Looking back to see Hitoshi gone made Izuku's blood turn to ice. He'd been in crisis mode since finding Kouta being menaced by the muscle villain, but once he'd found his friends he'd managed to calm down somewhat. He'd begun to feel the pain in his arm, and how much it was helped by Shouto's frost. He'd begun to feel tired from the day's training, and weak from how much fighting he'd already done. He'd actually started to become impatient to reach camp, to sit down and rest and let someone else handle the danger for a few minutes, and that had only been because he'd thought they were doing well.
Apparently, he'd never been more wrong.
"Nice trick, eh?" said a voice from above, and Izuku whirled around to see who had spoken.
High above them, in a tree beside the path, a figure was standing on a large branch and leaning casually on an elegant white cane. It was difficult to tell if it was male or female, but the voice had been masculine, so Izuku was inclined to think it was a man. He wore a yellow trenchcoat, fancy dress shoes, red gloves and a top hat with an ostentatious feather in it. His face was obscured by a white mask, with black markings that didn't depict so much as suggest facial features, with a wholly unreadable expression.
"I took the lad you're talking about with my magic," the man said, voice smooth and tone haughty. As he spoke he tossed a little blue marble up and down in the hand not holding the cane. "A talent like his would be squandered were he cast as a hero. We'll provide him with a grander stage where he can truly shine."
"Mister!" cried Toga gleefully, wiggling as best she could in the gravity well created by Uraraka's quirk, though she was facing the wrong way. "See, I told you it was one of my friends!"
"You're one of the villains then," Uraraka said coldly, glaring up at the newcomer.
"Mr. Compress, at your service," the man gave a sweeping, theatrical bow, though somehow his
hat didn't fall off. "Here to rescue a few young ingènue from a life of tedium and mediocrity." "Give him back!" Izuku shouted, moving forward a few steps and pulling out his force lance.
He tried to suggest anger with his posture, like he was making a vain attempt to rush at the villain, but really he just wanted to put himself between Toga and Mr. Compress. If one of them was going to make a grab at the other, he wanted to be in the way. Shouto immediately moved to stand beside him, air so cold it seared the skin radiating off his right side.
"Give him back?" the villain repeated in tones of mock confusion, continuing to play with the little marble in his hand. Izuku watched it carefully. "What an odd thing to say. Shinsou doesn't belong
to anyone, he's his own person. Don't be so arrogant."
Izuku knew they needed information, now, so he decided to take a guess. "You're the one who turned him into an object you could steal! Release him!"
"Oh aren't you the clever one!" Mr. Compress exclaimed in obvious delight, confirming Izuku's suspicion.
The marble in his hand was Hitoshi.
"You figured out my quirk in a flash!" Mr. Compress continued, still sounding pleased. "Yes I've got him right here, I assure you he's in most capable hands."
"Not for long!" Shouto shouted, right foot coming forward.
Ice sprang up from where his sneaker touched the ground, shooting at Mr. Compress. Just as the ice reached the tree though, the villain leaped into the air, aiming his trajectory so that the ice would have to grow back on itself to reach him, which was tricky for Shouto to do when he was putting all his momentum into an attack. Clearly the villain had a good grasp of movement and the flow of energy. His speciality was probably evasion, not brawling.
"Why the aggression?" Mr. Compress asked, all faux-innocence, as he dove through the air. "We merely wish to show him there are options besides the fanatical world of heroism he's drowning in."
"We just wanna be his friends!" Toga insisted as Mr. Compress landed in another tree. "We can be your friends too!"
"It's important to choose a path that aligns with your core values, after all," Mr. Compress finished smugly. "Wouldn't you say, little hero?"
"You think Hitoshi hasn't had opportunities for villainy?" Izuku demanded, mind going back to his training. This villain was more philosophical than the one he'd found menacing Kouta. Maybe he could reason with him. "He fought to become a hero student, to be recognized for his ability to do good! You know nothing about his values! You only want him because you judged him by his quirk, not the quality of his heart!"
"Well isn't that just too righteous for words," Mr. Compress simpered sardonically. "You certainly think you speak for all the downtrodden in the world, don't you?"
More than you, that's for sure! Izuku thought savagely, but he forced it down. He had to keep trying. If there was even a chance he could get Hitoshi back, he had to try to play this villain's game.
"If that's all you're worried about then release him, and let him speak for himself!" he countered.
"Don't you mean them?" Mr. Compress cocked his head to the side quizzically.
"It's not just Shinsou," Shouji called, making Izuku glance at him briefly. "Tokoyami's gone too!"
"If you're monologuing because you think you've beaten us you're mistaken!" Shouto growled angrily.
"A bad habit of mine," said Mr. Compress dismissively. "I was once an entertainer, you know. Taking Tokoyami was a bit of improv on my part."
With a deft movement of his hand, Mr. Compress produced a second marble, holding the two of them between his spread fingers. It was almost like he meant to display them, to make sure his audience got a good look. If Izuku's theory was correct, then the first marble was Shinsou and the second was Tokoyami. Something seemed wrong though, like it was too easy.
"Perhaps it's a bit early in the performance to go ad-libbing," Mr. Compress gave an exaggerated shrug, "but our little starlet had to go a bit too far downstage and missed his exit."
"What is he trying to say?" Asui wondered in obvious frustration.
"He's saying he was supposed to grab me," Izuku translated, keeping his eyes on Mr. Compress. "Tokoyami was in the back of our formation, and he probably needs physical contact to use his quirk, so he could only snatch two of us at a time. I was too far forward for him to grab along with Hitoshi, but Tokoyami was within reach."
"It's not just that," Mr. Compress defended lightly. "Moonfish, our dear blade-tooth, is a dastardly death row devil whose last appeal was denied. When I saw the avian take him down so easily and violently, I decided he should join our troupe."
That gave him some valuable information. He knew the villains had a list of students they wanted to kidnap, but if Mr. Compress had gone off-script to take Tokoyami, that meant he wasn't one of the intended targets. Which, in turn, meant that the villain had one victim he was more willing to sacrifice than the other. However, even introducing the idea of an acceptable sacrifice gave them an opening. He decided to poke a hole.
"Guess you only care about strength then," Izuku said carefully. "This has nothing to do with anyone's values, you just want strong fighters on your side."
"I wouldn't say that," Mr. Compress hedged, continuing to fiddle pointedly with the marbles. "A lust for destruction isn't exactly a heroic value, wouldn't you say?"
"If you just wanna smash stuff up, it's better to strike out on your own," Toga added cheerfully. "When I was little people tried to stop me from liking blood, but you can't deny the desires of your heart!"
"He was having a panic attack!" Shouji snapped.
"And what about you, my little green ingènue?" Mr. Compress turned to Izuku, and though they couldn't see his eyes Izuku could suddenly feel an unsettling focus centered on himself. "Aren't you tired of being cast as the victim? Or worse, the understudy? It can't have been easy for these unculture hacks to see your star quality. Wouldn't you rather make your own spotlight?"
"Go to hell," Izuku said firmly. Not the most eloquent rebuttal, but some gambits weren't worth staking his reputation on.
Mr. Compress laughed. "Well, can't blame an old man for trying," he said resignedly. "A hat trick might have netted me some real rave reviews. Well, on to the matter of my co-star, who you seem to have trapped in the wings."
"They stuck me to the ground!" Toga complained. "I can't move!"
"Let's see what we can do about that," Mr. Compress cooed, then turned to Shouji, his tone suddenly seriously. "Here's the deal Six-Arms: you release Toga, and you get one marble. No guarantee it'll be Tokoyami, but if you send Midoriya over here you get both."
Izuku felt Shouto tense beside him, shifting slightly to put himself more firmly between Shouji and Izuku. It was obvious Mr. Compress had been watching them for a while, he had said as much himself, which meant he had seen Shouji and Tokoyami hold hands. He was banking on Shouji wanting Tokoyami back too much to be picky about how.
Shouji, of course, wasn't stupid. "How about this instead?" he retorted. "You give us both marbles, and we don't beat you to a pulp."
Izuku pointed his force lance -- baton length -- at Mr. Compress, and activated the taser so that the end sparked menacingly.
"Well if you're going to threaten me with violence," Mr. Compress held up both hands in mock surrender, "I guess I better play a bit more fair. Both marbles for Toga, how's that?"
Izuku looked at Uraraka. Their odds of holding Toga until the police arrived to arrest her were slim as it was, so they wouldn't lose much by agreeing. There was always the chance that the two villains might attack once they were both free, but Uraraka had taken down Toga by herself and Shouto's ice could easily keep Mr. Compress at bay while they ran. If the knife laying on the ground not far from Toga's hand was any indication, and Izuku's guess about Mr. Compress needing physical contact for his quirk to work was correct, both the villains were close combat specialists. If they could keep their distance, they could win.
Uraraka looked from Izuku to Toga and back, then nodded.
"Alright," Izuku said decisively, "here's the deal. You give us the marbles, then Uraraka releases Toga. Then you can release your quirk and turn them back to normal."
His face was still hidden, but Izuku could practically hear Mr. Compress's smile. "Deal."
Izuku glanced at Asui, and she stepped forward a few paces and held out both large hand, preparing for a catch. Mr. Compress threw the marbles up and caught them, then made an easy underhand toss. Asui caught both marbles, then held them up, one in each hand. They were blue and shiny, but nothing about either of them suggested which one might be which student.
"If you please," Mr. Compress prompted.
Uraraka glanced at Izuku, and at his nod she pressed the pads of all five fingers together. Immediately Toga lurched to her feet, then whirled around to face the students. There was a beat of silence when no one moved, and Toga's eyes lit on Izuku. She stared at him, mouth open, cheeks flushed, eyes bright and intent, and Izuku had the abrupt sensation of being cornered. She looked at him like a hawk looked at a mouse, like he was piece of chocolate cake and she hadn't eaten all day. Then suddenly Toga seemed to remember herself, and threw up a quick peace sign.
"Toodles!" she said cheerfully, then turned and bolted into the woods.
"Your turn," Shouto snapped before Izuku had looked away from Toga's retreating back. "Release our friends!"
"Here goes!" Mr. Compress said cheekily, sounding entirely too happy with how things had worked out.
Something's wrong, Izuku realized, but it was too late.
Mr. Compress raised a hand and snapped his fingers. The two marbles in Asui's hands flickered, and in an instant they grew into large glowing shapes. Izuku's heart leaped as he saw the de-
compressed objects, too thin and irregular to be right, and when the glow receded his stomach dropped. Two broken tree branches fell into Asui's outstretched hands.
"Allow me to explain a basic tenet of magic," Mr. Compress taunted as they all looked on in horror. "If I'm flaunting something shiny, it's because there's something else I don't want you to see."
"You bastard!" Shouto yelled, another ice wall shooting up to meet Mr. Compress, but before it reached him the villain had already jumped away.
"Apologies, but slight-of-hand and escapology are my specialities, not combat," Mr. Compress called. "I'm not foolish enough to fight hero candidates from UA."
Then he pressed a hand to his ear, and Izuku realized he must have a radio. All the villains must be in contact with each other. Why hadn't he thought of that before?
"Vanguard Action Squad," Mr. Compress spoke clearly into the radio. "I've acquired one of our targets. Our little show has officially come to a close. Meet me at the retrieval point in the next five minutes for the final bow."
With that he landed on one of the few trees free of ice and leaped again, taking off through the forest in a direction only slightly different to the one Toga had taken. Wherever he ran, she wouldn't be too far, and other villains were coming. They didn't know how far the retrieval point was, or how many villains would be there. Rushing into that would be running headlong into danger, with no idea what their odds might be.
"They're going to take them," Shouto said numbly. "Our . . . friends." "No they're not!" Izuku shouted, and took off running.
Neito wore the gas mask around his neck for the time being.
The gas has disappeared a little while ago, but he didn't want to take the mask off completely. The toxic miasma had settle over the woods so suddenly he didn't want to risk being caught off guard if it happened again. He knew the most likely scenario was that someone had defeated the villain, and after hearing those gunshots he hoped it had been Tetsutetsu and Kendou, who had run by him so fast they hadn't even seen him. Still, if there was even a chance the gas might come back, he would keep the mask ready.
He had to admit, Yaoyorozu wasn't a bad sort, when it came down to it. She had made gas masks for him and all his classmates, even prioritizing the Class B students over her own class because they were more likely to have been close to the ground where the poison was thickest when the gas began to spread. Awase was taking her around to all the places where the Class B students had hidden themselves, and she was going through the woods, not on the path where she might run into more Class A students who needed help. She'd only asked for one thing as she'd made Neito's mask.
"You're the only one I've found who doesn't have someone to carry," she said, adjusting his mask for him until it fit snugly around his face, "so I need you to do something for me. Back the way we came, I left Aoyama with Jirou and Hagakure. He can't get both of them back to camp himself, so he's stuck there. Go find him and help him carry them, so you can all get safely back to camp, alright?"
There had only been one possible answer of course. Bullies might leave their victims in dangerous situations, but the reverse was never true.
"Leave it to me," he's said, and set off back the way she had come.
Sound and movement up ahead made Neito freeze, then duck down into the undergrowth. Voices, three of them, and definitely moving closer. They were still a bit far away to tell, but they did not sound familiar. Slowly he crept forward, listening intently but careful not to be seen, and eventually her could make out more of what was being said.
"Hey Dabi, did you hear the radio?" said one voice, high and excited. "I'm so pumped up! Our boy Compress totally got the job done!"
"The man certainly took his time," replied a second voice, deeper and more composed. "I was starting to get bored."
"Don't be a pain," admonished a third voice, rough and scratchy as though from disuse or too much use. "He did a good job. Now we just have to wait for everyone to regroup here."
"You're the pain!" snapped the high voice.
"Forgive me," said the deep one.
"This place was supposed to be hard to find because of the wall of flames and poisonous gas," the scratchy voice continued, "but it looks like the gas is gone. Things never go according to plan, do they?"
"For real," agreed the high voice.
"This is the plan," contradicted the deep one.
Neito pushed his way between two bushes and paused. In front of him was a path, narrow and not well travelled, just a few more feet through the undergrowth. A few shrubs and plants sheltered him from view, but he could see that the path was occupied by two men, one in a black and gray bodysuit and one in a long black coat with prominent white stitching. The man in the bodysuit seemed to be responsible for two of the voices, and he embellished his two conflicting personas with contradictory postures and gesturing. The man in the coat had a face held together with gleaming metal staples, the different sections of skin alternating between completely unmarked and purple with burn scars. They spoke quietly together and walked slowly, like they had plenty of time.
Between them and Neito, crouched behind a bush and barely hidden from their view on the path, was Aoyama.
Next to him lay the invisible girl and the headphone jack girl, Hagakure and Jirou if he had to guess. Neito remembered Aoyama by sight though, from the sports festival and from their first visit to the 1A classroom. He was sweating heavily and trembling a little, clearly terrified from being stuck here in the undergrowth with no way to move and nowhere to hide. His body was facing away from the path, but he was beginning to twist around, preparing to peek out from behind the bush.
The villain with the staples, however, was looking around as he walked, and Aoyama was sure to be seen if he came out of cover now.
Hurriedly Neito crawled forward. He reached Aoyama just before he would have become visible
and hooked an arm around his head, placing a hand over his mouth. Aoyama let out a muffle whimper, but it wasn't enough to draw attention. Neito pulled Aoyama in close, cradling the other boy to his chest, and listened.
"Hey Dabi, speaking of which, totally not important, but," the man in the bodysuit began, then abruptly changed his voice to continue. "Shouldn't you be calling that Nomu back? You said he would only react to your voice, correct? That sounded vital!"
"That's right," said his companion, presumably Dabi. "You're the one who reminded me to let him loose on the students earlier."
"No problem!" said the first villain, and then, "Bow before me!"
"Shigaraki did design the monster specifically for me," Dabi said, in a bored kind of way, and there was a click as though of a radio being activated. "He's probably killed someone by now."
The two of them moved off, still idly discussing death and murder like they were utterly inconsequential banalities, until their voices were far enough away that Neito felt he could release Aoyama. Immediately the other boy turned and looked at him with wide, desperate eyes.
"Someone defeated the villain!" Aoyama squeaked. "They're fighting!"
"Yes," Neito nodded hurriedly. "I think it was Kendou and Tetsutetsu, they were heading into the thick of the gas last time I saw them."
"Should we fight too?" Aoyama asked, voice still high and frightened. "Do you think, between the two of us, we can take those two?"
"I like our odds better together," Neito admitted, "but we should still be smart about this." "We can come at them from behind," Aoyama offered, but Neito shook his head.
"Listen," he said. "Those two aren't like the villain the others took out. Stopping them won't immediately remove one of the hazards, like defeating the gas villain did."
"It will mean they can't attack anyone else," Aoyama argued, but Neito again shook his head in denial.
"Did you hear what they were saying?" he demanded. "The villains have completed some kind of objective. They're headed somewhere to meet up with the others and leave. Mandalay said they were here to kidnap students, so that means . . ."
"They've captured the students they wanted!" Aoyama realized in horror. "Shinsou and Midoriya! What do we do? We have to stop them!"
"We will," Neito assured him, "but we have to be smart. We can follow these two to their meeting place, and then we can try and free the students they have captured. Then we can all face them together."
Neito rocked back on his heels and held out his hand to Aoyama. "Will you loan me your quirk, and fight with me?" he asked.
Aoyama stared at him a moment, still looking lost and scared, then reached out and took his hand in a firm grip.
"Yes!"
Out of everyone in their group, Shouto had the most physical training, so he immediately took the lead as they ran. He didn't want to lose the others though, so he held himself back. He might have been the fastest, might have pulled much farther ahead, but he still couldn't hope to catch up to the villain. The man hardly seemed bound by gravity, taking huge powerful leaps like a grasshopper or some other insect. Enough of him was covered that Shouto might have though he had some kind of bug-like quirk, but they had all witnessed his ability to turn things into marbles. Shouto would never have been able to match his speed, so he stayed with the group and hoped another option would present itself.
"Damn it, this guy's quick!" Shouto cursed, hoping against hope that someone would point out something he'd missed. There had to be a way to catch up.
"If only Iida were here!" Uraraka whined, but that did them no good. Iida wasn't here, and they had no way of calling for him.
"C'mon," Shouto growled, half to himself. He glanced to his right, seeing Izuku only a half step behind, gazing up at the villain with narrowed eyes.
Please have a plan, Shouto begged silently. Please, please tell me what to do.
"We can't give up, not now!" Izuku ground out through gritted teeth, glaring at their opponent high
above them. "We have to catch him and get our friends back!"
"But he's pulling farther ahead with every second!" Shouji protested on Izuku's other side. Please! Shouto though. Please! If anyone can do it, you can!
"Uraraka," Izuku began carefully, not taking his eyes off the villain, "you have to make us float." "Huh?" Uraraka asked, lagging a little behind.
"And then Asui," he continued, "you launch us as far as you can using your tongue."
"Ribbit?" Asui prompted curiously.
"Shouji, hold me and Shouto and use your quirk to correct our trajectory through the air," Izuku explained. "Measure the distance with your eyes, Uraraka. Then, when the timing looks right, release us!"
"I see," Shouji acknowledged. "Human bullets."
Even though the danger hadn't passed, even though things were just as dire now as they had been a few moments ago, Shouto breathed a small sigh of relief. Of course Izuku had a plan.
Shouto stopped short, making the others all stop with him, and hurriedly Shouji let Tsuburaba drop gently to the ground. Then Shouto and Izuku clustered in on either side of him, making their formation as small as possible. Asui wrapped the three of them together with her tongue, and Shouji gripped Shouto's left wrist with one of his hands. Uraraka pressed all five fingers to each of them in turn, and Shouto felt his feet lift off the ground as the peculiar feeling of weightlessness set it.
"OK, go ahead Tsu!" Uraraka called, stepping back.
"Make sure you've got a good grip on them," Asui instructed, then jerked her head to the side, her tongue whipping around and hurling them into the air.
All of them yelled as they went flying, high above the forest and at breakneck speed through the air. They spread out a little, Shouji holding onto Shouto on one side and Izuku on the other, so that he could balance properly. The distance between them and the villain vanished in seconds, and the man barely had time to turn and see them behind him before they were on top of him. Then Shouto felt his weight settle back in, and then suddenly all four of them were falling, the weight of the three students bearing the villain down into the ground.
Mr. Compress yelled as they came down, landing amongst the trees with Shouto, Izuku and Shouji all standing on his back. There were no other villains nearby, not even any sign of Toga, so they had apparently stopped him from reaching the retrieval point. Now all they had to do was find the marbles.
"Give Hitoshi and Tokoyami back to us!" Izuku shouted.
"Dabi!" Mr. Compress shouted, sounding significantly less composed than earlier.
Deciding as one that this meant he wasn't going to give them what they were after, the three boys immediately flipped him over and began their search. They tore at Mr. Compress's clothes, pulling open his coat to reveal an orange shirt and black waistcoat. Izuku went through methodically, feeling into the pockets of the coat, then his pants pockets, then looking for more place that additional marbles might be hidden. Shouji yanked the waistcoat apart, buttons flying everywhere, to look for pockets than might be inside. Mr. Compress's hat was tossed aside in the confusion, and he scrambled to clutch at his mask and keep that in place.
"Where are they?" Shouji demanded in frustration.
"Dabi! Twice!" Mr. Compress screamed, more urgently this time. "I'm over here! Help!"
It was likely the villain only wanted to keep his mask in place to hide his identity, but the other two seemed to have the search well in hand, so Shouto decided he might as well make their opponent squirm and possibly surrender. He scrabbled for the mask, digging his fingers under the edge, and received a hit with the cane for his trouble. He tried to swat it away, but Mr. Compress was frantic now, and kept drubbing on his head and arms with it. More annoyed than hurt, Shouto grabbed his hand where it held the cane and froze them together with ice.
"DA~BI!" Mr. Compress wailed. "TWICE! HELP!"
Suddenly something came streaking out of the forest to enter Shouto's field of vision. It was making a high, gleeful sort of squeal as it came, and it struck Izuku hard in the side, knocking him off Mr. Compress. Shouto stopped rummaging around in the villain's clothes, though Shouji did not, and turned to see that Toga had arrived and was now pinning Izuku to the ground.
"Hi, Izuku!" she chirped in obvious delight, holding a second knife high as though to plunge it down onto Izuku. "I've been thinking since I saw you that you'd be so much cuter if you just bled a little more! I can-"
Izuku kneed her in the gut, making all the breath leave her in a great rush, and flipped their positions.
"Keep looking!" he called as he and Toga continued to grapple.
"I can't find them!" Shouji growled, drawing Shouto's attention back to him. He had pinned Mr. Compress down by the wrists with two of his arms, but his other arms had lengthed and sprouted hands that continued to root around. "He doesn't have any more marbles on him!"
"Outta the way Compress," said a new voice.
Shouto looked up, forward on the path they had been taking, to see two people emerging from the trees. One was a skinny man in a dark coat, one hand already burning with blue fire, and the other had a more sturdy build in a black bodysuit with gray accents.
"Got it," Mr. Compress wheezed, and suddenly the body beneath them vanished. He had likely turned into a marble, but before Shouto could begin to look for it a fireball was shooting toward them.
The two of them jumped aside in opposite directions, Shouji towards Izuku and Shouto to square off against the villains. The one in the bodysuit immediately leaped toward Toga, obviously intent on helping her, but was intercepted by Shouji. On the ground Izuku and Toga continued to wrestle for control, Izuku trying to zap her with his force lance and Toga trying to cut him with her knife, neither of them having very much success. Shouto, realizing what he had to do, turned toward the villain who had shot blue fire. Now he could see that the villain's face was a patchwork of skin grafts held together by staples, likely the result of a lifetime of pushing his quirk too far. He smirked at Shouto, eyes blazing as blue as his flames in the dark, and took aim with another fistful of fire.
Shouto put his right foot forward and sent a wall of ice shooting for the sky above the villain's head. The villain responded in kind, throwing a huge ball of fire directly at Shouto. There was a loud hiss like a deluge of water hitting many hot rocks, and a massive cloud of steam erupted from the space between them. Shouto coughed, then pulled his shirt over his nose, but he still had to use his left side to stop the water from condensating on his skin and getting him soaked. A few moments later the steam cleared away.
The massive ice wall was completely gone, only wet leaves and a few smoldering embers left in its wake.
"How . . ." Shouto breathed, staring at the empty ground in horror.
"What's the matter?" the villain asked mockingly, his blue eyes seeming to glow brighter, like they had absorbed the light from the fire. "Did Daddy's little masterpiece think he'd never meet someone as powerful as himself?"
"If you think I'm unfamiliar with fire, you're wrong!" Shouto shot back, but he wasn't as confident as he could have been.
Blue fire was hotter than ordinary fire, capable of doing much more damage with only a small amount. Endeavor had to concentrate and put a lot of his power into making his fire blue. Shouto had never managed to make blue fire. The villain didn't seem to make any fire other than blue. He'd only ever known one person who could produce blue fire so easily, and his quirk had burned him alive. How could this villain be just as powerful, yet still standing?
The villain readied himself for another attack, and Shouto braced himself to make another wall, higher and thicker this time, when a small popping noise off to the side drew his attention. Mr. Compress had emerged from his marble, curled into a ball in the middle of a circle of scooped-out earth. He got to his feet -- coat and hat gone, shirt and waistcoat open, one orange sleeve bunched around his wrist, a green jeweled broach dangling forlornly onto his bare chest -- and stumbled
urgently forward. Shouto sent ice to intercept, meaning to trap him away from his allies, but another blast of fire was suddenly occupying the same space. He threw up a wall just to shield himself, but when the steam cleared this time Mr. Compress was hiding behind the flame villain.
"Midoriya's over there," the flame villain jerked one thumb at where Izuku and Toga were still tussling in the dirt. "You got Shinsou?"
"Him and one other," said Mr. Compress without embellishment. "Let's go!"
As if on cue a pocket of swirling black mist opened behind the two of them, one that Shouto recognized. Two more portals opened near where Shouji and Izuku were still locked in their individual battles, and then Shouto heard the voice of the warp villain from the USJ speak from nowhere and everywhere at once.
"It's been five minutes since the signal," he intoned impassively. "Let's go, Dabi."
Toga made a disappointed noise, then shoved Izuku down with one hand a pushed herself up with the other.
"Sorry Izuku, but I'll see you later, OK?" she asked, waving as she walked through the nearest portal.
The villain in the jumpsuit ducked under one of Shouji's dupli-arm, then dove into the other portal nearer to himself. Both portals closed behind them.
"Let's go," said the flame villain, taking Mr. Compress by his bare arm and pulling him toward the portal behind them.
"A moment," said Mr. Compress turning back to the three students. He straightened his tie and what was left of his shirt, trying to summon up some remaining dignity. "It's time for the big reveal. Don't want them to think their friends vanished into thin air now do we?"
He reached up and gripped his mask, pulling it aside to reveal a face hidden by a black balaclava. Making unblinking eye contact with Izuku, he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, revealing two blue marbles.
"Damn it!" Izuku swore, then threw himself to his feet and began sprinting toward Mr. Compress. Shouto and Shouji hurriedly followed, but they were much too far away. Unless something stalled the villains, they wouldn't reach Mr. Compress in time.
"A little bit of misdirection," Mr. Compress said bitingly. "Forgive me, I do so adore a twist ending."
"You can't do this!" Izuku screamed, and his voice was painful to hear, strained and desperate with fatigue and anxiety.
"One last bow," Mr. Compress sighed, inclining his head theatrically, "and then the curtain fall-"
A jet of white light, bright and sparkling in the moonlight, hit Mr. Compress in the face, cutting off his final monologue. It broke his mask into pieces, sending them flying every which way, and made Mr. Compress retch and cough up the marbles in his mouth. At the same time a second beam hit the blue flame villain in the stomach, making him double over in pain.
"Aoyama and Monoma?" Izuku asked in confusion, but there was no time to worry about that.
The marbles were in the air.
Shouji leaped forward, grabbing with his right hand at the one on the left. His fingers closed around it, until he had it clutched in one tight fist. One person saved.
Izuku lunged toward them, grabbing with his left hand at the one on the right, his other hand still holding his force lance. The flame villain made an answering grab, but he was still hunched over, and he couldn't quite reach. Izuku's fingers closed around the marble. Two people saved.
They had won.
"Damn it!" the flame villain growled, then straightened, stepping back out of the portal. "I'm not leaving without at least one of these damn kids!"
As Izuku skidded to a stop, barely a few feet from the portal, the flame villain reached for him. Shouto was still in motion, and rather than let the villain grab at Izuku he threw himself at the attacker, catching him around the waist and tackling him into the dirt. They grappled for a
moment, not using quirks yet as they struggled to right themselves, but in the end the villain was an adult while Shouto was still a child. At last he found himself pinned, the villain on top of him, holding him down by his wrists.
"You're weak," the villain panted, glaring down at Shouto with blue eyes blazing in his patchwork face. "Endeavor must be getting sloppy. I guess throwing up means training's over these days, huh?"
"What?" Shouto breathed, staring up at the villain above him. A cold feeling was settling in the pit of his stomach. "What did you say?"
The villain's expression changed, morphing from feral anger to surprise to a deeper kind of fury, less rage at an immediate threat and more hatred that festered at the heart of a person. He wasn't just angry at Shouto, they weren't just currently at cross purposes, he hated Shouto with a fire Shouto had rarely experienced. He couldn't remember seeing anyone with this much hate in their eyes, except Endeavor when he talked about All Might. He looked up into the villain's blue eyes, blue as Endeavor's eyes, and saw the exact same hatred reflected there.
The hatred was familiar, but so were the eyes that held it. Those angry, bitter eyes, blue like the hottest possible flame. Eyes belonging to someone that Shouto thought had burned himself right out of existence. It couldn't be though.
It couldn't be.
But . . .
"Touya?" Shouto whispered.
The villain looked shocked, rearing back and releasing Shouto. They stared at each other a moment, both breathing hard from exertion, both sweating, both staring like they were both some unholy combination of hope and horror. Then a tendril of black mist wrapped around the villain's waist, and he was jerked up and off Shouto, back into the swirling black portal.
"Let's go Dabi," said the warp villain. "It's over."
"No!" Shouto called, scrambling to make his legs work, to get his feet under him. "Wait!"
The villain, Dabi, folded like a lawn chair as he was pulled into the darkness. He kept eye contact
with Shouto until the very last moment, staring at him as though seeing him for the first time. Shouto didn't give himself time to think, he leaped forward towards Dabi, reaching out a hand to pull him back.
"Wait!" he called, lurching forward, heedless of anything around him. "Come back!" Then suddenly everything was darkness.
Hitoshi opened his eyes, not sure when he had closed them. A moment ago he had been walking beside Tokoyami, talking quietly to Dark Shadow and watching Izuku walk in front of him. They had been nearly halfway to camp, ready to cut across where the path looped back on itself, and then the camp building was just a little more ways through the woods. Things had been going well.
Now he was on the ground, and he could hear Izuku screaming.
"What is it?" he asked, jolting upright and then sinking halfway back down again as the world spun around him. Had he taken a blow to the head? Why was everything so fuzzy? "What's happening? Are there villains?"
His vision cleared enough to see Izuku kneeling beside him, face buried in his hands and sobbing uncontrollably. Tears were flowing freely down his face, leaking out of the corners of his eyes. The heart on his cheek had been reduced to black smear.
"Izuku!" he said urgently, knowing if nothing else that his friend wouldn't want anyone to see that. "Your heart!"
Izuku lifted his face from his hands, looking at Hitoshi with wide, miserable eyes. "Hitoshi," he whispered, then dissolved back into tears.
Hitoshi looked around, hoping to get some clues from their surroundings. They were in a different part of the forest than he remembered, though whether they were closer or farther from camp he couldn't tell. There were no villains in sight, nor any fire or poisonous gas. Shouji and Tokoyami were a short distance away, kneeling on the ground together with Tokoyami cradled in Shouji's arms. A few yards in another direction, half concealed by some bushes, Monoma was doubled over with a hand over his mouth. Hovering over him way Aoyama, who was stroking his hair soothingly, but Monoma seemed more sick than badly hurt. Those were the only other people he could see.
"Where's Shouto?" he asked, feeling cold dread creep into his heart.
Izuku looked up at him, his eyes still streaming, then sobbed and looked away.
"Izuku, where's Shouto?" Hitoshi demanded, louder and more urgently, but he already knew it was no good. Izuku would not answer him, because he already knew the answer.
Shouto was gone.