down so he and Tamaz were on the same eye level again, all but motioning for the man to speak his forced piece.

{{I…I had as many of those records as I could possibly save…s-stored away somewhere secret that only I would know the location of. When those Anti-Quirk fascists took over, they put the pressure on every official they could to see things their way. By the time I'd finally been forced to tuck the records lucky enough to get saved away for safekeeping, it was only down to me and a handful of my closest colleagues to make sure we'd covered our tracks and those animals would never find what we'd saved, even if they knew they hadn't burned everything. To make sure it would stay that way, I…I…I was forced to kill my only remaining friends…since I knew at least one of them would inevitably crack once the new government got their hands on them. They knew they would never be able to break me, not after everything I'd said and done during their rise to power. That's why I'm still alive. They realized they had no choice but to cut their losses as far as I was concerned.}}

Despite the completely defeated look on Tamaz's face, Vukodlak actually began to give the man a soft smile of what actually looked like genuine respect. {{Out of every government or military bastard I had the displeasure of meeting…that steadfastness to which you stood by your beliefs was something I always respected about you, Tamaz. So…where are those records actually being kept?}}

Himiko began slowly circling the two men as Tamaz tried to recompose himself as he answered: {{Those Anti-Quirk idiots…they never even bothered to check under their own noses for what they tried squeezing me for. The whole thing…the family histories, Quirks and blood samples we were able to save…we had them all stashed away within Russia's borders. The Republic of Mordovia, in the city of Saransk…underneath the Cathedral of St. Theodore Ushakov…in a highly secure secret vault I'd had built underneath it years ago on personal commission, just in case. That's where you'll find them.

{{However, that vault is completely sealed, and will only open by vocal and retinal scan from me and me only. Even trying to force it will result in secure capsules of acid breaking and completely destroying the contents inside. So you see…you can't afford to kill me if you want any shot at getting those records intact. If you promise to leave my daughter out of all of this from here onward…I'll cooperate with you. You have my word on that.}}

Vukodlak initially responded by rising back to his feet, letting out a sigh of pure contentment. {{The word of a man of principle, that's a rare thing to have in these times. As such, you have mine that we'll leave your girl alone now. However, we actually won't need you anymore…at least, not all of you.}}

The moment Vukodlak looked past Tamaz and gave another nod, Himiko finally lunged in from behind the chair, driving the syringe she'd been keeping hidden under her shirt straight into the old man's leg, already beginning to draw his blood at full power into the single empty tank strapped to her back underneath. "A goodbye kiss for you, Ojii-san. Thanks for all your help."

Within the span of a minute, Vukodlak saw all the life literally get sucked out of Tamaz's eyes, as his body grew white as a sheet, his breathing grew more and more shallow, and his whole body went completely limp and lifeless, almost looking like he'd been sucked completely dry. Himiko, all the while, was grinning excitedly from ear to ear as she wiggled her waist, just listening to the swish of the tank full of his blood that she'd drawn. "Oh, it's been so long since I've gotten a full helping like this. Too bad it had to be from this guy, though."

"We knew we couldn't afford to leave him alive from the beginning, Toga-san. Now come on, we need to cover the fact that we were ever here to begin with." As soon as Vukodlak rebuffed Himiko's childish complaint, he quickly took out a small lighter he'd found in Tamaz's office, and quickly began holding the open flame to the drapes of the nearby windows, before tossing it to the eager young girl, who proceeded to set Tamaz's body itself alight before finally tossing the lighter aside and excitedly following Vukodlak back out the way they had originally come in.

Within minutes, as they steadily made their way through the cold night air, Vukodlak and Himiko could already hear the numerous distant sounds of fire engine sirens echoing across the sky. Momentarily looking back over her shoulder to the now distant orange glow of the inferno that had once been Tamaz Abashidze's home, Himiko absentmindedly asked: "Hey, Sensei, I know we agreed that burning that ojii-san's house down was to keep anyone from knowing we were here, but since you didn't take that photo or any of those letters, I just have to ask: were you maybe also doing it to hide any evidence of his daughter existing, so the authorities wouldn't go looking for her?"

To her curiosity, Vukodlak actually didn't respond immediately. He didn't even stop in his tracks or even look back her way. He simply remained silent and just kept moving for a good few seconds, not even giving a telltale sigh to indicate he'd even given her question any thought. "What happens to her is ultimately of no consequence to us. If she's able to find a way to live fruitfully on her own away from society, then good for her. If not, too bad. The important thing is that we have everything we need on our end. Now we just need to get to the agreed meeting spot, and hope the others are managing just as well."

The moment the sun had set upon Tbilisi, the already lively warehouse that stood alone amid its otherwise abandoned neighborhood, roared to a whole other kind of life, as the assortment of street thugs, after spending the whole day loading up their vans with assortments of guns, explosives, and even those strength-enhancing bracelets they had stolen, finally mounted up into their respective vans based on their assigned border crossings, and finally began to move out in a near convoy formation, waiting nearly two minutes after each van before the next one would head out in the opposite direction down the street outside their garage bay door on the other side of the whole building.

After nearly a dozen of the other vans had already left, it was at last down to the final one, which was being manned by the same hulking tattooed thug in the driver's seat, and Twice's copy of the smaller one he had by now come to realize had been named Levan after spending all afternoon and evening controlling it, sitting silently in the passenger seat.

As they began rolling out for their own run, the grinning brute at the wheel began chuckling to himself {{I have to admit, Levan, I didn't think a chatterbox like you was even capable of being so quiet for so long. Figures, the moment you stop running your mouth, your productivity goes through the roof. I guess Zurab should've threatened to geld you a long time ago, huh?}}

The man simply went on to nearly belly laugh as they continued to drive down the empty back road between all these empty buildings. After a few minutes uninterrupted, just as they began to take another slow turn, a single person suddenly came stumbling out onto the middle of the road, awash in their headlights, and forcing the larger thug to nearly put his foot through the floor from hitting the brakes so hard. {{HOLY SHIT!}}

The van, thankfully, came to a screeching halt, just at the same time the man went stumbling to the ground just a few meters ahead of them, rambling incoherently to himself and struggling just to get back on his feet, swaggering this way and that like a complete drunk.

The sight of this, accompanied by the close call they'd just had, had the large driver gritting his teeth before nearly throwing the driver door open off its hinges and stepping out to confront this drunken vagrant. As he approached, he could start to make out that this man, despite his head of short blonde hair and long flat nose, was definitely Asian in origin, at the very least. {{Hey, get out of the damn road, you friggin' tourist! You lookin' to get your teeth kicked in, is that it?!}}

At the very moment the drunken stranger finally threw his whole body weight into trying to turn and meet the driver's gaze, the larger man could just barely make out the rapidly approaching sound of footsteps sprinting up from right behind him. Similarly throwing his whole mass around to find out whoever was trying something as stupid as rushing a man his size, the thug was instead met with the heart-stopping sight of another single younger man with long, messy white hair, the single driest grinning face he'd ever seen, and a pair of blood red eyes so wide that it genuinely sent an instinctive chill down his spine. His focus was so stuck to this stranger's scar-adorned grin, that he didn't even notice the fact he had a single extended and opened hand just about to clasp onto his face.

{{What the fu-?!}}

The last possible sound turned to dust in his throat, with the rest of his body quick to follow, as Tomura clasped straight onto the brute's face, nearly crushing his whole head into rapidly decaying fragments of bone and dust as he closed his open hand into a fist around his face. Planting his other hand on the rest of his sizeable body, Tomura's hands tore this way and that through his mass, reducing every bit of him into dust right there in the middle of this empty road without a single other soul ever being aware of it.

As soon as they both knew he had erased every last possible fragment of the larger thug's body, Twice let out an exhausted sigh, just at the same time he finally let his link to the clone still in the passenger seat go, causing it to instantly dissolve into a quickly evaporating puddle of black goo, before ultimately dissolving into nothing. "Goddammit, finally! If I ever have to keep that kind of meticulous control over my clones for that long again, it'll be too soon!"

Without wasting any further time, Tomura and Twice hurriedly climbed into the van themselves, with the clone maker hurriedly taking the driver's seat, while Tomura unfurled the map Vukodlak had given him after their last meeting. "I've memorized where we are right now on here compared to where we have to meet up, so you just focus on driving. If all went well, he and Toga should reach there at just about the same time as us. Drive."

Just as Tomura had said, with so many people having already gone home for the night, traffic made getting to their agreed upon meeting spot much easier. In fact, despite having traveled there on foot, it turned out that Vukodlak and Himiko had managed to beat their compatriots to it by barely two minutes.

With all the other vans now out and about, they knew they were ultimately racing against the clock, and so after pulling their vehicle into another out of the way alley, Twice began getting to work on removing both license plates. It was done in a matter of minutes, and as soon as he got the tools into the back of the vehicle, Vukodlak quickly approached him. "Did you manage to get the detonator numbers before you left?"

With an especially proud grin, Twice began digging through the pockets of the jacket he'd been forced to wear to hide his black body suit, hurriedly pulling out a crumpled piece of paper and handing it to him. "I got 'em all jotted down right there, along with which vans and destinations they're meant for! I was just lucky enough to have the clone slip it to me when I had it pretend to take another bathroom break in the alley. I also managed to turn the cellphone detonators on in each of the other crates just before we left. It was hard, but thankfully everybody in there was in such a rush, they barely even paid any attention to me. They're a real sharp bunch."

For probably the first time that any of the other Villains could recall, the smile forming on Vukodlak's face wasn't one of amusement, anticipation, planning, or even deception. No, this time it was the most genuine smile of gratitude that a man like Vukodlak could possibly make, as he looked all three of his comrades in the eye. "Excellent work, everyone, seriously. I know I've been asking a lot from you on such short notice after we got here, but you've all been performing under such new surroundings admirably. You all have my genuine gratitude, and I promise I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this detour gets us everything we need for when we finally return home. Now it's been a very long couple of days and we've pretty much been going nonstop since then, so I'll take over the driving from here and you all try to get some sleep."

Himiko let out a groan of pure euphoria, as the mention of sleep was finally forcing her body to realize just how long she'd gone without it. Twice was similarly following suit, climbing into the back of the van and hurriedly donning his black-and-white face mask again, letting out a deep sigh of relief after doing so. All the while, Tomura simply turned back to address their unofficial guide. "So where exactly are you planning on going?"

Pulling out a map of the country of Georgia as a whole from his own pocket, Vukodlak began drawing his finger along a specific set of routes, with Tomura's eyes following suit. "I'm making a point of avoiding large settlements wherever possible. I'm going to take us through the county roads up to the Russian border up north. It'll be a lengthy trip, but I've come to memorize the different routes over the years, so I know the quickest means of getting there. Once we reach the border, I'll be timing the detonations of the explosive payloads in the other vans so as to draw as much of the military attention off the rest of the border as possible so we can slip through easily. Once we're in a ways, we'll have to divvy up the supplies of bracelets, weapons and explosives between us and torch this van and then try to get ourselves a new vehicle so as not to draw attention."

As Vukodlak handed the map to Tomura and began to make his way for the driver seat, Twice suddenly poked his head out from around the frame of the van's back door. "Wait a second, if the army is bolstering up at the borders, what makes you think they won't inspect those vans once they get there? They'd totally just let them through just like that?"

Just as Vukodlak was about to respond, Tomura suddenly spoke up with complete assuredness in his tone: "Chances are the army are in the pockets of those smugglers, or at the very least they have a business understanding, especially if they've been running their business this way for as long as Vukodlak suggested. Besides, you said you saw them scrubbing the serial numbers off those guns. You think they just bought them wholesale like that? No, chances are the army lets them scrape a little from their armament shipments to modify and sell on the black market in neighboring countries in exchange for a cut of the profits."

This time, even Himiko followed Twice's example by poking her head out from the van and looking at the League's leader with astonishment at his quick ability to assess everything as he saw it. Even Vukodlak let out a distinctly impressed-sounding whistle. "That's a damn good eye, Tomura-san. That's all but exactly what I was about to say, too."

However, Tomura knew they didn't have time to linger, and thus instructed Himiko and Twice to get back into the van and try to sleep, while he busily climbed into the passenger seat, prompting Vukodlak to get behind the wheel and get them moving again.

All the while, as they slowly but surely began to make their way out of the city of Tbilisi proper and into the more mountainous countryside, Tomura was beginning to feel that same irritating tingling sensation scratching from within his skull, and that same heavy thrumming that almost seemed to match his heart beat in rhythm, as though that same voice were struggling to once more try and call out to him. However, clutching his sleeves tight and keeping his eyes shut, Tomura exercised all his willpower in simply trying to ignore this feeling in his head and letting Vukodlak focus on getting them where they needed to be on time.

Class 1-A Dormitory, Sunday, September 7th

Nikolay had absolutely no idea how long it was he had finally managed to get some actual sleep. The reason being that, that particular morning, he didn't even have time to actually open his eyes to greet the rays of the early morning sun, before he suddenly found his bed being jostled by someone throwing themselves onto it right beside him at full force, sending him tumbling through the air, just as he was greeted by Mina's ecstatic voice calling out to him: "C'MON, WAKE UP, KOLYA-KUN, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP! TODAY'S THE BIG INTRO DAY! ISN'T IT EXCITING?!"

Even after Nikolay landed flat on his back on the floor, he had to take a moment to mentally catch up with just what was going on and what Mina was squealing excitedly about, while she was busily lifting him by the hands back onto his feet and all but twirling him around with her hand-in-hand before nearly throwing him into his own closet. Of course, once he noticed her Hero costume suitcase sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed from where she had to have leapt, it all finally clicked again, to her relief, as Nikolay hurriedly shut his closet door and began rooting through his closet for the cleanest of his school uniforms, even though Mina had simply opted for the closest thing to proper casual wear for herself. "How did you even get in here without me hearing you, Mina?"

With a mischievous giggle, Mina was grinning to herself: "You say that like the door was even locked, Kolya-kun. Now c'mon, we gotta hurry if we wanna get on a Hokkaido train in time! Who knows what they'll want us to do for our introduction; and I'm sure you don't wanna risk getting caught outside the dorm after curfew again either, right?"

With that reminder, Nikolay nearly threw the closet door open again just as he was hopping on one foot, fighting to get his other foot through his last pant leg and getting his belt fastened. He had to practically throw himself backwards off his heels into the closet to grab the handle for his own Hero costume suitcase, while Mina was similarly in a rush, throwing his loafers his way.

The minute his shoes were back on, his tie fastened and his brown hair even semi-brushed, Nikolay hurried on Mina's heels down the halls and into the elevator down to the ground floor. The moment the doors opened, they were once again racing, all but flying across the commons area and past several of their surprised classmates still in the middle of either eating breakfast, or getting ready to head out themselves.

"MORNING, GUYS! HAVE AN AWESOME DAY OFF FOR US, OKAY?!" "YEAH, WISH US LUCK!" Mina and Nikolay both announced eagerly to their friends just before they raced out the front doors, leaving the others simply watching their display with the very same kind of wonder as when they had seen Izuku take off in just as much of a rush barely two minutes ago.

"Man, first Midoriya, and now Ashido and Kolya-san? What could possibly be having those two in such a rush? I mean, she never passes up a chance to hang around on a day off." Denki noted as he and Minoru were just at the point of finishing brushing their teeth in the commons kitchen, while Eijirou and Fumikage were in the process of taking their leave with not nearly such a rush.

"C'mon, guys, do you really need to guess? We all oughta be trying to get our internship applications out there ASAP. Those three are clearly just more on the ball, that's all." Eijirou easily surmised, while just a little ways back, Tenya and Momo both visibly brightened up at the notion.

"Kirishima-san is right! If Midoriya-san, Ashido-san and Bezpalov-san are in such a rush, it surely must be for the chance to make actual introductions to whoever accepted their applications! It's splendid to see already so many of Class 1-A's students are showing such initiative! Kaminari-san, Mineta-san: have you two managed to reach out to any potential Agencies yet?! The progress of our whole class rides on your shoulders just as much as the rest of ours!"

Of course, Denki and Minoru both couldn't help but just naturally laugh at Tenya's constant intensity, while Momo started giggling amusedly as she tried to step in to get him to settle down, all while shooting a tell-all glance their way with her cat-like eyes as well. "Now, Iida-san, I have no doubt they're taking this just as seriously as everyone else. We all have our paces at which we work. Besides, they promised to join me and the other volunteers for study group, and it simply wouldn't do to go back on such a promise the day of, would it?"

Both boys could feel a jolt shoot through them at such a sight and tone to go with it. Even if Momo was still speaking as elegantly and kindly as always, there was an unmistakable edge to it that made it clear she expected to see them both there, no matter what. With a gulp, especially knowing how shit his grades still were, Denki quickly found himself liking the idea of rushing out and throwing applications every direction the wind blew instead more and more.

As Nikolay and Mina raced up the steps to the Musutafu train station with their suitcases swinging heavily in hand, they rushed for the platform their intended train was already opening doors for. As they finally reached it, a momentary glance to the next line over brought both teens' attention to the unmistakable sight of a similarly excited-looking Izuku, accompanied by the towering, blonde-haired and grinning stature of their third-year, Mirio Togata of all people.

"HEY, MIDORI-KUN! OVER HERE!" Mina instantly exclaimed happily, spurring Nikolay to start waving eagerly right with her, catching both boys' attention as the two rushed over to meet up with them.

Thankfully, Izuku's expression similarly brightened up at the sight of his two friends. "Oh, hey! Good morning, Kolya-san, Ashido-san. I was starting to think I'd beaten everyone else in class to getting up and out today."

"Morning, Midoriya-san! Are you actually going for an internship introduction, too?" Nikolay asked excitedly, with Mirio stepping forward and planting an assuring hand on Izuku's shoulder.

"Right on the money, you two! Midoriya-kun and All Might asked me to arrange an intro with the Pro Hero I've been interning under for the past year, Sir Nighteye! We've got a whole hour train ride to get there, so I told him we needed to get an early start! Clearly you two had the same idea!"

While Mina was looking completely dumbstruck at the idea of Izuku potentially getting to intern right alongside one of The Big Three, Nikolay was exceptionally eager to explain themselves to the happily grinning upperclassman among them. "That's right; Mina and I got recommended to a Hero Agency up in Hokkaido called the Kapenta Agency by one of our mentors from our Field Training."

At the mention of this, Mirio's blue dot-eyes grew with remembrance right alongside his smile. "Oh, nice way to think outside the box! Not a lot of students this far south from there would think of looking that far, but there are actually quite a few real good Hero Agencies up in Hokkaido! Nejire-san actually interned for one her first time around, but the long travel times back and forth all but forced her to look elsewhere.

"You see, that's the thing, Bezpalov-kun, Ashido-kun: these Hero Internships aren't measured by some assigned time block. It's a regular commitment you need to be willing to commit to and make time for. That includes the finer details, like how long it would take you to travel there and back. Our still being in school, only makes being able to manage that time that much more essential."

Despite his still-burgeoning enthusiasm alongside Mina's, there was definitely a real weight of seriousness in what Mirio was advising them on. However, just as quickly did the blonde-haired young man's demeanor reignite all over again. "But I'm sure you both already took that into consideration! Your whole class definitely showed promise two days ago, so I'm sure you both know what you're doing once you get up there. Now Midoriya-kun and I need to get going, and so do you!"

Izuku instantly flinched with realization, with Nikolay and Mina quickly following suit once they realized the station intercoms were announcing the departure for both their respective trains. Running after Mirio, Izuku hurriedly waved back to his two friends: "Good luck, Kolya-san, Ashido-san! I know you both can do it!"

"Good luck to you too, Midoriya-san!" "YEAH! YOU SHOW THAT NIGHTEYE GUY WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" Izuku had already dipped through one of the closing double doors of his train as Nikolay and Mina both bid him farewell, just before they both quickly jumped through the closing doors of their own train, planting themselves in a nearby pair of empty seats and letting their racing hearts calm down as the train finally began to roll forward and quickly pick up in speed.

As Mina gradually laid herself back in her seat, stretching her arms and legs in preparation for the lengthy train ride ahead of them, Nikolay began absently reaching his hand into his left pocket, letting out a soft exhale of relief once his fingers felt the cool touch of metal; that of the special little locket that was Mina's personal housewarming gift to him.

For as much as they were both hoping this trip would prove worthwhile, and they would indeed be able to go through their new Hero Internship together again, they were both still just as anxious to see if this would in fact prove just enough of an emotional push to get them to finally open up their feelings to each other in the absolute fullest. As far as that ultimate goal was concerned, Nikolay considered taking this irreplaceable gift between them along for the ride as a token for, hopefully, good luck. Now that their train was going, he knew that only time would be able to tell.

The Georgian/Russian Border, early morning, September 7th

[Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Beast]

After several hours of nonstop driving, first through relatively empty country back roads that led up into the twisting and turning roads of mountains and tiny rural villages, Vukodlak had ultimately brought their panel van to a dead halt on some hardly beaten dirt path that hardly constituted as a path, let alone a road, with nothing but more woodlands and rolling hills ahead of them. Not that any of that could be seen, as for the last near hour, he had killed the engine and the headlights, leaving himself, Tomura, and the newly awakened and rested Himiko and Twice in the complete darkness of the earliest hours of the morning.

"Hey, I know you said you wanted to wait until you were sure the other vans got to the border crossings, but do we really have to wait out here? I don't see anything remotely like military anywhere out here." Himiko asked with a real edge of impatience as she poked her head out through the little window between Vukodlak and Tomura, looking out at the dark natural landscape ahead, barely visible thanks to the moonlight.

"When you're out in the middle of the opposition's territory, you can never allow yourself to let your guard down. Besides, we won't have to wait much longer. Twice-san, can you hand me the phone for our batch of explosives?" As Vukodlak asked, he already had a hand up, waiting patiently while Twice hurriedly retreated into the back and soon returned with a cheap cellphone. "Finally, I don't know how much longer I could've just kept waiting back here."

Vukodlak got to work entering every one of the numbers on the piece of paper Twice had given him in the contacts list. The moment he had entered the last one, he quickly got the selection bar set on the first number on the list, silently calculating the distance and travel times it would have taken for each van to reach each border.

A warning glare from Tomura signaled for Himiko and Twice to keep quiet, as he could easily see the deeply calculating look in their guide's silver eyes. Finally, as his mental timer began to reach the zero mark for the first number on the phone, with the rest quick to follow suit, he took a sudden deep breath of preparation, causing his three comrades to equally tense up in expectation. "And…here…we…go."

BEEP

With nothing more than the single press of a button, Vukodlak let a deeply contented sigh of relief, his hand holding the phone noticeably tightening its grip when the screen on the phone suddenly reflected a Georgian message that ultimately said that the contacted number had suddenly been disconnected.

With that, he proceeded to go through the same pattern three more times, only delaying by no more than a couple minutes between the fourth and fifth calls to those last two numbers. And with that, he finally capped off this unsettlingly subtle synchronized symphony of destruction and death by snapping the phone itself in half and handing it to the ever-patient Tomura, who proceeded to let the broken device disintegrate into rust and then dust in the palms of his hands before unceremoniously tossing it out the passenger window.

Around that same time, just as Himiko was about to ask if they could finally get moving again, Tomura suddenly held up a single silencing hand with but a finger raised. "Listen close."

Following their leader's advice, Himiko and Twice both tried to squeeze their heads out the small window, listening as best they could amid the overbearing silence of the night. And after a few moments of that, they could just barely make out the distant but echoing thrumming of what sounded like heavy-duty helicopters changing course and flying away to their left, with the collective sounds slowly but surely growing increasingly faint.

"Oh, wow…it worked, you guys! They're actually leaving! They really were there, and now they're gone! Great plan, Vukodlak-sensei!" As Himiko eagerly congratulated the Russian Villain, he finally turned the key in the ignition, firing the engine up once more.

As soon as their vehicle finally began to roll forward once more, Vukodlak started genuinely chuckling to himself. "Tomura-san, Toga-san, Twice-san; I just want to thank you all again for being so willing to give me the benefit of the doubt after I had Kurogiri-san warp us all the way out here. In less than five minutes, we will officially be over the border and inside Russia proper. From there, we'll finally start securing everything we need for the victorious comeback."

"Hell yeah! Teamwork really does make the dream work! Congratulate yourselves, Toga, Vukodlak, Tomura; I did all the busywork after all!" Just like that, Twice and Himiko were already chattering excitedly between themselves while Vukodlak simply tried to focus on driving while also riding the victorious high of his increasingly tight-knit partners.

All the while, as Vukodlak kept navigating them over the rough terrain in this frankly unfit vehicle for such travel, Tomura could once again feel that growing pain in the core of his head, encapsulating every fiber of his brain the further they went. As he kept trying to once more block it out and not physically acknowledge it through his demeanor, he could once again feel a tearing sensation in his head, just like the last time.

"Yes. Come and find me, Tomura Shigaraki. I can feel your presence coming ever closer. Follow my voice and you shall find me. Find me, young conqueror, and I can help you to obtain the strength you truly need."

For once, the inner pain this intrusive force had been subjecting Tomura to, had suddenly given way to an all-consuming air of curiosity within himself. Just what the hell was this force that was intruding into his head so easily? Why did it feel so different from whenever All For One did it? And just what kind of power could it possibly have to offer him that his Sensei couldn't? He knew asking these questions out loud would make no difference, but where there had once been confusion and anger, there was now an undeniable desire to actually see with his own eyes just what out there had taken such a bizarre and otherworldly interest in him like All For One had.

And there is the new chapter for the week, everyone, and the catalyst for my two now occurring original story arcs. Just like how the original MHA manga had the Shie Hassaikai Arc and the Remedial Arc taking place parallel to each other; so too does MHA: Son of Justice now have the Hokkaido Arc, and what I'm officially referring to as the Villains Abroad Arc to take place at the same time as all the other aforementioned ones.

As you can see, my planning two distinct plot threads alongside each other, while juggling work and school, is proving a very challenging time, so if you all could please voice your support and leave a review telling me what you think, you have no idea how much I would appreciate that. I do this for all of you just as much as I do it for myself.

I would also like to know your personal preferences: would you want me to intermittently upload a chapter covering the Villains Abroad Arc throughout the Hokkaido Arc when it's necessary, or would you rather have me go through this entire Hokkaido Arc first, and only then cover the Villains Abroad Arc afterwards, much like what the manga did? This is a very important question I would love to hear your opinions on, everyone. It will make the planning process for the foreseeable future so much simpler.

With that all being said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I am especially proud of how I put this one together. All of you have a great rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 02/19!