It had existed since the very dawn of time itself and seen countless worlds and millions of civilizations, but now it was dying. For all the power and darkness that it held, it could not survive without bonding to a host organism. Such was the price of its existence. It needed to find a host body within a matter of days or it would finally meet the cold hand of death that it had so masterfully evaded for eons.

Its previous host was no more. After all the time they'd spent feeding off each other's hatred and rage, the host's conscience caught up to him. He'd become far too noble and sacrificed it all to save a mortal woman, damning them both to wander the dimensional rifts betwixt and between. His emotions were all wrong after that. The delectable darkness that made him such an enticing host to begin with was no longer there. They both knew he wouldn't survive another separation from it, but neither of them cared. Eddie Brock was gone, but the symbiote was determined not to follow.

The symbiote slithered down the dark streets, loathing to be so exposed but having very little choice otherwise. At the very least, its natural color kept it reasonably camouflaged against the asphalt. This world was in between light and darkness, between the darkness of the dimension it had been banished to and the light of the dimension ripe with the bodies needed for bonding. The symbiote simply followed the darkness to get to this city, but now it was following something entirely else.

Loud noises were painful and lethal under the right circumstances, but they meant organic life. So the symbiote followed the sound of the painful noise. After all, what was pain to a dying creature?

The House of Villains, the source of the ruckus, loomed up ahead, and the symbiote crawled towards it greedily. Surely a place known as the House of Villains would have someone with the right amount of rage and hatred. If not? Well, the symbiote couldn't consider that possibility at this stage. There had to be a dark mortal soul nearby. Its very existence depended on it.

The scent of cigarette smoke wafted over to the symbiote. Cigarettes meant humans, and humans meant salvation.

The symbiote slithered towards the source of the smell, and it found two men lurking outside of the building, chatting with each other about explosives. That was certainly a good sign. But when the symbiote got a good look at one of the two, it recoiled: something that felt a lot like Osborn. He wasn't actually the Osborn from the symbiote's world, but if something feels like an Osborn, it was an Osborn. They may or may not share a mutual hatred for Peter Parker, but as far as the symbiote was concerned, death was preferable to being a slave to Osborn's insanity.

The other human was the source of the cigarette smoke. He was a young...thing with no nose or mouth colored gray and black with tiny pink gems found on the sides of his body, with a crudely shaped emblem at the center of it. He has purple eyes with black outlines, and bulbous spiked, light gray hair with bangs curling outward around his face, and wore a dark purple cloak with a black jacket and silver shirt underneath with black jeans. This thing intrigued the symbiote. It slithered over and quietly slid into the cloak. Presenting itself in front of Osborn was inadvisable, so it would wait until they were alone. It allowed itself to subtly seep into the young man's skin, eager to learn about its new potential host.

Oh yes. Venom will live again, probably.

A snake-like head began to curl out of Sid's body. With large pupilless white eyes, a mouth full of razor sharp fangs, and a glossy jet black skin, the entity that had emerged from inside of Sid looked like something out of one of Sid's old school monster doodles. The head grinned as it turned to face Voidlon. Voidlon was flabbergasted by this strange creature that had emerged from inside of him, and he looked at it with utter perplexion.

"What the Hell are you?" Voidlon asked, intrigued by this.

"We are Venom," the entity said with a growl. "And you are ours."

"You...look surprisingly chic for a slime thing," Voidlon said.

"Listen carefully," Venom hissed. "You did not find us, we found you. We sense your fury, your pain, your lust for power, and its taste is sweet!"

"How do you know about that?" Voidlon asked. "And if you're thinking of using me as a meat suit, you've got another thing coming."

Venom chuckled a bit at that. "We like your gumption. Together, we can ensure that no one ever thinks you are a loser again. There would be few who could ever stand against us. You would have the power you've wanted since you started to lead this group."

"I'm not gonna betray the squad if that's what you're getting at," Voidlon warned.

"No," Venom said. "We must admit that we are intrigued by this X-Squad. Together, we can be a powerful weapon in the arsenal, one worthy of respect and admiration. Is that not what you want?"

"How do we do that?" Voidlon asked.

"We bond and become one," Venom said. "You can embrace the gift that Eddie Brock and Peter Parker spurned!"

Voidlon knew that the symbiote was likely a dangerous bedfellow, and anyone sensible would wait and talk to a trusted ally before making the decision. But Voidlon wasn't the type to be sensible.

"Okay, show me what you can do." Voidlon said.

"That's all we needed to hear," Venom said with a grin.

Black ooze began to slither up Voidlon's body until the young man was coated head to toe in the Venom symbiote. Voidlon grew slightly taller, and Venom's face masked his own. Before with Brock, the emblem on Venom's chest was a large white spider. Now, the suit kept the spider's legs, but in the place of the spider's body was a white Barian emblem in the same shape to reflect their new bond. The two stood tall, now two no longer. Only one.

"We are Venom!"

Carmen smirked at the Legendary Score Kiko's got to trade for her Legendary Score, unaware that the Score was actually fake. For her part, Kiko knew it wouldn't matter that the money would disintegrate after she took it. Carmen's method would leave her none the wiser.

'Vermillion did pretty good work with this,' Infinite noted, 'We just need to get out before she realizes it. My only concern... Is if Carmen has enough notes to cause anarchy with this. Something like that should be expunged from our reality.'

It was the fly in the ointment with their plan. So what if they can't capitalize on the chaos, it would ensure that Major Land is safe. Still she smiled, Sandiego had enemies on all sides. Other villains were conspiring against her, and heroes were banding together to finally catch her. It was only a matter of time.

Just then, the X-Squad are prepping for the high-stakes raid on VILE HQ, as Anubis got a sudden call. He was surprised when he recognized the number.

"Toshi. I wasn't expecting you to call."

'Me and Juno heard about the upcoming raid over the Hero Network,' Toshi explained, 'As it happens, the date coincides with when we return from our honeymoon. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to join in. But Juno should be another matter, right?'

"It would certainly help tremendously," Anubis agreed, "But you've never been one to let fate decide your future. Why the concern now?"

'Carmen's got her hands on Overhaul's little potion,' Toshi explained, 'Prior to him discovering it, I've no doubt people like her were as afraid of me as any other villain during my career. But now? All she needs is one lucky shot with those darts and I'm a goner. I'd rather my married life not be measured in mere days.'

Kiko was quite surprised when Crimson Death made a personal visit, alongside his four children.

"I see you've been doing well for yourself, Bison." Crimson Death noted, "I sensed the loss of Adam Taurus during your stint in Universe 18-Go. I've already made funerary arrangements."

Kiko nodded.

"Thanks. He may have been a jerk, but you couldn't deny that he had the potential to grow."

"Kurai Bison," Mondo Madarame, Heart Piercer, said, spotting SOUL, "I haven't heard from you in 26 years."

"Turns out Guile couldn't kill me, even with chi power," SOUL explained, "But no one could manage to restore my mortal body."

Crimson Death turned his head, spotting some of Deadlight getting out of his sight. And small wonder, with how scary he looked.

"So you made an army befitting your pride. Kiko, at some point you should smuggle something, preferably the Score, into Carmen's lair, in such a way that she cannot find it, but that the heroes can."

"We were planning on just sending the Score to Major Land, with nothing to trace it to us, of course," Kiko noted, "Why the cloak and dagger?"

"Carmen's got an army as well," Crimson Death explained, "And has more experience than you realize. No match for your own power, though, and certainly no match for this X-Squad."

"But this may just be needed to ensure that every member of VILE is brought in," Teruteru Kamoshida, Sliming Sadist, finished.

"Hey, Boss," Connor Ductor said as he approached, "We got a problem. A bunch of cops and heroes are right outside. It looks like they're preparing to raid."

Carmen sighed in frustration.

"So they finally found us, huh? Damn it... We're not where we need to be yet. Have all soldiers move into position. And get the Harlequins assembled. Hopefully they'll be able to slow them down until we can finish the product."

"This might be too much," Rock Lock noted as Voidlon knocked on the door while saying "OVDF, open up!", "These VILE goons are used to keeping low. They see all these heroes and cops, they may just disappear."

He quickly got proven wrong when a hulking man dressed as a clown smashed his way through the front door. This was Harold Quinn. His attack knocked back several officers, who were saved when several of the heroes, including Voidlon, Midorang, Eraserhead, Xatra, and Valjean moved to grab them.

"What do you guys want?" Harold muttered, "It's too early for visitors."

He grabbed two officers by their head, and he suddenly started getting even bigger. Midorang noticed this.

"His Quirk works by contact. And the officers are suddenly looking a lot more tired."

"He can rob people's life energy?" Ivy noted, "I've heard VILE has a group of elites called the Harlequins. Their Quirks and personalities are said to be corruptions of the Eight Precepts of Buddhism."

"Now I'm starting to wake up a little," Harold said.

He pulled back his arm to throw a punch.

"Why are you people here!?"

The punch launched a wind storm, and Zorro leapt into action.

"Vacuum Wave!"

The sudden suction of air drew in the wind surge Work Up created. This was the effect of Razor Wind, Zorro's Quirk. He could control all facets of air, even creating small vacuum pockets in midair. Ryukyu was also activating her own Quirk, Dragon. This let her change into an actual dragon, but with her human intelligence still intact. This extra strength let her easily overpower Work Up in spite of his increased strength.

"My agency can take care of him," Ryukyu said, "Everyone else, get inside."

"Zorro," Valjean said, "Help out as well."

Swampanne and Fat Gum had Froppy and Uravity help as well. More thugs were inside, using whatever powers they had to try and stop the police and heroes. Necronomicon was hovering in her UFO.

"I'm tracking something moving along the walls of the hideout! Practically inside them! Someone that's that strong has to be high-ranking in this organization."

"Keep him tracked, Necro," Valjean said, "We'll make our way to Carmen's office."

Carmen was picking up the copy, still thinking it was the real Legendary Score.

"While the Harlequins buy us time, we'll make sure any evidence of our plans is removed from this hideout. We'll continue elsewhere."

"We'll likely need to make a new hideout," Connor noted, "I just got word that all our other bases got raided."

"Guess we'll have to owe Kiko's little band another favor," Carmen said, "But it'll be worth it once our goals are complete. Then... I'll finally be rid of ACME for good..."

Suneater looked as Lemillion, Midorang and Voidlon were charging ahead.

"Hey, Dynamite, Mystle," he said, "How long have you been friends with Midorang and Voidlon?"

"Long as I can remember," Dynamite said, "I used to think he was just another extra in my life. He always talked about how he wanted a Quirk as cool as mine. I just told him he'd be lucky to get a Quirk even in the same league. But once he manifested Regeneration, that's when I knew... We were always meant to be heroes together."

"Honestly, Voidlon's been a friend ever since I got knocked through dimensions, I always thought I was the top dog, but now, now I'm pretty sure the X-Squad is meant to be a group of people that just wanna cut loose and have fun." Mystle said.

"Me and Lemillion have been friends for a long time too," Suneater noted, "I was just a new transfer at school, and no one seemed to want to talk to me. Especially since my anxiety caused me to embarrass myself when I tried to make introductions. But Lemillion... He just had that warm smile and talked with me like he had no reservations. On that day... He felt as bright as the sun to me."

He looked at the two young heroes and the spawn of Satan as they practically led the charge.

"And Midorang... He almost seems like a second sun right now. Voidlon's the moon that brings the darkness that wipes out the evil that dares to take the sun away."

Dynamite smirked.

"Every hero shines in their own way. Just take a look at the rest of the class."

Suneater looked around. Several thugs were now pinned to the walls by Grape Juice's sticky spheres and Cellophane's tape. Many were debilitated due to Earphone Jack deafening them or Invisible Girl blinding them. One thug tried using his Quirk to create a concrete barrier, only for Captain Sparkle to blast through it with his Navel Laser.

"The way these thugs are fighting," Mechacain said as he and the main team burst into the compound, "Did our plans get leaked somehow?"

"I doubt it," the lead officer said, "Otherwise they'd be fighting more cohesively."

"They're just trying to protect their boss," Eraserhead suggested, "They're used to fighting together, and nothing matters more to them than their boss, the one who gave them a purpose in life."

"Either that," Midorang said, "Or they fear Overhaul just that much."

"Either way," Eraserhead continued, "We haven't seen any of the top brass outside. They're probably deeper in, making plans to flee."

"Jeez, not returning the loyalty there," Red Riot said, "Forcing others to fight for you while running away isn't manly at all."

"Yeah," Voidlon agreed, "I couldn't see Kiko doing something like that. If anything, she'd be standing between us and Deadlight."

"Deadlight's more tight-knit," Ridley pointed out, "They basically have to look out for each other. But the yakuza are an organization. In their eyes, they can afford to see lesser grunts as expendable."

Foresight suddenly noticed something ahead.

"There! That flower vase! I'm seeing it in a transparent view, so there must be a hidden passage behind it!"

Nighteye stopped in front of it.

"I remember seeing this in my vision when I tagged Bobbles the other day. There should be a device under the vase."

He moved the vase and pressed some of the wooden slats in a specific order. Sure enough, the wall moved to reveal a secret door. Foresight immediately took a defensive stance and struck, nailing three thugs that were about to come out of the passage.

"I saw those guys lurking just inside the passage," she explained.

The thugs tried to recover, only for two to get wrapped up by Centipeder's Centipede Quirk, revealing his arms to be long centipede joints with human hands on the end. Agent of J moved in to take out the third, aided by Bubble Girl. Her Quirk was Bubble, which could create bubbles that could pop with a surprising amount of explosive force. The rest of the team moved inside.

"Hey," Necronomicon called out, "That guy from earlier is starting to shift the interior to block us. Hang on, I'll try to flush him out. Meanwhile, I'll try to keep you guys up to date on the layout in case he tries shifting it."

She started sending the tentacles from her UFO construct through the walls. Speaking of which, the team reached another wall very quickly. Seeing how badly the wall was attached, Lemillion poked his head through it using Permeation.

"The path continues through here, just like Necro said. Though this one was likely erected by someone to slow us down."

"Like hell that's gonna stop us!," Dynamite called out.

"Stand back, everyone," Midorang said, "This is gonna be rough!"

"You mean we?" Voidlon said.

"And what do you mean by we?" Midorang asked.

"Sorry. Fuck. We should've introduced you to our other half," Voidlon said as the symbiote emerged from his body and morphed him into Venom.

Dynamite's eyes widened. "Well that's certainly one way to make an entrance."

[Ayo! Our boy Venom here!]

"You know about this thing?" Ridley asked.

TricksterGod: [It appears young Mr. Shingetsu has found a weapon of great power and darkness. Albeit, I know not if this is indeed the same creature from the Midgard I know, I doubt it has much in the way of variance from that entity]

"We're very happy together," Venom asserted as it flailed its tongue about. "Aside from one... irreconcilable difference. A difference we believe the sea-witch can help."

"And what is that?" Mystle asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Despite our strength and power, we possess certain vulnerabilities," Venom explained. "The most cumbersome of these weaknesses is a vulnerability to loud noises, yet Voidlon... me... I... we... love rock and roll... loud rock and roll. Particularly any sort. Yet we cannot rock or roll without experiencing intense pain that threatens our symbiotic existence. So please, after this, help us out."

He, Red Riot, Voidlon, and Dynamite all pulled back for a powerful punch. Sugarman downed several packs of sugar to boost his own strength to do the same.

"Cosmo-Cosmo Missile!"

"Sweets Smasher!"

"Red Gauntlet!"

"Demolition Fist!"

"Shibuya Smash!"

The wall was quickly demolished by the five power-packed punches. Rock Lock gave an impressed whistle.

"Looks like those kids deserve to be here after all."

Suddenly, Necronomicon felt her construct go taught.

"Hey! I think I got something! Whoa, it's strong."

The walls suddenly started to shift around. Nearby, Robocrook had injected himself with a performance enhancer oil to allow himself the strength to manipulate an entire building with his new nanobots.

"Hey, Necro!" Valjean called out, "Irinaka needs to have at least part of body exposed to perceive his surroundings! If you find it, you should be able to pull him out of the walls!"

"We can't just stand here trying to find the way out," Roman said, "We know the direction we need to go, so let's just move through with whatever we have."

"He's got a point," Depestilous said, "These are just hallways. They won't have the evidence we need, so there's no reason to be gentle making our way through them. Right now speed is of the essence, which is why Overhaul and his men are trying to slow us down."

Midorang heard a familiar roar right behind him and smirked. Sure enough, Regenizard came tearing through, having shaken off several thugs from his body before smashing into a nearby wall, breaking it down.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, "The guys outside are relentless in trying to keep us out. Don't you just hate when the guilty make it obvious by disregarding a search warrant?"

Several other power-type heroes joined Regenizard, Lemillion just phasing through the walls while the others smashed their way through.

"So," Suneater said, "What should the rest of us be doing?"

That's when the floor opened up below them, dropping them into a pit.

"Hey, Chisa," Agent of J said, "Where was your Double Vision then, babe?"

"I can only see the future of what my eyes are looking at," Foresight pointed out, "I didn't think to look at the floor. And you're totally on the couch tonight for that quip."

"Save the lovers' quarrel for later, you two," Fat Gum said as he got up, "Right now we need to figure a way out of here."

Captain Kidd shook the cobwebs from his head before looking around.

"Uh guys," he said, "I think we were sent down here for a reason."

"Well, well," a male said, "Looks like some state-authorized thugs crashed our party."

Two men and one woman were standing near the door, the first man a snake theme, the girl had with a plague doctor theme, the second man with a crystal theme.

"Why does every villain insist on calling us thugs?" Valjean asked as he got up.

"Maybe cause we technically are." Lune snarked.

He activated his comm link.

"Oracle, need an update."

'I can guide you back up,' Necronomicon said, 'Right now I'm trailing Mimic to stop these shenanigans. Lemillion and Midorang are still ahead, as are most of our power heroes.'

"Copy that," Valjean said.

He took a look at the three.

"Looten Robb, Poppa Capp, Yoinka Doinka. The so-called Garbage Trio of the Harlequins of VILE. Psychological profiles note they've given up on life, and only live to help their boss. A foolish existence."

He snapped his fingers.

"Captain Kidd! Johanna! Arsene! Why not show these guys your own skills?"

Suneater also stepped forward.

"You're gonna help too?," Captain Kidd asked.

"I need to do something in this fight," Suneater noted, "Besides, this way we use less strength, and the pros can still conserve their own strength for the real fight."

"Leave this to the pros, men," the lead officer said, "Guns are useless against Looten Robb."

"Someone's done their homework," Looten said, "But that just means I'm free to cut loose!"

He came in with his sword, only for Arsene to unleash Cursed Shadow.

"You can only steal solid objects, and can only snatch what you can see. Shadows have no substance, and you don't have the eyes necessary to see in the dark. My Quirk is perfect to counter your telekinesis."

"But that still doesn't get you past us!" Capp pointed out.

"Actually, it does," Arsene said, pointing behind the trio.

They gasped when they saw Arsene had warped the entire hero team, the X-Squad, and the officers with them, right in front of the door.

"The hell?" Looten said, "Since when could they do that?!?!?"

Just then, all three of them got wrapped up in octopus tentacles from Suneater.

"A funny thing is, Lemillion's the one who gave me my hero name. He said that if he was the sun, then I'd be the one who would eat the sun. That the only reason he was doing his best... Was that he had me there to inspire him."

He had grabbed the guns and sword in his tentacles, which quickly changed into a crab claw to break them.

"I see you had a strong lunch before coming," Johanna noted.

She looked around her as the other heroes left through the door.

"Robocrook's not helping these guys out. Either he's prioritizing the police who got caught..."

She smirked.

"Or Necro's giving him a run for his money."

Meanwhile, Robocrook was screaming as Necronomicon chased him through the halls.

"How in the world did she track me this easily!?," he cried out in despair.

"Arsene," Suneater said, "Make sure to keep Looten contained. Knowing Yoinka, she should be hungry enough to start using her own Quirk..."

"Ha!" Yoinka suddenly called out, "Time to eat!"

Her mask opened wide, biting through Suneater's tentacles. They weren't technically part of his body, so the damage was minimal.

"Yeah, that," he said, "Digest can instantly eat and digest whatever he can bite into. As for Capp, his mutation lets him generate crystals from his body."

Looten quickly reached out to pull in the blade from his broken sword to attack, blood coming from his hand.

"Your hero's code means you don't kill. But we've already given up on life, so we won't go down unless we're dead. Hell, we've already given up on life, even tried to kill ourselves more than once. Until the boss gave us a reason to live. So if we can help the boss even a little, our lives will be worth it."

"A nice sentiment," Suneater said, blocking a punch from Capp, "And I can certainly see where you're coming from. But your boss is being targeted from both sides of the law. There's no helping him anymore. His time is done. And you'll be in jail when this is all over, right beside him."

Johanna's arms suddenly started coursing with energy.

"My Nuclear Blast Quirk lets me charge nuclear energy by literally splitting the atoms in my limbs. I can control the level, remove any harmful radiation, and in an open area I can punch with a force that mimics a nuclear bomb."

She pulled back her arm, aiming for Capp.

"It's just perfect for smashing through your crystals! Cosmic Flare!"

The nuclear energy smashed right into Crystalline's stomach, flooring him in one shot. He tried to get up, only to find himself nailed again by Suneater, who now looked like a chimera.

"Vast Hybrid, Chimera Kraken! This is how well I've trained my Quirk!"

Yoinka quickly moved in to try and bite through the large amount of tentacles, only for the next thing to hit his mouth being pure electricity from Captain Kidd.

"Electric Storm, baby! I can control ionic energy, drawing in natural electrical energy and redirecting it. Your Quirk can only let you digest anything solid or liquid. It's useless against transient energy like lightning."

He crossed his arms and focused hard.

"Wild Thunder!"

Yoinka screamed in pain as the electrical energy ripped through her. Looten looked around and realized he was the only one still standing.

"Aw man! We weren't prepared for this!"

"It's about to get worse," Arsene said, his Cursed Shadow forming wings on his back, "You're not the only one chained to hell. Each of us here has stared into the abyss at one time or another. The difference is, when the abyss stared back at you... You blinked! Abyssal Wings!"

The shadowy feathers pinned Looten to the wall, the sheer force rendering him unconscious. Suneater was a bit surprised by Arsene's words.

'Why does it feel like I've made a kinship with these guys? I guess there's a lot of people out there like me.'

The four of them finished containing the Garbage Trio before heading out.

'I guess it's okay to accept help every once in a while.'

Before long, the team was forming back together again.

"Hey, where's Suneater?," Lemillion asked.

"He hung back," Mystle said, "Along with three members of Valjean's agency to deal with three of the Harlequins."

"Johanna is pretty much the team powerhouse," Cendrillon noted, "And Captain Kidd is strong in his own right. Not to mention how versatile Arsene is in battle."

Lemillion nodded in agreement.

"Suneater is strong as well. I'm sure by now..."

'We have three of the Eight Bullets confirmed down,' Necronomicon called in, as if reading Lemillion's thoughts.

Which, to be honest, she might have been able to do using her Quirk. Tailman looked back up.

"Half our class is fighting up top, probably mopping up the small fry as we speak."

"Hope Uravity's doing okay," Midorang said, "And Froppy too. That big guy who came barreling out at the beginning was also one of the Eight Bullets."

Mechacain looked around the hallway.

"Robocrook doesn't seem to be affecting the building anymore. You'd think he'd want to slow us down as much as possible."

"We're probably too far out of his range," Foresight suggested, "Even with a Quirk booster he can only affect so much within his perception. Not to mention he has both the police and Necronomicon to occupy him."

"It's likely he can only control so much at once," Roman realized, "Meaning that when he is affecting the area, his real body is nearby."

Sure enough, Robocrook had managed to slip away from Necronomicon to check in on the Garbage Trio. He was not happy to see them all knocked out and tied up. Suneater, Captain Kidd, Arsene, and Johanna had long left.

"Not good. They couldn't even stop a single hero. I need to hurry and target the others. Before that girl in the UFO spots me again..."

Cellophane was finishing tying up the last of the thugs.

"This just leaves the big guy outside. I gotta ask, why are you guys so loyal to a guy you're obviously scared of?"

"I wouldn't say we're loyal to Carmen," a masked thug clarified, "More we're loyal to Shadaloo and just came to VILE when he fell. Lord Bison preferred to stay true to the old traditions of the yakuza, even in modern times. We respected him for it."

"At first we tried to fight against Carmen," a thug in a white suit said, "But some of her goons kicked out asses and threatened to kill us if we split. But at least she cares for us, even if we had to give ourselves dumb names."

"So, any idea as to who we need to stop to make sure VILE stays down?" Sora asked.

The three thugs looked surprised.

"You wanna end this group?" a thug with gray hair asked, "We never thought you'd say that. Though I gotta admit... The goons Carmen has hired may be even more powerful than her. Heck, one of her enforcers, Stephan Encil, turned some of our buds into stencil art. We haven't seen 'em come back so..."

"Not to mention what Connor Ductor can do," the hooded thug noted, "Also, I may never eat ice cream again thanks to him making me think anything will be poisoned."

"There's one more thing," the gray-haired thug said, "If you really want to bring down Carmen... Then I hope you brought some A-Grade people to this raid. The people she's hired... They don't care about their future and have no hope. That's what makes them so dangerous."

Robocrook had just caught up with the hero team and tried to ambush them, only to get a shock when Necronomicon phased down through the ceiling, the tentacles of her UFO construct lashing out to make room for the heroes to keep moving. Necronomicon checked the hole he had been trying to shove them through.

"Two more members are right through there. If they aren't intercepted they'll likely bust through to engage us."

"Who are we dealing with?" Rock Lock asked.

Necronomicon frowned when she checked the screens.

"The Shield and the Spear. Vanguard of the Harlequins. Ben Zoen, and Kenny Okie."

"Let's bring some shields and spears of our own for this," Ridley said, "Red Riot, I'll bring you in."

"You got it!" Red Riot declared.

"Goemon, Milady," Valjean said, "You join in as well. Show them why you're our agency's shield and spear."

"I'll do my best," Milady replied.

"I shall beat their rubbish mentality into submission," Goemon declared.

The four leapt into the hole, and Robocrook quickly ran for it, Necronomicon giving chase. The interior of the room was way too dark.

"We lack the means to see in the dark or provide a light source," Goemon noted, "Fortunately, those of us in Valjean's agency have trained our eyes for dark areas in preparation for becoming underground heroes."

Milady turned her head to the sound of running footsteps.

"Incoming in that direction. Moving in fast. It must be Ben Zoen."

"Allow me to intercept," Red Riot said, unleashing his maximum hardness, "Red Riot, Unbreakable!"

To his shock, Zoen's punch, while unable to actually cause damage due to the intense hardness, was strong enough to send Red Riot flying.

"Hang on, Red Riot!" Goemon called out.

He activated Crystal Ice, which lowered temperatures in the air around him, allowing him to manipulate the ice crystals created and form ice constructs. He used this to create an ice slide to catch Red Riot before he hit the far wall. Zoen then started hitting Ridley over and over with a speed matching that of a machine gun. Suddenly, Zoen felt his shoulders freezing up due to Goemon's Quirk.

"The fuck?!"

"There is an old legend from Chinese history," Goemon noted, "Of a merchant who approached a king with two objects of great worth. A spear that could pierce any shield, and a shield that could block any spear. The king called him out for the contradiction, for what would happen if the two items were to be used against each other? If you are the great spear of villainy, then I am here as the shield of justice."

"Good work, Goemon," Fat Gum said, "Time to counterattack!"

He moved to punch Zoen, only for his blow to get blocked by a spherical force-field. Kenny Okie stepped out of the shadows.

"So we have Fat Gum, one boy who can harden, and another who can generate ice. But what can the girl do, I wonder?"

Milady looked back to Red Riot. Parts of his arms were chipped away from the blow. Goemon iced them over to allow them to heal properly, but it was clear Red Riot was shaking from the experience.

"We have three better suited for defense," Okie noted, "You'd have been better off bringing in two defense and two offense."

Zoen continued to strike Fat Gum again and again, who just stood there tanking it. But every time Zoen tried to create a stronger attack to finish the hero, Goemon unleashed a freezing wave.

"To be honest, I'm more suited as a shield. But the truth is..."

He generated several ice spears.

"I'm not too shabby on the offense, either."

He unleashed the ice spears, only for Okie to block them with his Quirk. Milady smirked.

"I'm curious... Can those only block physical attacks?"

She unleashed Psycho Dazzle on Okie. As it turned out, his barriers were only good for physical attacks. A mental attack was something else entirely, as Okie felt his mind go wonky from the sudden influx of sensory input.

"The hell?" Zoen asked, "What did you do?"

"Psycho Dazzle is my Quirk," Milady explained, "It's a powerful mental ability that messes with a target's perception. It's the ultimate spear, able to pierce through any physical barrier. So long as I know where a target is, walls and barriers provide no defense."

Meanwhile, Red Riot was taking some deep breaths. What had just happened scared him out of his mind, but luckily the ice now covering his arms had numbed the pain. His mind then went back to an interview he watched featuring Crimson Riot, the man who became his idol.

"Show me someone who's not afraid of death, and I'll show you an idiot!"

'It was on that day that I realized something,' Red Riot thought, 'Crimson Riot understands my pain, despite having never met me. He once had a weak spirit like I did, and his hesitation cost an innocent life. He admitted to being afraid of dying, but that he was afraid of the look on other people's faces when they died even more.'

"The day before I had frozen up when Ashido was in danger," he said aloud, "But the day after... I swore to never freeze up like that again. Just like Crimson Riot before me..."

He looked at the ice covering his arms.

"I'll live a life without regret! Goemon! Ice me up even more!"

"Very well!," Goemon called out, "Allow me to showcase my ultimate move! Ice Age!"

A strong cold front started to descend on the room as Red Riot's body started getting covered in pure blue ice. During this time, Zoen had been slamming Ridley over and over, taking advantage of Milady being distracted by Okie and Goemon icing over Red Riot. But the dragon, due to his iron skin refused to fall or even take a knee.

"You gotta be kidding!" Zoen said, "Just how durable are you!?"

By now the cold was getting too much for him to properly throw a punch. Milady was fine, having trained herself to focus even in extreme conditions. And since she was a third-year, she had plenty of training in that regard. Ridley grinned, since he knew he had a hidden ace up his sleeve.

'What these guys don't know is that I've been absorbing every blow and sinking the energy into my body. Doing that makes the iron bend and snap, but in doing so... My ultimate defense turns into a more powerful offense!'

Okie was able to shake himself out of his stupor and noticed Fat Gum seemed to be thinning.

"Benny! Something's up with Fat Gum! Finish him off quickly!"

Zoen moved in for a powerful blow, only for Red Riot to move in the way, covered with ice from Goemon's Quirk. Zoen was shocked. While the ice was being chipped away, Red Riot's body suddenly become more difficult to damage.

"Something's changed in him! He was blown away so easily earlier, but now I can barely budge him!"

He moved for a strong attack, Red Riot moving to counter-punch. Okie quickly erected a barrier to block it.

"You shield me now?" Zoen called out incredulously.

"That girl might be able to bypass my barrier with a mental attack," Okie admitted, "But no physical force can break through it. The boy's attack was in vain."

Red Riot smirked.

"That's what you think. I didn't even put any force into that punch."

The two were shocked.

"What I was doing just now," Red Riot said, "Was buying time for Ridley. You thought he was just another shield for us. But you were wrong."

Okie looked on in shock as Ridley stepped in front of Red Riot, suddenly looking more like a zombie made of iron, energy glowing in his hand.

"Thanks, Red. You bought me the time I needed for this. As for you two, you guys made a serious mistake. Though to be fair, I made the same one. And that mistake... Was underestimating Red Riot's chivalrous spirit!"

With a mighty blow, Ridley punched right through Okie's barrier, shattering it like glass, blowing both villains right into the opposite wall from the shockwave.

"At the end of the day," Fat Gum said, "Both of us had spears and shields. But we had one more of each than you did. And that made all the difference."

"So when are we getting started with our final plan?" Ted Radford asked, flexing his new toolshed arm, which let him change his left arm into various tools and weapons.

This of course included his trademark corkscrew.

"As soon as Celeste gets back with our new recruit," Loki said, "Said she wanted to make sure our team was complete in both body and mind before we headed off."

Felix looked at the paper Kiko was writing on.

"You chose our rivals for this fight?"

"I'm back," came a new female voice.

The team looked and were shocked when a young woman approached, wearing an ensemble resembling a jester and carrying a treasure chest. Zoe was the first to put it together.

"Mika, is that you? Where did Stranglehold take you?"

Mika Alaina, known as the Mimic, smirked as she put on a provocative pose.

"Yep, it's me alright. Celeste brought me to Thailand and paid for a full transgender surgery. Came with the full package. Now I finally feel like the woman I was always meant to be."

"You're a bit late considering you likely used Teruteru to warp all the way to Thailand," Kiko noted, "Did the surgery take long?"

"No, it was done in a day," Mika said, "But when I said it came with the full package... I wasn't kidding."

The other women in Deadlight winced in sympathy. It seemed Mika's change came complete with the ability to get pregnant, including that ever-annoying period.

"How does Zoe know you?" Zigra asked.

"Zoe was actually supportive," Mika noted, "While she is a transvestite, she's more of a cross-dresser and still can be very comfortable in a guy's body. But she knew I never really felt like a man despite being born with such a body. Unfortunately, living as a villain I hadn't been able to properly afford the surgery necessary to correct that."

Kiko nodded in approval.

"Now that we're all here, I'm handing out everyone's assignment for this operation. It's time we introduce our newbies to our frenemies."

A few days earlier, Midoriya was speaking with the previous One For All users with Ancestor Speak, hoping to learn as much as he could.

"There is one thing I should mention about my Quirk," Yoichi said, "Even before it became One For All, it wasn't completely useless. As you know, its ability was that it could be passed from one person to another. But here's the caveat... It doesn't necessarily need to be permanently."

"Seriously?," Midoriya asked.

Yoichi nodded.

"By mixing my blood with another person's, I could temporarily share my Quirk with them. We would share physical ability, and even Quirks. Since at the time I had nothing to offer anyone, it was the only way I could be useful as a hero. Without any other abilities, it made little sense to pass it on permanently. At least... Until Korekiyo tried giving me that stockpiling Quirk. When the two Quirks mixed, creating One For All, suddenly I had a reason to permanently pass on my Quirk to another. But that original aspect of One For All still exists. Every previous user of One For All has used this ability. Especially Toshi."

Midoriya looked at his hand.

"If I focus, I should be able to open a wound on myself and keep it open long enough to mix blood. And since I'm sharing One For All, anyone I share it with will be able to take advantage of Regeneration."

Yoichi smiled.

"I had a feeling you'd put that together. Make use of this, kid. You're the best of all of us. Now's the time to prove it."

Back in the present, Carmen and Connot were still taking the copy Legendary Score out of the hideout.

"We're losing men at too fast a rate," Carmen said, "The heroes really planned this raid for maximum effect."

"It may just be the end of VILE," Connor said.

"For now, perhaps," Carmen admitted, "But now that we have our finished product, all we have to do is make sure the two of us and our primary asset escape. Then we can rebuild from scratch. With our backing from Deadlight, getting new recruits will be easy. And we can draw in even more investors."

Things were starting to calm down outside, with Harold Quinn being the only yakuza thug still fighting. Zorro blitzed him with a quick wind strike before landing near Froppy and Uravity.

"Me and Ryukyu have this guy. Even with his Quirk boosting his strength he can only last so long. Head inside and back up the others."

The two girls nodded and headed into the lair, joining their classmates as they hurried in.

Meanwhile Necronomicon had managed to reunite the strike force, Midorang noticing Ridley and Red Riot's injuries.

"Time to put theory into practice," he said, biting into his thumb.

He slapped the injured thumb into Red Riot and Ridley's arms.

"Whoa, Deku," Dynamite said, "You're not trying to pass on One For All, are you?"

"Not passing," Midorang clarified, "Sharing. Remember, to pass on One For All I need someone to ingest my DNA. But this is something completely different. In fact, it's an aspect of One For All... That existed before it even was One For All."

Sure enough, Red Riot and Ridley felt the energy flow through them as their respective bodies started to repair. By the time it faded, Red Riot found the pain gone and he flexed his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief, and felt a heavy weight as Alien Queen wrapped him up in a big hug.

"You dummy! Don't worry us like that!"

Nearby, Goemon was trapping Okie in an ice casing.

"It's not as cold as Freezerburn's ice due to my ability to control temperature. You'll be nice and safe until the authorities can place you in a different sort of cooler."

Zoen, however, seemed to have fully surrendered.

"Listen, I don't know if that ability can really help everyone here. So just in case, there's a medical facility in the back of this hideout where you can tend your wounded kin."

"He's not lying," Necronomicon noted, "I have it on our map. Plus, he seems too straightforward a villain for setting traps or deceiving his opponents."

"I'm still surprised you'd even bring it up," Eraser Head said, "Why help your enemy?"

Zoen looked at Red Riot.

"I saw a boy become a man today. Right in front of my eyes. I honestly wouldn't mind fighting him again, but only once he's managed to get even stronger. See, I used to go by Kendo Rappa, and used to be a champion MMA fighter. At first it was great. We were allowed to use our Quirks with no restraint, save for not killing each other of course. But with how strong my Quirk makes me... All of my opponents went down in a single punch and wouldn't get back up. I lost all passion for the sport. But this young man... He's the first to ever take my knockout blow, strong enough to kill a man, and get right back up. And then just keep going, to the point where my blows wouldn't even affect him."

"So that's why you joined this group," Dynamite said, "You wanted a challenge."

"I've always felt like the best fights are death matches," Strongarm said, "You're never more powerful than when your life is at stake. It doesn't matter if the match doesn't actually end in a death for me, so long as I get that challenge. And that's what I got today."

Suddenly the room started shifting again. By now the rest of Class 1-A had shown up, and the X-Squad was getting sucked in.

"Hang on!," Necronomicon said, "I'll try and get everyone back on the path!"

Eraserhead turned to his class.

"Listen up! When you find the X-Squad, make sure you deal with whatever is down there fast! And above all else, protect your lives! You're the best class I've ever had, and I'll be damned if I lose you to something like this!"

That was the last thing Class 1-A heard before they leapt into the floor after the squad.

Naturally, Voidlon was the first to get up, groaning as the pain in his head started to fade.

"Alright, who's not dead? Sound off."

A cacophony of groans was heard.

"I'm alive," Mystle groaned.

"Present," Gentlu confirmed.

"Yep," Cronus said.

Midorang counted a total of nineteen distinct groans, all of which came from his classmates, and Voidlon counted all of the X-Squad as being present.

"Good to see everyone's not dead," came a familiar voice.

The group turned to see Kiko squatting on a small ledge at the back of the room, surrounded by members of Deadlight, new and old. Voidlon was shocked at a familiar face to Venom.

"Holy fuck, Hunt! We thought you were dead."

"I was," Hunt admitted, "But I caught a lucky break. I lost control over Sunny, but Kiko gave me a replica with the same abilities."

"There's a sheep here too," Yuina noted.

"Oh great," The sheep man, Little Lamb, groaned, "It's that vampire girl with the Ark."

"If you think that's crazy," Kiko said, as she motioned to the binturong man.

"Here's a blast from the past you might have heard of. The villain, Manturong, back from the dead after he got turned into a Nomu. He joined us after we lost Adam Taurus thanks to you. Alright guys, you have your assignments. Make it good."

Voidlon put his guard up as Manturong charged, but to his surprise the beast ran right past him and used leapt at Ridley, who was already hardening to guard against the impact. Ted Radford turned his hand into a chainsaw to attack Sora, who simply grinned.

"Luckily I have some new skills... Iron Sky!"

Her new Iron Man-like suit was bought by Anubis and fit her like a glove. The armor proved effective, the chainsaw grinding against the armored shoulder and only losing teeth. Little Lamb was learning the hard way just how strong Yuina was, feeling his gravity go bye-bye as he was slammed into the walls and ceiling by the Rider.

"I feel a little mismatched here!" Birch called out, her body covered in ice that came from Kamen Rider Snow's scythe.

"You're mismatched!?" Cyberscorp replied, his stinger getting parried by Roman's cane.

Felix was clashing with Mystle, while she was going ape with her sphere.

"Dance, monkey, dace!" Mystle cackled.

Kronos, on the other hand, was having a blast clashing with Deadpool. Hunt was similarly enjoying his fight with Zap.

"I'm sludge, you're water. Truly this is the perfect matchup. Both opposites, yet neither truly the other's weakness."

"Guess your new boss clearly thought things through when she picked who we fight," Zap realized, "A clash of equals, neither side truly able to get the upper hand."

Meanwhile, Neo was fighting Mika.

"Damn, love the look, new girl," Neo signed, "Maybe we can meet sometime. I can find you some great new clothes."

"Don't see why not," Mika said, "For now no one knows the new me."

A plant monster, Stinkweed, had managed to trap Monty under a pile of gravel, but got a shock when she heard the sound of munching. In seconds, Monty burst out of the gravel.

"Man, that was the best meal I've ever had!" he declared, "I'm all charged up now!"

Stinkweed felt a smile creep on his face as his eyes watered in joy.

"It's been so long since someone's enjoyed true combat..."

Nabnab's power was easy for Lune to counter. Not only could her senses bypass the anti-memetic effect, they could also help her counter when Nabnab teleported to attack her.

"This is sixes and sevens," Nabnab said, "No matter where I hide, you find me, and no matter where I attack from, you counter. Just how all-encompassing are your senses?"

Van Kleiss screamed in pain as Jay hit him with a Thunder Sniper.

"Verdammt, my body is too vulnerable to electricity."

"Watch the language, buddy," Jay warned, "I know enough German to know what that word meant."

Calamity, being more of a fighter with her blades, was fighting Dr. Doom.

"You use your powers effectively during combat," she noted, "Clearly you've had training."

"I've trained in martial arts for some of my life," Doom admitted.

Doom then noticed Twice, all of his created clones grabbing onto Ink Blotch's creations. She noticed that his mask was starting to rip as well.

'Damn! Without that mask, Twice will start to lose himself!'

"Twice!" Toga called out, running away from Doll, "Dispel your clones!"

Twice looked at her, the other clones arguing about who she was talking about.

"I don't know if I can do that!" he called back.

"Just try!" Uzi said, blocking a few attacks from Biowulf, "The original should be able to, right!?"

Twice took a few deep breaths.

'Just try to focus... If I am the original...'

He then noticed something. He could feel them. All of them. All the creations he had made, including a stray one that was wandering the city in his dimension.

'I am the original... I've been the original all along! I just was too weak to realize it! Uzi... Toga... Thank you.'

Instantly all the clones faded into muck, leaving just Twice behind to pick off the tape from his body.

"Nice one, Twice!" Ruby called out, only to get decked by Breach, as Hosshiwa sword fought Gilgamesh, Namakelder deflected Infiniblue's attacks, Oresky boxed with Acid Grip, Konoha evaded a spider bot named Vertex's attacks, Cell decked Zeron Alpha in the face, Zeron Beta chased after Goku Black, Frieza started shooting death beams at Zeron Omega, Roshi swung his staff at Audrey Blade, Zarbon and Rex started fighting Dr. Destiny, Coco got into a gun fight with Olteca, Sho started dueling Inferno, Even shielded from Inferno's attacks, Tusked War tried to flatten Kanade in a bull charge, Dead Dart tried to poison Jasmine as Malcho chased after Corvin, Queen Shark fist fought Namue, Lila leapt after Cajun Caiman, Venusnap tried to eat Linda, Azazel tried to mow down Harry as he parried with his bar stool, Robin rushed after Noxmar, Xone started to attack Manny, Snatcher started swinging fans at Vecna, Dr. O ran after Laura, Muty got into a claw fight with Erxkadnmlae, Frexe dueled Free, Eruka fought Raxeuk, Ruru leapt after Asami, Shan Yu sword fought a beast called Stormworm, as Stormworm's earth-based cousin, Morrisworm, slithered after Dark Dream, Akaza fought a being known as Cree'Par, a being known as Malissa fist fought Azuma, Louise aimed and fired Kenny at a being known as Stuxnet, who fired beams of radiation at her, a dragon-like being known as Codered flew after Vanish, a being known as Deskgoose send duck drones after Zinnia, as Cyclonis shot at a being resembling the infamous Bonzi Buddy, a robotic hound named Frighthound tried to attack Bangray, Jasmine rushed after Mx. Flaminco, Indus got into a fist fight with Enmu, Lamu ran after Jeeves, Mimi and Sheshe got into a fist fight with Zora and Yoomtah, Killia ran after Nakime, Kyogai used his gravity control to fight off Light and Ryuk, Tsukima dueled with Daki and Gyutaro, Douma used his ice powers to freeze Thorkell, Lützow tried to eat Mera, Minami launched scalpels at Atar, Adam shot at Mariana, David shot his new Lexington at a bird mutant called Hellkite, Lucy hacked into the mind of a robot called Mimicker, Rebecca shot with no restraint at Xsowshiha, Kosexry tried to crush Falco with his bare hands, Kermit got into a slap fight with Shuma-Gorath, Yuika tried to attack Amanojaku, Blackbeard fought Hajime, Leo went after Ito, Vic tried to grab Satsuki, Ito went after Momoko, Keiichirou went in swinging against Quarry, JonTron and Jacques went up against Chen, Akaza dueled Jack the Flipper, Delphinium fought skekSil, Gandalf dueled Saruman, Exzom fought Los Dark, Aria sword fought Aryn, Arem and Sudni went up against Rémy and Grany, Albert fought Wild, Victor and Vincent fought against Maki and Hammerhead, Pooh tried to crush Azfk and Amoeba, Taylor went up against Ghost, a girl known as Blood Widow fought against Grim, Maltran fought a guy dressed as Satan, Lunarre fought Azumi, Symonne fought John Scarecrow, a guy known as Chromeskull fought Spectre and Vi, Tundra went after Shredder, Fishface sword fought Sela, Tusk fought Tiger Claw, Roary fought Rahzar, Amy went after a tar-covered zombie, Cheng fought Yang, Phillip fought Brandon, Marcus fought Weiss, Blake fought a beast known as Rawhead Rex, a sheep covered in armor known as the Baabarian fought Ruler, Edda dueled a mutated shark known as Tube Shark, a mutant cactus known as Cactopus fought Randall, a skeletal dragon with a single eye called Night Sight fought Commander Peepers, a phantasmic being called Walrider fought Stocking, Kanna fought Basco, Badley, Rem and Agdaros dueled Casey, Evelyn fought Elsa, Sheridan fought Killian, Vaejovis fought Sir Hiss, Sheriff fought Ourobouros, Zone fought Malevozard, Zoe fought Buffobub, Robert fought Lady Scorpion, Don Murasame fought Rozoson, Nui fought Orvomon, Gelgieden fought Hana, Grunemitt fought Junko and Mukuro, Vistosam fought Gira, Rita fought the Blacker Baron, Mathilda fought Yanma, Kaguragi fought Frollo, Himeno fought Gatlocke, a man in futuristic knight armor called Forever Knight fought Ryuko, Iggy fought Opal, Saimin fought Suigintou, Esdeath fought Lixdan, Seryu fought Falcon, Schwartz fought Wave, Bols fought Nero, Renoir fought Kurome, Wave fought Stabite, Azald fought Dr. Stylish, Seiren fought a robotic tiger called Tiger Rock, Hime and Iona fought a mutant crow called Crowmon, Mysterio fought a mutant dubbed the Magician, Daruizen fought Genisis, Pinstripe fought a bat-like being called Sasser, Vega fought Cocytus, Aura and Mare fought Double, Kuroto fought Demiurge, Shalltear fought Margaret, Abra-Kadaver fought Leslie, Kokushibou fought a minotaur called Jinzora, a machine called Redmaw fought Jinx, Evolt fought an ostrich mutant called Fastlegs, Dogranio fought a lamprey mutant called Drainer, Abrella fought a clown called Big Top, Beddy, Eddie and Hiraldo fought a thorny lizard mutant called Bleeder, Donald fought a living mass of sludge called Polluto, Rhona fought a crawfish mutant called Chef Pinchers, Whiplash fought a monitor lizard called Queen Kenge, Blizzard fought Jack the Clown and Chance, Lala fought a salamander mutant called Scorchtail, Jason fought a ghost girl called Dooplianne, the Badger Crew fought a shark mutant called Sharky Sailor, Scar fought a bat mutant called Goth, Father and Son fought Tira, Marie fought a dragon called Neceron, Dabi fought a snow beast called Partridge Creek, Shigaraki fought a clown alien called Cherry, Spinner fought a living statue called the Living Monolith, Mustard fought a kangaroo bot called Kandy Kangaroo, Muscular fought a toucan bot called Tooki Toucan, Moonfish fought a clown-like robot called Mr. Smiles, Magne fought a girl robot called Suzy Snacktime, Frollo fought Seiko, Ruruka fought a monstrous jack-in-the-box called Mad Jack, Sonosuke and Miaya fought Walrus and Carpenter, Sunny fought Dustern, a mutant elephant called Mabaya fought Kurogiri, Mr. Compress fought Paper Doll, Professor Proton fought Motoko, Discord fought Doctor Eggman, Xatra fought an elk mutant called Jotun, a zombie dressed like a cop called Matt Cordell fought Georgia, Burgundy fought a mutant rat called Donnie Whiskers, Raymond fought the Chameleon Deadman, Gricko, Kremy, Hootsie, Gideon and Frost all fought against a zombie called Ruvik, Zemo and Marx fought a wheel-like robot called Auto, and Chuckles, Rett, Dandi, Pyke and Laboosh fought against Helpsie.

"Dammit, I can't puppeteer what I can't even get close to hit!" A crocodile, Fusili, ranted as Furina ducked and weaved.

"That was a very specific way of speaking," Skalamander noted.

He was trying to use his crystals to hit Ravage, but the man was too fast to tag.

"I didn't want to become a bad victim of phrasing," Fusili expected.

Megafin was in a nearby corner, using a megaphone-like gun to send shockwaves to try and slow down Julie.

"You can't hit what you can't get close to, pint size."

He started to approach, a killer intent in his grin.

"Stay back!" Julie demanded.

She threw her hand out, and to her shock a shockwave erupted from it, sending Megafin sprawling into the wall. The keyboardist looked at her hand in disbelief.

"Wait... Could this be...?"

Comparatively, Peacock was having an easier time with Circe. Not only could she parry the witch's blasts, whenever her shots hit her directly, even if invisible, the damage stuck. But the real highlight was the battle between the two power couples. Taeko's array of weapons let her power through Zoey's skeleton army, and her clothes were more durable than they looked to block the Bone Demon's sword. Voidlon and Kiko's clash was so strong that ice both blue and black nearly engulfed all the other fights.

"I really hope you don't intend to slow us down until Carmen escapes!" Voidlon called out.

"She won't be escaping!" Kiko said, "I can promise you that! Even if she evades you, we intend to cut our losses with her!"

Suddenly, a frustrated scream erupted from Goth as he launched his Stone Vision in an effort to overwhelm Scar.

"Crap crap crap crap crap crap!"

The lion ran around the room. Most of the squad either ducked or leapt over the beam of energy from Goth's hook. Kiko quickly blitzed out of existence temporarily as the beam neared him. When she came back, she facepalmed. Voidlon had gotten caught off-guard and was stoned.

"Oh crap!" Goth called out, "Sorry boss, I snapped when I couldn't hit that girl!"

"It's cool," Kiko assured him, "Wait for it."

With a mighty cry of effort, Voidlon quickly broke out of the stone casing, impressing Goth.

"Wow. It normally takes at least five minutes for someone to break out, since the stone casing is made from granite."

He looked around freaked when he saw most of the Shadow Hunters was also turned to stone.

"Kinda like that..."

Kiko sighed.

"Alright, who's not dead? Sound off."

"Just us, I think," Zoey said, her voice coming from the ceiling as she held Doctor O and Lixdan.

Kiko checked, and sure enough herself, Zoey, Doctor O, Lixdan, and Goth were the only ones still moving. Doctor O snapped his fingers and summoned a few crane game grabbers to pick up the team.

"We'll call this in your favor, Void," Kiko said, "Carmen's room should be just up ahead. She's still there as far as I know. But after Twice's little epiphany, pretty sure Carmen will have noticed we pulled a switch on him, so you should hurry."

Voidlon looked as Deadlight disappeared in a flurry of snow.

"Come on, guys," he said, eyes full of determination, "We still have a mission to fulfill."

Carmen and Connor, were a bit surprised when the copy Legendary Score melted into muck.

"It must not have been the real deal," Carmen realized, "Not that it matters. We have enough Notes. Going back for the rest at this point is too dangerous with the hideout swarming with cops."

"You don't think they're keeping anything else from us, do you?" Connor asked.

"Query confirmed it with his own machine," Carmen assured him, "Jackie can only use her Quirk for herself. The power of Confession has never failed us before. Out of the Eight Bullets, he's the most reliable."

"Speaking of which," Connor said, "We haven't heard anything from Quinn. You don't think he's been arrested, do you?"

"Either that or he's still fighting," Carmen noted, "Either way it's been taking way too long. What kind of heroes did he wind up fighting against?"

Robocrook appeared in a nearby wall.

"Boss, I just checked in with Deadlight. They had to split due to getting hit by Goth. They were fighting the X-Squad."

"A little outnumbered?" Carmen joked.

"Actually, that's the thing," Robocrook said.."There were more members of Deadlight that we weren't told about."

Connor's eyes widened.

"What!? And how did they hide this fact from us!? From Query!?!"

Birch winced as she picked the last of the granite off her skin.

"Goth, you really need a lie down after that."

Goth gave a reserved sigh.

"Yes, boss."

"I spotted Robocrook as the battle was progressing," Mika noted, "By now the jig will be up."

"Far too late to do anything about it," Kiko assured her, "The hideout is swarming with heroes, most of the Harlequins are contained, and Carmen at best only has five or six shots with that perfected drug of his."

Meanwhile, Necronomicon had managed to locate Robocrook.

"Oracle here, I located our primary target, and my secondary target. Transmitting locations now."

She cracked her knuckles before giving a sadistic grin.

"And now to showcase my ultimate move..."

She started hammering the keys on her datapad at high speed, sending her UFO constructs tentacles through the walls.

"Oh crap!" came Robocrook's voice, and his form was quickly racing through the walls, trying to bring the whole building down just to get rid of Necro.

Necronomicon smirked.

"Eraser! Get ready! I'm about to expose Robocrook! Data Bomb!"

A massive pseudo-digital bomb appeared on the bottom of the UFO, dropping right on top of Robocrook's current location. Sure enough, it blasted enough of the wall away that Mimic's real body was visible. With both eyes exposed, Robocrook was easy pickings for Aizawa to shut down his power. Robocrook wound up falling out of the ceiling, only to land on a piece of concrete floating in the air. Down below was Ken Takagi, hero name Rock Lock, who used his Lockdown Quirk to secure the rubble in a fixed point in space, ready to catch the falling villain.

"Sweet work, Necro. Looks like you kids can handle yourselves no problem."

The X-Squad and Heights Alliance team also ran up.

"Glad to see no one's seriously injured," Aizawa said.

"Especially considering Deadlight was waiting for the squad down below," Ingenium admitted, "They were able to handle them, however."

"There's something else," Mystle said, "Kiko pulled a fast one on Carmen. She made a fake Legendary Score. She should still be on her own in her room."

"Then what are we waiting for," Lemillion said, "Let's hurry and find it."

Hummy was sitting in a corner clutching the Legendary Score, her legs pulled up against her chest. She gasped when she heard the door open, but was relieved when it was just the three costumed men who had helped her before.

"You in here?" Seiren called out.

Hummy popped her head out of hiding.

"I'm over here."

She soon found herself scooped up by Lemillion.

"Good to see you're safe. We were concerned when you disappeared on us."

As they stepped out, they suddenly felt their equilibrium fading.

"What's going on?" Arsene wondered.

"It's Al Cohol," Ivy explained, feeling a little light-headed herself, "The one that always reeks from whatever he's drinking."

"A Harlequin." Arsene realized, "His power can make people experience feelings of being drunk and disoriented. And if he's here..."

He looked up at the ceiling, spotting the drunkard clinging right above them.

"He must be completely drunk himself," Midorang realized, "My Danger Sense didn't even detect him."

"Yeah, walking on the ground while drunk ain't easy," Al noted, "That's why I prefer walking on the ceiling."

He lifted his bottle to his mouth, only for the spilling booze to suddenly be lit on fire.

"What the hell!?"

The sudden state of confusion to seemed to nullify his Quirk. Arsene smirked.

"Heads up, guys. Carmen's ready to dance."

Sure enough, Carmen started strutting down the hallway, her Witch Fire in full effect.

"Considering how much your booze reeks, I'm guessing it must be a pretty high alcohol content. Which makes it very vulnerable to my Quirk, which generates the gases necessary to ignite flames..."

She put two fingers together while smirking.

"With a snap of my fingers. Inferno!"

Cohol screamed in pain as he was engulfed in fire from all his booze. Though Carmen had enough control over the ignition to only engulf him without completely immolating him. Inn Query showed up as well.

"Oh great," Lemillion said, "That's Bishop."

Query fired off a few shots, only for none of the group to be affected. Midorang was obviously able to heal from the bullet wounds, Lemillion simply phased through them, Arsene phased into Lemillion's shadow, and Carmen just launched a fire blast powerful enough to melt the bullets in mid-flight.

"We're getting nowhere with this," Query noted.

He tried to activate his Quirk, only for his voice to instead call out in shock and pain as a blinding light hit him. Cendrillon came running down the hallway.

"Sorry, but some secrets are better left hidden. Whether in darkness or in light."

Query then noticed something regarding Cendrillon's face behind her mask.

"I think I recognize that face. I think was about... A year ago now. A promising young gymnast. Quirkless, sadly, but exceptional in her athletic abilities."

"Uh, Bishop, are you drunk?," Boozehound asked, "This girl clearly has a Quirk."

"You're the drunk one, Al," Inn said, "And I wasn't finished. You see, this girl had a twin sister. She also wanted to be a gymnast, but was overshadowed by her more talented sister. They got into an argument, and..."

"Wound up near traffic, where my sister died protecting me from an oncoming car," Cendrillon said, not missing a beat, "And since then I decided to honor her last memory by choosing the path of a hero to prevent such tragedies from ever happening again."

Queey took a step back in shock.

"Did you really think I'd be upset by something that happened a year ago?" Cendrillon pointed out, "I've managed to move past what happened that day. I've internalized it, and made my mistake into a source of strength. A simple con man like you would never be able to understand the true feelings of people."

She started charging up her light Quirk in her hands. Query grunted.

"It was your fault in the first place! If you hadn't been in traffic that day..."

"Why should I trust you words?" Cendrillon fired back, "Your Quirk removes falsehoods from everyone else's mouth, but you refuse to remove them from your own. Accidents happen all the time, and the only course of action we have... Is to clean up after them! Samsara!"

She slammed the light energy into the ground, blasting Query full force. The energy was so bright that Carmen and Connor came over to check it out.

"Damn..." Carmen said, looking at the downed duo, "That's the last of the Harlequins. And they have the Score too."

Lemillion narrowed his eyes before handing Hummy and the Score off to Arsene.

"Seems every time I encounter a strong woman, it makes we want to improve myself that much more."

He started sinking into the ground, shocking the two villains. Before either of the could react, Lemillion had leapt up just behind them, swinging for a roundhouse. Carmen just barely dodged, though she felt a trickle of blood where Lemillion had managed to nick her. Connor, however, got hit full force, sending him slamming into a nearby wall. Angered, Connor pulled out his baton, and launched a shockwave at full force, but Midorang leapt in the way. Eri cried out in shock as most of Midorang's torso was blasted away, leaving only his skull and spine visible.

"I must be slipping," Carmen said, "Normally there should be nothing left of him. And what a stupid thing to do. Under the current conditions I'm the only one who can heal Eri if she gets injured."

"Good thing she won't be injured so easily," Arsene said, stepping out of the shadows, literally, with Eri in tow, "So long as I have hold of her, Cursed Shadow will ensure she's in no danger."

Carmen managed to get up, and loaded one of the bullets from the case with the Quirk-destroying drug.

"I need a clear shot. We hit the guy in the bird mask and we'll get a lot more leverage over them."

"I'll get you a clear path," Cinnor said, "Make it count."

He set the lair on lockdown, sealing off the escape routes, not noticing something else slipping inside. Carmen leveled her shot right at Arsene. Seeing this, Lemillion quickly dove in the way as the gun fired.

'If that hits me... I'll probably lose Permeation for good. But it'll be worth it, to keep Eri safe. So long as Arsene still has his Quirk, there's no way she'll be in danger.'

Carmen waited in anticipation as the needle neared Lemillion, only for something to knock the bullet out of the way. Lemillion landed on the ground, groaning in pain.

"How could someone as smart as you pull off such a bone-headed move?," came a new female voice.

Everyone turned to see the brunette, decked out in military gear.

"Bridgette?" Lemillion asked, "How did you get here?"

"The Foundation sent my MTF to aid in the raid," Bridgette explained.

Carmen noticed the bullet, now useless, lying near a pebble.

"You deflected the shot with that? Talk about some serious luck."

"It's all part of my Quirk, Final Girl," Bridgette explained, "As someone who's survived a literal slasher movie, my luck just translated to a literal superpower."

"Miss Carmen, reload quickly!" Connor called out, "Start by targeting the girl!"

"Hope we can take care of this quick," Carmen said, "We should be saving at least one bullet for further study."

But before he could reload, a long black tendril wrapped around his arm. Connor's eyes widened.

"You've gotta be shitting me..."

Midorang's arm had regrown, unleashing Blackwhip to stop Carmen. And the rest of his torso was regrowing quickly as well, along with his costume due to the genetic fibers.

"Looks like not even your ability to disassemble can destroy Midorang's skull," Voidlon said, narrowing his eyes at Carmen as Venom took over. "And you really underestimated how effective his Regeneration Quirk can be. But now that you know all about it... We won't be letting you get off another shot! You've already fired your last drug, Sandiego!"

While Midorang was pulling himself back together, he spotted Kermit running off with a vial of what looked like blood. He made his way back to the Heights Alliance.

"Hey, is Red Shift here?"

Another Toga stepped forward, now wearing a skin-tight crimson leotard made from genetic fibers, her extremities bearing telekill forged gauntlets and boots, and her normal pigtails swapped out for a ponytail.

"Did you manage to get it?" she asked.

Kermit tossed the vial.

"eBay. Enough to only last for a few seconds."

"That's still long enough for me to repair these walls," Red Shift said, swallowing the blood sample.

She instantly changed into a copy of Overhaul, and put his Quirk to use fixing the damage Mimic had caused before reverting back.

"It's a shame Chisaki chose to become an outright villain," Nighteye noted, "Even as a regular yakuza, his Quirk could be put to more benevolent use."

"The hell was that!?" Robocrook demanded, "How did you turn into Overhaul so easily!?"

"That's the effect of my Quirk," Red Shift explained, "Originally I could only change into other people, but now I can take on their Quirks as well."

"A Quirk mutation?" Robocrook realized, "The boss will really throw a fit at this rate."

Rock Lock looked just up ahead.

"Looks like it's up to Midorang and Lemillion to deal with Carmen."

"Not alone," Valjean said, having finished chaining up Irinaka, "Connor is likely with her. And he and I have a score to settle."

"You can't really think he knows the guy who killed your wife," Rock Lock noted.

"He was involved," Valjean pointed out, "I was able to find out that he's the one who gave the real culprit the drug that caused that driver to go out of control. Even if I can't get Kurono to talk... I can see him behind bars."

Rock Lock leaned against a nearby wall.

'At first I was concerned about all these kids suddenly popping in. I recently became a father, so I can't help but be worried whenever kids get in danger. But these new heroes, so young yet so powerful, and able to handle that power.'

He gave a gentle smile as his eyes closed, staying behind to keep an eye on Robocrook as the rest of the team hurried on ahead.

"Looks like the new generation has a lot to look forward to. They might be even more heroic than any pro out there."

Carmen was still shocked at what he was seeing.

"How...? Connor turned most of your upper body to giblets..."

"So long as my brain is largely intact," Midorang explained, "I can't die. I'll just regenerate. You likely thought you were just slipping when you saw my skull and spine remaining, but that was actually the effect of my Quirk. I'm called the Invincible Hero for a reason, Sandiego. Did Connor really think killing me would be as simple as any of the underlings?"

Voidlon grabbed Carmen and drew her in, pulling his head back as it was infused with cosmic energy.

"Cosmo-Cosmo Smash!"

Everyone winced as Carmen was hit hard in the gur.

"Just how hard is that skull...?" she mumbled, as she wobbled back and flopped on the floor.

"Ever get hit with a block of tungsten?" Voidlon quipped.

The walls suddenly started returning to normal.

"What the hell?" Connor asked.

He was so distracted that he didn't notice Lemillion coming until it was too late, Lemillion's arm phasing through his head.

"Blinder Touch Eyeball!"

Using his other arm, Lemillion slammed his fist right into Connor's stomach, knocking him out in one blow. Lemillion took the time to make one of his signature poses.

"POWER!"

By now, everyone was starting to arrive. Carmen managed to pick herself up. Connor was able to lie still, trying to take in everyone who was coming inside.

'So long as the boss can get away with the girl, we might be able to salvage this. Where is she...? Where is she...?'

He spotted Arsene handing Hummy and the Score off to Nighteye.

"There!"

He launched his sword and managed to strike Nighteye and Arsene. Just then, he found himself locked up in chains by Valjean.

"Your actions are futile, Ductor. Just give it up."

"I wouldn't say that," Connor said, slipping out of the chains. "I'm not about to let VILE come to nothing right when we have all we need."

He slammed his hands into the ground, shocking everyone as he aimed for the slowed down Arsene and Nighteye. He grunted into annoyance when Arsene was unaffected, having noticed the attack and activated his Quirk to slip into Nighteye's shadow. Too late to avoid getting hit by Connor, but just in time to avoid getting hit again. Nighteye, however, wasn't so lucky, his vitals getting hit hard by the steel spikes.

"Sir!" Lemillion called out, racing toward his mentor.

"Smokescreen!"

Midorang quickly covered the area with plenty of smoke, frustrating Connor even more.

"Damn! This kid really knows what he's doing..."

He spotted Inn Query's body near him.

"I'm gonna need your help for this one, pal. I can't take on all these heroes on my own."

He grabbed Query by the head, then grabbed his own head with his other hand. Triggering his other power, he fused Query to his own body. The heroes were shocked by the sudden change, including two new arms for Connor.

"He's gone berserk!" Aizawa realized, "Guess this is what happens when you back a psychotic madman into a corner!"

If Connor's normal form was enough to overwhelm Danger Sense before, this nearly sent Midorang into catatonia. It was only sheer willpower that kept him from even faltering, let alone staying on his feet.

'Merging with Query seems to have repaired all of Connor's injuries. I'm going to have to use every ounce of One For All I've mastered, and maybe even a little more.'

He then got a brainstorm.

"Lemillion, did you know you were also considered a candidate for One For All?"

Lemillion was surprised.

"No. Sir never mentioned that."

"He had your name on the roster," Midorang admitted, "But by the time All Might could evaluate you, he encountered me. He ultimately decided I'd be the best candidate. That said..."

He bit into his thumb and nodded for Lemillion to do the same.

"It is possible for me to share this power. And for us to share power together."

He held out his thumb, and Lemillion, in spite of his confusion, pressed his own thumb to it. The blood mixed, and Lemillion suddenly felt a surge of energy rush through him.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Connor said when he saw this, "You can share your Quirk!?"

By now Arsene was back to normal and helping Nighteye get to safety.

"This looks bad. He got your vitals good. You won't last more than a few seconds."

"Depestilous is still nearby..." Nighteye said weakly, "I don't expect this battle to take a full twenty-four hours..."

He smiled.

"I may die. But it won't be for too long."

He looked out at both Lemillion and Midorang. While he did see a taste of what could have been, Lemillion crackling with energy borrowed from One For All, it was the actual future he picked up with his Quirk that really got him smiling.

"They'll win. Their spirit is stronger than Connor's. If anyone's diseased, it's him."

He started to slump in Arsene's arms, worrying Eri.

"He'll be fine," Arsene assured her, "Can you use your Quirk to repair his injuries? I think he'd prefer getting resurrected in an intact body."

Meanwhile, Connor's attempts to keep the twin heroes at bay were proving an effort in frustration.

"Whatever that green kid did, Lemillion is suddenly far more powerful than before."

He then got shocked when Midorang suddenly appeared behind him, grabbing his arms.

"What the hell!? How'd you do that!?"

He then found himself getting tangled again, this time from Lemillion. His eyes widened in realization.

"This is One For All's power, isn't it? I had no idea it could be shared between more than one person."

He quickly raised a platform to try and get loose. He then noticed Hummy nearby and grinned.

'I can still use her. I can still take back what I lost. And Query can help me in that regard.'

He quickly generated a second mouth, which started speaking in Query's voice.

"Hey, kitty, just lay your weapons down, and VILE can put it all back together. We'll make everything better once more."

Connor eagerly awaited Hummy's response, but what he heard next shocked him.

"Nope."

Connor's eyes widened.

"You look kinda scary."

Connor couldn't believe his ears. He had no idea how to handle this.

"You gotta be kidding..."

Connor roared in anger, his body turning squid-like.

"I'm the last illithid! The last pinnacle of evolution and existence after they all got wiped out! I will end the chaos of your individuality and rebuild my kin anew! Surrender yourselves, and your essence will be preserved in me for all eternity! Resist, and your pathetic existence will end, to be forgotten by the incessant march of time!"

"So, you're a squid thing that tricked Carmen and is trying to erase all free will, yep, seems like your a psycho." Voidlon said.

Connor was now reeling. Query's power was still active and still ranting, so there was no falsehood in Hummy's voice. He then noticed Midorang and Lemillion barreling down on him and snapped out of it, making ready to attack.

"There's nothing common about heroes like us," Midorang said, "Fa Jin!"

Connor found himself knocked off the platform he created.

"We intend to save this omniverse," Lemillion declared, "And all the people you intend to harm or kill!"

He slammed his fist into Connor's face. Before the fight could continue, however, something unexpected happened. The body of Harold Quinn crashed right through the ceiling, landing right in front of Connor. Lemillion saw who was there as well.

"Nejire Chan? Miss Ryukyu?"

Midorang blinked.

"And even Zorro?"

"Oh, hey Midorang," Zorro said, "We were just finishing up with this guy. You would not believe the crazy thing that happened with him just as we thought we'd beaten him."

Shortly after Zorro had sent Uravity and Froppy down to help their classmates, he and Ryukyu had successfully restrained Harold.

"Make sure he's isolated before he regains consciousness," Ryukyu said, "Otherwise he'll just start breathing in the vitality of anyone nearby to break loose."

The police moved to action, only for some of them to wind up stumbling.

"That can't be good!" Zorro said, "Quinn woke up earlier than we anticipated! He must be hopped up on the same Quirk enhancer that's been going around for a while now!"

"Normally Quinn needs to touch someone first before he can inhale their vitality," Nejire Chan noted, "But now he can skip the touching part."

"That booster Irinaka gave me is finally kicking in," Harold said.

He started growing to the point where he was able to break free of his bindings.

"I feel like a new man!"

Zorro quickly conjured up a wind wall, blocking Harold's punch.

"Let's see how your vitality tastes, little kitty!"

He tried to inhale, but quickly found himself suffocating, forcing him to hold his breath.

"Did you forget I can create a vacuum in a localized area with my Quirk?" Zorro asked, "Ryukyu!"

Ryukyu quickly triggered her Dragon Quirk, giving her enough of a size and strength advantage to stalemate Work Up. He then felt a sudden impact against his backside and turned to see Nejire Chan, having fired a shockwave using her Surge Quirk.

"Looks like the drug already wore off," Harold noted, "So I'll have to get a handsy with you, cutie-pie."

"Back off, you creep!" Nejire Chan called out, "I only let Suneater touch me like that!"

Zorro was a bit surprised.

"I thought you and Lemillion..."

"Just because I think he's attractive does not mean we're an item," Nejire Chan clarified, "And he's already got Bridgette besides."

Zorro shrugged.

"Anyway, I think it's about time to hit this guy with my ultimate move! Panta Rhei!"

Harold felt himself get lifted into the air with a giant whirlwind as Ryukyu grabbed him.

"Nejire! Hit us with everything you've got!"

"You got it!" Nejire Chan called out, firing a full blast right into Harold's back.

Which was how they all wound up crashing right into the area where X-Squad and Heights Alliance were fighting Connor Ductor. Deadlight had snuck up to the hole, some wanting to watch as Connor got the snot beat out of him. Kiko looked disgusted at Connor's true form, as they dragged out a girl dressed like she's from the 1950s, along with a night, a monster, two scientists, a mage, a hacker and a man with an eyepatch.

"Not the best look for him."

"He only goes this far when he's really backed into a corner," Jacqueline noted, before switching to Hyde. "If I had guessed, I'd say Query is the other half."

"Why'd your boss even let that guy into the gang in the first place?" Mika asked.

"Because she needed some new henchmen," Jacqueline explained, "Miss Carmen was desperate as VILE was starting to fall into hard times, so she literally has to put up ads to get members to join, Connor was the first to respond, and swept Carmen off her feet with his skills."

Bugg Zapper then noticed something.

"Hey, looks like that kid's got a kid on his back now."

Kiko looked on in interest.

"What's he planning, I wonder? I guess we'll find out in a second."

Down below, Voidlon was explaining his plan to Eri.

"Right now the only thing giving Connor power is his fusion. If you focus, I'm sure you can undo it. Think you can?"

Eri nodded, a new look of hope in her eyes. She now had valid proof that Connor couldn't kill Midorang. And she no longer felt afraid. Lemillion was currently keeping Connor occupied, the borrowed One For All enhancing his Permeation to great effect.

"Damn you!" Connor called out, launching more stone and steel constructs, "Can't you stay solid for five-- GUH!"

Midorang had managed to get close enough for Eri to touch Connor, using her Rewind Quirk to split Query from him.

"Damn you!" Connor called out, "Why can't you just let it go and give her back!?"

"So squid face, you think you're hot shit, but really, you're not." Voidlon said, smirking. "You're really just a little brat throwing a hissy fit over your kin being wiped out and started going full genocide mode, pretty sad if you think on it, better put you down before you kill more people."

Connor growled.

"Your wit is as empty as your mind! Killing me is an exercise in futility! I have slaughtered thousands of civilizations before you, and continue to do so once this one has been eradicated! Now face your new god, ME!"

He launched stone spikes at Midorang. By now the effect of One For All's sharing had worn off, but Midorang was still able to get through using his enhanced reflexes and Regeneration's power. Just as Connor thought he was able to get in an overwhelming shot, the spikes disintegrated. Connor's eyes widened.

"He never even touched them... Could it be...? Is that brat a chronomancer...?"

Connor looked around, trying to find some way to deal with this growing annoyance.

'I can't see Carmen or Al Cohol. Using Query would only be a repeat. And there's no way those heroes will let me get close enough for any of them. Wait... Come to think about it... That dragon lady crashed in with Quinn, right? No, that won't work. So that leaves...'

He quickly repaired the damage to his body, then hobbled over to where the container where the notes were at, stuffed haphazardly.

"This is going to be my last resort. I hate using force to take what's mine, but if that's the only way I can get it done... Then so be it!"

He punched the container which shattered as he played a sound wave which did something surreal, the now corrupted notes flew inside Connor and made him become a giant squid monster covered in skeletal armor mixed with a black robe.

"Now, let's DANCE!"

He roared as his new, grotesque form appeared, climbing to the surface, six arms clawing about. He spotted Kiko and her team, and Kiko looked unimpressed.

"Really, you dared to pull a Don Thousand? It's true that guy's worthy of respect and admiration, but you don't seem to understand anything about him. He's the former god of Barian World that earned his spot. Tell me something, Ductor...did you do what he did?"

Down below, Zorro was worried.

"He's on a rampage now. I don't think he even realizes where anyone is. He's very hopped up on those Notes absorbed into him. Plus he was never that smart to begin with."

Lemillion flexed his fingers.

"Looks like the loaner Midorang gave me wore off. Which means he can't use Permeation anymore."

Zorro looked right at Lemillion.

"Run that by me again?"

Lemillion explained about One For All true primary ability.

"With Midorang's regenerating body," Ryukyu noted, "Who knows how many Quirks he could handle at once."

Zorro looked around at the Heights Alliance.

"I'd say a lot more wouldn't hurt! And with Eri's help it could be even easier!"

The class and the squad looked at each other, then at Midorang. And everyone nodded as one. Creati pulled a scalpel out of her hand, making a few more for everyone.

"Let our blood be bound!" Midorang called out, "As one for all and all for one, and Heaven bless the land!"

"LET'S GO BEYOND!" the class and squad said as one, "PLUS ULTRA!"

Up above, the League was doing their best to stay one step ahead of the now enraged Connor.

"I think we got him cheesed off," Stormworm said.

"Wait, that's British slang?" Professor Proton asked.

"Yeah, people always forget that," Stormworm said, "Like how they forget that soccer is an English term, used to differentiate football from rugby. But blimey, something's got Ductor all sixes and sevens, and it ain't just us."

"DAMN YOU ALL!" Connor called out, "FEEL THAT HUM IN YOUR BLOOD, THAT PULSE OF YOUR HEART?! SAVOR THAT FEELING! BECAUSE IN THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS I KEEP YOUR CORPSES AROUND, THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU'LL TRULY FEEL ALIVE, YOU PIECES OF SHIT, I'LL WIPE THIS WORLD, NO, THE ENTIRE OMNIVERSE FROM HISTORY, ALL OF LIFE IS GONNA DIE BY MY HANDS!"

"You say that," came Midorang's voice, "And yet you're trying to act high and mighty."

Kiko grinned when she saw Midorang leaping into the air, propelled by explosions from his wrists.

"Cavalry's here, team. And he looks like he's using the full potential of One For All."

"Is that Dynamite's power?" Kronos asked.

"One For All's function to is to pass from one person to another, sharing power as it goes," Kiko explained, "But Korekiyo theorized that the Kiko did not necessarily need to be one way. That it could be shared. He saw evidence of this when his brother Yoichi was working with Nikita, the second One For All user."

"Frightening," Vertex said, "So One For All can share Quirks within a small group."

Connor made to reach for Midorang to crush him, only to find all his limbs taped down. And not just from one source.

"Dude, this is insane!" Chargebolt called out, tape coming from his elbows, "It's like we're all the same hero now!"

Grape Juice lifted a massive stone slab like it was made of Styrofoam.

"So this is how our super strength teammates feel!"

He launched himself into air using a combination of Float and Zero Gravity, launching the slab right into the center of Connor's new body, where his main body was peeking out.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" The illithid called out as the slab slammed into him, "HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO HANDLE THIS MUCH POWER!?"

"We have a little help," Mystle said, looking back at Eri who was clinging to Voidlon's back.

Connor was shocked at this.

"No... This can't be..."

He then gasped as he saw the X-Squad and Class 1-A leap up, arms pulled back.

"Come on, guys," Dynamite said, "Let's do this Deku-style!"

"ARMAGEDDON SMASH!"

Connor felt himself get slammed by numerous right hooks at once. Just as he got a look at the sky, he saw Midorang barreling down on him, foot first.

"RISING SUN SMASH!"

Maybe it was the fusion, maybe it was the dizzying pain, but Connor could swear he saw eight other people falling in tandem with Midorang, one of whom looked strangely like All Might. Midorang's foot collided with Connor's body.

"Ichi!"

A sudden shockwave ripped through the villain.

"Ni!"

A second, each shockwave featuring a new face.

"San!"

The third started to shed blood.

"Yon!"

The fourth one started causing the pain to numb, which felt like a bad thing from Connor's perspective.

"Go!"

'What the?' Connor thought as the fifth shockwave hit.

"Roku!"

Now Connor's vision was starting to dim.

"Nana!"

Now he was sure he was seeing familiar faces. He recognized the appearance of Zero-G.

"Hachi!"

Yeah, that was definitely All Might.

"Kyu!" Midorang called out, "One For All, Grand Nine!"

Connor coughed out some spit as he lost consciousness.

'Impossible, I lost...to mere mortal scum!'

The next thing he felt was Eri's hand. He gasped when he saw the kid grab his arm and gripped it tight. Connor could only yell in agony as his form started rewinding to non-existence.

'No!' Connor thought, 'This can't be... I don't...wanna..go...'

As all VILE agents were corralled into ACME prison vans, the X-Squad stood proud as the Legendary Score was sent back to Major Land, having done what even ACME couldn't do, and permanently captured Carmen Sandiego.

"Well gang, drinks are on me!" Voidlon said. "We've done the impossible today! This world shines so bright, and it's all thanks to us!" He blew air out of his nose and sucked in a mouthful of air after it. "These known idiots and war criminals have saved the world!"

"We fought a mind flayer, and lived!" The X-Squad cheers as Class 1-A, Zack and Ivy stared, go smacked as to what was happening.

"Yoooooooosh! We've saved the world! We did it!" Coco cheered as she clasped her hands around Hibiki's. Hibiki looked excitedly back at Coco.

"I can't believe it! We got superpowers and sent a mind flayer to his death!"

"Right, right?!" Kanade commented.

The Chief of ACME walked over and waved pom-poms excitedly. "I'm proud of all of you magnificent gumshoes!" She waved toward Zack and Ivy. The two siblings looked at each other, unsure of what to say as the X-Squad went back to Section 8, agreeing to let drones handle rescuing animals. As the story of the X-Squad continues.