Chapter 23: Coda for the Damned

Maybe it had been the sight of her own hands driving a knife into Eraserhead's side, or the moment she realized with terrifying certainty that Hagakure was a traitor, a follower of the criminals and terrorists who had held her prisoner for weeks on end. Regardless of exactly what pushed her over the edge at some point amid the surreal, dreamlike horror of it all, Uraraka Ochako had given up trying to regain control of her body. The spark of hope that Aizawa's arrival on the scene had kindled was dead, and she didn't have the strength or the courage left in her to light one anew from the ashes. For lack of a better word, she felt numb – after everything that she'd watched her body do in the past few minutes, everything that she'd listened to Midoriya say with her voice ,she wanted to scream, cry, rage and fight– but she couldn't, and there was no one left to help her. She had resigned herself to that fact. She couldn't even close her eyes; there was no choice but to watch everything that Seraph did, each cruel stroke of his blade. Now, as he plunged down the stairwell with Hagakure, Kamakiri, and Aizawa's limp, floating body trailing close behind, she found herself wishing that she could just fade away into nothing, vanish from the world – anything to end this waking nightmare, a fate far crueler than defeat in battle.

"That's far enough," Midoriya declared quietly, shaking her from her thoughts.

They were outside the school now, standing at the edge of the athletic field, with trees behind them. The graduation stage was on the opposite side of the building from them, and she could hear Vlad King's muffled voice in the far distance. Seraph brought Uraraka's fingers together and released her quirk, dropping Aizawa's faintly stirring body to the ground alongside them. Growing paler by the second, Eraser had left a wake of floating blood drops behind him as they carried him outside – now they all fell at once, painting a jagged crimson trail towards them across the dirt.

"So we're outside the blast radius, then?" Hagakure phased back into visibility, and cast a cautious glance back at the main building. "With how many bombs we snuck in, I don't want to be anywhere near the splash zone when it goes up."

"You got that right." Behind her, Togaru leaned up against a weathered tree and tapped at the sides of his head. "I'm not trying to bust my eardrums either – they're screwed up enough already from concerts. There's the shockwaves to consider too, right?"

"Ugh, are you part of that group who keeps blasting death metal records in the middle of the night?" Lightwave shook her head in disapproval. "It's you, Kuroiro, and Reiko, right? We can hear them all the way from the Class A side of the dorms!"

"Hey, only on weekends! Not that it matters anymore regardless."

"You're correct on that front," Seraph cut in. "Your old lives, your U.A. lives – they end today, in one way or another. Are you ready for your grand debut, Tower?"

Kamakiri breathed in deeply, then turned on a dime, swinging his arms in an x-shape in a lightning-fast blur of motion. Before Uraraka could even process what had happened, the tree Jack Mantis had been leaning against was falling apart, sliced to pieces in an instant along precise, clean-cut lines. Two wickedly sharp, curved blades gleamed in the dull afternoon sunlight as they retracted back into his arms.

"Damn, I'm good." A self-assured grin spread across Togaru's face, and he ran a hand through his bright green mohawk with a chuckle. When he turned back to face Seraph, his eyes had the same dark gleam that Ochako had seen in Izuku's. "Yeah, I'd say I'm more than ready. But that codename won't be useful for much longer, huh? Forget Tower. After today, call me Scimitar."

Seraph nodded approvingly, even as Hagakure stifled a giggle off to the side, covering her mouth with one hand. Ochako still hadn't recovered from the shock of seeing her friend's true face for the first time – perhaps she never would. More than anything else that had happened today, her betrayal still felt impossible, inconceivable. As Seraph turned his gaze up towards the girl she had laughed and cried with for three years, it felt like Ochako was looking at a complete stranger; even her body language was entirely different, cold and confident and guarded. How?! She wanted to ask Toru, memories of study nights and birthday parties and boy talk flashing through her mind as she searched the girl's face for any trace of remorse or regret, of the kind, gentle expression she imagined whenever she pictured Hagakure's face. How could you do this?! How could it be you?!

Uraraka had never known Kamakiri too well outside of class, but Hagakure had been her friend, for far longer than Momo or Tokoyami. Lightwave knew Uravity's secrets and her dreams, knew the jokes she laughed at and the foods she liked to cook. She knew exactly how many drinks Ochako could manage until she was at her limit, and had held her hair while she puked her guts out on more than one occasion. Toru grew frustrated occasionally, often due to stress around exams, but mad enough to strike someone out of spite? To maim and torment them? In three years, Uraraka had never seen even a hint of the fury she had shown today, and couldn't help but wonder what else she had been missing. Does Ojiro know? Oh god, how could he not?! What about Mina, or Tsu? Is there anyone left I can trust?! A pit of fear opened up in her stomach, if she still had control of her body, she might have vomited on the spot.

"To answer your earlier questions," Seraph said, dragging her once more from her thoughts, "yes, we're perfectly safe at this distance, unless you'd like to question Pandora's calculations. We're outside the teachers' patrol routes as well, thanks to your intel, Temperance."

"Aw, don't flatter me too much." A bit of her usual energy returning, Hagakure smirked and shot a playful wink in Seraph's direction. "With Longshot's tech, observing people is just child's play at this point. Ah, speaking of Mei, she's watching now, right? Which direction's she in?"

"Right around… there." Squinting out at the distant horizon, Izuku pointed over the wall, at a far-off cluster of skyscrapers. "Exactly 4.98 kilometers away. It's the only group of buildings inside her quirk's range limit that's also tall enough for her to get an angle on the school, in fact. The hill this place is built on was quite a nuisance during the planning phase."

"Ooh, ooh! Do ya think she can see me?" A wide smile on her face, Lightwave began to jump up and down, waving giddily at the buildings in question. The reply came just moments later, in the form of a red laser dot on Toru's chest.

"Whoaaa. That is impressive!" Giggling mirthfully as the dot danced back and forth across her body, Lightwave reached out with both hands and used her quirk to bend the stream of light into a bright red heart-shaped outline, then blew a kiss back in Hatsume's direction. "Ugh, I can't wait to see her again!"

"Feels nice to have some backup from above," Kamakiri added, then glanced at his phone. "Though I doubt we'll need it. Alright, it's about time for the show to start, right?"

"That would be correct." Seraph pulled out Ochako's cell again, watching the clock intensely. If either of you have something you want to say to the others outside, you'd best say it now. In a few minutes, Emperor will expand his signal disruption from the main building to the entire campus, just as I take over the arena's A/V system with La Brava's program. The rest will proceed from there as we discussed- the detonation, Overhaul, all of it."

"I don't get why we even needed to bother with all those bombs if bird-face is just gonna destroy the whole place," Togaru muttered, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I mean, I haven't met him yet, but the guy gives me the creeps whenever I see him on video."

"Because it must be a U.A, student who strikes the first blow," Seraph answered coolly. "Overhaul is a valued ally, but he and his men are here for clean-up and crowd control, not the starring role. We will pull the trigger, make the statement – Chisaki will simply ensure that the fire and rubble doesn't get in our way, while Toga handles Endeavor. Then it will be your turn, darling."

For a brief moment Ochako was unsure who Izuku was addressing with his last statement – until he reached up and stroked her cheek, prompting a wave of revulsion. I never knew my own fingers could feel so alien.

"If it's any comfort," Seraph continued, "I don't plan on turning this into a bloodbath on the scale of our last major operation. No, no – today we need a statement, not a manifesto. As far as I'm concerned, it would be quite counterproductive to massacre all your friends; within a day, they'd be so many martyrs, tools to be turned against me even in the afterlife. Aside from that, it would be quite the waste of potential talent – don't you agree?" He chuckled softly, and glanced down to find a new text on her screen, from another blocked number.

'Emperor reporting in,' the message read. 'It's been distributed as widely as I could manage. Awaiting your command to expand the jamming field.'

Just as Seraph finished typing a brief, affirmative reply, a third came in.

"This is Pandora. We're in position beneath the tower. We'll be watching your team though Longshot's eyes so we know when to begin. Good luck."

"As you can see, your classmates have already proven more receptive to our ideals than I ever thought possible." Uraraka could feel Izuku twisting her mouth into a grin. "Once, I thought I was alone in my dissatisfaction with the state of this society. How wonderful it is to be proven wrong! So no, I don't think killing more potential recruits would serve my purposes. Just a handful of deaths should be enough, as a demonstration. You're more than happy to serve that role – aren't you, Ochako? Dying so your friends can live? Or would you rather we kill someone else instead, and let you linger on? Your dear Tsuyu, perhaps, or Jiro? The choice is yours."

Then a jolt of electricity coursed through her body, and she felt the same sensation of submersion as before, but in reverse; it was like surfacing after being held beneath the waves. In that instant, Uraraka knew that Midoriya was gone- that she was free- but it was only an instant. Before she could even turn to run, her legs and arms were dampened again, and froze in place. She tried to scream, but her voice would scarcely rise above a whisper, and within seconds Kamakiri was holding a long, serrated blade at her throat for added insurance.

"Useless, useless, useless." Uraraka shuddered at the sound of Midoriya's voice, coming from his own mouth instead of hers now- a quick glance confirmed that his image was being projected just an arm's length away, emitted by one of the holo-orbs Hatsume and Shinso had used to taunt Aizawa. "Don't you understand by now that we can control everything about you? Your heartrate, your breathing, even your pain receptors – any attempts at resistance will do nothing but waste both of our time. You will do anything we want you to, just as you have been ever since you returned. Planting a letter beneath Kendo Itsuka's door, for instance, to help put me in contact with her!"

"That… was me? But I… that day I was…"

"Studying with me," Hagakure finished, smiling. "After you got home from work. Then you fell asleep, don't you remember? Well, to put it more accurately, I sedated you. A little tranquilizer in your tea was all it took. From there it was Hatsume at the wheel!"

"Toru," Ochako choked, tears welling in her eyes as all the emotions she'd experienced in the past few minutes finally began to crash back to the surface. There were no proper words for what she was feeling, though, no verbal expression that could adequately capture this pain. "You… why?!"

"Oh, sweetie…" Nodding for Kamakiri to pull back his blade for the moment, Lightwave stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug, nuzzling their heads together. "I wish you could understand, I really do. But Izuku gave you a chance already – he gave you all the opportunities in the world to think about things from a different perspective, to try and learn about us. But you weren't interested." Toru pulled away, the affectionate look on her face turning to one of disappointment. "You tried to hurt him rather than listen to what he had to say. It broke my heart when I heard that, you know? Himiko told me all about it. Poor thing – she wanted to kill you so badly, and I know how hard it is for her to control her urges. You should've seen what she did to Twice's doubles of you!"

Ochako shuddered at the thought, struggling to find the right response.

"How can you talk like that about Toga Himiko?!" Uravity's voice was desperate now, hoarse and frantic. She'd given up trying to stop the tears streaming down her face. "She kills for fun, she maimed Tsu, and you act like she's your friend! That girl is evil, Toru!"

The sharp crack of Hagakure's open hand striking Uraraka full across the cheek seemed to echo in the humid, muggy air, lingering for several moments after the blow. Off to the side, Kamakiri whistled and raised an eyebrow, impressed. Lightwave's face, twisted momentarily into an expression of pure rage, quickly returned to normal, though when she spoke again, her voice was shaking with barely restrained fury.

"Take that back. Now."

"Evil, hm?" Off to the side, Midoriya's hologram sighed. "Such a banal, reductive label for someone you don't understand. Temperance is correct – it really is a tragedy that you gave us no choice. You clung to your ideals until the end, refused to consider any alternatives, and this is what it has brought you. Nothing but suffering and despair." Seraph glanced down at the watch on his wrist, and gave her an apologetic glance. "And now I'm afraid we've run out of time for you to make any parting jabs. I do hope your tantrum last month was worth all this. It's ironic, but I can't help but commend you – you're the only person who's succeeded in making me genuinely angry in quite some time, but that rage helped push me forward, make me stronger. In the end, you inspired me. What a pity that I couldn't do the same for you."

"Wait," she gasped, her eyes widening. "No, you can't just-"

"Goodbye, Ochako."

Then the hologram flickered out, and all was quiet. A sense of creeping dread began to slowly build inside Uraraka as she turned her gaze back to Hagakure – to a girl she didn't know anymore. The tears had dried from her face, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking, in spite of the midday heat. Half her face was still throbbing where Temperance had struck her, and she could already tell that there would be a bruise. Assuming I even live long enough for it to show.

"I… I won't take it back, Toru. What you're doing is wrong. You have to stop this, please! It's not too late for you to…" Uraraka faltered and trailed off midsentence, the momentary flash of conviction on her face vanishing; across from her, Hagakure's expression remained unchanged and unforgiving, her mouth drawn in a grim line. Two pale, cold blue eyes were staring back at her, full to the brim with malice. I can't change her mind, Ochako realized, her own gaze sinking to the ground. "…Kamakiri?" she whimpered, a plea. She and Togaru had been partnered up for inter-class endurance training once, in second year – he hadn't exactly been friendly from the get-go, but they'd bonded some nonetheless, or so Uraraka had always thought.

"Hey, don't drag me into this, mochi-cheeks." Scimitar shoved his hands into the pockets of his jet-black trench coat and shrugged. "If boss-man says you gotta go, then you gotta go. Nothing personal from my end. From her?" He jerked a thumb at Toru. "Yeah, definitely personal at this point. But if you want my honest opinion…" He took a step towards her, leaned down until they were at eye level, and smirked. "Maybe if you were stronger, you wouldn't have gotten yourself captured in the first place."

Anger flared white-hot inside Ochako, and before Kamakiri could pull away, she turned her head and spat in his face, landing a gob of saliva right in his eye.

"Ah, what the – You fucking bitch!"

Crying out in rage and disgust, Tower momentarily recoiled before charging forward again, a long, straight blade emerging from his palm. Another two steps and he would have skewered her skull – it fell to Lightwave to restrain him, her hand wrapped tight around his wrist.

"Not yet, Scimitar. You can't interfere with the plan."

"Plan, plan, it's always about the plan." Togaru sighed, and reluctantly retracted his blade. "I agreed to join because I thought I'd finally be free to do what I want, when I want to. Instead it's been four months of waiting, and 'following the plan'."

"Relax. Seraph knows what he's doing."

"That's what they keep telling me."

Wiping the spit from his face with a dark leather sleeve, Kamakiri glanced back to Ochako, and began to pace around her in a circle. Once he was all the way behind her, he delivered a single, swift kick to the back of her knee, and chuckled when she fell forward, face-first into the dirt. Mud and grass stained her face and filled half her mouth, vile and bitter. Though Uraraka could speak, no words would come anymore – there was no chance for escape in sight, nothing she could say that would miraculously undo her classmates' conversion. She couldn't even cry anymore – it was as if her body had decided to skip straight past the tears on the stages of grief. All she felt was empty and broken.

"Believe it," Hagakure replied, her voice full of calm conviction. "You're lucky, Scimitar. You'll be breaking away from this dull life in just a few minutes. I still have to stick around a while longer." She glanced over to the distant lights of the arena and stage, where it was now Midoriya's voice, not Vlad or Kendo's, echoing through the open field. Then a beeping alarm sounded on her watch, and Toru turned her gaze back to Ochako. In the same moment, the feeling of submersion washed across her again, and she knew that she'd lost control when her body rose to its feet, wiped the mud off its face and chest, and grinned.

"Alright, you guys ready for action?" Her voice asked.

"As we'll ever be, Longshot." Toru smiled warmly, then stepped forward and hugged her. "Then again, I guess it's actually your clone we're talking to, right? The real you is still on that skyscraper."

"That would be correct!" Mei answered, striding over to Aizawa and tapping his shoulder to turn him weightless again. Eraser twitched ever so slightly in response, and let out a low groan. Blood was still leaking slowly from his wounds, and his face was growing increasingly pale. "Twice had to get rid of yours to make room, but I doubt anyone will notice in all this chaos. Oh dear, he's not looking too good, is he? Remember, he can't die just yet!" She leaned down and slapped lightly at his stubbled cheek, prompting a wheezing cough that sent a trickle of blood running down the teacher's chin. His eyes flickered open just a bit, and shifted up to meet Hatsume's gaze.

"Midoriya… you…"

"No, no, this isn't Izuku anymore, Aizawa-sensei! This is Hatsume, Hatsume Mei! You remember me, right?!" Lifting Eraser up in the air with both hands, Longshot slammed his body against a tree, and nodded to Scimitar, who stepped up and began to cut away the remainder of his binding cloth. "I hope you haven't forgotten me, Sensei, because I still remember you!" She smiled wide, a demented, gleeful grin. "If I'm being honest, I still haven't forgiven you for taking a whole week of workshop time away from me, back when you gave us detention. That made me real mad." She punched him, hard; blood began to flow steadily from a broken nose, and Ochako felt another surge of disgust at the sight. Please, please, let it stop. Don't let me hurt anyone else. God, I'm begging you.

"Everyone, quiet," Hagakure suddenly hissed, her eyes wide. "Listen."

Longshot dutifully obeyed, and Scimitar grabbed hold of Eraserhead from behind, wrapping an arm tight around his neck to keep him silent. Within seconds, footsteps became audible in the distance, loud and urgent; it was the sound of several people running. Uraraka – or rather, Hatsume – was the first to catch sight of the source, and Ochako felt hope take fire inside her again as Mei swore viciously under her breath. Just fifty-odd yards away, Cementoss and Power Loader were sprinting through the forest from the direction of the rear gate, with Snipe bringing up the rear; shortly after immobilizing Aizawa, they'd lured the gas-masked sharpshooter back out of the main building with a text from Eraserhead's phone, ensuring that the security suite was abandoned. The teachers looked to be making a beeline for the graduation stage rather than for their group, but all it would take was one glance to the left, and the nightmare could end.

"Are we busted?!" Kamakiri hissed under his breath, crouching down behind a tree as blades began to sprout from his arms out of instinct. The teachers' path was bringing them closer and closer by the second, and Ochako felt like crying tears of joy at the sight. They'll see us anytime now! Even with Hatsume using my quirk, the three of them won't stand a chance against U.A. teachers without the dirty tricks they used on Eraserhead. Cementoss, Snipe, Power Loader… to be honest, any one of them could probably beat me, Kamakiri, and Hagakure without breaking a sweat if they fought seriously.

"Not a chance," Toru replied coolly, exchanging a nod with Hatsume. "Everyone, get close to me."

Both Mei and Togaru obeyed without hesitation, the latter still holding tight to Eraser. Once they were both pressed close against her, Lightwave closed her eyes and held out her hands; two orbs of warped light appeared in her palms as her body began to shimmer a rainbow of colors, just as it had when she blinded Aiazwa. Her skin is cycling through the full spectrum of visible light, Uraraka realized, thinking back to her physics classes. It took her another moment to realize that the same thing was happening to her own skin, as well as to Kamakiri and Aizawa's. Even the air around them seemed to have taken on an odd gleam – before Ochako could fully process what was happening, all four of them had vanished entirely, rendered as invisible as Toru. W-what?! This shouldn't be possible!

"Oh, I suppose you've never seen this ability before – have you, Ochako?" Hagakure had dropped her voice down to a whisper, her tone one of smug confidence. "I have to admit, I've been keeping all my best new moves secret for a while now. It really has been a pain, pretending to be so weak… Placing in the bottom third of the class is hard to do when it's on purpose, you know?" She sighed in exasperation, and Longshot turned her attention back to the teachers. They had come to a halt at the edge of the field, just twenty yards away now.

"Still no signal?" Cementoss asked, turning to face the others.

"None," Snipe, answered, lifting his phone up in the air in hopes of getting a connection. "Eraser, Vlad, Ecto, the police… I can't get in touch with anyone on or off campus."

"Then it's likely just as we feared," Power Loader replied grimly; Uraraka felt Hatsume tense up at the sound of her former teacher's voice, and one of her hands curled into a fist. "This feels just like USJ all over again," he continued, lifting the heavy metal visor that obscured his face. "Given how important today is, a communications disruption can only mean one thing."

"Invasion," Snipe finished grimly, checking the cylinders of his custom pistol to make sure they were loaded. "Another Black Day. We have to assume that there are already Syndicate members on campus. Keep your guard up."

"You two, listen," Cementoss called; he had already walked partway out onto the field, and was watching the distant arena lights with growing horror. "Over the speakers, that's Seraph's voice! Come on, we have to get over there!"

"We'll take the stage from all sides," Power Loader called, rushing forward alongside Snipe. "I'll go underground, and come up from below – I'll move faster that way! You two, take the flanks!"

"Understood!" Snipe cried, heading for the main building while Cementoss cut around the side and Power Loader began to burrow down into the earth at rapid speed. "Ken, you go on ahead! I'll get Aizawa, then take up a vantage point on the roof!"

No, Uraraka wanted to scream at them, please don't go! Don't leave me here! Come back, I'm right in front of you!

It was no use, though. They couldn't hear her, couldn't see her, couldn't help her. Another chance at freedom had been dangled in front of her, then torn away. Lightwave turned them all visible again once the teachers were safely in the distance, and another beeping alarm sounded moments later; Kamakiri looked down at his phone with a smirk before exchanging a knowing glance with Hatsume.

"Alright, time to make a statement."

Rising back to his feet, Tower held out his phone in the direction of U.A., took in a deep breath, and pressed a single button. An explosion followed, blinding and brilliant, as the bombs they'd spoken of earlier consumed the school's main building in a ball of fire from the ground floors upward. Snipe, who'd been just a dozen yards away from the entrance, was blasted back halfway across the field like a ragdoll; his body skidded to a halt amid a cloud of dust. When it cleared, he remained motionless – whether he was dead or merely unconscious, Uravity could only guess, but either way, he would be of no help now. Glass and shrapnel rained down all around the building, but just as Seraph had promised, it all fell short of them with the nearest chunks of burning metal landing just a few yards away. One piece of red-hot shrapnel struck a patch of dry grass adjacent to the forest, and Hatsume watched with a smile as fire began to creep slowly through the underbrush.

"Alright, time to take our positions," Mei grabbed hold of Aizawa and stepped out into the open as a loud, wailing alarm began to blare from all around them, and a low rumble sounded in the distance. Hagakure followed close behind her, and tapped at her bracelet to turn herself invisible again. "Overhaul's right on time, so we can't afford to be late!"

"I'll be watching," Kamakiri called after them, remaining in the treeline. "You guys better not screw this up!"

"That's the last thing you need to be worried about," Toru's voice replied – her position was practically impossible to determine, but Ochako could tell that she was sticking close to Longshot. Soon they merged onto a paved path heading to one of the other athletic fields, adjacent to the graduation stage. Floating beside them, Aizawa was attempting to speak again, his voice coming out in faint gasps.

"Uraraka… if you can hear me, I… I'm sorry."

When Mei glanced down at Eraserhead, there were tears flowing partway down his cheeks before they floated up into the air, mingling with the blood leaking from his broken nose. No, she wanted to say. You're wrong. You have nothing to be sorry for, sensei.

"Isn't that sweet?" Hatsume replied instead, laughing hysterically. "Such a heartfelt bond! It's so nice that the two of you will be able to die together."

Tokage Setsuna could see everything.

The moment that Seraph had appeared on the projection screens – the moment she realized that U.A.'s graduation was under attack – Reptilia had detached one of her eyes, the same one she'd been using earlier to snoop on the audience, and one of her ears. High above the chaos unfolding below, she'd been moving them back and forth across the campus ever since, trying desperately to find out what was happening, and where the enemy were. Desperate to know what was going on, she'd eavesdropped on the conversation onstage, updating her classmates accordingly as Kendo and the teachers struggled to determine the extent of the attack, and formulate a response – the communications blackout, the planned evacuation, all of it. Searching desperately for other faculty members, she'd located Hound Dog and several Ectoplasm clones still on their patrol route and informed them about the situation, making sure that they started back for the arena right away. Shoji and Jiro, the two other students best suited for intel-gathering, had followed her lead, and half the hero course had gathered around the three of them as they shouted updates. They'd been preparing themselves to help the teachers get the civilians out of danger – until the bombs went off, Overhaul broke through the wall, and things went from a simple interruption to something much worse.

Floating her eye and ear above the breach, Setsuna had noticed the captive journalists and protestors before the smoke even cleared, and informed her classmates about their number and position at the first opportunity. Bakugo, Tetsutetsu, and several others had wanted to charge in and attack regardless, confident that with Endeavor on their side they could easily save the hostages and defeat the enemy, but thankfully she'd managed to persuade them to be patient and wait for the right moment, with help from Asui, Shiozaki, and Honenuki. She'd caught a glimpse of Toga Himiko too, just moments before she transformed and took on Coldflame's appearance – after warning everyone around her, Tokage was about to detach her mouth to tell Endeavor when Juzo grabbed her by the arm. Reiko Yanagi, Poltergeist, and Tsuburaba Kosei, Airshifter, were standing close behind him, their expressions a mix of fear and determination.

"We've got a plan!" Honenuki shouted, over the deafening sound of Seraph's voice echoing through the loudspeakers. "To get the hostages out of there!"

"Hold that thought, Mudslide!" Setsuna shouted back, then turned back to Shoji, whose dupli-arms were holding out a number of eyes and ears in every direction, along with mouths to help calm the non-hero students down and keep them from panicking. "Tentacole, I need you to get a mouth to the stage – tell Endeavor, Kendo, and the other teachers that it's Carmilla, not Shoto! And let them know that there are exactly twelve hostages, with only three guards, approximately twenty meters behind Overhaul!"

"Got it!" He cried, sprouting another tentacle-like appendage from his limbs to bypass the tight-packed crowd of panicked students. Once she was sure that Shoji's dupli-arm had reached the stage, Setsuna turned back to Juzo. Her eyes were currently seeing two entirely different images at once – one was watching Chisaki and the hostages as several teachers moved to surround the villains – but after three years of training her quirk, the sensation wasn't disorienting anymore; she'd learned how to effectively divide her attention between multiple simultaneous events.

"Okay, shoot!" Reptilia cried, grabbing hold of Juzo's shoulders to help herself focus on his face.

"Alright, so it goes like this: I use Softening to sink us underground, out of the villains' line of sight, while Kosei uses his quirk to make air bubble helmets so we don't suffocate!" Mudslide jerked his thumb in Airshifter's direction, and Tsuburaba nodded passionately.

"Then it's Reiko's turn," Honenuki continued, nodding toward Yanagi. "She can use her telekinesis to push us through the softened ground, hard – until we're right under the hostages.

"That's a pretty solid strategy," Setsuna replied, moving her roaming eye and ear back towards the stage, "but you've gotta remember the guards! What if they panic and open fire the moment they see people slip underground?!"

"So we deal with them first!" answered Reiko. The silver-haired girl was usually quiet and soft-spoken, but there was an undeniable sense of passion and urgency in her voice now. "You guys know I've been working on combat training with my quirk all year – if we get beneath them and take them by surprise, I can handle three guards, trust me!

"I can help with that part, actually!" Tokage detached both of her hands and began to float them up towards the breach. "If I can sneak these over there without getting them spotted, I could grab two of the guards' guns in the instant we put things in motion! There would still be a risk from one of them, but it's better than nothing!"

"Alright, understood!" Honenuki cracked his knuckles and began to push through the crowd, nodding for the others to follow. "Let's do this! There's no time to waste, we need to get out to open ground for my quirk!"

It quickly became clear, though, that navigating the crowd was easier said than done. Though the hero students were holding their ground with relative discipline, and a handful like Bakugo, Tetsutetsu, and Asui had even broken away to make sure the villains didn't come any closer, they were the least numerous of U.A.'s four courses, and panic was still widespread among the other three. As Reptilia and the others tried their best to wade through rows of overturned chairs, they found themselves cut off and pushed back by dozens of Support and General Studies students packing in closer and closer around the stage, shrinking away from Overhaul and the Syndicate members at his side. Quarters are still too tight for Juzo to use Softening and get us underground, she knew. He'd drag other students down with us at this rate, and that would cause an even bigger panic. Overhead, Chisaki's voice had replaced Midoriya's on the speakers, issuing an ominous warning about 'Todoroki' and the other hostages behind him that sent a wave of fearful shouts rippling through the crowd.

"It's not true!" Setsuna yelled in response, at the top of her lungs. "It's not really Coldflame, it's Carmilla!"

It was no use, though; her warning was easily drowned out amid the chaos. Several other hero students were also attempting to keep the situation from devolving – with her floating eye, moving back over the arena now, Tokage could see Kendo shouting something down from the stage at a group that included Jiro, Kodai, and Kamakiri, while farther ahead, Awase and Shiozaki were helping two General Studies students who'd nearly been trampled back to their feet. Not every member of 3-A and 3-B was the model of bravery, though. Mineta Minoru was cowering under a chair behind Shoji and Bondo, Ashido Mina looked paralyzed with fear, and just past her, Ojiro Mashirao was clinging with both hands to the collar of Kaibara Sen's gown, tears streaming down his face. As her ear floated within range, Setsuna managed to overhear what the two were saying:

"Sen, what about you?! Are you sure you haven't seen Toru?!"

"Not since the ceremony started, dude! She's your girlfriend, I thought she was with you!"

"I can't find her anywhere, man! I don't get it, she was right next to me!"

Something about Ojiro's mannerisms and tone seemed odd – almost inebriated. Was he one of the ones who was drinking Denki's booze earlier? Setsuna frowned. I know Mina was, but I'm glad I passed on the stuff. The more Tokage looked, the more she began to realize that nearly half of Class A and a handful of students from Class B seemed similarly docile or out of sorts, but Reptilia had no time to dwell on it, as Juzo's voice pulled her attention back to her body.

"We're not gonna get anywhere fast enough at this rate! We gotta dive, now!"

"What about all these people, though?!" Airshifter asked frantically, gesturing around them at the increasingly dense press of students jostling at their shoulders. "If I have to make helmets for all of them, I won't have any air left for the hostages!"

"Guess I've got no choice, huh?" Yanagi sighed and held out her hands in either direction, a grimace spreading across her face. "Hold tight, you three – I hope no one holds this against me."

With a swift blast of telekinetic energy, Poltergeist pushed the crowd back and away from them in all directions, clearing out a circle just large enough for Mudslide to work with. Within moments Tsuburaba had fitted their group of four with bubble-like helmets, and then they was plunging down into the liquefied ground as Juzo sealed the earth up behind them. Thankfully, Honeuki's quirk gave softened substances a slightly translucent quality, so she could still see the others' blurry outlines around her with one eye as Reiko began to propel them through the underground. With the other, Tokage was still keeping watch from above on the standoff between the villains and teachers. While the information about Carmilla seemed to have been relayed successfully to the stage, they still couldn't simply attack without a coordinated plan; there were still the other hostages to consider. We'll deal with that situation ourselves, Setsuna resolved, her mouth grit in determination, so that Endeavor and the rest are free to take them on!

"If you would all be so kind as to direct your attention to the athletic field," Midoriya was saying over the speakers, with a tone so eerily calm that it sent a shiver racing up her spine, "the day's final act can begin."

Final act? That doesn't sound good. Keeping her hands on standby, floating high above the makeshift cage of hostages, Reptilia let her eye and ear drift in the direction Seraph had indicated, on the complete opposite side of the arena. When she caught sight of what he was referring to, she felt her heart sink in her chest, despite the fact that it was currently being swept along underground a hundred yards away.

"Wait, stop!" Setsuna cried, her voice echoing inside her helmet as she grabbed hold of Juzo and Reiko gowns from behind to try and grab their attention. "Guys, we've gotta go back!"

Turning back to look at her, Yanagi said something in reply, but her voice came out as a distorted warble through the swirling currents of liquid rock and soil, and Tokage was forced to press their helmets together to ensure that they could actually hear each other.

"We're going the wrong way! If we don't head back to the sports field right now, Ochako and Eraserhead are going to die!"

From here on out, Hagakure's role in the plan was an easy one: watch the execution of the operation's final stage, ensure that nothing went wrong, and melt away into the crowd of panicked students afterwards, reassuming her role on Strike Team Fenrir as the hero Lightwave until further notice. Even with her quirk and the specially designed stealth gear she was wearing, though, Toru couldn't help but feel slightly anxious when hundreds of eyes obeyed Midoriya's command and began to turn in her direction.

What if a circuit shorts somewhere on these clothes, and my position is exposed? What if I suddenly sneeze in a moment when everything is quiet? Lightwave pushed these and other worries to the back of her mind with a grunt of determination, and glanced down at her prey. At present, she was standing just a few paces behind Aizawa and Uraraka; they were both down on their knees in the dirt. Given that he'd regained consciousness in spite of his injuries, Hagakure had injected Eraserhead with a 'chemical gag' on the way over, a complex paralytic compound designed by Pandora that specifically inhibited the victim's ability to speak. We can't have you spilling my little secret, Toru mused, palming the dagger in her coat pocket as she looked down on him in disdain. Just thirty-odd yards separated them from the edge of the crowd of panicking students, and beyond that, a stage full of pro heroes. Most of their number, Endeavor included, remained rooted in place following the sudden shift in focus; Enji Todoroki was about to speak again when Kendo Itsuka began to move.

"I've got them!" Battle Fist shouted, leaping from the stage before Seraph – or anyone else, for that matter – could say another word. Blue lightning crackled around her as she leapt over the crowd of students without a moment's hesitation, streaking through the air towards the sports field like a bolt of pure energy.

So predictable. Hagakure's expression remained unconcerned as Kendo drew nearer and nearer, her eyes glazed over with disinterest. Just like the simulations, huh?

The distant, rumbling boom of the bullet leaving the barrel of Longshot's miniaturized railgun didn't reach them until nearly a full second after it slammed into Kendo midair, catching her full-on in the gut She crashed down to the earth amid a cloud of dust just ten yards shy of her goal, near enough that Lightwave had to raise a hand up to her mouth to keep herself from inhaling any. Itsuka coughed up blood as she struggled to stagger back to her feet, clutching with one hand held over the bleeding wound the round had left in her stomach. Her movements steadily began to slow as she took an agonized step forward, and within moments she had fallen back to her knees, panting. Crimson seeped steadily through her fingers and began to drip to the dusty ground; behind her the students and teachers watched in mute horror. A shocked silence had settled in over the crowd, at the sight of All Might's chosen successor laid low.

"Don't bother trying, Itsuka. You won't be going anywhere in a hurry at this rate." Midoriya chuckled, the sound slightly distorted by the grainy quality of the speakers. "We designed that projectile just for you, after all! It just injected enough paralytic neurotoxins into your bloodstream to halt an elephant, not to mention the quirk-erasing compound that Overhaul was so generous to contribute. It's an unfinished product, as I understand – only effective for around twelve hours – but he'd been safeguarding it for quite some time! After two years wasting away on a shelf, I'm so very glad that we found the right occasion for it."

"You… coward!" Kendo cried, her voice labored and pained. By now she had fallen down to all fours, her fingers digging into the dirt in frustration as she twisted her head to look up at the nearest loudspeaker. Her body was still trembling, but Hagakure could tell that she didn't have the strength left to move forward any farther. "Enough with these games! Come down here and face me!"

"Are you quite sure about the wisdom of that proposition, dear?" Izuku sighed in amusement. "I daresay that in your current state, a child with a pocket knife could defeat you. One pull of the trigger from Hatsume is all it would take to end your life. How does it feel, to be so vulnerable?"

"Itsuka!" Came a sudden, frantic cry from the midst of the crowd. Shoving his classmates out of the way even as Endeavor bellowed down from the stage for him to stop, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu was about to make a break across the field for Kendo's weakly stirring body when the rumble of Mei's rifle sounded again.

Three times in rapid succession, concussive rounds slammed into the ground just ahead of Real Steel, carving a line of smoking craters in the earth between Battle Fist and the rest of the crowd.

"For such highly praised students," Seraph taunted, "it seems that some of you are still exceptionally slow learners. By any reasonable standard for a hero, I'd say that we've given you all more than enough reasons to stay exactly where you are for the foreseeable future – fifteen, if any of the professionals here are keeping count. The next time someone makes a sudden move without my permission, we'll start by killing one of the journalists currently being detained by my associates, and continue from there. Is that understood?" Another sigh, decidedly less satisfied than the last. "I do truly detest having to spell these things out, but you leave me little choice."

From her current position, Hagakure couldn't see Overhaul, Carmilla, or any other members of the incursion team as Midoriya spoke of them. They were on the opposite end of the crowd and stage, obscured by a shifting sea of caps and gowns; all she could do for now was trust that they were sticking to Seraph's strategy without any issues. I know Himiko won't be having any problems, Toru reassured herself, shifting uncomfortably on her feet, but it still worries me that she insisted on coming in the first place. We're all lucky that she was with the attack group when Endeavor showed up, but… I don't like it when she takes unnecessary risks.

"You can do what you want with me, just let them go!"

Once again, Battle Fist's voice dragged Lightwave out of her thoughts and back to reality. With the last of her strength, Kendo had pushed herself back up to her knees, her trembling hand stretched out in desperation towards Aizawa and Uraraka. A faint wisp of shadowy black energy trickled out from between her knuckles as she strained to reach them, then receded just as quickly. Blackwhip, Hagakure recalled, thinking back to the briefing Toga had given her last week on the Symbol of Peace's mysterious new ability. Good – seems like Overhaul's serum was the real deal, if it's taken out all of her quirks at once. Too bad he went and lost the finished product before we partnered up, or she'd be out of the game for good!

"Not that killing her would be much of a challenge, if Seraph actually ever decided to go through with it," Toru muttered under her breath, her arms crossed. Since she officially joined the Syndicate eight months ago, Temperance had been faced with more than her fair share of opportunities to kill Kendo Itsuka herself, often in circumstances that would have made it easy to paint the death as a tragic accident thanks to her quirk. No matter how many times she brought the idea up with Toga, though, the answer from Midoriya was always the same: Battle Fist was not to be harmed unless he directly ordered it. I guess I can sympathize with Kamakiri when it comes to being fed up with elaborate plans, to a certain extent.

"Ah, what's this? Are you attempting to negotiate with me?" It was easy to tell from the tone of Izuku's voice that he was enjoying this, and Toru could hardly blame him; after all this time pretending to be her friend, there was something she found deeply satisfying about watching the high and mighty Queen of the Hero Course grovel on her knees.

"I… I have more value as a hostage!" Itsuka continued, gasping for breath. "Just let everyone else go – Eraser, Ochako, the protestors… They have nothing to do with this!"

"Honestly, Itsuka, can you even hear yourself speak?" Far from amused, Seraph's voice was incensed and impatient now, steadily rising in anger. "Your sheer hubris is blinding. You call yourself a hero, pretend to hold fast to their ideals, but when it comes time to show who you really are, you tell me that your life is worth more than everyone else's." He scoffed, as a few confused murmurs began to ripple through the crowd. "I hope the rest of you are listening – all of you who have been deemed less valuable. This is who you've pinned your hopes on. This is All Might's successor."

"No! Stop twisting my words!" Kendo's face was alight with indignant fury, her hands balled into fists as tears of frustration welled in her eyes. "What I'm saying is that this fight should be between you and me! You don't need to involve innocent people!"

"Innocent?" Midoriya laughed again, louder than before. "I hate to break it to you, Itsuka, but most of the men and women you've begged me so graciously to release aren't half as innocent as you'd like to think. Take Uraraka Ochako, for example! Despite our differences, we became rather well acquainted over those long days of captivity, and came to an understanding of sorts. Isn't that right?"

"Absolutely correct!" Ochako cried enthusiastically, rising to her feet with a smile on her face. Gasps of shock spread quickly through the ranks of students, and Hagakure had to stifle her laughter as Kendo's mouth fell agape in shock. It wasn't actually Uraraka, of course – Hatsume's clone was still driving – but with Aizawa silenced, the heroes had no way of knowing. They could only look on in horror and confusion as Uravity turned to Eraserhead, attached a cable from her gauntlet to the collar of his shirt, and tossed him straight up into the air. The line went taught around thirty yards above Longshot's head, leaving Shota dangling helplessly seven stories in the air. Panicked shouts went up at the sight, but just as before, none of the pros or students could move an inch to help him, not with civilians still at gunpoint on the other side of the stage. Not to mention that they think we have Shoto here too!

Gazing up at her former teacher, Toru nearly felt a spark of pity for his predicament. Then she remembered the surprise in his eyes when she explained her years of insecurity and humiliation at U.A., the blithe cluelessness. The first time, Hagakure realized, a soft, insistent pain tugging at her chest as she thought back to the look on his face. In three years, today was the first time he ever tried to empathize with me – to think about my circumstances from any perspective other than his own. It was the first time he ever considered what it might be like to fight naked in a snowstorm when all your classmates are wearing three layers, or to apologize to a complete stranger during the license exam because he accidentally grabbed you by the crotch when he tried to restrain you.

For a moment, Lightwave felt like she might break into tears from the sheer absurdity of the situation. But the despair turned to white-hot rage in the span of a heartbeat, and Toru smiled with genuine glee as Mei brought Ochako's hands together to release her quirk.

Aizawa seemed to fall slowly at first, as far as Hagakure could tell; for a moment, she thought he was still floating. Then all at once his limp body was plummeting down like a stone over the sound of terrified screams and shouts, and Temperance had to remind herself to take a few lengthy steps backwards, for the sake of her clothes.

The impact was sudden and jarring, more a sickening crunch of snapping bones than the splat or thud she had expected. The spray of blood was also more modest than Lightwave had pictured, likely due in part to the fact that he had already lost a good deal of it, but it was still enough to cover most of Uraraka's left side in dripping crimson rivulets as she stared out in satisfaction at the crowd. Kendo Itsuka had tears streaming openly down her face now, her expression still blank with shock.

"Ochako…" she stammered, almost too quiet for Toru to hear. "I don't get it … w-why would you…"

"Because I've finally embraced who I really am," Hatsume answered, turning the corners of Uraraka's mouth up in a warm smile. "Seraph helped me understand. I've committed too many sins to be accepted into the new world he's building, but thanks to him, I still had this chance to make things right. Now there's only one thing left to do."

Though thick grey clouds still obscured the sun, the knife seemed to gleam with light regardless as Mei drew it from inside Ochako's blood-spattered graduation gown. That's my cue, Hagakure knew, her heart pounding in anticipation as she started forward. My real final test.

"I can still be a martyr for this cause," Hatsume finished, pride in her voice as she turned the blade in Uraraka's hand. "In the end, that's enough for me."

Invisible to everyone watching, Lightwave took hold of Uravity's arm, gently at first, with one hand near her elbow and the other at her wrist.

"How did it we let come to this, Ochako?" Toru asked in a faint whisper, her mouth just inches from the girl's ear.

Aside from holds on a few key functions like motor control and vocalization, Longshot had already relinquished control of her mind; the wide, terrified eyes that flit over in the general direction of Lightwave's head, helpless and confused, were unmistakably those of Uraraka herself, not Midoriya or Hatsume. Somewhere in her doe-brown pupils there was a flash of sudden realization as she understood what was about to happen, followed an instant later by a welling of tears. Toru felt another pang of pain deep in her chest as she stared back at her classmate, and let out a ragged sigh.

"You know what I have to do. Do you think I'm strong enough to do it?"

Ochako's teary gaze grew desperate, a silent plea.

"That's what I thought."

Drawing in a deep breath, Hagakure planted a single, soft kiss on Uraraka's temple, then tensed her arm and began to push the hand holding the knife inward.

In the same moment, frantic blur of sound and motion ensued from every direction, so rapid that Lightwave could hardly process it all.

"NO!"

A shrill, panicked cry on her lips, Asui Tsuyu pushed Tetsutetsu to the side and shot out her tongue towards her roommate, closing the distance between Ochako and the crowd in an instant. Just as it wrapped around her waist, though, another rumbling boom sounded from on high, like a clap of thunder – by the time Toru heard the gunshot, the lightning had already struck. To his credit, Tetsutetsu reacted much quicker than Hagakure would have expected; his body changed to solid steel in a heartbeat, and he stretched one arm towards Asui just in time to ricochet the concussive round off its original trajectory. Instead of impacting her head, it slanted down and slammed into Tsuyu's hip with a resounding crack, prompting a gut-wrenching scream of agony. Blood flew from the wound, and Froppy stumbled backward into the arms of Sero and Shiozaki, already in the process of blacking out from shock. As she fell, Asui's tongue gave one last, desperate tug on her roommate's torso, perhaps more out of instinct or reaction to pain than conscious effort. Whatever prompted the sudden pull, the result was immediate: Uraraka's body was dragged forward, but the arm and hand held by Hagakure remained in place.

The knife skewered her through the neck, in the front and out the back in a spray of blood. Toru could tell by the sheer volume that the jugular and carotid had both been severed, and realized very quickly that her gloves and jacket were as good as ruined, despite her earlier efforts to the contrary. Thankfully, the material conducted her quirk efficiently enough that any blood drops striking her were rendered invisible immediately on impact, but she made sure to shift behind Ochako all the same to reduce the chances of her negative silhouette – the absence of dust and blood her presence created – being spotted by any onlookers. Once she was certain the knife had pierced deep enough for the wound to be fatal, Temperance released her grip on Uraraka's arm and watched her slump forward and tumble to the ground, the Baku implant's control on her body finally relinquished in full as the light swiftly faded from her wide, frightened brown eyes.

It's finished.

Her breath escaping in rapid pants, Hagakure stumbled backward, away from the dying girl she'd once called friend, and bit down hard on her lip to hold back the tears. A dozen hero course students were already rushing to Eraser and Ochako's sides, Mina and Kinoko and Awase and Kaminari; now that the deed was done, there was no need for Longshot to stop them from afar. Toru could hear them shouting about putting pressure on the wound, about fetching medical supplies and finding Recovery Girl, but she knew full well that it was far too late for any of that. The blade had cut too keenly, and too deep; outside of whisking Uraraka to a well-stocked trauma center within the next sixty seconds, there was zero chance of survival, a figure that was only compounded by her implant's built-in electric kill switch.

All they can do now is watch her die.

On the other side of the stage, a loud commotion had broken out – Lightwave could hear sounds of fighting from afar, of distant shouts. The pounding drum in her chest grew even louder, and her eyes widened in fear. Himiko, Temperance realized, nodding hurriedly to herself as she continued to back steadily away from the growing crowd. I need to get over there and find Himiko, make sure she's safe. I'll stop feeling this way when I see her again. She'll know what to say. She always knows.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! Focus on saving the others!"

Toga made sure to put special emphasis on the calm yet dogged resolve in her facsimile's voice as she shouted over to the crowd of students and teachers, doing her best to capture the tone and diction she had seen Todoroki take during his frequently publicized rescue and support operations. In normal circumstances, with the proper time to prepare, Carmilla would have watched hours on end of Coldflame's interviews and press footage, learning his mannerisms down to the finest nuance. Thanks to his famous father and playboy looks, though, Shoto had already earned quite the fan following for himself after just three years of high school, and the media was always eager to film his hero work with Gang Orca whenever they had the chance; Himiko had seen enough of him on TV to feel reasonably confident about her improvisation.

"Just stay right where you are, Half-and-Half," growled Bakugo, the de facto leader of the group of hero students who had stepped forward to confront the Syndicate's incursion team. Asui, Tetsutetsu, and a few others had left to make their way to the other side of the stage when it became clear that Uraraka and Aizawa were in danger as well, but Ground Zero remained rooted to the ground just ten yards opposite them, his leering gaze shifting between Coldflame and Overhaul. "We'll deal with you soon enough."

Compress tightened his grip on the back of Toga's collar accordingly, drumming at the top of her head with his gloved fingers before grabbing hold of a tuft of Shoto's long red and white hair.

"My my. You're still quite confident, even after everything that's happened. What makes you so certain that you'll get that chance? I could compress half of this poor boy's skull with a snap of my fingers – he'd be dead on the ground long before you reached him." Atsuhiro chuckled, then raised his cane to point directly at Katsuki. "Ah, now I remember you! You're that troublesome boy we abducted in the woods, back when I still called myself a member of the League! I must say, I consider myself rather skilled at what I do, but taking you by surprise was laughably easy. Even among students, I'd never seen a hero with such a blatant lack of spatial awareness!"

Bakugo's expression darkened with rage at Compress' taunting, and he was about to take a menacing step forward when Shoji Mezo caught him by the shoulder and shook his masked head. Shouts were growing in volume in the distance, originating roughly where Temperance, Uraraka, and Eraserhead were positioned, and the crowd was shifting anxiously, talking amongst each other in hushed tones. Once Tentacole had calmed him down sufficiently, Bakugo began to pace back and forth across the grass in front of their group, joined in the vanguard by Shoji and 3-B's Shishida Jurota.

That's one thing I hate about this setup, Toga mused, watching the students intently. Compress has an earpiece to get updates from Longshot, but since I'm playing hostage, I'm the last to figure out anything that's going on! Even these U.A. brats are gonna know how things went down over on the other side before I do! Ugh, Toru better be alright over there.

"Nothing to say to your boy down here, Endeavor?" Chisaki threw a glance up at the stage, then returned his gaze to the group of teachers that had surrounded them on all sides. Another group of Ectoplasm clones had begun to move towards the jagged cage of hostages, but the Yakuza guards were still holding their ground, their guns trained and ready. "I'm sure he's so very frightened. Some comforting words from his dear father are the least you could offer."

Enji narrowed his eyes and glared down at their group in seething silence; behind them, Nemoto Shin saw an opportunity, and tapped the microphone on his collar to tap himself into the A/V system they had hijacked. Still holding tight to the pistol he had extended towards the cowering protestors, the Eight Precepts lieutenant began to speak with cool, measured confidence; his hypnotic voice echoed eerily through the speakers, and sent a chill racing up Carmilla's spine.

"Tell us, Endeavor: When you look down at your boy's face – when you think of Shoto – what do you feel?"

"Guilt," the Flame Hero replied, unable to stop himself from answering. "Regret." Enji's eyes widened in shock, and he stepped away from the stage's edge, but it was too late to avoid the question that followed.

"What do you regret about how you raised Shoto?"

"I regret striking him," Endeavor replied, in a robotic voice that felt entirely divorced from the look of pure horror on his face. Midnight, Vlad King, and several other teachers had been rushing across the stage to help him, but faltered in their tracks when they heard the Confession; a hush fell over the nearest sections of the crowd. "I regret that he had to see me strike his mother. I regret pushing him so hard that he grew to despise me. I… regret my failure as a father."

Then Enji Todoroki drew quiet, as did everyone around him; it was several moments later before the uncomfortable silence was broken by Chisaki's sadistic laughter.

"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, a truly loving family dynamic! And keep in mind, this is just one example of the type of role model this diseased society has chosen to idolize!"

Despite the consternation spreading through the crowd, Himiko found the family drama of little interest. She was still training her eyes on the students, specifically the group nearest them.

"Something seems off," Compress whispered, quiet enough that only she could hear. "This Todoroki business aside, is it just me, or do these children seem a bit too unconcerned about your safety? None of them have spared a single word to check if you're alright."

Carmilla nodded almost imperceptibly. He's right. Even if they're convinced he's bluffing about killing me, they should've tried comforting me by now. Do they have some way of knowing that it's me, not the real Shoto?! Doubts and worries flooded into Toga's mind, just as all chaos erupted around them.

Shrill, terrified screams began to echo from Uraraka and Aizawa's direction, in the same instant that Kamkiri Togaru's clone climbed the stairs to the stage, stepped calmly up to Vlad King, and separated his head from his body with one swift, savage swipe of a serrated blade produced from his forearm. With his other hand, Scimitar reached out towards Present Mic and created a blade to slash at his throat, cutting through his directional speaker in a shower of sparks. More blades erupted from the duplicate's body in every direction, just as shouts and gunshots sounded off behind Carmilla; she and Compress turned their heads in time to watch Nemoto and the two Precepts henchmen being blasted into the air by a surge of telekinetic power. Two of the guards' guns were being torn from their grasp in the same moment by a pair of disembodied hands, of all things, firing uselessly at the ground. Before Overhaul or any of the heroes could even begin to properly react, all twelve hostages suddenly vanished into the ground like they'd slipped beneath the surface of a pool, and a sinking feeling began to weigh down Himiko's stomach as she turned her gaze back to the students.

"Got you now, you bitch," Bakugo declared, a smug grin on his face as he held his hands out behind him and blasted off towards them in a blinding flash and thundering boom.

Chisaki only barely managed to erect a shield of earth and rock in front of their trio before Ground Zero reached them, but they had even bigger problems now. Up on the stage. Endeavor had reduced Tower's double to sludge with a single flaming punch; he leapt high into the air with a blast of flames from his feet, and was streaking down towards them from above as the teachers closed from the sides. Given that her cover had somehow been blown, Toga let her disguise melt away and staggered to her feet, backpedaling away from the echoing booms of Bakugo tunneling through Overhaul's barrier with a rush of urgency.

"Tme to go," Compress declared decisively, then reached down and activated the beacon on his belt to call Kurogiri. "I just got the word: the primary targets are all dead. Our job is finished."

Meanwhile, Kai had erected a towering barrier of stone spikes all around them to hold off the heroes, but Endeavor was looming closer with every passing moment; all three of them knew that despite Overhaul's immense power, Hellflame was strong enough to melt through anything he could create in a matter of seconds. Himiko breathed a sigh of relief when a swirling black and purple warp gate opened behind them; Atsuhiro hadn't had time to unlock the handcuffs he'd fastened around her wrists, or else she would've tossed a knife up in Endeavor's direction as a final farewell. Chisaki was the first to dive through the portal, followed shortly by Mr. Compress.

Toga moved to follow them, and was already leaning halfway through the gate when her bare feet began to sink rapidly into the ground, which had suddenly developed the consistency of quicksand. Two strong hands wrapped around her ankles, and before she knew it she was being dragged back through the gate; she could see Compress, Overhaul, and Kurogiri in front of her in the dimly lit warehouse serving as their rendezvous point, and a bloodied Yaoyorozu, Monoma, and Setsuno beyond them, but they were swiftly receding as her legs sank further and further into the liquid mire of soil on the other side.

"Help me!" Himiko screamed, contorting her wrists to pull them out of the cuffs as Atsuhiro grabbed onto her arms. "Use your quirk!"

"I can't!" Sako replied frantically, pulling her forward with all the strength he could muster. "I have to be able to see your entire body to compress you! If I tried to use it now, I'd cut you in half!"

"Well someone needs to do something!" She shouted back at him, her eyes widening with panic. She couldn't reach her knives like this, couldn't fight back at all; Toga was all but helpless as two more pairs of heroes' hands wrapped around her lower waist. "You can't let this happen to me!"

"I'm not going back through there." Chisaki declared, his arms crossed as he watched her struggle. "Come to think of it, don't you need to be closing that gate, Kurogiri? We wouldn't want Endeavor or Ground Zero getting through."

"Overhaul is correct, unfortunately." Blood dripped steadily from a gash in Momo's forehead and a laceration in her side as she stepped up to Kai's side, gazing down at Himiko with pained yet sympathetic eyes. "You understand the situation, don't you? Protocol dictates what should happen next, and there can't be any exceptions."

Suddenly an entirely new force had begun to pull on Toga's lower half, entirely different from the others; it was disembodied, independent, clearly a form of telekinesis. Carmilla could think of nothing else to say as she began to slip from Compress' grasp, no other barbs to fling.

"I'm so sorry," Astuhiro whispered, loosening his grip on her arms. "If I don't let you go, they're going to pull me in too. We'll come back for you, I promise."

Then he let her go, and Toga's upper body shot back through the portal in an instant, into the waiting arms of a dozen heroes.

And so, the graduation arc is complete. Next chapter will obviously deal with the aftermath of everything that just happened, but I might take a short break on this story before working on it, and spend some time writing Ch. 6 of Rhapsody in Green. It's my ultimate goal this spring to get back to an alternating schedule between the two stories. In the meantime, though, let me know what you think of all the developments and deaths! It hurt to kill off Aizawa and Ochako, but it had to happen. How do you think Midoriya will react to Toga's capture? What's next for the Syndicate? Any more theories on the traitors? This chapter had several hints for one! I always love seeing your reviews, so feel free to leave any thoughts you have on the story!