Rule #1d: An assassin will never overlook those small moments…or an opening

"I'm glad that they seem to be enjoying themselves" Edgeshot hummed as he watched the younger heroes throw about all sorts of tactics in an effort to win their little game of Hero League Baseball; however impromptu it may have of been. "It's so peaceful out here in the forest"

"Ah, I see" Yoroi Musha grunted as he stood nearby, enjoying the strange sight of the shinobi looking lopsided in his catcher's mitt. "So that's what this was all about"

"Hm?"

"Our jobs can truly be trying" Yoroi explained, spelling out the reason for this little game of baseball. "We are constantly being forced to confront evil, to see the worst in people and today you wanted to the kids to experience peace so that they would be driven to protect it. Very cunning of you, shinobi, I should've guessed as much"

"This should put them in the right mind for tonight, anyhow" Edgeshot reasoned, "That way they can show these villains what they're really made of"

"Mm"

"As we move into the bottom of the third inning, the Carmines are still in the lead" Mineta drawled, sounding less than pleased with that result. Which was all well & good, considering it sounded like they played baseball on the regular, but the Carmines were made up of villains and villain-adjacent who had no problems about playing dirty. "But now, the teams have thinned considerably! The Lurkers are left with Mr Smith, Zhao and Edgeshot! Whilst the Carmines have Prism, Dagger and Illus-o-Camie! It's a three-on-three match that'll surely knock your socks off!"

"Psst! Prism!" Again Major Egghead dug his way through the undergrowth and popped up not a stone's throw from where Toru had been standing. "Oi! Down here!"

"Huh? Egg?" Toru turned at the call of her name. "What is it this time?"

"Prism, I think it's time to put your earlier trash talking to good use!"

"Oh?"

"Time to return the favour and turn the tables back on the Lurkers"

"Ah, I get it now!" She gasped in realisation before she trotted over to meet up with the remaining members still on the team.

"…The only thing we can really do is walk them" Toga was saying as the invisible girl approached.

"Yo!" Toru called out, "New marching orders from the Major! Dags, you're on pitching detail, which leaves you with me"

"And how're the two of us s'posed to cover the bases?" Toga quirked a skeptical brow at the albino.

"We don't" Toru smirked, "We mark the batter"

"Oh" A sly grin grew slowly across her lips as the new plan finally sank in. "Oh"

It was good to be mean.

"…And so the game resumes, except—!" Mineta clearly couldn't believe what he was seeing—nor could anyone else for that matter. With Dagger as pitcher, Toga & Toru had taken up ridiculously tight defence positions; to the point where they were almost mounting Makabe. "Again with the tight defence positions?! This can't be legal!"

"Choking up the in-field isn't helping the batter's concentration, but what are you gonna do?" Toru heaved a put-upon sigh. "Now, if Grape Juice had called you on it earlier there would be a precedent telling us to back off"

"Heh, you're cool with this, right sir?" Toga ended, flinging a manic grin in the direction of Edgeshot who stood ready and waiting for his turn to bat. The shinobi simply clenched his fists at his sides whilst the samurai next to him wore an unbelievably proud smirk at their ploy.

"…Proceed as you will" Edgeshot eventually acquiesced. "A true hero does not falter before such trickery"

"Wow! So intense!" Toga shared a smile with the albino to her right. "Duly noted!"

"We'll hold you to that, sir" Toru grinned as the pair of girls pressed in even closer, until they were almost nose-to-nose with the batter.

"Huh?!"

"This—this—I mean, for God's sake!" Mineta panicked, mirroring the reaction of those around them that were still conscious. "They're standing so close! Talk about point-blank range!"

"Er…?" Makabe blinked dumbly.

"Hey, Mr Smith, don't worry about us!" Toru smiled evilly. "You might hit us with your swing, but we'll be fine!"

"What the hell?!" Kaminari spluttered, eyes wide and jaw scraping along the ground at the balls of these two girls. He'd known that Toru had a bit of thrill-seeking streak, but he didn't know it was contagious! "Are they bluffing?! They have to be, right? Right?" He turned to Sero for confirmation.

"…Girls are scary…" Sero murmured as he watched the spectacle with wide eyes.

Kaminari then turned to the shinobi on their right. "They're bluffing, right Edgeshot?"

"If he swings, he'll definitely clock them over the head and crack a skull or two" Edgeshot merely shrugged, unable to confirm nor deny what he was seeing. "But the penalty would go to the Carmines for obstructing the batter, so there is that"

"That is not helping!" Kaminari panicked.

Edgeshot threw his hands up in defence. "I'm just saying, Bolt!"

"You—you think you're intimidating me?" Makabe stammered as he harden the baseball bat to the nth degree, turning the aluminium to steel. Neither girl moved an inch as he cocked the bat back, although the anxious fear was palpable in the air. "Well, let's see which one of us pisses themselves when I brain you psychotic little freaks!"

WHOOSH!

The fiery ball tore across the field, kicking up debris as it made a beeline for the opening between the two girls; something that was made easier to see as Toru kept flickering in and out of visibility. Like two cones marking the goalpost, the girls remained standing before the boy with wicked grins upon their faces; even as the ball whisked passed their ears and into view. But it was only when Makabe made to swing that the two girls finally moved and everyone around them seemed to release the breath that they had been holding. A centimetre, that was all it took to take out of the danger zone but in that moment, it felt like a mile.

"They dodged?!" Makabe gasped, jolting in his surprise as the ball sailed right past the bat and into the forest beyond. With three players on the field, there was no one to play the backstop but that was okay because they still had spare balls to play. "That was way too damn close!"

"Unbelievable!" Mineta jumped to his feet, "That was a strike! And not the head-crushing kind!"

"When it comes to guts and visual acuity, these girls are top of their class!" Yoroi preened, puffing up his chest like some proud grandfather. "Dodging Mr Smith's swing is as simple as bunting Chargebolt's fastball"

"Give us a break!" Toru heaved another tired sigh, slouching over a little as her hands slipped into her pockets like she was simply waiting to a friend instead of avoiding death by mere milliseconds. But it was hard to care; the adrenaline pumping through her system was addicting. "Holding back ain't gonna cut it, pal"

"On the next throw" Toga grinned wickedly as bloodlust began to seep from her pores like pus. "Swing like you're trying to kill us!"

Well, that's definitely got him rattled. Toru hummed as her gaze roved over the shaking form of the second year. He wants to do what the heroes say, but can't bring himself to.

Behind them, Dagger wound up for another throw. Welcome to our world, Makabe! Toru thought in amusement as she watched the sweat trickle down his forehead (then again, that could've just been thanks to the proximity of her quirk). Things change quickly here. One minute, you're playing HLB and the next, it's something where the stakes are a lot higher!

WHOOSH!

Again, the ball struck true; whistling through the gap between the two girls like it was just another school day for them. "C'me on, Mr Smith, give us your best shot!"

"S-such power!" Makabe, on the other hand, had other things to worry about as the ball made contact with the bat, blazing like a roman candle and sizzling like bacon in the pan as it connected with the aluminium. The force of the throw pushed Makabe back a few paces no matter how much the Ketsubutsu boy tried to dig his heels in and the flames from the fire shrouded around the ball licked at his exposed fingers, burning all that it touched. "But I won't back down! If I do, there'll be nothing left! Rah!"

After all of that effort, pomp and circumstance, all the Ketsubutsu boy could really manage was a tired bunt before he was practically crawling towards first base. But this time, when Makabe had swung and the ball had connected, the two girls before him and moved more than a centimetre away. Instead, they quickly backpedalled until Toga was on second base, Toru on third and Dagger ran for home after rushing forth to pick up the ball and slap it down on home base.

"Heads up, Prism!" Dagger yelled as she punted the ball back down the field, cutting off Zhao (who had been on second base) from getting to the third base. "Don't let her get to third base!"

Toru leapt to catch the ball and quickly dove back onto the plate, touching down mere milliseconds before the diamond girl could slide over it. "Got it!"

"Zhao is out!" Mineta cried.

"C'me on, throw it to second base!" Dagger coached, excitedly pointing to the only base not yet holding a batter.

"Camie! Incoming!" Toru threw the ball over to Toga before Makabe could make his way over.

"Done and done!" Toga sang as they yanked the Lurkers victory out from under their noses.

"Mr Smith is out!" Mineta wailed in despair, "I can't believe it! A triple play made by only three players?! How is this even possible?! I can't even—this is insane! The game is over and the Carmines are the winner! Therefore, today's HLB championship is won by the Carmines!"

Freshly showered and contently exhausted back at the inn that the Lurkers had rented for their short stay there, Toru made her way over to the common area where her classmates had splayed themselves across the furniture. "Hey guys!" Toru waved, "Sorry about before, we didn't mean for things to get so crazy!"

"Crazy?" Mineta spluttered, propping himself up onto his elbows. "That was insane! What the hell have they been teaching you during your work studies?!"

"And since when did you grow such big gonads?!" Kaminari added from his place on the couch too tired to sit up, even as he suckled on the charging cord connected to Sero's phone.

"Hehe…!" Toru giggled, sitting at their feet, "Oh you know, here and there. For what it's worth, though, this doesn't change anything. You guys are still the better players, you know"

"Doesn't feel like it…!"

"It's just one little game, don't feel so depressed"

"One game?" Sero snorted in disbelief, glancing up from his phone for only a moment. "Then why'd you guys go to so much trouble to win it then?"

"Yeah! Don't feed us that bullcrap about magic & friendship!" Mineta agreed, nodding his head furiously. "You wanted to prove that you were better and you did!"

"Dude…" Toru sighed, "Just look at us; we're not much of a team. I mean, we get along really well, sure, but collectively? We suck at baseball. Thing is though, when we were playing, it was awesome! See, for me, it wasn't so much about proving who was better as it was…well, it was about being proud of my new friends. I wanted to show them, especially to you guys, you know?"

Kaminari didn't seem to know how to take that. Which, understandable, they didn't really talk much outside of class or her interactions with Bakugou-slash-Kirishima-slash-Jiro. But they were nice boys (most of the time) and they were the only other familiar faces here. Or, at least, the ones that she knew well enough to sit down like this; I mean, she had been living with them for the better part of seven months. Besides, sometimes she just needed a break from the constant play-acting she had to do with the villains.

Sero, on the hand, was as mushy as could be and quickly wrapped his long arms around the invisible girl's shoulders. "To us? Aw, Hagakure!" He cooed.

As for Mineta, who seemed too tired to contribute anything perverted for once, he shoved his finger in her face. "This ain't over between us, Hagakure! The next time we play—and there will be a next time!—We'll be playing in the real leagues!"

"Sure!" Toru smiled. If the world hasn't been blown to smithereens, by then. She added silently as her thoughts turned towards the impending war.

"Something wrong?" Sero asked, picking up on the girl's strange silence.

"Nah" Toru lied, brushing off his concerns as best she could before she quickly gravitated towards , what she hoped would, distract the boys from pursuing that line of questioning. "Ooh! Hey, what's going on there, Sero? Whatcha watching?"

"Ah, it's that thing about the vigilante that's been in the news" The tape hero graciously took the proffered olive branch. "See?"

NEWS NOON: MR SMILEY FOILS RAM RAID!

"…I'm here, LIVE on location with the vigilante who not only saved several of Endeavour's Flaming Sidekickers, but foiled another ram raid by the infamous jewellery thieves…" Reported a harried, but well to-do woman who looked like she had been standing in front an exhaust pipe when it had backfired. Nevertheless, the news never slept and she quickly shoved her microphone into the vigilante's face. "You're the one defeated the nationally wanted criminals, right? We're LIVE right now, will you please give us a comment? Tell us, who ARE you, good sir? What is the name of our newest hero?"

"I'm just a humble artist" Mr Smiley simply turned towards the camera and tipped his hat to the audiences at home. And then he lifted his head and beamed straight down the camera lens, baring a toothy smile that would've made most dentists jealous of those pearly whites. "My name is…Mr Smiley!"

"Mr Smiley! Mr Smiley! Mr Smiley! Mr Smiley! Super Smiley!"

They couldn't stop laughing, not even two hours later.

PARANORMAL LIBERATION FRONT STATUS REPORT
TRIGGER FACILITY RECONAISSANCE

HERO: TWINKLING STAR

NPC characters met & integrated into party.
Side quest delayed mission start.
Mission time: 00:00

Side quest: Hero League Baseball, Aim: Delay, Players: Kamui Woods, Chargebolt, Mt Lady, Grape Juice, Mr Smith, Edgeshot, Zhao, Vine, Cellotape [The Lurkers].
Toga, Major Egghead, Prism, Twinkling Star, Wicca, Yoroi Musha, Dagger, Slidin' Go, Gotcha [The Carmine Regiment/Agency]
Mission: Infiltrate the Trigger Facility in Kaflin & assess the loyalty of the engineers. Encouraged to use extreme force, with prejudice.