They headed down the main street--which was every bit as sketchy and deserted as the alleyway. A low growl echoed behind them. Konno whirled around, blade held in front of him, one hand used to keep Izuku behind him, as far from the wolf person as possible. It had to be a person, right?

"It would really improve my evening," Konno said evenly, drawing on reserves of bravery that Izuku could not fathom, "if you turned out to be False Flag and not War Dog."

Wait. What? War Dog (False Flag?) grinned at them. "It's your lucky day, Konno." The fur and claws and fang-filled muzzle blurred away and a moment later a woman with a long, golden-brown braid and a narrow face covered with wicked scars stood before them. She was barefoot, having not been able to wear shoes when her feet were transformed into paws.

"Oh thank god," Kesagiri Man sighed, lowering his weapon. Izuku followed suit. So this was False Flag? She had also offered him an internship--a changeling. That was why nobody knew what she looked like, she could look like anyone. Oh, that was perfect for this profession. Heroes in undercover work protected and invented identities in a variety of ways, some even falsifying expulsion records from hero schools and pretending to be heroes gone bad for their entire careers, but False Flag had the most full proof method Izuku had ever heard of.

"Where did I throw my stuff?" the woman muttered. "Ah, there it is." Tucking the pentagram necklace into her robe, False Flag trotted over to a bush and retrieved a large backpack, boots, and a set of casual street clothes. She seemed to consider putting on footwear but then shrugged and stuffed the boots into her bulging bag along with the rest of the clothes that she must have abandoned in a hurry before shapeshifting.

"Let me see about that leg and then let's get the hell out of here," False Flag said, ripping a long strip from her robe and tying a makeshift bandage. She then offered Konno a shoulder to lean on and they were on their way.

"T-thank you," Izuku stuttered, his adrenaline high falling away rapidly as they marched back towards the nicer part of town.

"You're a life saver," Konno agreed, "always popping up when someone needs you."

"Part of the job," False Flag replied, "but I think you guys were gonna' win. It was gonna' be close--"

"Chances were 19% we won, 11% he won, 70% both parties withdrew," Konno replied. Well, it was nice to know that Izuku probably wasn't going to be killed had False Flag not happened to be passing by. That was... it was definitely comforting.

"He was... you didn't fight him," Izuku realized, still processing what had just happened. "He was just terrified of you..."

"He wasn't terrified of me. I don't think there's anyone who's terrified of little old me," False Flag replied with a laugh, "but there's plenty of people who're terrified of War Dog."

"And you should be one of them," Konno informed Izuku. "Flag demonstrated what she looks like. It's a difficult visage to forget."

"Who...?"

"War Dog," False Flag began, "is a vigilante? Villain? Vigilantes are really just a subset of villains, though the name has a very different implication. Anyway, War Dog is someone I might refer to by either title, kind of like how Stain himself used to be before he went bonkers." Izuku had never expected to hear "bonkers" and "Stain" in the same sentence... and wait, Stain used to be a vigilante? "War Dog mostly hunts really nasty villains, though she has been known to attack heroes and civilians, too, if they do something egregiously obnoxious or if she's in a berserker rage. Like I said, I might call her a vigilante, but War Dog has a triple-S villain rank and by god did she earn it. If a quadruple-S rank existed they would give it to her."

"Wounds she deals never heal," Konno said softly. "They just bleed and bleed..." Izuku shivered, the hero's icy tone freezing organs.

"She is the most terrifying opponent I have ever faced. She's lightning fast and amazingly strong and brutally intelligent. If she wanted me dead I would be," False Flag said with an almost casual sniff. "Oh, and if she bites you, you turn into a zombie puppet." Oh was that all?

"Why have I never heard of her?" Izuku asked, voice trembling as his eyes searched the shadows for the silhouettes of wolves and serial killers. This was like learning demons were real and nobody had ever bothered to tell him.

"Because she's not flashy," False Flag explained. "She's the other side of the lines, or no man's land's really, equivalent of an undercover hero. There are lots of boogeymen like that hiding in the dark that the general public, and even most frontliners, don't know anything about. It's a jungle out here. Anyway, War Dog doesn't break things. I don't think she's ever destroyed something more expensive than a plastic garbage bin. She doesn't make a fuss or call attention to herself. She attacks, maims or kills, and she moves on and people don't see her often, or don't see her often and survive anyway. One hundred percent sure she's some kind of shapeshifter herself 'cause she's gotta' have a civilian identity somewhere."

"She looked like a werewolf," Izuku muttered. He had immediately started thinking about old werewolf horror films when he saw War Dog, or rather False Flag wearing War Dog's skin. "Has she ever been seen during the day?"

"Nope," False Flag replied, popping the "p." "And you're right on track with that thinking. You only ever see her on the days surrounding the full moon."

"I didn't realize that," Konno mused.

"I don't think anyone has noticed but me," False Flag replied. "Which is why I can get away with occasionally pretending to be her to scare away serial killers. I tried to figure her out after we fought, after she told me we were from the same place."

"You are?"

"Uh-huh."

"Uhhh... where would that be?"

The undercover hero grinned rather nastily. "Black Forest."

False Flag was a changeling. Born in the Rebel Isles, born in Black Forest. Izuku felt what stray droplets of blood had managed to fight their way back into his face drain away again. It couldn't... have anything to do with Izuku's situation, right? It seemed like far too much of a coincidence, though.

"Does Switcher still run Black Forest?" Izuku asked carefully. For all he know, False Flag could be Switcher. Or his kid. There would be no way to know, would there?

"Oh yeah. He'll be running the place until the end of time I think. I haven't been back in a while of course..." Had she really not?

They had reached a brighter part of Hosu. There were benches and maintained store fronts and the occasional passersby giving them odd looks. "I hate to do this but I really need to rest," Konno said.

"Yeah, surprised you made it this far with a leg like that. Sit down. Here." Konno took a seat on a bench. Izuku was about to take a place beside his mentor when False Flag pulled him in for an impromptu first aid lesson with the basic kit she had in her bag.

She needn't have bothered. Izuku knew everything necessary to clean and bind a wound like this. "Huh. Where'd you learn that? You're just a first year intern , right?"

"It's, uh, a long story," Izuku said. There was no way in hell he was telling her a word about his bizarre hijacking by the MLA.

False Flag narrowed her eyes, making no attempt to hide her suspicion. But what was she suspicious of? "Right... well, not like I'm one to judge weird skill sets acquired in sketchy ways."

"This has been a much more eventful evening than I had hoped," Konno sighed, interrupting before the conversation could get out of hand.

Izuku winced. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"This was not your fault, Fossa," the hero said, using his code name rather than any of the large stack of aliases Izuku was acquiring.

"Fossa, huh? I like that," False Flag pitched in. "Anyway, doubt Stain was after you, Fossa. I don't think he's ever targeted a kid." Alright, so this suggested that she didn't have the slightest idea of Izuku's missing week and hadn't been involved, but she could be lying. She'd have to be an amazing liar to get by in her line of work.

"He was quite convinced that I deserved to die," Konno said matter of factly. "For what? Doing your damn job?" scoffed False Flag.

"Taking lives in the execution of my duty," Izuku's mentor replied. "Which is something Fossa and I have not talked about yet and will likely need to discuss when we are through here."

"Mm... yeah. Here's a piece of related advice, Fossa, be squeamish. Make sure when you're undercover that anyone you're working with knows you're squeamish. Tell them you can't stand the sight of blood if they're liable to believe it. Also, carry a gun full of blood-pack blanks and stasis tranquilizers in case you're backed into a corner." What the hell? "Life sucks, Fossa," False Flag told him with a cheerful, lilting tone and unapologetic grin. Konno glowered at her making "shut up" gestures. "People like us, our job is to try to make it so most people's lives don't suck as much as ours. It's a noble profession, well worth it, but that doesn't make it any easier. Frontliners think they get a raw deal sometime? Hah!" Izuku was really glad he hadn't decided to intern with False Flag. She was... scary. On several levels. She might be related to Switcher and thus possibly to Izuku's kidnapping which was scary enough before factoring in the kind of things she had to say. She might be right but that didn't mean Izuku would have wanted this kind of... drop into the cold deep end of reality to be his entire internship experience. He was still just a freshman in school, after all.

The three of them rested perhaps another fifteen minutes (both heroes making a number of phone calls while Izuku kept a nervous watch) before something exploded in a huge, glowing fireball to the south and a silhouette of wings blotted out the moon. "Oh god, what now?" False Flag sighed in exasperation, immediately shifting back into War Dog's form. "You should stay with Konno," she told Izuku. "Watch his back. This isn't in my damn job description but I can't just sit here. I'm going after that winged thing, see if I can be of any use or at least figure out what it is." The undercover hero took off into the night at a breakneck pace.

Did her quirk allow her to copy War Dog's abilities? No, it couldn't right? Or could it? How did she acquire the ability to transform into War Dog in the first place? What were the rules? Izuku might never know; he had the feeling False Flag would not be forthcoming about her quirk mechanics.

Izuku drew two knives--he only had two left after the events of the night thus far--stood with his back to Kesagiri Man's bench, and watched both ground and sky for approaching threats.

"We chose the wrong night to come out here," Izuku commented.

"Sometimes this is just how it goes," Konno replied. "I am sorry about that and sorry about Flag. She is always... intense."

"Yeah. I-I'm glad I decided to intern with you instead of her," Izuku said. "And I am sorry about Stain. I... I never even considered that he could recognize me, but given that someone in the League of Villains knew my face I guess I should have--"

Konno shook his head. "We have to act with what information we have available, not speculation, and everything seems obvious in hindsight. There was no reason for you to believe Stain would recognize you. There was no reason to expect to run into the Hero Killer at all. There was no reason for Stain to be at the pits... why would he have been there? It makes no sense--" oh. He followed them. "He must have followed us," Konno realized. "He must have recognized you, or perhaps me given that I seem to be on his hit list, in the street and pursued us to the cage matches."

"What are..." He had so many questions. Which should he start on? "What was False Flag talking

about? Carry a gun loaded with stasis tranquilizers?"

Konno sighed. "She does not understand how to speak to children, or children who were not raised in the Rebel Isles in any case. Are you sure you want to hear this?" Izuku nodded. He wasn't naive. He could handle the truth and he needed to know these things in order to decide whether... whether he could handle undercover work or should stick to Aizawa's style of underground ambush predation. What was the point of internships if not to learn about the profession from an actual professional? "Individuals who work the most dangerous kinds of deep cover--I am occasionally one of them--may end up involved with groups who will require a show of commitment or loyalty. An unfortunately common demand made by truly heinous individuals is an act of murder. As False Flag said, one should do everything in one's power to avoid being placed in a situation where there is no feasible alternative but to pretend to carry out the demanded killing in front of witnesses. Taking on a persona with an aversion to violence and offering an alternative show of allegiance can be an effective deterrent, but that is often not feasible due to the nature of the group one plans to infiltrate." Izuku had surmised that much although it was still unpleasant to think about. "Some undercover heroes carry a weapon loaded with stasis tranquilizer bullets. These are almost like blanks; they are fired with just enough energy to penetrate the skin. The drug laced into the ammunition dissolve rapidly in the blood and, within a minute, induces a state of suspended animation which is only distinguishable from death by an expert with a mass spectrometer."

"Oh. That's really clever..." More things were on fire now, weren't they? What in the world was going on in this city? Konno continued talking, not allowing the whipcrack of a distant explosion to phase him.

"It's not full proof, of course. It is a last resort. The tranquilizer antidotes can fail on occasion. It's extremely uncommon but it can happen. Very occasionally villains are wise to this ploy and will insist on providing the gun used in which case some impressive sleight of hand must be employed. Some undercover heroes carry a knife laced with the drug instead, which can be a more effective ruse all be it a much more difficult one to carry out without... accidentally killing the hostage.

"Unfortunately, stasis tranquilizers are synthesized from the sap of quirked trees that only grow in one place, thus the drug cannot be mass produced and is unspeakably rare and expensive. Most undercover heroes simply cannot afford to purchase more than a single clip in a year. Our work is not exactly lucrative, most of us relying on the standard stipend available to all heroes who report to an HPSC approved agent handler." Izuku had been only vaguely aware of the means by which undercover heroes were compensated for their work. He would have to ask Konno more about that tomorrow. If he was still alive tomorrow. The way the night was going so far, survival was decidedly up in the air. Why was he suddenly so calm about that? Izuku felt as if he were a pendulum swinging rapidly back and forth between "mortal panic" and "complete zen."

Movement. Something glittered. It took Izuku an embarrassingly long time to realize he had just seen Iida running down a parallel street. "That's my classmate," Izuku said.

"Where?" Konno turned, following Izuku's line of sight. The armored student skidded to a halt then ducked out of sight into a dark side street.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Izuku said. "What in the world is he doing out here?" with Stain prowling the city. Stain who had attacked Ingenium so recently. Oh god no. Please don't be an idiot, Iida.

"Nothing good," Konno said, gritting his teeth as he attempted to stand. His leg buckled. "Damn. This is getting worse, not better..."

"Do you think False Flag is coming back?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"I think we've probably seen the last of her tonight. I would not expect any of the backup either of us tried to call to arrive within the next hour given the... disaster in progress in that general direction." He waved towards the pillars of flames glowing ominously in the distance.

Izuku started at Iida's echoinc shout. Given their luck this evening, he had little doubt as to the cause. "I need to help him," Izuku said, imagining his classmate at the mercy of a murderer without any hope of aid. "I... I know I'm not enough to stop Stain, if that's who he found," and he had no doubt that it was the Hero Killer who Iida had stumbled upon, "but I... I couldn't forgive myself if he--if he and I was right here and didn't try , I--"

"I understand," Konno said, grabbing Izuku's shoulder before the greenette could run. "I cannot help you, as you know, and it would be hypocritical and fruitless for me to try to stop you, but if you rush in without a plan you will not be able to help your classmate and may well seal both of your fates."

What could he do? He had no resources left, nothing to work with. What could he possibly do- -"He still thinks War Dog is prowling the streets," Izuku said. "I'll pretend she's chasing me."

"You will need to be a good actor to pull that off, but it is likely your best chance. Go. I will... see if I can follow." Konno would have to three-point crawl after Izuku with his leg wrecked like that.

The greenette crossed a small public park, sprinting towards the corner where he had seen Iida turn. He could be too late already... probably not. Stain liked to monologue. What if he were too late though? What if--there was no point speculating now. He had to get in the right head space.

He had to look like, no he had to believe that War Dog was chasing him, that there was a vicious, berserker werewolf chasing him who had claws that could rend his flesh from bone and make him bleed forever, who had a bite that would steal all of his faculties and reduce him to a mindless drone, a puppet, just like his body thief had all those months ago. He had to believe his pursuer was so fast and so strong and so vicious that no one could hope to stand against her, that he was doomed. He imagined hot breath on his heels, those fiery eyes and that needle-toothed maw... all of it right behind him.

He streaked down the side street, caught sight of Stain and ran into the appropriate alleyway, leaping over Iida who lay prone on the ground in a pool of blood--please don't be dead Iida, please don't be dead--and screamed at Stain, "help me! Help me she's coming! Oh god help me!" with all the frantic hysteria that a mortally terrified child could muster. He jumped up on a dumpster, trying to leap onto a fire escape that could take him out of the alleyway. This was where it could all go fatally wrong. Stain might have realized that False Flag was impersonating War Dog and the feared villainess wasn't actually in Hosu. Izuku might have oversold his part or he might have undersold his part. Stain might decide to stand and fight--anything could go wrong and there was no recourse. This could be the end--

But it wasn't. The Hero Killer, again, turned and fled. "Tough luck, Switchblade," Stain said as he vaulted over a fence and set off at a sprint towards the more... fiery part of Hosu.

Izuku kept calling for help for another five seconds then made his best attempt at faking a scream of agony before falling silent. Iida, clearly not dead, thank god, stared at Izuku with eyes wider than dinner plates. He opened his mouth as if to speak and the greenette pressed a finger to his lips and whispered, "don't say a word."