[Beta Read by Doc43Souls]

The dark of the night made for excellent cover for covert operations. It was why nighttime was the best kind of time for villainous activity, especially in the world of heroics where being a villain was more dangerous than being a police officer. The cover of the night made things far easier, especially because most of the limelight heroes hardly ever came out during the night, leaving the bottom feeders to be the ones who had to deal with those who chose to use the cover of the night.

On the opposite side of things, it was the worst kind of time to be someone caught up in villainous activity, especially if you were the one who was the victim of it. Not only were the chances of someone powerful enough coming to take down deadly villains fairly low, but most places of healing like hospitals and medical clinics were low on staff due to most people leaving for home by 10:00 p.m.

Hence the reason Momo Yaoyorozu was on high alert. The panic that was setting in was only covered by the desperation of the need to survive. She ignored the fear and put on a brave face. The confusion she was feeling had only been masked by her slow movements and careful eye.

As she stalked forward, her right hand gripped a bo-staff she had created with enough strength to make her knuckles turn white, and the same could be said about the riot shield in her left hand. Things had been going too well for the last… 12 hours, so something was bound to go wrong. The longer she thought about how morbid that thought was, the more she began to realize her life had become nothing but a twisted, tangled mess of calamities.

Why did her time at U.A. have to be the worst? This school was supposed to be the most protected in all of the industry, and yet here she was living through yet another villain attack in less than a year.

Granted, this was off campus, but the Wild Wild Pussy Cat's HQ was so far out of the way that this went beyond it being a coincidence. There was no reason for there to be a villain attack here. The Wild Wild Pussy Cats hardly even made it past the top 100. The only reason for these villains to be here was because of their school having been here.

"And it's all because of—"

That aggravating ticking sound began to echo from the back of her mind, making her tense. She quickly dismissed the thought, whilst at the same time the ticking sound ceased. Yaoyorozu sighed. Where was she again? Ah, yes. She was complaining about her current predicament.

Things had been going well. At least, for her they were. Her Quirk training was moving swimmingly, and she felt that she was making some kind of progress. It wasn't much, but she could feel the change, even if it was minute.

And then everything went downhill from there.

The moment she smelt smoke—not from something cooking, but the kind of smoke that came from a raging forest fire—she went into full alert and began to make her way to the lodgings where they were told to go at 8:00 PM. It was 7:30 PM, so something was up. She wondered why they had to go to the lodgings at 8:00 PM, now she knew why. The staff were preparing to be attacked. They must've known something had happened, and a part of her believed it most likely had something to do with that Dabi fellow.

Speaking of that Dabi fellow. His Quirk was flame-related. She knew that he was a spy for the heroes within the League of Villains, but did he have to set the forest ablaze? Thinking about it, yeah, he probably did have to if he wanted to keep his cover. Although, that didn't change the fact that she was still miffed about the whole situation.

Seriously? Why they hadn't said anything about it to the students eluded her completely. They probably had their reasons, even if they were outlandish. That was just something she had to accept. If they allowed someone like Yoshihara Kira to stick around—that murderous freak—not telling anyone else aside from those who were in the know was something that had been expected of them.

The ticking sound started back up again, and she quickly retracted her thought, causing the ticking to stop. She hated that damnable woman. But that was beside the point.

With everything that was happening, it made too much sense.

She hadn't seen a reason to keep the truth from everyone else, but then again it wasn't her decision. It was the staff, even if it was stupid. And seeing as the Stand Users were a part of that group, she placed her bets on it being their idea. After all, they were the ones who kept all of the secrets. They were the ones who made this situation even—

She stopped that train of thought. That wasn't true, as much as she disliked admitting it. It wasn't their fault that the universe hated them. It wasn't her place to judge someone trying to live a fulfilling life. If she had been in their situation… she would probably be able to sympathize with them.

Unfortunately, she wasn't. Or perhaps, fortunately. She didn't want to live that life. A life of constant strife and pain of knowing that you endangered everyone you loved just by existing. She would admit that she had been cruel to those who were cursed with having a Stand—especially Kira.

She should've realized sooner that none of this was her fault.

That didn't mean she couldn't dislike her. Especially considering that, for the most part, she wasn't hero material. It was the truth. She had the personality of a killer, not a saviour of the people.

There was nothing that anyone could say to her, show her, or force her to hear that would make her change her mind in that regard.

When it was announced that they had to head back to the lodgings, a handful of people were annoyed. At the time, it didn't make any sense. But now? It made perfect sense. She was lucky, too, because from where she had been, they were a ten-minute walk away from her location.

At least, they were supposed to be.

But, as was evident by the fact she had been going in the same direction for twenty minutes, only seeing nothing but forest for miles, something in the back of her mind alerted her to the fact that she was most likely caught in some strange Stand ability—because no Quirk could copy the layout of an area and repeat it. It fell in line with the criteria that Sugimoto-Sensei had laid out for what a Stand could be.

While she wasn't exactly a fan of Sugimoto-Sensei, she paid attention to his teachings. He was a teacher, after all. If she was correct in remembering the notes she wrote about Stands and their categories, this had to be the work of a long-range stand.

As for why she was even here in the first place, to put it simply, this was the area she was assigned to train at. Since her Quirk could overfill a building in a matter of seconds, she was given an area of the forest to train at, and from there she was told to go to her limits. She was supposed to be monitored by one of the Pussy Cats, but they were too caught up and stretched thin, thanks to everyone else.

Not that she blamed them for her current predicament.

"If it wasn't for—"

She stopped that thought dead in its tracks before that bomb could notice. She didn't need that bomb going off right now. She would air her grievances at a later point. Not today. She couldn't with that bomb in the back of her head. Besides, Yaoyorozu had more problems to deal with, such as her current situation.

Besides, it wasn't like it was Kira's fault, now was it? She was just looking for someone other than the obvious to blame. Deflecting the blame was the only thing that she could do in that situation. Aside from cowering and trying to find a way out, there wasn't much she could do.

This was her first time dealing with a Stand User, and it just had to be once she had almost completely drained herself of energy through rigorous training. Her whole body ached after using her Quirk near to the point of overuse. It was meant to help her learn control over her body's limits by wearing herself out, waiting a few minutes, and eating a bunch of food. Afterward, she was supposed to go back to training her Quirk. Rinse and repeat with physical body exercises mixed in for the rest of Summer Break.

Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed the time to eat that food before the attack had happened. Seeing as she had been expecting to be able to eat, she had accidentally gone a bit overboard. Now she was paying for it. Now, she was trapped in some kind of loop that she had no idea how to get out of, and to make matters worse, she was starting to get sluggish.

The problem with Yaoyorozu's Quirk was that it fed directly off of her fat lipids. While that was already a drawback she disliked, due to how it made her look sickly after prolonged use, it also came with another more silent drawback. Using her Quirk was very tiring. Not only was it tiring, it caused her physical pain. If she was running low on fat lipids, her body would begin actively cannibalizing on itself to try and regain those fat lipids.

Creation was a double-edged sword in that way. She only had a specific amount of uses before she had to rethink her plan of action. Typically, on a full stomach, she could use her Quirk up to a hundred times depending on the size of the item. The larger the item, the less items she could make.

For example, her Riot Shield was considered a medium-class item. Before making the riot shield and bo-staff, she had twenty-one uses of her Quirk left. But the Riot Shield took up five of those uses. So in reality, she only had fifteen uses left. Her bo-staff was a small item, so it only took up one use, which was why she had fifteen uses instead of sixteen.

It still didn't change the fact that she was in pain at the moment. The closer she got to near empty, the more pain she found herself in. Which made the situation that she was in - far worse than it already was.

"Why now? Why did we have to be attacked now of all times?" Yaoyorozu thought, scanning the area around her as she walked. She needed to be at her most alert. If she wasn't… well, there was a good chance that she was going to die.

That was a grim reality for her to think of, but it was the truth. The chances of her dying were far higher than they would normally be if it wasn't for the fact that this was a Stand User—or just a really powerful Quirk, though she doubted that—she would have put more bets on her getting out of this hell alive.

The sound of a branch snapping over to her right caught her attention. She raised her riot shield just in time, as several gunshots rang out from that direction. Each bullet made contact with the shield, bouncing off of it rather than piercing it. Taking advantage of her protection, Yaoyorozu charged the bush with the riot shield in front of her as she raised her bo-staff overhead.

In that split second while she was lowering her weapon down on the bush, something moved from it. The leaves shook, and branches broke. At the same time, dust was kicked up in her face, and as that happened Yaoyorozu's eyes widened. The air moved in such a way that it felt like something was coming after her, like a spectre, and the malice in the air didn't help things.

At that moment, Yaoyorozu brought her shield up to the side of her head, just barely blocking whatever the hell had been sent to attack her. Metal clashed with something as the shield folded under the force of the blow, sending Yaoyorozu flying back with the now broken shield. She was able to stop herself with her bo-staff, dragging up dust and small pebbles in the process.

Throwing the broken shield away, she created another one. When she did, her body ached more than it did before. "Two more medium-sized things… that's all I can create…." Yaoyorozu thought. Three more objects before she passed out from having no energy. She needed to make this shield count.

There was an air of danger. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, eyes narrowed as she scanned her surroundings. A twig snapped over to her left. Raising her shield, she was met with another hail of gunfire. Six bullets before it stopped. Either they were reloading or they were out of ammunition. Though she doubted the latter. No villain would prepare to this point and not bring an appropriate amount of ammo unless they were stupid. Which only meant one thing. "My attacker is using a revolver then…" Yaoyorozu thought as she took a step back.

She learnt the hard way that rushing to the location where her attacker was hiding was only going to put her in more danger. After all, doing the same thing twice was just plain stupid. Instead, she threw her bo-staff at the location like a javelin. In response, the invisible Stand punched it back, knocking it back toward Yaoyorozu, aiming for her shield.

Instead of standing around like a moron, Yaoyorozu parried the bo-staff by knocking it out of the air. The bo-staff crumpled under the force of the throw and the density of the Riot Shield, thumping uselessly to the ground. Yaoyorozu cursed under her breath. She was going to need a weapon. She knew that, but at the same time, she didn't want to create anything else.

Unfortunately, she didn't have much of a choice. So she did just that, except this time she created something that would be more beneficial to her. While it was probably unheroic to use, she didn't care. This was a life-or-death situation, and she needed any opportunity that she could afford. She created a gun. Specifically, she created an assault rifle. Not a semi-automatic either, a fully automatic rifle.

Specifically, Yaoyorozu created an AK-47. With it, she created an extra magazine leaving her with only a single creation left before she collapsed. Her body shook with pain, and while she tried to ignore it, it was becoming far harder than it had been before. She held the weapon in her left hand, and her shield in her right.

Being ambidextrous came in handy in scenarios like these.

Despite the pain she was feeling, there was a bright side to this. At least she had a weapon now, and even though it was deadly, she wasn't exactly privy to caring what happened to the villain who was trying to kill her.

A short epiphany came to her at that moment. "Oh God… this is what she felt, wasn't it?" Yaoyorozu waved the thought away. "Of all times for this to happen… Whatever. Deal with it later. If I make it out of this, I have some serious apologizing to do…"

That was when the air shifted around her. Something was coming to attack her. It was fast, and it was going to do serious damage if it hit. It was coming from the right, and she only had a few seconds to react. Twisting to the right and bringing up the riot shield, instead of allowing the shield to take the full brunt of the attack, she swiped at the attack, and to her shock, it worked.

She had deflected the Stands attack! But how? Quirks were supposed to come into contact with Stands, nor were they supposed to work. Her items were created from her Quirk, so therefore it shouldn't have worked! And yet, it did.

"You are all diseased. Quirks are a result of human experimentation using the same virus that made Stands. However, those with Quirks do not have enough of the virus to interact with Stands on the same level. But if there was enough of it in place, with a Quirk, one could eventually interact with a Stand."

That was something that Sugimoto-Sensei had said. Another epiphany came to her. Her items were created with her Quirk. Because they were created from her Quirk, they were technically created from her DNA. And because Quirks and Stands are linked, that meant that there was a higher concentrated amount of the virus in that given area.

Meaning that the items she created had enough of the virus to fully interact with Stands! It was beyond revolutionary! She could close the gap and make fighting Stands for those with Quirks a million times easier.

Yaoyorozu smirked. Now she had an advantage. The tables had been turned in favour, even if it was only a small amount. Aiming her weapon in the direction of where she assumed the Stand was, or even the user, she fired.

Bullets sprayed, and while her shoulder was paying dearly for the free fire, she was able to witness the fact that her bullets—specifically made from her Quirk—had an effect on Stands for some reason, as they tore through the Stand in what seemed to be its arms.

There was a shriek of pain coming from behind her. That was where she saw her attacker. Dressed in a black cloak, underneath which was a pink torn-up shirt, black jeans, and a black helmet that looked like something that belonged to Daft Punk was… someone. She didn't recognize them due to how they were covered head to toe in clothing, but she was able to tell that they were female based on their voice. In their right hand was a black revolver, which they probably used to shoot at her.

Their arms were riddled with holes, most likely thanks to the rule that damage to Stands was reflected on the user. Something that the Stand User probably didn't know. Meaning they were new to this. And because they were new, there was no time to spare.

Yaoyorozu wasted no time as she charged the woman and knocked them down with her riot shield, slamming it against her masked head. As she did that, the air shifted behind her, forcing her to turn around and block a supposed punch from the Stand.

Except, when she did….

There was nothing. Nothing impacted her shield.

Nothing was impacted at all.

Confusion coursed through her mind for a split second. Why hadn't it worked? Where was the attack? It was coming from that direction, wasn't it? If that was the case, why hadn't her shield blocked it? Why hadn't she been able to stop the attack?

Did an attack even happen? Was she tricked?

If she was tricked….

Pain erupted throughout her whole body as blood trickled down from the side of her mouth. She felt a chill crawl all over her skin. Her arms went slack, and her weapon and shield disappeared into pink mist.

"What…?" Yaoyorozu thought. "No… that doesn't make sense…." She thought, as her eyes trailed down to the massive hole in her chest. She could see her insides twitching, bones and the small little cracks within them, and her muscles contracting and pulsating. Her pupils shrank in pain as blood splattered everywhere around her.

"But I… found a way to give others an advantage…? Why… me…?" Tears began to bubble in the corners of her eyes as a hand clasped down on her shoulder. She had barely enough strength to look over in that direction, as the masked figure scoffed.

"Gotta love bullshit powers, yeah? I'll admit, your Quirk being able to interact with Stands… was probably why Blackwell wanted you dead," the assassin said. As she spoke, there was a level of disdain marking her voice. It was almost… vindictive. Hatred. That was all the woman felt toward her. But why? What did she ever do to her?

"Blackwell…? As in the Hero, Blackwell…?" Yaoyorozu thought, shock taking up her mind. The hero Blackwell was behind this? What did that mean? Did it mean that Blackwell was a fake hero? Something more? No… that he was a villain?

Her father was always suspicious of Blackwell. He was too clean, to the point that it made no sense. He had also been particularly upset that the Yaoyorozu Corporation wanted nothing to do with his company.

Was this his doing? All because her father refused to work with him?

"I shouldn't have said that. But whatever, you're dying here. And with your death, U.A. will most likely fall with you. Your parents have better lawyers, after all. They'll sue the school into the ground for your wrongful death," the masked figure began. "Think of your death not as a tragedy, but as a jump start to something better. You're a martyr, one that will breathe new life into a better society."

Once again, there was that hatred. That rage and vitriol. That anger. It wasn't bombastic or loud, but quiet and methodical. Though now she was convinced that it wasn't aimed at her. It was aimed at everyone. That pure, unrelenting hatred that hid underneath that upbeat voice was directed at everything. And that was the worst kind of evil. The worst kind of vile.

As she fell to the ground, the supposed fist of The Stand ripping away from the massive wound in her chest, the woman took the helmet off of her head, and from there she was able to see the face of her killer.

Yaoyorozu's last thought wasn't that of her family or her friends, nor was it of her classmates or teachers. It was the identity of her killer. Even her last words. To her, it was that astonishing. It pained her to realize it, but it was the truth. Otherwise, why would they be there to stare at her? Why would their eyes contain that smugness they had seen back at the USJ?

Her very first friend she had ever made at U.A.

"…Kyoka?" Yaoyorozu rasped, her pupils shrinking, before her eyes lost all of their light, her vision of Kyoka Jirou smugly grinning at her dying form as a purple portal opened up behind her—the same portal from the USJ—before Kyoka walked through the portal. All of the sensations in Yaoyorozu faded, and soon after, her body went completely limp.

And on July 11th, 2116, Yaoyorozu Momo… was utterly defeated.

xxXxxxXXxx

There was a sense of panic and tension resting within the heart of Ochako Uraraka. Why her? Why was she the one who was sent out to find the ones who got lost in the woods? Of course, Vlad sent her out on her own, because of course, he didn't want to risk his students. Because of course, that stupid rivalry between himself and Aizawa-sensei got in the way of doing the smart thing and sending a group.

Aizawa-Sensei was heavily against it. But Vlad reasoned that she was just going to get Yaoyorozu, who wasn't too far away, and that she'd come back to fetch a group of students. Aizawa-Sensei was hesitant to agree to it, especially considering the information they knew, but in the end, he still agreed to it, if only because Vlad wouldn't budge.

Frankly, it was stupid. Frankly, it made her stop respecting Vlad King. Don't get her wrong, from what Sakunami told her, he seemed like a cool person and a good teacher, but this made her throw that idea out and into the trash can. It made her want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he got dizzy!

Seriously, what was he thinking? They both knew that the League Of Villains was dangerous. Sending a lone student into what amounted to no-man's-land was just plain stupidity! And yet, he didn't seem to care. Again, it probably had something to do with the rivalry that Vlad had with Aizawa-Sensei.

She sighed. No use in thinking about that now, she supposed. More importantly, she had to keep her wits about her. She needed to, if she didn't want to get caught up going against a villain. Granted, Aizawa-Sensei gave her full reign with using her Quirk if she did, but that didn't mean she was actively looking forward to going up against a villain.

All she needed to do was to get in and out. That was all that she needed to do. Hence the reason why she was using Gravity on herself to make her footsteps as light as possible—something that Ragdoll suggested for her to do during their training. That way no one could find her, or at the very least no one would be able to find her easily or hear her shoe prints against the dirt path.

Ochako was dressed in the same thing she had been dressed in while she had been training. The U.A. Tracksuit, and it was still as dirty as it had been when she had it while training. She should've changed once they got to the lodgings in the first place, but she had been in too much of a panic.

"No… don't think about that. That's not important. Keep focused, me!"

She was sent southeast to try and find the few people who were missing, those people being Yoshihara Kira, Izuku Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu Momo. Of course, the other Stand Users were out searching too, but they were more focused on taking down the other villains and arresting them if possible.

Yoshihara's location wasn't exactly known. When she had finished training Kaminari and a few others, she had walked off in a random direction and from there they lost track of her, though they sent Midoriya-kun out in the vague direction of southwest to go find her. Seeing as he hadn't come back yet, that must've meant that either he was still looking, or something happened.

Unlike them, she had a vague idea of where Yaoyorozu was. Aizawa-Sensei said that she was the closest. Once she got her, Aizawa-Sensei directed her to head back and pick up Monoma and Todoroki. That way when she went to go get Kira and Midoriya, she had more than one person with her, and hopefully Yaoyorozu in tow.

There was a sense of urgency in Aizawa-Sensei's words when he asked to find the others. Not only because of the earth-rumbling earthquake that she had felt just a few minutes before she left but also because Kira wasn't answering her phone. Midoriya had noted that she had always done that either by text or by calling back.

So for her to not be doing that was extremely worrying. Uraraka was worried about her friends and classmates. Even if Yaoyorozu was a bit of a jerk—some might say that was an understatement—she didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking… or, well, floating with extra steps, she finally came across someone. Or well... what was left of them. Uraraka had to repress the urge to vomit at the sight of what she saw. She found Yaoyorozu… but she had a massive hole in her chest and a puddle of blood surrounding her.

And next to her was another person. They looked to be about Uraraka's age, if not slightly older. She didn't recognize her from being in Class 1 – B, and she certainly wasn't in Class 1 – A, so she wasn't a student at U.A. That meant that she was no doubt one of the villains working with the League Of Villains. She had pale-ash blonde hair styled into two messy buns with the rest of it looked like she had never brushed it before. The best way to compare it would be to compare it to bedhead.

Her hair went down to her chin and stopped at that point. Her bangs were just as messy as the rest of her hair, covering up most of her forehead. The teen smiled at her, revealing sharp vampiric-like canines. Her yellow eyes were slanted, and she had cat-like irises. She remembered Midoriya describing the vampire who had killed Ida having inhuman yellow eyes and pale skin just like this girl.

From what she could see, she was wearing an oversized beige cardigan that had a long hem and cuffs, with a Kansai collar overtop the original collar, and a loosely tied red scarf. She also wore a dark blue skirt that was probably from the uniform she was wearing underneath the cardigan. There was also a keychain hanging out of one of her pockets with several different doodads that Uraraka didn't care to look at. The villain was also wearing knee-length sports black socks with a pair of dark brown outdoor shoes.

Then came the equipment she had. While she wasn't currently wearing it over her mouth, there was a piped black mask hanging off of her neck, two boxes of knives strapped around her thighs, and a blue utility belt around her waist with more boxes attached to it on either side. The most eye-catching thing on her outfit, aside from the weapons and piped mask, was the massive loose black mask that had pieces of gray metal placed in the shape of a carnivorous grin.

The final thing about her outfit were the three large silver canisters on either side of the massive mask. They had needles that were attached to them, meaning they were meant to collect blood. Midoriya never mentioned anything about that when it came to The Vampire, so perhaps this was a case of mistaken identity. However, that hardly mattered to Uraraka.

After all, she was standing over the body of Yaoyorozu, one of those needles stabbed into the arm of the corpse. The blonde stared at Uraraka with her creepy cat-like eyes, before unplugging the needle from Yaoyorozu's body. She stood to her full height, which wasn't all that tall. She stood around the same height as Uraraka if not a head taller.

"Ah… Lookie lookie! Another hero student~! This one was already dead when I found her, but you… you're fresh! Your blood will taste so much better~!" The blonde said, an excited gleam in her eyes. "I knew when I saw your name on that sheet, you'd be cute! That look on your face confirms it~! I just gotta see what you look like drenched in blood now. That cuteness factor of yours will make it all that much better!"

Ochako narrowed her eyes and got into a fighting stance—the one that Gunhead taught her—deactivating Gravity on herself subconsciously. Her fist's close to her person, her legs spread out for even footing, and her weight on her prominent leg, that being her right one. She was about to lunge forward, only for the villain to disappear in a blur of motion.

Ochako's guard was up, and as she heard something approaching from behind her, she just barely had enough time to put up a block to avoid being kicked in the face. The blonde-haired girl smiled a Cheshire grin. "Oh~! And you can fight too! I mean, I expected that, but—" The blonde cut herself off, jumping back into the air before switching up her movements to deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of Uraraka's head, sending her flying through the foliage.

Ochako flung in the air, her head spinning as she tried to activate her Quirk, only for the villain to appear in front of her, delivering a hammer kick to the top of Ochako's head as she spoke. "—You're not good enough!"

"She's fast! Too fast!" Ochako thought as she hit the ground, her head pounding as blood trickled down her forehead. The villain landed in front of her, drawing out a knife from one of her pouches, her smile ever present.

"I was right~! Blood does look good on you," the villain continued as she dashed toward Ochako. She was quick to get into stance as the villain thrust her knife toward her. Uraraka acted quickly, grabbing the blonde by the wrist and allowing the knife to glide past her cheek, only cutting a small amount of her hair off, before using her other hand to palm under the villain's chest.

Using Gravity, she removed the villain's gravity partially from her body, before lifting her over her head, and just as she slammed her back down to the ground, Ochako re-added the blonde's gravity, making her travel faster down to the ground, disorienting her in the process. The blonde villain hit the ground with a thud, making her forcefully exhale.

It was a simple toss. One of the simplest ones in Uraraka's opinion, but it was most useful in this situation. Unfortunately, the daze didn't last for that long, as the blonde villain, still smiling, leapt up, kicking Uraraka in the chest in the process and sending stumbling back. It shocked Ochako how the villain was able to recover so quickly, though her attention was immediately caught by the villain slashing at her.

Uraraka was able to dodge a few of the slashes but unfortunately wasn't able to dodge the one that tore through her shoulder, drawing more blood. She winced, and the villain smiled. Once again, the villain went for a kick, this time, however, Uraraka was prepared for it. She smacked away the kick with her left hand, then jabbed the blonde villain in the nose with her right hand, making her stumble and drawing blood.

Uraraka then grabbed her by the scruff of her collar and kneed the villain in the face, making her stagger. Wrenching the villain up, she slapped her across the face with the backside of her left hand, before palming her with her right hand square in her mouth, and afterward backhanding her again with her left hand, before finishing it with a right hook to the jaw, staggering the villain.

Uraraka didn't let up, tackling the villain and pinning her against one of the trees. In response, the villain, knife in hand, stabbed her in the abdomen. The pain caused Ochako to falter, and when she did, the blonde punched her with all of her might in her face, knocking her to the ground.

"You got me good, Ochako Uraraka! I take back what I said. You're a pretty good fighter. But you're not on my level. I've been fighting for years of my life. You've got maybe a few months under your belt. Now, I'm gonna take just a pint of your blood, and leave you for those staffers of yours to find. M'kay~?" The blonde villain teased as one of her needle contraptions snaked down from the side of her massive baggy mask.

The villain grabbed it, before looking down at the tired, downed form of Ochako. "Oh. By the way, the name's Toga Himiko~! I truly hope, from the bottom of my heart, we can be friends~," Toga said as she reached down to stab Ochako in her wrist with the needle.

She was too tired to move. She knew it wouldn't kill her, but letting the villain win in any capacity was a strict no-go. So with all of her might, Ochako removed the knife from her abdomen—something that, in the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn't have done—and with a burst of energy rammed the knife into Toga's elbow, catching her off guard.

Using the time that she had while Toga was confused, Ochako grabbed the needle and crushed it in her hand, before punching her in the face again. Toga's eyes widened in both surprise and anger as she staggered backward. Blood dripped from her nose, the side of her mouth, and her new elbow wound. At the same time, Ochako had blood streaming down her forehead, her shoulder, her nose and mouth, and her abdomen.

Both were equally bruised and beaten. Both were tired, and both had found themselves smirking. Uraraka wasn't exactly happy. She was furious. Not only because Yaoyorozu was dead, but also because she had to fight. She was aching all over, and the only thing keeping her standing was the adrenaline running through her body.

But even though she was mad, she had never had this much excitement before. Ochako had always been the kind of person who thrived in high-stress situations. It was what made being a hero such a difficult job for the regular civilian. It took a special kind of person to be in this line of work.

There was a quote that she had heard from one of the top ten heroes in Japan. It was said by Crust of all people. For the longest time, Ochako never understood it. She never understood why he would say such a thing. At first, she had been offended that he said what he had said. But now… now she fully understood what it was he was talking about.

"In the world of heroics, especially for someone like me, I can tell immediately who is going to fail and never reach past being a D-Lister. All it takes is a single glance, and I know that they won't make it very far or be known all that well in the world of heroics. Some people won't like what I'm going to say, but it's the truth.

"The truth is that, if you're at all mentally sane, you will never make it in the world of heroics. While society might judge you, and while climbing in the ranks might be damn near impossible if you show your true self to the world, the fact of the matter is that those who have something wrong with them in the head are the ones that will be known for the most. Look at Mirko. She's a prime example of someone who has a few screws loose, and she would freely admit that.

"So. Do I think anyone can be a hero? Yes, I think that is the case. Everyone can become a hero. It doesn't matter what your Quirk is, nor does it matter what your skills are. But unless you're insane, you'll never make it far."

Was it a rude thing to say? Probably, but it was the truth. And now, staring at Himiko Toga, she could feel that rush. For the last handful of minutes, she wasn't at all concerned about her wellbeing. Sure, she was hurting, but amid all the action, she felt possessed.

It was as if the thrill of battle had completely taken her over. And judging by the look in Toga's eyes, it had been the same for her, too. Wiping blood away from her forehead and breathing heavily, she spoke. "For a villain… you're not so bad," Uraraka quipped as Toga cracked her neck from side to side, before rolling her shoulders and stretching.

"And for a hero, you fight dirty. Good… that means we're more similar than I thought!" Toga exclaimed, before charging at Ochako, who glared at the villain and prepared to dodge out of the way. The only thing that stopped her from doing that was the sudden shock of pain in her side, making her fall to her hands and knees.

Toga stopped dead in her tracks, standing in front of Ochako with a disappointed gleam in her eyes. Sighing, the villain grabbed one of the six needles on the side of her mask, yanking it out of place before kneeling next to her. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Honestly… I'm glad that you fell. I'm nearing my limits, so I really gotta get this blood. As thanks for entertaining me, I won't take a pint. Just half of one~!"

And then, she jabbed the needle into Ochako's wrist. The draining of her blood caused her to fall face-first into the dirt, and by the time Toga had been done, Ochako had been completely out of energy. Beaten, battered, and bloodied, Ochako lay there, hardly being able to move as Toga stepped through a purple vortex—the same vortex created by the teleporting villain from the USJ.

Time passed—how long it had been, she didn't know. She was tired. To the point where she wanted to sleep. The ground was pretty comfortable right about now. At least, it would've been had she not been scooped up off the ground. She was about to panic, had it not been for the fact that the person who had picked her up had been Todoroki, and next to him was Monoma.

He had been saying something to her, but she was too tired to be paying attention. She just wanted to lay her head on a pillow and sleep. However, she was able to say one thing before she passed out. It needed to get to Aizawa-Sensei so he didn't waste his time sending someone else out to find her.

"Yaoyorozu… is dead…" Ochako muttered, catching Shoto's and Monoma's attention.

"What?"

"Hold on… Did she just say that Yaoyorozu…?" Monoma muttered. "That can't be right, right? I mean… I hardly know her but—"

"Shut up!" Shoto spat, looking back down at Uraraka. "What did you say, Uraraka-san?"

"Yaoyorozu… is dead…." Ochako repeated, coughing as she looked up at the sky. Hidden behind the smog of the flames was the moon, its eerie pale blue light illuminating the sky. For a split second, it looked like the stars in the sky made the shape of Yaoyorozu, staring down at her with a worried expression on her face.

Maybe it was the pain. Maybe it was the smoke starting to get to her. But she felt it in her heart that Yaoyorozu was watching them. The only thing that she could think of right now was wondering just who was the heartless bastard who had killed her classmate.

"Ida… Tsuyu… Yaoyorozu…." Ochako thought, tears bubbling in her eyes. Closing her eyes, her tears trailed down her cheeks just as she passed out, her hand going limp.

Todoroki panicked, checking her pulse. "No… No goddamnit! Not you too!" Todoroki thought, putting his index and ring finger up to her neck. He let out a sigh of relief when he had done so. She was still alive. Her pulse was weak, but she was still alive. Uraraka was as pale as the moon, and she had lost a lot of blood. If they were quick enough, they could save her life.

And while it was already too late for Yaoyorozu, according to Uraraka, Shoto vowed that Uraraka wasn't going to die. He shut out his anger and sadness at the fact that Yaoyorozu was dead, and focused on the fact that he could still save Ochako. The only thing that plagued his mind now was…

"Where are you, Kira? Midoriya? Just where the hell are you two now?"

-To Be Continued-