Hello, hello, hello once again, everyone. Well, I can tell from the numbers last week's chapter managed to rack up over the course of this previous week, that clearly the cliffhanger we left off on was a good move, and now it's finally time to see how our Heroes are going to be able to get past this backhanded obstacle Pietro has forced in front of them. I've been planning for this chapter to play out the way it does ever since starting this story arc, so some genuine feedback from you would be more appreciated now than it ever has been before.

I would also like to take this opportunity to simply voice my own personal sadness, just as the rest of the anime and manga world has, over the recent passing of Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! The death of Kentaro Miura last year had been incredibly painful because I'd been reading Berserk for years, and nothing gets to me more than a truly great story forever being left unfinished. However, by comparison, I remember watching the original run of the Yu-Gi-Oh series on weekends as a kid, and the years spent with my friends playing the game itself for hours on end, so to know that the man responsible for giving such a beloved property to so many people is truly heartbreaking on a very nostalgic and much more personal level. Thank you for all the great memories, Takahashi-sensei.

I'd like to once again give the well-deserved commendations and thanks to my two beta readers, Mizu and Jonny; as well as all contributing artists on DA that have helped give Kolya, Tunguska, and this story as a whole visual life on my account, ubasnaga, as well as their own: Syyndev, Akane Kahomi, Suki-Chan2509 and AliceKuroCross. They all deserve all the support and patronage they can get, so feel free to go to their accounts and give them some love.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them.

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

Chapter 85

Solovei and Pinky

(Соловей и Пинкый)

Arakisu City Hospital

The chaos left in the hospital in the wake of Jozef's botched assassination attempt had left staff, patients and police in enough of a frenzy in terms of trying to reorganize outside in consideration of the damages to portions of the facility, especially for the patients that had still been in need of constant care.

The revelation of the open doorway to the abandoned hospital in Gagaringrad for the police to go through to assist in evacuating the prisoners had, in contrast, been a veritable godsend, especially once the hospital staff had finally managed to finish setting up multiple field tents for the prisoners to be checked up and processed through.

However, once that doorway had been subsequently destroyed by what the officers lucky enough to have escaped through in time had only been able to describe as a full-blown artillery strike or demolition, that initial unease and frantic energy had come right back, this time primarily from the now freed prisoners frantic for some kind of news as to the safety of their children, Pietro's still-brainwashed soldiers; as well as the parents of the very same Polish Wax Quirk-wielding girl Maja that had allowed the police their miracle doorway in the first place, now trapped on the other side from here.

At about the same time as the ambulances and other emergency rescue vehicles that had either headed out to the perimeter of Gagaringrad in the beginning, or had been shrunken down and taken by the Heroes for their evacuation efforts, had started to file back onto the hospital property with their full loads of unconscious townspeople and soldiers; so too had the police, doctors, and even the two once-arrested Russian soldiers, Angel's Eye and Ilya, finally finished with getting the last of the people rescued through the doorway before collapse, back out to the field tents; with the two foreign men looking visibly shaken with relief when it had come to finally bringing out and tending to their two finally returned comrades: the still unconscious Anatoly, and the visibly worn out and no longer wheelchair-bound Konstantin Khodamchuk.

"We'll tend to your friends from here, thank you." The nearest of the few available doctors had long since opted to communicate with the two surprisingly helpful foreign men in English, which they too had thankfully been able to communicate with in kind once it had been made apparent that they had wanted to actually help.

As soon as they had agreed to leave their comrade and commander in the capable hands of the doctors and nurses on standby, Angel's Eye and Ilya just as quickly found themselves being approached by the older leading officer of the police on the scene, flanked by a handful of younger but no less serious officers. Looking over the sheer number of civilians and now retired combatants from the mission that the doctors all had to attend to; the senior officer finally noted: "If those Heroes have managed to take this many people from that Villain's control, then we can only hope their mission is close to being complete. In the meantime, you two have certainly made a surprising turn around compared to just a short while ago. Of course, I hope you understand why we can't simply just allow you both to roam about as you please now that evacuations and rescue have thus far been completed."

"Of course. And my apologies for hitting you for your gun earlier, as well." Angel's Eye easily acquiesced as he and Ilya both looked completely understanding while presenting their wrists to be cuffed now that they had essentially done all they realistically could to help around here, after they had played a big enough part in damaging the hospital as it was alongside Jozef in their pursuit; not to mention their involvement in the attack on the Kapenta Hero Agency to begin with. Those were both still very big actions on their parts they all would inevitably need to answer for.

But right now, the two former mercenaries were simply just too relieved to have the rest of their comrades returned to them in one piece, just as all those young Heroes had promised they would, to try and put up any kind of a resistance; no matter how visibly shaken up Konstantin had looked by whatever he had bore witness to before his own rescue.

After all, just as Angel's Eye himself had hoped, it actually felt notably inspiring to actually be directly helping people for a change.

However, the overall air of relief around the temporary field hospital couldn't last, for just as quickly as the news of the whitewater wall collapsing had spread in the lead up to the rescue convoy returning; so too had the news of Gagaringrad and a majority of the Heroes sent in getting slammed by an out of nowhere tidal wave, doubtless created by the same Ocean Master character whose name had gone around when the wall had initially been made yesterday.

On the clear other side of the field hospital, when the news of the tidal wave attack had come and gone, chiaroscuro and Blast Beat were both among the most animated of the evacuated patients; only whereas Blast Beat's own wounds were keeping him from actually being able to force his way out of his bed, the same could not be said for the older officially retired Pro Hero, as the attending nurses had to continuously try and hold her down, continuously warning her of reopening her gunshot wound in her midsection.

"This is utterly unacceptable! Retired on paper or not, a Hero is supposed to be there to help their colleagues when they're in danger! We should both be out there trying to help them, right, Kazuki-kun?!" As Chairoscuro hissed this frustration through her teeth and the intense aching in her sternum, she looked to Blast Beat, who somehow managed to look even more frustrated when trying to fight through the pain of his broken bones to try and get out of his bed to no avail. "Goddammit…it was hard enough giving Jirou-kun my blessing to go out there without me, even with my gear. Injuries like this shouldn't keep teachers from being there to protect their students!"

Echoing her fellow Pro's frustrations, Chiaroscuro nearly whipped her head to look the nearest nurse in the eye. "Please, there surely must be something you can do to help us; our colleagues and those kids need our help! I'll take full responsibility for it later, but can't you at least give us each something to numb the pain so we could be able to move?"

"Ho-ho-ho-ho, well it looks like I got back here none too soon after all! Did I hear someone asking for a way to move? Well say no more!" With an out-of-nowhere hearty laugh from the mouth of their tent, Chiaroscuro, Blast Beat, the doctors and nurses alike all looked with surprise to find the widely grinning and emboldened Mei Hatsume standing at the ready with two large steel suitcases in her hands, and an all-but-literal fire in her yellow crosshair eyes.

"Once everyone had gone for their mission in that Russian-sounding town, I decided to head back to the local Support company to finish touching up some tweaks to some of my other new babies; but then once I heard about what happened here, I simply couldn't resist, and clearly for good reason! You two wanna get out there and help your pals and students, wounds or no wounds? Well, I may just have the right kind of babies on hands to help you do just that!"

Off the coast of Gagaringrad

[[YOU VILE, WRETCHED, HEARTLESS PIECE OF F-ING SHIT!]]

Nikolay's animalistic cry of anguish and inhuman fury echoed up and down the length of the submarine as he, Tenya, Tetsutetsu and Monoma now found themselves faced with the absolute worst scenario any of them could have imagined: the gloating scar-covered commander not only using Valera as a human shield against them, but even having managed to root the claws of his Memory Rewrite Quirk on one of their own; in this case being Mina, who was now standing off against them with clear hostile intent on her face and in her posture, with both her hands already coated in undoubtedly some of her strongest acid.

But what had truly ignited the fire of Heroic drive and painful anger alike in Nikolay and Tenya both specifically, was what Pietro was even now still rubbing in their faces throughout his victorious laughter from the tower: [[You can go ahead and sling all the hateful curses you want at me, you petulant little brats! You're never getting her back the way you remembered her, no matter what you do! Now go, my young soldier, and get rid of our enemies here once and for all!]]

Whether this claim of Pietro's was truly as permanent as he was saying; which was a torture for Nikolay, Tenya and even Tetsutetsu to an extent unlike anything they could imagine; or if the man was simply trying to mess with their heads and throw them off their game made little to no difference. Without even a [[Yes, sir]], Mina was already sliding for the four young Heroes at full speed, throwing a multitude of acid globs from her hands, and immediately following up with surgically precise Acid Shots for anywhere they tried to race toward, keeping them all on the move and unable to even line up something resembling a counter, let alone an attack to try and knock her out.

Of course, even the thought of having to get physically violent to even that extent with one of their own was painful enough, to where Nikolay's blinding anger was only worsened by the stinging blur of tortured tears in his eyes, feeling as though he were in some kind of inescapable waking nightmare, until Tenya managed to catch him in mid-air just before one of Mina's Acid Shots could collide directly with his torso.

[[Bezpalov-san, you need to focus! We need to work on severing his control over Ashido-san right now!]] Tenya strictly instructed Nikolay as he just as quickly let go of him and took off into another dash, forcing Nikolay to hurry and do the same before she could get a shot on either one of them again; all while Monoma had been forced to Copy Tenya's Quirk in order to keep himself and Tetsutetsu moving as far from Mina's range as possible, especially since they both knew the latter's Iron Quirk was virtually useless in a fight like this.

However, having overheard Tenya, the sharp-toothed Class B student couldn't help but exclaim in response: [[Then why are we running in circles like this for? Either of you guys throw me up to that asshole chuckle-head on that tower, and I'll have him out just like that without even touching a hair on Valera-kun's head, trust me!]]

[[We don't need their help for that, Tetsutetsu-san! Hold on tight until I say! It's time for Class B to step up onto the grand stage!]] Monoma stated enthusiastically as he hurriedly threw himself into a high-flying spin with his classmate in tow. Within seconds he gave the word, and Tetsutetsu was flying like an Iron bullet through the air straight for Pietro where he stood, only the man didn't look the slightest bit threatened once he saw the young Hero incoming; not even trying to lift up Valera to take the reared back Iron fist coming his way.

PSSSSHT!

It was only through Nikolay ricocheting off the side of the tower and wrangling one of Tetsutetsu's feet with one of his Capture Cords, that the Class B powerhouse was pulled right out of the way of an especially far-reaching and precise Acid Shot that instead flew harmlessly through the air. The moment the two boys landed once more, it was now Nikolay's turn to carry Tetsutetsu along while Mina was continuing to slide all over the place, throwing a glob and an Acid Shot at each of her allies-turned-targets one after the other, and using her raw physical talents to dodge any kind of desperate attack either Tenya or Monoma could throw at her with incredible ease.

[[This is impossible! Even before this, Ashido-san had the single best natural reflexes in the whole class, and some of the top Quirk control! With that Villain's Quirk instilling a killing intent in her, that control has only improved that much more! We're not going to be able to get close to the man as long as she's able to do anything about it!]]

While Tenya exclaimed this distressing observation to the rest of his present fellow Heroes; in the middle of it all, Volga was still kneeling like a broken up statue amid the chaos, with no one being able to tell if he was even aware of anything that was going on around him, or where he even was, after all the mental and emotional reflection and damage he had just been put through.

However, it didn't take long after Tenya's warning, for the once steady and level ground of the submarine to start tilting this way and that, as the waters all around started to twist and churn, rise and fall, with the air soon turning into a perpetual mist of water vapor while the sea around the sub turned into an all-around storm. Even the moisture coalescing into the air began to turn the once perfectly clear skies overhead into some of the darkest and violent storm clouds, blotting out the light of the sun all around the submarine, and even conjuring a few blinding cracks of lightning.

Anyone on the outside who would have observed this insane transformation of the weather in such a contained space, would have been convinced that whatever god of the sea in whichever folklore they could think of had been roused and angered by what was happening in this singular spot, and was voicing that anger.

However, Pietro was not one of those people. In fact, witnessing this violent change in weather in these circumstances had actually emboldened him that much more, especially when he could see amid all the chasing and attempted fighting on deck, that Volga was finally slowly getting back to his feet, slowly turning back to look up to the commander.

Now Pietro could clearly see the extensive damage that had been inflicted on the former River Hero's armor in the past few minutes near the end of his battle with Nikolay, but he remained unperturbed. If Volga was still willing to fight for him even in this state, then there was no way in hell he was going to turn down the added assistance. [[I knew you wouldn't let me down, Comrade! The removal of our final obstacle is close at hand! Help our new recruit get rid of these insects, get rid of the rest of them back at the gunboat, and we can finally set sail for our future once more! We can still be able to salvage this and take Sakhalin Island's base by tonight if we end this quickly!]]

Pietro's confidence was lifted when he began to see multiple water tendrils start creeping up the sides of the submarine and tower into the air around them…but when they didn't come crashing down on all the young Heroes around him, that's what finally put a pause to the commander's celebration. When he looked back and saw Volga's eyes were burning directly into his own, that relief quickly turned into something else.

[[No! I won't help you destroy them, Pietro Dobrynich! You've already turned me into enough of a monster as it is! You might have destroyed the River Hero once before, convinced me to take the lives of others who had nothing to do with me…but I've come back, and I'm not about to let you destroy any more Heroes again!]] Volga's announcement of defiance was simple, blunt, but indescribably effective, as it echoed loud and clear through the roar of sea and thunder, hitting Pietro like a ton of bricks. For the first time in years, the man he had once considered his closest comrade in his entire army, had left the commander visibly shaking with both fear and fury where he stood.

So immense was Pietro's disbelief and anger, in fact, that his reflexes too had grown razor sharp, for the moment he could see the countless water droplets and tendrils upon and all over the submarine start rushing right for his head, he'd already gotten the emergency pistol drawn from his hip, and started popping off round after round into Volga's now exposed midsection; the returned Hero jerking and grunting with pain as each one punched through him, since his own injuries and extensive uses of his Quirk before had left him physically drained, too much so to be able to block high-speed bullets in time.

And all the while, the only sound that could be heard between the shots was of Pietro's voice howling with a psychotic anger: [[TRAITOOOOOOOOOOOR!]]

The savagery in Pietro's voice had managed to draw everyone else's attention even in the heat of battle, just in time for Nikolay to see the numerous bleeding exit wounds in Volga's back, and the veteran Hero take three stumbling steps backwards before finally tumbling over the side of the submarine and into the unforgiving frigid ocean waters with a single splash.

Nikolay could feel his insides twist with even further despair and anger all over again as Pietro's voice echoed down with the same utter bloodlust lining every word: [[WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HURRY UP AND KILL THESE MEDDLESOME BRATS!]]

Just like that, Nikolay found himself readily hopping in preparation on his toes for the next attacking dash Mina was about to send his way, since they were now in a position on deck where he was her primary target. That was when the most unexpected thing happened, even if only for the blink of an eye:

Despite the unmistakable intent behind Pietro's orders, and despite her hands already being coated in yet more of her acid…for just a moment, Mina didn't immediately come sliding in to charge Nikolay, or any of his other fellow interns, for that matter. In fact, they could all four see how just briefly, Mina's entire body gave a distinct jerk; almost like a muscle spasm, completely involuntary, but keeping her from moving in and doing as she was told all the same, for as brief as it ultimately was before she was giving chase after Nikolay and soon the rest of them all over again.

This easily could have been considered a fluke, had it not been for shortly afterward, when Tenya found himself actually getting cut off by her, leaving at least his right side open for her to attack, only for Mina's reared back left arm to once again jerk in loss of muscular control before she could follow through; giving the Class A president just that much time to double back and get out of her range.

Once more, these two distinct moments of hesitation where that had previously been none had not gone unnoticed by the four young Heroes, as Tenya called out to his allies: [[You're all seeing it too, aren't you? Ashido-san's actually pausing!]]

To know that he and Tenya had come to the same realization had Nikolay actually feeling the slightest bit of relief, even despite still having to move for his life like the lot of them: [[Yeah, I don't want to make assumptions, but I want…I want to think it's more than just spasms, but something more intentional.]]

As soon as he landed in a hard roll over another barely missed Acid Shot, Tetsutetsu found himself getting plucked up by a speeding Monoma again as he called out in answer: [[What, you mean like she's trying to fight it from the inside? We'd have to be real freakin' lucky for that, but how long could it last?!]]

Nikolay had to momentarily stop upon landing another dodging backflip on his hands and feet, taking that chance to fire a built up Kinetic Blast into the hull, and kicking up the water all around to even just momentarily cut off Mina's line of view, and taking that chance to double back and gain a moment to breathe and think. [[I don't know…but if it's possible, then maybe we might be able to get through to her and break Pietro's control.]]

[[You mean we should just stop fighting for our lives, and hope that talking her down will do the trick? Are you insane?!]] Monoma protested, just before he and his four fellows found Mina using her momentum to leap into the air and come down on them with two acid-drenched hands balled into one bludgeon over her head, forcing them to all scatter while she drove her attack into the steel, inadvertently melting a large enough hole for a single person at a time to fit through.

Noticing this, Tenya felt a bolt of inspiration strike as he hurriedly dashed and plucked Nikolay up from nearby, matching Monoma's speed as he called out: [[I agree that it's a long shot, Monoma-san, but Ashido-san is still our ally, classmate and friend, so we're going to give it every shot it takes…and I think we all know the best person for the job.]]

Like a natural reflex, all the other three boys' eyes were on Nikolay, who had clearly come to the same conclusion as they had just as Tenya explained himself: [[Bezpalov-san, if you can keep her focused on you and try to get through to her, it could buy us enough time to slip into the submarine through that hole she just melted. We can neutralize the rest of his followers, take away his nuclear option, and be able to catch him in a pincer maneuver that way. I admit it would be much easier if we had the others here with us, but we need to make do with who we have.]]

Nikolay had no time to even answer or offer an alternative, as Mina hurriedly came sliding up alongside them to once more cut them off and hit them with another Acid Shot, forcing him now to be the savior of the four; driving the soles of his boots into the hull and firing off from them with as much Kinetic power as he could send on such short notice, launching them all back towards the tower like a catapult, all four of them scattering hard upon impact.

[[Go!]] Nikolay finally said through another pained grunt thanks to his re-injured shoulder and countless other wounds from his battle with Volga; thus spurring Tenya and Tetsutetsu to make a mad dash for the melted hole, leaping and baseball sliding in respectively before Mina could throw another handful their way, and then just as quickly setting her eyes on Nikolay and, to his surprise, Monoma, who continued to dash this way and that in tandem with the young Russian.

[[Even if you're really cocky and arrogant enough to think you can somehow reach her with words, I could hardly call myself the rightful superior Hero if I just left you without backup, Class A!]] That was about as good a declaration of sticking together as a team as Nikolay knew he was going to get from the blonde loudmouth. However, he knew he couldn't waste another moment on chatter, as he now had to get his eyes focused on Mina, who was once more incoming with her Acid at the ready.

All the while, thankfully, Pietro had become far too preoccupied with Tenya and Tetsutetsu having managed to slip into the submarine through the melted hole, and was now hurriedly making his way back down inside through the hatch, while still keeping the quiet and attentive Valera close.

Now without Pietro around to try messing with any of their heads any longer; as he and Monoma kept trying to move to both avoid Mina's attacks and trying to get close enough to try…virtually anything they could against her, Nikolay never took his eyes off her as he finally opened up: [[Mina, I know you can hear me! You know who I am, you know who all of us are! Pietro's filled your head with fake memories, you know this!]]

Nikolay's focus on trying to get through nearly cost him, as Mina swiftly fired a shot of the acid coating her right hand with a single forward thrust of her arm, only for him to hurriedly fire a desperate Kinetic Blast from his hand to scatter the liquid outward away from himself and Monoma.

Even despite this and having to continuously launch himself further and further back as she kept advancing, he refused to relent: [[You know you're not a soldier, Mina; you're a Hero, just like the rest of us! You know this isn't the truth, what Pietro's telling you to do! I know you don't want to fight us; we don't want to fight you either! We're your schoolmates, we're your friends! I know you well enough to know you love all your friends, Mina; more than anything! I see you trying to fight this, I know you can do it! There's no way he could possibly get rid of the Mina Ashido we know forever, there just can't be!]]

Nikolay's words became more and more intense and filled with desperation the further he went; and yet no matter how many times he tried to say the things he knew could get to her the most, Mina just kept on coming, making him and Monoma have to fight for ever desperate breath and inch they could stay away from her range.

But no matter how long it would take, Nikolay was not going to give up on this approach, just like he wasn't going to give up on her. He knew he would sooner die than do this after everything they'd gone through together up to this point.

The inside of the submarine had quickly turned into an absolute madhouse, as Pietro had to all but force as many of his townspeople soldiers as he needed to keep running all the necessary stations while directing all others to fortify their position against Tenya and Tetsutetsu, who were already desperately trying to work their way forward into the command deck from the engine room. Unfortunately, the two boys had already found themselves completely pinned down at the other end of the narrow hall by numerous deafening rapports of machine gun fire, with Tetsutetsu having to use a combination of the steel door and his own Iron skin as a shield for Tenya's sake. Unfortunately, the continuous threat of the bullets ricocheting and hitting several of the townspeople was now keeping them from advancing any further.

Of course, even that stalemate wasn't stopping Pietro, as he hurriedly shouted to his followers manning the steering and course input. [[Stay in your stations; the others will take care of our intruders! Hurry and set our course directly for Sakhalin Island Naval Base!]]

With their course now currently being plotted at last, Pietro just as quickly made his way for the same room he'd left Alyosha and The Giver in; wasting no time for pointless explanations when seeing the expression of worried surprise on the scientist's face: [[There's no time to explain, we've been forced into our failsafe position sooner than I'd expected. Many of the soldiers have our intruders pinned down in the engine room, but just in case…I want you to get the nuclear launch programs prepped. Have all the coordinates for the targets been put in already?]]

[[Yes, Comrade; I took care of it as soon as we'd set off.]] As soon as Alyosha confirmed this, however, an initially dull but increasingly loud humming sound began to echo from the outside of the submarine, through the hull and into the command deck, silencing Pietro completely as his pale eyes darted back and forth in frantic confusion, all before the entire forward momentum of the submarine came to a sudden stop, nearly knocking everyone inside off their feet.

Pietro was like a rabid dog as he furiously charged for the nearest of his soldiers manning the controls. [[What the hell happened?! Why are we stopped?!]]

The brainwashed civilian that had been trained to monitor all the mechanics was already frantically looking through every program on his monitor like a gun was already being held to his head, and when he came to a sudden stop, the look in his eyes looked to just about reflect the same sentiment of horror. [[I-I don't get this, it can't be possible! The rotors, the p-propellers, they just suddenly jammed up, like something's actively restraining them from pushing us forward! We're dead in the water, sir! B-but…but t-that can't be possible, not out in open water like this!]]

However, while his soldiers could only express confusion as to how this was possible, Pietro's mind was crystal clear, as he was already in the middle of sliding another full clip into his pistol in preparation. [[You're right, it shouldn't be possible out here…if not for him.]]

[[NOW, TETSUTETSU-SAN!]]

Before Pietro could make his way for the ladder to the tower hatch again, Tenya's voice came echoing down in the wake of the sudden loss of balance for the rest of their assailants, just as he was standing right in the way of the hall to the engine room.

In that moment, Tetsutetsu came charging down the hall with the detached steel door hoisted over his back. Just as the first of Pietro's soldiers began to lift their weapons to try and gun him down; the young grey-haired Hero immediately fell to his knees and turned his skin back to Iron, turning the door on his back into a ramp, from which Tenya immediately came flying over with the thrusters on his arms propelling him, launching a foot out to kick the first gun barrel he could see as he flew over their heads. At that same moment, the soldier wielding that gun had already started to pull the trigger, sending multiple rounds ricocheting all over the place and forcing Tenya and everyone else to instinctively duck.

Amid that split second of chaos before Tenya and Tetsutetsu had followed up by trying to incapacitate or knock out as many of the nearest soldiers as they could; Pietro had likewise instinctively tried to aim his gun to put Tenya down, before just one of the rifle rounds that had gotten fired had ended up ricocheting at just the right angle to punch right through the right side of his neck, severing his carotid artery and leaving him stumbling and struggling back into Alyosha's lab within seconds, collapsing right at the foot of the imprisoning harness The Giver was still stuck to, while some makeshift mechanical arms Alyosha had hurriedly built mere minutes ago in his rush were keeping her hands rubbing together in order to keep her Quirk charging up.

Pietro could already feel his vitals failing one after another as he continued to bleed, just as he could already see Alyosha and Valera both hurrying over to his side to get him back to normal. This time, however, all of his compounded desperation and anger kept him from exhibiting even the slightest bit of patience, regardless whether he would have been dying right now or not.

And so, the moment he knew both of them were remotely close enough, Pietro's blood spattered face twisted with pain and inhuman rage as he reached out and grabbed Valera by the neck, forcefully pulling the boy close enough so that his waiting hands could meet Pietro's body; all the while ignoring Alyosha's sudden protests of [[Wait, Comrade; the boy's not fully recovered from the cost of using his Quirk last!]]

At the same time with the other hand, Pietro grabbed The Giver's nearest forearm and forcefully pulled that now empty hand over until it was flush to Valera's head, nearly pulling the protesting sidekick's pained cry when he nearly pulled her arm out of its socket in his desperation.

The combined glow of Valera's Quirk alongside the sparkles of The Giver's nearly made the inside of Alyosha's lab blindingly bright, as Valera felt his power skyrocket at the same time as Pietro could feel that bullet hole in his neck that had just then killed him once more, just as quickly reseal itself, and the life come pouring right back into his body.

However, the moment that the sparkles and glow had both dissipated, and Pietro tried to get back to his feet and back into the ensuing fight in the command deck, his body was suddenly racked with the same kind of ungodly pain that his neck wound had just given him. Instinctively reaching up to feel for the flow of blood, Pietro could feel the hole was no longer there, and yet the pain engulfing his body would not fade away.

Looking angrily to Valera trembling on the floor, he could see the small boy's face was so deathly pale, it was almost as if the very death he'd just saved the commander from had been transferred directly into him.

'If that is the case…then the boy might not last for me after all, even with The Giver's Quirk to assist! Shit!'

Valera had been made one of the most crucial keys to the prolonged success of this campaign of Pietro's, and if the boy was on his way out, and Alyosha's attempt at recreating the resurrecting factor of his Quirk in his DNA like he had with the Quirk Explosion bullets, then that ultimately left the commander with one final option, now that they were no longer mobile.

His milky eyes fell grimly upon Alyosha, while he pulled the hammer to his pistol back in preparation. [[Comrade Alyosha…it's time. The rest of the soldiers out there can only keep those two meddling Heroes busy for so long, but it should still be enough for you to activate the launch sequences. In the meantime, I'm going up there and taking care of the rest.]]

As Alyosha nodded in complete understanding with key in hand and made a rush for the control panel that would begin the sequence; Pietro himself shifted his foreboding gaze upon The Giver, whose fear he could already see beginning to reflect in her eyes as he approached. [[If there's any possibility my Quirk can still get me out of this, even for just a little bit longer…it's worth every chance.]]

The sudden stop of the submarine's forward momentum had nearly caused Nikolay and Monoma to both go falling off into the waters below, but a single desperate grab from Nikolay onto his Class B partner's sleeve, followed by a last-second launch from his feet off the side of the sub into the air, and then a carefully timed and aimed ricocheting blast against the air behind the after flipping them both over, allowed both boys to come crashing and sliding back onto the submarine deck.

Of course, neither of them could express gratitude for still being on their feet, as Mina had just as quickly gotten over losing her balance with the sudden stop, and was already sliding right for them at breakneck speed; thus forcing Nikolay to finally roll back and fire a concentrated blast from both his hands aimed right at her, thankfully not at point blank range, as the shockwave only caused her to get flung back several feet, only to miraculously managed to correct her position and land with a slide on her feet and one hand.

As the two Class A best friends locked eyes from both ends of the submarine deck, the air was suddenly filled with the deafening blare of what sounded like an emergency siren from all along the water craft, before a number of silo doors lining both sides lengthwise of the deck, began to open. All at once did it occur to Nikolay and Monoma just what was happening, and with that realization came the frigid twisting in their guts that they had all ultimately proven unable to stop Pietro after all.

HONK! HOOONK!

The sudden interruption of a large ship's horn snapped both boys and Mina alike to attention, just in time to find the miraculous sight of the naval gunboat barreling towards the side of the submarine, with Whiteout perched dutifully at the bow and using her Quirk to freeze the water ahead, and create an Arctic wind to propel the boat forward along it. At the last second, Kyouka's voice could be heard echoing from the boat's deck: [[HEAD'S UP!]]

All three of them instinctively ducked out of the way just as the bow of the boat came smashing right into the side of the submarine, cleaving straight through its hull with ease, and already bringing the waters rushing inside for but a few seconds, before Whiteout just as quickly came leaping down onto the deck of the sub, sending her freezing winds with a single twirl of her pointing finger, in order to freeze the waters all around the sub solid, thus preventing it from flooding even further. [[Is everyone alright? Where are Ingenium-kun and Real Steel-kun?]]

However, as Momo, Kyouka, Maja, Reiko, Yui and Pony all came descending onto the deck to join the Blizzard Hero, they were just as quick to notice the insane sight of Nikolay and Monoma hurriedly getting into standoff positions with Mina of all people on the other side. Nikolay himself could already just feel the questions coming, and thus hurriedly explained: [[Mina lost her ear buds during the tidal wave and Pietro's altered her memories to think we're her enemies! It's looked like she's been trying to fight it, so I've been trying to get through to her while Iida-san and Tetsutetsu-san try and stop Pietro inside!]]

Thankfully, this was all the explanation the reunited Heroes needed to figure out just what needed to be done, especially as they could see Mina was visibly taking in her new odds; her pink skin starting to done that reflecting sheen from her fight against Eliška before; that protective Acid Sweat covering.

[[Then we just need to either wear her out or keep her from moving while the rest of us help get Pietro in a pincer attack!]] Momo theorized, while Kyouka was already starting unfolding Blast Beat's collapsible guitar from over her shoulder, while Pony started throwing numerous pairs of her horns Mina's way to keep her distracted (despite the speed and precision of her deflecting Acid Shots), and Whiteout hurriedly began conjuring up another blizzard wind to try and slow Mina down, with Maja hurriedly melting down her arms and throwing them into elongating Wax ropes to do the same.

Unfortunately, Mina's Acid coating may not have been able to keep out the cold, but it was melting away whatever Wax, Snow or Ice could even hope to touch her as she trudged forward, continuing to throw her Acid or shoot it between her hands, scattering Maja, Yui and Reiko, once they'd tried throwing several quickly growing bolts from the former's pouches amid the flurry and Wax flow to add to the distraction.

Mina had even start taking to sliding across the ice quickly spreading across the wet metal hull, producing the same stronger Acid from her boots that melted both the acid and the hull alike; unintentionally leaving a quickly spreading open line leading down into the sub's interior.

Spotting this, Kyouka hurriedly began sprinting for the nearest opening she could reach, all the while slapping the pacifying patch onto the guitar and hurriedly strumming against it, only for Mina to leap across the air in a near perfect figure skater's standing spin, firing a precise Acid squirt from her pointing finger behind her back, nailing the guitar dead center and forcing Kyouka to discard it before she herself could get burned, all the while mentally cursing herself that she'd gotten her mentor's equipment destroyed.

However, Whiteout, Momo, Maja, Yui, Pony and Reiko were all finally starting to actively assist Nikolay and Monoma in keeping Mina occupied with both trying to attack and avoid them all at once, and them all doing the same whenever she got an opening. All throughout the chaos, Kyouka could still distinctly hear Nikolay trying to talk to Mina amid the thrown punches and kicks, Kinetic blasts and gusts of chilling wind. Soon enough, even Momo, Maja and Pony were all trying to help and chime in wherever possible, as the blonde Class B girl kept towing herself and as many of her allies as her horns could reach at any given moment all around, to keep them from getting pinned, hurt or worse.

As much as she too wanted to desperately step in and help her Russian friend get Mina back to normal, though; Kyouka had to remind herself of whatever potential danger Tenya and Tetsutetsu were likewise facing inside, as she could hear several scattered gunshots and desperate battle cries echoing from inside thanks to the newly melted holes in the hull. Looking upwards to the now-unoccupied tower for the sub, Kyouka steeled herself and made a mad dash for it, planting her Earphone Jacks into the hull and firing herself upward with them, latching onto the edge and flinging herself over it, landing in a hard roll right next to the hatch.

As she pried it open with all her physical strength she could force out, Kyouka kept mentally begging to herself that if she could somehow get the drop on Pietro and knock him unconscious, it would be enough to break his influence on Mina in time before one of them or her got seriously hurt. She could already hear the desperation and emotional agony in Nikolay's voice while being forced to fight against her. If this battle came to that point, she already knew none of Mina's friends here would be able to forgive themselves for it, but Nikolay especially.

Back inside the submarine, the sudden interruption of the gunboat tearing through the hull and bringing in several seconds of a flood of ocean water inside, had provided Tenya and Tetsutetsu just enough of a window to systematically and swiftly knock out the last of Pietro's brainwashed Gagaringrad civilians soldiers, leaving them now only facing off against Pietro himself and Alyosha, who was still trembling where he stood as he had just finished turning the ignition key at a nearby console, and slammed his hand against the single red button that had risen from the small glass box near the monitor.

The continuous flashing red alarm lights and klaxons echoing outside would have been enough of an indicator for the two boys as to what Pietro had just gotten his scientist to do while they had been focused on neutralizing the last of the townspeople fighting them. But the look of utter shellshock and frigid sweat on Alyosha's face, and the fire of near fanatical focus in Pietro's lifeless eyes, had all made it come together in their heads with that much more weight.

Even the continuous automated voice echoing from the computers, about the collision with the gunboat having seriously damage three of the launch silos to the point they couldn't actually function anymore, didn't seem to offset the deathly seriousness in Pietro's body language, as he was now currently standing before the two Hero interns with The Giver and Valera held tightly to his chest in his arms, with The Giver being the only one between them still actively trying to wriggle and fight her way out of the hold of his mechanical arm while her own were visibly injured; all while Pietro's eyes never left those of his young enemies.

[[The two of you stay far the hell back, you hear me? I know how you Heroes think; you're all like a manufactured carbon copy product off an assembly line; no matter who you talk to or where you go, the first rule is always the same: never do anything that directly puts the lives of civilians at risk! You take even a single step, and the boy and the sidekick both die, understand?]]

Compared to how unhinged yet confident Pietro looked, Alyosha looked utterly defeated, being caught out in the open and in the middle now that all the other soldiers meant to provide him cover had been dealt with. However, even with no more extra guns being fired their way; neither Tenya nor Tetsutetsu felt remotely in control, as they couldn't dare risk taking their eyes off Pietro, either.

Gritting his sharp teeth, Tetsutetsu muttered in frustration: [[This asshole's right, he's got all the power here right now so long as those two are in his reach. And even if we could get the kid away from him, he could still be under his influence and be totally loyal to the guy for all we know.]]

Even Tenya couldn't hide the anger on his face visible through the damage to his helmet and mask. [[Yes, with these confined spaces, I wouldn't be able to close the distance fast enough to keep him from seriously hurting either one of them, even with my Recipro Burst. And that's not even the most worrying part. Look at Valera-kun, not just his lack of fighting back.]]

The flashing red lights amid the already prominent red and blue of the control deck had made it difficult for Tetsutetsu to really notice, but at his partner's suggestion, the Iron-skinned boy squinted as best he could from the distance, and was soon able to notice the offsetting discoloration evident on the small boy's face. [[Oh dammit, I thought I saw something happen to this bastard once the gunshots went off when we got in here. He must've forced the kid to bring him back again; the little guy looks like he's about to keel over. Shit, what do we do?]]

Tenya knew that anything he could've said would've simply been repeating himself, and right now they both needed to keep their eyes open for the first fraction of an opening they could capitalize on. Unfortunately, Pietro was observing them both just as closely, as he was ignoring The Giver's wriggling in his left arm while inching his way back towards the ladder of the tower.

Knowing the corridor was narrow enough to keep the two boys from encircling him, Pietro was about ready to kick The Giver their way as a distraction while he could make a break with Valera to the ladder. No matter how sickly the boy looked, he was still too valuable for him to simply abandon until he'd breathed his last for Pietro.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRN!

With the deep and resonating groan of metal, the entire submarine suddenly started to rock off-balance once more, destabilizing Tenya and Tetsutetsu's stance as the ground began to tilt from underneath them. With the corridor allowing him to keep his own balance easily, Pietro took that chance to finally shove and then viciously kick The Giver in the back towards them; forcing Tenya and Tetsutetsu to scramble to grab her.

With the ice once holding the submarine now breaking apart and allowing more water to start flooding inside and putting the unconscious soldiers at greater risk, it was made just that much more difficult enough for the two boys to pursue Pietro, while he himself was grinning ear to ear as he turned to finally ascend the ladder…

…only to find himself face to face with Kyouka as she finally came sliding down the passage of the ladder from the tower hatch, landing in a ready crouch on her feet, and sending her Earphone Jacks straight for Pietro the instant she saw him looming over her.

The scar-covered man desperately began stepping back, weaving and trying to dodge the purple-haired girl's close-quarters martial arts attacks alongside her Quirk, taking a few pronounced Pulse attacks to his shoulders and legs throughout, before ultimately managing to grab them both in the grip of his free mechanical hand, and pulling Kyouka forward by them in order to slam her into the floor.

However, even if she hadn't been planning for Pietro to manage to grab her, Kyouka was quick to improvise, as she hurriedly extended her arms and legs to go flush to the corridor walls in order to keep herself reinforced and immobilized enough so she could swing by her arms and land a devastating kick to Pietro's head, or at the very least force him back and throw off his defense enough to where she could get Valera away from him and take away his last bit of leverage.

With these two plans being the most prominent in her mind, Kyouka proceeded to swing her body like a pendulum while her hands were up against the walls; her extended legs thankfully giving her enough of a range to force Pietro to let go of her Earphone Jacks and take a step back; the very thing she was hoping for the most, as she released her hands' grips against the walls while keeping her swinging momentum going enough to where she came in up close with a roll.

She didn't waste a moment to sweep her leg across Pietro's, knocking them out from under him and forcing him to reach out to the handle of a nearby periscope to keep his balance, at the cost of losing his hold on Valera in the process, just for Kyouka to hurriedly catch him and pull him in close. Now that she'd taken the boy from the Villain; he was now completely open for Tenya and Tetsutetsu to take down once and for all.

[[NO! LET GO OF ME! LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE!]] Valera's frantic and vicious scream came with such swiftness, that Kyouka was still mentally trying to process what was going on by the time the small child had miraculously found the energy and strength to pound his tiny fists against her face, even managing to land a lucky hit on her left eye before finally forcing her to let go by biting into her right hand with all the strength he could.

Valera's freak-out against Kyouka had been just the surprise for any one of the young Heroes that Pietro had been hoping it would be, as he snatched the pale little boy from the floor just as quickly as Kyouka had, drawing out his reloaded pistol from behind his back in the same motion as he began to make a mad dash for the ladder; lining up his sights on Kyouka and hammering his finger down on the trigger, unloading several rounds where the stunned young girl was standing before she could even try to dodge out of the way.

[[LOOK OUT, JIROU-SAN!]]

Tenya's desperate call rang loud in Kyouka's ears as he came dashing in and tackling her to the ground with all the speed he could short of his Recipro Burst. By the skin of their teeth had he managed to save his classmate from getting gunned down so unceremoniously, but in the process he had ended up taking a round shattering the right shoulder plate of his armor, another ricocheting off the tail pipes protruding from the back of his right leg, and another just barely grazing along the back of his head. At the same time, Tetsutetsu had taken the action of tackling Alyosha to the floor before he could try to flee right alongside Pietro the moment the chance had presented itself.

In that short handful of seconds, Pietro had finally taken the opportunity for everything it was worth; leaving the three Heroes, his old scientist colleague and his last remaining unconscious soldiers to potentially drown in the quickly flooding submarine control deck, while he kept Valera close and proceeded to climb up the ladder to the hatch several rungs at a time.

A couple minutes earlier…

The battle on deck had only grown more and more desperate once Mina had managed to melt away the last of Yui's rapid growing steel nuts and bolts, leaving her completely out of any other tools she could use. This was the same reason Momo was having very similar trouble, as every kind of trap she could come up with was getting melted before contact could even be made; and with the uses of her Quirk up until this point, her own energy stores were close to near complete depletion, so she knew she needed to tread carefully from here on.

Reiko, Maja and Whiteout hadn't proven much more effective, as not only had every chunk of ice and Wax from the deck gotten melted away as well, but Mina had even started rushing around and melting the ice that was supposed to be keeping the submarine stable and balanced, thus forcing Whiteout to divide her attention so that the people caught inside wouldn't end up drowning once the flooding would restart, and so the whole vehicle wouldn't end up tilting over and sending them all into the water.

With Mina's Acid still coating her body in even the thinnest but still effective layer, there were no realistic means for Nikolay or any of his partners to try and get close to her, and she was unfortunately very much aware of that by now, as she was starting to combine her charging slides with both distance and up-close attacks for whoever was unlucky enough to be closest to her, and the aim and spread of her Acid attacks was only getting more and more wide spread. Now there was the Acid itself, and the risk of getting caught or falling through one of the now numerous melted holes in the hull for them all to worry about, and this was all while Nikolay was still trying so desperately to try and find the right words that could break through the veil in his best friend's mind that was forcing them into this situation to begin with.

But the more he saw her continuing to attack her fellow Heroes, while still displaying those momentary physical tics of resistance all throughout, the more Nikolay could feel his hope for being able to do this non-violently all but completely diminished. [[I know you can hear us all, Mina; I know you can see what's happening! You can't possibly want to do this…and I don't want to, either! But if words can't break through…then what other choice do I have? Goddammit, this is the one thing I was afraid would happen when we came out here the most! I…*sniffle*…I-I'm so sorry I was such a coward, Mina! I'm so sorry I never just took the chance to tell you what I'd wanted to the most over all this time!]]

With his supply of small tuning forks having now been melted away, alongside both of his larger tuning forks at his sides, Nikolay was left with nothing more than his own two hands and feet to defend himself, and it couldn't have been at a less opportune time, as Mina was charging at him alone with full force now, spinning like a gliding ballerina along one of her Acid trails, and sending a multitude of Acid Shots in rapid succession, forcing the young Hero to launch himself every which way he possibly could at such instantaneous notice. His own reflexes and speed had managed to help him avoid the brunt of this wide-spread attack of hers, but it hadn't been enough to help him get through completely unscathed.

PSSSSHT!

With a severely pained shout, Nikolay came crashing and rolling hard across the deck and nearly into the maw of another gaping melted hole, as he could feel several of the tiniest droplets of Mina's scattered Acid Shots land against the left sleeve and left pant leg of his costume, burning through both with no effort and starting to burn into his skin underneath.

Rolling onto his back, Nikolay could see Mina come charging towards him with her Acid-coated hands at the ready all over again, too fast for him to be able to simply roll out of the way, and with the number of holes in the hull all around them, there was actually no means for him to try and boost himself away with a Kinetic-aided slide, and to simply launch himself straight up into the air would leave him an easy target, even for a second, for another Acid Shot. What was more, Maja was currently in a terrible position of trying to reconstitute both her arms and legs, and was thus unable to send another Wax rope to try and wrangle him back to momentary safety. Nikolay was well and truly on his own right now.

Despite the overwhelming advantage she now had on him, though; Nikolay was momentarily surprised when her slide came to an almost inhumanly sudden stop, as too did the Acid-throwing punch she had just started to throw, freezing midway and letting the corrosive payload fall harmlessly (in this specific case) to the hull next to her feet.

Neither the constant mist of water vapor spraying all across the air, nor the agonized tears in Nikolay's eyes could have fooled him from what he was witnessing at this moment on top of the hesitation. Despite the deathly serious aggressive expression on Mina's face; her black-gold eyes were welling up with tears of what could only have been described as ultimate pain.

Mental, emotional or physical didn't make a difference now; if she was somehow managing to fight against Pietro's Quirk this much, then that was all the sign that Nikolay needed to hurry back to his feet and start over, his heart pounding mercilessly at his chest as he refused to break eye contact. [[Mina…you remember who I am, don't you? It's me, Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov…'Kolya-kun', remember?]]

Mina's fists were trembling with growing intensity, as though her whole control over her body was in a state of tug-of-war between her real will and that of Pietro's conditioning trying to drive her actions like a remote puppet. Regardless, Nikolay refused to back away, his voice already beginning to crack as he tore away his long-since busted goggles and his damaged mariner's cap so she could see him for who he truly was.

[[Remember how we met for the very first time? I crashed right into you on a street corner in Musutafu City, in Shizuoka Prefecture. You'd caught yourself perfectly fine while I nailed my head on the sidewalk, and even though it was my fault, you were already so worried about if I was okay…and after you had to leave to catch your train back home to Chiba Prefecture where your parents are…I found that you'd accidentally lost your phone, and I tried to chase after you to give it back, but ended up having to leave it with the police, where you ended up coming back just minutes later and learned from them what I did just after I'd left.]]

For but a moment, Nikolay could swear he was seeing Mina's mouth start to open for the first time since Pietro had gotten his hooks into her head and turned her against all her friends here.

With lightning speed, she suddenly threw one of her legs up towards Nikolay's face in a high spinning kick, thankfully with no acid releasing from her soles this time, but still managing to graze his cheek as he reeled back.

From there, Mina was violently keeping pace with Nikolay as she began throwing one kick, elbow, knee or punch after another towards him, but this time with no acid accompanying any of it. That was pretty much the only reason Nikolay was still standing even now; still able to see the torment in her eyes, like her body was truly out of her own control.

But if his persistence had already started to trigger even this much of a change in her, then dammit, Nikolay knew he was going to keep going for it, his own eyes flooded with pained tears of his own as the memories just came flowing out of his mouth: [[We met each other again at the Entrance Exam for Yuuei Academy, remember? I saved you from a giant robot, and you saved me from getting smashed against the asphalt when I'd thrown myself too high. You even gave me one of your pencils for the written test afterward when I'd forgotten my own. You even offered your phone number to me on the off-chance one of us didn't end up making the cut…and even after that, you actually stepped forward and offered to donate some of the points you'd earned, just to help me get in!]]

It was taking everything the young Hero had to keep his words coming and not start devolving into tormented choking sobs, as Mina's onslaught of close-quarters attacks were becoming progressively more jerky and stilted, like she was fighting against actually physical restraints around her arms and legs.

[[That's the kind of person you really are, Mina; that's the kind of person you've always been: someone who was born to be a Hero for everyone she meets! You've always been someone who goes out of your way to make friends with all the people you can, not for popularity, but because you just possess that kind of natural love for people! You're someone who drops everything you're doing the moment you think someone, anyone at all, needs help or just a simple morale boost or pick-me-up, or even if you just run into one of your friends and want to talk their ears off about anything and everything. I know this, because you've been that way with me from the moment we started school together!

[[Even when I came across as awkward, withdrawn, standoffish or panicky, you never once considered me a lost cause. You only ever showed me the utmost patience and empathy, and I should've recognized that about you from the start and accepted you as my first ever friend right then and there…but I didn't. The day you brought so many of our friends from Class A to my home to actually celebrate my mother's birthday, and I had that complete emotional meltdown…I thought I'd driven you away forever, and deep down, that hurt more than anything, because you were one of the very first people since I'd come to this country to show me the sort of kindness that you had.]]

By now, the attacks Mina was actually able to follow through on were pronounced with a fierce attacking battle cry that sounded like the poor girl was being physically tortured when doing it. But this slowing down of her attack flow had finally given Nikolay the chance to truly breathe and try to recollect himself as he continued on:

[[When you came looking for me the day after, when I tried to run away…you told me that you'd come to bring me back, not because of you trying to be a Hero saving someone, but because we were friends, and friends always do what they can to help each other through anything and everything. That day, when you'd finally given me the chance to let out all the sadness I'd held onto up until that point…when I saw you actually shedding tears for me, and you gave me my very first hug of sympathy and support that day, even despite the awful things I'd said to you all that night before…that was one of the happiest moments of my life, because you'd helped me to realize I was no longer all alone, that I really did have a friend for the first time in my life…and no matter what I said or did since then until now, I never knew how I'd ever be able to thank you enough for doing that for me, on top of everything else you've done for me since then!

[[But you're not just the very first friend I ever had, Mina; you're my best friend, the one constant in my life that's always managed to help bring warmth and a smile back into my heart whenever I feel myself slipping, even now! You pulled me out of the darkness of my old life, and helped me step into a whole world full of possibilities, with so many more wonderful and irreplaceable friends we've both been able to make since then. You helped me learn how to actually live, smile and laugh again! You inspired me to finally look forward and start working towards becoming the Hero I always wanted to be; the Hero I am right now trying to save you, just like you saved me then!

[[We've gone through so much together, ups and downs, over the course of this year, and I'm not about to let that all be for nothing here! I don't want to think of a future, even as a Pro Hero, without you and all of our friends waiting for us at Yuuei there to experience it with me; you even said as much to me that fateful day, remember? Ultimately, I was nobody to you then, but you spoke so truthfully to me, as though I were one of the most important people in your life, just like you are to me and always have been, even when I was too blind to see it in the beginning! You helped me rediscover what it means to feel hope again, just like a Hero is always meant to. I know I'd said it once before, but this is different: you truly are my Hero, Mina Ashido!]]

By now, he could finally see the Acid coating over Mina's skin had started to dissipate, and even though her body was still in that fighting posture, now her whole face was wrenched with painful struggle and overwhelming emotion, even as she tried to build up another large couple of Acid globs over both her clenched fists.

With his whole body trembling with this emotional maelstrom and the desperate hope that this was working and bringing his best friend in the world back, Nikolay finally began to take one resolute step forward after another, cautiously yet optimistically closing the distance between them.

But with what he knew in his heart he needed to say next, Nikolay could feel a whole different kind of apprehension and struggle start to overtake him as he went on: [[But even that isn't the full extent of the truth anymore. The truth, Mina…is that for a long time now, you've actually meant even more to me than just being my partner, my classmate, or even my best friend among best friends. The fact is that…before we'd really started to spend time together, really got to know each other after that day…I'd long since resigned myself to the fact that I would never be able to feel for another person…the way…t-the way I've realized I've come to feel for you even now.]]

The hissing sound of Mina's Acid once again falling from her hands onto the steel below met Nikolay's ears, but his attention was solely on the look in her eyes. Amid the glistening of tears, there was also a clear look of wonder, or perhaps even breathless anticipation behind it all, as though she were actually growing as anxious to hear where he was going with this as he himself was.

Deep down, in fact; the tormenting battle in her head between her true self and the false memories Pietro had planted in its place, had come to a complete momentary stop, as the sound of the emotion in Nikolay's voice rang through the veil loud and clear. 'Kolya…kun?'

[[I'll admit, for the longest time, I wasn't even sure when I'd actually found myself beginning to feel this way about you, and I thought about it a lot…assuming there was ever a time I actually fully stopped. But, believe it or not…I-I think I may have finally figured it out at last, when this fire inside me first started that you've just kept fanning over all this time.]]

No matter how naturally the words were coming to him, this was still one of the single most difficult things Nikolay had ever done. He honestly felt like his head would explode by the time he'd finally get his most intended words out, even as he finally was able to stand a foot away from Mina; the two teens looking desperately in each other's tearful eyes, all while Whiteout, Reiko, Yui and Pony could only watch this surprising change in the battle's pace with wide-eyed surprise and apprehension.

WHAM!

Nikolay found his head ringing against the unforgiving steel below before he could even finish processing what had just happened; as the deeply-rooted influence of Pietro's Quirk had physically forced Mina's body to finally start fighting back, grabbing onto the collar of his costume and sweeping her right leg across both of his from behind, knocking him off balance and slamming both their full body weight straight to the deck.

As Nikolay's head continued to ring, he looked up to the overcast sky to find Mina pinning her left knee to his stomach and raising her right fist high over her head as it became engulfed in another bubbling blob of Acid behind her. All the while, her eyes and face were still reflecting the fear and desperation from moments before. Even if she couldn't force her own words out of her throat, inside her head was like the ringing of a thousand bells: 'KOLYA-KUN, GET AWAY! PLEASE!'

As her fist reached the height of its reared up punch, and all the other Heroes came sprinting and flying in at once across the deck to stop what she was about to do; Nikolay could hear the faint sound of something small and metal rolling along the deck from the direction of his costume's left pocket, before ultimately brushing against the tip of his left index finger.

In the gravity of this moment, his mind couldn't immediately put it together, but there was something in his heart that just told him this was his last possible chance being presented to him. And so, with his heart leaping into his throat as he breathed in deep, Nikolay grasped the small object at his side and brought his hand up between himself and Mina.

The dissolving punch that he'd been preparing to feel collide with his face never came. Instead, there was only the sound of one drip of Acid after another hissing against the metal next to his head. As Nikolay hesitantly opened his eyes, he could finally see and remember just what it was he had grabbed onto, and what it was he was now holding up in front of Mina's face, what it was that had brought her finishing blow to a complete halt, as the anguish on her face had momentarily vanished, and was now replaced with an expression of surprise...and deeply heartfelt remembrance.

Draped around his bloody and raw finger, and lying clear as day, open in the lacerated palm of his left hand, was a single small silver locket; within which was a photo of Mina with the most joyous and fun-loving look evident on her closed eyes and blushing pink face, as she turned a visibly dumbfounded and red-faced Nikolay by his chin, and was placing her smiling lips to his cheek in the most surprising, awkward yet adorable kiss one could imagine between two fifteen-year-olds on their very first day spent having fun together.

All at once did a number of other equally heartwarming images come flashing before Mina's eyes; her vision as clear as day even through the welling tears. Her parents both alive and well; the day her Quirk had manifested; her first success in making friends and accepting her Quirk and dream to become a Hero; the face of every single friend she ever made through all her school years; her countless times of dancing to her heart's content; her unparalleled joy at being accepted into Yuuei; designing her Hero costume alongside her mother…the very first day she and Nikolay had ever met.

As soon as his face that day came before her, Mina found herself reliving every single moment the two of them ever spent together, the good times and the bad, every single step of the roller coaster of emotions they had experienced by each other's sides…and with it, every emotion deep within her heart that the boy now beneath her had inspired ever since that day when she saw his last emotional barriers fall, and how much of an unbreakable connection she'd already felt towards him before, become that much stronger when she'd taken him into her arms.

At last, the fuzzy false images of lies masquerading as memories in the forefront of Mina's mind had faded, and she could finally feel the real memories of her real life come rushing back and setting themselves back into place…and yet she still couldn't regain full physical control over her body, the last front through which Pietro's control was still hanging on.

The sight of Mina's face softening and her eyes lighting up with remembrance had filled Nikolay with hope that had once felt forever lost. The boy had to physically fight back the chokes and sobs of hopeful tears rushing up his throat as he finally lowered his hand with the locket still in his grasp.

As he and Mina looked imploringly and with the utmost remembrance and honest affection into each other's eyes, Nikolay's mind was screaming: 'For God's sake, Nikolay Olegovich, this is the moment, don't you see?! If you don't just suck it up and tell her now, there will never be any coming back from it! This could be our last possible chance of getting her back to normal! Just say it! SAY IT! SAY IT, GODDAMMIT!'

[[I LOVE YOU, MINA!]]

All the air across the entire submarine deck went silent and still as those four life-changing words echoed for all present to hear. Nikolay felt like time had just stopped, even as his heart already began to feel ever lighter for having finally said it all out loud. But now that he had finally said it, there was no stopping him, even as he saw the tears raining down from her black-gold eyes onto his own tear-strewn face:

[[I love you, Ashido Mina, more than I could ever be able to describe properly to you! I don't care if people say it's not smart for best friends to feel such a way for each other, it's the God's honest truth, from the bottom of my heart: I love you! Every single moment we've spent together over this whole year has always managed to be some of the happiest moments of my entire life, and I want to be able to continue experiencing everything life has to offer together with you, more than anything! For the longest time I thought I'd started feeling this way for you ever since we took that photo booth picture together…but now…now I know that…I know that those first embers may have actually started to glow ever since that day you helped to bring me back, in every way possible! I love you with everything I am and ever will be; I can feel it…no, I know it, down to my core! The only…t-the only regret I have anymore…is that I didn't work up the courage to just tell you sooner!]]

Nikolay felt like he'd just expended an entire day's worth of oxygen just forcing every single word he'd ever wanted to say out into the open at long last. And for everything he wanted to believe it was ultimately worth, it looked like it was doing exactly what he'd hoped it would in this situation, as all the aggression in Mina's body had vanished all at once, and as her tears continued to rain down her face onto him, she was visibly struggling to try and put together the words to finally answer him the way she'd so desperately wanted to.

[[WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! WHY THE HELL ARE THESE PISSANTS STILL ALIVE?! I GAVE YOU AN ORDER! ARE YOU TRULY GOING TO BREAK YOUR VOW OF LOYALTY TO ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?! HURRY UP AND KILL THEM, SOLDIER!]]

The enraged echo of Pietro's voice shattered the serene silence on the deck, as at that moment he had finally emerged atop the tower, just in time to see his once fool-proof strategy for getting rid of his Hero problem just vanish before his very eyes. As all eyes on deck darted to the man above them (Maja's pink eyes all but igniting literally with a resentful fire, especially), the sight of Valera still in his grasp had all their alertness spike, as any moment they knew he could try to shift around any one of their memories just like he had done to Mina.

However, Nikolay's own tunnel vision of righteous anger disappeared in a flash when he suddenly felt the ever-familiar softness and warmth of Mina's hand take his left into her grasp. As he turned back to look and see what she was doing, he felt his heart momentarily seize when he saw Mina level his bloody palm right up against her head; her watery eyes looking straight into his soul as her trembling lips formed the faintest smile.

[[Kolya-kun…use your Quirk on me, please! Knock me out, before he tries to get in my head again!]]

Nikolay could feel the words of resistance immediately come flying out his mouth the moment Mina made her request, but her hold on his hand only tightened that much more in response, silencing him as he saw just how desperate she was by the look in her eyes. [[I don't want to hurt any of you more than I already have, Kolya-kun! It's too painful to deal with already, so please, please, please just use your Quirk on me while I can still let you!]]

Nikolay still wanted to do anything but what Mina was suggesting; with every fiber of his being he didn't want to. In the end, though, his instincts kept telling him that she was right. Without her protection for her ears, she was a liability against a Villain like Pietro, and if this was the only way to ensure he didn't get his hooks in her again and cause her to endanger her dear friends again…then he had a responsibility to do as his partner and best friend was begging him to.

With his hand still leveled and resting against the side of Mina's head, the pink girl's trembling smile finally went still as she closed her eyes in preparation, and Nikolay wrenched his eyes shut as he focused a single sudden Kinetic surge down his arm and out through the entirety of his hand.

BWOOM!

With that one resonating bass boom echoing through the air, Mina's whole body jerked, and just as quickly went completely slack, collapsing unconscious on top of Nikolay as he remained on his back, already fighting his way through the sobs that shook his entire body.

All the while, as the rest of the Heroes kept looking back and forth in anxious anticipation between the two students and Pietro; the Villain himself was seeing nothing but fire and blood as he witnessed what Mina had just allowed Nikolay to do so that he couldn't affect her with his Quirk anymore. To now know his ace in the hole had been taken away, Pietro immediately drew his pistol from his hip, expertly lining the sights with his one free hand to Mina's back on the complete opposite end of the sub.

[[YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE BRAT!]]

PSSHT!

Just as his finger began to squeeze the trigger, the barrel of his Makarov suddenly began to smoke, hiss and liquidate before Pietro's eyes, forcing him to jump back in surprise as he tossed his weapon away, momentarily dumbfounded how such a thing was still possible, before a momentary panicked glance down to the deck explained everything.

Standing at the forefront of the scattered mob of Heroes, Monoma was nearly squatting, but still looked completely at the ready as he had both his arms extended forward and upward towards Pietro; his hands flat with the fingers just barely spread, in a perfect imitation of Mina's Acid Shot. Even despite the confident smirk on his youthful face, the blue-eyed boy was thinking to himself with utter relief: 'Oh, thank God! Getting close enough to Copy her Quirk without getting burned was a damn miracle! Time was just about up for my Copy of her, too! Please don't say he has another hidden on him!'

As if somehow sensing this worried thought passing through Monoma's mind, however, Nikolay's fighting instincts kicked back into full gear the moment he'd realized what Pietro had been about to do; setting Mina down beside him, and just as quickly rolling his body away from her and slamming an immediately charged up palm flat to the hull, sending a full powered shockwave resonating through the entirety of the submarine as his contracted green irises were laser-focused on Pietro's distant form, declaring a deafening [[DISTANT THUNDER]] all the while.

BWOOM!

The moment the last syllable reached Pietro's ears, a powerful shockwave came racing up the height of the tower and finally bursting out from right underneath his feet, sending him flying by surprise straight into the air and inadvertently losing his grip on Valera in the process.

However, the boy quickly proved to be in no true danger, as Pony just as quickly came flying up on two of her horns, grabbing Valera in her arms like a human football and wasting no time in flying back in the direction of the Gagaringrad shore, even as Valera tried to struggle in her grip.

At the same time, just as Pietro reached the utmost height of his surprise flight, Nikolay just as quickly turned his attention to Yui and Reiko. [[NOW!]]

At his word, the two Class B girls hurriedly enacted the one thing approaching a desperate plan they had been able to put together in the midst of their battle against Mina mere minutes ago. Amid the chaos then, Momo had managed to miraculously slip a tiny roll of some kind of cloth she had created into Yui's hand, and they could only naturally assume any one of them would have an idea of what to use it for when an opportunity presented itself.

And fortunately, that opportunity was now, as Yui immediately began growing the unfurling roll of cloth as Reiko sent it flying at full speed through the air, just in time to catch and wrap itself around Pietro's midsection just before he could finish free-falling to the deck below, subsequently wrapping entirely around the area of the tower, only to then constrict and tighten firmly around Pietro once Momo had hurriedly created a lighter from the palm of her hand and held the open flame to the end of the cloth still nearest Yui. With this, Pietro was now trapped and unable to wriggle his way out, with only his mechanical left arm managing to protrude through the different layers of wrapping over his whole midsection.

[[I've got the submarine stabilized in this glacial ring again, but with this much damage to the whole thing's integrity, we can't waste any more time, kids! Let's help Ingenium, Real Steel and Earphone Jack-kun get the people inside the sub back out and back to the shore, and deactivate the launch systems!]] At Whiteout's command, the whole assortment of Hero interns began to rush for any one of the openings in the hull in order to assist their three classmates inside with the evacuation efforts, while the Blizzard Hero herself was already starting to conjure up a flurry to freeze an entire trail of ice back to the shore in the distance.

As the others began to mobilize, though; Maja and Nikolay (already in the process of carrying the unconscious Mina on his back) had their eyes focused on Pietro against the side of the tower; the scowling Polish girl's hands already starting to run with buildups of melted Wax. [[Let me just make sure Pietro keeps his mouth shut, Whiteout-san. If his Quirk really has been getting so much stronger, I'm not leaving anything to chance.]]

To nobody's surprise, none of the other interns looked to have any objection to Maja doing so, not even Whiteout herself.

What did catch them all by surprise, though, was the fact that, even despite his precarious situation…Pietro was actually starting to chuckle knowingly to himself; his cloudy eyes eagerly switching from one Hero to another. [[You Heroes these days…you just get more and more naïve with each generation, don't you? You really think that fancy speeches and just brute forcing your Quirks through hardship is all it takes to truly win? If the army has ever truly taught me anything to live by, it's that you don't stop so long as your enemy is still breathing.

[[Victory doesn't go to the one who runs the fastest or punches the hardest; it doesn't even go to the person with the most traditionally powerful Quirk…and we've all made sure I can meet someone with even that going for them, on much more equal terms…because victory goes to the person who plans ahead to always possess the edge.]]

'Alright, Comrade Alyosha Stepanovich…time to see how good your little modifications really are.'

FWOOSH!

With a single metallic click, Pietro's exposed mechanical arm suddenly shot outward from Momo's constrictive wrappings like a rocket; the brightness of the white flame shooting out from its elbow joint from which it had detached from the rest of Pietro's body proving just enough to draw the Heroes' surprised attention just long enough.

K-KLICK! BWOOSH!

With another click and the hiss of an even greater launching flame ignited, the wrappings quickly burned away into ashes, freeing Pietro as the middle of his uniform too burned away before their eyes. To all of their shock, this revealed the unbelievable sight of Pietro's whole body separating at his mechanical waist, with his upper and lower half's metal end caps ringed with small propulsion jets around the complex magnetic and other mechanics that Alyosha had constructed for him after the commander had gotten blown apart before.

And all of this insane control of three entirely now-separate parts of his body was made possible by only the smallest and unnoticeable incision and insertion to the back of Pietro's skull that only he and Alyosha knew of: a single neurotransmitter that now allowed him to maintain remote control over all of himself now.

However, the admitted amazement and alertness of the Heroes at witnessing this insane development didn't last long, for their attention had then been drawn to another little surprise Pietro had unleashed by suddenly splitting his two halves apart:

The reveal of a single plastic explosive, just as the ignition pin attached to its detonator got pulled by Pietro separating himself.

The commander's evasive flight of his top and lower halves were so perfectly timed with the resulting detonation of this booby trap of his, they almost coalesced into one as the air shook with the deafening explosion; the fiery heat filling Pietro with an ecstatic exhilaration as he flew upwards before finally focusing and reconnecting with his lower half and left arm. Looking down, he saw how the explosion tore through the reinforced steel of the submarine like fire through paper; sending all of the once-dumbfounded Heroes on deck flying all the way back as shrapnel and flames alike chased after them the whole way. And all the while, the torrential flow of water that was now flooding into the gaping hole would have the entire vessel completely sunken in barely a matter of minutes, with the other three meddlesome Heroes inside having already likely drowned.

Even with this sneak attack having left his most powerful physical asset completely destroyed, the smile on Pietro's scarred face was manic as he started laughing to himself victoriously, watching the Heroes sprawled out amid the flames on deck: [[Oh, Comrade Alyosha, I'm sorry you had to be left down there for this…but you truly were a scientific genius in a class entirely your own! These little surprise toys of yours work perfectly!]]

As gravity began to take hold once more, Pietro's vision landed solely upon the distant sight below of Nikolay slowly getting back to his feet at the farthest end of the submarine deck, with the rest of his fellow Heroes starting to do the same all across as well. However, the young Russian boy was all Pietro could focus on, as he hurriedly began controlling the ignitions of the jet systems in his mechanical implants in order to slow down his free fall; ultimately landing with a resounding and threatening THWOOM upon the steel, all eyes now upon him as he stared Nikolay down like he was trying to set the boy on fire with his mind.

[[You are the single most infuriating enigma I've seen, Kolya! You give your all to protect a land that openly despises you and all of your friends here! I try to give the one justice left that matters onto those that deserve it, in the names of all those that died, and you actually try to stop it while calling yourself a Hero! Well, you may have managed to sink all my plans for my campaign, I'll give you that…but if I can still get some modicum of revenge on you, and by extent your god-forsaken father for forcing all of us into this very position in the first place, then that's good enough for me die satisfied!]]

SSHING!

With that, the forearm to Pietro's mechanical limb suddenly extended a large and very strong bayonet attachment from a lengthy open slot, running the length of the limb itself and protruding from over the back of his hand to allow for easy slashing and stabbing with minimal maneuvering. To add on top of that, and adding to the look of utter bloodlust on Pietro's deformed face, he likewise reached behind his back with his right hand and pulled out an especially menacing-looking karambit knife as well, expertly flipping and twirling it between his fingers before getting it into a combat-ready grip.

But that wasn't the extent of it still, as a light mechanical whirring sound began to emanate from Pietro's body, but while Nikolay was already starting to get into his own fighting stance, waiting for yet another kind of body-separation trick like before, instead he and his allies were all met with the sight of what looked like a full bodysuit of metal plates and articulating joints expanding over Pietro's limbs and torso from behind his back; what the commander knew to be the single greatest improvement Alyosha had created for him when recreating the enhancing protective rigs that Konstantin and his soldiers had so kindly provided him with their intrusion. Just the empowering feeling that revealing this nifty little addition gave him, had Pietro grinning with especially malicious confidence.

But no matter how well-armed, skilled or protected Pietro was now; after what he'd experienced him doing to the unconscious Mina lying several feet behind his back, Nikolay had nothing but the will to fight and beat the man in front of him driving every fiber of his being. Even if all his tools had been destroyed, he would defeat this Villain by beating his own hands into fragments and pulp against his face if he had to.

Clenching his injured hands into the tightest fists, Nikolay continued to stare down Pietro right back as he called back to his partners behind him: [[Don't worry about me, guys! You just focus on getting Mina and everyone inside the sub back to safety! I'll cover you all!]

And with Nikolay's foolhardy, brave, but absolutely sincere declaration answering Pietro's, what they both knew was to be their final battle on this day at last commenced.

And there it is, everyone, and what a confrontation of both skills and heartfelt desperation I really tried to convey here, and finally giving some long-desired payoff to one of this story's longest developments. I hope it was even close to everything you were hoping it would be when it came. But know that we are far from finished here, everyone. We've finally reached the endgame of the Hokkaido story arc: the final battle between Kolya and Pietro is here at last, and I hope you're all just as excited as I am.

If you liked what you read here today, I would truly appreciate it if you could please take the little bit of time to write a review for this chapter. I've been working very hard and very long to make these chapters the best I can make them in the time constraints I have, so some honest feedback from my loyal readers would go a very long way for me emotionally and developmentally as a writer trying to give you all the best story I can.

I hope you're all continuing to have a pleasant summer, and I will see you all with the climactic next chapter on 07/16!