Welcome to the MCU! Phase 2!

by Zayden StormVoid

The sequel story to Welcome to the MCU covering all Phase 2 of the MCU! 'Nuff said. (Again) Izuku x Harem story, you have been warned! Other ships included. M-Rated for Bakugou cursing levels

11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Supes & Bats: WHEN CAPTAIN AMERICA THROWS HIS MIGHTY SHIELD! ALL THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO OPPOSE HIS SHIELD MUST YIELD!

Supes: Unless You're a Plane-

Bats: Or a Bomb-

Supes: Or some Ice!

Bats: Then I'll Choose to take a Nap-

Supes: 'Cause the Ice seems Nice!

Supes & Bats: WHEN CAPTAIN AMERICA THROWS HIS MIGHTY SHIIIEEEEELLLLDDD!

Pros to those who know what this is referencing. Anyways, it is I, Zayden StormVoid, here with another chapter of WELCOME TO THE MCU! PHASE 2! ELECTRIC BOOGALOO!

Last time, we had the 3rd interlude of this series. Well, technically first for this story, the other two were in the first phase. Still, regardless of numbers, it was a break, plot-centered chapter full of people speculating, theorizing, and confessing personal secrets. Such subjects included Dabi/Touya theorizing from an assembled group of teachers and related individuals, including one upset and panicking Number 1 Hero, said Number 1 Hero having an off-screen confession of his abusive crimes to a very irate rodent principal, Aizawa, Yamada, and Kayama nearly having a panic attack when speculating on Shirakumo being Kurogiri, Ibara helping Bakugou to accept going to therapy, Shoto and Pony getting along swimmingly, Nezu beginning a secret meeting with Hawks, aka Double Agent Extraordinaire, and Izuku and Melissa confessing their feelings for each other, as well as Izuku spilling the beans about One For All to his fellow Quirkless semi-girlfriend and telling her that she can be a Hero.

Now, we move on to the next movie of Phase 2, and one everyone has been waiting patiently for, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Oh boy, expectational stress is coming on.

But before I answer some reviews, I wanted to ask you all something. Recently, I have been having problems receiving notifications and updates on my stories on this site, including your reviews and a notification to myself that the previous chapter was uploaded. Thankfully, I still received them on the app but not my regular email, which was concerning. More so because I was worried this extended to all of you who have followed the story only not to receive any notifications of the recent updates. Please, I ask you to inform me if this happened to any of you, both not getting notified of the recent updates, and if something similar where I can't receive any notifications from FFN on my Gmail account has also happened, if you fixed the issue, and how you did it. I really appreciate any help you can provide.

Now for the reviews:

Enji's Therapist (lol): You make good points, truthfully, as we saw in canon, Dabi's revelation did do harm to the Todoroki family, even with Shoto getting treated badly by the civilians, yet in fairness, those were upset and angry civilians in a time of emergency and chaos in the wake of Gigantomachia's and Shigaraki's actions and the news came from Dabi, who as someone as revealing the story came off more as the victim. Granted, the Todoroki family was already going to get flak for being related to a villain but that's par for the course in this messed-up hero society that believes that people will become villains or criminals based on how their Quirk functions or similar Quirks and actions of someone else. Additionally, yeah, the situation with Endeavor and his family is complicated and won't be easily resolved, if ever, by whatever action Nezu or Endeavor himself does, and while Endeavor is trying to make amends, is dealing with emotional pain and hardship, and is trying to be a better man, you also got to think on the legal issues, frankly Endeavor's crimes. Abuse is still abuse and even if Rei wouldn't prosecute her husband for the assault on her person, there is still the child abuse that he has committed, something he could be arrested and prosecuted for regardless of Rei, Fuyumi, and Natsuo, and that's because Shoto would still be considered a minor under the extent of the law, he probably cannot say he won't press charges any more than he could charge his father, which then falls on his legal caretakers and those responsible for him, not Rei since she is still admitted in a mental institution, but Nezu, Shoto's principal, Aizawa, his teacher and campus guardian, and they have evidence of the trauma that it has done onto Shoto. Of course, Shoto could forgive and brush aside the incidents in a court of law but that's neither here nor there. All in all, what I'm saying is that under a legal, non-personal bias, Endeavor is still guilty of decades of child and spousal abuse, could be directly or indirectly to blame for Dabi's crimes, and a fair legal system 'Could' try him and find him guilty. Additionally, this isn't meant as a direct attack on my part against Endeavor, or ignoring his character development and learned lessons, Nezu's thoughts and feelings are meant to show the gravity of Endeavor's actions and Nezu's despisal of such inhumane treatment given his own experiences and his position as a responsible guardian over the U.A. students, even from the parents. Plus, remember that this story takes place before the War arc, Dabi's revelations, and Endeavor's most redeeming acts so to Nezu, and the public if it gets out, Endeavor would not be seen as redeemed or forgivable, and would be more scrutinized, fairly or not, because he's a Hero, something like a celebrity who's actions have more weight and consequences on them given their importance as a symbol and example to society.

servillabagus: Yeah, that's the general reaction I expected when I dropped the interlude, but like you said this was important to have given all the important revelations and information of the previous 9 chapters and two movies, the interlude chapters are meant as a break and catching up point for both myself and readers whilst setting the groundwork of the future and fulfilling and furthering on continuing plot points. Melissa and Setsuna knowing about One For All in the respective one of the two stories are an element I wanted to highlight as these two stories are sister stories, based around the same concept and following similar arcs and events but with differing circumstances. As for your suggestions, Far From Home, while not my favorite Spider-Man movie is a prerequisite to No Way Home, one of my favorites, as well as the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies that have been confirmed to be canon to the multiverse of the MCU, Multiverse of Madness and Wakanda Forever I have some problems with but with some editing I can see doing them, as well as WandaVision for context, and GOTG3 is also one I would do. Falcon and the Winter Soldier I could also do in the future, but I would have to change and rework Sam's speech at the finale because I hate how vague that 'Do Better' speech is. And I haven't seen Loki or Hawkeye since, other than Moon Knight and some of What If, I had given up on the MCU shows by then.

Black Cross0: About what you said about Star Wars...yeah, remember how I said I had planned to do a sequel story after this and one for Phase 3? Well, that 4th story will not only include some of Phase 4, the good ones, but it will also expand to other franchises, such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, DC, and, yes, Star Wars, so for that to work, I can't exactly have these guys still know about Stars Wars. Also, what are the chances that the Star Wars movies still exist, or survived the chaos of the Dawning of Quirks, in the world of MHA given that a lot of cities and locations in MHA are named after Star Wars locations, like Musutafu, Kamino Ward, Cloud City, Jaku City, and more?

HanBaron: I won't spoil much about what I have planned for the design of Melissa's Iron Man-like suits, but I do take suggestions, and the Armored All Might is very relevant to both the design concepts and the plot in the future. I also would love to hear more about possible Melissa Hero names, Tech Might could fit but does sound rather obvious and more like something young Deku would come up with. I'd imagine that Melissa would likewise take her own path and while having some homages to her uncle, still come up with her own unique Hero name.

Of Dragons and Roses: That wasn't an African Raven; in fact, I had no idea that bird species existed until you informed me. No, that 'bird' is something more significant. I won't say much but check out the most recent interlude of MHA watches Death Battle on AO3 for more context, specifically the end of Izuku's and Nejire's talk and Kyoka's private text session.

And now the Index:

"Zayden." -Normal Dialogue

'Zayden.' -Internal or Mental Dialogue

"Zayden." -Flashback and Mental Flashback Dialogue

"Zayden." -Dark Shadow, Movie, and Buff Might Dialogue

"Zayden." -Comms, PA, and TV Dialogue

"Zayden." -F.R.I.D.A.Y. Dialogue

"Zayden." Jarvis & A.I. Dialogue

"Zayden." -Movie Narration Dialogue

"{Zayden.}" -Movie French Dialogue

And finally, I do not own My Hero Academia, which belongs to Horikoshi and adapted by Bones Studios, and I do not own the MCU or the movies within. Rights to those movies belong to Disney, Marvel, and Sony for a few, while the works of the movies belong to the actors and actresses who played their parts, the directors and writers who constructed and shaped the movie, and the studios and workers that made them as they are.

P.S. Just as a reminder: Sam Wilson will remain African American, whilst Director Nick Fury is now Director Shouta Aizawa and Japanese like his counterpart. Whilst the latter's race isn't overtly significant and crucial to the MCU lore and story, and was already a subject of a race change compared to the comics so fair play, Sam's race, as we saw in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is significantly important and would be harmful to his story.

Now, shall we begin?!

---

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Part 1: Not The Same

Third POV

To most, Thursday had passed on like any normal day for the students of U.A. Or as normal as it could get given the recent changes since the beginning of the week.

Waking up, getting ready, and attending classes, the day went on as normal for the students of both Class 1-A and 1-B, still doing their best to continue their studies, only now recent events, from the Joint Training Class to the movie watching, have instilled a greater sense of camaraderie and unity between the sister classes of U.A. first year Hero Courses. They even brought over their future Hero student from Class 1-C and their soon-to-be-graduating seniors from Classes 3-A and 3-B around lunch as they discussed and theorized about what the next movies will reveal.

They would have likewise brought over the pink-haired maniac of an inventor and her more temperate, visiting blonde cohort if the both of them didn't take their lunches to the Development Studio where they, along with the Support Course teacher and the blonde's father, were hold up doing God knows what.

The only weird development the students found was that All Might had taken up homeroom teacher duties from Aizawa for the day, saying that Aizawa was unavailable and that all he would divulge. All Might also covered their English Class for Present Mic, which only made the students more concerned, for the teachers and for All Might having been just dumped so much more work, though they acknowledged that All Might did spend the first years of his Hero career in America so he would be optimal choice.

When it came time for Hero Class, that was when things got truly exciting. Only a few of the visiting Pros were there today, some of them having to attend to their Hero duties and patrols, though the ones that remained assured the students that they would arrive in time for the next two movies, and, for today, they would be there to given instruction and tips to the budding future Heroes.

Most notably, Ryukyu helped the more aerial and maneuverable students with their agility, reaction time, and adaptiveness by what essentially devolved into a game of tag, if the tag rule book included getting fired upon by waves of energy. Nejire helped assist Ryukyu in this task in Ground Gamma, the large area of interweaving and random pipes and structures made for more versatile surroundings to swing or bounce across, like for Sero and Mineta, a large number of hiding spots for the stealthier students like Kuroiro and Asui, and multiple avenues to run around and lose each other, like Iida running around or Tokoyami testing his aerial skills by evading energy waves from Nejire and his surroundings.

Tokoyami at first expected, and hoped, to train more with Hawks, given it was the Number 2 Hero's field of expertise, but was left disappointed to hear that he had business to care of. He would still show up for the movies, but the emo-teen of Class 1-A couldn't help but want some more personal training from his mentor.

The rest of the hand-to-hand fighters were left in the care of Tiger and the Pussycats, Fat Gum, and Miruko, testing their evasion, reactions, and countering, and their own power and martial skills they picked up. Pixie Bob and Fat Gum proved to be excellent training dummies, one able to take and absorb whatever the students could bring and the other would just create mud golems for the students to face. Tiger and Mandalay would use their quick reaction time and Quirks to evade and test the students' speed and accuracy, even going so far as to do taunts to see if the students would slip and take the bait.

At first, the students believed this was a challenge made specifically for Bakugou, but the explosive teen was sent to the Gamma group instead. Even more perplexing was that the combat-obsessed student didn't even make a fuss. Class 1-A did notice that Bakugou was absent when they got ready and had apparently woken up earlier than normal and was already at the main campus before everyone else. When asked, Bakugou would answer in his typical shouting and dismissal, as far as they could get out of him.

Yet Izuku could tell that something was off with his former childhood friend. The ash-blonde teen looked more tired, not physically as much as he appeared mentally and emotionally exhausted that his insults and quips lacked much of the fire in them. Midoriya worried that Bakugou was suffering from a similar case of insomnia as his counterpart did in Iron Man 3.

Speaking of Midoriya, he likewise found himself in the hand-to-hand group, despite wishing to further improve his acrobatics and maneuverability with Black Whip and mid-air maneuvers. If he wanted to be prepared for when Float might awaken at any moment, he needed to experience time in the air. Perhaps even go further on his goals and get closer to Uraraka, Asui, or Nejire who were there. He had already done well with his talk with Melissa and the acknowledgment that the three were a part of this 'Sisterhood' that all had feelings for him made him all the more willing to open up to them, especially Ochaco, his best friend since the beginning of the year and the one he most suspected, before knowing of the Sisterhood, to have had feelings for him that might have reciprocated his own.

Instead, here he was, in a separate field away from the others, facing off against the one visiting pro who had asked for him specifically for a more 'personal session': Miruko.

Izuku was a chaotic blend of excited, nervous, and terrified. For one, this was The Miruko, Number 5 Hero and dubbed the 'Strongest Woman in Japan', so to be personally selected to train from her was an unbelievable honor for a Hero fanboy like himself, and as much as he wanted to further his training with Black Whip and preparing for Float, Izuku knew he still had to further his hand-to-hand combat, his mixed Shoot Style, and further strengthen his body to increase his percentage of One For All, now more than ever as he not only weighted having to surpass All Might on his shoulders, but now himself, or rather his counterpart, Izuku Rogers aka Captain America. And who better to teach him than the strongest hand-to-hand brawler of the Top 10?

And yet he was also nervous, wondering how he got the attention of the Rabbit Hero in the first place. She wasn't exactly the type to Team Up with other Heroes and preferred to go solo, so this wasn't the opportunity to take him up as a protege or potential future sidekick as he first theorized. The Rabbit Hero was also very picky about whom she would actually spend time with or even teach, having no interns under her or even an actual agency, under the belief that 'no one could keep up with her and would just slow her down', as Miruko would say. A bit arrogant, but Izuku always thought her confidence made her so cool. It wasn't blind to him how she was a more female version of Bakugou; though he never had a crush on his childhood bully as he did Miruko.

Miruko, along with Lady Nagant and Midnight, were his first Hero crushes and would gush about them almost as much as All Might. Midnight's was more superficial, he had to admit, and much of the sexual charm she had a hold over him was kinda gone after spending a year with her as one of his teachers, seeing her as more of an aunt-like figure, which was fitting to what Eri calls her.

Miruko and Lady Nagant, however, had more of a personal connection to him. Despite her Villainous turn, Lady Nagant was a sharp-shooting goddess, both in beauty and skill, and skill was what made her so strong, not just her Quirk, and it inspired Izuku that even he could obtain such skill to become a Hero, even a Quirkless one. Miruko, on the other hand, was everything that Bakugou was, isn't, and couldn't be. She was strong, confident, arrogant, and bloodthirsty even, that Izuku almost thought she was a distant cousin of Bakugou's. But at the same time, she had none of Bakugou's faults, she didn't pick on and insult people for the fun of it or to make herself feel superior and was an active voice against bullying and anti-Mutant Quirks, she had a level of maturity and rare softness to her that balanced with her hard side, and her confidence and arrogance had legs to stand on with how good of a fighter she was. And, oh boy, did those legs of hers help awaken in him some naughty thoughts and desires that he tried to suppress.

If Izuku had to have a favorite Hero other than All Might, it would be her. So, you can imagine how nervous he was to perform well under her. Izuku fought to keep his blush down when his mind did a double take on the word 'perform', not failing to catch the innuendo that could come from it.

At the same time, over at Ground Gamma, Mineta felt a tear of pride go down his cheek.

But, despite the excitement and nervousness he had, he was also fucking terrified! Izuku had subtly caught Miruko eyeing him throughout the today and yesterday, ever since Thor the Dark World. Her gaze was like a ruby red laser tracking his every movement, and when she said that he would be training specifically with her while the other students congratulated him on such an honor, or bristled with jealousy, Izuku saw that Miruko's smile was like a predator finally catching their quarry, with a goal or desire fixated on him that Izuku didn't know. Despite her being the Rabbit Hero, and technically 3 inches shorter than him, it was Izuku who felt like the trapped, frightened bunny.

"U-Um, M-Miss M-Miruko-" Izuku attempted before the Rabbit Hero cut him off with a raised hand.

"Nuh uh, no can do, we're gonna have to set up some ground rules here, little man," Miruko shook her head, frowning.

"L-Little?" Izuku was taken aback, a question mark over his head. "B-But I'm taller than you."

"Zip It, Soldier Boy!" Miruko shouted, Izuku making an 'eep' sound before he shut his mouth close. "First off, ixnay on the stuttering, you want to talk to me, be clear and concise! And second, no Miss Miruko, alright?! Makes me sound too old, and I sure as Hell am not! Just Miruko will do, got that?!"

Izuku involuntarily shivered at her tone and energy, before nodding. "HAI!" Izuku all but shouted, a light blush on his cheek from the embarrassment of it being too loud and squeaky.

Miruko sighed. "Needs work, but good enough," Miruko scratched at one of her white rabbit ears. "Jeez kid, how can you go from strong, confident, badass to a stuttering, meek mess."

Izuku himself scratched the back of his neck. "Force of habit, I-I guess," He answered, honestly.

"Well then, this training session going to be quite out of your comfort zone, kid," Miruko grinned, leaning to the side as she placed her fist by her pronounced hip, something which Izuku struggled not to look at. "You must be wondering why the sudden private training sesh?" When Izuku nodded, suddenly getting very interested, Miruko continued. "To be honest, I didn't want to come to this whole visiting and mentoring shtick Nezu organized, and I only stayed as long because of those movies. I wasn't in the mood to waste my time teaching young, snarky brats like you who couldn't keep up with me."

Izuku flinched but swallowed whatever insult he would have taken from her words. It was fairly in character for her to be honest and he was just thinking why she would be willing to train any of them, much less himself.

"But then you kids started surprising me, started to get my attention," Miruko shifted to the other hip, crossing her arms over her bust. "Especially you, Midoriya." Izuku blinked in surprise. "And not just your counterpart or that shit you had to deal with in your past, I can see that you're different from the other students. You've got a weight on your shoulders, a drive that makes you want to excel, something to prove. And you're not just full brawn, you got the brains to back it up."

Any other time, Izuku would be burning red from getting compliments from Miruko of all people, but when she brought up the weight on his shoulder, he could feel a shiver of paranoia go up his spine. "Where are you getting at with this, Miruko?" Izuku suddenly did a 180, staring suspiciously and seriously at the Rabbit Hero.

To her part, Miruko grinned at his sudden change of demeanor, and couldn't help that shiver of excitement running down her body. "Back during that second Thor movie, I saw something, something you tried to keep hidden from everyone, but you couldn't slip past me," Miruko began. "Nana Shimura."

As much as Izuku tried, he couldn't help but blink in surprise. "W-What?" Izuku stuttered out.

Miruko's nose twitched, letting the stutter pass this time. "You know something about Shimura, something I don't know, both you and All Might," Miruko continued. "Call me jealous, but I don't like people knowing more about my idol than me. All Might gets a pass because, duh, he's All Might, and he trained under my idol. But you, on the other hand, I've got a bone to pick with you for that. So, you gonna spill the beans of what this secret is between you and Toshinori about Shimura?"

Internally, Izuku was panicking, his heart pounding like a pair of drums. What was he supposed to do? He already had told Melissa about One For All and the connection it and he had with All Might and Shimura, and he did so because of how much Melissa needed to hear about it, about the truth revolving around himself and her uncle, and to help motivate her and her refueled dream of being a Hero.

But Miruko? Aside from being inspired by Shimura, she had next to nothing to do with One For All, or responsibility over him like Aizawa, the prior know-how from those All Might already told, and Bakugou who figured it out on his own. 'Can I even trust her with this secret?' Izuku thought to himself. 'I didn't tell Endeavor because he didn't need to know about One For All to train me, and it would only be complicated telling him that I'm supposed to be the successor to his greatest rival and would be a rival to his own son. Miruko may be Number 5 on the charts, but we barely know each other. How can I be sure that she could keep it a secret?'

"Thought not," Izuku was snapped from his thoughts from Miruko, beginning to stretch her limbs and body, the combination of well-trained muscles and feminine beauty making him blush hard. "Have to admit, gotta respect that. But I'm not backing down either, so, how about a deal?"

"A deal?" Izuku questioned.

"You and me, one-on-one, first to get a solid hit on the other wins," Miruko challenged the U.A. student. "I win and you spill the secret."

"And what do I get when I win?" Izuku narrowed his eyes.

"Me," Miruko replied. If Izuku's face was alright scarlet red, that one word made him steam like a nuclear reactor. "And before you start getting any pervy thoughts, not like that. What you win is me as your mentor and you as my personal protege, and I'll back off from asking about the secret. For now."

Izuku froze as he weighed the pros and cons of this deal. On the one hand, it was more favorable toward him. He had no delusions that he could beat Miruko in a one-on-one, but the deal was the one to get the first solid hit, still incredibly one-sided but with a more achievable chance of victory. In addition, while Miruko is an absolute beast in close-quarters combat, Izuku has Black Whip and Air Force as his means of long-range weaponry that the Rabbit Hero lacked; however, she wouldn't have made it to the Number 5 spot and one of the strongest female pros in the country, if not the world, without having a way to outmaneuver projectiles.

And then there were the terms. Again, it seemed pretty favorable for him. Whilst admittingly, Izuku still worried that telling someone he didn't know about One For All, which he would have to, given its connection to Shimura, All Might, and himself, it wasn't like she was a complete stranger. Miruko still was a Pro Hero, a good one at that, and All Might could perhaps get her to swear an oath of secrecy. On the other hand, if he won, he would avoid such worries for now and end up with one of the strongest pros as a personal mentor, and one whose combat style was closely similar to his. While Endeavor was a great Hero to intern under and he has already learned much from the new Number 1 Hero, this felt like an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

"Alright," Izuku opened his previously closed eyes, his emerald eyes glowing with a fire in them whilst Full Cowling came to life around him. "You got yourself a deal."

It was a good thing that Izuku had built up quite the reactionary time, otherwise, he would have been splatted right then and there.

Izuku dove from his previous spot, now replaced by a mini crater, with the Rabbit Hero's foot the perpetrator. Izuku had to swallow his fear as he gazed at the rabid-looking Rabbit Hero, her ruby-red eyes like a beast's. Izuku was already regretting signing up for this.

Miruko didn't waste any time, pressing on by launching a fist toward Izuku. The verdant-haired teen quickly brought his arms up to tank the hit. As it connected, Izuku flinched at the force behind it that would surely leave a bruise. 'It's not just her legs that are dangerous,' Izuku advised himself. 'But I can tank and match these easily compared to her legs.' Izuku knew that he should never try to contest kicks with the Rabbit Hero unless he wanted his broken immediately.

Knowing he needed to break out of this quickly, he jumped back, bringing his right hand forward and his middle finger and ring finger over his thumb, while the outside layer of his gloves jolted forward and around his knuckle. "Air Force: Delaware Smash!" Izuku fired off two concussive blasts of wind at the advancing Miruko.

Reacting quickly, Miruko jumped and flipped in the air, maneuvering her body to evade the wind blasts before landing flawlessly and continuing her advance. 'He's trying to put some distance on me to get his bearing back and come up with a counterattack,' Miruko thought over the same strategy tons of her past foes tried to implement and fail at. 'I thought this kid was an expert on-'

Miruko had to cut her thoughts short as instead of a retreating Deku, she found him almost right in front of her, his left fist cocked back. "DETROIT SMASH!" The U.A. student yelled as he launched the fist.

Miruko was given a split second to bring her own arms up, crossing them to tank the empowered punch, holding back a winch at the level of force, it was just as, if not stronger than her punches. She actually slid back a bit at their struggle. Out of the corner of her eyes, she also saw his right leg raised ready to strike at her unprotected side. "ST. LOUIS SMASH!" Izuku yelled, swinging his leg out to attack.

However, surprisingly, Miruko dug her right foot further into the ground and brought up her left knee in a swift expert flex, blocking the kick. Izuku was momentarily surprised at the block but pressed on, letting go of the force in his punch to add more to his leg, kicking outward and launching Miruko away from him.

Miruko slid back, standing up on one foot for a bit before planting the lifted foot back behind her. Expertly, she skipped off the ground before backflipping into a sliding stop. As her momentum halted, Miruko grinned. 'Impressive, instead of trying to keep away from me, he did the exact opposite and pressed on me,' Miruko summarized Izuku's strategy. 'He knew that most guys try the first approach and I always catch up and strike at them, so he came up to me and had me bring my guard up, hoping the momentary surprise and defense would leave me open for a kick to the side. And yet, despite the fact I blocked the kick, I was forced into a position where I couldn't bring my leg up with enough force to outmatch his own. Honestly, if I didn't have the flexibility I have through years of training and my Quirk, I would have gotten hit.'

Miruko inspected the verdant-haired, his body in a guarded stance that reminded her of his counterpart. The Rabbit Hero grinned. 'This kid!'

"Heh, not bad! That punch of yours got quite the heat behind it," Miruko rolled up her shoulders for emphasis.

Izuku couldn't hold back his own grin, the thrill and energy of the fight fueling his confidence. "High praise coming from Miruko? I think I'm starting to win you over," Izuku quipped back.

Miruko's grin widened even as her blood roared at the challenge. "Don't go getting cocky there, Greenie," Miruko leaped forward toward Midoriya, a bloodthirsty grin on her. "This sesh has just started!"

Izuku leaped forward as well, meeting Miruko halfway. The Rabbit Hero brought up her leg swinging at him in a high arc. Using his forward momentum, Izuku dropped to a slide, ducking under the leg, forced to narrow his eyes under the force behind that kick. As he got behind her fully, Izuku planted his hand to stop, pivoting his body to swing around and launch his own leg at Miruko from behind.

Her ears perked, and Miruko immediately hopped into the air, dodging the kick. The Rabbit Hero pivoted and spun her body around in the air till she brought her leg all the way up past her shoulder before descending downward with an axe kick. "LUNA FALL!" She yelled as she descended.

Izuku reacted by firing Black Whip from his left gauntlet, attaching it to the trees to his left, and zipping away from the spot just as the axe kick landed and cratered the ground.

Miruko looked at where he went, seeing him land on the tree's side before hopping off and back toward her. Pivoting and spinning his body in mid-air as well, he instead ended it with an arcing sweep of his legs in the air. "30% Air Force! ST. LOUIS SMASH!" Izuku yelled, a wave of air pressure launching toward the Number 5 Hero.

Miruko grinned as she rushed toward the incoming blade of air. She spun herself even faster that Izuku couldn't tell how many spins she did. She ended it with a final front-facing axe kick that slashed through the pressurized wind. "LUNA ARC!"

Izuku gaped at the feat of strength before growling in frustration. Deku launched Black Whip, willing it to wrap around Miruko, binding her arms to her torso. Izuku pulled to try to bring her over to him. Miruko planted her feet into the ground while crouching slightly, the two stuck in a contest of strength.

"Oooh, kinda kinky," Miruko teased hoping to get a rise out of Izuku. When Izuku faltered with a mighty blush, she grinned. "But if anyone's dominating anyone here," Miruko lifted her right leg high, bringing it around and wrapping the black tendril around it. "It's Me!" She pulled back her leg, sending Izuku hurtling toward her.

'Shit! She teased me to get me to lower my guard and drop my strength!' Izuku cursed internally as he neared closer to Miruko, who did a short hop, preparing to drop-kick him. 'Shit! I can't get out in time!' Izuku reacted quickly, pulling back as much as he could of Black Whip from Miruko and bringing more out from his other arm, wrapping his arms in an encasing layer of Black Whip-like armor.

As the kick connected, Izuku cringed at the force that launched him backward. His arms screamed in pain, even with the added protection, but they remained intact. Izuku slid to a halt just before his back reached the tree behind him, while Miruko landed on her back before flipping back up, ready for more. Izuku had to dive out of the way, as Miruko launched herself toward him. The tree was not so lucky as the trunk broke apart at her dive kick. Izuku shivered momentarily, his mind seeing her like a pure, red-eyed demoness.

As he hopped back and gained some distance, Izuku cursed to himself. 'Dammit! Nothing I got is working. Shoot Style, Air Force, Black Whip, she practically unstoppable, and no matter how much distance I take, she clears ground just as-' Izuku's eyes widened. 'That's it! It's a risk, and it might not activate, but I have to try!'

Izuku rushed back toward Miruko, raising both fists and flicking out six air bullets before firing another St. Louis Air Force Smash.

"Running low on ideas there, kid?" Miruko taunted as she evaded and side-stepped the air bullets before hopping and spinning to slice through the blade of wind. "I'm starting to get bored!"

But as she slashed through the wind, she found that Izuku was no longer in front of her, only a gust of dust and air. She quickly looked around to see where he had gone but couldn't place him. Suddenly, she felt her arms bound behind her back. Her ears perked at the sound, she whirled her head in that direction and found that Izuku Midoriya was in the air, upside down while Black Whip launched out of his left gauntlet.

As Miruko was about to cut through the St. Louis Smash, Izuku fired two stronger blasts of Air Force to launch himself over her and into the air behind her, firing off Black Whip onto her to halt his momentum and trap her arms.

Izuku pulled and the two found themselves hurtling towards each other in mid-air. Miruko wiped the surprise from her face and grinned. "So, this is your plan, huh? Try to attack me in the air?" Miruko questioned him, tauntingly, while twisting her body from the force of the pull to strike with a final roundhouse kick. "It will take a lot more than that, Bunny Boy!"

As the kick neared him, Izuku's eyes flashed brighter. 'Now or never!' He thought as he imagined the rainbow light and stars of One For All, tracing it to his final green light, before it reversed to the pink light of the 7th user, flashing a pink light. The green bioelectricity sparked wilder, and his body suddenly felt light and free.

Izuku's body suddenly shifted down-left, and the kick sailed over him, Miruko's body spinning in the air as she hit empty air. The platinum-haired heroine's eyes widen in shock. 'W-What the...H-How-' Miruko's mind faltered, struggling to process what just happened. 'H-He dodged?! But how?! Did he use that Air Force thing again? But the force needed for him to make that turn in mid-air would have to have been louder, but I barely heard anything!'

As her body began to turn around fully from her momentum, her eyes widened as she saw her opponent, Izuku Midoriya...floating in the air. Her ruby red eyes widened, and when she blinked, she swore she saw Nana Shimura in his place, just like all the videos she had of her, he was floating just like she did.

While Miruko's mind froze, Izuku grinned, and if he had paid attention, he would have noticed and felt the phantom-like face of the 7th behind him. 'Gotcha!' Both Izuku and Nana grinned. Reeling Miruko down while firing a blast of Air Force from both fingers as a boost, Izuku and Miruko rocketed towards each other, Midoriya powering up One For All into his elbow up to 35%.

"BROOKLYN SMASH!" Izuku yelled, slamming his shoulder and elbow onto Miruko's stomach. The Rabbit Hero released a choked gasp of pain, snapping her out of her shock too late. Feeling the drive to exceed, Izuku reached out, ignoring the throb of pain in his elbow, and pulled, spinning him and Miruko in a circle before tossing her back toward the ground. The Rabbit Hero skipped and bounced along the ground before her senses came back to her and she twisted her body in mid-air to slide to a halt.

Unable to hold the new Quirk any longer, Deku dropped and glided back down to the ground rapidly, forcing himself to use a blast of Air Force to cushion his fall. The force flipped him over and he willed himself to flip back upright and slid to a halt.

Izuku panted, his entire body throbbing in exertion. 'Damn, balancing three Quirks at the same, especially a new one, really took it out of me,' Izuku gasped for breath while he held onto his sore-as-hell elbow. And despite it all, a stupid grin was on Izuku's face. 'But I did it. I managed to get the first solid hit on Miruko! And I unlocked and used Float for the first time! I-I won!'

Suddenly, the victory gave way to realization and panic. 'Wait...even if the others might not have seen that, I used Float in front of Miruko. The Quirk of her idol that she must know super well.' The more he realized, the more panicked Izuku became. 'Oh man, I'm so screwed! It was already a stretch calling Black Whip an extension of my Quirk, but there's almost no way I can make up some excuse for Float. M-Maybe I should say I was using Air Force to keep me afloat? No, no, no, I levitated too long without using it for that excuse to work! W-What about-'

His musings were cute when he heard faint chuckles coming from in front of him. He looked up to see that Miruko was still kneeling on one leg, holding her sides while her body twitched and spasmed. At first, Izuku was worried he may have hit her too hard, but her greatly increasing chuckles revealed she was spasming out of laughter.

"BAHAHAHAHA! OH, FUCK! THAT ACTUALLY HURT! AHAHAHA!" Miruko threw her head back laughing, while Izuku stood there frozen, now worrying whether he may have knocked a screw loose out of her or pondering if she was secretly a masochist. "Goddamn, man, that was quite the move there, you managed to catch me off guard. Brooklyn Smash? Did you come with that like I think you did?"

Feeling conscientious, Izuku blushed and stuttered again. "Y-Y-Yeah, u-um, I-I decided because the way i-it's similar to how Rogers charged with his shield, that I name it after his hometown," Izuku answered, embarrassed. "I-I mean, All Might names some of his attacks after cities, so, I thought it was a good homage. I don't have a shield that would work well with it, so I just had to use my elbow, but I put too much force in it. I'llhavetolessenittillIgetmoreusedtomypowerso-"

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT STUTTERING?!" Miruko's bark cut the Green Bean out of his mutter storm. Though even Miruko had chuckled a bit, still finding it ridiculous how badass the kid-no-dude, he's earned that, could be and then suddenly turn right back into such a nervous and stuttering, cute mess. Her mind then did a double take. 'W-Wait, Cute? Where did that come from? I mean, yeah, he's good-looking enough and that flip-flopping between shy and confident is charming, but Christ, the kid's still in high school. We're like almost 10 years apart!'

Though, for whatever reason, probably her rabbit instincts, a part of her suddenly became defensive. 'W-Well, I mean, it's not too far off from my parents, and he is of legal age in Japan, though I guess I could wait a few years before-Gah! Now, he's got me doing it!' Miruko shook her head from the mutterings of her thoughts before picking herself back up. 'But whatever, he won, time to honor the deal.'

"Well, regardless, congrats, you won," Miruko rubbed her abs while wiping away the drop of blood that leaked out of her mouth. "A deal's a deal. I won't pester you any more about whatever connection you have with All Might and Shimura."

Izuku sighed, his shoulder drooping in relief.

"And I still gotta honor my end of the bargain," Izuku paused, looking at Miruko, who smirked, impressed at him, pointing a finger at him. "From this moment onwards, I don't care if you were Endeavor's intern or not, you're mine, now, got it?! My Protege! I'll train you until you're the single best Hero I know you can be! You Got That?!"

Izuku froze, all but forgetting about his end of the deal. A part of him wanted to fall to his knees and tear up for what was essentially a dream come true, but he knew that Miruko wouldn't like that. No, and neither would he. He was done crying on his knees.

Izuku raised his head, keeping back the tears, and nodded swiftly. "Right! I understand!" Izuku shouted. "Teach Me Well, Sensei!"

Miruko didn't know why him calling her that made her pulse skip a beat, or her tail waggle, but she liked it. 'Sensei, huh? Never thought I would end up here—a pupil of my own. And I'm definitely not going to go easy on him. Plus, while I promised I wouldn't pester him for what his secret is, I didn't say forever. Having him under my wing and getting to know him means figuring it out for myself or getting his trust and having him tell me eventually.' Miruko grinned. 'This is going to be fun!'

"Alright, and so, the first thing you need to do...is hit me again!" Miruko exclaimed.

"...Huh?" A comical, blank-white, confused Izuku said.

"You heard me, Deku! We're going again till either you drop, or you can hit me like that again!" Miruko repeated, crouching low till she looked like a predator about to pounce.

Izuku immediately began to regret winning. "I need an adult," Slipped out of Izuku's mouth.

Rumi licked her lips. "I am the adult!" Miruko said before she pounced.

---

Later...

Izuku never managed to get another hit in on Miruko. The next time he gained consciousness he found himself in Recovery Girl's office, freshly brought in after the Rabbit Hero, his new mentor, had kicked the ever-living shit out of him till he dropped cold. He could hear Recovery Girl grumbling about whether to place the blame for his injuries on Miruko or himself for taking up such a challenge. Izuku just chuckled nervously, finding it Recovery Girl's way of caring.

A few hours later, after some much-needed rest, showering, and whatnot, the students, teachers, and all of the visiting pros had gathered in Gym Gamma, including the three teachers who had been missing the whole day.

Nezu kept the students from asking the three, especially Aizawa, why they were absent for the day, and only Eri had managed to get a word out of him. Aizawa replied that he was working on something personal. That was all the students needed to figure out that the 1-A homeroom teacher, and Present Mic and Midnight by proxy, were still grappling over the reveal of their close friend somehow being Kurogiri, so they decided to drop it in respect of their homeroom teacher, and teacher in general in Class 1-B's case.

Izuku had also glanced, back when they were first gathering in the gym, Miruko in conversation with Endeavor. Given how the Flame Hero glanced over in his direction, Izuku knew that they were talking about being Miruko's protege. Izuku paled at how quickly, and almost smugly, Miruko seemed to tell Endeavor about this latest arrangement, hoping in vain that the Rabbit Hero would have waited at least until after the movies or the next day, but then Izuku asked much of the universe. Izuku relaxed when Endeavor gave him a nod and a head tilt, the successor of One For All interrupting the final gesture as a motion to talk after the first movie perhaps. Izuku nodded back to say that he was alright with that, hoping that there wouldn't be anything in this next film to tug at his priorities.

Speaking of priorities, Izuku had caught Melissa staring at him, smiling dreamily, and when she blinked at him noticing her, it was clear that she must have been daydreaming or lost in thought, presumably about him. The two had blushed and looked away, last night still fresh in their minds, but the two young adults smiled still, Melissa's hand inching toward Izuku's to wrap hers around his.

Izuku's smile only grew brighter, liking this feeling of fulfillment and contentment, the very act of holding her hand euphoric to the touch-starved teenager, with an accompanying swell of pride and giddiness to know that he was in her thoughts. He remembered this feeling last when he and Setsuna talked and confessed to each other. Izuku made a note to talk with the greenette and thank her for this, knowing that without her support he would have never had the courage gathered to confess to Melissa, much less ever believe that a relationship with multiple women was possible.

But as he thought of the two girls that he had confessed to, that got Midoriya thinking about the others. 'With Set and Melissa done, that just leaves 8 girls left,' Izuku mentally counted, looking toward the girls he had yet to confess to. Momo and Kyoka were talking among themselves, as well as Mina and Hagakure, and Mei was tinkering with some schematics for something he couldn't tell from here, where Asui was in a conversation with Uraraka and Nejire. Izuku sweatdropped, realizing how long the road ahead of him still was. 'But this is what I get for falling love with all of these beautiful women, better suck it up and not complain about it.'

And so, while Izuku held Melissa's hand and contemplated which of the girls he would talk to next, Uraraka had turned her gaze toward him. Throughout the day, Uraraka had noticed that Izuku was looking lighter on his feet, livelier since last night. It didn't take long for her to realize that it must have had something to do with his talk with Melissa, the same talk that the girls tried grilling information out of the Shield girl. Sadly, yet understandably, Melissa had said that what she and Izuku talked about was between the two of them but did divulge that he was concerned about her worries over her thoughts of becoming a Hero again and showed his unyielding support.

Uraraka smiled as she did back then, knowing that sounded like something Izuku would do, and didn't question it anymore after that. But now, seeing Melissa and Izuku hold hands, Ochaco figured that there was something more going on between them, something truly intimate. While she was happy, truly, that her best friend was growing more and more out of that shy shell of his, Uraraka couldn't help the jealous feeling welling up. She hated that she felt this way, even after the talks with the girls, forming the Sisterhood, and admitting that she was more upset at the thought of not being with Deku than him with another woman, the gravity girl couldn't help it. Deep down, Uraraka wanted to hold Deku's hand, she wanted the affection that he gave toward Setsuna and Melissa, she wanted to be a part of that, she wanted him, and the more she wasn't, the more upset she was.

'Just be patient, Ochaco,' Uraraka calmed herself down. 'You kept your feelings to yourself this long, you can handle it a little longer.' Ochaco just hoped it wouldn't be too long.

"Greetings, everyone," Nezu's voice brought Uraraka and the others' attention over to the rodent principal and the F.R.I.D.A.Y device. "I'm pleased to have you all back here for us to continue these viewings. I trust that you all find the new seating arrangements comfortable?"

Oh yeah, another new thing was the change in their seating. With the screen up front, and F.R.I.D.A.Y. just below it, there were at most 3 levels of increasing elevation, as well as the floor, high enough for those seated in the level behind another so that their occupants could see the film clearly without the issue of someone's head getting in the way. On each of the levels and the floor, there were some couches of varying widths, comfortable seating chairs, and some beanbags for extra lounging, the most being on the first level which was just the ground floor. The beanbags were almost like an unspoken divider between the two sides of the room's occupants, except the top 4th floor where the two chairs, occupied by David Shield and Power Loader sat in the middle with the H.U.L.K., that would project the video.

Starting on the right side and traveling toward the left, the highest level, the 4th level, there were the chairs that had all four of the Pussycats and Hound Dog, with the latter preferring a chair so his fur didn't mess the cushions up. Then there was the right couch whose occupants included Detective Tsukauchi, Recovery Girl, Gran Torino, Nezu, and All Might, with David sitting beside the former Symbol of Peace on a chair to oversee the H.U.L.K. Moving past the H.U.L.K. and continuing from right to left, Power Loader sat on a chair overseeing the projector as well. To the left of him on the left couch were Aizawa, Present Mic, Midnight, and Miruko, the female pro sitting closely with the still grieving, and upset Midnight. Ryukyu and Mount Lady followed a similar objective, sitting beside the couch of the first of the left side's chairs, which also included Endeavor, Hawks, and Death Arms. While Ryukyu was the better comforter, they decided Miruko to sit on the couch because she tended to laugh and her throwing her head back and kicking her legs up would be a poor combination with a chair. Endeavor likewise chose the chair since fire and leather don't exactly mix well.

The level below them, the 3rd level, from right to left as well, started with the chair occupants of Jurota Shishida, for a similar reason to Hound Dog, Togaru Kamakiri, because he didn't want an accidental blade piercing the couch, and Vlad King for no reason other than keeping a closer, more protective eye on his students. The 3rd level's right couch had Shihai Kuroiro, Hiryu Rin, Sen Kaibara, and Yosetsu Awase, with Kosei Tsuburaba and Nirengeki Shoda separating the two sides on their bean bags. On the left side, its couch seated Manga Fukidashi, Juzo Honenuki, Kojiro Bondo, and Fat Gum, while the chairs to Fat's left had Snipe, Ectoplasm, Kamui Woods, and Edgeshot sitting on them.

The 2nd level below them started with the right chairs where Yuga Aoyama, Mashirao Ojiro, and Reiko Yanagi sat, followed by the right-side couch that had Yui Kodai, Itsuka Kendo, Nieto Monoma, and Hitoshi Shinsou. Separating the two halves of the levels were the bean bag sitters of Kinoko Komori and Pony Tsunotori, the latter of whom chose her seat very specifically for the person who sat on the rightmost side of the couch, that being Shoto Todoroki. Following Shoto on the couch were Momo Yaoyorozu, Kyoka Jiro, and Tsuyu Asui, and on the left-side chairs sat Toru Hagakure, Mina Ashido, Thirteen, and Cementoss.

Finally on the first level, otherwise known as the ground floor, the same order followed as the others, yet the beanbags spread out more across the floor and in front of the chairs and couches rather than divide the sides. Starting from the right chairs, there sat Rikido Sato, Koji Koda, and Mezo Shoji, all of whom elected to sit on the chairs in favor of not having their larger sizes block the view for the others behind them. The couch next to them housed Fumikage Tokoyami, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Ejiro Kirishima, Katsuki Bakugou, and Ibara Shiozaki, the last of which roused surprised and yet knowing, teasing looks that earned them the blushing of the vine-haired holy girl and the threatening glares of the explosive blonde. The left-side couch included Mei Hatsume, Melissa Shield, Izuku Midoriya, Setsuna Tokage, and Ochaco Uraraka, while the left chairs had Tenya Iida, Mirio Togata, and Tamaki Amajiki. Those that sat upon the beanbags spread out from right to left were Minoru Mineta, Denki Kaminari, Hanta Sero, Kouta, Eri, and Nejire, the last three of which centered closer to Izuku, though the white-haired surrogate daughter often neglected her bean bag in favor of Izuku's lap, and the first of whom was sentenced to as far to the right as possible and away from the female population of the students.

And to cap off the new arrangement, there were refreshments and snacks off to the side of the room, like popcorn.

After receiving affirmative nods from the group, Nezu smiled and continued with, "Now that everyone is here, I believe it is time to continue with another video. F.R.I.D.A.Y., if you please?"

"Movie Number 8 coming right up," F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied, activating and projecting the files that held the movies, and eight one now unlocked. As it was selected the title of the file read: Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

"Captain America, oh! So, another 'Zuzu' movie!" Nejire cheered, excited, and blushing, to see Izuku's older, and-just-as-attractive counterpart again.

"Yay! More of Papa!" Eri cheered as well, plopping herself on Izuku's lap.

Izuku fought past his surprise and blush to wrap an arm around his surrogate daughter, to which she replied affectionately by wrapping her arms around the appendage.

"Though, that title is interesting," Melissa cupped her chin in thought. "The Winter Soldier. Is it referring to Rogers because he was frozen in ice? Or is it talking about someone else?"

"Urgh, great, more of the girls drooling over Midoriya," Mineta groaned lightly, rolling his eyes.

"You're just jealous it isn't you getting the girls' attention," Kaminari rolled his eyes in return.

"Of course, I am! Can't I still complain when it happens all the time?!" Mineta exclaimed, honestly.

"Honest you may be to your heart's desires, but the lack of restraint and decency leaves little for me to sympathize," Tokoyami replied.

"Oh, you have dick to say, Tokoyami!" Mineta pointed an accusatory finger at 1-A's emo prince. "Not when I say you make googly eyes at Ya-"

Tokoyami's gaze instantly became cold, his eyes narrowing at the purple perv like daggers, not unlike Dark Shadow, whose sharp, dagger-like claws inched out of Tokoyami's back, alongside the head of the sentient Quirk like it was some beast of his nightmares. Mineta instantly shut his mouth and raised his hands in surrender, ready to plead for his life.

Despite getting cut off, his words were heard by none other than Hawks. Quickly picking up what Mineta was talking about, a large shit-eating grin began to split the sides of Hawks's face.

While this was occurring, Nezu gave Mei the green light to play the movie. When selecting the file, the poster of the movie showed Izuku Rogers himself, without his helm, his shield raised above his back while he looked off into the distance, the background filled with a sunset sky, Quinjets on fire, and smoke.

"Ooh, looks like Muscles's counterpart got a new suit," Mei immediately took notice of the new suit.

True to Mei's words, Captain America's suit was different compared to his more flashy, vibrant one from the Avengers. This version was a darker navy blue for most of it, a silver star on his chest, with silver, horizontal-striped wings that stretched out from the star across his torso, going across his shoulders, curving around a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge in the middle before curving back horizontally across his back. Black leather straps circled his shoulders along with a black belt along his waist. Overall, the design of the suit was sleeker, darker, and more modernly functional than the previous one.

"Aww, but I like the old one," Nejire pouted. "Zuzu looked cute in it!"

'Is she trying to make me die of embarrassment?!' Izuku's blush grew along with his embarrassment as the others laughed.

"I will say the change does match your costume changes, Izuku," Momo pointed out, a light blush on her cheeks as she inspected his counterpart and his new suit.

"Yep, you can thank me for changing up Muscles attire!" Mei proudly proclaimed, puffing her chest out. "The previous one didn't have enough flare till I got my hands on it."

"And thanks again, Mei," Izuku fought off his blush and smiled at the pink-haired inventor. "I liked the old one before since my mom designed it, but I do have to admit your changes were amazing and far more functionally durable."

"N-No problem, Muscles," Mei blushed and looked away, scratching at her pink locks, yet winced when she felt the hand throbbing in momentary pain.

Izuku saw the blush and how Mei reacted, his own blush coming up. If he had any doubts that his favorite Support Item inventor, at least his favorite U.A. one, harbored feelings for him, her reaction dispelled them. In truth, finding out Mei had feelings for him was one of the biggest surprises for the Green Bean given how Mei was usually so unfazed and normal, or as normal as you can get with Hatsume, around him, but thinking more about his history with the Support Course student, he could start to see the little things that pointed to how she felt.

The way her interest automatically shifted to him whenever he entered the Support Course labs, how handsy and close she always got with him, how forward she was to feel around his body compared to the simple measuring she did with others like Iida, the way she remembered him above all the other students even if by the nickname she gave him, and the difference in success and work put into making his suit and gauntlets. In contrast, many of her other 'babies' were often more unsuccessful than not.

Izuku could only further deadpan at himself when he further stacked the obvious clues, still berating himself for how dense he could be. 'No more,' Izuku thought to himself, determined to get better, not just for the girls' sakes, but for himself and the lackluster confidence he needed to build up again.

Instead, he chose to frown and stare inquisitively at Mei's momentary flinch of pain, how she rubbed her hand. Izuku blinked, swearing that he thought he saw the fingers glow red for a moment.

Setsuna grinned at seeing Izuku's counterpart, especially if his physique was any indication of how Izuku would look in the future. However, the return of the Super Soldier likewise brought forth memories of his previous movie, including her counterpart and the depressing fact that she must be in her 80s at least and spent all that time without the lover of her life. Or she could be dead, and Setsuna was not sure which was more depressing of a possibility.

Feeling a hand on top of hers, Setsuna looked up to see Izuku's warm, comforting smile, he knew what she was thinking, and he was saying without words that he was here for her, and he wasn't going anywhere. If that wasn't enough, squirming its way in between their hands was Eri's, the white-haired unicorn smiling as brilliantly and happily as her Papa. Setsuna's whimpering mouth did its best to smile back, blinking away tears that came up, squeezing Eri's and Izuku's hands while Izuku and Eri squeezed back as hard.

Regardless, Mei pressed the button, and the movie began with the same unique and stylized Marvel logo as the previous movie.

The black screen gave way to color and showed a black man in running shorts and a grey shirt running along the lake of the Washington Monument, the tall white obelisk in the distance of the dawning day.

"Ah, D.C., my country's capitol," David sighed, smiling at the sight of the Washington Monument, remembering how he once took his wife on a romantic walk when they visited the city.

"Must be nice to have almost all this stuff happening in your country, huh, Shield," Hawks teased.

"Well, when you put it that way," David sweatdropped, remembering that consequentially, this world's version of his country had to be the epicenter of crisis after crisis, especially the Invasion of New York. The only movie he couldn't say the same for was Captain America: The First Avenger and yet even in that one the threat was coming to America and the hero was called Captain America.

"Honestly, it would be nice not having to worry so much about so many Villain attacks happening all the time," Mount Lady pouted, likewise bringing up how their country wasn't exactly peaceful with the rise of the League of Villains, their Nomus, and All For One.

"It matters not where Villains and criminals commit their injustice, only that there are Heroes there to rise and stop it," Edgeshot sagely advised.

As the man jogged and reached the center of the sidewalk, at an even pace, none other than Izuku Rogers came up from behind, following with him his theme.

"On your left," Rogers spoke up as he ran past him. The man shook his head with mirth but continued running.

"Yay! Old Papa is back!" Eri cheered.

The laughter that emerged from such a title had Izuku's blushing up a storm. "I'm not old," Izuku pouted.

"No offense, Midori, but your counterpart is technically like 90 years old," Mina pointed out, a teasing grin on her face. "Calling you old is an understatement."

Izuku blushed but just pouted, bumping his chin lightly on Eri's head for starting this. Eri giggled and patted her Papa on her cheek in a half-hearted apology.

By the time the man from earlier reached Jefferson Memorial, Izuku came running up behind him again. "On your left," The Super Soldier repeated as lapped the man.

"Uh-huh. On my left. Got it," The African American replied with a panting and exasperated breath while Rogers zoomed ahead.

"Oh, come on, Midobro, that's just rude," Kirishima shook his head, yet still smiling. "Why you got to lap a man like that?"

"Um, phrasing," Mineta pointed out.

As the man reached the lake, in front of the Lincoln Monument, and began running beside it, along came Izuku Rogers for another lap. Hearing his footsteps, the man began to pick up his pace. "Don't say it. Don't Say It." The man tried vainly to stop what was coming.

"On your left," Izuku denied and said it again as he passed him.

"Come On!" The man complained, as his ego took another hit as he ran after the Star-Spangled Man.

"Hehehe, Midori, you're such a showoff!" Hagakure giggled.

Having enough of the teasing, and seeing an opportunity to gauge her reactions, Izuku turned to gaze directly at Hagakure's his eyes somehow meeting hers. "Well, maybe," Izuku admitted, smirking. "Maybe I just have some people I want to impress."

Hagakure was thankful her invisibility covered her blush. If only she could say the same about controlling her mouth, unable to let out an adorable squeak that the girls snickering.

"You mean for me, right, Papa?" Eri asked.

"Well, of course," Izuku grinned down at her. "You and Kouta, I have to continue impressing my biggest fans."

"Shut up, Deku," Kouta pouted, turning his blushing face away, but it did little to keep Izuku or the Pussycats from grinning at him.

With a closer look at him, the black man was only an inch or two shorter than Rogers, his dark hair cut short, brown eyes, with a thin mustache and goatee. He ran the corner of the lake at full speed to catch up only for Rogers to halfway across the lake by that point. The man groaned in exertion as he slowed down, giving up his vain pursuit.

"Wow, man, you left him in the dust," Tetsutetsu chuckled. "I'm surprised there isn't a dust cloud following behind you."

While Izuku felt a tad bit embarrassed to be one-upping the man, he felt that at least his counterpart's example was pushing the African American to do his best. Izuku just hoped that best didn't result in the man blowing his lungs off.

The next scene showed the man sitting by a tree drenched in sweat, panting and gasping for breath while clutching at where his lungs would be. "Need a medic," Izuku asked as he came up to the collapsed guy.

The new man gave a tried laugh while Izuku stood next to him. "I need a new set of lungs," He replied, honestly. "Dude, you just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."

"Huh, that does leave for enough information about how fast Captain America can be," Melissa said, detangling her hand from Izuku's and grabbing one of his notebooks and pencils. "Rogers first past the guy on the Tidal Basin path to the Jefferson Memorial, a second time in front of the Jefferson Memorial, and that third time in front of the Lincoln Memorial." The American genius drew up a possible pathway that Izuku's counterpart could have taken. "There isn't really an obvious loop, and he could have run around some further areas, but if the route is around 4.615 miles long and they ran for about 30 minutes and completed the loop 3 times, the math adds up. He would have run about 13.98 miles, rounding to 14 miles, meaning he was going at a speed of nearly 28 miles per hour."

"Impressive," Tenya nodded at the respectable speed of the Super Soldier. "While not as significant as the speedsters we have today, it is very clearly superhuman by this time's standards."

"I guess I got a late start," Rogers quipped.

"Wait, is he serious?" Kosei raised an eyebrow. "Someone tell me if he is serious."

"Actually, this level of speed which Melissa worked out correctly is Izuku Rogers at a comfortable pace," F.R.I.D.A.Y. stressed. "If he was truly serious, he could run up to somewhere around 40-60 miles per hour."

"Woah," Itsuka whistled, impressed. "So, he could pretty much run as fast a car."

"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself," Izuku's new acquaintance joked. "You should take another lap. Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

"I like this guy, he's fun," Mirio grinned.

"What unit you with?" Izuku asked, gesturing at the logo on Sam's grey shirt.

"58th Pararescue," The Pararescueman answered. "But now I'm working down at the VA." The man extended his hand to Rogers. "Sam Wilson."

"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. paused the movie on Sam and showed the image of his counterpart beside him. "SAMUEL THOMAS WILSON! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI!"

"Huzzah! We have found another one of us!" Kaminari cheered, humorful. "What's that leave of us with our tally?"

"With Tsuburaba as that Ian guy, that's 7 of 1-B and now 6 of 1-A," Sero counted.

"AHA! It would appear that we still hold the lead of counterparts, don't we?!" Monoma taunted, victoriously. "It would seem that we are more prevalent and important enough to have our counterparts before the inferior class of 1-A!"

"I wouldn't exactly say being Tsunotori's boy toy is someone important," Mineta muttered yet was still heard, earning him a glare from Tsuburaba as well as Pony and a cold one from Todoroki. Thankfully for the purple perv, Kendo saw fir to chop Monoma's neck before he could go off on another rant.

"Regardless, congratulations, Tokoyami," Shoji said.

"Thank you, Shoji," Tokoyami nodded in thanks.

"Is it because of...you know..." Rin questioned, gesturing towards Tokoyami's head full of black feathers.

Kamakiri's response to that was a smack to the back of Rin's head. "Okay, that was racist, on two different fronts," Kamakiri huffed at his classmate.

"Sorry," Rin apologized.

Tokoyami narrowed his eyes at Tsuburaba but chose to let it slide. "No, I do not choose to believe that my counterpart was chosen based on something as superficial as race because of color palette," Tokoyami answered, rolling up his sleeves to show his arm with clearly pale skin. "As you can see, aside from my avian features, I am still Japanese."

"Though moving on from that, your counterpart appears to have an entirely different name to your own," Jurota brought up. "Much like my counterpart, Bruce Banner."

"Izuku Rogers," Izuku greeted back, grabbing the hand and lifting the soldier off the ground.

"I kind of put that together," Sam acknowledged, leaning on his knees and still panting before standing straight. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

"It takes some getting used to," Rogers sighed and nodded. "It's good to meet you, Sam."

"It's your bed, right?" Sam spoke up before Izuku could walk away.

"What's that?" Izuku asked, the Super Soldier turning back to face his new acquaintance.

"Your bed, it's too soft," Sam clarified. "When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rocks for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."

"Lying on a marshmallow," Izuku nodded, understanding and saying what Sam was thinking. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor."

"Huh, interesting," Itsuka nodded. "Is that really how it is for army vets?"

"Not just army vets, Heroes too," Tiger replied.

Mandalay nodded her head. "Sometimes we camp out on patrol in the mountains and woods, cover a wider area," Mandalay confirmed, speaking on behalf of all the nodding Pussycats. "While not as intense as using rocks to sleep, camping out for so long, sometimes makes sleeping in our regular beds a little light."

Sam grinned after an affirmative chuckle. "How long?" Izuku asked.

"Two tours," Wilson answered, while Izuku nodded. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad," Izuku responded, smirking lightly. "Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything."

"Just boil?" Rikido gasped, appalled. "I can't imagine ever living back then."

"Ditto here," Fat Gum patted his chest like he was about to have a heart attack. "I used to have those 'What would it be like to time travel and eat the food the people did in the past' and then I remember that there was a time when the only drinkable water people had was sometimes just alcohol and tea."

"No polio is good," Izuku continued listing modern improvements. "Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot, trying to catch up."

"It's like I'm talking with a dinosaur," Mei rubbed the bridge of her eyes hearing Rogers.

Sam paused as he thought for a moment. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack," Tokoyami's counterpart suggested. "Everything you missed jammed into one album."

Kyoka nodded, delightfully impressed with Wilson's taste in music.

"I'll put it on the list," Izuku said as he proceeded to pull a small notebook out of nowhere.

"Oh my god, they both have notebooks," Kyoka scoffed, hilariously.

"And somehow pull them out of nowhere," Mina giggled.

And thus, another wave of laughter had commenced, only worsened when a blushing Izuku tried hiding, in vain, the very notebook he had by his side.

On the said list of 'Things to Catch up on', as Izuku wrote Trouble Man (Marvin Gaye) at the bottom of the list, included 'I Love Lucy', with television in parenthesis, the Moon Landing, Berlin Wall (Up-Down), Steve Jobs (Apple), Disco, Thai Food, Nirvana (Band), Rocky, as well as Rocky 2 with a question mark beside it, and Stars Wars crossed out with the Trek of Star Trek intact.

As the group investigated all the things Rogers had to catch up on, and teasing Izuku mercilessly for it, Yui spotted something, raising her hand.

"Yes, Yui?" Reiko replied. "What troubles you?"

Yui pointed at the screen. "Star Wars/Trek," Yui said.

"Oh yeah, I just realized that," Ochaco tilted her head confused. "Like I know that Stark Trek was some popular sci-fi space fantasy back in pre-Quirk days, but what's Star Wars?"

The group shrugged, not knowing anything about either the name or the fact that they had unknowingly triggered billions of people across multiple universes.

As he wrote it down, Rogers's cell began ringing. Picking it up, a message read: Mission Alert. Extraction Imminent. Meet at the curb. :)

"Ooh, Izuku's going on a mission?" Hagakure perked up, excited. "Is this for the Avengers?"

"Nah, look at the phone he has," Tokage pointed out. "I think our old Green Bean here now works for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"So, Aizawa is now the boss of him, officially," Kyoka snickered.

The snickers and chuckles made their way up toward the trio of teachers who had been notably silent throughout the beginning of the movie. Throughout the day, they had been mostly sulking and lounging with one another, attempting to grieve and come to terms with all they had learned and brace themselves for what they would have to face, waiting patiently for the news on their requested meeting with Kurogiri at Tartaros.

They didn't even want to come to this viewing, not feeling the energy, but then Aizawa realized that hiding from the world wouldn't change or fix anything. It wasn't rational. So, after some convincing, Aizawa convinced Yamada and Kayama to come to the scheduled viewing, reminding them that, in the end, these videos would help them gain information that they would need to prepare for the future, and they were currently sulking over getting exactly that.

Aizawa didn't expect any of them to say much of anything, and neither did Kayama or Yamada, but now, the insomniac teacher realized that his students were attempting to elicit a response from him. Noticing their grins waning under his tired eyes, he sighed. 'If I don't say anything, they will all needlessly worry about me instead of paying attention to the movie,' Aizawa rationalized. 'Plus, we wouldn't want Eri to start crying over us.'

"I hope that your counterpart performs as exceptional as I expect of you and your classmates, Problem Child," Aizawa spoke up, sending a stare down at Midoriya.

Midoriya was momentarily taken back by Aizawa's response, as well as the rest of the students, but that surprise quickly morphed into joy and relief. "Yes, sir," Izuku smiled brightly, the radiance of it too strong for Aizawa not to smirk back.

"Alright, Sam, duty calls," Izuku said, putting the phone away and shaking Wilson's hand. "Thanks for the run. If that's what you want to call running."

"Oh, that's how it is?" Sam blinked and smiled at the audacity.

"Oh, that's how it is," Izuku cheekily replied.

"Okay," Sam laughed and nodded at the challenge.

"Ooooh, Green Bean those are fighting words," Tokage teased. "Are you gonna back them up, Tokoyami?"

Before Tokoyami could respond, someone else did it for him. "I do believe you should dispense with your novice attempts to instigate a competition between Tokoyami and your intended, Tokage," Reiko Yanagi sent an icy cold glare at her classmate. "He would surely fall short, regardless."

Tokage's eye twitched, a comical tick mark on her forehead. "Oh, it's like that, huh?" Tokage kept her grin as she mimicked Wilson, but her eyes blazed with fire. "Standing up for Tokoyami all of a sudden? Hmm, that seems awfully suspicious of you, Reiko."

"It is nothing suspicious at all," Reiko refuted her claims. "I simply have more faith in Tokoyami's darkness from my observations than your biased beliefs."

"Oh, you're one to talk about bias, Revelry in the Dark," Tokage levitated her head to meet with Reiko's. "How about a match between our guys? Winner has to apologize and do whatever the winner's girl wants."

"I refuse to grovel to you, Reptilian Harlot," Reiko butted heads with her classmate. "I do believe we have an accord."

"Harlot?! Why you-"

While the two continued to argue and banter at each other, before Aizawa regained his groove and broke the two up, Izuku, Tokoyami, and Dark Shadow watched with comical sweatdrops over their heads, unsure of what exactly was happening. Izuku sent over an apologetic wave and shake of his head toward his classmate, silently trying to deny his not-really-yet-girlfriend's challenge. Tokoyami nodded and gave his own silent apologetic look at this unexpected turn of events.

And yet, a blush began to form on his cheeks, unsure, and not complaining, about why Reiko's defense of him was pleasing.

Meanwhile, Mina put a hand over her cat-like grinning mouth, her half-lidded eyes holding back a squealing girl that just found a new ship to gush over.

As Rogers began to walk away, Sam called out "Any time you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."

"I'll keep it in mind," Izuku smirked, Sam saying a 'Yeah' in thanks.

Suddenly, a black Corvette rolled up along the sidewalk. The passenger window rolled up to reveal its driver: Ochaco Romanoff.

"Hey, Uraraka's here, too!" Nejire's smile grew wide. "Ooh! So, this movie will have both Zuzu and Ocha together?!"

Izuku and Uraraka blushed crimson, the way Nejire phrased that sentence of being 'together' not lost in their imaginative heads. However, the two weren't exactly unhappy if that was the case. Izuku figured that the closer his counterpart got to Ochaco's, then it would be enough incentive to facilitate a talk between her and himself. Ochaco thought along similar lines, hoping that seeing her far more confident counterpart interact with Izuku Rogers, whether platonically or romantically, would give her the courage to talk to Deku.

"Hey, fellas," The Black Widow greeted the guys, her hair reddish brown and shaped more similarly to Uraraka's. "Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

"Wow, I always forget that this Ochaco is sassier than our version," Asui mentioned.

"Hmm, I don't know about that, Tsu," Mina jokingly patted her chin with a finger. "After all, Uraraka has been very sassy whenever Bakugou gets a wee bit too full of himself."

"The Hell you say, Acid Brain?!" Bakugou roared out.

"Girls, stop," Uraraka moaned pitifully, covering her blushing head as the others laughed.

"That's hilarious," Rogers shook his head and walked up to the car.

Sam squatted down as Izuku got in the car. "How you doing?" Sam asked, smiling charmingly.

"Hey," Romanoff greeted back.

"Can't run everywhere," Izuku stated, cheekily.

"No, you can't," Sam smiled wider.

And with that the window rolled up and Ochaco hit the gas, tires screeching and engine roaring as it took off.

"Uraraka, please respect the rules of the road and drive at an appropriate speed!" Iida declared, his arms waving around as he attempted to chastise Uraraka.

"He even waves his arms around like a traffic guard," Tetsutetsu scratched the side of his head.

"We think that was his backup profession if he ever failed at being a Hero," Kirishima whispered to his friend.

The scene shifted to a Quinjet flying through clouds under a full moon, over the Indian Ocean, latitude and longitude coordinates shown underneath.

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star," An agent stood up front and detailed the mission, interacting with the imaging of a ship, while Captain America, Black Widow, and other agents gathered around. "They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."

"Interesting," Ryukyu cupped her chin, gathering the intel in her head like the pro she was. "A pirating attack overseas with potential hostages."

"Hey, hey, we stopped a bunch of pirates ourselves, remember, Ochaco, Tsu?" Nejire reminded her interns under Ryukyu.

"Right," Tsuyu nodded, remembering the joint mission Ryukyu's agency partnered with Selkie's crew to stop a group of pirates trafficking Trigger.

Uraraka nodded, recalling how it was her first mission to test out her recent grappling hook, an addition inspired by Deku's Black Whip, and how she had to push herself to zero the gravity of the entire plane.

"Any demands?" Cap questioned.

"Billion and a half," The agent answered, his black hair short and straight, with a designer stubble beard.

"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! BROCK RUMLOW!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. paused on the agent and revealed his name. "MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: TATSUYUKI TOKONAME AKA SLIDIN' GO!"

"Wait a second, I remember that guy," Bakugou pointed out, his blinking with recognition. "He was that pro that was too handsy after Icy Hot and I beat those Villains just after our final provisional license training."

"You're right," Todoroki nodded, just now remembering the event. "They were a group of villains that were flooding the streets with carbonated water they could control. That hero arrived and congratulated us, though the head villain's support gear was destroyed at the end of the fight."

"Any reason why?" Power Loader perked up at the info and asked further.

"Slidin' Go just wrote it off as being inferior junk they got off the black market," Toshinori replied, though his brows furrowed. 'It must have broken apart after Young Todoroki's last attack, but it still looked intact till then. Almost like it just suddenly self-destructed.'

As they spoke about the seemingly random hero, Hawks's gaze hardened at the image of the traitor. 'Slidin' Go, another member of the, now, Paranormal Liberation Front,' Hawks thought to himself, remembering that the last member of the former Meta Liberation Army, before they got taken over by the League, was Geten as Laufey. Instantly, when he saw that Tokoname was this Rumlow guy's counterpart, his guard was up.

Hawks looked over toward Nezu who met his gaze. Hawks nodded and Nezu nodded back. He remembered their talk the previous day, after the meeting he had with Endeavor and the others about Dabi and Kurogiri. Nezu had assured him that no listening devices on him were active around U.A. thanks to F.R.I.D.A.Y. and that allowed for Hawks to spill the beans, not only on the PLF but also the Commission. Safe to say that the Principal of U.A. was not exactly pleased to hear that not only was the MLA resurgent, or that various influential individuals like Rikiya Yotsubashi and Koku Hanabata were part of the MLA, but that they were now under the control of Shigaraki and the League. Though, Hawks believed that Nezu might have even been more pissed when Hawks aired out some of the Commission's dirty laundry, including what they had him do for them and the lengths they would go to get their way.

"Why so steep?" Rogers questioned further.

"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s," Rumlow revealed.

The captain gained a look of realization. "So, it's not off-course. It's trespassing," Rogers figured out.

"Trespassing?" Kinoko tilted her head confused. "Why would it be considered trespassing?"

"Probably because S.H.I.E.L.D. is a largely USA-based intelligence agency, so it being in the Indian Ocean would probably not be its usual waters," Shoda figured.

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Romanoff replied, hand over chin as she contemplated.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Aizawa's janitor," Izuku expressed his light exasperation.

'Now, you know how I feel, Cap,' Hawks mentally said to the captain, but kept to himself, though in his scenario he felt more like the Commission's executioner, much like his predecessor, the not-so-Lovely Lady Nagant that is now in Tartaros.

"Relax. It's not that complicated," Black Widow pumped his brakes.

"How many pirates?" Cap chose to continue the debriefing.

"25. Top mercs led by this guy," Rumlow answered, pulling up a file and image of the merc's leader. "Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice."

"DGSE?" Kosei questioned.

"It stands for the Directorate-General for External Security," David Shield answered. "It's France's foreign intelligence agency, like the US's CIA or Britain's MI6."

"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! GEORGES BATROC! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: KENDO RAPPA!"

"Oh, that guy," Kirishima grumbled.

"You know him, dude?" Tetsutetsu asked.

"Yeah, he was part of the Hassaikai, one of that Overhaul guy's Eight Bullets," Kirishima answered, flexing his hand as he recalled their fight. "He was the guy me and Fat fought during the raid. Guy had some serious firepower on his fists."

"Red's right," Fat Gum nodded and turned to his fellow pros. "Me and Red Riot barely beat him 'cause of another of the Eight Bullets, Hekiji Tengai, and his Barrier Quirk blocking our attacks. Had to use most of my fat to beat the both of them."

Eri squirmed as she saw one of Overhaul's Eight Bullets. He may have been the nicest one out of the group, but, to Eri, he still worked with and did nothing to stop Overhaul's treatment of her.

Izuku hugged Eri closer to him, staring at both men with a glare for eliciting such a reaction from his daughter.

"Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions," Rumlow read Batroc's history. "This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Rogers questioned.

"Oh, mostly techs. One officer. Jasper Sitwell," Rumlow pulled up Sitwell's image. "They're in the galley."

"JASPER SITWELL! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: TOMOYASU CHIKAZOKU AKA SKEPTIC!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. pulled up an image of the long black-haired man, whose hair covered his eyes.

"Wait, I saw that man before," Iida pointed at Jasper's image. "He was one of the men at the Helicarrier when they were looking for Loki."

"Oh, yeah, good call, Iida," Ochaco nodded, recognizing his face before turning over to the long black-haired man. "But who's that guy? And why the name Skeptic?"

"He's part of the board of Feel Good, Inc." Momo narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "I've seen him in meetings with my father about doing business with them. My father said for me to never talk to the man, said he was 'scum of the highest order'. Though I am aware of why he would possess a codename."

Hawks had to agree with the Yaoyorozu heiress, knowing exactly what her father was likely referring to. 'Re-Destro's second in command before Shigaraki took over,' Hawks remembered the trypophobic, perfectionist of the PLF, he was the one that implanted the listening devices in his feathers, and the one he had to explain at the end of each day recently why the feed cuts out every time he enters U.A. Even if his ears cringed at his grating voice every time, he attempted to recalibrate the frequency, it gave Keigo Takami satisfaction that the condescending man was getting more and more irritated with his repeated failures, even if he would deny the concept of failing at all.

However, good memories aside, the fact that yet another member of the PLF was revealed here was unnerving to the Number 2 pro. Geten's was a mere coincidence, Slidin' Go's, while slightly suspicious, could be excused as happenstance, but now Skeptic's counterpart revealed after he already showed up in a previous movie and now in the same one as Slidin' Go's, where they both work for S.H.I.E.L.D. was ringing all kinds of alarm bell in the Number Two Hero's head.

After getting another nod of confirmation, Nezu felt the same. Hawks had already informed him of Geten as another member of the MLA, now PLF, and now a third counterpart relating to the villainous group was extremely concerning. Likewise, was the information of Yaoyorozu's father having dealings with the man. Though from her words, Nezu could ascertain that Mr. Yaoyorozu wasn't a member of the PLF, which was fortunate since a multi-billionaire being a part of the resurgent villainous group would be concerning, but the fact that Mr. Yaoyorozu knows about the rising force and yet hasn't informed the authorities, Commission, and Heroes about them, was concerning in of itself.

'Either he has, and the Commission is covering it up, or he hasn't and is keeping it to himself,' Nezu thought, gazing over at Momo Yaoyorozu. 'Perhaps for the safety of his family? And if so, it speaks to how powerful they have become that they could silence a man of such money and influence.'

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Rogers muttered before issuing orders. "Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. 'Chaco, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. Let's move."

"Smart," Aizawa nodded, approving of the plan. "With his abilities and skills, Rogers can easily take whatever force is on the deck of the ship quickly and efficiently before an alarm can be called while leaving the engines, a more cramped environment, to Romanoff and her expertise in stealth and espionage, and assigning Rumlow and the presumably the rest of this team to find the hostages and safely escort them with greater numbers and protection."

"S.T.R.I.K.E., you heard the Cap," Rumlow nodded and turned to the other members of the group. "Gear up."

"S.T.R.I.K.E.?" Pony repeated the name.

"Strategic Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies," F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed them of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s name. "They're a counter-terrorist Special Mission Unit S.H.I.E.L.D. had formed for missions like this. Relatedly, Black Widow and Hawkeye were both part of a separate unit called S.T.R.I.K.E. Team: Delta, but it was disbanded after both became Avengers."

"Interesting," Melissa nodded, suddenly curious. "What about you F.R.I.D.A.Y.? What does your name stand for, if I may ask?"

"Female Robotic Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth," F.R.I.D.A.Y. revealed. "It used to stand for something else, but I'll save that for later."

That last part only made her more curious, but Melissa backed off, satisfied enough with F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s information.

Outside, the sides of the wings opened up to reveal the turbines of the Quinjet. As the thrusters in the back cut off, the turbines came to life and continued the Quinjet's flight, slower and quieter, whilst ascending.

"Ooh, Mama likey!" Mei rubbed her hands greedily. "It hides the turbines for fast, long-distance travel, and then reveals them for slower, stealthy entries or hovering."

"Secure channel seven," Izuku spoke to the radio communicator on his wrist.

"Seven secure," Ochaco replied, Izuku walking up beside her while she prepared. "Did you do anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really," Rogers smirked at Romanoff, putting on his earpiece. Romanoff smiled back.

"Really Midori?" Hagakure teased. "I mean, I know other-you is super old, but a barbershop quartet?"

Izuku blushed red and began a stuttering excusal that only had Toru and the other girls giggling at his adorable suffering.

"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap," The Quinjet pilot spoke on the radio.

Izuku slammed his fist on a button, the hanger doors opening. "You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes," Ochaco suggested.

"Ooh, and Uraraka, since when did we start sharing the same lovemaker energy?" Mina joined on the teasing train, the next stop being Ochaco Uraraka.

"Okay, that's enough from you two. You're killing them," Kyoka poked at Mina and Toru with her jacks while gesturing at the two blushing 1-A students.

"Aww, but it's so much fun, and they look so cute when flustered!" Nejire intervened on their behalf.

"NEJIRE!" Izuku and Ochaco both yelled at their senpai with blushing faces, which only proceeded to get worse with their synchronized yell.

"That's why I don't ask," Izuku replied louder through the wind, putting on his helmet. He picked up his shield and strapped it over his back as he made his way out.

"Too shy, or too scared?" Black Widow asked.

"Too busy!" Captain America yelled before proceeding to jump off the jet.

"All three would sound like something Midoriya would say," Kaminari shrugged.

"Meh, I would put money on the 'Too shy' category more than anything," Sero argued.

"I'm sorry, are we just blase on the fact that Midoriya just jumped off the jet without a jetpack?!" Mineta exclaimed, gesturing to the screen.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" One of the S.T.R.I.K.E. members questioned, shocked.

"No. No, he wasn't," Rumlow chuckled.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Sato shrugged. "Remember the Avengers?"

"Plus, he's diving into the ocean this time, and with how manly he is, he'll be fine," Kirishima waved away the concerns.

"I have a sneaking concern that these movies are going to have the students try something stupid," Mandalay muttered, now concerned one of them is going to try something similar.

"They'll be fine, Shino," Ragdoll calmed her friend and leader.

"Yeah besides, it's not like the kids are strangers to surviving messed up situations they end up dragged into," Pixie Bob shrugged.

"I don't think that will assuage her fears, Pixie," Tiger pointed out to Mandalay's deadpanned expression.

Captain America, his body spread out, fell till he passed the clouds. Once he did, and the Lemurian Star was in sight, he brought his arms to his side and dived straight down toward the water beside the ship. At the last second, Cap angled and brought his legs down, arms crossed, and hit the water.

"Manly!" Kirishima and Tetsutetsu exclaimed.

"And wisely done," Edgeshot jumped in. "Back when he did the same in the Avengers, he only dived straight because of his desire to catch up with Stark and Thor. Here he falls with his whole body spread out for a slower descent given that he is diving through the clouds, but when he regains his visibility and sees the ship, he dives forward and angles himself to dive straight through the water, softening his landing."

A sweeping shot of the ship, including the various mercenaries patrolling the area, was shown before showing Cap climbing up from the anchor of the ship. A merc walked past the anchor and behind him, Captain America climbed up and rushed him, bringing the merc into a chokehold till the guard went silent. With it done, Cap ran to another part of the ship.

"Stealth mode engaged," Toru exclaimed with an exaggerated whisper, to Mina's giggling.

Spotting two mercenaries, Cap ran into the open, tossing the shield and hitting the first square in the chest. Cap slid under a rope just as the shield ricocheted off the side of the ship and struck the merc's side while Cap's hand tripped the merc. Rogers caught the ricocheting shield before tossing it at the sprawled merc on the ground, knocking him unconscious and finishing with placing the dimly painted shield back on his back.

"Wow, that was so cool!" Kouta cheered, eyes sparkling with stars. "He took them out so fast!"

"And impressive," Hawks admitted, nodding. "He took them out and timed it accurately to where and when the shield would ricochet and come back to him."

"And with minimal noise to keep people from hearing and quickly so that they wouldn't call in, fire, or raise an alarm," Snipe added.

Running along the side of the ship, Izuku ran into another group of mercs, where the first unlucky one to spot was swiftly kicked and sent flying off the ship.

"Jesus, Midobro!" Kirishima exclaimed. "You just Sparta kicked him out of existence!"

A merc rushed at Izuku who leg swept the merc. The third tried to come at the Super Soldier with a knife, to which Rogers countered, judo-flipping him to the ground and rendering him unconscious with a swift, heavy punch to the face.

"There's the good old Midori flip special," Mina grinned, the sides of her cheeks reddening as Izuku Rogers continued kicking ass.

"I mean it's not that special," Izuku mumbled, blushing lightly.

"Tell that to my spine at the Sports Festival," Shinsou called out, rubbing his back for emphasis.

"Or all of ours during training," Sato joined in, the rest of 1-A's guys rubbing their backs, except for Bakugou who was too proud to admit when the wind was knocked out of him back at their first Battle Training Exercise.

The second merc began to get up but a roundhouse kick across the face had the merc down for the count. Cap waisted barely a second checking if they were out before running off.

"Quickly done, quickly checked, and quickly moves on," Miruko counted out Rogers's actions. "I like it." Miruko grinned down at Midoriya, the verdant varied teen not needing telepathy to know what her eyes were saying. 'I expect the same kind of results during training.'

Izuku Rogers was shown running along a pathway with five mercenaries along the way. The first in his path was knocked off the edge and into the water, screaming. When he reached the second, Cap dived over a fence, and rolled right up to the merc, quickly striking the gun out of his hands and stunning him. Another merc exclaimed as he saw him, but another Sparta kick from the Star-Spangled Man knocked him onto the wall. The guard he had stunned before brought out a knife attempting to stab the Avenger with a straight jab, but his hand was smacked away to the right. The merc attempted a backhanded slash but Cap grabbed him by the wrist, flipped him to the ground, and knocked him unconscious. The merc slumped against the wall recovered enough to try and hit the alarm, but Izuku, the previous merc's knife in hand, tossed the knife with pin-point accuracy, penetrating the merc's hand. The poor merc screamed in pain before a kick to the head sent him to sleep.

"Jesus, dude, that was brutal," Sero rubbed his hand, imagining the mercenary's pain.

"The mercenary should be fortunate that the captain chose his hand to toss the knife into and not his head or neck," Tokoyami pointed out.

"Fair enough," Sero admitted, only slightly paling at the thought.

Another sweeping shot showed Cap running on the roof to where a few mercs were stationed together. His shield in hand, Cap vaulted over the fence and down to where the mercs were, beginning the attack with a surprise shield smack to the merc behind him, knocking him back quickly. The mercenary in front of him turned in time for Rogers to kick him straight onto some tanks. Rogers smacked the shield onto the gut of the merc to his left, a smack to the leg of the right merc, then another smack to the left's head, and a final one to the right's head.

"Damn, that was hilarious!" Tokage burst out laughing.

"He used the momentum and impact of each hit to bounce and drive it into the next hit," Iida evaluated with respect in his tone.

A merc far off to the side noticed the commotion and turned to aim at Rogers. Izuku performed a spinning side jump while tossing the shield, smacking the merc in the face and sending him down, the shield ricocheting off his face and the wall to his left before sailing back toward Izuku. Merc number six rushed him, only for the Avenger to grab the merc, turn him around in a one-armed back-hold, push the merc's head down swiftly onto a rising knee strike, twice, and finally flip him over and onto the ground. A final merc from a lower level had come up the ladder in time for Cap to get his shield back. The new S.H.I.E.L.D. agent struck the merc's kick away, blocked and spun his attempted knife strike into a right backward elbow strike, and finished that fight by jumping onto the merc, his arm over the back of his neck and gravity dropped him to the ground. The mercenary Cap kicked onto the tank got up and rushed him, only for Izuku to strike the shield from his end, knocking the shield onto the merc's face with a ringing smack, knocking him out.

"Wow," Sen slowly clapped, his face still frozen in shock and awe. "Just...wow."

'Agreed,' The Sisterhood girls all thought, their cheeks all flared red and drool slightly hanging from their mouths.

Suddenly, one of the previous mercs had gotten up and cocked his gun at Cap's unprotected side, yelling something in French.

"Shit! He got caught!" Mineta exclaimed.

"Uh, translation, Aoyama?" Kaminari asked.

"The mercenary yelled at him 'Don't move'," Aoyama translated.

However, before the mercenary could do anything a silent shot struck him in the back, and the merc fell limp on the ground. Izuku turned to see the shot came from Rumlow, arriving in time on a parachute.

"Oh, wow, that Rumlow guy to the rescue," Awase blinked, before nodding. "Nice job."

"Thanks," Izuku thanked the S.T.R.I.K.E. agent.

"Yeah. You seemed pretty helpless without me," Rumlow 'humbly' bragged.

Black Widow and the rest of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team landed behind Rumlow and Cap, the latter bringing the shield back over his head. "What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you?" Ochaco asked while the two walked. "She seems kind of nice."

"Is Uraraka seriously trying to set Midoriya up with a date while they are on a secret mission?" Sero questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Honestly, I'm more surprised that she's trying to set him up with someone else if you catch my drift," Kaminari muttered quietly.

Not so quietly enough that Izuku and Ochaco both blushed red at his words, Izuku finding the ceiling very interesting suddenly while Uraraka fired a severe death glare at Kaminari that made the boy pale in terror.

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date," Izuku ordered.

"I'm multi-tasking," The Russian assassin retorted as she climbed over a fence down to her objective.

The group of hostages were shown with their hands and feet tied in the kitchen, guarded by a few mercenaries. "{I told Batroc, if we want to make S.H.I.E.L.D. pay us, start sending them bodies now!}" One of the guards spoke French over his comms. Jasper Sitwell lay among the hostages, watching them argue.

"Well, there's that Sitwell guy, along with the other hostages," Pixie Bob said.

"They appear to be in the kitchen area with three or four guards at most watching over them," Ragdoll analyzed. "Only entry points seem like that big kitchen door that would make too much noise and those windows."

"Even without your Quirk, you are still as observant as ever, my friend," Tiger complimented his teammate, who smiled back in return.

"{I have a bullet for someone.} You want a bullet in your head?!" The mercenary spoke French before switching to English and aiming at one of the hostages, kicking the foot of another one. "{Move that foot! You want a Bullet in the Head?! Huh?!}" The mercenary switched back to French.

Outside, Captain America sprinted and hopped onto the railing of the staircase, leaping and hopping up the staircase with the grace and speed of a Super Soldier. When he reached the top, he brought out a cylindrical device and fired, the device silently firing off a beeping pad onto the window of the bridge.

"What is that?" Sen questioned.

"Judging from how it looks and how it beeped, I think it must be some kind of sticky listening device," Awase guessed.

"{I don't like waiting,}" Batroc spoke in French to the merc beside him. The lead merc sitting on a chair on the bridge. "{Call Durand. I want this ship ready to move when the ransom comes.}"

"And there's our guy," Fat Gum grumbled, his mouth in a thin line as the sight of him brought back memories of his counterpart and their fight. 'Wonder if he can fight just as fiercely as him, too.'

"{Oui, Batroc,}" The mercenary replied, Batroc continuing to look out the window patiently while the merc picked up the ship's phone. "{Gerald, start the engines.}"

"Okay," Gerald affirmed and put down the phone. As he turned, he found none other than the Black Widow standing behind him.

"Hey, sailor," The Russian Avenger greeted flirtatiously. As the guard was stunned by her appearance, the Widow kicked him in the back of the knee, the man screaming in pain from the blunt heel.

Swiftly, Ochaco brought a cord from around her waist, wrapping it around Gerald's neck, to the merc's choking, and pulled him off to the side, before kicking him back and rolling backward off the rail. Her pistols out, Ochaco rappelled down their stairway, while poor Gerald was her anchor, the Russian assassin firing on two mercs on her left and right. The merc below her looked up to see Black Widow firing on him, the mercenary slumping on the grate-like floor with Ochaco on top of him. Two mercs, on the level below him, looked up to see the commotion and only found their comrade's slumped over body...until Romanoff peeked out her gun and fired on the two, killing them while the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent moved on.

"Dang, Ochaco, that was so cool but ruthless," Nejire praised her senpai. "You used that guy like a bungee cord."

"Well done, Uraraka," Midnight smiled down at her student," Use your womanly wilds to distract and stun the man and attack him when his guard is done. I feel so proud."

Ochaco was momentarily taken aback by her currently saddened teacher attacking like herself, but she smiled back, nonetheless. "Thanks, Miss Midnight."

"Huh, back to your old self again?" Mount Lady asked, raising an eyebrow that was both cheeky and concerning for her rival.

"Not fully," Midnight admitted, a still sad smile on her lips. "But like Eraser, it does more harm than good to my students, and nothing for me to still be sulking."

"Just don't overdo it, Kayama," Takeyama addressed her by her last name. "I'd hate to win out being the prettiest between us just because of some under your eyes."

Midnight snorted, smirking back at her rival. "Duly noted, bitch."

"Hag," Mount Lady smirked back.

Back in the kitchen, the hostages still sat, tied up, while the aggressive mercenary continued threatening them. "{Shut up! You want to be a Hero? Is that it?}" The mercenary taunted at the glaring S.H.I.E.L.D. hostages. Having had enough, the mercenary looked to his comrades. "{Alright, I've waited long enough.}" The mercenary walked over to a door, pounding on it loudly. "Hey! {Find Batroc! If I don't hear anything in two minutes, I start killing them!}"

"{I'll find him,}" The merc on the other side replied.

However, as the guy turned around, he was met with a taser rod to the face. The merc went limp yet was held up from falling by Rumlow while another S.T.R.I.K.E. agent aimed his gun at the door.

"And a shock right to the noggin to knock him out," Kaminari grinned, looking at his hand, to Bakugou, and back and forth. "Hmm, I wonder..."

"Don't even think about, Sparkplug!" Bakugou denied Kaminari before he even tried.

The aggressive mercenary paused and looked at the door, presumably hearing the electric shock. A few tense seconds rolled by before the merc shook his head and returned to the kitchen and the other mercs. "{Two minutes,}" he told to them. As he walked away, Rumlow slowly set the merc he held off to the side.

Outside, S.T.R.I.K.E. agents rappelled down the ship's hull, inching closer down, while the agent accompanying Rumlow took off his pack and set it on the ground while Rumlow took over aiming at the door. The agent pulled out a suction cup-like device attached to a wire and placed it carefully on the door. While Rumlow aimed, the device stretched out four legs while a red light lit up.

"Hmm, must be some kind of explosive device with enough kick to blast open the door without harming the hostages," Power Loader analyzed.

"And the other S.T.R.I.K.E. agents are rappelling down to the windows to aim at the mercenaries guarding the hostages, hoping to catch them all off-guard with a single coordinated strike," Kamui Woods added.

"Hah, I see what you did there," Mirio chuckled and gave a thumbs up to the new Number 7 Hero.

Kamui gave a thumbs up back but leaned towards Death Arms. "What does he mean?" The bark Hero whispered to his colleague.

"I'll explain later," Death Arms replied.

Kneeling, Izuku Rogers hid behind a corner, peeking out to see Batroc and his comrade on the bridge. "{Radio silence from S.H.I.E.L.D., Batroc,}" The mercenary told his leader, Cap listening in through the hearing device.

Meanwhile, the rappelling S.T.R.I.K.E. agents aimed at the mercenaries in the kitchen through the windows. "Targets acquired," One of the agents whispered.

"S.T.R.I.K.E. in position," Rumlow called in.

"Ochaco, what's your status?" Izuku radioed his partner.

In the engine room, while a merc walked by, Ochaco dropped in from a lower level. "Status, Ochaco?" Izuku repeated through her coms.

"Hang on!" Ochaco yelled back as he ran up to another merc. The merc turned in time for the Black Widow to jump on him, jamming her fists into his neck, her Widow's Bite lighting up blue while the electrical charge shocked the man.

"It's those taser gauntlets babies that she used in the Avengers," Mei pointed out. "What are they called, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

"They're called her Widow Bites," F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed, showing a blueprint schematic of the gadget. "Able to store a powerful enough charge to incapacitate most foes like a close-ranged taser right into the opponent's nervous system through those probes around her knuckles. The bracelets also hold a grappling hook, Taser disks for firing, and a wire for strangling and blocking foes."

"Hmm. Hey, Blushie, you wouldn't mind me adding some of this to your gauntlets, right?" Mei turned her attention to Uraraka. "I mean you already have the grappling hook and a floating foe doesn't always mean a harmless one, so some electrocution would be useful."

"U-Um, s-sure, just not enough to hurt them badly, and no wire, at least for now," Uraraka advised. "And it's Uraraka."

"Righteo, Blushie!" Mei faux saluted.

Uraraka sweatdropped. 'Even being part of a Sisterhood doesn't stop her from forgetting my name immediately.' she thought.

"Hey," Uraraka felt a hand on her shoulder, looked to see it was Izuku's, stretched over and around Tokage to do so. "You know she means well. She's just excited. And for what it's worth, I think you would be amazing with whatever you decide to use."

Uraraka's cheeks burned but she fought through her nervousness to smile back, sweetly. "I know, thanks, Deku," Uraraka thanked her friend/crush.

"No problem, Ochaco," Izuku smiled back, his dazzling smile masking an incredibly nervous mess.

As Ochaco rolled off the down merc, another one ran out the corner, aiming his pistol at her, before the assassin stunned him with a strike to the face, grabbed his arm, and broke it, causing the man to groan in pain. Turning him around, she jabbed him again, followed by a kick to his other side, before ending it in a leg sweep, the merc's head hitting the metal ground and getting knocked out. Romanoff cartwheel-kicked the gun off a third merc and attempted a follow-up kick, only for the merc to block the hit. The merc grabbed Romanoff from behind but Ochaco freed her arm to elbow his face, loosening his grip. Breaking free, Black Widow grabbed onto him, jumped up, leaning onto the merc, putting the weight of her gravity onto his upper torso while she expertly raised and curled her core and lower half into the air. Finally, she brought her body down, flipping the man over and onto the floor while she flipped off it.

"...Woah," Was all Izuku could say as most of his mental faculties shut down in favor of drooling over the awesomeness that was Ochaco Romanoff.

Uraraka felt a surge of womanly pride that she could elicit such a response from her crush, her head high in praise, even if it was a version of her that did it. Yet even then that made her inner competitive nature burn to achieve a similar level of awesomeness as her counterpart.

"Engine room secure," Ochaco radioed in, then grabbed a pipe and swung it onto the rising mercenary's face, knocking him out cold. Dropping it, Black Widow walked off, hips swaying with flare.

Mina wolf-whistled which was then mimicked by Hagakure and Tokage which only made Uraraka burn like a nuclear reactor.

"Oh, they can do that, but I can't?! Oh, I see how it is, double standards," Mineta grumbled, bitterly.

"As much as I would disapprove of the act of 'wolf-whistling' in of itself, they mean it out of a sense of respect, familiarity, and jokiness," Shiozaki spoke up and cast a dismissive glare at the purple perv. "Unlike some people."

Mineta didn't know what burned most, being called out by the holy girl of 1-B in defense of her teasing classmate or that dismissive haughtiness she directed at him. Meanwhile, Bakugou had to resist not immediately smashing his lips onto the girl beside him for how cool she looked. He elected to simply wrap an arm around her, earning the vine-haired girl's blush and smile, and leaning onto him.

Jasper Sitwell looked out the window and spotted a S.T.R.I.K.E. agent before he moved out of view. "{Time's up. Who dies first?}" The mercenary questioned threateningly at the hostages, while Sitwell kept a cool demeanor. "{You! Get that one.}" The mercenary ordered one of his men.

"Well, it's now or never, Captain," Death Arms muttered.

The S.T.R.I.K.E. agents waited, guns at the ready, while Izuku still spied on Batroc. "On my mark," Cap ordered. Rumlow and the agents aimed and waited. "Three. Two...One."

At one, the agents opened fire, chipping through the windows and striking the pirates one by one in swift order. As the last mercenary, the aggressive one looked around as his men were swiftly killed. With a press of a button, the explosive blasted open the kitchen door, the merc turning to see Rumlow aiming at him. He could do nothing as Rumlow fired and killed him.

"Yes!" The students cheered, happy, and impressed by such teamwork.

"My my, excellent teamwork and effectiveness from all parties," Nezu clapped. "I sure do hope students that you take their success rate as the bar to match and 'Go Beyond' as our school's whole motto is all about."

Slightly intimidated about being put under such high expectations, the students nodded all the same. "Yes, sir!"

The merc lay dead on the floor in front of a cool and calm Sitwell. "I told you, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't negotiate," Jasper taunted the dead man back.

'Nor will the League and their new followers,' Hawks frowned, the mental image of Shigaraki leading an army of Villains, at his beck and call, onto Japan burrowing fear deep into his soul. He looked down at the students whom Nezu attempted to drop such pressure, the pressure of the reality they were going to face. 'They will have to face this threat, whether we Pros like it or not, and they will have to pick up the slack of us adults and our mistakes.' Hawks drifted the gaze to what he could only see now as his protege: Tokoyami, and his Dark Shadow too. 'I hope you all will be ready when the time comes.'

Batroc paced around the bridge as the other merc tried to reach the mercenaries. "{Batroc, the line just went dead. I've lost contact with them,}" The man informed the leader. Batroc contemplated silently. Just as the man was about to say more, Batroc heard and spotted Captain America hurling his shield. The lead mercenary ducked as the shield smashed through the glass, flew over his head, and struck his comrade before embedding itself onto the wall.

"Oh man, he ducked!" Kaminari complained.

"Dammit," Izuku cursed quietly, frustrated that his counterpart's team did their jobs flawlessly, yet he failed to knock the leader out just as efficiently.

Rogers leapt inside, looking around but Batroc kicked the Super Soldier in his side, backing the man while he took off running. Izuku recovered quickly and made after him, grabbing his shield off the wall as he did.

"Great! Now, he's running! Deku! Get after him and do your job, you nerd!" Bakugou barked at Izuku, unknowingly giving the same criticism the verdant-haired teen was giving to himself just now.

"H-Hai!" Izuku, out of force of habit, jumped in his seat and nodded his head.

Rumlow and the S.T.R.I.K.E. agent turned and covered their corners, while Jasper and the hostages followed the former. "Hostages en route to extraction," Rumlow called in, while Cap reached outside and jumped down a stairwell. "Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play."

Iida frowned, narrowing his eyes at the screen. From what he'd seen, Uraraka's counterpart was just as capable as Rogers and despite her quirks got the job done nearly flawlessly. So, Iida was left wondering what would have her fail in her objective. 'Is she currently facing a problem on her end, or is there something else going on? But then, why not show us it?' Iida pondered to himself.

"Ochaco, Batroc's on the move," Cap radioed, panting, looking around for the mercenary. "Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages." As he walked, he heard nothing back from the former KGB agent. "Ochaco."

Before Izuku could radio again, he brought his shield up as Batroc leaped out of nowhere and brought down a powerful flying kick on him, his weight and strength pushing Cap down. The captain rolled back up only for a straight kick, blocked mostly by the shield, and sent the soldier back down. Cap scooted back away in time to avoid a descending cartwheel stomp, the heel of the armored boot landing just in front of the Avenger's privates.

"Oof, looks like Izuku's goods live to see another day," Sero wiped his forehead, feeling comradery with his classmate in fearing for one's family jewels.

Izuku did his best not to shiver and protect his crotch as if it were a few inches away from getting kicked.

Rogers and Batroc gazed at each other for a split second before the fight continued, Cap got up on one knee as Batroc switched legs and struck the Avenger on his unshielded side, backing him further. Captain America recovered but Batroc was too swift kicking him back again but only enough to get Rogers on his knees. Izuku rolled under a 540-roundhouse kick, turning back to face the advancing French-born mercenary.

Izuku raised the shield to block a flying punch and second jab, backing away as he blocked and deflected Batroc's swift punches and kicks, ducking a high roundhouse kick before finally countering with a shield bash, sending the mercenary flying back. Batroc flipped himself back up, pounding his fist over his chest before advancing on Cap again. Izuku deflected a right kick, blocked and tanked two more powerful left kicks, the shield guarding a punch and kick before ducking another roundhouse kick. Batroc pressed further, Rogers taking advantage by grabbing his right into a hold, driving his knee up into Batroc's stomach, and then again, and then a third time before tossing Batroc away behind him. The mercenary however recovered into a back cartwheel that transitioned into a high, and admittingly graceful, backflip.

"Wow, he's quite the kick master," Kyoka commented, begrudgingly impressed with the mercenary's fighting skills.

"His style seems primarily focused on kick-based attacks and keeping the momentum going into the next attack for a deadly dance of increasing attacks, never letting the opponent get a moment to breathe," Itsuka analyzed Batroc's fighting style. "He's quite the killer fighter."

"Was that how his counterpart was, Kiri?" Mina asked her friend from middle school.

"Sort of," Kirishima frowned, remembering the fight with Kendo Rappa. "What Kendo said about his ceaseless attacks was true for Rappa, but instead of kicks, he was more of a street boxer. His punches just kept coming like a whole torrent of blows that busted through my Hardening easily. And any counterattack I tried to do was blocked by his partner's Quirk."

"Man, how'd you manage to beat him?" Tetsutetsu asked, a flare of concern for his bro shooting up, even if his bro was sitting next to him alive and well.

"Honestly, I didn't really," Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck. "All I did was hang in there enough for Fat to deliver the finishing blow, enough to blast through both his partner's barrier and knock the two out. If I faced him alone, I would, hands-down, lose. But I didn't give in, and kept standing for as long as I could, and trusted my boss to finish the job. It was the Manly thing to do."

"Well said, Red!" Fat Gum nodded, arms crossed and beaming with pride. "When all's said and done, it doesn't matter how flashy or epic the fight is won, all that matters is it's won, and we do our jobs as Heroes."

Aizawa nodded his head, agreeing with both Fat's words and Kirishima understanding his limits yet rising beyond them to do what he needed to do and thinking about the victory, not the glory or the spectacle of it.

"Manly!" Tetsutetsu began to bawl and bring his bro from another class into a one-arm Manly hug.

Batroc and Captain America stared each other down. "{I thought you were more than just a shield?}" Batroc taunted at the WWII legend.

Relaxing, Izuku put the shield back over his back, going further by unstrapping his helmet and taking it off. Batroc grinned as he saw Izuku's full face, green eyes, and wild verdant hair.

"Ooh, I know that look," Mirio grinned, now on the edge of his seat. "That's the 'As you wish' look. As in 'I'm going to kick your butt on your own terms' look."

"{Let's see,}" Rogers taunted back, tossing his helmet off to the side.

"That guy's fucked up now," Todoroki confidently stated.

"100%," Uraraka smirked.

"Although, Izuku knows French?" Yuga asked, pleasantly surprised.

"He's a WWII veteran, kid," Snipe pointed out. "French was practically a prerequisite for a soldier heading off to Europe."

The two squared up, inching and backing to psych the other out, before Batroc rushed in with a left kick, one deflected by Cap, who tried to counter with a right hook that was blocked in turn by Batroc. Roger's second hook was blocked and ducked his arm down to block Batroc's right kick and ducked under a left hook. Rising to strike with a left uppercut, Batroc blocked the hit with both arms, but the Super Soldier snuck in a right elbow, striking Batroc across the face and forcing the mercenary to stumble back, dazed. Recovered, Batroc made for another right kick, only for a straight stomp by Izuku's right foot struck the mercenary's ankle, an audible break accompanied by Batroc crying out in pain. Rogers kicked Batroc back further with a straight kick, the mercenary stumbling from the force behind it. Before the merc could recover, Captain America leaped and spun in the air, delivering a spinning hook kick onto Batroc's head, sending the man crumpling to the floor.

The reactions of the world were all nearly summed up into three camps: Awe, Pride, and Lust.

Most of the guys were either in jaw-dropped awe of the Super Soldier's skill and power or cheering and crying out in testosterone-fueled amazement of their friend/classmate/rival/student's counterpart. The 1-B guys were mostly of the former, their jaws nearly touching the floor with how fast and easily the captain had adapted and whopped the mercenary's ass just seconds before he was getting pushed back. Monoma shook away his shock when he recalled how this was the same Super Soldier that stood on even ground with his counterpart, who was a god in most sense of the word, matching and competing against his superhuman strength and skill on even ground. Nieto remembered the surprised look on Loki's face when Rogers struck him back with a hook to the face.

Shinsou meanwhile was a little intimidated by how skilled the Man out of Time was, and how he had defeated Batroc almost humiliatingly when he straight stomped on the man's leg mid-attack and then knocked him to the floor with his own backflip kick. It had left the Brainwashing teen wondering how he could ever compete with that, much less with Midoriya who was admittingly physically stronger given the latter could destroy a 10-story killing machine in a single punch. However, that shock and fear melted mainly into rivalry and self-pride that he was considered a worthy rival to the diamond-freckled teen and could match him in his own way.

It was mainly the guys of 1-A, and some of 1-B were the ones that were cheering and congratulating Midoriya's counterpart, and Midoriya himself for being lucky enough to be the counterpart to such a Manly guy, as Kirishima and Tetsutetsu said. Kouta looked like he was almost a second away from building a shrine for both Deku and Captain America. Bakugou and Todoroki likewise had pride and respect for their rival and his counterpart, where, despite appearing otherwise, Bakugou agreed with Todoroki and didn't worry one bit that Rogers could best the mercenary easily. The both of them hoped that their Midoriya would grow to be just as powerful as his counterpart if he hadn't already, the two other members of 1-A's unofficial 'New Big 3' wishing for their rival to be a worthy one to compete for the title of Number 1, even if they lose to him at least they would lose to someone deserving. Still, not like Bakugou would ever say that out loud or ever give any ground to his desire to become Number 1 himself.

The teachers and men of the adult audience likewise clapped, though more respectfully and measured than their enthusiastic students. Fat had grinned and gave a nod of respect for Rogers for managing to beat this counterpart to Kendo Rappa in 12 seconds and doing so without the unbreakable defense that was his Vibranium shield. That last sentiment was shared with Power Loader, David Shield, Edgeshot, and Eraserhead. Many times, all four saw Pros that relied too heavily on their Support Items and paid the price for it, Eraser thinking to his best friend Oboro for a bitter example. Even if it was still the smarter move to have fought with the shield and not adhere to a Villain's baiting, it was clear to them that it wasn't out of pride or to prove himself, but respect and a test of the mercenary's words, that if he was worthy of the shield by not even needing it to be a Hero. And to the four and the rest, the captain proved that flawlessly.

All Might was almost beaming pride and held an ironclad belief that his boy would match and surpass such skill and power of the First Avenger. All Might blinked. 'My boy. Huh. Guess I do think of him as the son I never had,' Toshinori admitted, a small smile on his face.

The female side of the room likewise gazed at the Symbol of Courage with equal awe and respect but was the only side that had its members with blushing drooling faces. Most of the 1-B girls were of the first two, with Kendo in starstruck awe at Rogers's martial arts skill and was left with the competitive desire to face that herself, even if she had to drag Midoriya into the gym and train him every night to match and surpass what Rogers did and more. Even the female pros were left in awe of Cap's skills and wondered just how Midoriya measured up to his counterpart, both now and in the future. Midnight, mostly back to her old self, was almost shivering at the thought of how an older, stronger, and more confident Izuku Midoriya would look like, and if Rogers was any indicator, Midnight almost wished that she was born younger, like at least the same age as Takeyama or Miruko.

Speaking of which, the Rabbit Hero was grinning ear to ear at Captain America's martial arts prowess and how he easily and deductively analyzed Batroc's kick-centered style of fighting, matched and disabled it, and one-up the mercenary with that backflip kick. If she didn't already have enough desire to train Deku as her protege from earlier, then this feat of strength did it for her. Rumi Usagiyama could even register the blood flowing to her cheeks, how she had to physically halt her legs from thumping and her tail from wagging. 'Nope, nope, that did not just put me in heat,' Miruko attempted to convince herself, which only made her more determined and vindictive. 'Oh ho, just you wait, Midoriya. I'm definitely going to use this as what I expect out of you. At the Least.'

And speaking of girls practically in heat, it was to no surprise the girls of the Sisterhood were halfway ready to drag their Midoriya away and have their way with him. 'Damn their ethics and morality!' Setsuna cursed, half-willing to toss them out the window and have her Green Bean take her this instant. The greenette was practically steaming with how red she was, and the others weren't any better. Both Nejire and Uraraka were left floating off into the ceiling by how deliriously daydreamy they were, and Tsu was not inclined to help them, not with how busy she was trying to fight off her frog mating instincts. Momo's created fan was set to max, and she still had to fan herself to keep herself from fainting because of how red her face was, unlike how Mina and Hagakure, both drooling, had done, and the only reason why Kyoka didn't get closer to the fan to cool her burning body was because hearing Momo's pants any more audible would have broken her mind. Even Mei looked about ready to jump Midoriya's bones, the only thing keeping her back was her mind coming up with a device to perhaps keep herself and the girls in check, even though a large part of her strongly argued against it.

As for Izuku himself, he was almost numb to the praises or the cheers or the obvious-as-a-neon-sign evidence of the girls' feelings for him. Sure, he felt pride, awe, and respect for his counterpart, for his skills, power, and confidence, that last part especially lacking for himself by comparison. No, what had him frozen and numb to the world was fear. The fear of expectations. 'How? How can I compete with that? How can I even surpass that skill, that strength?' Izuku pondered, almost defeated in his thoughts. Sure, on a pure power scale, he trumped his counterpart with the level of power a 100% smash would do, connect or not, but everything else he paled at. And though they meant well, hearing how Aizawa, Miruko, Setsuna, and everyone else praised Cap and told him to meet the same standards felt more weighing than inspiring. It was like his fear of never surpassing All Might all over again, only worse since it was another version of himself. He felt inadequate by himself.

Then Kirishima's words from earlier came back to him. "But I didn't give in. I kept standing...It was the Manly thing to do."

Soon after Miruko's words came up too: "And not just your counterpart or that shit you had to deal with in your past, I can see that you're different from the other students. You've got a weight on your shoulders, a drive that makes you want to excel, something to prove. And you're not just full brawn, you got the brains to back it up."

And finally, ever the words he took to heart from the most: All Might's. "And you, Young Midoriya, you know fully well, out of anyone here, that it's not a power that makes one special...You've stumbled, you have fallen behind, you've lost and damaged yourself many times...It was never the power that made you special. It was this, and this," Izuku remembered All Might tapping his head and heart. "You and Rogers are worthy and special because you failed and fell, but always got back up and never gave up."

'...I'm such an idiot,' Izuku smirked, bitterly. 'He told me that not two days ago and I almost forgot. Whether I feel worthy of One For All, or being on the same level as Rogers, whether I believe I fail to meet those expectations, it doesn't matter if I fail.' Izuku looked at his scarred hand, clenching it tightly. 'Just as long as I get back up and never give up, I know I will rise to the occasion. Like I said before, I'm done crying. I'm done whining. I'm never going to stop getting up and racing to who I want to be. Who I'm meant to be.'

Izuku imagined himself racing up to that silhouette of himself standing in front of a shining, sparkling, green light, now accompanied by the backside of Captain America. 'No matter how daunting, I will surpass you, I will surpass All Might, and be that Hero who saves everyone with a smile.'

"PAPA! PAPA!" Izuku blinked out of his thoughts and looked at the starry-eyed, amazed white-haired girl bouncing on his lap. "DID YOU SEE THAT?! DID YOU SEE?! OTHER YOU WAS SO AMAZING! HE BEAT THAT BAD GUY SO FAST AND COOL! JUST LIKE YOU! I KNEW HE WOULD BE AS AWESOME AS YOU! RIGHT?!"

Izuku's heart melted at her smiling face, the tears already trying to break his promise to stop crying. "Yeah, I saw," Izuku nodded, smiling back. "Thanks for supporting Papa, Eri."

Eri beamed and smiled back as brightly. "Always!" she declared.

"And that's why you are the bestest girl in the world," Melissa joined in, leaning down to plant a motherly kiss on Eri's head, earning the white-haired girl's squeal and giggle. Melissa then turned to Izuku, a bright blush on her face. "And you deserve a hug for raising her as such." Melissa brought both Midoriya and Eri into a hug but brought her mouth to his ears and whispered. "Once you finish winning all the girls over, you are taking me just like you should have done on I-Island. I~Zu~Ku~."

A final blow on his ear and Izuku found an even greater drive than before. The drive to be the best damn boyfriend these girls wanted, needed, and deserved.

Izuku turned back to face the slowly recovery mercenary, struggling to get back up. When he did, Rogers rushed him into tackle till they burst through a door, toppling it to the ground easily. A final right hook to the face sent Batroc to sleep.

"And one final punch to the face for good measure," Sen snickered.

Izuku panted, victorious over his downed foe. "Well, this is awkward," Romanoff's voice came from his side, Rogers turned to find Ochaco bent over toward a computer, smiling at him before returning to typing commands on it.

"Wait, Ochaco?" Hagakure tilted her invisible head. "What's she doing here? Is this the reason why she missed the rendezvous?"

"What are you doing?" Izuku questioned, getting up and walking toward her.

"Backing up the hard drive," Ochaco replied. "It's a good habit to get into."

Izuku made sure Batroc was still unconscious before confronting the agent. "Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" Cap pressed further. He looked up at the screens to see data and files downloaded onto a drive. "You're saving S.H.I.E.L.D. intel."

"Whatever I can get my hands on," Widow confirmed.

"Oh, yeah, this was a S.H.I.E.L.D. ship so Romanoff must be backing up classified files that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't want to get out," Melissa figured.

"Yet it looked like Rogers didn't know about this," Kyoka narrowed her eyes. "Why? Was this not part of the mission?"

"No, I don't it was, or at least not what Deku-I mean-Captain America was told," Uraraka spoke up. "Maybe it was a secret objective that this world's Mr. Aizawa gave to other-me?"

"Most likely," Iida nodded, seeing merit in that possibility. "Though, it compromises the main mission to have one of its members disappear on a secret mission."

"Our mission is to rescue hostages," Captain America reminded her.

"No, that's your mission," Black Widow corrected him, pulling out the drive, her task complete, and smiled at her leader. "And you've done it beautifully."

"Guess you guys were right," Itsuka said.

Ochaco Romanoff made to leave only for Izuku to stop her, grabbing her arm and facing her. "You just jeopardized this whole operation," Izuku Rogers growled, angry.

"Okay, Midobro, I think we need to perform a medical evaluation on your counterpart. I think he's suffering from the 'stick-up-his-ass' disease that Iida somehow had given him," Kaminari said as seriously as possible with his face cracking up in the meantime.

A jolt of shock flashed in Iida's frozen, aghast face while Izuku could only scratch his cheek nervously.

"I think that's overstating things," Romanoff argued back.

"Yeah, I mean, everything seems to have worked out well," Mina agreed with the secret agent. "The hostages are safe with those S.T.R.I.K.E. guys, Cap took care of Batroc-"

Suddenly, to prove Cap's point (and Mina wrong), Batroc got up, awoken, and ran out the door while he tossed a grenade at the two. Cap smacked the grenade away, the beeping explosive device lying at the end of the room. Lifting his fellow Avenger with one arm and said teammate firing at a glass to break it open, Izuku hopped onto a couple of computers and leaped toward the punctured glass as the grenade went off. The room filled with fire as the two burst through the glass, rolling into the safety of the office space and away from most of the blast.

"Oh, thank god," Momo gasped, a hand over her rapidly beating heart. "I was very worried for a second there."

"What was it you were saying, Mina?" Kyoka raised an eyebrow at her classmate.

"Nothing," Mina pouted, a comical sweatdrop over her head.

"And that, kids, is why you should never go into a mission without getting all the details and planning everything ahead of time," Present Mic gestured at the screen as an example.

"Now, Batroc's escaped, and with his skills, he'll likely find a way off the boat and escape capture," Ryukyu grumbled.

Izuku and Ochaco rolled off each other, groggily, scooting back till their backs touched the wall underneath the glass, the two stained in soot. The two panted, Ochaco groaning in pain while Izuku looked relatively undamaged. Izuku peaked out to see the extent of the damage and Batroc's escape.

"At the very least, the two don't appear severely injured," Recovery Girl diagnosed. "Other than some light burns and perhaps a bruised rib, they will live."

"Okay. That one's on me," Ochaco admitted, panting.

"You're damn right," Izuku growled back before swiftly getting up and out the room, Ochaco watching him leave with a bit of surprise at his angry retort. Ochaco slumped her head back on the wall, rolling her eyes annoyed and upset.

"Sorry, Deku," Ochaco pouted, slightly hurt to have a version of her crush admonish her so angrily.

"Hey, hey, no, no, it's okay, Ochaco, really," Izuku reached over and clasped his best friend's hands with his own. "We all make mistakes. Sure, I'm sure my counterpart would have liked to know about your mission, but I'm sure you had a good explanation for keeping me and the others in the dark. Plus, I should have made sure Batroc was fully knocked out or tied up so that he wouldn't have escaped. I'm not angry at you, and I'm sure that my other self isn't either. Maybe frustrated, but not angry."

Ochaco blinked, her eyes watery and she lightly smiled at Deku, the boy's kindness and empathy still working its magic on her, making her feel better without fail. "Thanks, Deku-kun," Ochaco thanked him. "You always know that to say to cheer me up."

Izuku blushed as her smile and sweet voice jogged his brain awake of what he was doing, especially with how he held her hands with his. Quickly, Izuku disengaged and turned away, rubbing his neck, embarrassed. "Y-You're welcome, Ura-Ochaco!"

A bit surprised she was, but Ochaco still smiled, knowing and understanding why Deku, even after all this time, would still be so easily flustered.

A sweeping shot of the bustling morning Washington D.C. paned over to circle a large structure with three building sections surrounding a cylindrical structure between them and a lower, wider building around the structure. Latitude and longitude coordinates appear below the title name of the building: The Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters. Inside the building, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents bustled about while a decorative glass and metal piece of art resembling the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle logo stood in the middle.

"Woah, that's a cool ass base!" Awase grinned.

"Language!" Iida yelled.

"With those interconnecting buildings surrounding the circular main one like a triangle, I can see where they got the name," Power Loader complimented the architecture. "Looks structurally stable too. Impressive."

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Rogers bellowed as he marched his way over to Director Shouta Aizawa sitting at his office desk.

"I didn't lie, Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours," Director Aizawa retorted as he stared out the window.

"Hey, it's Mr. Aizawa again!" Hagakure cheered.

"Technically, it's Director Aizawa," Asui corrected.

"Regardless, it appears Rogers does work for him, and he was the one that gave Romanoff the separate mission," Tokoyami jumped in, steering the conversation back on topic.

"Though, I'm surprised you would just admit to it so quickly, Aizawa," Vlad King said. "Given how your counterpart was so willing to keep that Phase 2 project so secret."

"It's precisely how that went down that my counterpart could be so truthful," Aizawa replied. "He likely saw that trying to deny or make half-assed excuses would be counterproductive and ill-advised given how Rogers reacted to Phase 2, along with the other Avengers."

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share," Izuku replied, reaching the desk.

"I'm not obliged to do anything," Aizawa retorted back.

"Those hostages could have died, Shouta," Izuku stated.

"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen," Shouta finally turned to face the Super Soldier, his iconic eyepatch still draping over his left eye and across his long black hair, wearing a whole black outfit without his trench coat, his grown-out short beard the only change the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D had since the Avengers.

"Fair point," Mount Lady tilted her head in an agreeing nod.

"Soldiers trust each other. That's what makes it an army," Izuku continued his complaint. "Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns."

"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye," Aizawa stood up from his chair, leaning forward on his desk to face Rogers.

"So, that's the reason for the eyepatch," Nejire questioned. "I wonder how that happened. Was it some trusted partner that turned out to be an evil double agent? Or maybe a contact that gave him up to some bad guys? Was he shot in and survived, or was it from a knife across the eye?"

"Nejire, please, I think that's enough speculating for now," Izuku calmed the hyperactive periwinkle girl, his hands over Eri's ears so she didn't have to hear and imagine those possibilities happening to her 'Grunkle' Aizawa.

"Yeah, and I'm sure they will show or tell us eventually," Mirio shrugged. "Like maybe in a flashback."

"All I know is that with how skeptical he is, it must have been serious," Kamakiri nodded. "Like, could you imagine if he lost the eye from like a cat or something?"

"That would be rather humorous, if not stupid," Shinsou admitted, a bit skeptical that his favorite type of animal would be capable of being the reason his mentor/father figure lost an eye.

Meanwhile, Midnight and Mic held back a chuckle from how rather humorous it would be if Aizawa's favorite animal, his fondness of which rivaled Shirakumo's, would be responsible for that. Aizawa's right eye twitched with annoyance, a sudden inclination to scratch at his forehead flaring up.

"Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with," Aizawa admitted. "Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything."

"Well, at least he was considerate," Pixie Bob shrugged her shoulders.

"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own," Izuku continued, undeterred, a hand on his hip.

"It's called compartmentalization," Aizawa spelled it out for him. "Nobody spills the secrets, because nobody knows them all."

"I mean, he's got a point," Death Arms admitted. "Like what would happen if one of them got captured, or was some traitor and spilled the beans?"

Aoyama flinched, though made sure no one saw it.

"Except you," Izuku pointed out.

Nezu frowned, not because of the captain's words, his concerns were valid, but the situation involving compartmentalization struck too close to home. He had to juggle so many responsibilities and issues as a principal of this school, an influential figure in the world of Hero politics, and secretly working to undermine and expose the Commission's rotten apples, some of these issues requiring that he keep secrets from his staff and allies. Three examples of such included the secrecy of One For All and its connections to both Izuku Midoriya and All Might, with even the boy's own homeroom teacher not privy to this secret until most recently. Another was his continuous search for the U.A. Traitor that he kept the secret of his measures from the staff as few, along with the students, were part of his list of suspects, such search being frustratingly fruitless as of now, almost regretting that they had captured All For One since any efforts of the traitor were practically nonexistent since the Underworld King's incarceration.

And, most recently, the third example of such secrets he had to compartmentalize was with the Wined Hero: Hawks, and the secrets the latter bore to him of both the Commission's rotten acts and the looming threat of the Paranormal Liberation Front, now having to once more reassess which of his allies, students, teachers, friends, acquaintances, and enemies were involved in either organization's vile acts. And despite Hawks's words, the rodent principal couldn't call upon his support alone to expose the Commission without failing at worse and being brought down with the Commission at best, he needed more evidence, and, even then, he couldn't expose them without leaving a massive hole in leadership and government support for the Heroes to need for the coming storm of the PLF.

He held so many cards and pieces, so much compartmentalized under his roof, and what a frankly isolating and lonely situation it was with so few to trust and turn to without question.

Shouta Aizawa let out a silent exhale, standing straight. "You're wrong about me," Shouta said to the unconvinced Avenger. "I do share. I'm nice like that."

"Yeah, usually at the last possible second," Sero muttered.

"As Heroes, we have to constantly face a world full of randomness and uncertainty," Aizawa overheard and replied. "Life isn't fully determined and you have to prepare for the obstacles when they come, whether you like it or not."

Aizawa and Rogers stepped into an elevator, the panel scanning and showing Aizawa's image. "Insight bay," Aizawa spoke up to the panel.

As Izuku stepped into the elevator, his image was shown on the panel, with an 'Access Denied' over him. "Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight," The SHIELD computer revealed, showing the Level 8 authorization clearance needed.

"Project Insight," All Might repeated the name, curious as to what it was, and how important it must be that Captain America was not granted clearance to know about it.

"Director override. Aizawa, Shouta J." Aizawa gave the clearance, leaning on the railing of the elevator as the doors closed.

"Shouta J Aizawa?" Vlad King raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you had a middle name?"

"I don't," Aizawa corrected.

"Maybe because your counterpart was born and raised in America," David proposed. "I know from Toshi that here middle names aren't frankly common compared to America."

"Confirmed," The computer replied, and the elevator began its descent.

The two were silent as the elevator went down a few floors before Rogers lightly scoffed. "You know, they used to play music," Izuku broke the silence.

"Urgh, elevator music," Kamakiri shuddered in disgust.

"Yeah, like it's charming at first, but then it gets annoying after a while," Honenuki agreed.

"Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for 40 years," Aizawa brought up.

"Wait, you mean that people used to have jobs where they clicked the buttons for you?" Rin scratched his head, perplexed at the notion. "That sounds unnecessary."

"Actually, these jobs were vastly more important at the time," F.R.I.D.A.Y. interjected. "Since elevators were just starting to be put to use, they weren't automatic outright, so they needed operators to regulate the speed of the elevator's ascent or descent. If they didn't, the abrupt stop could have destabilized and damaged the elevator at worst and given an unpleasant toss at least."

"Oh, alright, that's actually pretty cool," Rin nodded, enlightened and impressed.

"Granddad worked in a nice building. Got good tips. He'd walk home every night, a roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say 'Hi'. People would say, 'Hi' back," Aizawa continued his story. "Time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say, 'Hi'. They'd say, 'Keep on steppin'. Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Did he ever get mugged?" Izuku pondered.

A light chuckle popped out of Aizawa's mouth. "Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?"

"What'd he do?" Rogers asked further.

"He'd show them," Aizawa looked back at Rogers, the elevator reaching subterranean levels. "Bunch of crumpled ones, and a loaded .22 Magnum."

"Damn," Setsuna blinked. "Granddaddy was packing heat."

"Must you phrase it like that?" Ibara shook her head at her classmate.

"Why not? I just said he was armed, what were you thinking about, Shio, you naughty girl?" Setsuna grinned at how her classmate fell into her trap.

Ibara blushed crimson, sputtering failed response or retort till she gave up, burying her head into Bakugou's chest, the explosive teen patting her back while glaring at Setsuna, who replied with her tongue sticking out at him.

Izuku blinked before understanding and sympathy flashed subtly across his face, titling and nodding in acknowledgment. "Yeah, Granddad loved people," Aizawa chuckled again, walking up beside Izuku, as the cement walls gave way, looking to the lights of their destination. "But he didn't trust them very much."

Izuku raised his head, catching the lights in his peripheral. He turned his gaze out, surprise on his face as he saw what Aizawa did. "Yeah, I know," Aizawa nodded. "They're a little bit bigger than a .22."

Izuku and Shouta gazed upon an underground bunker filled with workers and machinery all focusing their efforts on the hangar's masterpieces: three Helicarriers. These Helicarriers appeared similar to their predecessor in base design but way more advanced. Large gun turrets were mounted all along the ships, from the sides to the front, the top of them each held a large three-barreled gun turret by the bridges, and even along the bottom like an arsenal of raining fire. Quinjets were lifted and trafficked securely onto the ships' runways, moved and secured neatly along the rows of several other jets. On the side of the ships, each of the ships had a painted 'IN' followed by a number designation from 01 to 03.

Hatsume's mouth dropped like an anvil.

"A-Are those Three Helicarriers?!" Melissa pointed, agape in awe.

"I believe so," Setsuna nodded, in similar wide-eyed surprise.

Izuku gazed at the Helicarriers with shock across his face, one Helicarrier alone being a marvel of engineering, what with its camouflaging, multi-purpose travel by land and sea, and a suitable, mobile home base of operations for S.H.I.E.L.D. Three of them with more firepower was astounding, again engineering-wise.

"This is Project Insight," Director Aizawa revealed, him and Rogers walking by each of them while workers went about. "Three next-generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites."

"Launched from the Lemurian Star," Cap figured.

"Huh, convenient," Shoto narrowed his eyes, suspicion sparking in his mind at how the very vessel that was meant to transmit to these Helicarriers had just recently been attacked by a band of mercenaries.

"Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down," Aizawa confirmed as he continued. "Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines." Aizawa pointed toward the very engines.

Bakugou's and Ibara's heads perked up like meerkats at the mention of repulsor engines.

"Stark?" Izuku guessed, accurately.

"He had a few suggestions once he got an up-close look at our old turbines," Shouta confirmed, a shot of the engines showing a similar design concept to Iron Man's repulsor thrusters.

"Woah, looks like your counterpart is also helping S.H.I.E.L.D. out with these things, huh, Bakubro," Kirishima nudged his best friend with his elbow.

Bakugou made a snickering snort bordering on derision. 'Like they wouldn't,' Bakugou thought, as if it were obvious that S.H.I.E.L.D. would ask help from a hired consultant, as the end of Iron Man 2 would imply.

"These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute," Aizawa continued, a sweeping shot of the underbelly gun turrets shown in three columns of several deadly killing machines with green eye-like targeting scopes.

"That seems...excessive," Sato flinched.

"You mean efficient," Kamakiri snorted. "Sounds like the perfect weapon to deal with an army of aliens."

"You mean to say that S.H.I.E.L.D. may these in response to the Battle of New York?" Jurota questioned. "It does sound plausible."

"These Helicarriers would be the perfect defense from both as a first line of defense against an alien threat and a deterrent for homeland enemy forces," Endeavor noted.

"Homeland meaning the world or America only?" Ryukyu asked quizzically. Endeavor tilted his head at her response, acknowledging the merit in her words.

As Izuku gazed at the columns of lethal turrets lining the sides and underbellies of the ships, an unnerving wave of unease shivered down his spine. Their green scopes almost felt like they were lasering right onto him. It appeared he wasn't the only one who thought the same, feeling Kouta and Eri lean closer to his figure, as if for protection from the turrets aimed at them as well. That didn't help Izuku's feelings over this.

Izuku Rogers and Shouta Aizawa stood on a moving platform overlooking one of the Insight Helicarriers. "The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole," Aizawa finished detailing the effectiveness of the new Helicarriers. "We're gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

Izuku's eyes shifted and swerved, gazing at nothing in particular, his gaze more inward to his thoughts and feelings. On one hand, Izuku acknowledged the benefit that this Project Insight brought. Such a series of weapons would ensure that threats from terrorist organizations and Villains like Loki, Mandarin, and so many more would be stopped before they ever started, and if they were in their world they would serve to detect and stop the League of Villains, wherever they may be hiding, at put a stop to them once and for all. Thousands, upon millions, upon billions of lives could be spared and saved before they were ever in danger.

On the other hand...

"Thought the punishment usually came after the crime," Izuku tossed out, sarcastically.

Hawks's fist clenched, wondering how many people the Commission had gotten rid of without that thought in mind.

"We can't afford to wait that long," Aizawa countered.

"Who's we?" Izuku questioned.

"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis," Aizawa revealed, gazing up at the Helicarrier they were under. "For once, we're way ahead of the curve."

"By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection," Izuku summarized frankly.

The tense and awkward silence that proceeded was almost suffocating. Aizawa's eye twitched, the rise of a witty remark on the tip of his tongue, but the words, if he could figure out what to say, wouldn't come out.

Aizawa looked to Izuku as he gazed disapprovingly at the work done. "You know, I read those SSR files," Aizawa brought up, getting the WWII vet to look back at him. "'Greatest Generation?' You guys did some nasty stuff."

Memories of Captain America's kill record flashed back in their heads, like tossing HYDRA goons off the Valkyrie.

"But that's not fair! That was war!" Nejire whined.

"And what do you think the Director believes they are currently in?" Ryukyu proposed.

"Yeah, we compromised," Izuku admitted, earnestly. "Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so that people could be free. This isn't Freedom." Izuku pointed at the Helicarriers, meeting Aizawa's gaze eye-to-eye. "This is Fear."

"Ah, the age-old debate of safety and determinism vs freedom and choice," Nezu smiled, pleased with the subject matter that was very likely to be tackled at this moment. "To act on the suspicions of evidence of threats yet to be and able to neutralize them before they come to pass, yet it is still the passing of judgment of faults that have yet to have occurred, denying the accused individual the chance to make a different choice. And yet on the other hand, if you believe that this individual would 100% commit deplorable acts like the Holocaust through variables and logic, would you seek to end such a threat before it happened and ensure the safety of lives despite the minimalist of chances?"

"Um...can that be dumbed down and said again?" Kosei asked.

"He means that if you knew where a potential or known terrorist was or someone that could be a threat to other people, would you do whatever it took to stop him even if it meant arresting or killing him even if he hadn't committed the crime yet," Jurota simplified. "That would you sacrifice freedom and choice over safety brought on by fear?"

The proposed question and ideology weighted heavily on the impressionable youths to even the most seasoned and experienced of the group.

Mirio and All Might both couldn't help comparing such ideas and ideology to the late Sir Nighteye. His whole Quirk, Foresight, was the very ability to predict the moves and actions of an individual's future, and the late hero based much of his personality and morality on his pragmatic approach to life and his Quirk that was practically determinism incarnate. He believed whatever his Quirk saw was set in stone, and to Toshinori that meant his foretold death in the coming year or so. And yet, on his deathbed, Mirai had revealed that the future he foretold by the end of the Hassaikai raid was wrong, that rather than perish and lose Eri, Izuku Midoriya had defied the future and won against Overhaul. Whether it meant that the function of his Quirk was only the most probable course of events were foretold or if it was altered by the rewinding powers of Eri, it meant to them that the future was never written in stone, that people's individual choices and freedom could change the course of the future. So, the very notion of this deterministic use of power that S.H.I.E.L.D. was attempting to do was disconcerting, if not downright cynical.

Shinsou frowned in particular distaste over such a concept. While his pragmatic side acknowledged that such surveillance and security would be beneficial to saving lives, it relied too much on self-assured knowledge and paranoia. That last part, paranoia, was exactly what soured him. Shinsou was looked on with suspicion and treated unfairly because of his Quirk, Brainwashing, and how it was a statistically perfect Quirk for a Villain, how it was a given, a sure-fire determined fate that he was going to be a Villain with such a Quirk. Except he didn't want to be one, and he didn't. He's now on his way to being a member of U.A.'s Hero Course next semester, going against such paranoid logic that was thrown in his face, and the indigo-haired teen stood against that idea, to ensure safety by ridding a threat prematurely. After all, if such logic were allowed to be tolerated, he wouldn't be here, today.

Meanwhile, Eraserhead, Midnight, and Present Mic were not so easily opposed to such an idea. If anything, they were leaning toward it. And the singular thought that was governing their morality was named Oboro Shirakumo. After all, if the Villain, Garvey, was identified as a threat and taken down beforehand would Shirakumo not have died and be alive with them today, perhaps all part of an agency like they had discussed in the past? If Dr. Garaki was a follower of All For One and was able to be identified as a threat with this threat analysis, would Shirakumo, even if he had died, not have been put to a more peaceful rest instead of being a potentially resurrected Nomu currently locked behind bars? If All For One was identified and dealt with adequately; if any Villain was dealt with such proposed efficiency, would not the lives of those taken and ruined by these Villains, like Oboro Shirakumo's, be spared and free from such suffering at all? 'Would that not be the rational choice?' Aizawa thought.

Tenya Iida frowned, his fists clenching as his thoughts turned back to that of his brother and Stain. Iida could see the logic and the merit behind such enforcement of safety, of such a pragmatic and efficient manner of dealing with Villains and criminals, especially the most dangerous of them, such as terrorists that take the lives of others with little to no remorse and of Villains that ruin the lives of others to fulfill their twisted desires. He pondered that if he had the power to do so, would he have not taken it? If he knew it was going to happen, would he not have ridden the world of Stain before he had butchered his brother and left him crippled, ruined his Hero career, and nearly been the bane of his own life? 'Then again, I did try to go after him, knowing where he still was...' Iida left his thoughts at that, knowing very clearly how that all ended up. But wasn't this different? Wasn't this not about taking revenge but making sure that his desire for revenge would never have happened in the first place?

Even Hawks was conflicted. The Number 2 Hero has spent months to even now trying to gather intel and preparing the Heroes for the threat yet to come, to find and eliminate the threat of the Paranormal Liberation Front before they strike because if they don't and allow them to make the first move, it's checkmate for them and all of Hero Society. And yet, his struggles came down to one person: Twice. Jin Bubaigawara was someone Keigo Takami never thought he would have befriended, much less while he was playing the part of a secret agent, even less given the fact that he was the Villain he was specifically ordered to eliminate at all costs. Now free of his self-restriction to create doubles of himself, Twice now stood as one of the biggest threats to Hero Society, able to take over a small country with his limitless army of doubles. Any counterattack against the League and the Front would trigger Twice to create his Sad Man's Parade and end them all. And yet, the more he got to know Twice, the more Hawks wondered if there was another way. Hawks saw that despite being a Villain from the League, despite his crimes, he wasn't a bad person at heart, just a lost one, that he was more or less a victim of circumstance that ended up in the wrong crowd. Hawks didn't feel that Twice was deserving of such execution that was he ordered to commit. But he knew the Villain's loyalty to the League was all but absolute and surrender was an option highly unlikely. 'So, when the time comes to make the choice, will I give him a chance or be forced to act?' Hawks bitterly thought.

And then there was Bakugou and Midoriya. For the former of the two, Katsuki looked at both his past as well as Stark's. With his billionaire counterpart, he thought of all the troubles and dangers that wouldn't have needed to happen if he knew beforehand of what they came to be. Stane, Hammer, Whiplash, Mandarin, and even Loki. If he had known about them beforehand, he could have not been kidnapped by the Ten Rings, had that arc reactor in his chest, exposed Stane and gotten rid of him, and shut down Stark Industries' weapon production that was used against innocent people, even himself. If Whiplash had been dealt with properly, he wouldn't have teamed up with Hammer or even become Whiplash in the first place. If he knew about Touya Todoroki and what he was doing with EXTREMIS, he would have stopped his plans before it almost cost him Ibara. 'If we knew and found out where the League was a gotten rid of them, I wouldn't have been the one to end All Might.' Bakugou realized that one of his greatest mistakes would never have come to pass. 'Maybe if people knew who I was, and what those pricks were doing, maybe De-Izuku wouldn't have been bullied at all?'

Surprisingly, Izuku thought similarly to Bakugou, coming with the same thoughts as his former childhood friend. The merit and goals of Project Insight he knew could lead to the betterment and security of lives that would have otherwise been taken, he knew the benefits and how such threats like the League and All For One would not have posed such a grave threat to so many innocent lives, he knew that it was a rational way to save everyone. But it wasn't the right way. 'Would those lives saved even be considered living if they have a gun waiting over their head, to fire on them the minute they make one mistake?' Izuku didn't even need to ponder the thought before knowing his answer. No, it wouldn't. For one, who's safety would it ensure? Who's 'greater good' would be enforced? And who would be the unfortunate ones that didn't meet the criteria? His thoughts turned to Shinsou and how he would have been targeted for how his Quirk was perceived. He thought of Asui, Tokoyami, Koda, Shoji, and the others who would be unfairly targeted like the Creature Rejection Clan. He thought of the Villains like Gentle Criminal and La Brava who became the way they were not of their own volition but unfortunate circumstance and wondered if any of the League shared the same circumstance, and wondered if they could find redemption, redemption that would never come if they were punished before then. It wouldn't be a life of Peace and Hope, it would be more a life of Paranoia and Fear. No better than one ruled by All For One.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be," Aizawa defended, getting up closer and personal with the Avenger. "And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

Izuku frowned, even glaring at Director Aizawa for his words. Get with the Program. If Izuku had anything that would be considered trigger words, those would be it. All his life, he had been told that, to get real, wake up, face reality, face the facts, to give up on his dream of being a Hero. That a Quirkless, weakling Deku like himself needed to get with the program and give up.

"If you only see the world as it is, you'll be blind to what it may become," Izuku said, his features hardened and determined.

Aizawa gazed down, drawing a frown and narrow glance at Midoriya. "That's a naive way to see the world," Aizawa replied, a slight growl to his tone.

Izuku turned back to face his teacher, just enough for his right eye to glance at him, eye-to-eye. "And maybe the rational way is not always the best way," Izuku barked back.

Aizawa's gaze narrowed yet Midoriya's remained unflinching. The rest of the group looked at the face-off between teacher and student with apprehension and concern. To them, it looked like two alpha wolves glaring at each other to talk back again. Where the girls found this confident Izuku rather titillating they worried about the trouble he would face talking back to the no-nonsense insomniac that was Shouta Aizawa. On the other hand, the teachers gazed at Aizawa with a mixture of concern and even disapproval, especially from Midnight and Present Mic. They could see that their colleague was not in the right space of mind thanks to the Shirakumo/Kurogiri dilemma and were all concerned that it was perhaps blinding Aizawa's judgment and thinking that he would get into a verbal spat with his student, much less that the student's unwavering determination and clear head made him appear more level-headed than his own teacher.

In between all of this, Eri gazed at her Papa and Grunkle with sadness and worry that these two parental figures in her life looked to be fighting, like how her Papa and Uncle Kacchan fought back during the Avengers.

"Don't hold your breath," Rogers retorted, walking away and leaving the Director alone on the platform.

"Well, this is tense," Kaminari muttered, stretching out the collar of his shirt.

"Tell me about it," Mineta shivered. "I didn't think I would ever see Midoriya stand up to Mr. Aizawa like that. They looked like they were going to throw hands."

"Don't be silly guys," Kirishima whispered back. "Midoriya may be a little mad right now, but he's not the kind of guy to just randomly attack someone, much less a teacher." He noticed Mineta about to raise a finger. "Unless it is to keep perverts from going feral on the girls." Mineta lowered his finger.

Outside, Izuku Rogers, his shield on his back, rode out from the Triskelion on his motorcycle toward the checkpoint and the city of D.C.

"Huh, Rogers got another motorcycle," Itsuka smiled. "Looks like a modernized version of a Harley-Davidson model. So cool."

"Okay, okay, calm down there, Kendo," Setsuna patted her disembodied hand on her class president's shoulder, with her head floating next to her and gazing at her wide-emotionless eyes for good measure. "May I remind you that Greenie is already taken?"

Itsuka immediately realized and blushed bright red. "I-I-It's not like that! Honest!" Itsuka waved her hands and shook her head, trying to pacify what she believed was a jealous suitor.

"Good, but I wasn't really worried about that," Setsuna let up her facade and smiled widely. "But we wouldn't want a certain hardhead to get the wrong idea."

Itsuka followed where Setsuna's finger pointed to see that Tetsutetsu was grumbling noncoherently, looking away with a jealous expression on his face.

Melissa giggled. Izuku noticed and asked, "What's so funny, Melissa?"

"Oh, nothing, Izu," Melissa leaned over, pressing her lips next to his ears. "I'm just amused that your motorcycle is a Harley-Davidson. And when me and the girls are through with you, you are going to be a David's son-in-law." Melissa whispered and blew his ear for added effect.

And what an effect it did. Izuku immediately went tomato red and steaming like he was hot sauna.

While they couldn't catch what Melissa said at the end, they clearly heard what Melissa called him. 'IZU?!' Was what rang in their heads, a revival of jealousy sprouting up that Melissa now had her own nickname for Izuku. Nejire pouted, but she was appeased knowing that she had her own in Zuzu. Setsuna had freshly returned from teasing Kendo to hear Melissa's pet name for Izuku and was more or less okay with it, finding it rather adorable, with Green Bean being her name for Midoriya. Uraraka blushed red, her brain scrambling to realize that Melissa may have omitted just how personal and deep her last night's conversation with Deku was that it now sprouted this new nickname. Mei likewise heard but she just shrugged and smiled that her newest best friend finally had her nickname for their mutual crush, even finding herself rather smug that her own nickname of Muscles had a story to tell of its own.

Asui croaked, slightly jealous that Melissa had scored such a nickname for Izuku when she had a hard time getting him to call her Tsu. She placed a finger on her chin and pondered if maybe her nickname for him should be something similar. Mina and Hagakure looked at each other, then at Melissa and Deku, and then back at each other, wondering if perhaps either one of them would have to call Izuku something other than Midori, but then wondering which of them would stick with the original and which would have to come up with their own. The same happened with Momo and Kyoka and the neurons fired in their brains, trying to figure out a nickname of their own for the love of their lives, and how the perfect way to say it.

The scene shifted with a reverent turn on Cap's war theme as the nearly 90-year-old soldier found himself at the Smithsonian. An announcer talked over the PA as visitors went about the museum, some going toward one exhibit dedicated to the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. The entrance to the exhibit had a shadowed form of the captain and his red-white-and-blue-starred shield with a title that read: Captain America, The Living Legend, Symbol of Courage.

"Oh, wow, he's got his own museum attraction," Sen nodded, impressed.

"The Symbol of Courage. The most fitting title ever," Uraraka smirked.

Izuku let out a small smile, the anger from his staredown with Aizawa mostly fading at the sight of the exhibit. He didn't want to sound too arrogant but in his dreams of wanting to be the Greatest Hero in the World, he'd imagined having something like the museums All Might had, where children, like himself back then, would go in and see all the exhibits and memorabilia dedicated to the Symbol of Peace and smile in awe and inspiration. He wanted to have that, for people to look at him with the same admiration, respect, and idolization as All Might had, instead of the contempt and disgust he got in the past.

Beside the entrance was a paragraph of text obscured by passing visitor heads, but the word 'Welcome back, Cap,' read high above and was quoted by President Matthew Ellis.

"Oh, President Ellis, the same President from Iron Man 3," Pony pointed out.

"Must be quite the honor to be the President in term to welcome back such an icon from the dead," Momo pondered out loud.

"Would be a good bit of trivia to bring up during a re-election," Melissa admitted.

"A Symbol to the Nation," A narrator voiced over the PA in the exhibit. "A Hero to the World." As the visitors went further in, a portrait of Captain America saluting while the American flag flowed in the background was on the wall. "The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice." Among the visitors, one of them, the man himself, came in with a blue cap that hid his green hair.

The group didn't need to say anything, many of them smiling cheekily that Izuku Rogers was visiting his own museum.

"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Izuku Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare," The narrator continued, showing an image of Pre-Serum Izuku Rogers, along with his height and weight, and below it a Post-Serum, shirtless, image of Izuku Rogers and his greater height and weight class. A mother and father were shown lifting their little son, wearing a Captain America onesie and toy shield, to have him on the same height as an imaged Pre-Serum Izuku.

"Awww," The girls and women cooed at the adorable sight, while Izuku blushed, imagining back to his days as a toddler wearing his All Might onesie.

All Might smiled warmly, already imagining and longing for the day when he and Inko would visit a museum for the Number 1 Hero: Deku, and see a couple raise their young child in a Deku onesie up next to a standee or image of the new Symbol of Hope and Peace.

"One that would transform him into the world's first Super Soldier," Beside the family, a couple of young girls were likewise measuring themselves compared to the scrawny Izuku, giggling, before awing at the greater height and build of Super Soldier Izuku as he replaced his scrawnier self.

"Ah, innocent girls fangirling over their celebrity crushes. So innocent, so adorable~!" Midnight cooed, hugging her body as she shivered in faux stimulation.

"Bad Kayama, bad!" Mic got out the spray bottle and spritzed water onto the hissing, cat-like R-Rated Hero.

Eri began pondering, wondering if she would end up in this situation, with friends, going on play dates, giggling and talking about their crushes, and blanching in horror and embarrassment when those friends would start drooling over her Papa. While that last one made her pout sourly, the fantasy was ultimately wonderful, something she wanted to have that she realized she was sorely lacking: friends.

Eri looked at Kouta, feeling a bit guilty. He was the only friend she had of her age, but she realized there would always be a bit of a boundary between the two, things they could talk about that she wouldn't get from some female friends, and given her unique circumstances, she wondered if she would ever have female friends of her own. Eri pondered if she might ask Grunkle Aizawa and Papa if there were any girls her age she could get to know.

As the girls gawked at the image of Izuku Rogers, the young boy, with a Captain America shield shirt, gazed frozen at the man himself. Izuku smiled warmly at the kid, bringing his finger up to his lips. The awestruck boy nodded and kept silent for his idol's sake.

"I think you just made that kid's day, Midoriya," Ojiro smirked.

"Forget the day, he's made that kid's entire life!" Sen exclaimed, gesturing to that kid's jaw-dropped expression.

"Pfft, whatever! He's probably just gonna tattle to his friends at school that he got to be secret buddies with Captain America!" Kouta pouted and crossed his arms.

"Aw, don't be like that, Kouta," Izuku bent down and removed Kouta's hat for him to ruffle Kouta's hair. "You know you and Eri will always be my biggest fans." 'And Katsuma and Mahoro too, perhaps, but best not say that for now.'

"Shut up! Give me my hat back! Stupid Deku!" Kouta whined trying to bat Deku's hand away while reaching for his horned hat before Eri could get it.

"I do believe he takes after both you and Midoriya, don't you think, 'Suki?" Ibara teased, wondering perhaps, if they do take their potential relationship that far, if she might ever have a son just like Kouta.

"W-Whatever!" Bakugou barked lightly, attempting to keep his blushing face from Ibara's teasing and adorable face. "The kid and Eri are always going to be more of a fan of the nerd. I'll stick with Mahoro."

"Mahoro? The girl from Nabu Island?" Ibara asked.

"Yeah, she and her brother were the ones in the crossfire of that Nine prick and his squad of Villains," Bakugou recounted the event as best he could, despite his loss of memories. "While that Katsuma kid ended up idolizing the nerd almost as much as those two, Mahoro preferred me. Kid's got brains on her."

"Oh, really," Ibara's sinister served to both raise a blush to his cheeks as well as begin dreading for his life. "Well then, I may wish to meet her one day so that she can regale me with how much she idolizes you. In front of everyone."

That served to wipe away all color from Bakugou's face till it was paper white. Kirishima could have sworn that Bakugou's ghost was trying to escape from his mouth. Watching it all from afar, Setsuna wiped a tear from her eye. 'They grow up so fast!' The greenette cried.

"In this rare footage, everyone's favorite war hero, Captain America..." An old-sounding war footage narrator played footage of Captain America during WWII while Izuku walked by and saw, all the while being beside a replica of his motorcycle. Izuku watched the footage somberly.

Ochaco frowned, her eyes concerningly gazing at Izuku Rogers, knowing that this visit wasn't the pleasant trip down memory lane that they were expecting.

"Battle-tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission: taking down Hydra, the Nazi rogue science division," A portrait of the captain and the Howling Commandos was on the wall behind mannequins dressed in their respective attire. The Symbol of Courage was dressed in his WWII-era suit, even donning his old stage show shield. To the mannequin's right held the ones for Dum Dum Dugan, Gabriel Jones, and Jacques 'Frenchie' Dernier. While on the left of the Cap mannequin were Jim Morita, James Montgomery Farnsworth...and Shoto 'Bucky' Barnes.

The mood went down at the sight of Shoto's counterpart. Endeavor closed his eyes and turned away for good measure. It didn't help to keep the memory of his death from playing in his head, his screams echoing in his ears, nor did the compounding guilt of seeing two sons die, one tragically out of heroism and the other from Villainy, hurt any less.

At first, All Might had a fond smile on his face, seeing the memorabilia for the Howling Commandos, the counterparts to most of One For All's past bearers, sans the First who was Dr. Erskine and Nana who was his counterpart's mother, Frigga. He was glad to see that they were remembered and honored for their service to their countries, it was no less what they deserved, just as much as they should be here too. Then he frowned at seeing the one for Shoto Barnes, and the guilt of a teacher failing their student flared in his chest as well as the knowing how this would affect his protege.

Pony's eyes began to water, remembering how horrible the counterpart to her crush had died. She wanted to say it wasn't fair but then the war never is. Pony sniffled but worked to keep both her tears and sobs from escaping, her mouth quivering as a result.

Izuku turned around to stare at a memorial for Shoto 'Bucky' Barnes, labeled 'A Fallen Comrade'. "Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Izuku Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield," The narrator said as Izuku walked up to it and stared somberly at his best friend's image, while another monitor showed Izuku and Shoto smiling together. "Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."

Shoto found it a strange experience to witness one's own memorial. He should be flattered, and, truthfully, he was. He was glad to see his contributions and efforts were shown such respect. Shoto could feel the hand on his shoulder from Yaoyorozu beside him and was grateful, letting her know with a nod. But the condolences, the memorabilia, it didn't matter to him right then. All that did was the sad frown on both Izuku's faces.

Izuku Midoriya's eyes were shadowed yet the frown on his face was evidence of his displeasure. Shoto's death reoccurred in his head, how he had tried to reach out to him only for him to fail, his screams were haunting to him still. He found it all unfair, that his friend had suffered and was captured during the war and fell to his death, while his own crashed into frozen water and yet he was still standing. He began to realize what Rogers was feeling. He felt he was in a world he didn't belong, having a second chance at life when the person he felt most deserving of it was gone. He felt alone. He could tell plain as day from that same frown.

He could feel the forms of comfort all around him. Melissa took his right hand in hers, and Eri hugged his chest while Setsuna rested her head on his shoulder, both of their hands clasping his left. The warm hand on his shoulder had him turn to find Shoto giving him a sad smile, wordlessly telling him that it was okay before he could mutter an apology or word of comfort. Izuku knew that Shoto wasn't going to let this rest until he told him he was okay as well, so he offered the best convincing nod he could.

Even with his lack of social decorum, Shoto could tell the bullshit from that nod but took it nonetheless, accepting that he might have to talk with his best friend after this. He gave a final squeeze to the verdant teen's shoulder before sitting back on the couch. That was when he felt a hand over his right one. Shoto blinked, turning to see it was Pony's hand. The white-and-red-haired teen had attempted to give her a questioning look, but the American transfer student didn't meet his gaze, continuing to stare at the screen as if nothing happened.

Shoto let out a quiet sigh and decided to accept it, taking the hand and feeling her squeeze his own with appreciation. Shoto for a moment thought back to his phone call from last night.

"That was a difficult winter," A familiar voice played on an old-sounding video.

Heads began to perk at the familiar voice and already were they preparing themselves for the feels.

"Oh no," Setsuna muttered in dread, almost hoping that F.R.I.D.A.Y. would glitch out and stop the movie or skip the inevitable pain that was to come to her crush and herself. She resigned to simply squeezing harder on Izuku's hand, to which he replied in turn.

"A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line," Agent Setsuna Carter was shown being interviewed in the video, showing the timestamp of the interview to be 1953 in New York.

Izuku could feel his heartbreak all over again. He remembered the tears that he caused in both Carter and his Setsuna and how shameful he felt when the latter was angry at him for keeping his survival a secret, or how Setsuna's face dropped in horror at how his counterpart was alive in the 21st century while Carter lived a whole life without him believing him to be dead, or how his counterpart failed to keep his promise, missing their date by over 70 years. He didn't know how his heart could break any further.

"Izuku-Captain Rogers," Izuku was in the audience watching the footage as he stared at the love of his life, whilst fiddling with an object. "He fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over 1,000 men." Rogers opened the compass to see Carter's picture. "Including the man who would...who would become my husband, as it turned out."

Scratch that, he just found out. And how painful it felt to hear those words.

In recent days, examining and admitting his feelings for the girls, Izuku found it hard to sleep, restless at the thought of being in love with 10 girls, much less that those very same girls had feelings for him in turn. He felt unworthy of it, even more so when realizing how blatantly obvious it was in hindsight, both their feelings and his own, and even felt that they should be with others who were a better match for them rather than the loser he was. But then that thought twisted something fierce inside of him, and the more he imagined the girls with someone else, the more bitter and painful that feeling was. The more he felt it, the more he recognized it as a feeling he remembered all too well: jealousy.

Like anyone else, jealousy and envy were feelings Izuku was familiar with. The envy he felt when all the kids in his class developed Quirks when he didn't, the bitterness how Bakugou was raised and praised by all their peers and teachers while he was shunned and scorned for something out of his control, jealous that Bakugou had a loving and supporting father while his own abandoned him and his mother because of his Quirklessness. The feeling would often be replaced with guilt and shame, guilty for feeling so negative over who he thought was his friend at the time and shaming himself because being jealous was not something a Hero should feel or act. All Might wouldn't approve. He didn't want to be the covetous, bitter, jealous brat that his teachers accused him of. He should be better than that.

And so, he struggled once more with the jealousy that sprung from imagining the girls he liked being with other guys, how painful it felt, and so too did he feel shame. They didn't belong to him, they were their own people with their own feelings and entitled to be with anyone they chose to be, and whoever they chose would be more than worthy of it if they so wished. That was why he felt so overwhelmed when both Setsuna and Melissa chose him, why he felt it was a fantasy that 8 others felt the same as them, and why he was so afraid of being rejected again.

But, ultimately, Izuku made up his mind last night. He would still pursue his goal to admit his feelings for the girls and try to continue in this plan that Set was pushing for, but if at any point one of the girls decides that they don't feel the same way and that they have feelings for someone else, no matter how much it would pain him, he would stand aside and support them. They deserved to be loved and deserved to be with whomever that person may be. And if it wasn't him, he would accept that, no matter how much it would eat at him.

Izuku could feel Setsuna remove her hand from his own, dread filling his heart, before it calmed, as Setsuna simply wrapped her arms around his and pressed herself further to his side. Izuku shivered at the feel of his soft moss-green hair tickling at his neck and jawline. "No, no one else," Izuku heard Setsuna whisper. "Only you."

Izuku's eyes widened, the green orbs watering at her words, his heart mending and healing as he heard what he couldn't mistake as love in her voice. Love for him. He then felt Melissa's hand clench harder on his, her body scooting further up next to him, her arm next to his own. "What she said," Melissa whispered, her voice just as loving. "No matter what."

The tenseness in his body slackened, his heart soared in elation, and some scars in his heart he never thought would heal did. Izuku's teary eyes became half-lidded, weighed by emotion. He finally closed them and nodded. "Okay," Izuku simply whispered, but it meant the world to the two, especially Setsuna.

"Even after he died, Izuku was still changing my life," Setsuna stated.

"You should be proud of yourself, Set," Izuku sat in a chair, looking at photos by the nightstand. On the nightstand were photos of Setsuna Carter and her family, one with her and a baby girl, and another with her and a girl and boy. The shot panned over to the occupant of the bed to be an elderly Agent Carter, who looked over to see the photos of her kids.

"Oh..." Setsuna muttered; her eyes shadowed by her hair this time.

"Tokage," Uraraka said worryingly, inching her to touch her shoulder to comfort her.

"I-I look so old!" Setsuna exclaimed, her eyes wide and grin wide. "Look at those wrinkles!"

"Setsuna-" Ibara tried to talk, her frown full of worry and concern.

"And look at that! I had kids!" Setsuna pointed out, her chuckles cracking under her tone. "Looks like they got the same hair as me. Two though, huh? I always figured I'd stop at three or four-"

"Set," Setsuna paused, turning her gaze to see Izuku's eyes, his sad, yet comforting eyes. He didn't say anymore, but his eyes said all he needed.

Her false smile began to drop, the faux giddiness she had in her eyes dimmed and revealed a broken sadness, and the grip she still had on his arm tightened and shook. A broken sob choked out of her, the beginnings of tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Unable to bear it any further, she dropped her head slack onto Izuku's shoulder, her body spasming from contained sobbing. Melissa let go of her hand on Izuku's right hand to allow the verdant-haired teen to wrap the arm around his fellow greenette.

"I-I'm sorry," Setsuna sniffed, now clutching onto Izuku like a lifeline. "I-I'm sorry. I-I just-"

Izuku's shushing was quiet and oddly comforting, his right hand petting her hair. "I know. I know," Izuku replied, the two of them knowing exactly why Setsuna was so upset.

It wasn't because she saw herself so old, or the fact she had children. Setsuna had imagined what her future would be, what it entailed for her past being a Hero. She figured that she would spend a good ten maybe 15 or 20 years as a Pro before settling down and retiring, maybe have kids sometime in between or afterwards. She knew the challenges and struggles that such a life would lead to, both for her and the children she wished to have, but it was something she wanted, rugrats of her own, a loving husband to support her and share in the struggles, a family. And now, she saw that her counterpart had that. It was just...

'It wasn't with the man I wanted,' Setsuna cried and shook while Izuku hugged her tighter.

It was then that Eri squeezed into the hug and Setsuna opened her eyes to her child's own watery eyes, and yet the girl maintained a wavering smile. Then Eri whispered, "Don't cry, Mama. Me and Papa are here."

The world had frozen for Setsuna, eyes as wide as dinner plates. The word Eri called her echoed in her mind, repeating it over and over because she couldn't believe it at first. Then she finally did, and she broke.

Setsuna's eyes began to cry rivers, her mouth wavering between a smile and biting her lips to keep the happy sobs from breaking out. Setsuna nodded and gazed at the girl who called her Mama: her daughter. 'I guess I got that family already,' Setsuna half-joked to herself, wrapping both the loves of her life in a hug.

The rest of the group watched this out, with many of the students actively letting tears fall from their eyes. Even Mineta bawled, though in joyful envy instead. They were at first concerned about the greenette and how she reacted to her old counterpart, Class 1-B especially; but now seeing that she was in good hands with both Midoriya and Eri, their fears were assuaged. The girls held no jealousy or fear in their hearts as they watched their mutual love interest and his daughter comfort one of their own, knowing that she needed this and ever-patient that they would have their own happy ever after. Hopefully.

The teachers and adults watched this all happen and were extremely concerned at first. Vlad King almost jumped out of his seat when he saw that his student was having a near mental breakdown, Hound Dog was likewise concerned as he could tell that she was disguising her pain through jokes rather than being honest with herself. And though their fears were likewise eased by Midoriya's and Eri's interventions, they made a note to talk with Tokage afterward, this kind of situation not being something that goes away just like that.

Recovery Girl smiled proudly at Midoriya for easing and comforting that poor girl in such a difficult and complex situation. Seeing a possible future such as this, one where they have lived a life without the love of their life, to find out you have children, all this must be quite a heavy revelation, even a burden. Thankfully, that very love the girl decided to be hers was the most understanding and caring boy she had ever known, so she knew that he, along with some much-needed counseling afterward, and the girl would surely bounce back stronger than ever.

Recovery Girl looked at the photos that held Setsuna Carter's children. The elderly pro could see the resemblances the two children had from their mother, especially the girl, and while the pictures were in black and white, she could tell by the deepness and similarity in coloring that Tokage was right that her children were green of hair like their mother. However, there was something else. As she narrowed her eyes, she could tell that the young boy was the one with the hair color closest to his mother's, the girl's, meanwhile, was more vibrant by comparison, with locks that were clearly lighter than the mother's mossy green hair. And while the girl was a near one-to-one comparison to her mother, the boy...he looked rather familiar. He looked almost like...

'No, I'm seeing things in my old age,' Recovery Girl shook her head, dismissing the thought as soon as it came. 'She clearly said she married someone else. And he was stuck in a block of ice for all the time. There's no possible way.'

F.R.I.D.A.Y. had long since paused the video till Setsuna Tokage was feeling better and knew perfectly well to keep her digital mouth shut. She knew perfectly well what was truly eating up at Tokage, that a version of herself had missed out on a life with Izuku. Whilst in the ever-infinite possibilities of the multiverse, that wasn't anything new, and she knew there were universes where the two were barely acquaintances, let alone love interests, like the prime timeline for example. Yet the A.I. could see that pointing that out would not help the situation at all. And though she knew revealing the truth about her counterpart's children and her 'husband' surely would, she didn't need her Master's directive to know that would be quite the damning spoiler.

"Mmm. I have lived a life," Setsuna Carter agreed, her voice grave and tired, a few mossy green hairs remaining on her head full of white hair. "My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours."

All Might took that sentence more personally than he would like to admit. Most of his life was governed around One For All and later being the Symbol of Peace, all his time, all his energy was spent avenging his Master's murder, growing stronger to defeat All For One, and being a Hero. Even if it cost him everything else, and it did. He never married, and he never had kids of his own, the closest family he had left by then was a father figure in Gran Torino, a brother in David, and a niece in young Melissa.

He pushed everyone away in his pursuit of maintaining the Symbol, like his sidekick, Nighteye, and while he would surely have no problems finding an interested woman to date and get to know, he never did. He wasted so much of his life in his work that he held no legacy to carry on other than One For All when the time came to pass it down. And pass it down he did with the boy he now saw like the son he never had, and with him came Inko. He kicked at himself for not finding her sooner, for being there for her when her ex-husband walked out on her and left her and her son without a husband and a father to rely on.

Now, he is going to make up for it. He's going to make up for it till the day he dies by being there for them, be it as a mentor or a father, as a boyfriend or, God willing, a husband. But what worried him was that he would end up passing on the same life to his protege. He feared that he might lead his son-in-all-but-blood down the same path of loneliness and regret. Seeing him with Young Tokage and Eri made the fear fade for a bit.

Izuku remained silent, his gaze lowering to look nowhere in particular. "What is it?" Setsuna questioned, knowing him well.

"For as long as I can remember, I just wanted to do what was right," Izuku confessed, looking up at her. "I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore."

Izuku's eyes fell into thought. He thought of Gentle Criminal and La Brava, the ones he had fought the hardest against, not in terms of strength, but of ideals. Gentle's dream to be recognized, to be important, to matter, and La Brava's belief and desire to make that come true. It shook what Izuku saw when it came to Villains. Stain was the closest one that he could see as misguided, with good and fair intentions twisted into a brutal extreme, any good intentions that Overhaul may have had were completely irredeemable and incomprehensible the second he hurt Eri to matter. Izuku feared that he was something that he could have become if he never had met All Might, and overall, he pitied him, and, though he would never feel sorry for saving the dreams and smiles of those at the School Festival, he still felt sorry and conflicted to have been the one to have to crush Gentle's.

Izuku's question of whether what he did was right or wrong was solved when he saw Eri smile, but that encounter would forever taint Izuku's understanding of Hero Society, a fragment of distrust in the system much like Rogers was surely feeling with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders. Serve," Rogers continued a sad smirk on his face. "It's just not the same."

"You're always so dramatic," Setsuna laughed lightly, rolling her eyes. It helped to bring a happier smile to Izuku's face.

"Sorry, Midori, but she's kind of right," Mina smiled teasingly at Izuku. "You can be a tad bit dramatic."

"W-W-What do you mean?!" Izuku stuttered, his free arm waving around frantically.

Kyoka raised a playful eyebrow at pointed one of her jacks to his waving arm. Noticing what they meant, Izuku hid the arm behind him, blushing and embarrassed.

"It's alright, Deku, it's not a bad thing," Uraraka smiled warmly. "It's just another quirk of yours that makes you you."

Izuku smiled back, nodding gratefully at her, and finding it humorous her choice of words pretty funny all things considered.

"Look, you saved the world," Carter continued. "We rather mucked it up."

"You didn't," Izuku protested. "Knowing that you helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. is half the reason I stay."

"Oh, so Agent Carter founded S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Nejire tilted her head, interested. "That's cool."

"Now that I think about it, the logo of the S.S.R., the group that Captain Rogers was recruited into, their logo was of an eagle, much like S.H.I.E.L.D.'s," Mandalay brought up. "I assume that after WWII, Agent Carter and the others must have converted the division into what we now know as S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Ragdoll playfully bopped the side of her head. "Damn, how did I miss that?"

"Hey," Set reached for his hand, Izuku allowing her to grab it and hold it close to her. "The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best that we can do is to s-start over..." Carter began coughing.

Izuku hugged Setsuna closer, a protective instinct running through his veins. Setsuna's momentary frown and worry lessened as a result. The rest of her classmates had little to comfort their growing fears of their classmate's counterpart coughing like that.

Rogers got up and went over to get a glass of water nearby. As she finished coughing, Izuku came back with the water. "Set," Izuku whispered to her, holding the water for her.

Setsuna Carter opened her eyes, her eyes confused before shock filled them, her thin mouth opening. "Izuku?" Setsuna whispered, unsure.

"Yeah?" Izuku asked back, concern across his face.

An equal flash of concern sparked in Izuku's analytical eyes. 'Something wrong,' He thought to himself.

Carter gasped, her eyes watering. "Y-You're alive! Y-You came back," The elderly woman gasped out, joyful.

"W-What is happening?" Itsuka questioned, her concern shooting through the roof.

"I am sorry to have to inform you of this but Setsuna Carter is currently suffering from Alzheimer's disease," F.R.I.D.A.Y. revealed somberly.

"Oh no," Kinoko gasped, her visible eye wide and horrified.

"Goddammit," Tetsutetsu cursed quietly, resting his shoulders on his knees while leaning his head onto his clasped hands.

"Toka-Setsuna, I am so sorry," Momo corrected herself and apologized.

"I-I-It's okay, Yaomomo, I...just give me a second," Setsuna gasped, trying to keep still her rapidly beating heart. As far she knew, none of her family had signs of the disease, but that wasn't necessarily a necessity. It's unlikely, but still...

"What is Alsheemers?" Eri tried to pronounce the word.

Izuku and Setsuna looked at each other, wordlessly conversing whether or not to tell the sensitive young girl the truth, but then again, F.R.I.D.A.Y. already revealed it, so might as well, they both thought, otherwise she would just needlessly worry.

"Well, Eri, um, it's a sickness that makes people have trouble remembering stuff," Izuku lifted the girl back to his lap, wrapping a comforting arm around her. "And sometimes those who are sick with it can forget important things too."

"S-So, she forgot that you were alive, Papa?" Eri questioned again, her eyes turning sad.

"Yes, she did," Izuku nodded before continuing quickly. "But it isn't her fault. She didn't choose to forget about me. It just happens."

"S-So, if you all had it...w-would you f-forget about each other," Eri began to cry, sniffing. "W-Would you forget about m-me?"

"No, no, no, no!" Setsuna disengaged from Izuku and placed her hands on both sides of Eri's face, making the white-haired girl face. "I don't have Alzheimer's, Eri. And even if I did, I would never forget about you. None of us would. You are too precious and important for us to forget about. You hear me?" Eri nodded, still trying to wipe her eyes of tears. "Come here." Setsuna brought the girl into a hug, the latter clinging to her new Mama in fear that she would lose her. Izuku would join in the hug too.

"Jesus Christ," Fat Gum pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's just one sad moment after another. And we only just started?"

"I'm afraid we have a lot more we need to brace ourselves for," Cementoss sighed, and everyone shared the same feeling.

Izuku's eyes began to water as well, his smile a sad one. "Yeah, Set," Izuku nodded.

Set whimpered and sniffled. "It's been so long. So long," Setsuna cried, pain, anguish, and happiness flooding both of their faces.

Ibara clasped her hands over her mouth, blinking away tears as she saw the pain and suffering her friend and classmate were going through in this other life. Bakugou brought an arm around his girl, doing his best to comfort her.

Vlad King wasn't one for religion, but if there was a God, he would very much like a word with him, a very long, very angry word.

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl," Izuku Rogers replied, smiling sadly. "Not when she owes me a dance."

During their hug, Setsuna detached a floated her pinkie to Izuku's, the two once more promising to fulfill that raincheck both of them made.

Back at the Triskelion, Director Shouta Aizawa looked out toward the world below him, gazing at what it was with his one good eye. "Secure office," Aizawa said out loud. Instantly, the lights dimmed, the window became dark and unseeable, the doors locked, and the glass shuttered closed. Shouta turned around, gazing at the drive in his hands, the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it.

"It's the drive with the data that Black Widow downloaded," Midnight noticed.

"It must have some important files that he doesn't want anyone to know," Ryukyu narrowed her eyes with curiosity.

"But wait, the info he had her download was clearly secret and unknown to Cap and the S.T.R.I.K.E. agents, but it's S.H.I.E.L.D. info," Mic pointed out, a suspicious cress now adorning his brows. "Wouldn't saving S.H.I.E.L.D. info from falling into the wrong hands be something they should have been aware of."

Hawks frowned, his eyes shifting as he tried to piece this puzzle together. They stopped and lit up when they started connecting. "Depends on the info," Hawks spoke up, suddenly concerned.

Placing the drive on the access port, Shouta spoke toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer. "Open Lemurian Star's satellite launch file."

A start-up noise sounded before an error sounding once occurred. "Access denied," the SHIELD computer replied.

Aizawa frowned. "Run decryption," The Director ordered instead.

The computer proceeded before the screen showed another failure. "Decryption failed," the computer responded.

"Something's not right about this," Shoda frowned.

"You mean other than that computer denying the freakin' Director of the place?" Kamakiri questioned.

"Shoda is right. Something fishy is going on here," Jurota agreed with his classmate. "Why would a launch file for a satellite be so restricted and unavailable to access by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.? What could be on there that would be so classified?"

"The connection between the satellite and the Helicarriers," Momo answered. "If the wrong person were to get their hands on the files, they could do anything from taking down the satellites to taking control of the Helicarriers."

"But this isn't the wrong hands, it's Mr. Aizawa's," Iida pointed out. "Sorry, Director Aizawa. His very request to access the files should be enough to grant clearance. No, there is something else happening here."

Aizawa narrowed at the screen, his suspicions rising alongside the students and adults.

"Director override. Aizawa, Shouta J," Aizawa commanded with his authorization.

The name and passcodes showed and were processed before another error and denial were shown and heard. "Override denied. All files sealed," The S.H.I.E.L.D. computer denied the Director a third time.

"On whose authority?" Shouta questioned; his brows furrowed.

"Aizawa, Shouta J," The S.H.I.E.L.D. computer revealed. Shouta J. Aizawa stared at the computer with bewilderment and growing concern.

"So, Aizawa locked himself from accessing the files he wants to review?" Pixie Bob questioned, completely confused.

"No, someone used the Director's own override access to lock the very person from accessing the files to hide their intentions," Nezu answered, his frown deepening. "Only someone with higher or equal authority or a master hacker from the inside could do such a thing."

The next thing that Aizawa did was enter the elevator. "World Security Council," The Director said.

"Confirmed," The computer allowed this time. Aizawa stood there frowning and contemplating as the elevator rose.

"Could it be the Council?" Nejire asked. "They did override Aizawa's authority during the Battle of New York."

"Oh, right, when they ordered that nuke to be sent," Mirio pondered. "That's possible. It's clear that Aizawa and the Council don't see eye to eye on things and they could have locked him out."

"If Shouta Aizawa thinks he can get his costumed thugs and S.T.R.I.K.E. commandos to mop up his mess, he's sadly mistaken," A holographic imaging of one of the World Security Council, Douglas Rockwell, said, his image on a replica of his chair and desk in a tube, toward an obscured man walking along the room. "This failure is unacceptable."

"Huh, at least we are seeing them more fully than when they were shrouded mostly in shadow," Mount Lady noticed.

"In movies that would imply that they have a more active role in the events to come," Kamui Woods informed, his eyes narrowing.

"Considering this attack took place one mile from my country's sovereign waters, it's a bit more than that," Another councilman spoke, one known as Jakuna Singh, jumped in. "I move for an immediate hearing."

"We don't need hearings, we need action," A councilwoman, Pamela Hawley, interrupted as the pacing man walked by. "It's this Council's duty to oversee S.H.I.E.L.D."

"A breach like this raises serious questions," A final councilman spoke up, his name Chao Yen.

If Hawks's and Nezu's eyes could narrow further in hatred, they would. Seeing the Council fully in person allowed the two to clearly see the similarities they had towards the Heroic Public Safety Commission. While Singh, Yen, and Rockwell didn't raise any alarms for them, it was Pamela Hawley who boiled their blood, or rather who she reminded them of: The current President of the HPSC.

It was through her directive that Hawks was tasked to infiltrate the League of Villains as a double agent and to continue this with the PLF. It was also through her directive that he had performed...undesirable acts, ranging from blackmail, threatening, and espionage; all done in the shadows for the sake of keeping the Commission's reputation as squeaky clean as possible.

When Dabi had told him that he needed something big to show that he was supportive of the League's cause, Hawks knew what he was asking of him: a dead Hero, and a popular one at that. Anything less would be fishy and the very second he failed to deliver would mean instant loss of contact between the two. Hawks was grateful that Best Jeanist was so willing to play ball with playing dead for the League to trust him; otherwise, Hawks worried that the President would have had him go through with the plan, regardless of Jeanist's consent...or condition. He knew the woman long enough to know she wouldn't hesitate to give such an order.

Nezu also had ill thoughts and interactions with the current head of the HPSC. Despite U.A. High School's independence and freedom to map out its curriculum and teaching methods, especially the Hero Course, it only had so much freedom because Nezu worked tooth and nail to make it so, and Nezu wouldn't lie that he had to play dirty at times to secure that freedom. He wrestled and pushed back against the suggestions and restrictions that the Commission attempted to impose, like a more thorough background check on suspiciously 'Villainous' Quirks or attempted interferences with his hiring of this staff, most especially the likes of Aizawa, Midnight, and Ectoplasm for their 'uncooperative and scandalous behaviors and personalities' or Ectoplasm's Villain-like appearance. Only in this recent year did Nezu manage to do away with that idiotic 'no Quirkless student' rule completely. At first, it was easy to do away with that rule in earlier years for the other courses, but only recently was he able to remove such a restriction for the Hero Course, which required a very tense and argumentative meeting/chess match with the Commission President where the U.A. Principal had to subtlety implied that doing away with it would ease her accusations of 'Quirkist' behavior despite how true they were.

Needless to say, seeing a near-look-alike among S.H.I.E.L.D.'s World Security Council amidst these suspicious events only further raised their guard.

"Like how the Hell did a French pirate manage to hijack a covert S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel in broad daylight?" Rockwell demanded to know.

"Hold on a second," Fat Gum raised an eyebrow. "I know we didn't get a good look at the guy before with the darkness and everything, but that guy looks different from the Avengers."

"That would be because they are not the same person," F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed, showing an image of the board member in question. "The one that which you are referring to was Gideon Malick, a businessman and political figure who is currently an advisor for President Matthew Ellis. Before the events here, he left the Council and was replaced by this man, Douglas Rockwell."

"Oh, well, that makes sense," Fat Gum nodded.

However, that did not assuage Aizawa's concerns, such as how it was rather convenient for only one person on the board to leave and become an advisor to the President of the United States.

"For the record, Councilman, he's Algerian," The man, now fully revealed to be a middle-aged blonde in a sharp business suit, a digital map of the world behind him on a wall of glass. "I can draw a map if it'd help."

"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! ALEXANDER GOODWIN PIERCE!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. interrupted and named the new man. "MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: RIKIYA YOTSUBASHI!" An image of the red-haired, business-suited, long-nosed cousin of Dr. Doofenshmirtz was shown.

Nezu's and Hawks's eyes widened immediately. 'Well, I think I found our bad guy,' Hawks thought as he gazed at Re-Destro. 'Now that I think about it, Slidin' Go's and Skeptic's counterparts make sense. It's the whole MLA as the villains here.'

Nezu frowned. 'From what Hawks said, this is the former leader of Meta Liberation Army and now a general serving under Shigaraki,' Nezu analyzed internally. 'And with Rumlow's and Sitwell's counterparts also part of the now PLF, does that mean that the true threat of this movie is S.H.I.E.L.D. under their control? And is meant to be some comparison to the MLA infiltrating Hero Society through its influential members?' Nezu began to smile dangerously. 'Well, it appears a goldmine of information has been placed on our lap.'

"Uhhh, who's Mr. Beak Nose?" Kaminari scratched his head.

"Dude, they just said his name?" Kosei pointed out.

"I know, I mean what's so important about this guy?" Kaminari clarified.

"Rikiya Yotsubashi," Momo informed, staring at the image of the man with interest bordering on suspicion, likewise seeing this man participate in meetings with her parents. "He's the President and CEO of the Detnerat Company."

"Oh, I know of them," Uraraka snapped her fingers. "They focused on making lifestyle products and support items for specific needs based on people's Quirks. I remember my parent's construction company working with them for some additions to buildings and houses."

"Yes, well the Detnerat Company has been recently in the works of venturing into the Hero Support Industry," Momo continued.

That caught Hatsume's attention, the young opportunist wondering if perhaps this recent venture would make them interested in hiring new and promising inventors, like herself whenever she graduates from U.A. On the flipside though, they could likewise be seen as an up-and-coming competitor against her own Support Company, one that she intends to make with Melissa if their recent ideas and work on their 'side projects' were anything to go by.

"I appreciate your wit, Secretary Pierce," Rockwell named the man. "But this Council takes things like international piracy fairly seriously."

"Really? I don't," Pierce replied. "I don't care about one boat; I care about the fleet. If this Council is going to fall to rancor every time someone pushes us on the playing field, maybe we need someone to oversee us."

"That...is a fair and pragmatic approach," Iida conceded.

"He does raise a point about the responsibility of such power that comes with this Council and organization," Jurota nodded. "A council must be reasonable and even-tempered lest they fall victim to their hubris and pride."

Hawks frowned, not liking what he was hearing. It wasn't the words that the students were talking about but rather the charm of Re-Destro working before his eyes in the subtlest of ways. The more you agree and lean towards someone, especially under your conclusions, the more you listen to them, the more you take their words to gospel, and before you know it, they become willing brainwashed pawns for Re-Destro and his army, now Shigaraki's army.

"Mr. Secretary nobody is suggesting-" Yen was cut off as a woman came up to Pierce and whispered something in his ear.

After she said the news and walked away, Pierce looked to the board saying, "Excuse me."

"More trouble, Mr. Secretary?" Rockwell questioned, while the imaging began to descend with the tubes to turn off.

"Depends on your definition," Pierce responded as he left, and the imaging cut off completely.

"Oh, so that's how that works," Mei hummed, nodding her head. "They likely are sitting in rooms with the same setup as their tubes, from similarly sized chairs and relay to show both the information on their desks and the secretary, yet the actual seats are there in case they convene in person."

Aizawa stood in the office just on the other side of the room watching the whole thing before the door opened for Pierce to enter and look at Aizawa. "I work 40 floors away and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?" Pierce questioned, walking up to his old friend.

"A nuclear war would do it, too," Aizawa rebuttals, shaking Pierce's hand before gesturing to the prior room. "You busy in there?"

"Nothing some earmarks can't fix," Pierce answered.

Aizawa looked uncomfortable for a moment. "I'm here to ask a favor," Shouta revealed.

"Okay, something is definitely wrong if Eraser is asking for favors from somebody," Mic stated. "Guy here's too proud to even take a suggestion when it comes to teaching a class."

Aizawa replied with a sharp glare at Mic.

"I want you to call for a vote. Project Insight had to be delayed," Aizawa explained.

"Shouta, that's not a favor, that's a sub-committee hearing. A long one," Alexander pointed out, concerned.

"It could be nothing. It probably is nothing," Aizawa argued, honestly. "I just need time to make sure it's nothing."

"And by logic and luck, it's definitely not nothing," Mina snarked.

"But if it's something?" Pierce probed.

"Then we'll both be damn glad those Helicarriers aren't in the air," Shouta explained.

Izuku frowned as he nodded. It seems that whatever is going on is related to Project Insight, and the project is connected to a trio of Helicarriers armed to the teeth with firepower that can easily decimate any force against it. 'Is someone trying to take control of the Helicarriers behind S.H.I.E.L.D.'s back to target a specific enemy of theirs?' Izuku questioned.

The two men looked at each other, measuring the other's resolve and seriousness. "Fine," Pierce relented. "But you got to get Iron Man to stop by my niece's birthday party."

"WHAT DOES THAT GUY TAKE ME FOR?! A BIRTHDAY CLOWN?!" Bakugou roared in fury.

"Meh, who knows, maybe he thinks your suit comes equipped with built-in helium for balloons," Sero snickered before a smack on the back of the head shut him up.

"Thank you, sir," Aizawa shook Pierce's hand, sealing the deal.

"And not just a flyby. He's got to mingle," Pierce warned.

"WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR CAN'T DO AT A KID'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, DISCOUNT DOOFENSHMIRTZ?!" Bakugou roared again at the screen.

"Wasn't he just complaining about going to the birthday party in the first place?" Shoda scratched his head, confused.

"Mans got a tsundere brain on him," Kosei replied, waving his finger in a 'coo-coo' motion.

"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU'LL BE THE ONE I TWIST INTO KNOTS, BLOWHARD!" Bakugou threatened the 1-B student.

With a final nod, Pierce walked away, and Aizawa stood there looking at the room, contemplating again.

"The thing is, I think it's getting worse," A woman spoke as Izuku walked into the VA looking at the assembly of men and women in chairs with Sam Wilson at the head on a podium. "A cop pulled me over last week." Izuku leaned by the entrance as the brown-haired woman told her tale. "He thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED."

"Jesus," Kirishima cursed, a sympathetic gaze directed at the lady. "That's what happens?"

"When you are used to seeing terrible things happen, Young Kirishima, it makes it hard to forget and adjust to the normalcy of what is," All Might sagely spoke, he and the other pros experienced similar dilemmas in seeing the worst of things in exchange for the people not to be burdened as such.

"Some stuff you leave there. Other stuff you bring back," Sam replied, speaking softly and understandingly to her and the other vets. "It's our job to figure out how to carry it." Izuku lowered his head, taking the words to heart. "Is it gonna be in a big suitcase, or in a little man-purse? It's up to you."

"Wisely said, Tokoyami-san," Hawks made an exaggerated bow. "Your counterpart is as wise as your feathery self."

Tokoyami rolled his eyes at his mentor's droll behavior, even if it caused the sides of his beak to perk up in a smirk.

"I'll see you next week," The lady vet said goodbye to Sam after the gathering.

"Definitely," Sam nodded as they went their separate ways, Sam's way leading toward Izuku. "Look who it is, the running man."

"Hey, I understood that reference," Izuku pointed out, smiling. Upon hearing the snickers and smirks sounding around him, Izuku looked at the students with confusion. "What?"

"Do you not remember who else said that, D-Deku-kun?" Uraraka did her best to hide the snickers and grin coming out of her mouth.

Izuku blinked in confusion before his memory triggered and he blushed brighter than Iron Man's armor. The resulting blush only greatened the snickers to full-blown laughter.

"Caught the last few minutes," Rogers said. "It's pretty intense."

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems," Sam replied as he straightened and gathered some papers and flyers. "Guilt, regret."

And immediately the good times faded as the sad vibes came rolling in, especially for Izuku.

"You lose someone?" Izuku asked.

"My wingman, Riley," Sam said. "Flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn't done 1,000 times before. Until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."

Tokoyami blinked and looked down, contemplation mixing with guilt, fueling his imagination through his counterpart's regret. The closest he had was Dark Shadow, his own Quirk his proverbial, ever-constant wingman, either a pain in his ass he can never get away from or a comforting shoulder in the darkness they shared. No matter how many friends, acquaintances, and co-workers he will have, Dark Shadow is the perfect, reliable partner for him.

And now he imagined what would it be like if Dark Shadow was instead an actual human being, his partner in the line of duty, and then how it would be if that partner was taken from him so suddenly and out of nowhere. Fumikage realized just how painful and guilty it must have been, the guilt to have been there and able to help, that he should have noticed and intervened, and now to continue onward whereas your friend is gone and no longer by your side. Tokoyami could feel how Dark Shadow crowed in sadness in response to his emotions.

He then found the comforting hand of someone who got him. Or rather comforting tendril. Courtesy of one Izuku Midoriya and his Black Whip. "I know that look, and it wasn't your fault," Izuku insisted. "Your counterpart could never have known any better. Stuff just happens."

Tokoyami regarded the Golden Boy of his class, an unofficial title that boy would sooner dismiss than accept if he heard of it. Eventually, he nodded back. "I know. Though perhaps you may take comfort in your own words," Tokoyami replied, sending back a knowing look.

Blinking, Izuku looked down, contemplating and Tokoyami could see the way the teen's eyes drifted for a second to Todoroki that he was doing as he advised. Izuku clicked his tongue, a small sad smirk inching its way to existence. "I guess it's harder to take your own advice when you question yourself so often," Izuku admitted.

"Indeed," Tokoyami nodded again, before smirking back. "Then it is for our own good that we have those to lean on when we become our worst enemies."

Izuku smiled, gratefully. The verdant-haired teen nodded at him and at Todoroki, the two of them nodding back whilst Dark Shadow gave a thumbs up as thanks for cheering Tokoyami up. But even as he turned back to the screen, Izuku's smile fell as he felt his guilt still there, unresolved, for now.

"I'm sorry," Rogers offered his condolences.

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?" Sam continued spilling his thoughts and regrets.

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Izuku asked.

"The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah," Wilson grinned. "Are you thinking about getting out?"

"No," Izuku answered, before tilting his head in acknowledgment. "I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."

Izuku's frown only grew as he did take those words to heart. 'What more did he have to live for if not being a Hero?' That was the question that now rang in his mind. For all his life, being a Hero was the one thing Izuku ever dreamed of, wanted, and needed to be. It was what he felt he was meant for when he saved the lives of others, especially Eri and Kouta. It was the one dream he had, his sole goal and desire; and thus, made it a living hell when it was the one thing that everybody said he couldn't achieve.

When All Might first told him that he couldn't be a Hero, he was truly devastated, pretty much broken that one man he idolized, the very symbol of Heroism himself thought he didn't have what it took. Before his mentor arrived after the Sludge Villain incident was cleared, he had thought to write a thank you note on his website rather than face the man himself. But afterward...all that Izuku saw back then was two roads and neither of them was worth living, probably because one of them wasn't living.

And it was that temptation to...to do that, to listen to Bakugou after all he fought tooth and nail for his dream, that to never achieve it was reason enough to end it all, that disgusted him when started thinking about the others in his life, both then and now. As much as he was a burden to his mother, he realized going with that plan meant putting all her hard work raising him to waste, tossing her love for him in the garbage he thought he belonged. If he did go through with it, where would all the people he helped be? A part of him wanted to believe that they would be better off without him, that others could take his place and do it better, but then he wondered if that was just him making excuses.

He was honest when said that he was inspired by Melissa, that she bounced back when her dreams of being a Hero were shattered and she continued onward, attempting to be a Hero in her own way, with Support Items. And even if she has once more been drawn back to the path of Pro Hero, she managed to see a life beyond a single dream, she saw a light at the end of a different tunnel, where he couldn't.

And now, despite being exactly where he wanted to be, on his way to being the Hero he always dreamed of, he wondered what else was there to be in his life beyond being a Hero. Does he have any aspirations beyond fulfilling this goal? Can he really be someone to look up to when he has nothing without it? Is he nothing more than a slave to his own dream? Is he but a bird caged by his own chains?

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam thought and suggested. Izuku chuckled. "Just a great idea off the top of my head."

"I think if he did, he would probably be disqualified instantly," Sen figured. "You know because of the super drugs in his systems?"

"I both want to argue against that and yet argue with you," Honenuki stated honestly.

"Seriously, you could do whatever you want to do," Wilson continued, supporting. "What makes you happy?"

Thinking for a moment, Izuku shook his head. "I don't know."

The girls frowned in worry. They didn't need to be geniuses or be romantically attracted to him to know that this was eerily too close to home for their Izuku. Melissa thought back to her talk with Izuku last night and remembered how he told her that he felt inspired by her resourcefulness and willingness to move on to a different goal when the first didn't work. Back then she was flattered, honored really, and she still is from such high praise, but now she fully registers the self-condemnation that Izuku spoke of himself for not having the strength to do the same, and looking at how tense he was now, it worried her.

And the others weren't far behind either. Uraraka, Kyoka, and the other girls of 1-A know of Izuku's fixation on becoming a Hero often borderlines into obsession as if he needed to be a Hero for one reason or another that was life or death, it was all he spoke of and he had little hobby not surrounding it like his notebooks. Kyoka frowned deeply about how similar it was to her struggle between choosing to be a Hero or a musician like her parents, to choose between her two loves only to see that she could be both. And now seeing Rogers unable to see a life beyond Captain America, and how it seemed that her Midoriya wasn't too far behind a similar outlook, she considered this appropriate justification to need a talk with the Green Bean.

Uraraka unknowingly agreed with Jiro. She, arguably, knew Izuku better than anyone else and she could see the signs clear as day that Izuku had an unhealthy fixation on being the best Hero he could be, reaching for expectations and goals that always felt too far out of reach no matter what he did. It looked like he was constantly letting himself and others down. Uraraka felt the same, constantly needing to push herself, to be a Hero as quickly as possible to give her parents the good life they deserved, and then she found a new goal, one to strive for as much as her old one, to be a Hero that saves other Heroes when they can't help themselves. As she saw Izuku frowning, she could see her Hero drowning under his insecurities and perceived failures, and she felt it her duty to save him, not just as a Hero in need of help, not as a chance to get closer to the love of her life, but as a friend in need.

A shot of D.C. was shown before transitioning to Aizawa on the road in a black SUV. "Activating communications encryption protocol," The electronic voice of the car's computer said as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. drove.

"Open secure line 0405," Aizawa ordered.

"Confirmed," The computer acknowledged.

A second later, an image of Agent Nemuri Kayama showed up on the upper left corner of the windshield. "This is Kayama," Nemuri picked up.

"I need you here in D.C.," Aizawa replied. "Deep shadow conditions."

"He's talking in code," Itsuka said. "Does he think his car is bugged?"

"I mean he was locked out of reviewing that file with his own override key so he's not taking any chances," Setsuna shrugged, both loving and worrying over the spy elements that seemed to be present in this movie.

"Give me four hours," Kayama immediately responded.

"You have three. Over," Shouta ended the call.

Midnight's fists clenched over fists over her knees, worry invading every vein in her body. In the span of a few days, she had witnessed the deaths of versions of Hizashi Yamada and Oboro Shirakumo, with the latter revealed to be not only alive but potentially a walking, reanimated corpse of a Nomu known as Kurogiri. 'I've already watched two of my friends die, I'm not losing another,' Kayama tried to refuse the world.

Aizawa's car rolled up to a light, while a police car rolled up beside him. Aizawa looked around casually before spotting the two white cops looking at him, blankly. "Want to see my lease?" Shouta asked, bluntly before looking away.

"You heard the man, keep driving," Miruko shooed away the cops. "Pfft. Damn, racists."

Ochaco narrowed her eyes, eying the cops suspiciously but not over racism like Miruko presumed. 'No, there's something else going on here,' Uraraka thought, wondering if her counterpart's espionage skills were rubbing off on her.

While the cop in the passenger seat was still on the radio, the driver turned on the siren and drove on forward.

"Okay, yeah, no, something's not kosher here," Melissa's guard was raised. Yeah, cops are allowed to run through red lights when their sirens are on, and when no cars are already crossing by, but the way the cop turned on the siren while eying Aizawa sent seemed just off.

As Aizawa began to drive himself, another police car slammed on the driver's side of his car.

"WHAT?!" The group exclaimed, some even jumping in their seats, at the random sideswipe from another cop car.

The airbags deployed for the stunned Aizawa while his car slammed to a halt on the curb. In conjunction, the police car in front of him pulled back immediately and slammed its behind onto Shouta's car while a third police car slammed behind him, with a final fourth pinning him on the right and trapping the Director.

"Grunkle Shouta!" Eri cried in worry.

"The Hell's going on?!" Kamakiri exclaimed. "Is this some kind of arrest gone overkill?!"

"No, this was planned," Jurota narrowed his eyes under his glasses. "The three other cars must been lying in wait until the first one sounded the siren as a signal to advance once they made out that Aizawa was in the car."

"A coordinated assassination attempt," Hawks frowned.

Aizawa himself was as surprised as anyone by the sudden attempt on his life, before he scolded his features, reminding himself that his counterpart was on the cusp of making a discovery involving Project Insight. This must have been organized and planned since he tried accessing the file. "Project Insight," Aizawa began voicing his discovery. "Ever since my counterpart tried reviewing the data, they planned this attack."

"But how?" Kinoko asked. "I thought the director's office was sealed and closed off?"

"It could have been some kind of failsafe or alert that activated when Aizawa tried accessing the data on the drive," David guessed.

"Fracture detected," The car's computer informed, showing an X-ray scan of Aizawa's body with a red circle on his left fractured wrist. Aizawa gasped as he tried to recover from the whiplash, his nose bleeding and a cut on his right cheek. "Recommend anesthetic injection." Aizawa followed the computer's advice and reached for something in the car.

Whilst he was doing this, the police car that first slammed into him backed up while two SWAT vans pulled up to reveal a group of guys in SWAT armor hopping out with their guns fixed on Aizawa's car.

"They brought a SWAT team?!" Mount Lady shouted, alarmed.

"I don't believe this is truly the police," Kamui Woods stated.

"D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area," Aizawa brought out the anesthetic injector and injected himself in his left arm.

"Yep, whoever these guys are, their connections must run deep," Death Arms crossed his arms.

Eri began to cling onto Izuku and the green-haired teen hugged her back as he glared at the screen.

Looking out, Aizawa saw all the false police officers and the SWAT team get out of their cars, their guns at the ready. Aizawa spat out the cap of the injector.

"No, no, no, no," Hagakure repeated, worried, her invisible hands reaching up to grasp at her equally invisible head.

"Get me out of here," Aizawa ordered the car. The false police opened fire.

"SHOUTA!/AIZAWA!" Several of the group yelled, from the 1-A students to his teachers and friends.

The car was assaulted on all sides by a hail of bullets, impact holes chipping every part of the car, yet no bullets fully pierced the car.

"Oh, thank God! The car is armored!" Mic breathed a sigh of relief, hand over heart.

"He is still not out of this yet," Fat Gum reminded. "Guys pinned between three cars and the armor's not going to hold forever a hail of bullets like this."

"Propulsion systems offline," The car's computer informed, showing the very system colored in red.

"Great, and the freaking engines are off!" Pixie Bob threw her hands in the air in exaggeration.

"Then reboot, damn it!" Aizawa snapped at the computer while the false police continued firing.

As they fired, another screen showed the armor integrity of the car continuously falling from 82% The false police and SWAT man continued advancing on the car as they likewise continued their rain of bullets.

"Okay, okay, the armor is still very high and with this rate of fire, the systems could come back online before they breach," Power Loader analyzed.

Suddenly, they stopped their firing. Aizawa looked to see the unknown enemy bring out an automatic battering ram from the SWAT van and make their way toward the car. They got to the driver's side and set up the battering ram, ready to activate.

"I think you may have spoken too soon," Snipe retorted.

"Is that a battering ram?!" Manga exclaimed, exclamation points on his text bubble for a head.

"Warning. Window integrity compromised," the computer warned.

"You think?" Aizawa retorted at the computer again, hopping on over to the passenger side.

"You know I would be laughing that Eraser's arguing with a computer like that if he wasn't in the middle of an assassination attempt," Mic said, honestly.

"Good, if you did I would have smacked you upside the head," Midnight replied, honestly while her clenched fists only tightened.

With a button, the battering ram began drilling its legs into the road, readying up. "How long to propulsion?" Shouta questioned.

"Calculating," the computer calculated its systems.

"Well, Calculate Faster, You Hunk of Junk!" Bakugou barked at the computer that couldn't hear him.

With another press of a button, the ram shot forward, rocking the car and causing a huge dent in the glass. "Window integrity 31%." The computer informed.

"Jesus, it went from 80 to 30 that fast?!" Kaminari exclaimed, now clutching his head like Hagakure.

Izuku gritted his teeth, the feeling of uselessness welling up again that he wasn't there to help.

"Deploying countermeasures," The computer continued.

"Hold that order!" Aizawa commanded.

"Excuse me, come again?!" Mina exclaimed.

"Aizawa must have some plan in mind," Momo rationalized, despite her nails close to her clenched teeth.

Uraraka's hands squirmed as her worry climbed, hoping that Momo was right, likewise feeling useless for her counterpart being an Avenger and not being there to help protect her boss.

The battering ram struck again, rocking the car and causing further damage. "Window integrity 19%. Offensive measures advised," The computer pressed again, while Aizawa stared seriously at the enemy.

"Wait!" Aizawa said again.

Kirishima lit up with realization. "He's waiting until the armor is at the absolute lowest percent!" Kirishima exclaimed his revelation. "He's waiting for the perfect opportunity for a counterstrike!"

"Yeah! Those guys will get in closer, and he can work his magic!" Tetsutetsu caught onto Kirishima's thought train. "That's genius, bro!"

"Hey, I've been taught by the best," Kirishima looked over at Tamaki and Fat Gum, both of whom smiled and nodded at him.

The battering ram smashed the window again while all the enemies moved in closer. "Window integrity 1%," The computer informed.

"NOW!" Aizawa yelled. The storage compartment opened and out popped a four-barrel gun turret.

"Bang!" Kouta shouted, making a finger gun and aiming at the screen...without accidentally shooting water from his Quirk.

Aizawa opened fire, blasting the window to pieces and sending his own rain of fire onto the enemy, killing all those right on the other side and some at the back, with a few ducking for cover. Shouta aimed, the fifth lower barrel firing out a grenade that blew up the SWAT van in a burst of fire, the remaining enemy running for cover. A second grenade sent a police car flipping on top of another.

"Ohohoho! That's awesome!" Kaminari exclaimed, excited. "He's mowing all of them down!"

"And he destroyed the cars with the grenades, destroying the enemy's cover, means to further pin his car, and their means to catch up with him should he manage to drive away," Iida summarized Aizawa's tactics.

"Propulsion systems now online," the computer revealed, the red of the system now turning blue.

"Full acceleration! Now!" Aizawa yelled as he continued firing.

The car's engine roared to life, tires screeching while the false cops tried to fire at the armored windshield. The car backed up and crushed more of the car behind it, before zooming out to escape, Aizawa taking down a few more false cops while the rest feebly tried to shoot at him.

"That thing can drive by itself?!" Mineta exclaimed.

"Yeah, I mean it's not anything new here," Sato shrugged.

"No, no, I get that," Mineta shook his head. "I mean this is still like 200 years in the past compared to us and I don't think they had self-driving cars in mass back then."

"Well, it is the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and his car already is armored, has an advanced computer, and a turret in the compartment," Ojiro listed the car's advanced tech. "Self-driving computer doesn't seem too farfetched to me."

"Not that I don't want them to kill him, but why don't they just shoot at his tires?" Sen wondered.

"I think they are, but there are bulletproof tires," Awase pointed out. "Highly doubt the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with a history of paranoia and contingency plans would skim out on that."

As the damaged car automatically drove at high speed, Aizawa yelled "Initiate vertical takeoff!"

"Wait, that thing can also fly?!" Kosei exclaimed, before raising his hands in surrender. "Wait, sorry, I know. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., prepared as all hell, I get it." Kamakiri closed his mouth, swallowing the retort that was halfway out of his tonsils.

"Flight systems damaged," The car revealed.

"Oh, perfect, of course they would be," Hawks rolled his eyes.

"Then activate guidance cameras!" Aizawa ordered further, hopping back into the driver's seat only to groan as his injured shoulder smacked the car door. "Give me the wheel!"

Suspenseful chase music played as Aizawa's car was chased after by the enemy police cars, the cars weaving past cars in their way.

"Oh, wow, we have a car chasing scene," Setsuna blinked. "It really is like a spy movie. I would be delighted if it didn't involve one of our teachers."

"So far, it would appear that he only had two cars chasing after him, and he had destroyed and damaged the others with the explosions," Izuku analyzed. "Reinforcements are highly unlikely, they would have to be a small enough group to avoid unnecessary suspicion and easy-to-track detection later on. If Mr.-Director Aizawa can lose them, he could have the computer find a safe house."

"Give me Agent Kayama," Shouta ordered.

"Communications array damaged," The car informed further.

"Well, what's not damaged?" Shouta sassed back the computer, annoyed.

"Air conditioning is fully operational," The computer's monotone voice unhelpfully shares.

"Pfft, okay, sorry, I couldn't hold that in," Kaminari chuckled.

Aizawa and the enemy cars continued swerving and weaving through cars and buses at high speeds. "Traffic ahead," The computer warned.

"Give me an alternate route," Aizawa directed.

"Traffic alert on Roosevelt Bridge," the computer continued informing while a red glow of the appropriate pathway advised him. "All vehicles stopped. 17th Avenue clear in three blocks, directly ahead."

"You think they may have purposefully created the traffic to block Aizawa's means of escape," Ochaco questioned.

"Nah, traffic is just crazy in big cities like D.C.," Asui answered.

Looking around for a split second, Aizawa sped the car further, slamming into the pickup truck in front of him to get out of his way. Getting in between two other cars, the cars screeched at the damage while civilians looked on in shock and confusion. Aizawa slipped through the two cars swerved, and halted, forming a block for the police cars.

"Smart," Edgeshot nodded. "Not only will it block the enemy vehicles for a time but keep further civilians behind them from running into the crosshairs of this conflict."

While Aizawa's car continued trying to squeeze his way through other cars, the false cops got out of their cars, guns and shades out, and began running after the car. Civilians ran in terror while the faux cops hopped onto other cars and fired their automatic rifles at Aizawa's car. The faux cop hopped and continued running after Aizawa while the police cars barreled and pushed their way through.

"Well, that didn't take long," Hawks scoffed.

The Director's car continued to slip in, crash, and push other cars out of his way. Momentarily stuck with one next to a bus, one of the faux cops caught up, on the other side of the bus and the bus stop and fired indiscriminately through the bus, attempting to fire at Aizawa on the other side while the civilians ducked and screamed.

"Okay, I know it's a stereotype to say that cops don't actually give a shit about excessive brutality and whatnot, but come on this is a bit much, who's really going to believe that these are cops?" Kaminari asked.

"Probably won't matter," Sero shrugged. "I bet after this they either go into hiding or six feet under."

As he reached the end of the bus and the faux cop popped out, Aizawa put the car in reverse and stepped on the gas, reversing back onto the other faux cop from behind, smacking into and sending him flying onto the windshield of the car behind him. The last one continued firing while the Director drove forward angling and slamming a white car, the car's rear swiping and striking the faux cop in return and slamming him through the glass of the bus stop.

"DDDAAAAMMMMNNN!" Sen and Awase exclaimed and leaned back, exaggeratedly.

"It's like babysitting a bunch of children," Itsuka sighed, pinching the bridge between her eyes.

"Tell me about it," Yaoyorozu agreed, the two smiling in comradery at their mutual status as the 'Mom/Big Sister' of their classes.

While one of the cops got back into a car, Aizawa's car zoomed out with the enemy cars still in pursuit, swerving and weaving past more cars as they honked. One of the cars caught up to be right across from Aizawa and opened fire, Aizawa leaned back as bullets flew in front of him, barely missing him, while others were blocked by the cars they passed.

"Too close, too close, too close," Rin repeated, almost subconsciously activating his Scale Quirk on reflex.

Looking at his rearview mirror for the other cop car behind him, Shouta took his shot and swerved his car toward the firing faux cop and his car. Slamming into each other, the faux cop was now peeking into Aizawa's car, still attempting to fire indiscriminately. The second police car caught up and drove right beside Aizawa's right side while the firing faux cop still drove on his left, the right trying to veer Aizawa's car to halt or flip.

"Am I really seeing what I am seeing here?" Thirteen questioned, her helmet hiding a perplexed expression on her face.

"If you mean that somehow three cars are driving side by side with one of the gunmen peeking out into Aizawa's car while still on the other, then yes you are seeing correctly," Ryukyu nodded slowly, a blank look directed at the situation.

"Hahahaha! This is both cool and hilarious!" Miruko laughed. "It's Coolarious!" The last sentence was said at the same time by Miruko and Hawks.

Ryukyu and Edgeshot sweatdropped, one sighing in fond exasperation of her best friend and the other contemplating what did he wrong in his previous life to deserve this.

Shouta struggled and fought with the false policeman, striking him across the face with a right hook, removing the clip of the gun, and then backhanded the man again. The foe brought out his side pistol and attempted to aim at Aizawa, for the Director to then pin the arm on his wheel.

"Warning. Approaching intersection," The computer warned as it detected a truck coming in from the left side.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Sero cursed repeatedly.

"Language!" Izuku yelled at him, covering Eri's ears.

Slamming on the brakes, the two police cars flew by Aizawa. While the cop still tried to aim and fire behind him, the truck slammed into the police car and then into the second, the first flying off from the impact while the second was taken for a ride with the truck as Aizawa went the way the truck came from.

"Yeah, those guys are super dead," Awase nodded.

"Oh, most certainly," Kuroiro agreed.

"Get me off the grid!" Aizawa ordered.

"Calculating route to secure location," The computer replied.

As the computer did so, and Aizawa's gaze refocused through the chipped windshield, he spotted a black-suited figure in the middle of the road, in front of him, mysterious, ominous music playing.

If whatever relief they had that Aizawa might have escaped danger, was only magnified ten-fold.

Aizawa only had a second to react in confusion before the dark figure raised a device and aimed at Aizawa's car. The man fired, but instead of a bullet, a disc sailed off, sliding off the ground and rose and attached up to the belly of Aizawa's car. Immediately, it exploded. With a flaming, smoking trail, Aizawa's car flipped over while the dark armored man simply side-stepped out of the way.

"What the..." Words failed Kyoka as she stared at the admittingly badass confidence and skill of the assassin.

Midnight's, Mic's, and Aizawa's eyes widened as they saw the car of the latter's counterpart flip over and the feeling of dread they felt from the assassin's presence.

Aizawa's car slid a few meters on its roof before sliding to a halt. A clearer, smoky view of the advancing man showed that he was donned in entirely black armor, his eyes and face obscured under a mask and goggles, his long, fiery red hair blowing in the wind.

Shot blinked as he saw the man, the left side of his head suddenly itchy. Endeavor couldn't explain the feeling of dread and recognition he suddenly felt. Perhaps it was because of the similar shade of red that the assassin's hair was but Enji Todoroki felt that he should know who this is. Even Miruko couldn't explain why her arm suddenly felt so itchy.

Izuku felt a shiver roll up his spine, he could hear his heart beating at the feeling of dread and familiarity that the assassin held, which didn't help with the concern he already held for Aizawa's condition.

But whereas they saw recognition through the man, Kyoka shivered as her recognition was the music. The eeriness, the rise, if Kyoka didn't know any better, she would have mistaken the music for someone screaming. Kyoka had sworn she had heard this before, but she couldn't wrap her mind where she did.

Aizawa groaned from the explosion and car flip, gazing out the window to see the advancing assassin. Reaching behind him, Aizawa pulled out a cylindrical device with a match-like end. Shouta activated it, the match end sparking a blue, laser-like flame.

The assassin marched his way toward the downed car, the faint sounds of hissing through the ominous music. As his black boots reached the car, the assassin reached out to the car, yet instead of a normal hand, with a whirring sound a metal hand clothed in fingerless gloves grabbed onto the car door. With a barely effortful pull, the assassin ripped off the car door and sent in flying away.

"A metal arm?" Momo pondered out loud, her curiosity magnifying further upon such a unique attribute of this mysterious individual.

The assassin peeked in, his black visors hiding his eyes as much as the red hair hid whatever parts of his forehead weren't hidden. But as the assassin peeked in, there was no Director Shouta Aizawa, only a laser-cut hole into the ground and the sewers.

"Phew, he escaped!" Mic sighed once more in relief.

"But who was that?" Midnight still frowned, worried.

Shoto stared at the screen while his theorist mind worked itself to the extreme. The ambiance, the threatening appearance, and the arm, all added up to, in movie terms, that this had to be the main antagonistic threat of this video. It was then Shoto Todoroki remembered the very title of this video. 'Could this be the Winter Soldier?'

---

AAAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDDDD SCENE! Oh my God! Finally done! You know how you guys were waiting for me to finish the last two movies and how it would be more enjoyable and easier to get through The Winter Soldier? Well, turns out that trying to make a chapter of one of the most hyped and anticipated movies as good as possible is mighty difficult, even more than the two previous movies.

In any case, apologies if you guys are overwhelmed by the sheer volume that is this chapter in comparison to the others. Firstly, I needed to skim over what the students, teachers, and Heroes were doing before the movie for this new day, fulfill the foreshadowing that I had planted with Miruko and Deku and Bakugou and his therapy session with Hound Dog, detail the aftermath of Izuku's talk with Melissa, and set up the new viewing arrangements. And that was all before the actual movie.

I hope you guys liked the new seating arrangement, which is based partly on the most recent seating arrangement in MHA watches Death Battle and is supposed to elicit a group of people watching it like they were watching it in a home theater. Then there's Miruko vs Deku and at first, I wanted to tack this onto the interlude chapter, but I felt it would have been confusing with how suddenly went from the night to day whilst skipping the intro. Either way, I wanted this fight to be as accurate to Izuku, Miruko, and their strengths, that being that at this point, Izuku could never hope to beat Miruko in a full-on fight so a first-to-land-a-hit scenario seemed like something that he could achieve, only that it would be incredibly difficult still. The only reason he won was because of Float, which I had awakened even earlier than canon because Izuku was already training on handling the Quirk before it did manifest, having it do so here makes the later awakening of Danger Sense more unique and random, and fits as a way to stun Miruko with the Quirk of her idol and use it to win the match.

So, now, Izuku has switched from training under Endeavor to being Miruko's protege, something I felt could have been an interesting idea that the Team Up side manga only brushed the surface of. Yes, it is fitting for Izuku to train under the current Number 1 Hero, and Miruko's personality can be a bit much, but having Deku as her sidekick or protege could be beneficial to both of them. For Miruko, the lone wolf of the Top 10 Heroes, having a sidekick or intern would open her up to be less crass and dismissive of the idea of working together, could have given her more screen time and presence in the canon as an important figure for Izuku as a mentor, and, for this story, explore the possibility of her finding someone to connect with more intimately, thus giving an extra reason to fight even harder come the War arc and maybe come out of it better than before. And as for Izuku, he could benefit from Miruko's training personally and heroically. Her kick-based fighting style, speed, and power would pair nicely with Izuku's speed, strength, and Shoot Style, her confidence and personality Izuku could rub off and help him gain more confidence and self-respect, and, for this story, explore the situation of now training under a childhood celebrity crush.

Now, for those who take a dislike to the harem situation already, I won't be having Miruko and Deku have any romantic and too intimate moments in this and the Phase 3 sequel story, he already has his hands full with the others. However, whether this could end up in a pairing by the 4th part of this sequel story... is left to me to decide.

Then we have the counterparts and yes, the Meta Liberation Army is taking center stage in this movie, which fits with both the corruption of power and influence that the movie states, and pairs well with Nezu and Hawks discussing freely about both the Commission and the PLF. For Rumlow, aka the future Crossbones, both he and Slidin'Go are lackeys to HYDRA/MLA, the muscle and traitor to Cap/the Heroes, simple as that. Skeptic is Sitwell and the reason I didn't have this stated back when he first appeared in The Avengers was because that first appearance wasn't exactly important whilst here the latter has a more important role that is similar to his tech & communications-centered counterpart. Kendo Rappa is the counterpart for Batroc and I chose this based on both of their aggressive, yet contrasting fighting styles, one focuses on fists while the other kicks, and yet both like the thrill of the fight against Cap/Fat Gum & Kirishima, they both got cocky, the beginning of Batroc's fight with Cap was the Super Soldier forced on the defensive against Batroc's relentless attacks before Cap could counterattack, mimicking the fight Rappa had with Fat and Kirishima.

Next is Re-Destro as Alexander Pierce. Whilst many of you wanted Endeavor to be his counterpart, which I get because of how he saw his son, Shoto, as a tool to surpass All Might, and Bucky was seen and used as Pierce as a weapon, and both have hidden dark sides that the world at large doesn't know or would cater to, I felt that the leader of Meta Liberation army was a more fitting counterpart to one of the leaders of HYDRA, the organization I already compared to the MLA back in the First Avenger. Pierce and Rikiya are both influential men, one a secretary and leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. while the other is the President and CEO of his own company, both have hidden evil armies in the shadows that believe they are doing the world a service with their acts for the 'greater good', and both charismatic and convincing enough to have influenced so many to be a part of their armies. Plus, the MLA has their own 'Hail Hydra' with how they make an 'L' and place the thumb on their foreheads, and Pierce's later angry slap to Bucky's face was a show of rage and stress that is similar to Re-Destro's Quirk, Stress.

And finally, saving the best for last, Tokoyami and Sam Wilson. Now, again because this needs to be stressed: No, I did not choose Tokoyami because he has black feathers and Sam is black, that's stupid, stop insinuating that, grow up. Now to all you reasonable readers, Tokoyami is one of the only flying members of Class 1-A, if not the whole series, discounting Hawks, Izuku with Float, Bakugou, Endeavor, Nejire, Tokage, a floating Uraraka, or Momo with a jetpack, but Tokoyami actually flies with Dark Shadow's arms as wings and we have seen how Sam can use his wings more than just flight but also defense and even a weapon when he killed a Chitauri Gorilla which compares to Tokoyami using Dark Shadow as both an offensive and defensive Quirk. Falcon even has his own Dark Shadow, an aviary-like companion, in Red Wing, and personally, both characters are some of the chillest, most nonchalant members of their groups. Also, despite not choosing Sam for Tokoyami based on race, since Sam is black and Tokoyami is Asian, there was a comparison I found with their costumes, in that Falcon first started with a dark grey and later upgraded to black and red, those two colors actually comparable to Tokoyami as black is his main costume color, and when Dark Shadow becomes enraged, his eyes glow red.

The main argument people had for Mirio was because of One For All and how him being a candidate to inherit the Quirk and Izuku almost doing that was comparable to Cap passing the shield and mantle of Captain America to Sam, but besides that and perhaps being the 'funny guys', they didn't have much in common after that. Two at most reasons compared to the 5 or so that Tokoyami has, and the point of Cap passing on the shield to Sam was because he felt like the right, worthy choice. Izuku is not going to be giving One For All to Tokoyami, but All Might chose Deku as the rightest, worthiest choice, not the easiest, not the most logical, but the right one.

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, and because I don't want this super long chapter to be unnecessarily longer. So, to wrap it up quickly, like and follow my other stories here and on AO3 if you haven't already, comment your thoughts and predictions in the reviews, and stay cool and chill with each other.

This has been Zayden StormVoid, and now, if you'll excuse me, I shall be putting on my shades, lifting them with my middle finger, and start playing a decade-old music video while performing a Fatal Blow.

YOU PUT IT DOWN LIKE NEW YORK CITY! I NEVER SLEEP, WILD LIKE LOS ANGELES! MY FANTASY, HOTTER THAN MIAMI, I-I-I FEEL THE HEAT! OH-OH-OH-OH (GIRL, IT'S), IT'S INTERNATIONAL LOVE! (INTERNATIONAL) OH-OH-OH-OH (YEAH), IT'S INTERNATIONAL LOVE (WOO)!